I recently purchased a proxy set of the Power 9 for my cube and it got me thinking about how many of the powered cubes out there use proxies and how many use the real cards. I own all my cards except the new proxies so I don't mind playing with some pretty expensive pieces of cardboard (I'm looking at you Underground Sea) but I don't think I would ever play with a real Black Lotus even if I did own one. I'm just too anal for that.
You didn't include Collector's Edition. I'm not sure where they fall under as either 'the real deal' or 'proxies'. A lot of us use those.
I would definitely count them as proxies. They are cards that are not tournament legal that represent a card that is. They are good looking proxies with dollar value attached but I would define them as proxies nonetheless.
I don't run power or proxies, but I'm not above using World Championship editions of some of the more expensive cards. The difference in price is so massive that it's really hard to turn down the savings, and I don't have to worry so much about them getting damaged or stolen. Case in point, take Rishadan Port:
Regular edition: $99.99
World Championship Edition: $3.49
Proxies are probably the only way power will ever make it into my cube, and I have enough players intimidated by the power level of my cube without the Power 9, so it's definitely not worth the expense for me.
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IMO, there's no point having something like Moxen if you're not going to play with them. I'm not buying power because I want it to sit in a vault and appreciate in value, I'm buying it because I want to play with it. I'll happily proxy something I don't own and haven't acquired yet, as a placeholder for something important, but I'm not going to get CE's for things I have real versions of. That's just my opinion though, your mileage may vary.
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CE/champs cards are proxies by any definition of the word, they just happen to be proxies made by wizards.
As far as I'm concerned, I will always vote to play proxies of a card we don't have if we want to try it. Cube is an unsanctioned format, we are all playing it in unsanctioned events, so to me that means gameplay trumps all. I would never not run a card I thought would make the games/cube better just because the version we were playing with wasn't real or pretty enough.
So this is really interesting. I personally play with real unlimited power nine cards. I bought them so I could play with them. This is because when I was younger I wanted the "Pimpest" cube possible. Whether or not I will actually finish this goal is another story. I have nothing against proxies as I used proxies in my cube for a long time and still do on random cards like Goblin Settler and the new cards being tested. Ugin, The Spirit Dragon
Coming from someone building a heavily pimped foil altered cube, don't hold yourself to someone elses standard. If you're ok with proxies run them!
Most of the cards in my Cube are foiled out at this point in time. However, that's mostly through trading and not buying cards and I don't have the collection to acquire a full set of P9 (though I do have a real Library of Alexandria in there currently). Had I the collection (without trashing my 2 Modern decks, my 1 Standard deck, and my 1 Legacy deck) I would absolutely get real Power for the Cube. For the time being, we use gold-bordered blank white cards from the CE/IE sets that I had a local artist draw on as proxies. I think using proxies is absolutely fine, it's Cube after all. But I would much rather play my Cube over my friend's all-proxied 360 Cube.
I wouldn't count CE as proxies. I wouldn't count them as the pimpest possible version, but I'd rank them higher on the scale than Unlimited versions simply because of the black borders. For some of us, however, they are the pimpest possible version that we can actually fathom affording. I'd put them on the same level as something like a FtV Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
I used to be against proxies in cube. I was of the opinion that this is cube and cube is sacred and too good for proxies. Own the cards or bust. However, after being around these forums for a while and seeing all the powered cubes and hearing stories from those cubes, I quickly began wanting to play with those cards and have those same experiences. Also, I was missing several staples, including ABU duals, some fetches, and several more expensive rares and mythics. So I took the plunge and tried a few different proxy methods. Not counting FRF or CE, I'm down to only seven proxies now (Moat, Ravages, Recall, Imperial Seal, Lotus, Emerald, and Kozilek).
In the end I think the experience of playing with the cards is worth the small sacrifice of having a fake versions of the cards. Also, what I've found is that people who cube with us, even those that have only cubed once or twice, feel the same way. Kind of like, "Of course you don't have a real Lotus."
I count Collector's Edition as the real deal, so i voted for that. They are Magic cards made by Wizards of the Coast, not proxies made by a third party. Tournament legality has no bearing on the authenticity of a "real" magic card. Unglued and Unhinged cards are not tournament legal, but they are real magic cards. Holiday promos are not tournament legal, but they are also real magic cards.
Because of the ambiguity of the poll question and lack of a CE option, I don't think the results are going to mean much.
Since most people with CE power are just going to vote however they feel like without reading through all the replies to figure out how you would count them.
Interesting. So far there are more proxy users than non. I guess it makes sense that cubers want to play with the best cards in magic's history and the obscene amount of money certain cards are worth is a real barrier. I had just assumed that was the minority of cubers or people only proxied in testing. That being said, the people on this forum probably take Cubing more serious than most and would be more likely to use proxies in search of the"perfect" cube.
These proxies I'm adding will not only be my first proxies but my playgroups, all of whom own cubes. So I do expect to get some slack for it. What I don't want is people asking me if every good card they see in the cube is a proxy. I put a lot of time and effort into acquiring the other pieces of the cube and i don't plan on adding any other proxies in the future. My solution i think is to mark the perfect fit sleeves with a little black dot on the proxies as an indicator.
My cube will now have 15 proxies including Library, Candelabra, Mana Drain, Gaes Cradle, JTMS and Wasteland on top of the power 9. Some proxies I hope to replace over time with the real cards while others will just have to stay fakes unfortunately. I always liked playing with the real cards but that reserved list makes people do crazy things.
Again, if you had a 4th option for CE instead of a proxy one, I think your results would look a lot different. Since nobody is voting on CE in a consistent manner.
