How to print MTG proxies

There are three ways to turn a deck list into physical proxies. Each is right for someone. Here is what each one takes, what it costs, and what the cards come out like, including the option that is not us.

Option 1: a home printer

The cheapest way to get a card on the table today. Find the card images, lay nine of them out on a sheet, print, cut, and sleeve the paper in front of a basic land.

What it takes. A colour printer, card stock or plain paper, a ruler and a blade, and an afternoon. Scryfall has a high-resolution image of every printing; MPC Fill's catalogue has fan art and clean extended-art versions.

What you get. A readable card for playtesting. Plain paper in a sleeve in front of a basic is fine for a kitchen-table game and costs almost nothing. The card is thinner than a real one, the colours depend on the printer, and the cut is as straight as your hand.

When it is right. Testing a list for a week, or a card or two you need tonight.

Option 2: MakePlayingCards with MPC Autofill

MakePlayingCards is a print-on-demand card factory. MPC Autofill is a community tool that fills an MPC order from a list: it finds the image for each card in its shared catalogue and drives the MPC order form for you.

What it takes. Build your list, pick the images in MPC Autofill, download the XML, run the autofill script or extension against MPC's site, choose the stock, and place the order. The minimum pack sizes matter: MPC prices by the pack, so a 100-card deck is cheaper per card than 40 cards.

What you get. Good cards, with a choice of stocks and finishes, printed overseas. Shipping to the US usually takes two to three weeks, longer in busy seasons, and the order form rewards people who know it.

When it is right. Large orders where you are happy to manage the process yourself, or a stock MPC offers that nobody else does.

Option 3: a print shop that starts from your list

This is what Sideboarding is. You paste a deck list, choose the printing for every card from the same MPC Fill and Scryfall images, see the price, and pay. We print on 200 gsm photo stock with a matte lamination, cut to 63 × 88 mm, and ship in 1 business day with tracking.

What it takes. A list. A Moxfield or Archidekt link, a pasted text list, or an MPC Fill XML if you already built one.

What it costs. $0.50 a card, $0.40 a card from 100 cards; a 100-card Commander deck is $40, $46 with shipping. No minimum order. See pricing.

What you get. A card that feels like a card in the sleeve, with the art you chose, in about a week. One finish, matte. Misprints reprinted free.

When it is right. A deck you will play for months, a Commander deck, a cube, or any time you would rather spend the afternoon playing than cutting.

From Moxfield or Archidekt

Both sites can export a list, but you do not need to: paste the deck's URL into the Studio and the import reads the list, commander and sideboard included, and asks what to do with the sideboard. Each card then starts from its default printing, and you change any card's art from there.

From MPC Fill

If you have an MPC Fill XML, drop it into the Studio. Every image choice in the file carries over, so a deck built for MPC prints here without redoing the picks.

From a text list

One card per line. A leading count is fine (4 Lightning Bolt), and so is a set code in brackets. The Studio matches names against Scryfall, flags anything it could not find, and lets you fix it in place.

Choosing the art

For every card, the Studio shows the printings side by side. A few habits that make a deck look finished:

• Pick one basic land printing and apply it to every copy.
• Keep the frame style consistent within a deck, or deliberately not.
• For double-sided cards, check both faces; the Studio pairs them.
• Choose the card back last, once the fronts are settled.

Whichever way you print

Proxies are for your own games and proxy-friendly events, not sanctioned tournaments, and never for passing off as real cards. The legality guide has the detail. Whatever you print, tell the table.