Honestly I'll never understand this mindset. Sure, some cards have resale value, but I've never bought them to sell. I like having a collection, but I acquired them to play with, not to put in sleeves or cases. If some of them get weathered over the years, it just means they're well used and beloved. Even the cards my children have damaged by biting, spills, or careless crumpling are still perfectly playable.
Every time i watch a recent Pretty Deece, it's style is all over the place and somehow it's always a slam dunk. Keep it going please I beg of you (let's go algorithm also)!
When I went to the Ixalan prerelease, there was a dad and his young son sitting across from us. The kid had just started playing Magic, and his dad agreed to go to the prerelease with him. We open our packs and start deck building, and I see the kid is working his fingernail into the corner of his Growing Rites of Itlimoc, trying to peel off the second card that he thinks is stuck to the back of it. By the time I notice and say something, his card is irreparably damaged. DFCs are cool and all, but the new player experience is a disaster. Obviously this kid's experience is an outlier, but whenever I lend a deck to a newer player, they find it incredibly frustrating to unsleeve and resleeve their DFCs just to read what the card does.
At first I was like "who killed the graphics dude?" but I realized I'm really just here for Jon (sorry graphics dude, you unsung hero). Pretty Deece is pretty deece.
I can't speak for everyone, but I loved DFCs as a new player in Shadows over Innistrad. Beyond the incredible flavour, powering up your cards by literally tranforming them is mechanically euphoric. Westvale Abbey was my first and favourite Magic card. Flipping a land into a 9/7 indestructible, flying, lifelink, haste before you start playing constructed and find out bounce effects exist is unreal.
1:49 Jon: "At this point, I know what you're thinking." Me: "Why in Heliod's holy name are you bridge shuffling?? Don't you care? DON'T YOU EVEN CARE?!?" Jon: "Why not use card sleeves?" Me: "OH... Yeah, that too I guess."
Moments like that remind me that I shuffled cards like Yawgmoth's Will and Time Spiral without sleeves, and I wince a little every time. Oh, and the original dual lands too, of course.
The first videos in the return of pretty deece didn’t quite capture the thing that made the originals so entertaining. This one does! It’s not overly complicated but you have to sort of know the cards and mechanics to really get the message, for newer players it’s like having conversations with people who know a ton, they don’t need to understand it for all the cool cards to keep their attention (with the added bonus of not being in a game store where they could be looked at weird for not getting it). For older players it’s simply a very polished opinion piece which reminds you of all the cards you like. I watched and rewatched a ton of pretty deece when getting into magic because looking at the old cards from legends, ravnica, and reading up on the actual text on the textless promos. Cards are cool and fun so thank you tcg player for continuing to give this show a place to be published.
Also fuck dfcs you know how annoying it is to flip your cards when you double sleeve??? Or legit how much that breaks the flow of gameplay, worse even than fetch lands because fetching takes long enough that you can continue talking to your friends or opponents as you search and shuffle. With dfcs and especially mdfcs it’s just long enough to be mildly annoying.
One of the big three video essayists for MTG. The slice you've carved out for this channel is so unlike Rhystic and Spice, and I love the focus on design, competitive play, data, and game history. It's so clean and crisp, tied together with compelling narration.
@@tcgplayercom it's a real... experience. I'd highly recommend it. But be prepared to flip the book upside-down, sideways and diagonally to get the full effect.
When I started player magic in theros block I opened a pharika snake token in a pack and thought it was just a free 1/1 death touch. Was reminded of this when you mentioned the awareness of sleeves
I don't know why the style for these videos is so wildly different every time they release, but it's honestly not a problem. It keeps things fresh and interesting, and is a novel way to discuss unique topics!
Just saw my favorite video essay channel had a new video pop up on my timeline and have to say, already made my week. Oh, and I’m already a TCGPlayer subscriber so I can say from experience it’s objectively awesome. I make more than my monthly fee in store credit every month.
So ima have a card that must be in a sleeve to play in the deck, but then i gotta take it outa the sleeve to play with it on the table? And then i presume to put it back into the sleeve after it dies? Am i reading this correct?
