<p style="text-align: right;"><em>All photos by <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/author/nick-wolf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nick Wolf</a></em></p>
<p>TCG deck holders are a dime a dozen these days, with a multitude of options with different designs, materials, shapes, and sizes, to say nothing of the range in quality. But sometimes a new designer comes along that just does it right.</p>
<p>I recently picked up the four <a href="https://www.gathererstavern.com/products/avatar-the-last-airbender-domaru-boxes?variant=51428333650199" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA) DOMARU boxes</a> by Gatherer's Tavern to see if they're as good as they look on the shelf, and now I'm here to share my thoughts.</p>
<h3>Affiliate Disclosure</h3>
<p>We greatly value your support at EDHREC and thank you for your continued readership. By clicking on the links provided and by purchasing products mentioned within this article, we may receive a small affiliate commission.</p>
<h2>What's a DOMARU Box?</h2>
<p>Per the <a href="https://www.gathererstavern.com/blogs/tavern-tales/domaru-boxes-a-samurais-protection" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gatherer's Tavern website</a>, "DOMARU comes from the Japanese word Dō-maru (胴丸), meaning 'body wrapped.' It refers to a type of chest armour worn by the samurai class in feudal Japan."</p>
<div id="attachment_177357" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-13-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-177357" class="wp-image-177357 size-large" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-13-1024x667.jpg" alt="Blue Avatar DOMARU deck box" width="1024" height="667" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-13-1024x667.jpg 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-13-300x195.jpg 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-13-768x500.jpg 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-13-1536x1001.jpg 1536w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-13-2048x1334.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-177357" class="wp-caption-text">Blue Avatar DOMARU box with its two dividers</p></div>
<p>The DOMARU product line is all about keeping your TCG cards safe, and it goes beyond ATLA. Even beyond just deck holders. Other recent sets have also gotten the DOMARU box treatment, including <em><a href="https://www.gathererstavern.com/products/lorwyn-eclipsed-domaru-boxes?variant=51428355408151" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lorwyn Eclipsed</a></em>, <em><a href="https://www.gathererstavern.com/products/edge-of-eternities-domaru-boxes?variant=50562977267991" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Edge of Eternities</a></em>, and <em><a href="https://www.gathererstavern.com/products/tarkir-dragonstorm-domaru-boxes?variant=50297395282199" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tarkir: Dragonstorm</a>.</em> <a href="https://www.gathererstavern.com/collections/deck-boxes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Non-affiliated DOMARU boxes</a> will also be available soon.</p>
<p>Additionally, they have <a href="https://www.gathererstavern.com/collections/card-sleeves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">many options for DOMARU sleeves</a>, but nothing affiliated with <em>Magic</em> (for now).</p>
<h2>Are the DOMARU Boxes Good?</h2>
<p>I was immediately impressed with the quality of these boxes. They're incredibly sturdy, and feel like they could easily take a beating while jumbling around in my convention backpack or airplane luggage. The stitching is attractive and strong across all four of the boxes I got, though not without a few minor flaws.</p>
<p>Also, the magnet strength on both sides of the box leaves me with no worries about the box popping open to spill out its contents.</p>
<div id="attachment_177537" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-22-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-177537" class="wp-image-177537 size-large" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-22-1024x683.jpg" alt="DOMARU box stitching up close" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-22-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-22-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-22-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-22-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-22-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-177537" class="wp-caption-text">DOMARU box stitching up close</p></div>
<p>In addition to the strength of the box, another feature worth noting is the dividers. Each of these ATLA boxes comes with two dividers, one featuring the <em>Magic</em> mana symbol of its color, and the other showing the color's bending symbol in ATLA (white = airbending, blue = waterbending, red = firebending, green = earthbending).</p>
<p>These dividers are great for separating your main deck from your commander, tokens, sideboard, dice, etc.</p>