This is not necessarily true anymore. The new FNM rules opens up for Cube as a sanctioned format and two LGS in my area will run it alongside Standard and Modern starting in the next couple of weeks. I'm de-proxying my cube right now for this reason.
And as for CE/champs, as a sanctioned format, they do count as proxies. But as long as you keep it casual, it doesn't really matter what you call them in my opinion.
Well, as of right now practically no one on this forum is playing cube in a sanctioned event, and probably 99.99% of all paper cube drafts for all of magic's lifetime will be unsanctioned.
For cube, I consider real cards to be anything that Wizards printed. CE, world championship, artists proofs, they are all real cards. Tournament legality is irrelevant. That said, I also use a few proxies because there are no inexpensive versions of Library or Workshop or Mana Drain. It's more important to me that cards make the cut based on fun, not affordability.
I have no proxies in my cube at the moment, but that will change. I want to incorporate Power and some of the old cards I played when I first started, but no longer have access to. Since I have other responsibilities that must take precedence, I will place proxies in my cube.
having seen the way one of my friends shuffles, and another bending a snapcaster in half putting it back into a sleeve, I wouldn't dare play with a set of real P9 in a cube. I think even if I played with someone's cube that had power in it, and they were in really good shape I'd be pretty scared about damaging the cards. Cube is supposed to be fun and if you're using power, you're generally trying to do some pretty degenerate stuff, so proxies are fine, and if you're going for real deck feel, rather than paper glued over lands (which I would do, since self printed proxies feel off, and the text on cards like animate dead and necromancy never fits properly and looks bad) then I wouldn't complain about the CE/IE proxies. Besides I bet you could fool most people into believing they were legit BB alpha / beta cards.
My entire cube is proxies, whether I own the cards or not. Even the basic lands are proxies so all the cards are uniform.
Yep, that's us too. Ours is entirely comprised of digital alters, so it's also "fully pimped", but I a. Different way I supposed. I don't think there are many like us who have 100% proxy cubes. That'd be an intersting poll.
I use world champs cards in the place of a few expensive ones like survival and port. Over the years I've slowly been replacing these with the real cards. I also own a set of revised duals, but after reading a few theft horror stories here on the forums have decided not to use them in my main (edh) cube. Instead, I picked up a set of those RtR prerelease guild tokens and just inserted the dual land's name, types, and a flavor quote on a small scrap of paper.
My entire cube is proxies, whether I own the cards or not. Even the basic lands are proxies so all the cards are uniform.
Yep, that's us too. Ours is entirely comprised of digital alters, so it's also "fully pimped", but I a. Different way I supposed. I don't think there are many like us who have 100% proxy cubes. That'd be an intersting poll.
I also am 100% proxies & I receive compliments all the time from total strangers who I don't mind if they play with my Powered Cube
I voted that I only use the real deal, even though I use CE/IE cards. I consider anything that has been printed and sold by Wizards as real cards, since I don't consider sanctioned tournament viability the "be all, end all" of Mtg.
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I would definitely count them as proxies. They are cards that are not tournament legal that represent a card that is. They are good looking proxies with dollar value attached but I would define them as proxies nonetheless.
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Proxies are probably the only way power will ever make it into my cube, and I have enough players intimidated by the power level of my cube without the Power 9, so it's definitely not worth the expense for me.
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As far as I'm concerned, I will always vote to play proxies of a card we don't have if we want to try it. Cube is an unsanctioned format, we are all playing it in unsanctioned events, so to me that means gameplay trumps all. I would never not run a card I thought would make the games/cube better just because the version we were playing with wasn't real or pretty enough.
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I used to be against proxies in cube. I was of the opinion that this is cube and cube is sacred and too good for proxies. Own the cards or bust. However, after being around these forums for a while and seeing all the powered cubes and hearing stories from those cubes, I quickly began wanting to play with those cards and have those same experiences. Also, I was missing several staples, including ABU duals, some fetches, and several more expensive rares and mythics. So I took the plunge and tried a few different proxy methods. Not counting FRF or CE, I'm down to only seven proxies now (Moat, Ravages, Recall, Imperial Seal, Lotus, Emerald, and Kozilek).
In the end I think the experience of playing with the cards is worth the small sacrifice of having a fake versions of the cards. Also, what I've found is that people who cube with us, even those that have only cubed once or twice, feel the same way. Kind of like, "Of course you don't have a real Lotus."
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Because of the ambiguity of the poll question and lack of a CE option, I don't think the results are going to mean much.
Since most people with CE power are just going to vote however they feel like without reading through all the replies to figure out how you would count them.
These proxies I'm adding will not only be my first proxies but my playgroups, all of whom own cubes. So I do expect to get some slack for it. What I don't want is people asking me if every good card they see in the cube is a proxy. I put a lot of time and effort into acquiring the other pieces of the cube and i don't plan on adding any other proxies in the future. My solution i think is to mark the perfect fit sleeves with a little black dot on the proxies as an indicator.
My cube will now have 15 proxies including Library, Candelabra, Mana Drain, Gaes Cradle, JTMS and Wasteland on top of the power 9. Some proxies I hope to replace over time with the real cards while others will just have to stay fakes unfortunately. I always liked playing with the real cards but that reserved list makes people do crazy things.
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Well, as of right now practically no one on this forum is playing cube in a sanctioned event, and probably 99.99% of all paper cube drafts for all of magic's lifetime will be unsanctioned.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Yep, that's us too. Ours is entirely comprised of digital alters, so it's also "fully pimped", but I a. Different way I supposed. I don't think there are many like us who have 100% proxy cubes. That'd be an intersting poll.
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