I wanted to address a couple of things from this video: 1) most people will find MTG at this point and time through means in which sleeves are mentioned (either through shops or internet or friends, like I did); 2) most people DON'T use see-through card sleeves (not only because of DFCs) also because I don't think they are legal anymore in competitive? Indeed: in competitive, see-through card sleeves are NOT legal if you have a deck with DFCs exactly because they are see-through, BUT only if you have a deck with DFCs, if you have a normal deck you can play sleeveless or with perfects or with whatever tickles your pickle. And, again, we are in a moment in time where MTG is more accessible. These two are NON-problems. The draft was a big problem though. I agree. 3) DFCs can just go with the rest. like. where's the problem here? You don't need to add another card to the booster packet. You might want to have a guaranteed one? Sure, but you can do that without raising the number of cards in the deck because DFCs are normal cards with two faces. But I admit that this might just be a POW that has hindsight, now that DFCs are so common that they really are just normal cards with two faces. I admit that, more or less all three points are a really, really modern take on the game, but I can't avoid this, I started playing very fucking recently (around 2015/2017)
pretty deece is still the only reason i’m subscribed to tcgplayer’s yt, even more so after they cut magic arcanum. And overall, these last few years it is just not the service/website i used to love but that’s another story. Bless be jon’s soul.
Back when DFC's was something novel, you'd be right about the sleeve issues. Nowadays? If you're getting into Magic, especially through one of the many constructed formats (probably Commander or Standard), it's almost impossible NOT to have heard about sleeves within the same week you discovered the game (if going by a largely pessimistic estimate). This is also considering that the one who taught you probably already sleeves and in doing so, will have informed you that keeping your cards in healthy condition is something very desirable. In my assessment, a more convincing argument against saying "Use sleeves" is "I shouldn't HAVE to buy sleeves", but even then, it's not an especially strong argument in today's stonks-based culture on collectibles. Drafting is still largely an issue that stands the test of time, but it hasn't proved to be enough of a problem to impact Limited as a whole in too much of a bad way. Though, I rarely draft, so many might have varying perspectives that are more informed than me.
so they've already got the extra card that comes with a double faced card for deck playing reasons. why not just print the "second side" on a separate card which is put at the end and treaded in the players deck the same way tokens are. they're pulled in when they're needed and are kept off to the side until then. this wouldn't introduce any new ideas, they already have this in the form of emblem. it would simply be a more convenient take on the way its played. you would have to include it in whatever pack the card was put in though which might make for some confusion while packing and idk how all of that happens when the cards are manufactured but I don't think it would be the end of the world to make sure two cards are lumped together when they are packed.
It wouldn't be the end of the world, but it would probably be a pain. One, if a pack can have more than one DFC (a common and a rare for example), you wouldn't have enough extra cards to put in the double side. Two, there would probably be randomization issues, especially since there is more than one manufacturer.
This is a decent idea. If I had to guess, I'd say that it has to do with sheet math. Only so many cards fit on a sheet for printing and this may have been the iteration that fit design, manufacturing, and playtesting best.
Innistrad is wholeheartedly my favorite set. I've been embarking on a quest with my buds to build decks around all the themes of innistrad, being able to pull from any card printed in the setting.
I do hear what you're saying, but I have to say - the DFC token is right there! Right there! And that answers a lot of the problems new players might have with DFCs, albeit in a "spackle and whitewash" kind of kludge.
As someone that actually played standard suring Kamigawa block, the flip cards weren't actually as problematic as you're making them out ro be. It's not actually difficult to keep track of.
I think the energy unto which you opened a paralell lives and then shoved it off the table hurt me more than the riffle shuffle on your unsleeved deck.
PRETTY DEECE PRETTY DEECE PRETTY DEEEEEEEEEEECE Yes. Me and my best friend played with gold bordered cards and just didn't care about it, which seemed the most reasonable way to handle it.
Flip cards had *ONLY* one flaw: Creatures were printed on them. ANY other card type & they would have been viewed as "a triumph of design, and a massive success".
The delta on vid quality for this channel is insane. You've got this, an excellent and engaging piece of entertainment, and then you've got "top 10 most expensive cards from ixilan". Less air and more stuff like this, please TCGPlayer.
