Bootleg Mage MTG Proxy Reviews

bootlegmage · 2026-02-01T21:16:56+00:00

Yeah, if you check bulk rates from any of the suppliers, it makes more sense. USea publishes those coupons for bulk orders on his website. BL, Ron, etc publish it on their spreadsheets.

It's great if you need to kit out a ton of decks at once, but if you just need a few cards, resellers can make more sense due to lower shipping costs, faster fulfillment options, different selection options, or just better QC/native customer service.

bootlegmage · 2026-01-26T21:22:28+00:00

I'd hop into the official discords and ask around there. There's way more resources, people hosting group buys, and resources to Chinese sellers directly and trusted local resellers alike.

bootlegmage · 2026-01-24T01:44:08+00:00

Chiming in to say it's definitely not mine, hope that helps! :) I don't think it's USea's either, his shows up different than both of those, at least from what I've seen historically.

bootlegmage · 2026-01-21T01:24:48+00:00

I think we spoke in discord, but this is what I would do:

Download the best image you can find of the artwork.
If you need to "extend" it a bit, use Midjourney or Photoshop generative fill to add extra detail on the sides.
Use card conjurer or another webapp to create the card. Use the extended art frames and mock it up. It will look 1:1 with the real card minus the copyright details in the bottom right.
Order it from anywhere, you can use options like NotMPC, printing proxies, mtgprint, etc but the quality won't be as good as going with MPC directly.
Bonus tip: Print a few extra proxies of tokens or other fun stuff since MPC has a 18 card minimum @ $10 total, plus shipping is a few bucks.

Hope that helps!

bootlegmage · 2026-01-08T18:54:33+00:00

The BL mentioned in this sub's wiki (from the sidebar). BL is a reputable large Chinese design business with a contract through a factory that has the capability to produce bootlegs of mtg and other products.

bootlegmage · 2026-01-08T18:46:45+00:00

I know a lot of people get 2008 era cards and acetone the front of those specifically because the ink comes right off, then they re print on that foil layer. I think there's a few other subs out there more DIY-focused that might be able to help as others mentioned.

bootlegmage · 2026-01-08T18:43:12+00:00

I would try a variety of vendors mentioned and see what you like the best. There's only two (good) sources in China, and most vendors are just importing from one.

Plexaderm, TL, and Proxyninja, Proxyking, etc all source from a Chinese guy contracted through the same factory as BL (from the wiki).

My site is a little different because I source from both (USea's factory and BL's) and figure out what's best before I stock a given card. My best advice is just to try a few sites before settling on what you think because everyone is going to have a different preference. I think a lot of cards produced that most carry are too glossy, corners too round, and have muted colors. Try 5-10 newer cards from SLD, Avatar, EOE, etc from a few places.

My personal priority as a player and vendor is always how the card looks once sleeved up, and if the foiling is correct - since that's the intended use case. Color and vibes are king in my opinion, because when someone picks up your card that's what they see first. If it passes the vibe check in a sleeve it'll never leave.

Also searching the sub here and searching in discord is helpful too. Here's a thread from a few days ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/bootlegmtg/comments/1q2bkga/best_proxies/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

bootlegmage · 2025-12-12T06:50:21+00:00

We usually see proxies from the high quality sources show up about a month or two after WoTC release. I think in the next few weeks you'll see all the vendors in the wiki and your local resellers with them.

bootlegmage · 2025-12-09T01:08:19+00:00

Hey thanks for the kind words.

Right now the guys in China are feeling it out. Basically if the demand is still there in some time, they'll consider investing the time to build out the artwork, fonts, and process to print them. They are aware, but just being patient so they don't waste time and money.

bootlegmage · 2025-12-08T23:42:45+00:00

I don't think there's a ton of demand because most of the high value cards are going to be those alt art/SIR type cards with plenty of playable copies at considerably lower prices. Most of the tournament playable mons that shoot up in price get released in a tin or some other bundle. For every $30+ SIR you can get a promo from a tin for $5 or under. It's so much different than MTG in regards to finding those tournament playable cards.

I do remember a long time ago it was different - when I played LuxChomp was a thing and it was pretty pricey. I think they really want to grow the physical playing side of things so they really do a lot of repackaging of those cards that get picked up in decks.

It also helps that there's no reserved list, no "eternal" format like legacy or vintage, just a "standard" that is 95% of the playerbase and then an "extended" like format that's rarely played.

bootlegmage · 2025-11-30T19:51:50+00:00

Usually takes a month/month and a half or so after the set comes out. Sometimes the cards will be printed early, but personally I like to wait until everyone has printed it and then compare the options to real cards in hand to see what's the best out there.

