Foiling a deck, is it worth it?

by Patrick Cossel - originally posted at www.theforgeherald.com

To foil out a deck, or not to foil out a deck. That’s the question I find myself facing right now. Should I foil out my Ad Nauseam deck or not?

Let’s take a look.

Pros

Damn, it looks good! Ok, time for a bit of truth here, I am not typically a fan of foils; however, this all changed when I pulled a foil Xenagos, The Reveler. I was blown away by how good the foil version of this card looked. Then, I received a judge foil – Sneak Attack.

Yep, it looked good

Plus, there is something about sitting down to a match and playing a foil.deck. Typically, you get noticed by your opponent or spectators. At GP:SLC, I saw a player using a foiled out Modern Jund deck post-Deathrite Shaman banned. So it had foiled Tarmogoyf (Future Sight) foiled Dark Confidant (Ravnica: City of Guilds), foiled Liliana of the Veil, and every other amazing Jund card in the deck. I was impressed!

So impressed I wanted to leave the GP with something more than the judge packet. I ended up getting a foil Tree-Top Village and a foil Dryad Arbor (Future Sight). They look pretty!

But, does this mean foiling out an entire deck?  I was beginning to think it was. But I was being held back. Why?

Let’s take a look

Cons

First and foremost, expense. At the time of this writing cards like Simian Spirit Guide (Median Price $22 on tcgplayer.com) and Pact of Negation (median price $35 on tcgplayer.com) are pretty expensive. It clearly represents an investment one must be willing to take.cgplayer.com) and Pact of Negation (median price $35 on tcgplayer.com) are pretty expensive. It clearly represents an investment one must be willing to take.

Look at Tarmogoyf, despite being printed in three sets (Future Sight, MM1, MM2) it still has a price tag over $300.

It’s partner, Dark Confident, is sitting at $72. That’s quite the investment to make for a single deck! Especially a non-Legacy deck!

Then there is the play issue. Typically, when you play with foiled cards they can wear down. The constant shuffling and play can mess up the paint and ruin your cards. How do we combat this? Double-sleeving.

So, while not while not an expensive part of the equation, we need to purchase perfect fit sleeves and, typically, a high-quality sleeve that works with the inner sleeve.

Of course, if you are foiling a Legacy deck, there is the issue of cards not having a foil reprint. Until a couple of years ago Force of Will did not have a foil printing. Now, we have a judge foil printing of it – median price $799.

With all this in mind, I made the decision to foil my Ad Nauseam deck. To be fair, when I made this decision, the most expensive cards were the Simian Spirit Guides and the Pact of Negations. Everything else was, “affordable.”

Now with Twin being banned, I am seeing more and more of this deck increase in price. Not something I am too thrilled about. So I have decided to back off some.

Another con to foiling out a deck is clouding. Foils have a tendency to get cloudy. They don't look too pretty when this happens.

For me, I think foiling a deck is expensive. It’s an undertaking you should only take on for a deck you plan to keep put together for a long time. Unless, of course, you are obsessed with shiny cards, then, by all means, go for it. I will be happy to trade my foil to you. Unless of course, it’s for Ad Nauseam. Then I think I am going to keep it.

Happy foiling!

My current foils for Ad Nauseam. I have stopped working on this for now.

Patrick Cossel is the publisher of The Forge Herald. He can be contacted at pcossel@gmail.com