Playing foil cards

[Dia_Bot]

I have a question on playing foil cards regarding the upcoming GP.

Would it cause problems if you play some foil cards and some non-foil cards in your deck or does your entire deck have to be either foil or non-foil?

What is the judge ruling if some cards in your deck are foil but there is no pattern?

[Malchar]

It only matters if it's somehow noticeable while looking at the back or sides of the card. If all your foils are noticeably bent even while in cases and in a deck, then I don't think you can use them unless the whole deck is like that.

[Esper3k]

There isn't any rule against playing foils, it's just that they have potential to become marked cards in a deck (for example, Malchar's example above) due to their tendency to bend/warp.

People try and play a higher concentration of foils in a deck because of that.

Also, try and avoid having only one type of card be foil. It's fishy if the only foils in your deck are your 4x Tarmogoyfs or only your lands, for example.

[Dia_Bot]

Thanks for the replies.

I'll try to flatten the ones with visible bending or it doesn't work i'll remove them from the deck.

[Malchar]

There's a thread floating around about how to flatten foils. Someone in there mentioned a great tip. You want to take the card and press it up against the corner of a table or any hard edge and then slowly slide it against the corner. It will look like you're bending the card a lot, but it works quite well, especially for foils which are very bent.

[Koby]

Another tip is to tape a sleeve onto a water bottle lengthwise, then fit the card inside and let it sit for a few days with the card facing out. Most foils tend to curl concave to the card face, and this may help to undo that curling.

[Esper3k]

Here is an interesting one that I heard, but have never gotten around to trying yet:

See, cards supposedly warp because the back of the card absorbs moisture and expands while the foil/metal side doesn't absorb water, so it doesn't expand (that's why they curve in towards the foil side).

A guy I know claims that he has gotten foils to unbend by putting them in a container with those little powder packets you get with new shoes that absorb moisture. This is supposed to suck the moisture out of your cards and put them back to normal.

Personally, I just immediately double sleeve any foils I care about as soon as I get them and that's been working fine for me to keep them from bending.

[dahcmai]

I have some of those little silica packets you get in shoe boxes and such in my ultra pro box and it does the trick quite well. I never have a problem with bent up foils unless it's really humid out and even then they straighten back out when the weather adjusts again. It's a worthwhile practice.

[Dia_Bot]

That is quite interesting.
I've tried the table corner method and it's working quite well, now to go search for some silica packs :).

[useL]

Or just play with double sleeves =)

[mchainmail]

Or just play with double sleeves =)

Doesn't always work... I double sleeve everything and still notice some issues.

[Tammit67]

Doesn't always work... I double sleeve everything and still notice some issues.

Yes, but do your opponents? ;)

(No that isn't the point)

[Koby]

FWIW I consider any deck with a mix of both foils and non-foils to be cheating.

[Offler]

A friend of mine is foil maniac... Has almost all cards in his deck foil and he claimed that he can recognize double-sleeved card if its foil or not, but he never succeeded.

But the trick with the silica gel seems to be working for my few foils...

At all when playing against all foil deck you are expected to wear sunglasses :D

[Esper3k]

FWIW I consider any deck with a mix of both foils and non-foils to be cheating.

So you play with 0 foil cards in any deck with dual lands or FoW?

[Sims]

So you play with 0 foil cards in any deck with dual lands or FoW?

I do out of principle, not necessarily because I find it to be cheating.

I like my decks to be uniform in language and appearance... so if it's foil, the whole deck has to be, 75/75 not 67/75.

[Koby]

So you play with 0 foil cards in any deck with dual lands or FoW?

That's right. Finding foil jace and goyf is hard enough as it is :)

[Esper3k]

That's right. Finding foil jace and goyf is hard enough as it is :)

Fair enough. For everyone else, the official rule of "just don't have marked cards" is fine :)