<div id="attachment_177538" style="width: 849px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-02-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-177538" class="wp-image-177538 size-large" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-02-839x1024.jpg" alt="Green DOMARU Avatar deck box with its earthbending symbol divider" width="839" height="1024" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-02-839x1024.jpg 839w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-02-246x300.jpg 246w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-02-768x938.jpg 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-02-1258x1536.jpg 1258w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-02-1677x2048.jpg 1677w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 839px) 100vw, 839px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-177538" class="wp-caption-text">Green DOMARU Avatar box with its earthbending symbol divider</p></div>
<h2>Are the Avatar DOMARU Boxes Worth Buying?</h2>
<p>Retailing at $30 USD, these ATLA DOMARU boxes are well worth their price. They're aesthetically and texturally pleasing, and the manufacturing quality is exceptional.</p>
<p>The other really important benefit to these that makes them worth the price is the size. Each of these boxes holds approximately 130 double-sleeved cards, or 100 triple-sleeved. That's right, your triple sleeved Commander decks will fit in these. That's something very few deck holders can say. (I've even seen a few that claim they do, but actually don't.)</p>
<div id="attachment_177539" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-06-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-177539" class="wp-image-177539 size-large" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-06-1024x644.jpg" alt="Open DOMARU Avatar deck box on its side" width="1024" height="644" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-06-1024x644.jpg 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-06-300x189.jpg 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-06-768x483.jpg 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-06-1536x965.jpg 1536w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-06-2048x1287.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-177539" class="wp-caption-text">Open DOMARU Avatar box on its side</p></div>
<p>However, the drawback to having all that extra space is that the boxes are <em>big</em>. They take up quite a bit of space. So if you're used to carrying your decks around in something like a Quiver Time Bolt or Ultimate Guard Arkhive, you'll have to be prepared to carry fewer decks if you want to use these. Or maybe even carry the DOMARU boxes separately from your carrying case.</p>
<p>But if a quality deck holder that carries a double- or triple-sleeved Commander deck is something you're in the market for, I can't recommend DOMARU enough.</p>
<h2>Will I Like These Boxes if I Don’t Like Avatar?</h2>
<p>Each of the Avatar DOMARU boxes highlights symbols from <em>Magic</em> and ATLA equally. The two sides of the box show the Avatar bending symbol, the top displays the <em>Magic</em> color symbol matching the color of the box, and the front has the <em>Magic</em> planeswalker symbol.</p>
<p>The bottom of the box shows the logos for <em>Magic</em>, ATLA, and Gatherer's Tavern.</p>
<div id="attachment_177540" style="width: 778px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-10-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-177540" class="wp-image-177540 size-large" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-10-768x1024.jpg" alt="Red and blue DOMARU Avatar boxes, showing the designs" width="768" height="1024" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-10-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-10-225x300.jpg 225w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-10-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-10-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/GTDomaruBoxes-10-scaled.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-177540" class="wp-caption-text">Red and blue Avatar DOMARU boxes, showing the designs</p></div>
<p>If you're, like me, not familiar with Avatar: The Last Airbender, there's nothing about these boxes that should put you off from them. As someone who's never watched any of the shows, I think the Avatar symbols are just nice designs that add to the aesthetics of the box.</p>
<p>But if you strongly <em>dislike</em> Avatar, for some reason, well then these boxes are probably not for you.</p>
<h2>Where Can I Get Gatherer's Tavern DOMARU Boxes?</h2>
<p>You can pick up the ATLA DOMARU boxes on <a href="https://www.gathererstavern.com/products/avatar-the-last-airbender-domaru-boxes?variant=51428333650199" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gatherer's Tavern's website</a>, at your local LGS, or at an upcoming Magic Con. Gatherer's Tavern has distribution throughout the US, and always has a great presence at Magic Con.</p>
<h2>Overall Grade: A</h2>
<p>I'm so glad I picked these up. The boxes are sturdy and beautiful, and I'm looking forward to using them to carry my gear to conventions. The only real flaw I can speak to, and it's only a flaw if it's not what you're looking for, is the size. The huge boxes won't fit in every carrying case, and so might not be the right fit for everyone.</p>
<p>But even if you don't want to use them to carry your decks, they're fantastic for players like me who like to carry around a lot of tokens and dice.</p>


