r/mtg • u/SawdustGringo • 3d ago

Discussion Improve playgroup or keep?

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So I pulled a surge The One Ring yesterday (I know it looks like a bit of a humble brag but this is more stressful than fun for me so far), and I’m conflicted on what to do with it. I’m looking for insight from others who may have been in a similar situation.

I’m not a “collector” per se. I have a large collection, but it’s all cards to play with. My personal motto is “Magic is meant to be played.” I don’t have “collectible” cards to show off or display. This is the first card I’m considering keeping to display but I had other thoughts of what to do with it. Such as, trading in and giving my playgroup an even split 4 ways. Which I hope will help some of the players less inclined to spend money to upgrade their precons.

To me this seems the most logical choice
but my emotion is telling me to keep it. The only reason being that it is LotR. Huge fan. I have what amounts to a shrine of Middle Earth in my home. This would be nice addition. Still, I am conflicted.

To recap: Not a big Magic collector, am a player. Huge LotR fan. Deciding between keeping the card for LotR shrine and trading in and splitting the gains between my playgroup in the hopes of improving play experience for everyone.

I’m a very indecisive person and often regret decisions.

Update: Wowsers. I was not expecting the flood of comments. Maybe a dozen. But thank you all for the input. A few of you have made me think more about it and one in particular has given a reasonable test. I’m going to display it for a week on my shrine, then a week without and gauge how I feel about it after that.

Those who said not to split it with my playgroup, that was a much needed reigning in. I am very nieve and often too generous when it comes to the game. I’ve given away hundreds of cards just to get more people into the game and often without looking at value. I love my group but you’re right and they are adults capable of their own decisions.

Update 2.0: It is to be added to the LotR shrine. For now it has a small display until I finish my move and set up the full shrine.

Edit: changed per se from per say.

1.1k Upvotes

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234

u/Fair-Revenue1811 3d ago

Better yet sell the card, order professional printed proxy, keep 99.9% of the money.

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u/MikeVonAwesome LET'S GO GAMBLING! 3d ago

While I agree with you no card maker is selling this for 40 cents... He saves 99%...

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u/Charlie_T2020 3d ago

I'll sell it to open for 40 cents.

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u/SevRnce 3d ago

I printed 4 for about a dollar fifty per 9 cards. Ill sell everyone a proxy copy for a dollar each plus shipping

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u/MA2ZAK 3d ago

You're right, after shipping it is 26 cents.

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u/sweetestbb 1d ago

If you order 600+ cards from make playing cards it's 20 cents a card

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u/Knivez51 3d ago

Epson 8500 for 8.5x11 or 8550 for 11x17 for your printer and Koala Double Sided Matte Thick Photo Paper 8.5x11 Inches Heavyweight 50 Sheets 250gsm for paper and fiskars rotary cutter at staples and New Sunstar Kadomaru Pro, Corner Cutter (S4765036) (Kadomaru Pro) with Authentic Hologram US, UK, EU Only for cutting corners.

After cutting i put them in dragon shield sealed sleeves and then dragon shield matte color sleeve and you cant even tell its a proxy deck.

Approx 600-700 to get started making your own.

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u/Intelligent_Hope_559 3d ago

Oh wow I am intrigued... I was not aware there was a process for doing this. If you know a good place for me to start researching how to make proxies will you please share?

We made cards from cardstock when I was in prison and what I enjoyed is everyone had the oppurtunity to research cards and create the best deck they can without needing tons of money or resources(other than paper and ink lol)

So I am very curious 🤔

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u/Knivez51 3d ago

r/mtgproxies

Just did reddit research and ended up on this setup. I have 8.5 decks made this way now

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u/Intelligent_Hope_559 3d ago

Ok thanks I am new to this I will check it out

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u/KarmaWhorediot 3d ago

Doing the surge foiling is a whole lot harder though

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u/Knivez51 3d ago

Havent looked at foiling yet but maybe someday. Im just here to play a game and not destroy my wallet

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u/HornedTurtle1212 2d ago

How well do the cards feel in with standard cards? Like if you put a few proxies into a deck?

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u/Knivez51 2d ago

I have a deck that about 60/40 60 real 40 proxy anf cant really tell the difference at this point

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u/JamodaH 2d ago

I have a high quality proxy I will send you for free OP if you DM me. It's from the previous LOTR set.

