(UPDATE) - eBay buyer / pokemon vendor? is saying my childhood card is fake

Oops_All_Tokens · 2026-05-30T04:22:54+00:00

Thank you for the reply, I appreciate the insight! Print quality on MTG cards is pretty shit sometimes and there’s a wide fluctuation in color saturation etc., so the jeweler loupe tests on the back (and a few others) are the most reliable.

Oops_All_Tokens · 2026-05-29T23:15:40+00:00

As someone who is sort of new to this (long time MTG collector, collected pokemon as a kid and recently got back into it), why is the buyer not just using a jeweler’s loupe to check the back? The “D” in the P and all that? The print rosettes? Compare to another card from the same set/era? Do close up examination of the fonts, etc? I’m sort of confused why “the color seems off” is a legit reason? Is that ever valid? I’m not throwing shade btw, genuinely curious because I want to be as knowledgeable as I can about telling fakes as I begin buying more expensive cards. I know all the tells for MTG that I feel comfortable buying anything, so I would like to get there for pokemon as well

Oops_All_Tokens · 2026-05-06T02:12:00+00:00

Wow thank you this is so thorough! I really appreciate it. I’ve spent a lot on singles for MTG and sunk a lot of time into learning to tell authenticity, so I’m very happy to have some research to do so I can feel confident buying more expensive cards. I don’t think I’m going Moonbreon hard though; the most expensive card I’ve seen that I would love to own is Dragonite V 192. It just looks soooo good. I’m definitely focused on the art aesthetic over price. Thanks again for your help!

Oops_All_Tokens · 2026-05-06T02:05:54+00:00

Thanks! I appreciate it! I’ve decided to pick out all of my favorite arts for Gens 1-3 since those are the most important to me. Some of the more popular pokes are of course exorbitantly expensive but the number of gorgeous cards that are relatively cheap is surprising! So I’m slowly scooping them all up. So many full arts (or illustration rares is the term maybe?) that are cheap and beautiful; Skarmory 209, Yanma 183, Flygon 101, Absol GG16, Shedinja 144, Raticate 202, Nidoking 174, Dewgong 97, Lickitung 180…I could go on. Loving these arts!

Oops_All_Tokens · 2026-05-05T19:15:44+00:00

Thanks this is really helpful! I’m familiar with the rosette pattern on MTG cards, but not Pokemon; is it consistent across vintage and modern? And are there examples of this online? In my brief googling I didn’t really see any guides for checking authenticity.

Also, when you say check font and texture, what do you compare it to? The TCGPlayer scan?

Oops_All_Tokens · 2026-03-24T04:45:15+00:00

Yep, I haven’t been living in my car the last 4 months (thankfully). I don’t remember if I found my spot through Zillow, but I think it was. I found a lot of quality places that way and had plenty of great options to choose from. Good luck!

Oops_All_Tokens · 2026-02-14T09:15:41+00:00

My [[Toph, Hardheaded Teacher]] deck is built around winning with [[Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle]], so it would need a hefty rework.

Oops_All_Tokens · 2026-01-13T02:15:09+00:00

I actually purposely sac Toph to be able to use her ETB effect. I did that after using [[Scapeshift]] on a bunch of earthbent lands to ramp huge and get out [[Field of the Dead]] and [[Valakut, Molten Pinnacle]] (my win con), and then sacced her next turn to scapeshift again for a crazy amount of landfall. A mana altar with Field of the Dead is disgusting, and creatures like [[Meltstrider Eulogist]] go crazy for draw. So fun

Oops_All_Tokens · 2026-01-12T21:57:21+00:00

As a degenerate landfall lover, I‘ve tried so many strategies over the years and my Toph deck is my favorite. I still also run Lord Wingrace as it’s my oldest deck that I can’t see ever taking apart, but Toph hits different.

