Cards 110, 111 and 112: Bluer than Blue

This Jace, Architecht of Thought comes from Matti Hämäläinen, a prominent player in Tampere.

These cards were given to me by other players at my local game store. Unfortunately I do not remember from whom each card came from.

In today's haul we have a few moderately bent cards in Gideon's Reproach and Siege-Gang Commander and a beautiful deep dark blue Jace, Architect of Thought. The Reproach and Commander have been bent in use and do not have particularry interesting stories to them.

The Jace on the other hand had been lost on Matti's floor for a while until it was discovered under his kitchen sink. It should go without saying that the card was no longer in mint condition by then. It has been soaked in various mysterious liquids and the current best guess for the dark colour and the slight smell is cooking oil. Let this be a lesson that kitchens are not safe places for collectible cards.

Card 109: Introducing the Chew Test

This card was sent to me by Jouni Saikkonen, a local player here in Jyväskylä. Many thanks to him!

This Swift Warkite has been thoroughly chewed and the blue inner layer found inside Magic cards is both visible and has had its blue ink practically sucked out. The reason for its condition is that the card has undergone a new method for detecting counterfeit cards.

Jouni's toddler daughter cares for him a great deal and is understandably concerned about the value of the Magic collection she will eventually inherit. To make sure her father does not get scammed by shady Magic dealers, she has done extensive Research and Development and is now ready to introduce the Chew Test to the Magic community. This method for spotting counterfeit cards is absolutely infallible, simple to perform and is roughly as invasive as many other popular card testing methods.

To perform the test, you should hand a suspicious seeming card to a nearby toddler. Then all you need to do is patiently wait for them to chew on it until the test is complete and they are ready to let go of the card. It is important to not interrupt this process, as an interrupted test will not give reliable results. Once the toddler indicates that the process is complete, all you need to do is inspect their mouth.

If their lips have turned vivid blue, the card is genuine. If the colour indicator does not change from pink to blue, you have found a counterfeit card. This test is very easy to perform and is very reliable. The best thing is, the Chew Test is unlikely to leave your cards in any worse condition than the famous Bend Test would!

Cards 103 to 108: Baby Snacks and annoucing The Cube

Last weekend was the time for Porocon and the Finnish Nationals as its main event. I met Juha Ihonen there, who has had the honour of providing the first practically mint card for my project. Juha was in the deck check team for the main event and I was running a modern side tournament on day two of the convention. Thank you for these practically mint treasures, and for your support during the event.

Ihonen's card salvaging cats share his floors with a miniature version of him, the Ihonen jr., who is at the age where your gums tend to itch and paper and cardboard look very tasty to your eyes. This combined with Ihonen sr. storing commons in an open box have led to various accidents, six of which are pictured above.

All of the cards have been chewed and even those that haven't been bitten into pieces have been so thoroughly soaked in drool that they are completely destroyed. This blog so far hasn't featured any cards from my own collection, but my floors are reigned over by a Little Girl who shares Ihonen jr's taste for cardboard, so if you will ever see any cards that have been destroyed in my care, they will probably look like these.

The approved card pool for Wear 'n' Tear is now well past one hundred and the pile of cards that haven't quite made it is almost as large, so now is a good time to begin building The Cube from these. As cards keep coming, I will add and remove them from Wear 'n' Tear, which for now is a Highlander deck and may turn into a Commander deck in the future, and all cards will have a place in a cube that I will hopefully get to use  once we are up to three hundred or so cards in total.

Cards 76-82: Practically Mint Prerelease

The pre-release was a three-fold success for me. Firstly, because Shadows over Innistrad seems to be a very nice format for limited. I can't wait to get to draft it. Secondly, because I did not lose a single match today. Unfortunately I got a draw on one round though. Thirdly, because I got many Practically Mint cards to add to Wear 'n' Tear.

The first addition is the Conquering Manticore from the Heroes vs. Monsters Duel Deck. It was given to me by a younger player in the tournament who had started playing Magic with his brother after they bought the duel deck. I unfortunately did not memorize his name. The card had fallen on the floor and slid under his brother's fridge during a game, and they had left it there because removing it would have taken too much time and effort at the time. When they finally retrieved it, they noticed that the fridge had leaked all manners of fluids and grime onto the floor below and the Manticore was gone for good. Thank you for letting me have it!

The rest of the cards all come from the same pool of cards. My friend Ismo Virtanen toppled his bottle of flavoured mineral water during deck construction, which soaked his deck. He sleeved up what he could and played trough the tournament, but after the games many of the cards had been soaked long enough that they were worthless. I felt sorry for his loss, but also eager to add such fresh cards and a first-hand story to my little project.

I give my thanks to Ismo and the sponsor of this contribution, Bonaqua, for these fine cards. The pile I got from him contained many more cards, but I added only the seven most severely bent cards. Some changes may happen in the future, if some of these appear too good to fit in with the rest of the deck or some of the others dry more and settle into more bizarre shapes.

