“Magic the Gathering,” also known as MTG, is a massive card game by Wizards of the Coast. It is up there with behemoths of the trading card game industry such as the “Pokemon Trading Card Game” and “YuGiOh.” It has been running ever since 1993, making it the first-ever trading card game.
Some of the cards in this game are surprisingly expensive, usually the older a card is, the more it costs. A lot of players simply cannot afford to purchase these cards. This is where proxies come in. Proxies are fake replacements for real cards which may be too expensive or rare for a player to obtain. MTG Cardsmith is one of the great websites for creating these proxies.
Proxies often play a part in casual MTG games. When looking to make an accurate proxy card, MTG Cardsmith creates high-definition cards for quality prints. All one needs to find is art and a reference card to look off of. MTG Cardsmith presents users with a comprehensive selection of customization options, from over a hundred colored frames to varied power and toughness blocks. The process is incredibly simple, only requiring ten to fifteen minutes to complete a card.
Proxies are not the only appeal of MTG Cardsmith. Users can also create completely original cards, like my Flamebreaker Mage card, with the website. The ability to sit down and whip up a personalized card is not something
that should be overlooked. This is probably the number one use of the website. These custom cards may take longer than proxies since progress is entirely dependent on the user’s judgment, but the result is well worth the effort. Typically, the hardest part of this process is balancing the card to be fun but not broken, like a card that wins the game if it hits the opponent.
One should always make sure to obtain a high-quality image before starting on the card creation. If the perfect art for the card is not easy to find, then there is also an AI image creator built-in to the website. Regardless of the ethics of AI, it may be a useful tool if, for example, one cannot get a quality image of a wizard fighting off an army with ice and lightning blasts.
The only downside to MTG Cardsmith is one that typically occurs with free services: a premium model locking feature
that should be available for free. The main two features that come to mind are the ability to edit a card once it has been published and the ability to make a published card private. This is incredibly useful if a card has errors that are not noticed upon first creating it and should definitely be available for free. On multiple occasions, I have created a card and then realized that it has a spelling error or the art is slightly misaligned. The ability to edit cards without paying ten dollars a month would be greatly appreciated, especially because they recently implemented ads in their services. Additionally, if one needs more than five hundred card slots, then one may pay for the premium experience to do so.
Overall, MTG Cardsmith is a unique and powerful tool for both hardcore and casual fans of MTG. By enabling fans to design their own cards in a user-friendly environment and uncluttered user interface, it stands out as one of the best options in the proxy world. Printing out cards with their website is cost effective and can be a fun gift for fans, or just plain useful in deck building. Whether an individual is looking to recreate their favorite cards from MTG or just creating something new, MTG Cardsmith is well worth exploring.