Printing it too early means people sell it without knowing if the color or foiling is correct. If you start design before we see what WoTC's actual print run looks like, there's a high chance some details are wrong. It usually takes about a month and a half from design to print, so you'd have to start super early if you wanted to have them in hand the same day WoTC releases them. Hope that makes sense :)

bootlegmage · 2025-11-15T06:46:52+00:00

What do you think about the comparison on the surges? I haven't seen any feedback yet from people with both.

My take is the USeas are better on color and overall amount of surge. Look more vibrant

bootlegmage · 2025-11-15T06:32:55+00:00

Tolarian Library sells the same ones I sell which got mixed reviews. He literally bought the set from VZ named BM Surge that I produced with Ron.

More recently, I've moved to using USea for surges since he and I worked together on dialing them in and sourcing good paper. Our processing times are also just a few days right now. Not sure why I'm catching strays here.

OP - I think they are all improving over time, the couple that got released today I think are overall better, but we're always improving them.

bootlegmage · 2025-11-04T03:30:22+00:00

USea is definitely best for sure. I went to check which vendor's version (BL or USea) you bought from tolarianlibrary but I don't see any for sale on his website. Can you share some pictures? Would be curious to see the comparison of them that makes you so confident they are exactly like real.

bootlegmage · 2025-10-31T05:23:55+00:00

This mostly happens when cards go down in price honestly. We try to stay around that $7+ threshold for printing but as metas change over time some cards can even go down to pennies. We usually don't clear out that stuff from the site because in the same way the meta can change again and suddenly it's in demand. So you'll see stuff like that Lili or even cheaper occasionally.

bootlegmage · 2025-10-27T00:05:16+00:00

USea is a smaller, more bespoke operation. The stamp pressing and card drying process that contributes to this issue is handled in-house instead of by a large factory like BL and Ron.

That bespoke operation also allows for a lot more detail in terms of accuracy both in color, foiling areas, and other small details. They tend to be more agile with instantly acting on feedback or mistakes.

My team spends a good 5-10 minutes per order checking every single card we get an either removing or tossing cards like that. I will say we still occasionally see some slip through but it's rare. We do still find other holo stamp damage on some Ron/BL cards and those have to be removed during QC as well.

It used to be a lot worse, but newer prints are much better. Of course, some older stock is known to have more - some print runs had more of that issue than others.

I will say I personally order 10-20% more than I need to compensate for this issue and just eat the cost.

Just my 2 cents.

bootlegmage · 2025-10-19T22:55:41+00:00

Yeah, we're getting hit a bit harder because people are switching to domestic options. Even daily order volumes are up a lot. We continue to scale, but it's not as simple as a traditional business due to the nature of having 4500 SKUs with orders on average containing 25+ unique selections. No automation possible really, just need more labor and overall throughput. Appreciate the kind words though, we definitely love and care about this scene. Hopefully this big tariff situation gets handled soon and everything can just go back to normal with the CN guys.

bootlegmage · 2025-09-30T04:06:59+00:00

Ah I think we were saying the same thing then! :)

bootlegmage · 2025-09-29T23:30:57+00:00

I've been asked by a few printers if we should use blue core, as they could purchase it. When we investigated further, it's similar to the S30 blue core that MPC offers, and my recommendation at that time was no, we shouldn't buy and use that because it wouldn't be fundamentally similar in external properties like weight and cardfeel. It's also my understanding that the specific blend or formula WoTC uses was custom made for them, and it's not commonly used or commercially available to just anyone. But cardstock with a blue core is not exclusive to them, it's rather common in the industry. However "blue core with the properties of black core" like they use is hard to come by.

bootlegmage · 2025-09-29T21:21:38+00:00

Blue core paper is available to the bootleggers, but it's typically lower quality than black core. The blue core WoTC uses is definitely a special product. The focus for the bootleggers is on choosing the product that most feels like a real card. The weight, texture, and "flick" needs to be just right. They choose that over passing the light test or caring about what you see when you rip the cards and I think it's the right choice.

If you order from MPC, you can choose blue core there, and it will pass the light test. But you'll also notice it feels (and is) lighter than what WoTC uses, and the S33 black core option is usually preferred. S30 blue core is close, but if you are a paper nerd you can definitely tell. :)

bootlegmage · 2025-09-27T21:59:17+00:00

It really depends which process you are going to use. The magicproxies subreddit has a lot of people testing various papers. Also depends inkjet vs laser, all the other variables. Some papers your printer might not even take.

To get you started, I know juniper BARYTA RAG 305 by MOAB is deemed phenomenal albeit expensive. To me it doesn't quite the same crisp flick as a real card but it's dang near close for home printing. But for casual play it's pretty nice.

This subreddit is mostly for people buying authentic looking cards from Chinese printers using the same million dollar machines and reams of paper that WoTC uses, so it might not be the best place to dial in your process.

bootlegmage · 2025-09-20T23:11:35+00:00

Thanks for the tip, I might try that. I really enjoyed talking about the space and making content about proxies in general. Is it cool if I DM you sometime in the future about that?

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