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.

Card 50: Swidden Plateau

This Plateau is the second card sent to me by redditor Zombiesquisher. I owe him a huge debt of gratitude for this and the Sword of Reddit and Tumbling.

I knew to expect something special when I saw another envelope from Zombiesquisher, but I still shed a single manly tear when I opened it and saw what was inside. I cried both in horror of what I witnessed, and in gratitude for getting something this spectacular for Wear 'n' Tear. This card is the very definition of practically mint.

This Plateau comes from another one of Zombiesquisher's friends who was the unfortunate victim of a house fire. Miraculously his Magic cards survived the blaze, but while helping with clearing out the property and moving to a new house, his mother-in-law threw his Legacy and Commander decks in a trash bag. The trash bag was in turn left in a burn pit, but the fire was extinguished by rain during the night. In another miraculous recovery, most of the cards survived the second assault by fire and being doused by rain, except for his Plateau, Underground Sea and Volcanic Island. Zombiesquisher later got his hands on the Plateau and was kind enough to contribute it to this project.

I don't think I need to describe the damage this time, since the pictures above make it painfully obvious what has happened to this card. You can even see the blue layer that Magic cards have inside them as an anti-counterfeiting method. Only thing the photographs fail to capture is the strong smell of smoke emanating from the Plateau. Fittingly, it just became the thirteenth land in Wear 'n' Tear.

Card 49: Mirror Damage

Jaakko Vuorela found the pair of the previously seen Wolf-Skull Shaman. Thank you!

The Rhox and Dimensional Breach are from Jukka Jääskelä, thanks Jukka!

It is time for some more loot from FNM! Jaakko found the Bramblewood Paragon that wears the upper half of the Wolf-Skull shaman I got from him earlier. On it the most distinctive damage is on the reverse side, though it has some material stuck to its front as well. This is what I'd call synergy in a deck!

Jukka had found me yet another foil Rhox and a Dimensional Breach. The Breach has a severely bent bottom edge, but it is probably in too good condition to count for Wear 'n' Tear. The Rhox has the foil layer peeling off from its bottom edges, but since I will probably build this deck using the Singleton rule, I will include two Rhoxes in the deck only for initial 60-card games and remove one of them once we get closer to one hundred cards. This is why the official count is still at 48 cards.

Cards 44-48: Borderline Benchers

Dear readers, please help me figure out where the line between bad enough for Wear 'n' Tear and a playable card goes!

The day after the fat envelope from Oulu, I find an even fatter one in my mail from Vantaa, the maze of suburbs that is almost the capital of Finland. Most of the cards are from the collection of Kalle Saleva, alias Salevanen, one of the L1 judges in the south, but the Ajani's Chosen and Bile Blight are from Toni Routasaari, alias Routton.

Routton's cards are victims of a tragic accident involving a glass of the sugary drink Sprite. Fizzy drinks clearly aren't good for cardboard, since both of the cards are bent badly enough that they almost resemble turbine blades.

Salevanen's contribution to the cause is a massive pile of mostly green and white cards that have been damaged in various ways involving water, rolling around the floor for years et cetera. Not all of the cards have the damage visible enough to count, so I will only mention some highlights.

My favourite inclusion is the fabulous Sphinx Ambassador that came from an anonymous friend of his. It has gotten slightly moist in a pile of cards and the cards had gotten so intimate with each other that she still carries a piece of some other card's back on her. You can even make out the text ''Deckmaster'' on it. The other easy inclusion is the water damaged and slightly worn Pili-Pala that is barely rustic enough for my tastes.

A third standout is the chewed up Remodel, but since it is an un-card I am not entirely sure what to do with it. Since all of the cards in Wear 'n' Tear are technically illegal to play, adding an un-card wouldn't really change the legality of the deck for any format, but I am still tempted to use cards that would be legal for some format if they were not destroyed. I'd like to hear the readers' opinions on this!

The rest of the cards are fairly lightly damaged, and since I have a high tolerance for wear on cards I use in my real decks, most of them feel fineish to me. The played Forest gets a pass because most people don't save destroyed basic lands, so I will have to lower, or raise, my standards when it comes to basics if I am ever going to cast any spells with this deck. The rest of the cards will have to wait on the team bench. Reader feedback about these cards would also be welcome!

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.

Cards 34-37: FNM Spoils

These three cards were donated by Jaakko Vuorela.

The Aetherling is from Ville-Veikko Vähäaho and the Sunstrikers are from Antti Kosonen.

The environmentally conscious Magic players in Jyväskylä recycled some more cardboard yesterday, when I was given the above cards during Friday Night Magic. It's a win/win for everyone and everything. Trash gets properly recycled and my deck gets bigger. Thanks to everyone involved in this!

