My cube is sleeved with Ultra Pro Matte (I know). My main problem with them is that my cube has a lot of foils and you can't really see that they're foils unless you're in the right light. What sleeves would you recommend that are good and will show off my foils properly?
Are they single or double sleeved?
I use KMC Perfect Fits inside of KMC Hyper Mattes and they work pretty well. Any time you have a foil inside a layer or two of plastic you're going to reduce the shine though.
Gents, it has been awhile since I have posted. I currently am the curator of the KONG cube (first initial, last name) at my local LGS, Gamer's Guild, in Spring Lake, NC. We do a cube league that extends to about 15 drafts per season, trophy included. I can send more details if anyone wants to run a league (draft achievements etc) and its been successful.
I use KMC Hypermattes but I am switching out. In the 4 months I switched over, I have split over 60 sleeves! Strange I know, and they are doublesleeved with KMC perfect fits. I am going to get the KMC Character Guard outer sleeve (yes triple sleeve). What I do to save time for all the league players is pre-make the pacts as shown in the attached photo.
All the pre-made packs are stored in the Pirate lab Large with the three compartments.
I used to store all my cards in a custom made aaron cain deck box but have moved on as the pirate lab bag makes it easier to move the cube on the go. I bought 2 of them one for the cards the other for the lands, tokens, dice etc...everything you need for a mobile cube system.
I use KMC Hypermattes but I am switching out. In the 4 months I switched over, I have split over 60 sleeves! Strange I know, and they are doublesleeved with KMC perfect fits. I am going to get the KMC Character Guard outer sleeve (yes triple sleeve). What I do to save time for all the league players is pre-make the pacts as shown in the attached photo.
regarding KMC Hypermattes, that is a similar experience to mine.
However, I like your pre-made packs. I also thought about something, but I#m still looking for the right "booster material". Maybe I follow your example.
For those who remember my last post on the subject, there is a small measure of progress. All the supplies have been purchased and I've drawn up a pattern. I think I understand the work flow.
All that's left is to get some time on a long weekend, or worst case Winter Break, to crank out some prototypes.
I'm planning to change my cube sleeves real soon and KMC Hyper Mattes was one of the first choice that came to my mind when thinking about it. But I've also heard the same thing lately about their quality going down. I've bought a pack just to test it out. They seem good in general, but I've two main concerns. I've notice in the process that they seem to be a bit too short for double sleeving and that cards seem to pop out of them when shuffling. Any though on that? Also, I was wondering if they were well suited for long-term use. Should I go with regular Dragon Shield (this is what I have right now) instead? Dragon Shield Mattes? KMC Hyper Mattes? Others? Sleeves being opaque or not, for DFC cards purpose, is another of my concern. Purple and Black KMC Hyper Matters seems to be just fine on that point, as the regular regular Red Dragon Shield that I have right now, but I don't know about the Dragon Shield Mattes and others.
I am using Dragon Shield Mattes exclusively at the moment, because I just love them. I don't like the glossy ones, because of the way they feel. If opaqueness is what you need, it depends on the color of the Dragon Shield Mattes. The lighter colors are transparent, but colors like black or purple are totally opaque.
@Zetsu_Sensei: Earlier this year we moved from black KMC Mattes to black KMC Hyper Mattes. It seems that we bust at least one sleeve every time we cube since going to the Hyper Mattes. I believe it's due to side shuffling and the corners poking into the side of the sleeves as they come down on each other. I've also noticed several that I've had to replace due to the bottom splitting. After every few drafts, I find that I need to go through the entire cube and pull the 'bad' sleeves that are busting open at the bottom. Obviously the KMC Mattes had busted sleeves and splitting issues as well, but we had those sleeves on for something like three years or so, maybe even four and the amount of busted sleeves was nowhere near what I've seen with the Hypers. The last thing I don't like as well is the texture on the back of the Hypers vs the normal Mattes. The Mattes felt just that, matte. Not glossy. The Hypers have a rough texture that, I guess, is supposed to protect from scratches and grime. I'm not a fan of it, though. That's not really a fault of the sleeve, but more a personal preference of mine.
With all that said, it's possible that I just ended up with a few bad packs when I purchased mine, however, I probably won't be going with Hypers when we upgrade sleeves again.
I had been considering creating "draft packs" in my cube. My thought was to use 80 card deck boxes with three dividers for packs, and then the drafter could use the deck box to have their full deck, lands, tokens, and sideboard in. Has anyone else used this approach? It will take a pretty large box, but it will be a self contained ready to draft cube set up.
@Zetsu_Sensei: Earlier this year we moved from black KMC Mattes to black KMC Hyper Mattes. It seems that we bust at least one sleeve every time we cube since going to the Hyper Mattes. I believe it's due to side shuffling and the corners poking into the side of the sleeves as they come down on each other. I've also noticed several that I've had to replace due to the bottom splitting. After every few drafts, I find that I need to go through the entire cube and pull the 'bad' sleeves that are busting open at the bottom. Obviously the KMC Mattes had busted sleeves and splitting issues as well, but we had those sleeves on for something like three years or so, maybe even four and the amount of busted sleeves was nowhere near what I've seen with the Hypers. The last thing I don't like as well is the texture on the back of the Hypers vs the normal Mattes. The Mattes felt just that, matte. Not glossy. The Hypers have a rough texture that, I guess, is supposed to protect from scratches and grime. I'm not a fan of it, though. That's not really a fault of the sleeve, but more a personal preference of mine.
