BSOCG - Blue Sky OCG - Otaku, Card & Games — Local services in City of Oneida

Breakdown of review:

1 Star: Finding the store was easy, and parking was a breeze as the weekend allowed us to take the edge of the building.

1 Star: The shop was clean, and relatively well kept. The products on display were carefully organized and easy to assess for purchasing preferences of the various supported game lines.

1 Star: The event pricing was extremely attractive and the prize support was more than fair. I would certainly entertain open events there on pricing alone.

0 Star: The available selection of singles was lackluster, and from experiences I have had shared with me of pre orders going absolutely awful (boxes being mishandled, a strict 0 refund policy even if they don't order your product and you are forced to take store credit), as well as the handling of events in which the owner aggressively and loudly forced players to keep playing at a previous event (which goes against wizards organized play policies) makes me wary. Be warned that you may be unable to drop from an event without an argument, as well as having the TO (tournament organizer) and the judge play in those events.

0 Star: The overall level of respect for discourse and opinion. Prior to my arrival there I had heard of many experiences where other stores were not to be spoken of. While there, it was an extremely high pressure environment to make a purchase. I understand that to support a game store you need to make a purchase, but if I don't want anything you have, and I am not interested in necessarily even supporting the store, that's my choice. Your money is yours to spend how you see fit, and to be told otherwise is arrogant and disingenuous.

TLDR: Overall, I had a 3 Star experience. I would recommend this shop if you are looking for a rock bottom price for a tournament such as a pre release or other large event, as the prices have largely been very consumer positive. Cleanliness and the organized nature of the products was also a big plus. The owner can be overbearing, and refund policies on pre orders are horrid. Selection leaves a lot to be desired.

Take a stop in, and keep an open mind. Hopefully I came at the wrong time and maybe it was just a bad week.

update

To clarify, we never once mentioned purchasing a booster box, I had explained I had already purchased more than enough product from other vendors prior to your event.

I did not once ask anyone to drop, and played 3-0 (a perfect record) prior to leaving your event. I did not also ask to increase my standing, and won your event even after leaving.

You and the judge hosting the event decided to play, making 6 players, which wasn't an odd number. You entered your own tournament technically taking away prize support from the players you beat, as well as having the judge play in the event which was not orthodox or ethical through the program.

As to you saying I was rude, the only comments I made were professional, and open opinions on why I wasn't comfortable paying for a non competitive event personally. I have the right to choose how I spend my money and also the right to openly and honestly express that opinion.

Lastly, as for playing at Luxus Botanica in Rome every Sunday at 530pm for commander games that are free, friendly, and 21 and over only, I have no problem with anyone coming in as we are exceptionally clean and professional. We aren't a card shop, and as such I visited one to see what was discussed previously.

I think your response shows the arrogant nature of your business, the fact that you cannot manage pre-orders financially to offer a return policy, and the overall hostility to opposing ideas. I was genuine and concise with my review, and you are going to continue to lose players from your poor ability to handle criticism or customer service. I wish you the best nonetheless and hope you can turn things around for if we ever decide to...

Came to this place for months to play Magic the Gathering at the weekly commander nights and a few of the pre-releases. The only good nights came when the store clerk/partial owner, who goes by Z, didn’t involve himself in the games (which was far and very few between). This is a business that hosts as a place to play games, as well as a retail store and both sides are a nightmare to deal with.

When it comes to playing MTG, the store clerk will regularly get rulings wrong, continue to argue the incorrect rulings and get visibly upset when proven incorrect. He will impose arbitrary rules if something happens he doesn’t like, even if ALL the players in the game disagree. He likes to treat novice players disrespectfully, and berates the younger crowd of minors who come in if they make an incorrect move.

When it comes to the retail side of things, there are shady practices as well. Personally, I was involved in a special order of card sleeves (a group of us regulars all paid upfront for specific colors and designs as a group order, set up by the store clerk) that was botched from the get go. Most people who ordered ended up not getting the color they wanted, and if they ordered multiple colors or art designs, they got multiples of the same color which they would not have paid for. As for my product out of this specific order, the store clerk sold them to another customer because I wasn’t able to make it in to pick them up for 2 weeks. The same store clerk has also been accused of ripping off/straight up robbing a local artist who was selling custom made stickers in his stores.

All around the only good experiences had in the store come from the games with other customers, all of which seem to come and go in waves as they get fed up with the atmosphere of the store.

Edit: I in fact would like to see the log book of so called incidents. To anyone reading this for a legitimate review, This is not a “Review Bombing” because of another customer, as these are all complaints I had personally from my experiences. This store is owned by multiple people, two of which don’t live in state so confusion and miscommunication must be running rampant behind...

Just for those who are aware, this store is charging significantly more than the normal rate for an upcoming Magic: the Gathering set release. While I do understand that the set in question has a lot of excitement behind it, and that the owner has the right to charge whatever they want for entry into their event based on market trends, this kind of pricing is absolutely ridiculous and greedy.

Before anything is mentioned by the owner, if there is a response to this review, I wholeheartedly understand that you are a small business, and are doing the best you can to stay afloat. I would highly recommend that you charge for events that are in accordance with the standard rate that similar stores in the area are charging. That, combined with personal experiences that I have had at your store, none of which I hold my right to not discuss in public or private, are the reason for the one-star review.

For reference, I have included a screenshot of the pricing that I have mentioned for the...