Cardboard is expensive. Commander decks are 100 cards. Your brain is full of new brews you’ll “definitely finish this week.” And suddenly you’re staring at a shopping cart that costs more than a respectable used laptop.
So the real question isn’t “Should I proxy?” It’s how: do you proxy only the high-dollar staples, or do you proxy the entire deck?
Here’s the practical answer: proxying staples minimizes friction with your collection and your playgroup. Proxying a whole deck maximizes your ability to build, test, and iterate without spending your life savings or dismantling decks. Both are valid. The best choice depends on how you actually play.
The two proxy strategies (and what they optimize for)
1) Proxy just staples (and high-value cards)
This is the “I mostly own the deck, I just refuse to pay $40+ for the last 12 cards” approach.
You proxy:
- Expensive staples you’d reuse across multiple decks
- High-value cards you don’t want to move between decks constantly
- Cards you own once but want in five decks
- Cards you want to protect from damage (or from being “borrowed” by fate)
This is where ProxyKing shines if you’re building a proxy binder: print a curated set of staples and pricey pieces once, then rotate them into whatever deck you’re sleeving up that night. It’s efficient, it’s budget-friendly, and it keeps the number of proxies at the table low.
2) Proxy the whole deck
This is the “I want to play the deck, not finance it” approach.
You proxy:
- Everything (or nearly everything) in a new list
- The full mana base, the full engine, the full interaction suite
- Entire themed builds that would be absurd to buy “just to try it”
This is where ProxyMTG is the easy button. If you can print an entire deck cheaply and consistently, you remove all the busywork: no hunting singles, no “this one card is missing so the deck is half-finished,” no tearing apart three other decks for lands and staples. You get a complete, playable list in one shot.
When you should proxy just staples
Proxy staples when your real goal is to maintain a collection while avoiding the worst price spikes and the constant deck cannibalization.
Staples-only proxying is ideal if:
You already own a decent collection
If most of your deck is real, proxying the expensive overlap cards makes sense. You get the “real deck feel” while dodging the wallet punches.
You run the same premium pieces across multiple decks
If you have one copy of Dockside Extortionist or Fierce Guardianship and six decks that want it, proxying staples keeps your decks intact. You shouldn’t have to rebuild your mana base like it’s a traveling circus.
Your playgroup prefers “a few proxies” over “a full proxy deck”
Some tables are totally proxy-friendly; others are “proxies are fine, but don’t bring a fully proxied cEDH list to casual night unless we talked first.” Staple-only proxying is a social compromise that still solves your biggest cost problem.
You want a stable “proxy package”
This is the ProxyKing approach: print a set of high-value staples once, keep them consistent, and treat them like a toolkit. You’ll always have your fast mana, premium interaction, and iconic finishers ready—without buying duplicates.
Downside: You can still get stuck when the non-staple pieces aren’t owned, out of stock, or just annoying to track down. Staples-only proxying reduces cost, but it doesn’t eliminate the “deck completion grind.”
When you should proxy the whole deck
Proxy the whole deck when your real goal is to play more Magic with less friction.
Whole-deck proxying is ideal if:
You brew constantly (or you’re testing before buying)
If you iterate a lot, buying cards first is backwards. Proxy the full deck, play it for a few nights, then decide what’s worth owning.
This is the cleanest “test-driven deckbuilding” workflow:
- Print full deck
- Play multiple games
- Make cuts
- Reprint updates
- Only buy what survives the trial
You hate dismantling decks
If building a new deck means ripping apart two existing decks for lands and staples, you’re not building decks—you’re running a small, deeply annoying lending library.
ProxyMTG is built for the complete deck path: you can print a full list and keep all your decks assembled.
You want consistency in sleeves
One underrated perk of printing a whole deck is uniformity: the deck looks and feels consistent. No mismatched conditions, no “this card is curled like a potato chip,” no “why does this one land look like it survived three floods?”
You want budget access to expensive archetypes
Some strategies are simply expensive. If you want to try a high-powered list without committing to a car payment, printing the whole deck is the difference between “I’d like to play this someday” and “I’m playing it on Friday.”
Downside: Some players feel weird proxying 100/100 cards. That’s a preference, not a rule—but it’s worth accounting for in your local social context.
The hybrid approach that usually wins
Most players end up with a hybrid system that looks like this:
Phase 1: Print the whole deck (ProxyMTG)
Use ProxyMTG to cheaply print an entire deck so you can actually play it. This gets you from idea → games played fast.
Phase 2: Promote “keepers” to real cards (optional)
Once the deck proves itself, you can slowly replace proxies with real copies over time—starting with the cards you’ll use the most, or the ones you want in your long-term collection.
Phase 3: Build a staples kit (ProxyKing)
For your most-used premium pieces, make a ProxyKing staples kit so you’re never blocked from brewing, and you’re not constantly swapping expensive cards between decks.
It’s basically:
- ProxyMTG = full deck speed + low friction
- ProxyKing = long-term staples efficiency
Quick decision guide
If you answer “yes” to any of these, you should strongly consider proxying the whole deck:
- Do you brew more than one new deck a month?
- Do you often abandon a deck after 3–5 games?
- Do you hate dismantling decks for staples and lands?
- Are you testing power levels or trying new archetypes?
- Is budget the main thing blocking you from playing what you want?
If your answers are mostly “no,” and you just want to reduce cost without changing your overall collection habits, proxying staples is likely the better fit.
Proxy etiquette that keeps games smooth
No matter which route you pick, a few habits prevent table drama:
- Tell people you’re using proxies (before the game starts)
- Use clear, readable prints (text matters more than art)
- Use sleeves and consistent backs (avoid marked-card issues)
- Don’t use proxies in sanctioned events unless explicitly allowed
- Don’t try to pass proxies as authentic — keep the intent clean
Proxies are about playing more Magic, not creating “gotcha” situations.
Bottom line
If you want the simplest path to playing more decks, proxy the whole deck with ProxyMTG—it’s fast, consistent, and budget-friendly for complete builds.
If you’re more collection-oriented and want to keep decks mostly “real,” use ProxyKing for staples and high-value cards so your overlap pieces don’t become a constant bottleneck.
Either way, you’re solving the same problem: you shouldn’t need a second job to cast spells with your friends.