The Shadowmage Infiltrator, Wolf-Skull Shaman and Goblin Replica from Jaakko are otherwise unrelated to each other. The Finkel he got as a throw-in with some trade and the Goblin Replica has suffered the sorry fate of being stuffed in the pocket of young Jaakko's pants way back when. Carrying Magic cards in your pockets really isn't a good idea, but we can forgive little boys that mistake. The Wolf-Skull shaman has had some sticky drink spilled on it and a bunch of other cards. The distinctive damage is from the drink getting it stuck to some other card and the surface layer ripping off when the cards were separated. Jaakko was unfortunately unable to find the other half of this puzzle yet, but we might see a mirror image of this pattern on some other destroyed card in the future.

The Aetherling from Ville has suffered typical water damage, but I am sadly unable to remember the details of how this happened. It lacks the typical white spots, but it is instead so wavy that you can even see the sexy curves in the picture.  The Ajani's Sunstriker from Antti actually came with an identical pair. They have both been folded to act as protectors for sleeved cards in an envelope. Since they have been intentionally destroyed, I came to the conclusion I can not use them here, so one of them is fulfilling its original purpose again  and is on its way to Sweden bravely protecting some cards I sold via magiccardmarket. Sorry for mistakenly saying they are OK, Antti!

Card 33: Rainstorm Kolaghan

This practically mint Kolaghan was sent by redditor strionic_resonator. Many thanks to him, and everyone else on reddit!

This Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury was destroyed by another storm's fury when strionic resonator was caught in a rainstorm. It was in his backpack along with the rest of the cards of his unsleeved deck from previous night's FNM. I am glad he saved this card so I can give it a new home in Wear 'n' Tear.

The card has very typical water damage with white splotches on the most badly soaked parts of the card and bending and waves all over the card. Unfortunately the disfigurement is poorly visible on a photograph, but when handled, it is obvious that the shape of the card would stand out in a deck like a skinhead in a hippie rally.

Cards 31 and 32: Catling and Growing Pains

All of the above cards were given to me during a board game night in my neighbourhood yesterday. The Thornling is from Risto Sarja, the man who most actively organizes Cube nights in Jyväskylä and the Giant Growth, Abu Ja'far and Guardian Agel are from Ismo Virtanen, another player who lives near me. Thanks to them both!

The Thornling has had its upper edge chewed by Risto's epileptic cat Rölli, who was kind enough to pose for us with the card. Otherwise the card is in excellent condition, but the tear on top makes the card both worthless and illegal to play, so it qualifies for Wear 'n' Tear, Cats certainly are eager fans of Magic, judging from the number of cathandled cards I get.

The set of older cards was found by Ismo while searching his collection for forgotten valuables. Both of the white cards have been damaged by water, though the damage is light enough that I am not adding them to Wear 'n' Tear, at least not yet. The Giant Growth has a large tear in the middle, but no one knows where it may have come from.

Cards 21-27: Mystery Cards from a Mystery Contributor

These seven cards were in the mail on the same day as the cards from Co and ruusuv were, but they came in an anonymous brown letter which had no postmark on the stamp. Normally this would mean that the cards might have been delivered directly to my mailbox, but since they arrived at the same time as my regular mail and Finnish postal workers have been pretty lazy with their markings lately, I can not be sure about it. If my anonymous benefactor wishes to identify themselves and share the story of these cards, they may do so in the comments below.

The Lonely Sandbar, Remote Isle and Aether Spellbomb are severely bent and spotty in a way that is typical to cards damaged by water. The spots are light brown and the cards have a faint smell of coffee, so I deduce that they must have had coffee spilled on them. The forest has similar damage to it, but the spots on it are clear and it has a scratch on the artwork, so it might have been damaged in some other incident.

The Swamp has been badly scratched and it has been bent on the lower half, but I am unable to guess the source of the damage. The Ulamog's Crusher is otherwise practically mint but it has been folded badly enough that the two halves of the card have been partially torn loose. The Death Denied has probably been under the leg of a table or some other heavy piece of furniture as it has a very heavily dented perfectly round shape in the middle of the card.

Card 14: Sword of Reddit and Tumbling

This absolutely fabulous Sword of Feast and Famine was sent by redditor Zombiesquisher, an obviously awesome person.

This Sword of Feast and Famine has tumbled trough a washing machine after one of Zombiesquisher's friends forgot to empty her pockets before washing her pants. This tragic accident has left the card in a sorry state, but amazingly all of the text is still legible! I am glad to be able to add it to my collection, as this card will both be one of the more powerful plays in Wear 'n' Tear and one of the finest examples of what this project is all about.

In the previous post we concluded that office chairs are a low-end threat to magic cards, but now we can supplement that observation by the fact that washing machines are among the worst threats to cardboard. Dear readers, always check you pockets before doing the laundry!