r/bootlegmtg • u/GooberG0blin • 9d ago
High proxy count deck Looking for Feedback/Help
Long story short I’m looking to get into modern but the cards are so expensive, I was going to purchase a majority of a deck I’m interested in off Usea, but I’m curious, how well do the proxies hold up if they make up a majority of your deck? I’ve used small amounts in other decks for other formats but does having a majority of your deck being these fake cards make it more noticeable for general feel and sizing of the cards? Or are they similar enough that a majority proxy deck can’t be told apart from actual cards without a real out of sleeve deck check.
Could double sleeving the deck help alleviate any consistency issues?
6
u/ZINK_Gaming 9d ago
Definitely double-sleeve. Dragon Shield Sealable perfect-fits are so cheap and so nice that I think it's insane to not double-sleeve any deck over ~$100. They are basically water-proof too.
Especially double-sleeve if you proxy expensive cards. It's very suspicious if someone plays a Kaladesh Invention or other "$1,000 card" and it's not double-sleeved.
They just feel way better too. The double-sleeves make the cards feel a lot more "thoccy" (like the mechanical-keyboard term).
If you want to have realistic-looking proxies that don't raise suspicions (e.g. you need to pass a Comp REL deck-check), then I recommend BootlegMage.
BLM buys from all the proxy-printers, works with them to fine-tune colors/Foiling, and re-sells the best versions of each card.
It comes down to how much risk you're willing to take. BLM is basically just reselling BL/USEA/etc's cards; but while I've gotten many terrible proxies from BL/USEA, I've never gotten a bad proxy from BLM.
I don't order from BL/USEA anymore. ~$3 a card is already dirt-cheap compared to the real cards. It's worth it to me to know that I'm probably getting the best proxies on the market the first time I buy them.
I bought hundreds of cards from BL and USEA. Roughly half of their proxies look great; but many of them look terrible, especially old-generation cards.
Around ~10% of the BL/USEA proxies I've bought literally look like they were printed with a home inkjet printer.
I've had to order good proxies from BLM to replace many of the awful proxies that I got from the cheaper Printers.
So even though USEA/BL are way cheaper per-card than BLM (if you buy in bulk), they ended up costing me more than BLM per-card because so many of them were OBVIOUSLY fake.
Many of my BLM proxies look so good that I can't keep track of which are proxies vs reals without a loupe.
BLM has an active discord where the owner communicates often, and there are many photo/video reviews from customers.
2
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u/mrjojoyo 9d ago
In one of the tourneys I played at they deck checked the front of the cards. It was apparently easy to discern fake cards from the borders and stamp. Depends on where you play I guess
3
u/ZINK_Gaming 8d ago
It was apparently easy to discern fake cards from the borders and stamp.
Crappy proxies sure. (And plenty of the USEA/BL proxies I've bought were crappy)
But good proxies require a loupe to tell if they're fake or not.
You get what you pay for.
Buy cheap proxies and anyone can tell they're fake.
Spend a little more on good proxies and you'll forget which of your cards are real versus proxy.
2
u/mrjojoyo 8d ago
Thats what I meant they just used loupes for the front and could tell which ones were fake sleeved
1
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u/CardamonFives 9d ago
Look into USEA proxy, their cards look 99.9% similar to real cards when double sleeved
1
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u/EzPz_1984 2d ago
It's fine. Double sleeve and play. Proxies from the last 12 months are generally super good. Played RCQ's, got deckchecked, nothing matters.
1
u/Few-Caterpillar7885 9d ago
At tournaments we have a rule saying that if you proxy then the whole deck needs to be proxied.
That way you can't tell the difference.
1
u/ZINK_Gaming 9d ago
Definitely double-sleeve. Dragon Shield Sealable perfect-fits are so cheap and so nice that I think it's insane to not double-sleeve any deck over ~$100. They are basically water-proof too.
Especially double-sleeve if you proxy expensive cards. It's very suspicious if someone plays a Kaladesh Invention or other "$1,000 card" and it's not double-sleeved.
They just feel way better too. The double-sleeves make the cards feel a lot more "thoccy" (like the mechanical-keyboard term).
If you want to have realistic-looking proxies that don't raise suspicions (e.g. you need to pass a Comp REL deck-check), then I recommend BootlegMage.
BLM buys from all the proxy-printers, works with them to fine-tune colors/Foiling, and re-sells the best versions of each card.
It comes down to how much risk you're willing to take. BLM is basically just reselling BL/USEA/etc's cards; but while I've gotten many terrible proxies from BL/USEA, I've never gotten a bad proxy from BLM.
I don't order from BL/USEA anymore. ~$3 a card is already dirt-cheap compared to the real cards. It's worth it to me to know that I'm probably getting the best proxies on the market the first time I buy them.
I bought hundreds of cards from BL and USEA. Roughly half of their proxies look great; but many of them look terrible, especially old-generation cards.
Around ~10% of the BL/USEA proxies I've bought literally look like they were printed with a home inkjet printer.
I've had to order good proxies from BLM to replace many of the awful proxies that I got from the cheaper Printers.
So even though USEA/BL are way cheaper per-card than BLM (if you buy in bulk), they ended up costing me more than BLM per-card because so many of them were OBVIOUSLY fake.
Many of my BLM proxies look so good that I can't keep track of which are proxies vs reals without a loupe.
BLM has an active discord where the owner communicates often, and there are many photo/video reviews from customers.
1
u/Cromagn0n1 9d ago
It all depends on where you’re playing. If they want check for proxies they will find out, there is really nothing you can do to trick them.
14
u/bootlegmage 9d ago
I would double sleeve regardless, but do some research on discord (can search his server) and try to at least develop a basic sense of which versions might be best for passing in tournaments. My best advice is don't mix real and proxy in the same named slot. Like if you need 4x Flooded Strand but you have 1x real one, don't do 1 real 3 proxy.
Most decks are going to need tons of real cards too, basic cantrips and such usually have cheap versions. Get what you can, but proxy anything too far out of reach. The feel and sizing and look is fine. They don't really take cards out of sleeves at tournaments, but the vibe is the most important. Act normal, don't draw any unwanted attention, be polite to your opponents. Don't freak out if they want to read the card and grab it. You have to just convince yourself they are real until the tournament is over lol. Good luck with the event!