MTG Proxy Guide: Everything About Magic Proxy Cards

What is an MTG proxy?

A proxy is a placeholder. When you put a proxy in your deck, you and your opponents agree that it represents a specific card — say, a Sol Ring or a Rhystic Study — and the game treats it exactly as if it were that card. Its rules text, mana cost and type are those of the card it represents.

The word comes from the general meaning of "proxy": something that acts on behalf of something else. Wizards of the Coast and many players also use the term playtest card, which describes the original purpose well: testing a deck idea before committing to buy the real cards.

What makes a proxy a proxy is honesty. It never pretends to be an authentic Magic card. Everyone at the table knows what it is, and it is not offered for sale as the real thing. That single idea is what separates proxies from counterfeits, which we cover in detail below.

Why players use Magic proxies

Players proxy cards for different reasons, and most of them have nothing to do with cutting corners. The most common ones:

• Cost. A handful of cards carry most of the price of many Commander decks. Reserved List cards like the original dual lands will never be reprinted, and their prices reflect that. A proxy lets a player with a modest budget sit at the same table as someone with a decade-old collection.
• Testing. Before spending real money on a new commander or a pricey upgrade, you can play a few games with proxies and find out whether the deck actually works — and whether you enjoy it.
• Protecting valuable cards. Some collectors keep their expensive or sentimental cards in a binder and play proxies in their place, so a spilled drink or a worn sleeve never touches the original.
• Several decks, one copy. If you own one copy of a staple but run it in five Commander decks, proxies save you from swapping cards between deck boxes before every game night.
• Art and theme. A growing share of proxies exist because players want something the official cards cannot offer: a deck where every card fits one story, one universe or one art style. A fully themed proxy deck is a different object from a pile of reprints, and for many players that is the whole point.

Proxy vs counterfeit: the line that matters

This is the most important distinction in the whole topic. A proxy stands in for a card openly. A counterfeit is made to be mistaken for an authentic card — usually so it can be sold, traded or played as the real thing.

Wizards of the Coast takes a firm position against counterfeit cards, and selling fakes as genuine cards is fraud in most places. Proxies sit on the other side of that line. The clearer a proxy is about being a proxy — original artwork, a different card back, a visible mark — the further it is from any confusion.

Our dedicated article, Are MTG proxies legal?, goes deeper into playtest cards, tournaments and the difference between personal use and resale.

Where you can play proxies

Sanctioned tournaments

Proxies are generally not allowed in sanctioned events run under the Magic Tournament Rules. The narrow exception is a replacement issued by a tournament judge, for example when a card gets damaged during the event. If you are playing a competitive event at your local store, bring real cards — or check the specific event policy, because some unsanctioned events have their own rules.

Casual play and Commander

Casual Magic is where proxies live. Commander in particular has a culture of conversation before the game, often called Rule 0: players talk about how strong their decks are, what they are looking for in the game, and anything unusual about their decks. Proxies are one of the most common Rule 0 topics, and most playgroups are relaxed about them as long as the cards are readable and you mention them up front.

Local game stores vary. Some casual Commander nights welcome proxies, some limit them, and a few ask for real cards only. When in doubt, ask the organizer. We wrote a whole guide on proxies in Commander, including how to bring a full proxy deck to a new table.

The four kinds of proxy cards

1. 1Handwritten proxies. A basic land or a spare common with the card name (and ideally the mana cost and key text) written in marker. Free and instant, but hard to read across the table and not much fun to look at. Fine for a first test game.
2. 2Home-printed proxies. Card images printed on paper, cut out and slipped into a sleeve in front of a real card for stiffness. Cheap and quick. The result depends heavily on your printer, paper and cutting.
3. 3Professionally printed proxies. Cards printed on real card stock, with rounded corners and a proper finish. They shuffle, feel and play like normal Magic cards. This is what most people mean when they talk about a "proxy deck" today.
4. 4Custom-art proxies. Professionally printed cards with new artwork, often built around a theme — a film, a show, a comic or an anime. They are clearly not official cards, which is part of their appeal. Read more in Custom MTG proxy cards.

How to make or print MTG proxies

If you want to print proxies yourself, the process is short: build your deck list, turn it into a print-ready sheet of correctly sized card images, print at 100% scale, cut, and sleeve. Our step-by-step guide, How to print MTG proxies, covers paper choice, printer settings, cutting and sleeving in detail.

To skip the layout work, use our free MTG proxy printer: paste a deck list and get a print-ready PDF with every card at the right size.

If you would rather have finished cards in your hands, ready-made proxy decks come printed on card stock and cut to size. Vanyrix Commander proxy decks are complete 100-card decks with original artwork on every card, available as print-ready files or printed on black-core stock.

What makes a good proxy: the quality checklist

Good proxies disappear into the game. Nobody struggles to read them, they shuffle like the rest of the deck, and they survive months of play. Here is what to look at, whether you print them yourself or buy them.

• Exact size: 63 × 88 mm (2.5 × 3.5 in). The standard Magic card size. Even a millimetre off makes a card easy to spot in a sleeved deck and annoying to shuffle.
• Card stock, not paper. Real cards are layered card stock around 300 gsm. Thin paper bends and clumps; it only works in a sleeve with a real card behind it.
• Black core. Quality card stock has a black layer in the middle that stops light from shining through. Hold a cheap proxy up to a lamp and you will often see the back — a black core prevents that.
• Finish. A light coating or smooth finish helps cards slide past each other when you shuffle and protects the print from finger oils.
• Rounded corners. Magic cards have rounded corners. Square corners catch on sleeves and feel wrong in hand.
• Readable text. The rules text must be crisp at arm's length. Blurry scans or tiny fonts make every game slower.
• Consistent backs. If you play your proxies unsleeved, every card in the deck needs the same back so no card can be identified from behind.

Whatever you play, sleeves are your friend. They protect the cards, they hide any small difference in thickness, and they make proxies and real cards feel identical in a shuffle.

Full proxy Commander decks

Commander is the format where proxies make the most sense. Decks are 100 singleton cards, games are casual and social, and the format rewards personality. Many players proxy a few expensive staples; others go further and play a full proxy Commander deck, where all 100 cards are proxies built around one idea.

A full proxy deck has a few clear advantages: it is a complete, tested list from day one, it costs a fraction of the same deck in original cards, and when the artwork follows a theme, the whole deck tells a story. Your commander is the main character, your creatures are the cast, your spells are the moments everyone remembers.

That is exactly what we build at Vanyrix. Browse the themed Commander proxy decks, or see our pick of the best MTG proxy Commander decks.

Single proxy cards

You do not have to proxy a whole deck. Many players want just the one card their deck is missing — a mana rock, a tutor, a board wipe — ideally in an art style that matches the rest of their list.

Every card from our decks is also sold on its own in the single cards catalogue, sorted by type: creatures, spells, enchantments, artifacts, lands and planeswalkers. It is an easy way to add a themed version of a staple to a deck you already own.

Buying proxies: what to check before you order

• Card stock and core. Look for a stated weight (around 300 gsm) and a black core.
• What you actually get. A printed deck, a set of digital files, or both? Check the format before you pay.
• Artwork. Are the cards scans of existing cards, or original art? Original art is both more interesting and clearly distinct from authentic cards.
• Complete deck lists. For full decks, check that the list is a real, playable 100-card Commander deck with a legal commander and a sensible mana base.
• Honest positioning. Reputable proxy sellers are clear that their cards are not official Magic cards and are not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast. Be wary of any shop that suggests otherwise.

Frequently asked questions