If you’ve ever shown up to game night with a perfectly sleeved deck and then realized your proxies are still sitting in a printer tray at home, yeah, same energy. That’s basically the problem proxyfoundry.com is trying to solve: getting playable, consistent proxy cards into your hands without turning “I want to test a deck” into a weekend project.
proxyfoundry.com is an online proxy printing service aimed at trading card games and living card games. It focuses on four buckets: Magic: The Gathering, Netrunner, Lorcana, and Pokémon. The site also goes out of its way to say the quiet part out loud: these are unofficial, fan-made cards for personal use, playtesting, and casual play, and they’re not affiliated with the original publishers.
That disclaimer matters, because proxies are normal in a lot of circles, but “proxy” and “counterfeit” are not the same thing. Proxy Foundry is clearly pitching itself at the playtesting and casual table end of the spectrum, not the “i’m going to try to pass this off as real” end.
What proxyfoundry.com actually offers
The short version: you can print decks, sets, or one-off custom designs depending on the game.
For Magic players, the front page calls out the usual proxy use cases: Commander testing, cubes, and alt-art or full-art cards that still need to hold up to shuffling. If you’ve built a cube before, you know the pain: a stack of mismatched paper slips makes your draft feel like you’re handling receipts, not cards. Consistent cardstock and clean cuts matter more than people admit.
For Netrunner, proxyfoundry.com leans into something the community has been doing forever: keeping older card pools alive, printing fan projects, and supporting store nights with readable cards that all look like they belong to the same universe. And because Netrunner is so decklist-driven, the “just print the list” workflow makes a lot of sense.
Lorcana and Pokémon are presented more as “protect your collection, keep playing” use cases. Basically: don’t shuffle a high-value card raw if you don’t have to, and don’t make new players handle expensive cardboard while they’re still learning the rules.
How ordering works (and why the tools matter)
A proxy printer can have great equipment and still lose you if ordering feels like filing taxes. proxyfoundry.com tries to keep it simple with a few distinct paths:
MTG Card Creator for custom cards
There’s a built-in MTG Card Creator where you can enter a card name, upload artwork, pick frame styles, add mana symbols, and tweak positioning and sizing. It’s the kind of tool you use when you want a clean-looking custom design, not just a list of existing cards. It also includes fields for artist and legal text, which is a small thing, but it’s the difference between “this is my custom cube card” and “this looks unfinished.”
One note: the creator includes print options labeled “Card” and “Card+.” If you care about finish or durability, you’ll want to understand what those options change before ordering a big batch.
Netrunner Sets for bulk printing
The Netrunner Sets section is basically a menu of full set printing with pricing shown for “1x each” and “3x each (playset).” It’s organized by classic cycles and expansions, plus it includes community-era options too. If you’re rebuilding a collection or you want a shared group card pool, set printing is the fastest way to get there without hunting singles.
Netrunner Decks for “print this list”
The Netrunner Decks section is built around decklists, with pages that show card counts, an estimated price, and the list itself. It reads like a “pick a known list, print it, teach it” pipeline, which is honestly the best way to onboard new Netrunner players. Hand them a coherent deck and let them learn matchups. Don’t hand them a binder and a dream.
Quality: what to pay attention to before you spend money
Every proxy site says “high quality.” That phrase is meaningless unless you define it. In practice, most players notice these things first:
- Text sharpness (if rules text looks fuzzy, it’s annoying immediately)
- Color balance (especially blacks and gradients)
- Cut accuracy (if the cutline drifts, it looks sloppy even in sleeves)
- Cardstock feel (thickness, stiffness, and whether it “snaps” like a real card)
- Consistency across batches (nothing kills a cube vibe like half the cards looking slightly different)
proxyfoundry.com positions itself around “real deck feel,” with emphasis on cardstock choice, readability, and consistency across reorders. If you’re sleeving everything, you can get away with a lot. If you’re not sleeving, you’ll notice every flaw. Most people sleeve, but not everyone, and cube players can be weird in both directions.
The rules and etiquette part (because this is where people get salty)
Let’s keep it simple: proxies are usually fine in casual play when everyone agrees, but sanctioned events have rules, and those rules vary by game.
Magic: sanctioned play is strict
Wizards of the Coast has been consistent that DCI-sanctioned events require authentic Magic cards, with a narrow exception where a judge may issue a proxy if a card is damaged during the event. So if you’re thinking “i’ll bring proxies to a sanctioned tournament,” don’t. That’s not how it works.
Netrunner: proxies are commonly allowed, and it’s written down
Netrunner is the outlier in a good way. Null Signal Games organized play policies explicitly allow proxies at their events, with requirements around fit, feel, and legibility. That’s a big reason printing services and community print tools are such a natural fit for Netrunner.
Pokémon and Lorcana: assume “not in sanctioned play” unless told otherwise
For Pokémon, proxy use is widely treated as a testing tool, not something you bring to official tournaments. For Lorcana, treat it the same way unless your local organizer says otherwise. And yes, your local store night might be fine with proxies for casual play. Just ask like a normal person before you show up with an entire proxy deck and act surprised when someone cares.
Proxy Foundry’s own disclaimer basically points to the best rule of thumb: use proxies only where your playgroup, store, or event organizer allows them, and respect the publisher’s policies.
Practical tips to get better results from proxy printing
If you’re going to use a service like proxyfoundry.com, a few small habits save a lot of frustration:
- Use clean source images when you upload custom art. Low-res art prints like low-res art.
- Decide your goal up front: playtesting, cube consistency, teaching decks, or “protect my expensive cards.”
- Sleeve your deck if you’re mixing real cards and proxies. It helps fairness and it hides tiny differences.
- Don’t trade or sell proxies as if they’re real. That’s where “proxy” stops being a harmless tool.
- If you’re building for an event, ask the organizer first. Don’t guess.
Where proxyfoundry.com fits compared to other proxy options
You can make your own proxies at home, sure. Lots of people do. But home printing is usually a trade: either it looks decent and feels bad, or it feels decent and looks bad, or you spend way too long trying to make both happen.
A dedicated site like proxyfoundry.com is appealing when you want repeatable results and you don’t want to fuss with paper weight, cutting corners, alignment, and the rest of the “why am i doing arts and crafts at midnight” spiral.
If you want to dig deeper into the proxy printing rabbit hole from Proxy Foundry’s own blog, these are worth a read:
- PrintMTG vs PrintingProxies: which proxy card printer is better?
- Beginner’s Guide to Formats: Standard vs Modern vs Pioneer vs Commander
Conclusion
proxyfoundry.com is built for players who care about playing games more than hunting cardboard. It’s trying to be a one-stop proxy printing service across multiple games, with tools for custom MTG designs, bulk Netrunner set printing, and decklist-based Netrunner deck printing.
Just keep the social contract in mind. Proxies work best when everyone knows what they are and why they’re there. If you treat proxies as a playtesting tool and a casual play convenience, services like proxyfoundry.com make a lot of sense. If you treat proxies as a way to sneak around tournament rules, you’re going to have a bad time.