Cards 59 and 60: Crushed Eye and Bruma

The two Frozen Shades are from Kake and the Unblinking Bleb is from Marde, both notorious players in Tampere.

The Unblinking Bleb has extensive wear and tear over the entire card. It has been used with a sleeve as a hideout for some Bank Identifier Codes and in that duty both the card and the sleeve have been crushed in pockets, wallets, pencil cases and wherever else thoroughly and repeatedly. It is a fine addition to Wear 'n' Tear.

The two Frozen Shades are almost booster fresh, although they might not look like it. Their story begins in a cottage in the beautiful natural park of Koli, where Team Dredge and some other players spent some nights playing Magic. Kake won two boosters of Italian 4th edition for placing second in a Jungle Draft, and to his surprise seven of the cards in both boosters were exactly the same, including these Frozen Shades. As is often the case with Finnish Magic players, some alcohol was involved, and this booster packing oddity led to the fine gentlemen taking these two handsome Brumas to the Sauna with them, which apparently seemed both hilarious and a good idea at the time.

Being treated to much relaxing heat and humidity allowed Kake to give them a condition rating to match their language: Mediterranean Mint. As I try to follow a Singleton rule, only one of the Shades counts towards the total sum of cards.

Cards 40, 41, 42 and 43: Oulu Ruins Everything

When I came home yesterday, I found a mysterious envelope from the northern city of Oulu in my mailbox. The Magic players of Oulu are known for their fondness for multiple substance abuse with a mix of Magic and alcohol.  In a recent gaming session in a local bar a group of fine gentlemen had pooled their practically mint cards together and sent it to me. I find this awesome.

The Ninja is from Vesa Kauppinen, alias Naabi. It bears marks of a rather typical bending accident, which is more clearly visible on its back side. Those of you who have made the mistake of storing decks in a Fat Pack box certainly know the cardboard ledge inside the lid of the box. I know I do, and this Ninja is evidence that Naabi found out about it when he was a fresh Magic player. The consensus in Oulu is that the creature must have used Ninjutsu to save some more expensive card and entered combat with the box in its stead. Kids, be careful around Fat Packs! There won't always be a Ninja around to save your investments.

The Mind Bend and Crookshank Kobolds are from Sami, alias Neuroosi, who is the diligent gentleman who gathered these cards. The Mind Bend matches its name by being more than a little bent. It comes from a shared pool of cards and none of the involved players know or admit what exactly has happened to it. It seems safe to assume it has had beer poured on it when games have gotten a little wild. The kobold that kept it company on the journey to Central Finland isn't actually destroyed, but Neuroosi thinks that all proper decks need a kobold. I am not convinced, but I do know that all proper decks need a Tarpan, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt in case they also need a kobold.

The NM- Deep Spawn, Swamp and Morinfen are from the alias Edvin. The Deep Spawn was found behind the radiator of his old rental apartment. How it got there will forever be a mystery, but the card looks like it has been lovingly played with for quite some time. The Swamp and Morinfen were included in a cheap purchase of bulk cards Edvin made. The Swamp has its foil layer partially peeled off very much like the Rhox from the previous post, but this is a bit harder to see on it. I still find it barely bad enough for Wear 'n' Tear. The Morinfen is a bit wavy and has probably been damaged by water, but the damage is so light I am not comfortable with adding it to the deck.