How To Make/Buy Proxies
General forum
Posted on Oct. 2, 2020, 7:04 p.m. by EleshNornsFs
I am no longer interested in giving WotC any more money, so I am suddenly in the market for some proxies. A few decks worth to be specific. I only know one method of making them (using blanked foils and printable decals) and I don't think that is the best way to go about it. What are y'all's favorite methods to make, or favorite websites to buy many proxies?
Omniscience_is_life says... #3
October 2, 2020 7:58 p.m.
Kaiserpower111 says... #4
It takes a lot of work, but only about $5 in printing and $10 for 100 card sleeves (I buy decent ones) for me to have a brand new Commander deck. I honestly do everything by hand, so it isn't professional or fast, but everyone in my play group is a poor college kid so we're accepting of each other making proxy decks and doing so cheaply. Here's my methodology: 1) Buy 100 opaque-back card sleeves, and finalize deck list. 2) Fill card sleeves with backwards-facing useless cards (basic lands, advertisement cards that come in packs, commons, etc.). You just want to fill the sleeves so they feel nice but don't have any text showing. 3) Find pictures of all 100 cards one-by-one on Gatherer or other web site, and paste each pic on a Word document, fitting 9 cards on a page in a 3x3 pattern, with blank space around each card. 4) Print out Word document in color, (I use a public or college library), checking to make sure the cards printed well. 5) Cut out each card with scissors, making sure to cut cleanly around the border of the cards to ensure even fit into the sleeves. 6) Slot the card pictures into the sleeves in front of the backing cards (so you can see them), pushing them down until they are snugly pressed into the bottom of the sleeve, and now you've got a fully-functional, non-tournament legal, natural feeling Magic deck!
Bonus tip: find good friends who like playing Magic for fun and not just to win every game, because if you mix in proxy decks or cards the deck power levels can get out of control if you don't play mostly for fun. My group doesn't use infinite combos (usually we allow 5 loops of a certain play if it isn't broken), we sometimes make decks that would be on a specific budget were we to buy the cards, and we play a lot of large games including 6-20 decks (we each play multiple decks...it's a TON of fun). Best of luck in your proxy endeavors!
October 2, 2020 8:04 p.m.
VampDemigod says... #5
Thanks for bringing that up. Writing the name of a card on another, legal. Actually making something with the text, illegal.
For the record, I’m wasn’t making a moral statement, or a statement about my beliefs. Just a statement of the law. (I may or may not have made a proxy deck myself a few years ago). Just wanna make that clear.
October 2, 2020 8:06 p.m.
Kaiserpower111 says... #6
I light of what VampDemigod said, either don't play with people that would report you, or find your own art for cards. Oh, and don't tell anyone I gave you advice ;)
October 2, 2020 8:07 p.m.
This thread is a flagrant attempt to infringe on Wizards of the Coast's intellectual property rights--you do, after all, explicitly state your goal in making this thread is because you are angry at Wizards and thus want to seek their intellectual property from other sources.
TappedOut's Terms and Conditions make it explicitly clear that its website must not be used to infringe on anyone's intellectual property rights, which would include soliciting advice on how to commit intentional copyright and other violations. I am closing this thread down.
VampDemigod says... #2
DO NOT BUY PROXIES WITH ANY ART THAT HAS EVER BEEN PRINTED BY WOTC!!! THAT IS CONSIDERED FORGERY, AND WOTC CAN SUE YOU EVEN IF YOU ONLY PURCHASED IT FROM SOMEONE ELSE!!!
That said, if it is an individual’s custom creation, whether it’s custom art or stock photos, it becomes a grey area. What I’d do if I wanted to make myself a proxy deck, I would take a card, use a photo editor to cut out the text box and name, then layer it over the image I would want to use (this is in the theoretical because this is still technically theft of intellectual property, which I will not admit to.
That said, this is still technically illegal. If you don’t want to risk going to jail, or being fined, then don’t touch proxies.
In summary, it’s technically illegal to do anything with proxies. As in actual laws, not game rules. This isn’t often enforced, but nonetheless, illegal.
Besides, think about what you’re saying. “I don’t want to pay anything to the company that has spent millions of dollars making a game, but I still want to play the game.”
If you don’t want to pay WOTC because you disagree with their policies or something, then play legacy. If there is not a current print run of a set, then the only person making money in the situation is the vendor.
October 2, 2020 7:45 p.m.