Losing cards

[Chatto]

So, back in the early nineties I lost my first card: a 4th Edition Terror. I was devestated. Since then, I never lost a card. Untill recently, when I discovered I lost a Grove of the Burnwillows. I f*cking freaked-out! I felt and was behaving like a junkie... Which was kind of weird :smile:

So, did you ever lost a card, and how did you react?

[Teveshszat]

I lost a mishras Workshop which I lent to a friend for as safety for his playset of force of Will and some duals. He put it into his folder and than into his backpack and after the tournement was over we got aware that soemone had stolen his backpack with the Workshop and many other foil rares and legacy stuff.

[TooOld4Magic]

I was playing in a big extended tournament in Seattle in 2004(?), playing an orim's chant/isochron scepter deck. When I shuffled up my deck for round 5, I realized my deck only had 59 cards in it so I looked through and found that one of my orim's chants was missing. I was able to track down my previous opponent, who'd seemed like a salty loser (admittedly that deck was no fun to play against once I had my lock). He denied having accidentally picked it up, but seemed shifty... So I was forced with the choice of either buying one from a vendor (for like $50 I think?) or dropping. I ended up dropping because I was so deflated/on-tilt.

[bruizar]

Had a bazaar of baghdad stolen from me and I lent someone 4 plateaus who lost them and never repaid them to me.

Also my brother forgot a psa 8.5 mishra's workshop he bought when he was in the US, in the hotel room never to be brought home.

[Ace/Homebrew]

I lost a mishras Workshop which I lent to a friend for as safety for his playset of force of Will and some duals.
Who got to keep the FoWs and duals? Just curious. :wink:



I lost a Terastodon from an EDH deck... I got over that pretty quickly.

[GoboLord]

So, back in the early nineties I lost my first card: a 4th Edition Terror. I was devestated. Since then, I never lost a card. Untill recently, when I discovered I lost a Grove of the Burnwillows. I f*cking freaked-out! I felt and was behaving like a junkie... Which was kind of weird :smile:

So, did you ever lost a card, and how did you react?

Short anecdote:

Its summer 2015, event location of the GP Lille. players a heading to their last round of the day. A certain player sits down at the table, grabs his deckbox, which feels too light for a 75 cardss, double sleeved ANT storm deck. WHen he opens it he figures out that his maindeck is not in there. So, the player calls a judge, tells him what happend. The judge advises him to try the lost-and-found station (knowing that nearly all hope is gone at that point). He gives him 5 minutes to find his main deck and return to the table otherwise the first game would be counted as a gameloss. The player immediately jumps up, rushes to the lost-and-found station hoping to get his maindeck back, since he has the respectable record of 6-2 and wants to approach to day 2 after that round. At the L-a-F station he aks for the deck and (after describing some defining features of the deck to the judge) gets it back. He returns to the table - just in time - takes a beating and drops out of the tournament with 6-3. After the tournament we found out that one card was missing (Misty Rainforest) -but I was never happier to accept that fact, given how much luck we had in the first place.

That's what happened to a friend of mine playing with our ANT deck.

[Sloshthedark]

had a UR pile of cards aka "deck" stolen in 1999 in school (including few Stroke of Genius and Academy) which had me quit at the time (I think I know who did it, funny enough I met him 10 years later returning to Mtg)

Lent out a Karakas to someone who doesn't have the best reputation about returning cards, months later coulnd't find one (had 2 at the time) and can't recall whether he returned it or not at the event, he said he doesn't have it, was very angry at the time but bit the bullet and bought another one... guess what I found a year later at the bottom of a junk box ... very pleasant surprise as the card went x0% up meanwhile

Lent out Gaeas Cradle to someone I do know but have no idea if he returned it or not, he said he does not have it... I can't find it anywhere and the card has been between just 2 of us (one of the few cards I have from 1999)... kidda awkward situation... you can see some pattern developing here =D

I also miss korean Landtax, I sent a few in SSS but feels weird I'd not keep one matching my Scroll rack...

I have too many cards I do not use in long periods of time, then it creates the discomforting feeling of doubt whether I really lost it, someone forgot to return it or what actually happened... i do not freak out because I have no idea what actually happened and if did not stumble upon the situation randomly I wouldn't care otherwise...


ultimately the above post reminds me of losing semi-pimped out Ant at GP Paris, after exhausting match I apparently left it on the table and some of the spectators returned it... incredible...

[Fatal]

Once in 2002/2003 I had all built Nether-Go with 4 x Undermine which was really expensive those days, was stolen from me with force (police etc was after but they didn't took case to serious), which gives me almost 10 years break from cards. Funny fact 2 weeks later my friend met those guys and repaid them, but unfortunately they sold all cards outboard which wasn't easy those days (in Poland).