Product Review - Avatar DOMARU Boxes by Gatherer's Tavern

<p style="text-align: right;"><em>Image courtesy of Ultimate Guard</em></p>
<p>Several days ago, Ultimate Guard, a designer of deck boxes and other card gaming accessories, released a deck box based on the newest <em>Magic: The Gathering</em> set, <a href="https://edhrec.com/sets/eoe" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Edge of Eternities</em></a>. This deck box utilized the art of Andrew Thompson (also known as <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/schmandrewart.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@SchmandrewART</a> on Bluesky and other platforms). However, upon further inspection from Thompson himself, Ultimate Guard seemed to also use generative AI to wrap the art around the box.</p>
<blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:zsotdizkrgg35czrfacph33a/app.bsky.feed.post/3lviwrabwnc27" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreiho46ngtbkirqilelwabqjvt4vpwdsvzaziqpog2ai5k5hsye6g6m">
<p lang="en">Picked this deck box up from @ultimateguard.bsky.social and I was so excited until I flipped it over. Looks like my art was extended with ai. @magic.wizards.com needs to make sure their partners don’t do this.I would have happily extended this for a couple hundred $$. Instead it looks awful!</p>
<p>&mdash; <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:zsotdizkrgg35czrfacph33a?ref_src=embed">schmandrew➡️DragonCon (@schmandrewart.bsky.social)</a> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:zsotdizkrgg35czrfacph33a/post/3lviwrabwnc27?ref_src=embed">2025-08-03T14:55:25.693Z</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>On Wednesday, August 21st, nearly three weeks later, <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/ultimateguard.bsky.social/post/3lwwcrte4l22b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ultimate Guard made a statement confirming this information to be true</a>. Furthermore, the company has also stated that it will no longer utilize Adobe's Generative Fill feature for its <em>Magic</em>-focused products.</p>
<div id="attachment_161441" style="width: 848px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/FU4A4322-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-161441" class="wp-image-161441" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/FU4A4322-scaled.jpg" alt="Andrew Thompson (SchmandrewART) at Gen Con 2025. Image credit: Nick Wolf" width="838" height="559" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/FU4A4322-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/FU4A4322-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/FU4A4322-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/FU4A4322-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/FU4A4322-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/FU4A4322-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 838px) 100vw, 838px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-161441" class="wp-caption-text">Andrew Thompson (SchmandrewART) at Gen Con 2025. Image credit: Nick Wolf</p></div>
<p>You can read their full statement below:</p>
<blockquote><p>Earlier this month, we saw the post and discussions about generative Al use in our "Haliya and Tezzeret" Flip'n'Tray deck box. We immediately conducted an internal review and, unfortunately, confirmed the claims.</p>
<p>When adapting 2D card art for 3D products like deck boxes, we sometimes extend the original artwork to fit complex shapes. Our review found that in some cases-including this deck box—a feature in Adobe called Generative Fill, which uses Al, was employed alongside our designers' hand work. Upon further research we also found it occurred in a small number of other products in development.</p>
<p>We deeply value the artists we work with and the trust of the community. Effective immediately, we will no longer use Generative Fill or any generative Al tools in our design process for <em>Magic: The Gathering</em> licensed products. Any that were in-production have been removed from our lineup and no future Al-assisted <em>Magic: The Gathering</em> licensed products will be made or sold by Ultimate Guard.</p>
<p>We recognize that at the heart of this issue is a concern for the livelihood of artists everywhere. Ultimate Guard wholeheartedly supports this sentiment. To that end, we have been steadily growing our own full-time team of illustrators and designers. We also commission unique art pieces from the freelance community; a practice that has and will continue to be part of Ultimate Guard's DNA.</p>
<p>Thank you for your understanding and continued support.<br />
ULTIMATE GUARD</p></blockquote>
<h2>Backlash Towards Ultimate Guard</h2>
<p><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/ultimateguard.bsky.social/post/3lwwcrte4l22b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">On social media, namely Bluesky</a>, users were quick to point out a few potential holes in Ultimate Guard's apology statement. For one, the company only stated its discontinuation of the use of AI for <em>Magic</em>-related products. Nowhere in the statement do they disavow AI for their non-<em>Magic</em> products. This has led a fair few users to state their continued disenchantment with the accessory company.</p>
<p>Furthermore, a few users questioned the sincerity of this statement, asking the company if it had made the statement only to avoid losing its licensing agreement with Hasbro.</p>
<p>Finally, many pointed out another issue that has plagued Ultimate Guard's customer rapport quite a bit recently: its silence regarding its license with the <em>Harry Potter</em> book franchise. Even before the company's AI usage came to light, it had announced four deck boxes based on the houses of the <em>Harry Potter</em> books' Hogwarts school.</p>
<p>Because of the franchise's unbreakable affiliation with JK Rowling and Rowling's actions against the transgender community, many players since have disavowed the franchise. Therefore, many players further decried Ultimate Guard's affiliation with <em>Harry Potter</em> and Rowling as a result of the former's silence on that issue in their aforementioned apology statement.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>This issue is currently at the forefront of social media discourse at the time of writing. Ultimate Guard continues to receive backlash from many <em>Magic</em> players, specifically those who used to use the company's products and those who never did. This apology statement rings out as hollow to many of them.</p>
<p>While we await any further news from Ultimate Guard on any of the other controversies surrounding this story, let's open the floor to you, dear readers. How do you feel about this story? Do you agree that Ultimate Guard should stop using generative AI altogether? Do you believe that they should cut ties with the <em>Harry Potter</em> franchise? Sound off in the comments below!</p>


deck box

Product Review - Avatar DOMARU Boxes by Gatherer's Tavern

Ultimate Guard Releases Statement About Recent AI Usage