With all that said, it's possible that I just ended up with a few bad packs when I purchased mine, however, I probably won't be going with Hypers when we upgrade sleeves again.
This is trully worrisome. It's exaxctly the kind of comment that makes me hesitate buying into KMC Hyper Mattes. Can anyone else testify on this?
@Zetsu_Sensei: Earlier this year we moved from black KMC Mattes to black KMC Hyper Mattes. It seems that we bust at least one sleeve every time we cube since going to the Hyper Mattes. I believe it's due to side shuffling and the corners poking into the side of the sleeves as they come down on each other. I've also noticed several that I've had to replace due to the bottom splitting. After every few drafts, I find that I need to go through the entire cube and pull the 'bad' sleeves that are busting open at the bottom. Obviously the KMC Mattes had busted sleeves and splitting issues as well, but we had those sleeves on for something like three years or so, maybe even four and the amount of busted sleeves was nowhere near what I've seen with the Hypers. The last thing I don't like as well is the texture on the back of the Hypers vs the normal Mattes. The Mattes felt just that, matte. Not glossy. The Hypers have a rough texture that, I guess, is supposed to protect from scratches and grime. I'm not a fan of it, though. That's not really a fault of the sleeve, but more a personal preference of mine.
With all that said, it's possible that I just ended up with a few bad packs when I purchased mine, however, I probably won't be going with Hypers when we upgrade sleeves again.
This is trully worrisome. It's exaxctly the kind of comment that makes me hesitate buying into KMC Hyper Mattes. Can anyone else testify on this?
My legacy decks in KMC hyper mattes barely split any sleeves, but my cube has a ton. Maybe its my ham handed people playing my cube, haha. I'm going to be going to DS Mattes when I resleeve to try them out. I like the new Sky blue color too. I did however have two full runs of hyper mattes on my cubes so far and they did the job well. I guess it just depends how your players shuffle.
I wanna know what kind of damage you guys mean by splitting, busting, etc. If by split you mean at the top where the transparent is separated from the opaque, it rarely happens for me.
I do have the occasional holes at the bottom, but I do think sometimes it's more of air trying to get out when one tries to double sleeve. Air retention IMO is the number 1 problem for spoilt sleeves. Number 2 problem is the various handlers. There're certainly slob shufflers. Just because it's not your cards doesn't mean one should mistreat them.
I had splitting at the top and at the sides, but never at the bottom. Also I had the problem, that some of the KMCs and the UltraPros got "marked" after a few plays really fast, because they got bumps on the backside and after a few plays, I knew what card was in those sleeves.
In a recent Professor's video he talks about the increase the KMC Hyper Mat splitting, in the same video he talks about the new Dragon Shields Matte and how durable it is. I think, for cube purposes, the durability is a major factor, so i'll go with DS when i re-sleeve my cube, since many people are complaining about the Hypers.
I have been splitting one or two KMC Hyper Mats per draft.
It is disappointing
I've been playing KMC Hyper mats on my EDH decks for YEARS and have yet to split even one. I play Hareruya sleeves on my cube, and I'm pretty sure they are made at the KMC foundry. I have also never split, or seen someone else split, a Hareruya. Its would seem that KMC has changed the process, or formula, and that kinda ruffles my jimmies. KMC has been go to specifically due to their durability and dirt resistance.
For another point of reference, I've had purple KMC hyper mats on my cube for about six months now, and I use the lands from my cube for drafting at FNM on occasion. I haven't had any sleeves split in this time.
I bought regular Dragon Shields (not the matte) and hated the way it made my cards feel while shuffling compared to KMC Mattes.
I'll have to try the DS mattes but I'm not looking to spend money on something I might not like.
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I bought regular Dragon Shields (not the matte) and hated the way it made my cards feel while shuffling compared to KMC Mattes.
I'll have to try the DS mattes but I'm not looking to spend money on something I might not like.
I also didn't like the non-matte Dragon Shields. But the matte ones are a huge difference. You still don't have the awesome shuffle feeling of KMC, more like something in the mittle between KMC and Ultra Pro Matte. But that is enough for me.
I bought regular Dragon Shields (not the matte) and hated the way it made my cards feel while shuffling compared to KMC Mattes.
I'll have to try the DS mattes but I'm not looking to spend money on something I might not like.
I also didn't like the non-matte Dragon Shields. But the matte ones are a huge difference. You still don't have the awesome shuffle feeling of KMC, more like something in the mittle between KMC and Ultra Pro Matte. But that is enough for me.
I find the Ultra Pro Mattes awkward to shuffle also (I've got some for booster draft).
