How often do you change sleeves?
Gear forum
Posted on Feb. 28, 2017, 9:07 a.m. by jethstriker
I'm curious how often other players change their sleeves. This may come surprising for some of you, but for me, it's approximately 2-3 years until the sleeves splits apart and the corners heavily bent. I'm quite careful when I'm shuffling so even the Ultra Pro sleeves, which I replaced almost half a year ago with KMC Hyper Matte, lasts to me that long. I've heard some players change as often as every other tournaments they play, which for me, is surprising and unjustifiable (I'm such a cheap ass). Granted I don't play tournaments outside LGS, so my "old" sleeves aren't really an issue to the judges.
When I used Ultra Pros, entirely too frequently. Now I use Dragon Shields, so so far, never.
February 28, 2017 9:35 a.m.
I use Dragon Shields, but I really hate the wavy tops that develop with time. Ideally, that's the time to buy new sleeves. Otherwise, I buy sleeves to match my decks.
February 28, 2017 9:46 a.m.
JerichoDarkstar says... #5
I play Yu-Gi-Oh! and MTG, and I can honestly say that Ultra Pro's are definitely lower in quality.
I've never used Ultra Pro with MTG, but with YGO I had to change sleeves about every 3 months. And that was just playing with my friends. I've used nothing but Dragon Shields with MTG, and in the 2 years I've been playing, I've not HAD to refresh the sleeves. I do so about once a year just to make sure the cards are still good and have that blissful new sleeve feel.
February 28, 2017 9:51 a.m.
My oldest dragonshields are about 4 years old now. I have had 3-4 of them tear apart. Since Arcane Tinmen are awesome, they included about 106 sleeves in their pack, so I have never had to buy new sleeves of that color.
February 28, 2017 10:09 a.m.
Mark me down under the Dragon Shield as well, matte please. I've got a matte white set that I've had over a year and, with reasonably careful handling, they look barely used and are still bright white.
February 28, 2017 10:43 a.m.
tlhunter07 says... #8
My KMCs develop bent corners that trigger me, probably from shuffling.So I generally change whenever I see 10 or more sleeves that poke me in the OCD.
February 28, 2017 2:18 p.m.
It depends if you're playing a lot of PPTQs.
If you are, bent sleeves/corners aren't allowed as they can be used to identify cards.
I only change my sleeves if the corners are very bent from shuffling as I only play FNM, EDH, or casually.
From memory I have changed two sets of sleeves, and still have the first set I ever bought.
February 28, 2017 3:28 p.m.
Dalektable says... #10
I probably change sleeves like once every year to year and a half, but I could make those sleeves last longer if i wanted to i just like my sleeves in pretty great condition. I use dragonshield mattes, love em.
February 28, 2017 8:02 p.m.
ABadMagicPlayer100 says... #11
I use Ultra Pro Matte sleeves for commander play, as it's difficult to shuffle rigorously. In addition, I don't play competitively, so the condition of those is less of a concern.
For limited play, I use KMC Hyper Matte sleeves, and have used the same set for some time now without needing a replacement.
February 28, 2017 9:29 p.m.
For casual EDH, I have legion art sleeves. I still have all the sets of sleeves in tact but with a few bent corners or tops from mishandling when I first started playing. I use those few for my commanders and none of my sets has more than 3 slightly damaged (and no severely damaged) sleeves. Those early sets include 100 individual sleeves so they are good to transfer to 60 card decks if they ever get that bad.
For tournaments and limited, I either buy new sleeves or I do have red/green/black matte gragonshields ... but I usually buy new ones because I'm a sucker for cool new designs like that.
I have lots of sleeves that I have personal non-mtg plans for.
None of mine have ever split unless I did it on purpose as part of a project.
I shuffle on the side in piles. I think that makes a difference.
I store all my sleeved decks in sturdy boxes, never ever in random piles around my house or loose in a bag.
I consider my sleeve collection to be a cool part of my card collection overall alongside some folders and boxes and playmats, some of which I created my own designs for.
February 28, 2017 10:07 p.m.
I haven't had to replace any sleeves yet, just buy more for new decks.
I have had a set of Dragonshields since early 2013 that I used in Standard every week for a while, then I sleeved an EDH deck that saw play once, then I dropped out of MtG for a while. When I came back, I sleeved a Modern deck with those same Purple Dragonshields and still have them to this day. Apart from being a little bit dirty from not using playmats early on, they are still in great condition.
I will be looking to replace them soon though, and am loving the Ultimate Guard Supreme UX sleeves I just bought last week. Couldn't split them from pulling no matter how hard I tried.
Boza says... #2
Ideally, never. I hate buying new sleeves and only buy when I run out of some color, so once a year or so.
My advice is to find a sale of KMC or Dragonshield, buy a lot of them (like 10 boxes) and never worry about sleeves ever again.
February 28, 2017 9:22 a.m.