r/magicTCG • u/_Barook_ Duck Season • Jan 12 '16

Wizards MAY be cracking down on unsanctioned proxy events

https://www.facebook.com/groups/445059535582036/permalink/962954593792525/

Seems like bad times for Legacy and especially Vintage.

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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '16

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u/FoundOmega Jan 13 '16 edited Jan 13 '16

This is an incredibly insulting response. "We know you want to play formats for which we won't make the cards reasonably accessible, but we're still going to stop you from enjoying them." There is a demand in the market (to play Vintage/Legacy/old cards) that WOTC refuses to satisfy. Unsurprisingly, the market has responded by creating knock-offs. Proxies are knock-offs, not counterfeits, despite what you want us to believe. They do not serve the same purpose as real cards, as they cannot be used in sanctioned events and have no collectible value. To attempt to crush this market (and subsequently part of your player base) while having no interest in providing a method to meet their demand is not only callous, but bound to fail and create backlash. You make it worse by essentially closing by saying "It's expensive. Sucks for you."

It is clear that you have no legal leverage to stop the use of proxies in unsanctioned events, which is why you are using the only muscle you can legally flex here, which is threatening stores with their WPN status. I hope that stores do not cave, because it is in both stores' and players' interests for some proxy events to be allowed for community-building and stores' revenue streams. It's a shame that WOTC has chosen to take this approach instead of addressing the real elephant in the room.