How Can I Play Test This?

We've all done it at one point or another. We go through the long process of making a card. We come up with an idea, we find the perfect piece of art, we put it all together with all the best intentions and then we finally, after about an hour of deliberations with ourselves, finally... hit Publish.

It usually isn't until this point that we start to think: Is this too complex? Did I cost this too high or too low? What kind of problems will this card create? Does it work as I imagined? Well the best way we know to find these answers is PLAY TESTING!

"But Corwinnn & Tomigon, how can we accomplish this play testing of which you speak?"

We're glad you asked... We sat down and put together a little tutorial for you, to help you make proxies and play test your custom cards in real life, so let's get started!

What you'll need:

Color Printer. White Paper. Cutting Mat. Ruler and a Razor Knife (Or Scissors). Spray Glue (optional). Extra Commons and Rules Cards. Card Sleeves.

Make a list or set containing all the cards you want to print.
Open up the full view of each of your selected cards.
Save the image or copy and paste into a document or image editing program.
Resize each card image to 3.48"x2.49" or 63mm x 88mm.

If you use A4 paper or 8 & 1/2" by 11" paper, you can print 9 cards. Some people like thick card stock paper, but I think for our example just regular paper is good enough.

Cutter knife, cutting mat, and ruler are what you need if you want ultimate precision, If you're just looking to put your card in a sleeve, then a little patience and a pair of scissors will do the trick.

Just a small amount of glue is enough to keep your printed card attached to it's new backer. If you prefer not to use any glue, that's fine as well.

Make sure that you're not using cards you ever want to use again before taking this step! I suggest not gluing any cards at first, until they've been play tested enough that you feel they have become dialed in.

Now your cards are ready to be shuffled into your deck! The cards will feel slightly thicker than normal cards, but you won't realize the difference when you play! If you didn't glue your cards together, just slide them into a sleeve together, and it will create the same effect

Playing with your own custom cards is super fun! We recommend you mix your custom cards into real decks so you can get a feel for the way your customs interact with real MTG cards.

Tomigon feels that limited is the first format we should keep in mind when designing cards, while I have always designed with vintage in mind so the best way to play is probably going to be different for everyone. Playing solo, playing one on one or even playing with a group of friends will, in our estimation, be so much more fun with the addition of custom card play testing. Tomigon's favorite way to use custom cards? Cube draft with his friends!

"You can test your custom cards with many cards, and sometimes you'll find unexpected synergies!" -Tomigon

Also check out Custom Tokens

One of our favorite Cardsmiths over the years has got to be Damnation. He carefully designs his cards around amazing, out of the box artwork and is always looking for, and giving out, advice on card design. Take a few minutes to check out this incredible Cardsmith!

Orzhova is another incredibly talented Cardsmith that we've long admired. Orzhova puts a great deal of effort into, not just the design, but the flavor text s well, so check out the cards designed by our second Featured Cardsmith of July!

Each month we're excited to highlight a few Cardsmiths that have helped make MTGCardsmith the best interactive online Card Creator. We hope you'll take some time to check out their creations!

Jul 01, 2019 by Corwinnn, & Tomigon

How Can I Play Test This?

How Can I Play Test This?

What you'll need:

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