Btw look what I found: http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=ptla01%5C835jss1 :-)

[sjmcc13]

Back around Mirrodin/Champs Std I lent a set of ravagers to a kid at an Extended tournament, and never got them back.

also, not 100% sure on this but when Shards came out I took a break from MtG for a couple years (there was a decent L5R group in my area, and I was enjoying my Ponies more at the time) when I came back to MtG right before Return to Rav block there were several cards I was certain I had sets of that I could not find, like Bobs, Steam Vents and V. Clique's. I think a box got misplaced in a move...

[tescrin]

So, did you ever lost a card, and how did you react?
Happened to me with a thoughtseize. Turned out to be under my bed, but I turned my room upside down when I was looking for it. It wasn't until I moved into a different room that it was found. It costed me a game at an SCG (and probably other games where the discard would've been helpful.) I was saved mildly by the fact that I typically run 61 cards.

I gave up looking after a little bit, assuming it was stolen or lost at the SCG; I sucked it up and bought TS Lorwyn #5, but I was quite happy to find it.

[Zombiesquisher]

I used to co-own a store and had been hosting a Legacy event on a Saturday. At the end of the night I had my full foiled Affinity deck sitting next to the register and went to help a customer in the case. Later that night while closing I noticed my deck had grown legs and walked off so I started asking around. Some fellow players thought they saw someone walk off with it. I happened to already distrust the accused customer so I reacted very poorley and publicly banned him from my store. I almost got into a fight over the whole incident. Turns out 5 months later I found out that my brother had put the deck in one of our lockers in the back room for safe keeping and never thought to tell me. I stopped working there about a year later to join the military but I never told the guy I banned that I found the deck. I still hate that dude for other reasons but at least I found my deck.

[barcode]

I once lost a Skullclamp after a Commander game ended and someone had "control magicked" it. Wasn't too torn up, but it was really annoying that someone would do that.

[Darkenslight]

...I had $25,000 worth of non=power cards go up in smoke, but I'm not quite sure that this is the place to post about that:

Notables included:

Foil set of Damnation and WoG(PR Wraths)
Three foil PR Cryptic Commands
Set of Judge Foil Bolts
Set of promo Wastelands
FULL Urza's playset
FULL Portal set (including playsets of Natural Order and Imperial Recruiter)
Every legal Dragon in the game (except the WotC Renton one)
Set of LEDs and Mox Diamond

[Fry]

A few years ago I was laying out my Foiled D&T deck and found that one of my Rishadan Ports reached out to somebody and had attacked itself to their hand. Luckily at the time to replace the card it was only about $80, but still horribly annoying.

Another time I was at a tournament and I have had all of the Happy Holiday cards and I thought that someone had walked off with one of them, I think it was Yule Ooze that I couldn't find, found it the next round in the little pocket of my backpack completely undamaged because I have them all double sleeved and in a hard sleeve.

At GP Cleveland my friend who had fixed seating in the side event had his opponent leave his deck box behind when he walked away after talking with a friend, I went up to the lost and found telling the judge it was the deck of the previous opponent of my friend. Guy came up frantic about if his deck made it back, had a couple pretty cool alters (why a lot Miracles players seem to have an altered deck) and was playing 2 Ojutai, thought that was pretty interesting.

[nevilshute]

Setting: it's the fall of 1994, I'm 13 years old and have been enthusiatically been playing Magic for like a few months. The core set at this time is 3rd edition and although it's taken me what feels like a long time I've finally managed to get my hands on a couple of the chase rare-card which is Shivan Dragon. My deck is - of course - unsleeved and aside from the Shivans I'm pretty sure I had at least one Vesuvan Doppelganger which was also a mighty fine card. Incidentally my deck also contains several duals but these were not particularly expensive or sought after at the time.

So I'm heading home from my LGS, deck in pocket neatly packed in a 3rd edition starter deck box (cardboard). I'm riding my bicycle through the rainy streets of Copenhagen. I'm riding down a bike path that is flanked by a grassy knoll all along its length. I reach the end of the bike path and wait at the intersection. As the light switches to green and I stand up in my pedals to get started this lady on a bike pulls at my sleeve to get my attention. As I'm already in motion I continue and stop on the opposite side of the intersection to not get stuck in traffic. She catches up to me and says something inteligable. As I give her a look of confusion she pats her jacket pocket and motions with her head towards me. I realize what she's trying to tell me and a sinking and gutwrenching feeling sets in. I feel for my deck in my jacket pocket and I learn that it is indeed no longer there. I quickly thank her and make my way back across the intersection, park my bicycle and start walking along the length of the grassy knoll. Cursing underneath my breath I spend a good 15 minutes walking back and forth along the 150 meters of grass and bike path and the deck is just gone.

