In the beginning, cavemen like myself used to shuffle Moxes, Juzzams, Sinkholes, and Strip Mines till they were raw and worn. Sometimes, we’d even take scissors to a Chaos Orb or two to secure an important win. I once even flung an unsleeved Unlimited Black Lotus across a tournament hall to a friend who needed it for his deck, narrowly avoiding the card landing in any number of open soft drinks that were on the table. We were utter cardboard savages in the early 90s (and proud of it).
The world has come a long way since those days of TCG tourneys at bowling alleys, and degenerate gambling away of Power cards via the now antiquated ante mechanic. Now, players double and triple sleeve towering Commander decks as a common practice, and spend $100s of dollars doing it. While I still fancy the occasional draft deck played raw, even a neanderthal like myself gears up with sleeves, playmats, life counters, and posh accessories before playing game.
When we decided to do an ICv2 Accessories Week this year, I figured that the very first thing I should discuss for the benefit of retailers is the TCG accessories scene in 2024. There is an absolute ocean of accessories out there right now, and it is almost impossible for a single store to carry everything in inventory. So, I’ve tried my best to narrow the field a little bit and point out some of the better deck protection tools and playmats that have hit distribution in 2024.
Let me preface my TCG accessories picks by saying that I’ve seen most of everything that was new this year, and I have been very impressed with 90% of what came out. There have been very few letdowns, and I think this might have been one of the best years yet for deck boxes in particular. So, without further gilding the Lotus, let’s go into the best of the best for 2024:
Squaroes: SpongeBob Squarepants by heo Group. I’ve been pretty much raving about how great Squaroes are since I first saw the solicits for the DC Justice League Squaroes (see “Squaroes“). These deck boxes are hands down the coolest multiple IP-branded line of deck boxes to hit the market. My love for these deck boxes is simple: they have great IP’s attached to them and they have a unique look and functional design. I completely geeked out over the TMNT Squaroes when I saw them (and I don’t even like the TV Turtles that much). But then, heo Group upped the ante and announced a SpongeBob SquarePants line of these deck boxes. That product line is a winner for retail shelves if only for the fact that there is a Patrick deck box that looks awesome.
Magic: The Gathering Commander Playmat Series by Ultra PRO. This series of playmats has absolutely gone bananas (traffic-wise) on our website every time we post a new release. There is a lot of interest in these products, and why wouldn’t there be? After all, these playmats feature some of the most popular Commanders in Magic: The Gathering today, and all players really want is their playmat art to match the Commander they are playing. Additionally, these playmats benefit from the usual Ultra PRO production quality. These are a good pick-up for stores.
Gamegenic Deck Box: Stronghold 200+ Sand. I’ve been a fan of Gamegenic’s deck boxes for a while. I’m pretty invested in the Ultimate Guard Xenoskin Sidewinder ecosystem for 60-card decks, but for Commander decks, I’m all about what Gamegenic has going on with their Stronghold series. Why? Well, Commander decks have more moving parts and Gamegenic offers me compartments to put all those tokens and dice that support those moving parts within a self-contained unit. The Stronghold 200+ is even better, because I can bring more than one Commander deck with me in that self-contained unit, which will be increasingly important after Wizards of the Coast takes over Commander and inspires me to make different power-level decks in order to accommodate opponents’ different styles of casual play in pods. The new Stronghold 200+ Sand is perfect for that, and it comes in a unique color.
Dragon Shield: The Dark Knight Collection. The best sleeves on the market today are probably Dragon Shield brand sleeves. And, if there is one thing that Arcane Tinmen does better than its competitors, it is making brushed art sleeves that don’t split or wear easily. Now, Arcane Tinmen has unloaded a whole bunch of different brushed art sleeve products onto the market this year, but the coolest looking have to be The Dark Knight Collection sleeves. There’s nothing like old-school black and white Batman art to impress opponents on the tabletop. These sleeves come in both standard-sized and Japanese-sized versions.
I’m sure there are a few more gems in this year’s crop of TCG accessories, but these are my favorites at the moment. They are all easy sells when placed near the cash wrap, and the IP-branded offerings will make for some great stocking stuffers around the holidays (see “Stocking Stuffers“).
For more on the rapidly growing gaming accessories market, see “ICv2 Accessories Week.”
Source: ICv2