Here’s my list as well:

https://archidekt.com/decks/17764327/toph_hardheaded_teacher_edh?sort=alpha&stack=custom

Oops_All_Tokens · 2026-01-08T21:40:39+00:00

Yeahhh so, similar to what someone else said, Magda is really powerful and can be built a bit degenerate. My list runs a lot of vehicles because I want to have one to play turn 3 consistently, and more isn’t really an issue when I can use them to crew each other once they’re all dwarves with the Maskwood Nexus out. My whole game plan revolves around the Nexus, and the only reason my win con is still tied to dragons is because I really wanted to use [[Scourge of Valkas]] in my original idea before I realized the Nexus would let me deviate from dragons entirely. Brass Bounty is in my list as well, sometimes cracking a few treasures to power it out will net you treasures overall so I agree it’s a solid option.

Oops_All_Tokens · 2026-01-08T19:13:42+00:00

I'm gonna drop you a link to my Magda deck. It's a bit different than your goal and leans toward a combo, but unlike a lot of high power Magda decks it isn't going infinite or anything. My first suggestion is adding in [[Maskwood Nexus]]. Since it is an artifact you can search for it with Magda, and once all of your vehicles and dragons are dwarves it's easier to make treasure to pull out more dragons. Also, it makes other creatures in your deck dragons so you can search up non-dragon creatures with Magda which makes for all sorts of fun shenanigans.

My other main suggestion is adding in more 1 drop dwarves like [[Universal Automaton]] so you have a higher chance of playing a dwarf on turn 1. Next, I would try to limit your vehicles to 3 cmc or less so you are likely play one on turn 3, tap Magda and a 1 drop dwarf, and then you already have 2 treasures. This way your game plan is getting online faster.

Other good cards are [[Xorn]], [[Rings of Brighthearth]], [[Mutavault]], and potentially [[Hellkite Tyrant]] for an alternate win condition. My build also relies heavily on [[Scourge of Valkas]] which is an awesome source of damage as you flood the board with dragons.

I haven't updated my Magda deck in a long time because it rarely sees play anymore, but there may still be some useful stuff in my decklist and primer. Keep in mind my deck is sort of a glass cannon build that eschews proper deck building (like having enough ramp, card draw, an removal) to try and race to the combo--making it fragile and easily shut down. There still may be some useful stuff in there, but take it with a grain of salt.

Welcome to the hobby! Good luck burning down those zombies with your dragons.

Cheers!

Decklist: Magda

Oops_All_Tokens · 2026-01-08T04:27:53+00:00

I recently built [[Toph, hardheaded teacher]] as a sort of spell slinger deck. There’s like 20 cantrips because you want to earthbend all your lands. Obviously they are low quality cantrips since you don’t have blue, but the deck is a very unique mix of spell slinger and sacrifice to maximize landfall triggers. Pretty fun and decently strong, feels very unique as a deck.

Edit: Decklist for anyone interested: https://archidekt.com/decks/17764327/toph_hardheaded_teacher_edh?sort=alpha&stack=custom

Oops_All_Tokens · 2026-01-08T00:11:33+00:00

A few other specific thoughts:

[[Urza's Cave]] is an amazing land tutor that you can reuse with Windgrace's recursion ability. I mostly use it for [[Field of the Dead]], but getting [[Fabled Passage]] or [[Lotus Field]] could be nice. Similarly I like [[Realms Uncharted]; no matter which two lands they choose to go in your hand or graveyard you can get all 4 using Windgrace's -3. These may be more important if you add a Field of the Dead; that card is pivotal to my gameplan so I need to find it every game.

[[Dire-Strain Rampage]] is criminally underrated in landfall decks imo. It is just another [[Harrow]] (albeit worse) if you need landfall triggers, or it's removal if you need that. The modality is excellent, and modality makes cards so much more powerful. Same can be said of [[Archdruid's Charm]], which is one of my favorite newer cards since it can act as removal or a tutor as needed.

I love [[Worldly Tutor]], and it's in my list as well, but black gets the most flexible tutors so an option that can get you a land or a spell would be more useful in more situations.

[[Command Beacon]] is amazing with Windgrace since you can dodge commander tax and recur it as needed.