I'm willing to try the DS Mattes though, I guess I'll have to take the plunge.
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I've heard that Ultra Pro Eclipse sleeves are really good sleeves now. I'm having issues finding them though. I get a lot of my sleeves off of Amazon and they don't seem to have many of them in stock. Are they no longer making these?
Anyone know where I can get some of these for my cube?
Are they single or double sleeved?
I use KMC Perfect Fits inside of KMC Hyper Mattes and they work pretty well. Any time you have a foil inside a layer or two of plastic you're going to reduce the shine though.
I use KMC Hypermattes but I am switching out. In the 4 months I switched over, I have split over 60 sleeves! Strange I know, and they are doublesleeved with KMC perfect fits. I am going to get the KMC Character Guard outer sleeve (yes triple sleeve). What I do to save time for all the league players is pre-make the pacts as shown in the attached photo.
All the pre-made packs are stored in the Pirate lab Large with the three compartments.
I used to store all my cards in a custom made aaron cain deck box but have moved on as the pirate lab bag makes it easier to move the cube on the go. I bought 2 of them one for the cards the other for the lands, tokens, dice etc...everything you need for a mobile cube system.
regarding KMC Hypermattes, that is a similar experience to mine.
However, I like your pre-made packs. I also thought about something, but I#m still looking for the right "booster material". Maybe I follow your example.
Or are you interested in a Fiora flavor cube? Conspire and win!
Level 2 Judge
For those who remember my last post on the subject, there is a small measure of progress. All the supplies have been purchased and I've drawn up a pattern. I think I understand the work flow.
All that's left is to get some time on a long weekend, or worst case Winter Break, to crank out some prototypes.
I'm planning to change my cube sleeves real soon and KMC Hyper Mattes was one of the first choice that came to my mind when thinking about it. But I've also heard the same thing lately about their quality going down. I've bought a pack just to test it out. They seem good in general, but I've two main concerns. I've notice in the process that they seem to be a bit too short for double sleeving and that cards seem to pop out of them when shuffling. Any though on that? Also, I was wondering if they were well suited for long-term use. Should I go with regular Dragon Shield (this is what I have right now) instead? Dragon Shield Mattes? KMC Hyper Mattes? Others? Sleeves being opaque or not, for DFC cards purpose, is another of my concern. Purple and Black KMC Hyper Matters seems to be just fine on that point, as the regular regular Red Dragon Shield that I have right now, but I don't know about the Dragon Shield Mattes and others.
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Or are you interested in a Fiora flavor cube? Conspire and win!
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EDIT : Also, I've one simple question about KMC for you guys : KMC Hyper Mattes or KMC Mattes Series?
Zetsu's Cube on CubeTutor.com
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Edit: I checked and unfortunately, Dragon Shield Red Mattes are not opaque.
Or are you interested in a Fiora flavor cube? Conspire and win!
Level 2 Judge
With all that said, it's possible that I just ended up with a few bad packs when I purchased mine, however, I probably won't be going with Hypers when we upgrade sleeves again.
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This is trully worrisome. It's exaxctly the kind of comment that makes me hesitate buying into KMC Hyper Mattes. Can anyone else testify on this?
Zetsu's Cube on CubeTutor.com
Zetsu's Ebay MTG Online Store
Zetsu's Poker Draft Method
My legacy decks in KMC hyper mattes barely split any sleeves, but my cube has a ton. Maybe its my ham handed people playing my cube, haha. I'm going to be going to DS Mattes when I resleeve to try them out. I like the new Sky blue color too. I did however have two full runs of hyper mattes on my cubes so far and they did the job well. I guess it just depends how your players shuffle.
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I do have the occasional holes at the bottom, but I do think sometimes it's more of air trying to get out when one tries to double sleeve. Air retention IMO is the number 1 problem for spoilt sleeves. Number 2 problem is the various handlers. There're certainly slob shufflers. Just because it's not your cards doesn't mean one should mistreat them.
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The video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVseWNsM7eo&t=608s
It is disappointing
I've been playing KMC Hyper mats on my EDH decks for YEARS and have yet to split even one. I play Hareruya sleeves on my cube, and I'm pretty sure they are made at the KMC foundry. I have also never split, or seen someone else split, a Hareruya. Its would seem that KMC has changed the process, or formula, and that kinda ruffles my jimmies. KMC has been go to specifically due to their durability and dirt resistance.
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I bought regular Dragon Shields (not the matte) and hated the way it made my cards feel while shuffling compared to KMC Mattes.
I'll have to try the DS mattes but I'm not looking to spend money on something I might not like.
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I also didn't like the non-matte Dragon Shields. But the matte ones are a huge difference. You still don't have the awesome shuffle feeling of KMC, more like something in the mittle between KMC and Ultra Pro Matte. But that is enough for me.
Or are you interested in a Fiora flavor cube? Conspire and win!
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I find the Ultra Pro Mattes awkward to shuffle also (I've got some for booster draft).
I'm willing to try the DS Mattes though, I guess I'll have to take the plunge.
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Anyone know where I can get some of these for my cube?
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