You sit down to play a game of Magic and start to shuffle your deck. But, wait – one of your sleeves has split again, though you bought them not so long ago. To prevent such scenarios, you want to have the best MTG card sleeves possible.
There are many sleeves on the market, so it can be hard to choose the right one. We won’t overwhelm you with too many options, though. Today we’ll simply take a look at five best MTG sleeves on the market. When deciding which ones are the best, we’ll mainly focus on two things – durability and ease of shuffling.
Among our five favorites, you’ll first find the best budget option, followed by an old-time favorite. The final three sleeves are certainly the best ones out there, as they often make Magic players argue which one is the undisputed favorite.
#5 TitanShield Sleeves
The reason for the TitanShield’s being in our top 5 sleeves is their ratio of durability versus cost. You’ll get a very fair price for the 150-sleeves value pack. Sleeves are one of the most robust on the market. They almost never split, however, they are also not the best for shuffling.
If you don’t care about looks and shuffling feel, but just want a sleeve that will last you for basically forever for a low price, they are still a reasonable choice.
Pros
- Very durable;
- fairly cheap.
Cons
- Only in black color;
- slightly wider than other sleeves, which allows dust to get in;
- not very nice for shuffling.
#4 KMC Hyper Mat
KMC Hyper MAT sleeves used to be one of the best sleeves on the market. Lately there have been some reports of decline of the quality, and therefore they fell to the fourth place.
They are pleasant on feel and are perfectly sized for single sleeved cards. You can also fit a double sleeved card in it with some effort.
Pros
- Foils look really nice in them;
- great for single sleeved cards;
- cards almost never stick together.
Cons
- Some of the new batches seem worse;
- after lots of shuffling, the edges start to split slightly;
- slightly different sizes from pack to pack.
#3 Ultimate Guard Katana Sleeves
Besides great deck boxes, Ultimate Guard also makes impressive sleeves. The Katana sleeves are somewhat newer, than most sleeves on this list. They already have quite big following of people, who even claim that Katanas are the best sleeves on the market.
To be fair, all of our top three picks for the best MTG card sleeves are pretty optimal. Which ones are truly the best is hard to say, but you won’t be disappointed with any of them.
Pros
- Amazing feel;
- great for shuffling;
- plenty of colors to choose from.
Cons
- Corners bend after some use;
- cards sometimes stick together;
- not the best for double sleeved cards.
#2 Ultra Pro Eclipse
Ultra Pro sleeves used to be a complete joke. They would split even just a single draft match. They still make those sleeves, and they are cheap if nothing else.
However, their newer premium Eclipse Pro-Matte sleeves are a major step in the right direction. They are very durable, compared to most other sleeves. Their best feature is the ease of shuffling.
If you really enjoy shuffling cards, these sleeves are the right ones for you.
Pros
- The best shuffling feel;
- durable;
- constant size;
- great with double sleeves;
- plenty of colors to select from.
Cons
- They become dirty more quickly than some other sleeves;
- the color shades may vary slightly from pack to pack;
- foil cards don’t look very special in them.
#1 Dragon Shield Matte
Finally, our number one pick, the best MTG card sleeve on the market – Dragon Shield Matte. They will last you years. Honestly, we still have some Dragon Shields, that we bought more than five years ago, that work just fine. Although they do get dirtier after so much use, you can still clean them fairly easily.
Besides that, Dragon Shield succeeded where others failed. They manage to put art, that doesn’t peel off, on their sleeves. You can check different variations on Amazon.
Pros
- The most durable sleeves on the market;
- they come in different colors;
- you can get sleeves with art on them;
- okay for shuffling;
- cards don’t stick together when shuffling;
- great customer support, contact them if your sleeves arrived damaged, and they’ll replace them.
Cons
- If you’re playing with double-sided cards like Delver of Secrets, you need the Black version, since others have slightly transparent backs.
- A tiny bit bigger than other sleeves, which might be worse if your cards aren’t double sleeved.
Finally, if you want to know more about those sleeves, you can find Dragon Shield Sleeves Review here.
Your Favorites
Hopefully we helped you pick the right sleeves for you. Are you already using some? Tell us which ones in the comments below.
If you’re looking for more Magic accessories, you can check best deck boxes or read about best buys for new players. On the other hand, if you’re also a fan of the Pokemon TCG, you can find the best Pokemon card sleeves here.
That’s all for today, until next time, may your sleeves never split.
Do I need really the Dragon Shield Matte black? Or only darker colors?
What do you think about the Dragon Shield Matte Non-Glare / Dragon Shield Dual Matte?
Darker colors might be better if you’re playing with a lot of double-faced cards in your deck in a competitive setting. However, you mostly won’t be able to see through the lighter colors as well.
Any kind of matte sleeves are usually great so you won’t miss with either of these two options. As far as the quality goes, when it comes to Dragon Shields, most of their sleeves are top-notch.