@@tcgplayercom Not sure if you're an editor or Jon, but I'm not too big to apologize here. What I mean to say is that I really enjoy these videos, and would love if TCGPlayer put more resources towards this kind of content vs list style vids.
They actually looked into doing that originally. It's not so easy. The printer could not guarantee both cards being together in the same pack 100% of the time - *nearly* all of the time, but not 100% of the time. It would have led to people every once in a while not getting half of the pair, and Wizards rightly decided that just wasn't acceptable.
NO we did not get our budget slashed thank you for asking
shits rough all around my man
I ate the graphics intern
it was never about the visuals. make as many of these as you can
Everyone knew you kept your budget the minute you flashed that Innistrad pack.
That madlad riffle shuffles his deck without the sleeves on in a video without any age restriction or content warning.
And sweeping a Parallel Lives right off the table.
This comment was my content warning, and i was still mortified when it actually happened
Honestly, unsleeved riffle shuffling should be 18+
Honestly I'll never understand this mindset. Sure, some cards have resale value, but I've never bought them to sell. I like having a collection, but I acquired them to play with, not to put in sleeves or cases. If some of them get weathered over the years, it just means they're well used and beloved. Even the cards my children have damaged by biting, spills, or careless crumpling are still perfectly playable.
He did say it was no longer a usable deck
that innistrad pack was extremely deece: Bloodline Keeper to win the draft, and parallel lives to turn a profit on after you win
That pack was absolute fire during this time
Bloodline Keeper isn't doing so shabby itself these days.
Pretty good pack
Every time i watch a recent Pretty Deece, it's style is all over the place and somehow it's always a slam dunk. Keep it going please I beg of you (let's go algorithm also)!
TCGplayer: It's Fresh
When I went to the Ixalan prerelease, there was a dad and his young son sitting across from us. The kid had just started playing Magic, and his dad agreed to go to the prerelease with him. We open our packs and start deck building, and I see the kid is working his fingernail into the corner of his Growing Rites of Itlimoc, trying to peel off the second card that he thinks is stuck to the back of it. By the time I notice and say something, his card is irreparably damaged. DFCs are cool and all, but the new player experience is a disaster. Obviously this kid's experience is an outlier, but whenever I lend a deck to a newer player, they find it incredibly frustrating to unsleeve and resleeve their DFCs just to read what the card does.
a legitimate concern that we overlooked-genuine thanks for sharing.
I’m my playgroup we just turn the card upside down (not face down, 180 degree rotation) to signify the flip
0:40 Spirits were also a supported creature type, also being something that humans convert into instead of being able to Rest in Peace
No love for Spirits
dammit
always nice to have more pretty deece. thank you to everyone involved in making these!
you're welcome
At first I was like "who killed the graphics dude?" but I realized I'm really just here for Jon (sorry graphics dude, you unsung hero). Pretty Deece is pretty deece.
they're alive, i promise
I can't speak for everyone, but I loved DFCs as a new player in Shadows over Innistrad. Beyond the incredible flavour, powering up your cards by literally tranforming them is mechanically euphoric. Westvale Abbey was my first and favourite Magic card. Flipping a land into a 9/7 indestructible, flying, lifelink, haste before you start playing constructed and find out bounce effects exist is unreal.
westvale abbey was such a sicko
1:49
Jon: "At this point, I know what you're thinking."
Me: "Why in Heliod's holy name are you bridge shuffling?? Don't you care? DON'T YOU EVEN CARE?!?"
Jon: "Why not use card sleeves?"
Me: "OH... Yeah, that too I guess."
Moments like that remind me that I shuffled cards like Yawgmoth's Will and Time Spiral without sleeves, and I wince a little every time. Oh, and the original dual lands too, of course.
I just watched you whip a parallel lives across a table.
Badass.
B)
Always a good day to see another Pretty Deece. Hope you're doing well Jon! Whatcha been up to MTG wise?
doing a lot of losing across various formats but having fun doing it
Loving this more analogue presentation style, reminds me of the much older episodes!
The first videos in the return of pretty deece didn’t quite capture the thing that made the originals so entertaining. This one does!
