Last updated on March 5, 2026

Pirated Copy - Illustration by Daarken

Pirated Copy | Illustration by Daarken

Is it ethical to print your own Magic cards? The best philosophers in the world at prestigious universities like Harvard and Yale have devoted their lives to this question. We may never have an answer.

Lucky for you, this means you donโ€™t have to worry your pretty little head about it! There are no laws keeping you from printing Magic cards for your own personal use, so let's take a look at the best way to fill out your decks with good-quality, affordable proxies.

Proxy Printery

ProxyPrintery Order Page

ProxyPrintery is a proxy service with a very helpful feature that most sites don't have: link-based deck uploads. No more typing out very single card and selecting versions. Just link your Moxfield decklist, specify what tokens you want, and your order will be filled based on your decklist link.

That's a huge barrier to getting your full decklist proxied up removed. If you're getting a fully proxied EDH deck, then you'll also be paying less than $0.50 (โ‚ฌ0.44) per card with standard card stock. If you're printing something more large-scale, like a massive cube, you could see as low as $0.34 (โ‚ฌ0.29) per card.

They have multiple language options and different card stock selections available depending on your use case. Just want playtest cards on standard paper? No problem. Want the full black, core-foil experience of a blinged out deck? They can print that as well. These features come together as one of the best proxy printing services out there, especially in the EU.

Trinket Kingdom

Trinket Kingdom Home Page

Perhaps playing off the success of the Card Kingdom brand, Trinket Kingdom focuses primarily on imitation LEGO minifigs and custom art Magic card proxies. All their proxies use custom art to differentiate them from traditional Magic cards, licensed from the original artists.

Trinket Kingdom single proxies

Trinket Kingdom keeps it simple at $3 per card, and you wonโ€™t find any regular imitation Magic cards on the site. They have lots of the most expensive cards in Magic. They ship globally and process orders within two business days.

Trinket Kingdom Archangel of Thune proxy card

The shop lists more than 400 MTG singles with alternate borders, borderless and showcases!

Abyss Proxy Shop

Abyss Proxy Shop card sets

Abyss Proxy Shop has been around since 2015 and makes an effort to offer a proxy version of every Magic card valued at $8 or more.

They have a selection of custom duals/fetches/shock lands, plus custom art for everything else in their store. Their prices are about $3.85 for nonfoils and $6 for foils. Itโ€™s fairly expensive when compared to some of the others on this list, but their unique selection of custom arts might make the difference for you.

Etsy

Etsy proxy MTG cards

The sellers at Etsy are not to be outdone when it comes to custom art for Magic. If you have fandoms that you want crossed over with Magic without an official Universes Beyond product, you have options here.

MTG-Print

MTG-Print

Mtg-print.com has a selection of every card you could wish for from Magic sets ranging all the way back to Alpha. Each card selection also includes a list of the different prints available for each card. This helps ensure youโ€™re getting exactly what youโ€™re looking for, be it a German The Wandering Emperor or that exact Secret Lair Kozilek, the Great Distortion.

MTG-Print Zoom Information Text

My only hesitation with MTG-Print is their โ€œwhat you see is what you get, please verify sharpnessโ€ warning at the top of the order page. This implies, to me at least, that the image quality on some of these cards may not be the best. Normally, I wouldnโ€™t mind as long as the cards are playable, but the fact that theyโ€™ll charge you the same rate as the rest of the field for what could possibly be a worse-quality card seems egregious. Of course, this could just be a reflection of how some older cards look to begin with.

Proxy King

Proxyking homepage

Proxyking.biz is a fair choice for printing proxy Magic cards. Their stand-in replica cards are the closest match in quality, size, and weight of a real Magic card. Proxy King claims their printer resolution eclipses even WotCโ€™s print quality. Based on the QA on recent sets, I believe them. Iโ€™ve never received a misprinted proxy from Proxy King, but I canโ€™t tell you how many off-center and mis-inked cards Iโ€™ve pulled from packs in the last year (itโ€™s more than a dozen, at least).

Proxyking Sword Equipment Kaladesh Inventions

Proxy Kingโ€™s base rate for cards is a flat $4 per card and $5 per foil, making it a competitive choice for picking up a handful of rares at a discounted rate. They also sell complete cycles of cards as a bundle, like all five Masterpiece Invention Swords of X and Y.

Proxy Kingโ€™s shipping times are great, too. They process 90% of their orders within one business day, quicker than most official Magic singles retailers will process your order. Plus, they ship from Texas, so domestic orders in the US should see fast shipping times.

The only mark against Proxy King is that they donโ€™t allow you to create and upload your own custom cards. If youโ€™re just looking for high quality imitations, this is the site for you.

Printing Proxies

printing proxies homepage
Printing Proxies

Printing Proxies isnโ€™t only one of the best proxy sites for Magic cards, but they also offer a selection of proxies for other TCGs like Pokรฉmon, Flesh and Blood, One Piece, and even Lorcana.

Printing Proxies Adjust Order Screen

Printing Proxies accepts orders for custom Magic cards, but it doesnโ€™t have its own card creator tool. Instead, youโ€™ll need to upload images of your custom cards. In the example below, Iโ€™ve uploaded a full art of Dakkon Blackblade with no text โ€“ perfect as the center piece to my EDH deck. Their prices are similar to MTG Proxy, with a better rate as you order more cards, and the same going rate for custom cards as official imitations.

