I've been reading articles about theft in mtg and while they have a lot of good info in them, I noticed that none of them touch on ways to keep people from stealing when you're drafting with your cube. I figure if there are people out there who can swipe a card from your binder without you noticing, it's not too far of a stretch to believe people can quick swap cards out from their cube picks without you even noticing, especially if you're in the middle of a game. It's great to assume that everyone I'd ever be playing with is trustworthy enough to not do anything like this, but I feel that it'd be naive of me to believe this.
So my question is am I the only one worried about this? And if not, what are some things people are doing to keep the valuable stuff in their cube safe?
Our group just has multiple cubes. Cheap one for drafting with strangers, expensive one only with friends. Another thing to do is make everyone count their cards at the end of draft, confirm everyone has 45. Then, make everyone make a decklist. Then, don't let anyone leave until you've confirmed you have all the cards they registered. It sucks, but there's too many scumbags not to take precautions. Make sure you tell everyone ahead of time this will be the procedure. Hopefully people that want to steal won't think it's worth it.
Echoing the advice to have an inexpensive cube available to draft with strangers. You can also proxy up your main cube, or just proxy the expensive cards to slot in/out depending on the group.
Personally, I own a set of revised dual lands, but I've never included them in my main (edh) cube. I picked up a set of the RtR guild identity cards, and just include a slip of paper with the dual's name and land types. No one should really care that you're using proxies for expensive cards, especially if theft is a genuine concern in your area.
I've always thrown caution to the wind, which hasn't burned me yet. I do cube with strangers at my LGS. I trust the owners, and if there's someone I don't know, chances are the owner, or one of my friends knows the person. I wouldn't do the same in Auckland (our biggest city in NZ), and I'm not taking my cube overseas with me when I leave.
Yeah, looks like swapping the expensive cards out for cheap stuff really is the best option for me when playing with people I don't know that well. I was thinking about adding to the counting idea by putting a number on each card and the sleeve it's in so I can tell if a card got swapped out and out of who's pool it was, but that's just so much work..
Or have a proxy cube. Or proxy up your cube *shrug*.
That has the side benefit of protecting your real cards in an accidental beverage spill or table flip...
Why would you take a chance drafting with strangers if you're worried about theft? I know I think the same way, and I refuse to let people that I don't know, or don't have someone in my playgroup to vouch for them, draft my cube. It's sad that it has come to that, but I've heard way too many tragic stories about people having their stuff stolen. It's just not worth it in my opinion.
Our group just has multiple cubes. Cheap one for drafting with strangers, expensive one only with friends. Another thing to do is make everyone count their cards at the end of draft, confirm everyone has 45. Then, make everyone make a decklist. Then, don't let anyone leave until you've confirmed you have all the cards they registered. It sucks, but there's too many scumbags not to take precautions. Make sure you tell everyone ahead of time this will be the procedure. Hopefully people that want to steal won't think it's worth it.
I really like this idea of asking everyone to make a decklist. This is doubly useful in the sense you can track how each particular archetype that you have in the cube is doing. In my cube I'm trying to keep the relative power level of each archetype roughly equal. If I had access to all the lists that would really help me figure out what to modify. Thanks for the idea!
I don't understand why Cube builders don't just take collateral instead of going to extreme measures of printing out 400 proxies or only cubing with your closest friends. Drivers license, car keys, or mobile phone,and you don't get it back until Ive counted and verified your pool when youre finished playing.
At the very least, ask to see the photo ids of the people you don't know personally and write down their full name. I was especially glad I started doing this after I found out that one of our new players I didnt know was using a fake name on facebook for who knows what reason.
You don't have to bust out the jank or throw caution to the wind just because you're cubing with strangers.
I don't understand why Cube builders don't just take collateral instead of going to extreme measures of printing out 400 proxies or only cubing with your closest friends. Drivers license, car keys, or mobile phone,and you don't get it back until Ive counted and verified your pool when youre finished playing.
At the very least, ask to see the photo ids of the people you don't know personally and write down their full name. I was especially glad I started doing this after I found out that one of our new players I didnt know was using a fake name on facebook for who knows what reason.
You don't have to bust out the jank or throw caution to the wind just because you're cubing with strangers.
While I cannot agree more with this. I think that many people are intimidated to go to those measures. I even have problems with my own friends acting a bit more rough than I would like, although I've never had any card damaged.
So my question is am I the only one worried about this? And if not, what are some things people are doing to keep the valuable stuff in their cube safe?
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Personally, I own a set of revised dual lands, but I've never included them in my main (edh) cube. I picked up a set of the RtR guild identity cards, and just include a slip of paper with the dual's name and land types. No one should really care that you're using proxies for expensive cards, especially if theft is a genuine concern in your area.
"Personally I love high-riak, low-reqars gambles. Life's best with a decent amount of riak. And f*** reqars."
Juju Alters - Altered MTG Cards
That has the side benefit of protecting your real cards in an accidental beverage spill or table flip...
Old school group, sometimes more beer than cards. Revised thru Tempest block (and a little of Urza), sorry if I don't know all the new cards
Ye' Olde Schoole Casual Decks: BUReanimate -- GRAggro -- BWPestilence -- G10-land Stompy -- GRElfball -- GWEnchantress -- RAnkh Sligh -- BDiscard -- MUC "Draw-go" -- BRSuicide -- UWSkies -- UHigh Tide Mill -- WWeenie -- UMutated Bombers -- URThe great land-toss -- UB Molasass
I really like this idea of asking everyone to make a decklist. This is doubly useful in the sense you can track how each particular archetype that you have in the cube is doing. In my cube I'm trying to keep the relative power level of each archetype roughly equal. If I had access to all the lists that would really help me figure out what to modify. Thanks for the idea!
BGGRock
Modern
BRGJund
BBGRock
At the very least, ask to see the photo ids of the people you don't know personally and write down their full name. I was especially glad I started doing this after I found out that one of our new players I didnt know was using a fake name on facebook for who knows what reason.
You don't have to bust out the jank or throw caution to the wind just because you're cubing with strangers.
While I cannot agree more with this. I think that many people are intimidated to go to those measures. I even have problems with my own friends acting a bit more rough than I would like, although I've never had any card damaged.
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