It’s not overly complicated but you have to sort of know the cards and mechanics to really get the message, for newer players it’s like having conversations with people who know a ton, they don’t need to understand it for all the cool cards to keep their attention (with the added bonus of not being in a game store where they could be looked at weird for not getting it). For older players it’s simply a very polished opinion piece which reminds you of all the cards you like. I watched and rewatched a ton of pretty deece when getting into magic because looking at the old cards from legends, ravnica, and reading up on the actual text on the textless promos. Cards are cool and fun so thank you tcg player for continuing to give this show a place to be published.
Also fuck dfcs you know how annoying it is to flip your cards when you double sleeve??? Or legit how much that breaks the flow of gameplay, worse even than fetch lands because fetching takes long enough that you can continue talking to your friends or opponents as you search and shuffle. With dfcs and especially mdfcs it’s just long enough to be mildly annoying.
One of the big three video essayists for MTG. The slice you've carved out for this channel is so unlike Rhystic and Spice, and I love the focus on design, competitive play, data, and game history. It's so clean and crisp, tied together with compelling narration.
damn, thank you
Hot damn a House of Leaves reference?! That's my favorite book of all time! Great video.
I thought the same, although I'd say that Ulysses gives it a run for its money as far as being opaque.
sorry but i've never actually read it
@@tcgplayercom it's a real... experience. I'd highly recommend it. But be prepared to flip the book upside-down, sideways and diagonally to get the full effect.
pretty deece is my favourite magic video series, love jon’s work, keep it up!
i will
Kinda off topic but I really like how you did that draft example in the video!
thanks, that was fun to do
When I started player magic in theros block I opened a pharika snake token in a pack and thought it was just a free 1/1 death touch. Was reminded of this when you mentioned the awareness of sleeves
woulda been sick
I don't know why the style for these videos is so wildly different every time they release, but it's honestly not a problem. It keeps things fresh and interesting, and is a novel way to discuss unique topics!
you're sweet for noticing :)
When I draft, I put the dfc card under my other cards or under my pack of sleeves I’ll be using for that night.
JUDGE
Hahah I should say that I’m only a casual player and host drafts with my friends 😂😂😂
Just saw my favorite video essay channel had a new video pop up on my timeline and have to say, already made my week. Oh, and I’m already a TCGPlayer subscriber so I can say from experience it’s objectively awesome. I make more than my monthly fee in store credit every month.
hell yeah
Love the increase of pretty deece! Always makes my day!
we live to serve
Cool format for this one, thanks to you and the team for your work on the series!
you're welcome
Extremely enjoyable format, it's simple but gets the point across quite nicely, great as always!
thank you
great video, really like the format you went with for this one.
thanks
So ima have a card that must be in a sleeve to play in the deck, but then i gotta take it outa the sleeve to play with it on the table? And then i presume to put it back into the sleeve after it dies? Am i reading this correct?
I'm here commenting just for the algorithm, but this is the only channel I'm willing to do that for.
thank you for your service
Always good to see another pretty deece vid. KEEP IT UP JON
this series is why i'm subscribed to this channel; keep up the great work!
ok
I wanted to address a couple of things from this video:
1) most people will find MTG at this point and time through means in which sleeves are mentioned (either through shops or internet or friends, like I did);
2) most people DON'T use see-through card sleeves (not only because of DFCs) also because I don't think they are legal anymore in competitive?
Indeed: in competitive, see-through card sleeves are NOT legal if you have a deck with DFCs exactly because they are see-through, BUT only if you have a deck with DFCs, if you have a normal deck you can play sleeveless or with perfects or with whatever tickles your pickle.
And, again, we are in a moment in time where MTG is more accessible. These two are NON-problems.
The draft was a big problem though. I agree.
3) DFCs can just go with the rest. like. where's the problem here? You don't need to add another card to the booster packet. You might want to have a guaranteed one? Sure, but you can do that without raising the number of cards in the deck because DFCs are normal cards with two faces. But I admit that this might just be a POW that has hindsight, now that DFCs are so common that they really are just normal cards with two faces.