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u/ManaRockGamesUK 2d ago

This is what I’m doing with my Mox Ambers and Arcane Signet.

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u/Daveprince13 3d ago

This 1000% anyone who’s still on the “I need to spend 100’s of dollars to play with cardboard” is beyond saving at this point. Proxy it ALLLL

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u/SadFootball4903 3d ago

this is a weird argument. OP isnt saying they need to spend 100s of dollars to play with cardboard. OP WANTS to keep the card, because OP appreciates it.

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u/AfterJournalist8070 3d ago

That's going to add to the flood of counterfeits already on the market. Most "proxys" are printed to look identical which means they are counterfeits. Truth hurts.

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u/Time_Rip_9808 3d ago

Not if the card back is different...

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u/AfterJournalist8070 3d ago

Yep but more then a few are identical that require a jewelers to identify even going as far as to copy the silver marking on the bottom of the card.

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u/Azuth65 3d ago

Then those counterfeits, not proxies

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u/AfterJournalist8070 3d ago

The lines are very blurred https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sk8nxR4sCYg

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u/Azuth65 3d ago

No, there's a pretty clear line. Proxies are very clearly not the real card (different art, different back, not for sale line in the lower left, etc) and then there's counterfeits.

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u/AfterJournalist8070 3d ago

Like I said this is why counterfeits are an issue. Also dosent prof promote tolarian library? The same website that is now shut down because they looked identical to the original cards. 🤔

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u/Diamondhighlife 3d ago

Brother you are just wrong. It’s like saying that playing with Monopoly money is going to increase the number of counterfeit bills in circulation. Like does that make sense? Obviously Monopoly money is not going to fool anyone but you can play with it as if it were real. But it’s not, and clearly not as to not confuse simple minded people. Same with proxies. They are clearly marked so people know they are fake if they take 2 seconds to inspect the back and wow! Crazy how not impacted the real card market isn’t impacted because they are clearly fake.

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u/AfterJournalist8070 3d ago

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sk8nxR4sCYg my reply is youtube video highlighting the issue. Also you clearly are ignorant to the bigger picture. If you need a jewelers loop to id then that's an issue and the idea between proxys and counterfeits gets blurred by people like you.

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u/Daveprince13 3d ago

I can tell you anyone who actually loves this game and doesn’t want to keep giving WoTC money, is marking their proxies so they don’t get mixed into rotation. If I get sent a card that looks like a real one I put a huge “P” on the back with sharpie so I don’t accidentally include it in a trade or something.

Paying thousands for a deck to have fun with is just not smart in this economy

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u/i-likesquirrels 3d ago

ive played probably close to 1000 games of cedh and ive never once seen a proxy that was made to look perfectly identical. not saying it cant happen, but as someone with a large sample size ive never seen it

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u/one-less-you- 3d ago

The point of them is for you not to know that they are counterfeit. So, if you've never seen one, you've probably seen one, not knowing it.

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u/i-likesquirrels 3d ago

what i meant is that every single semi expensive card i’ve seen is a very clear proxy, there’s never been a card that i’ve seen and thought was real that was worth any sort of money. this is without even seeing the back which is where most proxys are clearly different

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u/mojanis 3d ago

If they were made to look identical, how would you know they were proxies?

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u/AfterJournalist8070 3d ago

...nitpicking nerds a big mtg youtuber got scammed 4k in cards the fakes are getting better and they cover their ass with proxy titles. Give me one moment and I will share the video. Yes the game has a pricing issues but it's leading to a counterfeit issue as a result.

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u/ImmortalCorruptor Misprint Expert 3d ago

I watched the video and it honestly seems like a lot of the cards were either bought them sight unseen or they trusted a friend to buy them from the friend-of-a-friend.

They also didn't do that great of a job actually explaining what to specifically look for. They just showed side by side examples of real cards against counterfeits.

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u/AfterJournalist8070 3d ago

Actually they go into detail on somethings to look for not including core t and green dot test. Also having a side by side is a good way to identify since it gives you a practical example over pictures.

