Proxy card

A proxy card is an easily acquired or home-made substitute for a collectible card. A proxy is used when a collectible card game player does not own a card, and it would be impractical for such purposes to acquire the card. This usually occurs when a player desires a card that is cost-prohibitive, or is "playtesting" with many possible cards. When doing intensive training for a competitive tournament, it often makes more sense to use proxy cards while figuring out which cards to bring to the tournament. Another card is substituted and serves the same function during gameplay as the actual card would. A proxy can also be used in cases where a player owns a very valuable card, but does not wish to damage it by using it in actual play.

A proxy card is an easily acquired or home-made substitute for a collectible card. A proxy is used when a collectible card game player does not own a card, and it would be impractical for such purposes to acquire the card. This usually occurs when a player desires a card that is cost-prohibitive, or is "playtesting" with many possible cards. When doing intensive training for a competitive tournament, it often makes more sense to use proxy cards while figuring out which cards to bring to the tournament. Another card is substituted and serves the same function during gameplay as the actual card would. A proxy can also be used in cases where a player owns a very valuable card, but does not wish to damage it by using it in actual play. ==Common usage== Proxy cards can be used in various situations. The rules and restrictions are object of common agreement, or a given policy, and may differ from the above-mentioned "fair play requirements". In casual games, the players may agree on a common policy of how to deal with proxy cards. This allows to play a higher variation of card combinations and strategies, while keeping a limit on the expenses. In tournaments, the organizer may permit a limited number of proxy cards, and define rules about how these cards must look. This policy has become especially popular in games or formats where some vital cards are far too expensive, such as the vintage format in Magic: The Gathering. For playtesting. Proxy cards allow a player to test new cards, before they decide to actually buy or trade for them. In card prototyping. Card developers in companies like Wizards of the Coast use proxies to playtest their ideas for new cards before they are printed. Some players create cards based on their own ideas for card themes and mechanics. In this case, however, the term "proxy" may no longer be applicable, as these cannot be considered substitutes for existing objects. An extreme form of copying original cards is forgery of expensive cards, which is again outside the "proxy" category. Famous cards that are often proxied are the so-called power nine in Magic: The Gathering, which are considered totally out of balance in gameplay, while being unaffordable for the average player, due to their rarity and enormous price on the secondary market. ==Common ways of fabrication== Some players create their own proxy cards by editing original cards. Ideally, they take a cheap original card that shares as many characteristics as possible with the card that should be proxied. Editing includes: partially erasing the original print using a rubber or chemicals (acetone). However, this will most likely carve and damage the material, and thus affect the stiffness, balance and transparency characteristics. writing, painting or printing on the surface, preferably using a thin fine-liner. Adhesive labels (stickers) attached to the front of the original card. However, this will most likely create a relief that can be read like braille. It will also affect the stiffness and balance characteristics (distribution of mass). Cards can also be created from scratch, using an imaging software or specialized program (like Magic Set Editor for Magic: The Gathering), printer and scissors. Special attention needs to be paid on the choice of paper (for weight and stiffness) and the accuracy of the cut. Usually, a card back can not be printed in a way that would be indistinguishable from the original, however. In some cases, proxy cards can be acquired from third-party manufacturers. For copyrighted card games, however, these will usually not be allowed to reprint original artwork - so the back side will not look like the original cards. Difficulties with the back side are often dealt with by using card sleeves with an opaque back. This also allows to put more than one piece of paper in one sleeve. Another possibility is to completely play with proxies, and thus get around most of the problems described above. In this case, the cards no longer need to look and feel like originals, only the proxies need to be equal to each other in the above characteristics. Some players prefer to avoid any such pain of handcrafting, and instead use a legend - a table that maps some of the physical cards in that player's deck to other cards that they would like to have instead. This method doesn't need any physical manipulation on the original cards, and it does not conflict with any of the above described physical restrictions. However, in actual play it can be rather confusing always having to look into the legend. ==References==

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1347079074 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.