I admit that, more or less all three points are a really, really modern take on the game, but I can't avoid this, I started playing very fucking recently (around 2015/2017)
House of Leaves was an unexpected, but welcome shout-out
did you just forget about spirits
sure did
pretty deece is still the only reason i’m subscribed to tcgplayer’s yt, even more so after they cut magic arcanum. And overall, these last few years it is just not the service/website i used to love but that’s another story. Bless be jon’s soul.
Back when DFC's was something novel, you'd be right about the sleeve issues. Nowadays? If you're getting into Magic, especially through one of the many constructed formats (probably Commander or Standard), it's almost impossible NOT to have heard about sleeves within the same week you discovered the game (if going by a largely pessimistic estimate). This is also considering that the one who taught you probably already sleeves and in doing so, will have informed you that keeping your cards in healthy condition is something very desirable. In my assessment, a more convincing argument against saying "Use sleeves" is "I shouldn't HAVE to buy sleeves", but even then, it's not an especially strong argument in today's stonks-based culture on collectibles.
Drafting is still largely an issue that stands the test of time, but it hasn't proved to be enough of a problem to impact Limited as a whole in too much of a bad way. Though, I rarely draft, so many might have varying perspectives that are more informed than me.
ok
so they've already got the extra card that comes with a double faced card for deck playing reasons. why not just print the "second side" on a separate card which is put at the end and treaded in the players deck the same way tokens are. they're pulled in when they're needed and are kept off to the side until then.
this wouldn't introduce any new ideas, they already have this in the form of emblem. it would simply be a more convenient take on the way its played. you would have to include it in whatever pack the card was put in though which might make for some confusion while packing and idk how all of that happens when the cards are manufactured but I don't think it would be the end of the world to make sure two cards are lumped together when they are packed.
It wouldn't be the end of the world, but it would probably be a pain. One, if a pack can have more than one DFC (a common and a rare for example), you wouldn't have enough extra cards to put in the double side. Two, there would probably be randomization issues, especially since there is more than one manufacturer.
This is a decent idea. If I had to guess, I'd say that it has to do with sheet math. Only so many cards fit on a sheet for printing and this may have been the iteration that fit design, manufacturing, and playtesting best.
Hey can I have that Parallel Lives you just pulled and yeeted off the table like it was nothing? Thanks.
I love this experimenting with different formats
sweet, we're probably gonna keep doing it
Love seeing these videos! Always want more
noice
Great series. Interesting new visual format.
Nice pulls.
i did not know parallel lives was the 2nd most expensive card in the set till after the video was done
Now we have 6-sided cards on MTG Arena. Lmfao
New Pretty Deece always gets a watch from me. Love the format for this one.
thanks! we took some swings here
It brings me joy knowing Jon plays Pioneer
not as much joy as i bring my opponents when they beat me
Innistrad is wholeheartedly my favorite set. I've been embarking on a quest with my buds to build decks around all the themes of innistrad, being able to pull from any card printed in the setting.
the pulls you get on the packs you open are crazy
parallel lives was the only card i opened that was worth more than the sealed pack
@@tcgplayercom that was the main thing i saw.. and i want :) ill take it if you dont want it
I seriously got into Magic during Avacyn Restored, and had my first deck in penny sleeves. Guess I dodged the bullet as a new player.
what a sick set AVR was
3:52 Casually opens 50 dollar rare. Refuses to ellaborate.
Man I love me some Pretty Deece. Good vid, excited for the next one!
same
Gaming the algorithm _and_ explicitly asking for more episodea of Pretty Deece? I'm in.
thank you for your service
Can we get that Parallel Lives in a top-loader before shoving it across the table next time?
no, we can't
i really hope we get more of these, im just commenting for the algorithm.
no u
I do hear what you're saying, but I have to say - the DFC token is right there! Right there! And that answers a lot of the problems new players might have with DFCs, albeit in a "spackle and whitewash" kind of kludge.
yeah i honestly forgot about those whoops
An unsleeved deck?!?!? You monster! Hahaha I require all my new players to use sleeves for the first time to get a feel for it. They never go back.
Every day with a new pretty deece is the best day. Full stop.
/hug
I'm glad you're back, this series is absolutely wonderful!
so are we
As someone that actually played standard suring Kamigawa block, the flip cards weren't actually as problematic as you're making them out ro be. It's not actually difficult to keep track of.
