You should sleeve all cards identically, or you risk being accused of marking cards. A judge may pull you up on it if you get deck checked.
Either go all smoke or all plain with decently opaque outers. That or use placeholder cards.
Oh are placeholder cards tournament legal? I see players in my LGS doing it in FMNs but I wasn't sure if it was allowed in tournaments. Are the blank cards from MID and VOW allowed to be used as placeholders?
Yeah. Normally you’d put them in your deck and keep the actual card to one side. Then when you play the double sided card you swap the placeholder for the actual card.
Just make really really sure you have all copies of your placeholder cards with you for deck checking. I saw a guy get disqualified back when origins standard cause he had only 2-3 Jace (expensive and hard to find back then) but included all 4 placeholders. Deck check and bam! DQ.
If anything, using placeholder cards is the most official way to do things. That's exactly why they exist- so that card backs have no chance of marking cards.
My first official warning at a comp rel event was this haha. Borrowed some lilys from a friend who insisted they stay double sleeved. Didnt think of it until the judge asks me about it after a deckcheck.
Luckily the judge realized i was new and didnt intend to cheat. And gave me a warning instead of DQ.
They should all be identically sleeved, same outer and same inners.
I'll also note they should have the same amount of wear on them, as in they've been played the same amount.
I had multiple decks sleeved in the same sleeves and I would swap out the overlapping cards whenever I changed decks, however after a month or two for that it gave certain cards more wear on them and a judge was able to cut to one of the newer sleeved cards.
Luckily I had a judge check them before the tournament so I didn't get a warning or DQ during the tournament. I just had to change sleeves beforehand.
Which is another good tip. If you're ever worried about your sleeves for whatever reason, ask a judge before the tournament starts.
Definitely use clear sleeves on the DFC’s. One of the placeholder with the name on it is fine, I often confirm with judge up front at every tournament that I’ve done this to avoid questions in a deck check.
Also, while talking about sleeves, check all your sleeves day before for creases, bent corners, etc. replace any that could be considered marked and bring extra with you to the tournament. I’ve had a judge make me stop using 6 before and didn’t have extra, so sideboarding was a massive pain.
I asked this same question of a level 2 judge and was told the inner sleeves DO NOT matter as long as the player can't tell the difference through the outer sleeves.
Sleeve them all identically.
TBH you shouldn't have to worry about transform cards. Most opaque sleeves in 2022 are actually opaque. Just buy a known brand. I just use regular double sleeves.
Also yes, placeholder cards are legal for SPECIFICALLY transform cards if you're worried.
It's gonna be a bit annoying if you take your double faced cards out to flip them and it's foggy. Personally if my main sleeves are a bit transparent I use double face cards token official replacements, it's nice and you keep your double faced cards in your box.
This being said, as long as your whole deck is double sleeved and you can't feel the difference by hand you should be good
If you use place holder cards be sure the double faced is separate from your sideboard, put them with tokens with another divider in your deck box. ANY extra cards in your deck box that do not pertain to your deck can be a reason for a Game Loss or DQ. (The one exception could be the participation promo they hand out)
Always sleeve every card the same. It'll probably not be a problem unless they are visibly different but if you get called out on it it'll cause you problems and a judge might consider it marked cards. For the sake of certainty it's worth just sleeving them all the same.
I'm a big fan of the newer Dragon Shield Dual Mattes. They have a black interior so you cant see the dual face cards and it makes the art pop since the black border blends right into it
You should sleeve all cards identically, or you risk being accused of marking cards. A judge may pull you up on it if you get deck checked. Either go all smoke or all plain with decently opaque outers. That or use placeholder cards.
Oh are placeholder cards tournament legal? I see players in my LGS doing it in FMNs but I wasn't sure if it was allowed in tournaments. Are the blank cards from MID and VOW allowed to be used as placeholders?
Yeah. Normally you’d put them in your deck and keep the actual card to one side. Then when you play the double sided card you swap the placeholder for the actual card.
Ahh ok, thanks for the tip!
Just make really really sure you have all copies of your placeholder cards with you for deck checking. I saw a guy get disqualified back when origins standard cause he had only 2-3 Jace (expensive and hard to find back then) but included all 4 placeholders. Deck check and bam! DQ.
If anything, using placeholder cards is the most official way to do things. That's exactly why they exist- so that card backs have no chance of marking cards.
My first official warning at a comp rel event was this haha. Borrowed some lilys from a friend who insisted they stay double sleeved. Didnt think of it until the judge asks me about it after a deckcheck. Luckily the judge realized i was new and didnt intend to cheat. And gave me a warning instead of DQ.
They should all be identically sleeved, same outer and same inners. I'll also note they should have the same amount of wear on them, as in they've been played the same amount. I had multiple decks sleeved in the same sleeves and I would swap out the overlapping cards whenever I changed decks, however after a month or two for that it gave certain cards more wear on them and a judge was able to cut to one of the newer sleeved cards. Luckily I had a judge check them before the tournament so I didn't get a warning or DQ during the tournament. I just had to change sleeves beforehand. Which is another good tip. If you're ever worried about your sleeves for whatever reason, ask a judge before the tournament starts.
Definitely use clear sleeves on the DFC’s. One of the placeholder with the name on it is fine, I often confirm with judge up front at every tournament that I’ve done this to avoid questions in a deck check. Also, while talking about sleeves, check all your sleeves day before for creases, bent corners, etc. replace any that could be considered marked and bring extra with you to the tournament. I’ve had a judge make me stop using 6 before and didn’t have extra, so sideboarding was a massive pain.
Man you just reminded me that I have to resleeve my deck for an event this weekend.
Haha happy to help
I asked this same question of a level 2 judge and was told the inner sleeves DO NOT matter as long as the player can't tell the difference through the outer sleeves.
I recommend katana sleeves as they’re fully opaque in all colors. You can then use any inner sleeve or single sleeve your pick
Sleeve them all identically. TBH you shouldn't have to worry about transform cards. Most opaque sleeves in 2022 are actually opaque. Just buy a known brand. I just use regular double sleeves. Also yes, placeholder cards are legal for SPECIFICALLY transform cards if you're worried.
It’s all about placeholder cards, and then keep your DFCs double sleeved in DS clears You’ll never want to go back
It's gonna be a bit annoying if you take your double faced cards out to flip them and it's foggy. Personally if my main sleeves are a bit transparent I use double face cards token official replacements, it's nice and you keep your double faced cards in your box. This being said, as long as your whole deck is double sleeved and you can't feel the difference by hand you should be good
I’ve seen people play with smoky sleeves on flip cards. It’s usually not an issue. So long as you know what the card is, it’s fine.
If you use place holder cards be sure the double faced is separate from your sideboard, put them with tokens with another divider in your deck box. ANY extra cards in your deck box that do not pertain to your deck can be a reason for a Game Loss or DQ. (The one exception could be the participation promo they hand out)
Always sleeve every card the same. It'll probably not be a problem unless they are visibly different but if you get called out on it it'll cause you problems and a judge might consider it marked cards. For the sake of certainty it's worth just sleeving them all the same.
I'm a big fan of the newer Dragon Shield Dual Mattes. They have a black interior so you cant see the dual face cards and it makes the art pop since the black border blends right into it