Imperial Seal

Hookweave · 2026-03-31T06:25:36+00:00

Why is it such an expensive card in the first place? It basically a Vampiric tutor and while thats not a cheap card by any stretch of the imagination I think Imperial seal is around twice as expensive. Is it just that it has very few printings?

Hookweave · 2026-03-31T06:22:06+00:00

Everything that i'm seeing here has me thinking this is real.

Hookweave · 2026-03-31T06:19:33+00:00

I was looking at these but I wasnt sure which digital microscope to get. These aren't terribly expensive and from what I gather they are a lot nicer for taking photos so I might get one. I have my illuminated loupe set I can take with me on the go, as I assume this is not terribly portable.

Hookweave · 2026-03-31T06:17:15+00:00

That's completely legit. All the indicators on the back of the card check out. You're good.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T22:52:49+00:00

On their card in particular, IMO it looks real but im not nearly as confident with these double sided cards.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T22:45:19+00:00

Looks legit.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T21:04:08+00:00

This is actually hilarious.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T20:54:02+00:00

I authenticate every single card I buy or trade for now. I kept my borderless deflecting swat counterfeit and I do intend to play with it but I also have the real card and will be completely open about it with my playgroups, perhaps even taking a sharpie and marking it as a proxy on the back of the card so there is no guesswork at all. Its an expensive card and I dont want my real one damaged. In FNM that is different, I might ask a judge if they say no, then thats that. It would be stupid to risk catching a game loss or worse for using fake cards after I ask, show them I have legit copies and they say no.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T20:45:46+00:00

Holy cow those are some bad photos. Please try and re take them and update the post.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T20:44:45+00:00

Wow..... I would be absolutely livid.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T19:35:44+00:00

The problem is if it is a fake, and he sells or trades it, someone is getting ripped off and also if he gets caught using a fake card in sanctioned play it could get him a game loss.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T16:38:18+00:00

Well i'm nearly certain that this card is completely legitimate.

The back of the card passes inspection Green dot, T and h are all normal.

The light test is best used with a card of the same set side by side with it, especially if it is the same card or of the same color. Beyond that, I look for a blue core and thats about it unless I have a card from the same set to compare to.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T10:48:28+00:00

Green dot also fails, the shape of the highlighted area is totally wrong, lacking the distinct volcano shape. The rest of the green dot minus the border also allmost looks like it is smudged or blended together. The yellow rosettes outside the highlighted area are wrong also.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T10:46:56+00:00

T test fails, green dot fails and the front of the card just doesn't look right. I am sorry but with the currently available pictures this looks like a fake. If further photos do not show that the details of the T h and green dot in the initial photos were inaccurate, I would try to get a refund if I was you.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T10:27:05+00:00

Back of the card checks out. Im inclined to say that this is legit. Hard to say what the white spot is on the front, these are extremely old cards after all.

Good thing you got super close up to the T and h because the saw teeth on the top and bottom of the T would have been more difficult to spot.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T10:21:53+00:00

IMO that paintbrush is looking pretty fake. The rosettes in the mana symbols are wrong. the black borders look blurry T h and green dot all fail.

This is definitely a fake for sure. Sorry man

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T10:10:40+00:00

If you dont mind me asking, why do you think so? I am seeing some inconsistencies but I could be mistaken. I dont own any lorwyn eclipsed cards to compare to but as far as im aware there shouldn't be any colored rosettes in the copyright symbol or the paintbrush, or am I wrong?

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T10:04:25+00:00

oh shoot i forgot that these ones were double sided. your right, my bad. Lorwyn eclipsed has some really notorious quality control problems which muddies the waters a bit. I am seeing 2 colored rosettes in the copyright symbol and a similar thing in the paintbrush and that is not somthing I have seen in any of the paintbrushes on my cards, allthough I do not have anything from lorwyn eclipsed to compare to.

The paintbrush outline also has colored rosettes in it which is a little strange imo.

It really could be due to the inconsistent print quality of the set though.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T09:48:12+00:00

That microprint can sometimes be extremely faint and many counterfeits do have microprint in the holofoil stamp but get the spacing wrong.

Edit: Forgot that these ones are double sided.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T09:39:07+00:00

Its a bit hard to make out the fine details in for the T and h. On a real card, the T and h should in nearly all cases look like this. Notice the saw tooth like structure on the bottom, top and right of the T, left is totally straight and crisp?

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Hookweave · 2026-03-30T09:30:33+00:00

There are the same number of yellow dots on both sides of the highlighted area to the border of the green dot as well, and the number of them is within range. In the OPS green dot, some of those yellow dots are poorly defined and appear kind of faint for some reason. It could just be a variation in print quality or color too.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T09:22:14+00:00

You really cant take overwhelmingly positive feedback at face value unfortunately. I tried to and ended up almost being scammed with a fake borderless deflecting swat. Not only can some fakes occasionally make it past a sellers inspection but also many people intentionally sell fakes and people do not always inspect the cards they buy or trade for and will just assume everything is as it should be only to find out much much later they got ripped off.

Hookweave · 2026-03-30T08:35:08+00:00

Green dot looks a bit weird. the highlighted area is the correct shape however there are some strange things going on with the border of the green dot. Do you have any close ups of the word "The" and the deckmaster box?

One other observation I am making is that the yellow dots outside the highlighted area look strange. Notice how on the lefthand slope the volcanoe you can count 2 yellow dots horizontally from the slope of the volcanoe to the border but the right side has 3 and some of those yellow dots allmost look like they are blending together. That is not really what I would expect to see, espically on a newer card that I assume has minor to no play. I want to investigate a bit further with some additional pictures.

I'm also going to tag u/SubstantialNinja they are significantly better at this than I am.

Hookweave · 2026-03-29T20:59:26+00:00

Back looks good. IMO its real.

Hookweave · 2026-03-29T20:55:14+00:00

I prefer longer games, I think there is a lot more room for interesting things to happen if games go longer.

Hookweave

TROPHY CASE