I cannot believe that I can't find it and so continue for far longer than I should have, getting drenched in the process by the ever present rain of Copenhagen. By now, I try not to think, the deck is already ruined by the rain, the pieces of cardboard bloated and deformed beyond repair. Finally, I give up and it dawns on me: my entire Magic "collection" is gone. What I've spent all of the last couple of months after school trying to attain, the Shivan Dragons! They're gone. My deck gone. My hobby gone. Completely deflated I get on my bike and ride home. I get out of the wet clothes and fling myself on my bed and bury my face in my pillow. I cry a little, I'm not afraid to admit it, and swear to myself that this means I'm done with Magic for good. There's no way I'm going through that again, collecting all those cards.

I think no more than a few weeks go by before I'm back at it, and I eventually got some more Shivan Dragons.

Fun fact: I occasionally ride along the same bike path now and I never do so, without - almost as per reflex - glancing longingly at that grassy knoll in some subconcious hope that maybe, just maybe that deck box is still there somehow, buried and waiting to be found!

[Chatto]

...I had $25,000 worth of non=power cards go up in smoke, but I'm not quite sure that this is the place to post about that:

Notables included:

Foil set of Damnation and WoG(PR Wraths)
Three foil PR Cryptic Commands
Set of Judge Foil Bolts
Set of promo Wastelands
FULL Urza's playset
FULL Portal set (including playsets of Natural Order and Imperial Recruiter)
Every legal Dragon in the game (except the WotC Renton one)
Set of LEDs and Mox Diamond


Wow... Well, in a sense you lost those cards. Did you rebuild your collection?

[Sloshthedark]

@nevilshute - Would make a nice bedtime story if you'd find out the hideaway conditions of the Grassy Knoll for the happy ending and max flavor :laugh:

[Darkenslight]

Wow... Well, in a sense you lost those cards. Did you rebuild your collection?

No, sadly. I had RL issues to contend with at the time.

[Norm]

This still hurts a bit to think about, despite being rather insignificant to me today.

I first became interested in Magic: The Gathering around Odyssey block. Hammer (the owner of Hammer's Comics in New Hampshire, awesome guy) convinced me to switch from Pokemon to this game. I started off slow with some booster packs and tournament decks to practice with my friends, I was terrible. Eventually I traded and bought my way (parents' money, of course) into a standard UG Madness deck. I also managed to put together most cards for Psychatog.

One day, while casually playing at the store I decided to run across the street to grab takeout from The 99 Restaurant. I left my backpack at the store, feeling confident that familiar faces nearby would keep watch over it as they had done previously. Big mistake, 12 year old me wasn't paranoid enough to take my cards everywhere and I paid the price for that.

When I returned to the shop my bag was missing, and nobody seemed to know when or how it vanished. For all I know, the thief was still in the shop lying to my face, but there weren't any cameras in the shop to figure it out so I was pretty much screwed. I'm pretty sure I cried, no shame admitting that. But, all was not lost...

Hammer (again, awesome guy and I really miss that store) contacted some of his friends that played with him on the Pro Tour and managed to piece my entire collection back together for me by referencing the list I put together to help him spot the stolen cards. I'm pretty sure my dad paid him some amount of money for them but I don't think it was retail because he had a lot of these cards in the store but put all of this together without me knowing.

Big thanks to Hammer and my Dad for being so awesome.

To this day I won't leave my cards for even a second, and that's good advice for anyone given the amount of theft that we now know occurs at major events.

P.S: If the guy reading this is the scumbag who stole my cards, I hope you experience soul-crushing loss.

[Richard Cheese]

Pretty sure I loaned someone a Blood Moon a few years ago for an SCG open and never got it back. I thought about it months later but never bothered to say anything because "$3 card not worth worrying about", now it's somehow a $50 format staple? Thanks Obamodern!

[jrsthethird]

Pretty sure I loaned someone a Blood Moon a few years ago for an SCG open and never got it back. I thought about it months later but never bothered to say anything because "$3 card not worth worrying about", now it's somehow a $50 format staple? Thanks Obamodern!

The $1 8E Blood Moon that was run through a washer or something but still together enough to be playable must be worth at least $20 now.

[Rome]

I am very paranoid about my cards. After each round i count the number of cards in my deck, and after the tournament i count the deck twice.

I hate borrowing cards, because I have many signed cards, und it is hard to get them back, if they get lost.

A long time ago I lost 2 vindicates. I think someone stole the card out of my binder. And I sold 4 Lion's Eye Diamond. The mail got lost, and i got 50€ insurance. Now I bought yesterday another playset Lion's Eye Diamond. But I think I will never sell it via mail :D

Another story: I borrowed 4 Tropical Island to an friend at a Tournament in Milano. We were both very bad and i always sat next to him. in round 5 i saw that one Tropical island was bendet :cry: :eek:
But he is a very nice friend and bought a new Tropical Island. I will borrow him cards again.

[Whitefaces]

I've lost a bunch of cards over time, some pretty high value. My dog chewed up a Scrubland a couple of years ago too. But none of these have come close to how sad I was when a friend dropped my Scion of Darkness through a gap in the floorboards when we were young! Funny how that works, I was devastated, it's probably still there too.