Proxies: unofficial versions of MTG cards printed out and used as stand-ins, typically in the Commander format. Of all the debates in Magic’s history, those surrounding these cards are some of the fiercest, and longest-running. Should players be allowed to use proxied cards? And if so, in what events? Is the trade-off of getting more players into the game worth the damage to the secondary market mass proxying can cause?
These questions have long been bandied about in the minds of the player base, without any real conclusion being reached. Interestingly, over on the r/EDH subreddit last week, the debate has been rekindled in a long-running thread started by R0yalWolf. As players discussed this core issue in detail, the reasoning both for and against proxies in Magic was shown in cold relief.
WotC’s Official Stance
The thread began with R0yalWolf laying out WotC’s official stance on proxies, taken from a 2016 article on its website.
“Wizards of the Coast has no desire to police playtest cards made for personal, non-commercial use, even if that usage takes place in a store.
What we really care about is that DCI-sanctioned events use only authentic Magic cards, and that we stop counterfeits.”
Wizards of the Coast
This is only part of the article, but it summarizes WotC’s stance on proxies well. Basically, outside of sanctioned events, it’s all good. You’d think a stance as simple as this wouldn’t prompt much in the way of discussion, but you’d be very, very wrong.
Before we continue, I should clarify that we’re talking about the issue of proxies in Commander specifically here. No one is really arguing that you should be able to print out the latest Standard meta deck and hit up FNM with it. Most non-Commander events are DCI-sanctioned and offer prize support, too, which obviously disqualifies proxies based on the statement above.
In Commander, however, things are trickier. Sanctioned Commander events are pretty rare, and the format is, for the most part, casual in nature. Without the usual competitive stakes, one would think that choosing to use proxies or not would be a non-issue. If nothing’s on the line, then who really cares? Well, it turns out a lot of players do, actually. Enough to stretch the thread to over 600 comments at time of writing.
The Arguments For
So what exactly are the arguments for allowing proxies in MTG Commander? Well, there are quite a few, it turns out. Magic is an expensive game at the best of times, and that expense is magnified many times over for high-end Commander. With a very limited banlist, the price tags on the best decks can look eerily similar to those in Vintage.
For those who want to play Commander at the highest level, proxying is an accessibility issue. cEDH, or Competitive EDH, as a format wouldn’t exist at all without proxies. The cEDH community even actively encourages the use of proxies in order to compete. Of course, cEDH is not an officially sanctioned format, but the point remains.
Monetary expense aside, proxying is also a matter of convenience in many cases. If you only own one copy of a card, it’s easier to proxy additional copies of it than to switch it in and out of different Commander decks. Especially when double sleeving is at play. Many players in the thread considered this a different ‘type’ of proxying to that of printing out an entire deck. In practical terms, the two are the same, however.
In addition to these and other arguments, the issue of Magic 30 reared its ugly head in the discussion thread too.
“WotC told me proxies were fine when they charged $1k for them themselves.”
a_Nekophiliac
There were many problems with Magic 30 as a product, but perhaps the biggest one was that the cards it included weren’t legal for sanctioned play. They resembled the cards in question, but didn’t have the same competitive functionality. In other words, they were proxies. Many players find it difficult to reconcile WotC selling this product, at a premium price no less, and not being able to play with proxies themselves.
The Arguments Against
On the other side of the coin, there are some legitimate arguments against the use of proxies in Commander, too. In the thread, most players were concerned about the survival of their LGS, which could be threatened if proxy use was reported there.
“DCI sanctioned events include commander events. If they’re using the companion app proxies are banned. Allowing proxies at those events puts the store at risk of losing status and support.”
JohannHellkite
While this is unlikely in most cases, it is a real concern, and a reason why many LGS owners don’t allow proxies officially. The risks are simply too great, especially if a store wants to achieve premium status and host bigger events.
Another argument against proxying in Commander is deck diversity. Players often complain about the high number of ‘must include’ staples in the format. A number that grows higher with every set, as support for specific archetypes is printed. When you start proxying, that number climbs even higher. What deck wouldn’t be better with Ancient Tomb, Mana Vault, and Mana Crypt in it, after all?
When you can’t just choose the best cards to add to your deck, and need to make difficult decisions within constraints, deckbuilding becomes much more interesting. Games become less repetitive, too. This plays into the whole ‘spirit of the format’ debate that has also been raging around Commander lately. With proxies out of the picture, this issue is lessened considerably. Factor in the secondary market impact of players proxying cards en masse, and you have a very solid case as to why proxies shouldn’t be allowed in Commander, even in casual events.
Ultimately, as with Rule Zero conversations, the proxy debate will never be definitively solved. Each playgroup needs to think it over on a case-by-case basis. The hard line for sanctioned events is a real thing, however. One that needs to be respected for the health of the game.
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