What happened to your videos? This (and many more) were really awesome, funny and informative. Thanks ❤️
More pretty deece ! Made my week
we live to serve
Loving this channel as always, Jon and his team are the best ;) 👍🏻
Btw, what's your favorite Innistrad card?
heretic's punishment netted me a PTQ top 8 so i gotta go with that one
Always down for pretty good: magic edition
down like a clown charlie brown
A new episode of Pretty Deece? My day is now measurably better
I think the energy unto which you opened a paralell lives and then shoved it off the table hurt me more than the riffle shuffle on your unsleeved deck.
that was cgi
Dual Face Cards are sweet in theory but I don't like how they work in execution. A lot of pulling them out of sleeves and putting them back in.
I'm happy they exist but I don't really like using them
fair point
This video visuals were awesome!
hey thanks
@@tcgplayercom youre welcome. Congrats on your new purchase
That pack at 3:45 was nuts
so i've heard
This change videoed my better for the life
no u
Crazy that Tucker from RvB is doing Magic: the Gathering content, now.
tucker ruled
Another classic video in the books.
This absolute madlad is using a sharpie on his scalimeter.
is that bad
Babe wake up, a new pretty deece just dropped and we need to game the algorithm!
WAKE UP
Aaahhhh House of Leaves name drop!!! I'm not the only one still obsessed 😂
hate to break it to you but i've never read it
@@tcgplayercom well its never too late 😅
This man can't miss.
Babe, wake up! A new episode of Pretty Deece just dropped!
WAKE UP
3:49 Parallel lives is worth around 60$
PRETTY DEECE PRETTY DEECE PRETTY DEEEEEEEEEEECE
Yes.
Me and my best friend played with gold bordered cards and just didn't care about it, which seemed the most reasonable way to handle it.
oh there's definitely a gold-bordered deck video coming in the future
Flip cards had *ONLY* one flaw: Creatures were printed on them.
ANY other card type & they would have been viewed as "a triumph of design, and a massive success".
Watching that parallel lives get shoved away hurt me inside
that was CGI
Holy shit just casually open a friggin parallel lives
I'm a simple man. I see a Pretty Deece. I click.
thank you for your service
House of Leaves v J-Pod; or just the first hundred pages of Sometimes a Great Notion eh
gratz on the PPTQ W
i won seven of them TYVM
Spirits?
forgot 'em :(
Great video!
thanks!
The delta on vid quality for this channel is insane. You've got this, an excellent and engaging piece of entertainment, and then you've got "top 10 most expensive cards from ixilan". Less air and more stuff like this, please TCGPlayer.
i work on those price data videos too but hey that's cool
@@tcgplayercom Not sure if you're an editor or Jon, but I'm not too big to apologize here. What I mean to say is that I really enjoy these videos, and would love if TCGPlayer put more resources towards this kind of content vs list style vids.
Voice over gets drowned out by the SFX of the hand camera sometimes
Bro opens a Parallel Lives during the video and yeets it off the table with zero comment or acknowledgement. Absolute Chad
I love this series so much
Easy (but more costly) solution: Just make the double sided cards two cards and always sell/give em in pairs.
They actually looked into doing that originally. It's not so easy. The printer could not guarantee both cards being together in the same pack 100% of the time - *nearly* all of the time, but not 100% of the time. It would have led to people every once in a while not getting half of the pair, and Wizards rightly decided that just wasn't acceptable.
5:57 getoutofmyheadgetoutofmyhead
Let me guess, Jon started playing Magic when Chronicles came out? 😁
wrong-o
Yes! Another Pretty Deece!
yes!
casually opens a Parallel Lives on camera and tosses it aside
They had to get rid of the Chart Party style graphics because Jon Bois threatened to come round and break their legs if they didn't
casually pulls parallel lives
3:53 parallel lives
Seeing that Parallel Lives getting thrown unceremoniously to the side, hurt my soul, ngl. Great vid tho!
that was CGI
3:48
Nice Doubling Season
Is it just me or this gonna be the best year for pretty deece?
idk 2018 set the bar pretty high
No miracle is a different mechanic from a set later in the block
God I love Pretty Dece.
not enough to spell it right tho