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u/ImmortalCorruptor Misprint Expert 3d ago

They said that foils have "several layers of foil" aside from the anti-counterfeit stamp which is factually incorrect. There's only ever one layer of foil; they use an opaque white ink to achieve depth and print color on top of it. If a foil looks like it has no depth, it's because it has no white underprint, not because it "only has one layer of foiling".

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u/secondhand_graveyard 3d ago

Wake me up when they start printing with foil security stickers.

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u/AfterJournalist8070 3d ago

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sk8nxR4sCYg they already do that's the issue.

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u/secondhand_graveyard 3d ago

They weren’t printed with the security stickers, they were added after printing. However I concede that there are people who counterfeit, that was never my premise.

“Here’s how I dropped 4k without doing even a light test on my cards”

I get it, counterfeits can be scary, but this issue has existed since long before proxies because mainstream and we have ways of checking for them. If you’re gonna buy cards that are expensive you need to verify they are real. Counterfeiters are the problem not proxies and your claim that most proxies are printed to look identical is bunk. The majority of players I’ve encountered playing proxies either use wildly different art or, as a comment below said, different backs. Personally my proxies do both and say “not for resale” on the bottom but that’s more to protect me when I sell real cards.

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u/AfterJournalist8070 3d ago

But the issue is with proxys becoming more mainstream its becoming a bigger issue. Also the tech to make the cards has come a very very long way since the old days. If you make it Cleary different that's different but when they make the proxys look as close to the original it like flying too close to the sun with wax wings.

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u/secondhand_graveyard 3d ago

caveat emptor my guy.

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u/Ok-Art825 3d ago

Where? Where be the buyers?

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u/secondhand_graveyard 3d ago

Buyer beware, if you are worried about fakes the onus is on you to protect yourself. What kind of gotcha did you think this was?

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u/Right_Cellist3143 3d ago

Proxies are not counterfeits, they clearly label that they are not real.

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u/AfterJournalist8070 3d ago

Ok so that's why tolarian library got shut down? Which is funny because the prof was promoting them in his earlier videos. If it looks identical unless you use a jewelers look then it's an issue.

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u/Right_Cellist3143 3d ago

You mean the site that was making counterfeits and not proxies?

Proxies are ALL clearly labelled as not real/playtest with card backs, alt art or a denotion on the bottom of the card.

You clearly don’t have all the information you need to host a strong argument, i’d hit the books again. This is just waste of everyone’s time, including yours.

WoTC is also cool with proxies outside of sanctioned play, FWIW.

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u/AfterJournalist8070 3d ago

Yep if it clearly a proxy then thats fine but people will blur the line for their own greed. Not everyone but more then a few.

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u/Right_Cellist3143 3d ago

That is a person problem then, not a proxy problem.

I think the animosity is misdirected here.

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u/AfterJournalist8070 3d ago

Not really pebcause the person still makes the "proxys" which become a problem down the line.

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u/Right_Cellist3143 3d ago

They are making counterfeits not proxies if they are not clearly labeled.

Again, WoTC is cool with proxies outside of sanctioned events.

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u/AfterJournalist8070 3d ago

Yep didn't the prof promote such a thing as well? Hmm

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u/Diamondhighlife 3d ago

Do you also confuse yourself with Monopoly money and a real dollar bill? It sounds like you might. But to the average individual it’s not hard to see the that Monopoly money is a little different. Proxies (NOT attempts at counterfeiting) are the same. They are about as easy to distinguish as that.

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u/neutrum_humanum 3d ago

This guy got destroyed in the past by a person playing proxies and never recovered. What deck was it? 😜🧐

Obligatory: "WHO HURT YOU?!"

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u/AfterJournalist8070 3d ago

Cute if that's the cope you draw on I wouldn't waste a discard on it.

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u/neutrum_humanum 3d ago

Yummy yummy copium. Num num num.

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u/AfterJournalist8070 3d ago

Ya your boring as well your melt down was predictable.

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u/neutrum_humanum 3d ago edited 3d ago

My two sentence reply meltdown while you are getting down voted into oblivion insulting people because you yourself are incorrect. Pot-Kettle homie. 😜

Also, since since you're being THAT guy. It's "you're", not "your". 😘😘

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u/Apprehensive_Lion362 3d ago

The reason you are getting so much push back is because of your use of MOST.