Boot leg MTG

does anyone have any experience with boot leg mtg cards?

What sort of experience?

Some of my peeps just print cards out for thier custom set.

I've not a few jokey ones for commanders.

I think mtg it by far the best card tcg out their but the amount of money it takes to play in tournament for modern and legacy is just too much. So I started looking into boot leg cards as a way for solve this problem. I looking for information how where to buy/sale and how to can be made.

I have purchased and used fakes from villa zheng, and the quality really varies from card to card. There is another big seller on aliexpress, black lotus or something like that I think, but I'm pretty sure the cards are almost identical so it doesn't matter where you buy them. Some, like force of will, are almost perfect, while some others are pretty bad. I have some lorwyn thoughtseizes that are fairly obvious, although I tried them out at an fnm once and nobody said anything. Duals are decent, but you should rough them up a bit so they don't look near mint, maybe leave them out in the sun for a day. Fetches are solid, especially onslaught ones since older printings had more variance in general, and zendikar ones are ok but some might have some coloration issues. Ultimately, nobody is going to be focusing on whether or not your cards are real and for the most part it's hard to tell when they are double sleeved across the table. Just buy the ones you want and if you happen to get a shitty print run on some of them, oh well they were dirt cheap to begin with. Plus even if you get caught you can just pull the "b-but I payed full price! I was ripped off!!"

what's the difference between the real and fake?

If you're just playing with friends, clear it with them and print out shitty knock offs.

I've done that in the past, but i'm looking for cards that I could use in tournament BL and VZ are looking like the right sellers for what I'm looking for.

I think the black ink is on a more defined, second layer as opposed to the fakes where everything is on one layer, so the rosette sort of "bleeds" into the black

IMO it's not worth it, but that depends on what level you want to play. You'll save money buying fakes, but you WILL eventually get caught. You'll receive some sort of action from the DCI and nobody will want to play against you. Once people know you use fakes, you better prepare for ALOT of judge calls.

I don't think you ever have a real chance of getting caught at the fnm/local tournament level

It's amazing that player skill is considered less relevant than money in these tournaments. As long as the card is real, why should they care? If you win it's because you're smarter or luckier, not because your bootleg cards are stronger.

I love how using fake cards is consider cheating, though it has no effect on the game at all. Its just whether or not you're dumb enough to pay $100+ for a piece of cardboard.

Because expensive cards encourage people to buy more packs and WoTC makes more money. So it matters to WoTC and people who want WoTC stamp of approval.

If it's just two guys playing, it shouldn't mater.

In the fake one, black printing is part of the pattern, whereas in the real one, black printing is sharp and separated

Wait, you HAVE to pay for real cards? What the fuck?

What sort of jew sorcery is that, I'm so fucking glad TCG doesn't seem like a fun hobby to me, that is fucking ridiculous that even though the card exists, you cant just print your own and use it, you have to pay like $45 for a little piece of paper or else you're cheating, even though its the same fucking card.

People don't pull big cards out of packs like 99% of the time. Most of the cards are from the secondary market.

WOTC made the same off the pack that had a bitterblossom in it as one that had auntie's snitch.

Yes, but the person that bought that pack would be much less likely to buy it if it was guaranteed it only contained cards with no value.

These tournaments are mostly hosted by giant secondary market vendors.
Guess who cares a lot if you buy legit singles or order them from the Chingchongman

That's why I only use chinaman proxies for legacy locals (who specifically says proxies are okay) because they look better than laser jet printouts.

I'm thinking about making a proxy power cube at some point though.

Just how much do bootleg cards cost, anyway? And how do they take orders: is it only for specific cards they print often, or can one simply send them a deck list and they print it out? I haven't bought fakes before, so I'm kinda interested.

They are like $2.50-3 each if you want individuals cards from their selection (they have a list of cards that they currently have available). sometimes they have "bundles" like duals, fetches, etc. that you can get cheaper. Then you can just buy their whole set that has like 50 different cards for $50, but obviously you don't get to choose what you want.

Oh yeah, i'm fine with a proxy cube, especially one with power. and if the tourney allows proxies thats ok too. Our store used to run vintage tournaments with 0-15 proxies allowed. But even chinaman ones, I wouldn't risk taking to a gp or a star city open.

I just wish I could order singles from wizards instead of shoving who knows how much money down the secondary markets throat.

eh, I've taken them to multiple gps and even gotten deck checked, and nobody has said a word. Unless they remove them from the sleeve or you are playing with some of the really shitty ones, its almost impossible to tell just by looking (especially with older cards)

You're a braver man than I

Does Stoneman still do bootlegs? I will have to check Aliexpress to see what the current scene is like.

I don't get it, is MTG supposed to be a competition to see who the wealthiest card gamer is? Because if not, I don't inherently see an issue with bootleg cards.

Aftermarket sellers need to make a living somehow!

1. We need a place to play. Booster packs don't cut it and some places have too many card shops per square mile to afford to do monthly fees.

2. If Wizards started allowing fake cards, no one would buy cards. They'd print proxies.

3. Tournaments are worth money because cards are worth money.

I just play with cockatrice.

The assumption is that everyone will initially shell out several hundred dollars for a deck that will be viable for a few months, and after that the playing field will be even.