🎯Bootlegs at Your LGS

How to use your proxies at local game stores and have no issues.

Note: If you follow this guide, it's unlikely you'll ever have issues. But as always, we cannot guarantee you won't be caught. Thankfully, we have tips on what to do when accused or confirmed of using proxies at your game store.

The best defense is a good offense. What this means is that when you choose the absolute highest quality bootleg MTG cards, you should have no issues when others inspect your cards in sleeves during gameplay or deck checks. This is an absolute must. Here's the steps to using bootleg Magic: The Gathering cards in tournaments:

1. Choose the highest quality proxies available. Don't simply choose your favorite versions, choose the absolute highest quality printing as recommended by experienced users. See All About Vendors.

2. Sleeve them up as normal. Do not use smoke inner sleeves or any methods to hide the fact that you are using proxies. This is for two reasons: First, you don't want to draw any attention to your cards in any way. This means using less common sleeving practices like tri or quad sleeves, or any special products. The exception is matte sleeves, which can normalize some of the coloration and are commonly used for real cards due to camera glare. Second, should you be caught, it becomes more obvious that you were trying to hide the fact that you were using proxies when your product selections are known to be common among bootleg users. We recommend just using normal products without any attempt to hide anything. Again, the best defense is a good offense.

3. Once sleeved up, forget that they are bootlegs. Play with confidence. If someone wants to read a card, let them read it. If your opponent plays a real copy, don't sweat it. Just focus on the game. Any nervousness or strange actions will draw attention.