How to Make Great Custom Gear for Your Trading Card Deck

A conversation with Tristan from LDB Duel.

Tristan is the owner of LDB Duel, a Canadian maker of custom TCG accessories—including premium trading card gear like deck boxes, playmats, sleeves, and field centers. In this Q&A he explains why custom trading card accessories are booming in the TCG scene, how players can design their own custom deck boxes and playmats, and what makes LDB Duel’s custom TCG gear stand out from the competition.

Question: What do customers ask you the most as the owner of LDB Duel?

Tristan: We get asked all the time if we offer custom designs on our products.

Question: And do you offer custom designs?

Tristan: On all of our gear, except for the Mach 2.

Question: And what do customers say they like about your custom products? Why do they want custom gear?

Tristan: They spend a lot of time making their decks, and they want gear that matches their decks, the boss monsters they put in them, and their favorite cards. There’s no way they could find that in a store or on a typical mass‑market site, because it’s too specific for each person. So we make it custom.

Question: And how popular is that now with trading card game players and TCG accessories?

Tristan: A lot of people are doing it. It’s a big focus for LDB Duel. It’s a big reason that customers are doing it with me.

Question: And what reasons do they give for ordering custom gear?

Tristan: Like I just said, they want to match their deck. They spend a lot of time on their decks and want their gear to match so it enhances the playing experience. They’re usually fans of these cards and are showing their personality through it. They just want it because it’s cool.

Question: What makes LDB Duel custom products unique? Why choose LDB Duel over someone else? What were you thinking about when you designed the custom products you sell?

Tristan: We actually design them for the customers. If they don’t know how to design them, that’s what makes us different. We have a graphic designer who will take your words and turn them into a design.

Question: What were you thinking about when you originally designed your products? What did you want customers to have?

Tristan: Our products are designed to my specifications. I actually do some of the computer designs myself, especially for the deck boxes, which were the first products we sold. The biggest seller is the deck box. I wanted them to fit all the cards in a deck, no matter what game. That’s why it holds 100 double‑sleeved cards. I wanted enough surface area for customization and a material that’s good for printing, so you get the highest quality prints. The final product must look exactly like the preview we send—no fading or anything like that. It’s designed to look as cool as possible with the printing.

Question: When you look at other printed deck boxes, what’s important to check out?

Tristan: Print quality is critical for high-end custom TCG accessories and trading card gear. A lot of them don’t use good printing. They print on a material that’s not ideal, so the result comes out faded, the colors aren’t solid because they skipped a proper white layer, or it cracks or feels sticky. Ours look exactly like the image you send us. Most customers don’t have or know how to use graphic software, so we take care of all that.

Question: What are the steps if someone wants a custom product?

Tristan: To order custom trading card accessories, you email us or message us on Instagram or whatever platform you’re using. Just say, “I want a custom deck box,” and that’s it. Then we’ll ask which cards you want on it and what your ideas are. If you already have a design in mind, you can send us links or card names. We’ll send you a preview in a few days, and then you can edit it. If something’s a little off, we’ll fix it and send a new preview. You either approve it or request a final revision, and then it’s done. We only charge for design time if you want the design to be exclusive. If we can sell it again, we don’t charge you.

Question: Do customers have to go on the site and buy a custom box before any artwork is done?

Tristan: No, you can just email us.

Question: So there’s nothing to buy until the design is approved?

Tristan: Yes. It’s basically free for you until you approve the design.

Question: And then you buy the box?

Tristan: Yes. Usually we send the first preview, and then we buy the box.

Question: If someone already has their art and just wants to upload it on the site, how do they do that?

Tristan: You can load it on the site and buy directly. There’s a section to upload art on the listing for each custom product we sell.

Question: What custom products do you offer?

Tristan: You can choose from all the custom TCG accessories we sell, except the Mach 2. We have Mach 3 deck boxes, playmats, field centers, and Orica cards. Custom card sleeves are very popular, and we have them in Japanese and Standard sizes with different finishes. You can get t‑shirts in 12 colors and, soon, custom binders.

Question: What’s the future of custom products at LDB Duel?

Tristan: I’ve always wanted to sell the full set—a playmat, sleeves, deck box, and a binder—so you could buy a whole set to match your deck.  Binders and a bigger deck box are in the plan for the future.

Question: Finally, if you had one word of advice for customers thinking about a custom trading card product, what would it be?

Tristan: You already know what you want—you just need to tell us and we’ll make it. We’ve set things up so it’s as simple as possible. You've figured out all the combos in your deck. This is much easier!

You can see many of the custom TCG accessories and custom deck boxes we’ve created on our YouTube channel. Most of the items on our website are past customs. The same designer who did everything on the site will do your custom. You can use those designs as a starting point, or you can just tell us the cards and we’ll figure it out. You could literally give us three words and we’ll figure it out.

Whether you’re into Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon, or Magic: The Gathering, LDB Duel gives every player the chance to own custom TCG gear—deck boxes, playmats, sleeves, and binders—that showcase your favorite cards and personality.