MTG Proxy

MTG Proxy

MTG Proxy is one of, if not the best site for ordering proxy MTG cards. Its cart editor allows you to enter an entire decklist at once and add it to your cart โ€“ perfect for getting an entirely proxied deck in no time. Theyโ€™re also one of the better sites for creating and printing your own custom Magic cards. MTG Proxy uses the same cardstock theyโ€™d use on any imitation card for your custom card and charges you the same rate. And they even sell Proxy Boosters: packs with 16 high-power and rare proxy cards, which are a great for casual, high-powered Drafts.

That rate, by the way, is very affordable, and it gets better with the more cards you order. A single card from MTG Proxy runs you $2, 10 or more cards reduces the price-per-card to $1.50, 50 or more cards brings it down to $1 each, and ordering 200 or more cards cuts that price in half down to $0.75 per card. With a flat $5 shipping rate on top of that, MTG Proxy is the best way to get your hands on the most proxies for the lowest price.

MTG Proxy Card Input

MTG Proxyโ€™s card creator is MTG Cardbuilder. While its card creator isnโ€™t the absolute best, it gets the job done while still giving you access to some more fine-tuned controls, like adding and arranging layers on the card like you would in Photoshop. They also offer an AI art generator for your custom Magic cards, but I couldnโ€™t get the AI to return an image with the prompt โ€œthree thrummingbirds,โ€ so the thing is basically useless (/sarcasm).

MTG Proxy Card Customization

Buyerโ€™s Guide

Copy Enchantment | Illustration by Abigail Larson

Copy Enchantment (Enchanted Tales) | Illustration by Abigail Larson

There are a few things to consider when purchasing MTG proxies. First, you should have an idea for what purpose your proxies fulfill. Are you looking to create a custom art for a favorite card, or are you looking for the closest replica you can find of a real card? Are you trying to fill out a deck for playtesting before you invest in the real, tournament-legal thing, or will these just be for casual games?

In that same vein, do you need a custom card, or are you just looking for a mimic of an official card? Many sites maintain an online inventory containing most high-value cards as proxies. Alpha dual lands, Ravnica Shock lands, that damned Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, and more are typically available on major sites and can be added to your cart and ordered no sweat.

Card quality is one of the swingiest aspects of a printed proxy. Wizards of the Coast uses their own proprietary card stock for Magic cards, meaning no proxy site has access to the exact card stock used for official cards. Sites like Proxyking.biz have done a lot of research to make their card stock match as closely as possible, but that might not be as important to your search.

You must also consider the image quality. If youโ€™re uploading your own card art for a special custom card, you want it to be legible from across the table. Depending on printer quality, some fine details can be lost if the original image isnโ€™t up-to-snuff.

Make sure to compare prices! Some sites offer a discount for ordering higher quantities of cards at once, while others offer a flat rate per card.

Finally, donโ€™t forget to consider the average shipping time. If you need these cards by Friday for your weekly game, you should prioritize a proxy site with quick turnaround.

For our purposes, the best proxy sites have the best value per card, the highest card quality with the least variance, and the widest selection of cards and custom arts to choose from.

What Do I Need For DIY Proxies?

You want a high-quality printer with emphasis on legible text and color.

Get the highest resolution image files for each card or design custom cards with your personal touches to make them unique. Then you need to print them onto high-quality paper. Ensure your settings match the standard card size. Carefully cut the cards out, sleeve them in front of something you wonโ€™t need like a token, extra basic land, or ad card. If you do not carefully cut around the edges, any jagged bits can stick out terribly, even in sleeves.

How Do I Make High-Quality Proxies?

To ensure you make quality proxies, it's essential to use the best available image file of the original card. Check the file size, in general PNG files are higher quality than JPG, and more pixels are strictly better than less pixels in this case. You'll notice any lower-quality images right away when the printed cards are in your hands.

There are also printers made for trading cards, if you have the means to invest in one. Such a printer can put the image directly onto blank cards. The professional proxy productions prefer this since it feels more like an actual card.

Is It Legal to Play Magic with Proxies?

It is not legal to play with proxies in DCI-sanctioned events. For casual games, proxies should be no issue, though it's always courteous to inform your playgroup, especially if you did not already hold a Rule 0 discussion.

Wrap Up

Serra's Embrace | Illustration by Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

Serra's Embrace | Illustration by Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

Like many Magic players, Iโ€™ve become a bit disenchanted with WotCโ€™s constant bombardment of new products. Iโ€™m just about done paying extortion fees for the singles I know will be devalued in the coming year. Thatโ€™s why I go with proxies for my Magic cards. I know I wonโ€™t play in a competitive environment, so I'm happy to save a buck.

Have you ever ordered any proxies? Do they feel like the real thing, or are they easy to spot in a line-up with real cards? Would you bring proxies to a casual Commander night, or is it disrespectful to the people who actually put up for that $300 Serra's Sanctum (hint: It is not). Let me know in the comments or over on Draftsimโ€™s Twitter/X.

Thanks for reading, and save yourself some money!

Note: this post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, youโ€™ll help Draftsim continue to provide awesome free articles and apps.

Follow Draftsim for awesome articles and set updates:

Add Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *