Cards are important in Magic, believe it or not. It is a trading card game, after all. And the cards that you play with in paper Magic, the ones you buy at your local game store, are printed by Wizards of the Coast (WotC). They’re outsourced to a printing press, but you get my point. Official cards are made and distributed by our Wizard overlords.
But what about cards that a third party printed?
I’m obviously talking about proxies. It’s in the title; I’m sure you’re not surprised. Proxies are a lot of things. They can be fun, but they’re controversial. In some cases, they’re necessary. I don’t know about you, but I can only afford a few cards from Magic’s past that go for hundreds or thousands of dollars. The reserved list ensures that many will never go for much less, but that’s neither here nor there.
But what is a proxy? Where can you get them? What’s the difference between a proxy and a counterfeit card? I’m here to answer all of your questions on the topic. So, without further ado, let’s get started!
So, What Is a Proxy?
I’m so glad you asked!
Proxies are homemade copies or stand-ins for MTG cards. There’s a wide range of ways to make a “proxy.”
Some people write their name and abilities on a piece of paper covering a reversed card in a sleeve, some write the name of a card on the back of a bulk card like basic lands, and many people just print out the card in question. The latter is the type of proxy I want to talk about today.
Printed proxies might have different art and abilities or be custom cards that don’t exist in Magic. They also might be a homemade version of a card that’s not feasible. Think of the infamous Black Lotus. Some players also use them for more “authentic” playtesting of decks before they spend crazy amounts of money on them.
Obviously, you can’t use proxies in just any scenario. They’re perfect for kitchen table Magic, but anywhere outside your playgroup is either a straight-up “no” or a “probably not.” It’s always best to check and make sure first. Still, anything competitive or even vaguely non-casual is a heavy “almost definitely not.”
Proxies aren’t legal in MTG, and depending on how they’re made, they sometimes skirt the line of legality in general. Counterfeit cards and proxy cards aren’t technically the same. There is a distinction, but it can be a gray area.
Getting Your Hands on Proxies
Let’s get to the fun stuff. How do you make proxies, where can you get them, how do you print them, etc.?
Where to Buy Proxies
Buying proxies is a very convenient way to get a Black Lotus or some dual land lookalikes for your Cube at an affordable price.
However, you might get into some slippery slopes regarding proxies versus counterfeits and the ethics of the whole thing. Still, I went over that already, so we’ll move on to some options for you.
- Print MTG – Our pick for print on demand proxy cards
- Proxy King – Best for high quality, realistic proxies
- MTG Print – Best option for printing proxies at home
- Proxy MTG – A solid alternative for quality proxies
You can also find printers on eBay, Etsy, or even Reddit. Plenty of people have the means to print really nice-looking and feeling proxies. However, eBay might get a little weird and counterfeit-y, so be careful over there. Etsy is a good spot, but you’ll have to provide the seller with the file you want printed. Reddit has some general proxy subs, and there are some for MTG proxies.
Make Them Yourself
The first and easiest way to get proxies is to make them yourself. There are sites out there that will do the formatting for you. All you need is a printer, paper, ink, and scissors! If you want to get fancy, some other supplies will make your proxies prettier or nicer to hold, but those are the basics.
The printer is important. Any old printer will get the job done, but it might be different from what you’re expecting. Of course, some printers are better than others, but what’s the best printer for proxies? Inkjet printers are generally hailed as good options. If you want to really step up your game, laser color printers will be your best friend.
There’s a big tradeoff in quality depending on how much you invest, so if you only need a few, you may be better off ordering them.
Proxy Sites
When it comes to proxy sites, I had trouble finding a good one. My recommendation is going to go to Print MTG.
Their site is easy to use, has a mass card list upload, and has many options you can mess with for your proxies. You can print a whole deck at once, which is excellent. They’ve also got an easy dropdown menu where you can choose which version of each card you want to print.
If you want to make completely custom cards or want to use your own art, there are other options. The site also has every single card in Magic available and prints for you on demand.
For many purposes, proxies like that may suit your demands. However, if you are looking for something that is even higher quality (better ink and card stock), then Proxy King is another option.
Proxy Photoshop and PDF Templates
You could use Photoshop if you’re already familiar with it. PDF templates give you something to work with, and you can find plenty online. They’re relatively easy to make yourself if you’ve got a bit of time.
Then there’s Magic Set Editor, which looks pretty cool. You can use it to design your own cards to print or share online. It’s also got a stats window, which will give you some info about the cards you’ve created like average mana cost, how many rares there are, and more. It lets you export to an HTML file, Apprentice, or CCG Lackey if you wanna play with them online. You can’t export high-quality images, so you might have better options, depending on what you want to do with them.
How to Make Special Proxies
Did anybody here ever watch that show How It’s Made? I used to watch that all the time when I was a kid. Something about watching factory machines do the same thing over and over again and listening to the narrator’s soothing voice was super captivating.
As a result, I’m way too into finding out how various things are made. It might be an obsession, but it’s okay.
There are a few different ways you can make foil proxies at home. The best way is to use existing foil cards. This guide on preparing foil proxies tells you all you need to know, but I’ll review a TL;DR version here.
You should remove the ink from the card and then glue a transparent sheet onto the now-blank card. It’s easy, and your result looks fantastic. You will need some patience to complete this, even if it’s relatively simple.
