Magic the Gathering, a card game that has been around for 30 years now,
retains its popularity due to a variety of reasons but the main one is the card
design. Not just the physical piece of German black core paper, but the stylistic
choices printed on it. And now, you too can be a custom card designer with any
style you want and I am showing you how.
To start this journey, explaining to you what proxies even are is in order, but I
will be brief: Proxies are non-official cards that anyone can get when you do not
want (or straight up cannot) get original ones.
Now, that cleared, comes the fun
part of that freedom proxies give us all magic players. Ever wanted to make
your commander feel unique and standout? Or maybe use a very old and
forgotten card with a brand-new style? Maybe you love Secret Lairs and want to
put your own art on a card. All those are a reality with MTGcardBuilder.com, a
simple card editor to make your dreams come true. With it, you can actually
choose from different frames, fonts and settings to make some impressive work
on any card.
For example, let’s take “Serra’s Sanctum”, a very powerful card with a very
restricted availability thanks to the Reserved List. Appearing only in the Urza’s
Saga set from 1998, the card is prohibitively expensive and with an artistic style
that might not be your quite your cup of tea.
Now let’s see what can be done with the simple use of a different, more modern
border with the Extended art frame and art by illustrator Rongrong Wang (plus a
flavour text written by yours truly). Mixing and matching styles and ideas can
yield you some really cool results.
“But wait”- I hear you say -” Do I need to go through the hassle of looking the
author of the art used to put in my cards?” And, in all honesty, it is not needed
since we are making this strictly for us and not to sell without paying the artist,
but I always try to look for the owner of the art I use in my cards to give them
the recognition they deserve so take it as a piece of advice to keep in mind.
That can also be easier if the one making the art is yourself or even and AI like
the very many options available today. But that is a story for another article.
Why not go for something less epic and mystical? Something more mundane…
more feline.
I am not the biggest lover of cats, but good heavens if this is not the cutest
alternative art for the most popular tutor. And I made it on the fly for a friend, so
there is clearly room for more experimentation, mixing frames and fonts can
give some impressive results like with this sol ring suing the {fontphyrexian}
option in MTGCardBuilder and avoid using any borders to make some cool full
art alters for the new set located on Phyrexia.
Realistically, you can do about whatever you want with the card creator and
enough patience tinkering away. You can easily create wonderful renditions of
iconic cards you always have wanted or maybe remaking the cards you have
and do not think about them too much like basic lands.
Not only you can use it for your real cards, you can use it to make your own
cards with whatever effect you want and try to shuffle up and play with your
friends. Also, the chance to ask your friends for art to use can be incredible:
Seeing their reactions and making them feel all the more confident with their
artistic skills. Gifts are also a neat option where you can give a card tailormade
for your significant other or relatives.
Making cards is a pretty interesting and fulfilling activity, especially if using MTG card builder’s tool while thinking outside the box.
For example, try to turn off the” Auto Load” frame option so you can mix and match styles without worrying
about text and images readjusting every time you open a different frame.
MTGCardBuilder actually has planned a lot of cool stuff like a card gallery and a
frame gallery to share and enjoy wild designs, so be sure to stay tuned and
even drop by to our Discord and show some of your creations.
At the end of the day, your imagination is your limit. MTGCardBuilder offers a lot
of options currently for all your cardmaking needs and it will only go up from
here with future updates but it all boils down to your creativity. Hope you have
fun making some nice cards.