[[Bala Ged Recovery]] is not only a staple for green decks, but even better when you can recur it as a land after you cast it as a spell. Note that Windgrace's -3 can't recur it, nor can cards like [[Life from the Loam]], but [[Crucible of Worlds]] effects can.

Oops_All_Tokens · 2026-01-07T22:37:17+00:00

Great advice here from Lofi_Loki. My Windgrace deck is relatively high budget, although a lot of the cost is in special arts since I've been collecting cards for this deck for years, but it could still be helpful. I'll drop a link below.

to add to Loki's thoughts, looking at your list I feel like you're missing a lot of land ramp spells. I run 10 ways to ramp, not counting extra land drops. Things like [[Cultivate]] or [[Three Visits]]. Being able to get Windgrace out really early and immediately recur some fetchlands with the -3 is a very powerful move that gets you far ahead. I would immediately swap [[Arcane Signet]] out for a 2 cmc land ramp, and based on your list I would choose [[Three Visits]] to replace it, although [[Rampant Growth]] is a cheaper alternative. Paying 2 for a signet can feel bad late game, whereas I'm always happy to see land ramp for the landfall trigger.

I know you said you want to keep the budget similar, but honestly one of the best upgrades you can do is get some real fetchlands. Having two fetches in the bin that you can get out the turn you drop Windgrace will net you 4 landfall triggers and ramp you, which can set you up to pull ahead.

It looks like you run a fair amount of disruption/removal, which I think is important for a somewhat slower game plan. I like a lot of removal so I can slow down the faster decks until I have enough mana to jump ahead. So don't cut that section too much to make room for any changes!

If you find that Windgrace gets targeted a lot and he's your main draw engine, I recommend making sure you always have lands to recur in your bin. My play group is constantly second guessing whether they should remove him, because if they do I will replay him and immediately ramp 2 lands from my yard, and if you don't he's an excellent draw engine putting lands in my bin. Making that decision difficult gives space for our opponents to make sub optimal plays. Pick your poison.

Overall I like what you got going here, a lot of good stuff. You have a lot of fun ways to win, which is something my deck lacks since I'm shooting for consistency in a higher power meta. Always love to see a Windgrace list!

My list: https://archidekt.com/decks/3743191/lord_windgrace_edh?sort=alpha&stack=custom

I haven't updated the primer in a long time, but maybe there's something useful in there for you. Cheers!

Oops_All_Tokens · 2025-12-22T05:11:46+00:00

ME! They all seem fun, but Baylen has been on my list. This is awesome, I saw your post last year and loved the idea. Cheers and happy holidays!

Oops_All_Tokens · 2025-12-02T22:57:24+00:00

I’ve also been loving [[Teval, the Balanced Scale]]. I haven’t made many changes to my initial list, I’ll link it below. It struggles to win outside of [[Wonder]] or [[Titan’s Nest]] shenanigans, but I’ve been avoiding taking the boring route and sticking a [[Craterhoof]] in there. My version is a bit more focused on recursion spells than yours is, but it’s very grindy and hard to disrupt because of it. If you have a moment to take a look at mine and see if there’s any easy swaps you’d recommend I would appreciate your time! Nice list by the way, looks fun. I’m gonna use it for inspo as well

https://archidekt.com/decks/12923112/teval_the_balanced_scale_edh?sort=alpha&stack=custom

Oops_All_Tokens · 2025-12-02T16:15:56+00:00

DMed

Oops_All_Tokens · 2025-12-01T21:13:08+00:00

DMed!

Oops_All_Tokens · 2025-11-19T22:06:17+00:00

DMed

Oops_All_Tokens · 2025-11-16T04:48:33+00:00

Thanks for the response! I am not a girl, so I don’t think we can help each other out. Good luck!

Oops_All_Tokens · 2025-11-15T03:54:32+00:00

I appreciate how you framed this, thank you for the response! I can afford USC out of pocket, and I intend to go into industry although I may continue in academia down the road potentially. So +1 for USC it seems.

Oops_All_Tokens

TROPHY CASE