I live in Europe as well (Netherlands) and I bought some KMCs for 8.5 euros for 80 in a local store in Eindhoven
GameForce - Store - and search for KMC.
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I was the same until I tried KMC. TRY IT! 
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I have tried KMC. Theyāre nice, but I prefer Dragon Shields, i think. Mostly because I donāt have to go huntign around te dark copies of the internet for them.
dragon shield matte sleeves are just so pleasant to shuffle.
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Iāve been using FFG clear sleeves for a few years as I like having the card backs showing and Iām not that fussed about using alt art cards. Iāve never had one split and whilst they are a bit slippery when new they break in quite well.
I did get some KMC Hyper Mattes and used those at the UK nationals. I had one split in the second game (good job I had some spares with me). I also found the edges to be a bit sharp and they didnāt shuffle noticeably better than the FFG ones. They are a pain to get hold of here in the UK, even as a retailer it isnāt easy!
Iāve got some Dragon Shields to compare them against (along with loads of other sleeves which hopefully Iāll eventually do a comparison video of). I need to get some of the new Dragon Shield Mattes in stock and Iām also interested in seeing what the new Ultimate Guard Master sleeves are going to be like, but they keep getting delayed again and againā¦
I saw someone doublesleeve their art sleeves which effectively eliminated that problem. Probably the route Iād go were I to use art sleeves.
Yeah, I might do that, but sleeves for sleeves are a massive pain in the butt.
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Dragon shield clear sleeves as I like the card backs but it also means I canāt use the promo cards. Oh well.
So really FFG needs to have Dragon Shield make matte versions of the netrunner card backs.
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I think before KMC came out with hyper matte, they were about on par with Dragon Shields. The main difference was that Dragon Shields were a little more of a pain to play with but last essentially forever. Now that KMC hyper mattes are available, though, I feel like itās crazy to play with anything else. Theyāre very nearly as sturdy as Dragon Shields but just worlds better to handle and shuffle.
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All you people who match the faction to the color sleeves are crazy. I need some contrast in my life. Brown for NBN, Green for anarch, purple for shaper, etc.
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I used to do that, but then I just got hundreds of purple sleeves and itās a million times easier.
Speaking of which, considering the extremely positive recommendations on this thread I ordered some purple KMC Hyper MATs myself.
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Another one here reporting for the KMC Hyper MAT party bus. Great sleeves, very happy with them.
Iām really interested to hear how the new Dragon Shield Matte sleeves are.
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I ordered matt black and green DS sleeves today, should be here wednedsay, will let you know although my previous sleeves have all been ultra proās so at this point everything is an improvement.
Iām a sleeve addict. I love Ultra Pros because of their front, not their back. Hyper MATs are great and durable. I never liked the regular Dragon Shields.
My winner, though? Dragon Shieldās Matted backs. AFAIK theyāre fairly new, but are my favorite sleeve, period. They are more detailed on the back than Hyper MATS and feel incredibly crisp. I canāt play with anything else now.
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The one thing that drives me crazy about sleeves is how you order two identical packages (same maker, same type, same color), open them, and while both packages contain a set of sleeves cut identically, when you take three sleeves from the one pack and shuffle it into the other, you can see how one of them is shorter by about half a millimeter. Drives me nuts, really disturbs me when shuffling the cards, and could actually be considered āmarkingā the cards.
Ultra Pros seem to be particularly prone to this, but Iāve had this happen with Dragon Shields as well. Anyone else experiencing this?
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KMCs are the smoothest shuffle Iāve ever felt, and I canāt recall ever splitting one, but I switched to Dragon Shields because of visibility. KMCs are freaking dirt magnets. After about a month of regular use they get really clouded and dingy. Granted, Iām a pretty aggressive mash shuffler, so that might be part of it too.
KMC perfect fits are amazing and everyone should use them unless they like making really big decks. Theyāre especially good for cards like Jacksons that get switched between decks constantly.
This is common. Inconsistencies in manufacturing will cause things like this to happen. Some brands have it worse than others.
Also jumping on to agree that i love the KMC hypers. Got the recommendation from a youtube series about MTG sleeves (since they fit netrunner cards as well).
The only sleeves I have seen that feel good after extended use with a glossy/art back are these raven style ones from Legion (i think), which have kept their nice shuffle feel after some time being used as my wifeās EDH deck. Others from the same brand donāt feel the same for some reason, just those.
Legion. The only way to go. Never split, and last for months even playing in several tournaments per month.
Youāre talking about the ones with the quote from Poe, right? I can attest to those. I picked them up for my 40k Conquest Eldar deck, because I felt the brooding nature of the poem matched the Eldar well. I expected them to be gloss, and I was pleasantly surprised to find they have a matte texture on both sides, and the cards just feel really solid when in those sleeves.
I remember when I first started playing card games with the Star Trek CCG some 20 years ago, the only thing that was really around were the standard glossy Ultra-Pro sleeves. As someone with both high myopia AND a lot of astigmatism, I canāt stand gloss-fronted sleeves. Nothing worse than being unable to concentrate because youāre distracted by what looks like a sea of glass on your side of the table, and the glare makes it nearly impossible to read the cards when theyāre actually on the table.
I might investigate KMC HyperMat, due to Danās celebrity endorsement, but so far Iām still a big fan of Ultra-Pro Pro Mattes. Primarily because matte sleeves are the bomb, and because they come in tons of colors (Iām one of those OCD types who like to color-code their decks) and are pretty cheap at our store due to a hefty discount. Also, I usually slide/pile shuffle, and donāt ever riffle shuffle my cards, so they seem to hold up pretty well for me. Plus, the holographic dot isnāt as annoying to me as it is to some folks because after 20 years, I consider it an old friend! LOL
Anyway, this is an interesting discussion thatās a bit different from the standard fareā¦ Itās like weāre PGA guys talking golf clubs or something!
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