Best sleeves?

Cimurph

Cimurph

Rookie Year
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Hello all. Today (or rather tonight) I was thinking about what sleeves I should get since I don't really like the look of the UD prerelease sleeves and was interested in getting some for my new deck as I just started to play. So.... are there any brands that are better than the rest, any restrictions (other than opaque back required and low reflectivity) on what is usable, or any recommendations you can make? I am wondering about the restrictions mostly because I saw some sleeves made by Max Protection ones that looked really cool and wanted to make sure sleeves with artwork like that are legal. Also, it would be good if you could recommend where I should buy them from, either a brick and mortar in the Twin Cities area of MN or online stores/ebay. Thanks.
 
Generally, the main brands I see mentioned are KMC, Player's Choice, Dragon Shield, and Ultra-Pro. There's some debate as to whether KMC or Player's Choice sleeves are better but generally I've seen more support for KMC. So from what I've seen it's something like:

KMC >? Player's Choice >>> Dragon Shield >>>>>>>>>> Ultra-Pro

I only have experience with KMC sleeves, and while I don't get to use them very often they've held up very well so far. You can see through the backs ever so slightly (with the white ones I have at least) but as long as you're not rotating your cards during play that shouldn't be an issue.

As for artwork, I believe only plain sleeves or sleeves with designs licensed by Pokemon are allowed to be used in tournaments. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this.
 
O'ya one more thing.... Is there anywhere retail that I can buy official POP sleeves or do I just have to get them from traders through sites like this one?
 
Yea only sleeves that are licenced by pokemon can have artwork. You can find generic ones on sites like trollandtoad or gatheringground. but for the cool ones you have to look on ebay. As for solid color sleeves my personal favorite are Dragon shield. They are probably the most heavy duty of the bunch and least likely to rip. They cost about 8-10, but they come in 100 pack.
 
I think you can use other animated sleeves. At my states last year this one kid had a really cool/freaky design on his.
 
I have tried everything and I know that Players Choice is the best. Dont get black or white because they are too reflective for organized play.
 
dragonpulse20 said:
I think you can use other animated sleeves. At my states last year this one kid had a really cool/freaky design on his.
Click to expand...

No you can't. They aren't allowed because it is easy to mark sleeves that have complicated designs.

A friend told me about seeing someone with a MTG deck where he could identify every single card in the deck just by tiny marks on the sleeve's picture.
 
The best Pokemon sleeves are:
Rhypherior (Legends Awakened)
Giratina (Platinum)
Umbreon/Espeon (Undaunted)
These sleeves don't rip or tear for a long time.
 
Dragon Shield is the best.
KMC (in my experience) tear way too often, are too thin and are easily marked.
Player's choice is like a cheaper version of KMC.
I would never play with the organized play sleeve.

Ten years of playing MtG, and having sets of Dragon Shield sleeves for years without a tear, I don't have faith in any sleeve besides them.
(Had to resleeve KMC sleeve twice in Pro level events.)
 
PikachewTofu said:
The best Pokemon sleeves are:
Rhypherior (Legends Awakened)
Giratina (Platinum)
Umbreon/Espeon (Undaunted)
These sleeves don't rip or tear for a long time.
Click to expand...

Do you know where I can buy some at?

PhadedPhione said:
Dragon Shield is the best.
KMC (in my experience) tear way too often, are too thin and are easily marked.
Player's choice is like a cheaper version of KMC.
I would never play with the organized play sleeve.

Ten years of playing MtG, and having sets of Dragon Shield sleeves for years without a tear, I don't have faith in any sleeve besides them.
(Had to resleeve KMC sleeve twice in Pro level events.)
Click to expand...

Are there any specific colors that aren't legal because of reflectivity?
 
Cimurph said:
Do you know where I can buy some at?

PhadedPhione said:
Dragon Shield is the best.
KMC (in my experience) tear way too often, are too thin and are easily marked.
Player's choice is like a cheaper version of KMC.
I would never play with the organized play sleeve.

Ten years of playing MtG, and having sets of Dragon Shield sleeves for years without a tear, I don't have faith in any sleeve besides them.
(Had to resleeve KMC sleeve twice in Pro level events.)
Click to expand...

Are there any specific colors that aren't legal because of reflectivity?
Click to expand...


All the dragon shield colors are legal. None of them are shiny and reflective. Here are the colors I know that they have.

Red
Blue
Green
Black
White
Pink
Brown
Gold
Silver
Clear
Purple
Orange
 
goldenthumb said:
All the dragon shield colors are legal. None of them are shiny and reflective. Here are the colors I know that they have.

Red
Blue
Green
Black
White
Pink
Brown
Gold
Silver
Clear
Purple
Orange
Click to expand...

Thanks, I just wanted to make sure the gold and silver ones weren't illegal because it is impossible to tell from pictures online.
 
Oh and as for the pokemon sleeves...I highly recommend NOT using them for tournaments. Mainly because the fact that they are sometimes very exspensive and that they only come in packs of 60. And since tournament organizers are very strict on the sleeves rule.....One peeling, torn, or bent sleeve will result in a re-sleeving of your whole deck and possibly a match loss. And since they come in 60 packs you either have to find a whole new set of sleeves or play the rest of the tourny with naked sleeves....Which can still get you in trouble if all your cards are not 100% mint.

Cimurph said:
Thanks, I just wanted to make sure the gold and silver ones weren't illegal because it is impossible to tell from pictures online.
Click to expand...

The gold is more of a San Francisco 49ers gold....meaning more dark rather than shiny reflective gold. Same thing with the silver. They're colors are usually more bold than other brands.
 
You can get the Pokemon ones online at eBay for about $8, or you can get them at tournaments (but theyprobably won't be the LA, PL, or UD ones. Arceus one's aren't half bad either.
 
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