LGS Exposé: Part One - Ultra Rare Cards

LGS Exposé: Part One

Let’s talk about the real villain of tabletop gaming: the Local Game Store owner. Not the players, not the tryhard meta-chasers, not even the guy who insists on narrating his every turn like he's Yugi Moto; no, the true menace is the dude behind the counter who somehow owns a store full of games he does not understand and never played in any competent way.

If you’ve ever wondered how someone ends up running a shop full of Magic, minis, and board games without knowing jack about any of it… buckle up.

Welcome to the dark underbelly of your “friendly” Local Game Store — emphasis on “friendly” in the same way a used car salesman is “friendly.”

Let’s start with Part One, the greasy heart of the hustle:
Sealed. Product. Scamming.


You ever walk into your LGS, drop £5, £10, maybe even £20 on a booster pack, and crack open what feels like a selection of discarded draft picks and cards so bad even the bulk bins flinch?

Yeah. That’s not bad luck. That’s an inside job.

Here’s the play-by-play:

Behind that cluttered counter and the bored-looking staff is a silent operation. Sealed boxes come in. They don’t go straight to shelves. Nope, they take a quick detour through the Backroom of Shenanigans™ where the “team” (read: two dudes and a manager with a God complex) crack open a box “just to see the quality.”

What they actually mean:
They’re going through that box with surgical precision, mining out all the mythics, juicy rares, showcase foils, and chase hits. Those go into the singles binder — the one they price off TCGplayer mid-spike. The scraps? Reassembled. Resealed. Labeled “fresh.” And then? Put out for the poor saps — aka, us — to buy full price.

That Commander Masters box you were hyped to buy?
It’s already been looted harder than a Diablo loot chest on launch night.

A particular trick for Weiss Schwartz, they start ripping open boxes, on the hunt for those 3 SPs in that can be mapped boxes in the case. The boxes get sent up, and everyone thinks they have a chance of Mega Milk Waifu signed. They are already on eBay and the singles folder, you are buying all the miss boxes destined to never make you money back.


Now let’s talk about “the packs behind the counter.” You know the ones.
You ask for three packs and the guy grabs them from behind the glass like he’s pulling gold bars from a vault. You think that’s about shoplifting prevention?

Nah. That’s so the staff can track the hit ratios.

That guy at the register who seems a little too curious about what you pulled? He’s not being social. He’s doing math. Mythics left? Rares used? Foils pulled? He’s keeping tabs. And when the ratios look good, guess who suddenly decides to “pick up a couple packs” with his employee discount?

Exactly. Timmy, who hasn’t won a game in a month, just opened a borderless foil Mana Crypt “on his break.”

Then they shovel the remaining “cleaned out” packs right back on the counter for you to pay top dollar for. Congratulations, you’re buying a lottery ticket after someone already claimed the jackpot.


This isn’t just shady — it’s casino-level rigging.

In Vegas, card counting gets you banned (it's not illegal). In the LGS world, it’s standard practice… except it’s the dealer counting cards — and dealing from the bottom of the box.

So the next time you crack three boosters and walk away with bulk rares, an off-center foil basic, and disappointment in your heart, just know:
you’ve been hustled.


💀 Coming Up Next:

Part Two — “Organised Play - Organised Crime”

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