Alpha Cards Legality For Tournament Play

[Cavius The Great]

I remember for quite some time that Alpha cards were banned from tournament play because of the distinct "rounded corners". Are they still banned to this day or have they changed that ruling? I assume most people would wear  card sleeves for any deck that had expensive Alpha cards, but I just want to make sure if they're completely legal with no strings attached. Thanks ahead of time.

[Jacob Orlove]

They're completely legal so long as they're indistinguishable from regular cards when face-down. That means opaque sleeves.

[Cavius The Great]

opague as in non-visable right? So no clear sleeves? Is there an actually tournament ruling link you can give me that verifies that? Thanks ahead of time, Jacob. =)

P.S.- May I ask you another question? Would it be a good investment to buy Alpha cards becuase they seem to sell less than the Beta versions of cards. That is the main reason I started this thread to weigh the pros and cons of investing in Alpha cards.

[Harkius]

opague as in non-visable right?

Yes. That is still the definition of opaque.

As far as a link, check the DCI Floor rules, located here.

Harkius

[Cavius The Great]

So now that that's cleared up, do you guys think Alpha cards would be a good investment?

[forests failed you]

Well technically Alpha cards are rarer than their beta counterparts; however, Betas tend to be more expensive.  Some players don't like the way the rounded corners look.

Alpha and Beta cards demand a fairly high premium;  However, I'm not sure I would recomend investing in expensive cards unless you have some kind of a way to move them.  In general, I don't like to trade for Beta stuff unless I want it for my personal collection because it is often difficult to find players interested in paying such high premiums to pimp out their decks.  For instance, I've been sandbagging seven Beta Volcanic Islands and though I only paid one fifty a piece for the extras I haven't been able to find anybody who is interested in purchasing them.

My two cents. 


Don't do it unless you know you can move it, or want it for yourself.

[Cavius The Great]

You can move ANYTHING on Ebay.