Before you start, ensure you have a foil Magic card, double-sided tape, acetone, spray adhesive, transparent printer sheets, and a soft rag. You’ll obviously also need a color printer, somewhere to work, and a PDF of the card you’ll be printing.
Tokens
This is arguably the least controversial and ethically questionable type of proxy. Tokens are a great way to customize your deck, and making your own means you can use whatever art you want! This is the only thing that would ever get me into proxies or making them myself.
MTGcardsmith is one of the most popular sites that allows you to make your own MTG cards, and it’s pretty awesome. You can check out what others have made and make your own. Pair that with card editing software for any last-minute tweaks, and you’re ready!
Proxy Cube
Proxies might have come up before if you’re into Cube at all. Maybe you want to create a higher-powered cube for you and your friends or something fun and crazy with custom cards. Everything I’ve already mentioned gives you a base for how to make your own proxies or where to get them, but making a cube means you’ll need proxies in bulk.
This Reddit thread about where to start with proxy cubes has many helpful options for making hundreds of proxies quickly and relatively cheaply. If you’ve got a printer, you could print out the cards you want on regular paper and then sleeve them with reversed MTG cards. Some proxy printing sites were also offered as an option, as well as printing PDFs at an office store or the post office.
Well, that was a lot. But we’re done now, and I’ve only got a few more things to say before we can move on with our days.
The Boring Stuff: Ethics and Legality
Here’s the thing with proxies. Technically, There is a difference between proxy and counterfeit cards, but some people use them interchangeably. Or they think a counterfeit card is a proxy card, or vice versa. It can get messy sometimes, so let me clear the air before we proceed.
Proxy cards shouldn’t be indistinguishable from their official counterparts. That’s basically the main thing that separates proxies from counterfeits. If your proxy is very official-looking and it’s hard to tell it’s a proxy, you’re getting into dangerous territory. I’ve talked about Magic proxy cards size before, so I will say the same thing here as I did there.
You can’t just make MTG cards to sell or distribute. WotC owns the rights to the card’s artwork through first printing rights (most likely) or full purchased rights (less likely). Lookalike Magic cards just for personal use are already toeing the line. Any printing service that knows what it’s doing will refuse to print Magic cards for you because they know it’s copyrighted material and can’t print it without permission.
That being said, will Wizards bust down your door because you printed a realistic-looking playset of the Power 9 to use at your kitchen table games? Probably not. Almost definitely not, actually. They might step in if you use them at your LGS or a DCI-sanctioned event, but personal use isn’t worth their time or money.
That’s all the legal jargon, but what about ethics?
Using proxies in casual, everyday Magic is fine, in my opinion. What happens at your kitchen table games with your friends is between you and them. There is something to be said about the snowball effect of proxies. If it becomes a normal thing to proxy insanely expensive and powerful cards, you’re all probably going to end up doing it. Does it eventually lead to you proxying all Magic cards, even those that are easy to get your hands on and relatively cheap, like current Standard sets? That will result in actual losses not just for WotC (boohoo) but likely for your LGS.
Realistically, proxies are ethically acceptable for anything on the reserved list as a start. Any card that is just about impossible to find or wildly expensive if you ever manage to find it. When it comes to any singles that you could find at an LGS? I’m no longer on board, and you shouldn’t be either. LGSs’ have enough problems competing with Wizards and their online discounts, alternatives, incentives, etc. They don’t need to be competing with proxies, too.
If you feel the need to hide your use of proxies, you’ve already got your answer as to whether or not you should be using them. I don’t think you’re gonna like it.
“Official” Proxies
Tournaments are a whole other bag. I’m sure you guessed that non-official cards are not allowed in competitive play. DCI-sanctioned events sometimes have judges print proxies if a card is accidentally damaged. Spill some water on the table? Proxy. Cards fall off the table and get squished? Proxy. You tilted and shuffled your poor cards into a bent mess? Try taking a few deep breaths before you ruin all your other decks.
“Accidentally” is also important there. Don’t splash water everywhere or throw your cards around just cause you want a proxy. I’m unsure why you’d ever do that anyway, but I had to say it.
WotC Stance
WotC has said little about proxies over the years, but they have said some things. They’ve got a whole post from back in 2016 after some LGS debacle on proxies and counterfeits. They mostly talk about DCI-sanctioned events, but they also mention counterfeits and playtest cards. You can’t use proxies/playtest cards at DCI-sanctioned events. Wizards are very against counterfeit cards (surprise, surprise) and don’t care about proxy/playtest cards made for personal use.
Their definition of proxy/playtest cards is super basic, only including when a card has the info for another card written over it. They specifically mention that playtest/proxy cards don’t have official art, though, which isn’t surprising. Even if they’re not going to go after people for printing MTG cards with official art for personal use, they still have to uphold their legal right to do that. Suppose Wizards went around being honest that doing it for personal use won’t get their attention. In that case, they’d lose a lot of legal ground.
I’m not surprised by their stance on all of this, nor their vagueness when it comes to what they consider a proxy/playtest card. It’s also probably very intentional that they used the word “playtest” and not “proxy card,” but that’s another conversation.
I’m out of juice for the day, so I will wrap it up now. What are your thoughts on proxies? Ethical, not ethical, do you care at all? Does the format they’re used in change your stance at all?