There are a lot of deck boxes available now in the market yet very few are as close to perfect as the Dragon Shield Nest 100+, and in this review, I’ll discuss why.
In my opinion, the idea of premium deck boxes is more of a luxury rather than a necessity when it comes to trading card games. After all, I came from a background of penny-sleeving cards, holding them together with rubber bands and just tossing them in the bag during my Magic: the Gathering days in Grade School. So I was more than happy to get one of those cheap Ultra Pro boxes to put my deck in later on, and never really thought any further – if my cards fit in and are protected, then I’m fine. I still have a roster of more budget, practical deck boxes in my collection now, simply because they are exactly that – cheap and practical.
However, decades of improvements in deck box designs made me can’t help but turn my head and look at just how far the idea of putting cards in a box can be taken – and I’d say they went the distance. Unique, textured outer materials, magnetic flaps, microfiber inner linings, and optional accessory trays seem to be the standard for premium design nowadays. Either that or it’s tough, aesthetically pleasing, high-quality plastic cubes.
There are a couple of models that stood out to me in this modern roster of premium deck boxes like Ultimate Guard’s Sidewinder Xenoskin 133+ and Gamegenic’s Watch Tower 100 XL+, however, the deck box that stands out from these is Dragonshield’s Nest+ 100.
Dragon Shield Nest Review: Design and Use
The Nest 100+ is the Nest’s taller sibling that has an additional tray at the bottom to contain dice and other small accessories. Its design is by no means a recent one – Dragon Shield has been selling them for years, and I have friends who swear by their slightly worn out, 5-year-old copies, but I think it is still the most practical one in the market by far.
In this current world of magnetic, folding flaps that either span across the table or removable covers that require multiple motions to remove/put them back in place, Dragon Shield opted for a simpler solution for their Nest: a magnetic top lid that you can securely slide the main body into.
Because of this, the deck box occupies very little space at the table while still having your other cards and the accessory tray easily within arm’s reach. This may not sound like a big deal but sometimes you visit Local Gaming Stores with cramped spaces or packed tournaments where it’s hard to find space to place your deck box on the table, much less an open one.
And there’s plenty of reason to put the Nest on the table besides the practicality – its design is beautiful. The curved design on both the lid and body makes it stand out from the rest of its blockier-shaped competitors, and its outer material is uniquely reminiscent of Dragon Skin, which effectively represents the brand’s identity. If I were to nitpick though, I’d say that the company is a little too loud on the branding with the large Dragon Shield logo embedded on both the top of the lid and the middle of the body. This is less prevalent on the black variants of the Nest but is easily noticeable on the brighter colors, which the deck box comes in a variety of.
The lid magnets are really strong and seal the Nest properly when closed. I tried shaking it hard while holding the lid to see if the body would fall off, but it held it very well. Your deck and dice will be absolutely safe inside.
Dragon Shield Nest Review: Flaws
Now before you run off to the nearest store to buy one, there are a few details that you need to know about the Nest. Beneath its practical design and great aesthetics, there are some caveats that you should be aware of that are related to its main use – which is (ironically) storing cards.
Let’s start with a minor one – the fiber lining up its interior is not as good as those of rival brands like Ultimate Guard and Gamegenic – it feels nothing more than a thin layer of cloth wrapped around the deck box’s inner frame. While it still does help prevent card damage, it makes it feel a little less premium compared to its rivals.
Another minor caveat that’s related to its design is that it ends up with a smaller accessory tray. While it still won’t be a problem for most games, since you’ll only need a handful of dice, it does fill up quickly when you add tokens, counters, and even bigger dice variants inside. While this is just an unfortunate byproduct of the deckbox’s measurements, it correlates directly with what probably is the Nest’s biggest flaw.
The thing is, I wish the Nest were made a little bigger and wider. It’ll still be a beautiful, practically-designed, space-saving deck box, but at least it solves its biggest issue – card capacity when you are double-sleeving.
If you single-sleeve your cards like I do, the Nest is perfect. It can comfortably fit a hundred-plus cards with some space to spare.
It is when we go to double-sleeving where the problems start. On the Dragon Shield website, it says that you can fit 100 double-sleeved cards on the Nest but this is only true if you are using inner sleeves + standard sleeves, and even then it’s a very tight fit to get those 100 cards inside.
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This becomes even more of a problem when you use Standard Sleeves + Outer Sleeves. In addition to its own Dragon Shield Outer Sleeves barely fitting inside the Nest, I can’t even put 80 cards inside this way. If I were to speculate, this weird product incompatibility is probably due to the Nest’s unchanged design during the past years – after all, the Dragon Shield Outer sleeves are a relatively new product. However, I’m sure that there are similar products before that people used to double-sleeve like the popular KMC Outer Sleeves, which should have warranted some consideration when designing the dimensions of the Nest.
As a corollary, the popular, new, thin TCG Protect Japanese snap cases are also a very tight fit inside the Nest, and is probably one more reason for Dragon Shield to update their design considering that most TCGs nowadays also incorporate snap cases. The older, thicker snap cases still fit inside the Nest though, with no problems.
Dragon Shield Nest Review: Conclusion
If you’re a single-sleeve, old snap case user, then the Dragon Shield Nest 100+ is nearly perfect. The inner lining could use some improvement and the branding a little less loud, but it’s a great deck box that’ll carry all your essentials without taking up too much table space. Double-sleeve enjoyers can still make do with it as long as you’re using thin Inner Sleeves instead of thick Outer Sleeves.
For everyone else however, it might be a better idea to check out alternative options until Dragon Shield updates the Nest’s design to be more compatible with the newer products being released (both their own and their competitors) and accommodate the needs of the modern Trading Card Game player.
The Dragon Shield Nest 100+ can be ordered directly from Dragon Shield’s Website or on other online selling platforms, or available at your Local Gaming Store for around Php 1,900 (or $35).
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