[Review] Are Proxy Boosters Worth It? We Tried it Out

Last updated on May 14, 2024

Spike, Tournament Grinder | Illustration by Zoltan Boros

The only feeling better than ripping into a new booster pack is ripping into a new booster pack and seeing a ton of high-value pulls. Turning that $3.99 booster into $50+ in cardboard value is a dopamine hit like no other. It's almost like gambling. Wait, it is gambling. Let’s not read too deep into that.

Not every pack can be a hit, unfortunately. But wouldn’t it be great if they were? Proxy boosters are a fun product that let you open packs of cards that only include the most powerful cards ever printed. They’re printed on proxied card stock, as the name implies, so they’re only intended for casual/playtest use. They are not legal in WotC-sanctioned tournaments, but nobody can stop you (and WotC doesn't even want to) from using proxies in a casual setting. These boosters make great additions to your Limited format games when you want to punch-up the power level, or just add that “wow” factor to the pool of cards.

How do proxy boosters work? And where can you get them? Let’s find out!

What Are Proxy Boosters?

Proxy boosters are packs of 16 proxy Magic: The Gathering cards produced by MTG Proxy and sold by mtgproxy.com and printingproxies.com.

Each pack includes an array of guaranteed high-power and rare proxy cards that you’d never see in an official booster pack these days, short of possibly a Mystery Booster pack. Proxy boosters come sealed in a plastic pack, similar to traditional Magic cards. This makes them perfect for spicing up a Sealed event with some high-power bombs or as a fun gift for your Magic-playing buddies.

MTG Proxy is the only producer of proxy boosters at this time, and they sell the same product from their personal site and through Printing Proxies. Since the product is essentially the same, for the purposes of this review, I’ll compare the two packs I received to see which outlet is luckier!

What is in a Proxy Booster?

MTG Proxy’s proxy boosters contained semi-randomized cards from Magic’s entire history of 22,000+ cards. Similar to a traditional pack, there are certain guaranteed “spots” where certain cards will appear.

MTG Proxy’s pack-filling ratio is shown above. Each pack of 16 cards includes:

• 4 cards from MTG Proxy’s “curated selection” (they don’t elaborate on what this means).
• 2 cards priced from $2-$10, one of which will be from 2010 or more recent.
• 6 cards from $10-$50, two of which will be from 2010 or more recent, and two from the top 500 cards that they sell.
• 3 cards from $50-$150, one from their top 500 print.
• 1 card with a value of $150 or more.

It’s important to note that while they claim each pack has an estimated value of $1,050-$150,000, these fake Magic cards will never sell for more than a few dollars each, and even that’s pushing it. No self-respecting singles webstore or LGS will be purchasing your fake Sensei's Divining Top, and you shouldn’t be attempting to sell it in the first place.

Once they’re in a sleeve, there’s almost no way to tell that these cards are proxies. There are a few tells, like the more “plastic-y” feel to the cards, or like on our Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord card, which shows some grainy inking mistakes on the art, but they’re otherwise excellent copies.

With that out of the way, let’s dive into what I actually pulled from my proxy boosters!

MTG Proxy

After some, uh, manual dexterity issues, I was able to rip open the first pack, postmarked from MTG Proxy. In this pack, I pulled:

• Birgi, God of Storytelling, Kaldheim variant art
• Scryb Sprites, Beta printing (I guess? The corners are the typical Magic card corners, so it can’t be an Alpha, right?)
• Evil Presence, Summer Edition/Edgar printing (cool!)
• Cyclopean Tomb, Beta printing
• Hellkite Courser, Commander Legends extended art
• Dack Fayden, Eternal Masters printing
• Thoughtseize, retro border Time Spiral Remastered printing.
• Colossus of Sardia, Antiquities printing
• Northern Paladin, 3rd Edition (Revised) printing
• Regal Caracal, Jumpstart printing
• Lightning Bolt, Alpha printing
• Sensei's Divining Top, Champions of Kamigawa printing
• The Great Henge, Throne of Eldraine printing
• Thassa, Deep-Dwelling, Theros Beyond Death printing
• Timeless Lotus, Dominaria United printing
• Temple Garden, Ravnica: City of Guilds printing

All cards have a “Proxy – Playtest Copy: Not for Sale” card back with a similar design to the traditional Magic card back, except for the first card in the pack, Birgi, God of Storytelling, which comes with an ad on the back for MTG Proxy’s website.

If these cards were real, this pack would be worth roughly $2,200! Not bad for a $10 buy-in. In a Draft, I think my first pick here is Sensei's Divining Top. What’s your pick one from this pack?

Printing Proxies

Printing Proxies is the only other site I found that sells MTG Proxy’s proxy boosters. Since the actual product is the same, let’s compare the value in this pack to the pack we got straight from the source.

In the second pack, I pulled:

• Bucklebury Ferry (Oboro, Palace in the Clouds), extended art Tales of Middle-earth Commander printing
• Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Core Set 2020 printing
• Birds of Paradise, Unlimited printing
• Wrath of God, Beta printing
• Helm of the Host, Dominaria printing
• Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Theros Beyond Death printing
• Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, extended art Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty printing
• Show and Tell, Urza’s Legacy printing
• Spelljack, Judgment printing
• Kruin Outlaw, Innistrad printing (notably the only card without the proxy card back, since it’s a double-faced card)
• Vaevictis Asmadi, Legends printing (cool!)
• Fastbond, Unlimited printing
• Disenchant, Beta printing
• Mystic Remora, Ice Age printing
• Professional Face-Breaker, Jumpstart printing
• Mox Opal, Double Masters printing

This pack came with about $1,580 worth of value had they been real cards. Everything I pulled from this booster has some play in at least one of my decks, so I’m fairly pleased with the results. My first pick for a Draft is probably Mystic Remora, what about you?

How Much Are Proxy Boosters?

MTG Proxy’s proxy boosters are $10 each on mtgproxy.com and printingproxies.com. You can purchase them as a bundle on either site, as well: Three boosters for $25, or 10 boosters for $75.

Wrap Up

Booster Tutor | Illustration by Heather Hudson

Regardless of how you feel about proxied Magic cards, we can all agree that the occasional high-powered Draft can be a rewarding experience for players of all skill levels. Novices will enjoy interacting with rarely-seen cards and effects, and us old heads can relive the glory days when a Northern Paladin was the best color hoser around.

Will you be purchasing proxy boosters? What are your number one picks from my packs? Let me know in the comments, or over on Draftsim's Twitter/X.

Thanks for reading, and remember: Never give WotC more money than you must.

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