TLDR
The best proxy options for dual lands in MTG depend on what you need:
- Best overall for most players: PrintMTG, especially if you want a simple decklist-to-print workflow.
- Best for a full classic dual land set: Proxy King, especially if you want all ten Revised-style dual lands together.
- Best for bulk Cube or many Commander decks: MPCFill with MakePlayingCards.
- Best quick budget option: MTG Print, paper inserts, and sleeves.
- Best rule of thumb: Choose readable, clearly identified proxies. Do not use proxy dual lands as if they are authentic cards.
This post helps Commander, Cube, and casual MTG players choose the best proxy options for dual lands by comparing quality, cost, effort, and use case, so they can upgrade mana bases without turning every deck into a financial incident.
Dual lands are the part of Magic where deckbuilding optimism goes to get mugged.
You start with a Commander idea, add the fun spells, pick a few splashy finishers, and everything seems fine. Then you build the mana base and suddenly Underground Sea, Volcanic Island, Tropical Island, and friends are staring back at you like a mortgage pre-approval. That is why the best proxy options for dual lands in MTG are worth understanding before you order anything.
For most players, proxy dual lands are about better gameplay, not pretending to own rare cards. A good proxy lets your mana work the way your deck wants it to work. A bad proxy creates confusion, looks sloppy in sleeves, or makes the table stop to ask what the card is every time it gets played. And nobody wants their mana base to become a reading comprehension test.
Why MTG Dual Land Proxies Are So Popular
Original dual lands are powerful because they enter untapped, make two colors of mana, and have basic land types. That last part matters a lot. A Tropical Island is both a Forest and an Island, which means it works with fetch lands and other cards that care about land types.
That combination is clean, fast, and flexible. It is also expensive.
The ten original dual lands are:
- Badlands
- Bayou
- Plateau
- Savannah
- Scrubland
- Taiga
- Tropical Island
- Tundra
- Underground Sea
- Volcanic Island
In Commander, Cube, Legacy-style casual decks, and cEDH, these lands make mana smoother without asking you to jump through hoops. They do not enter tapped. They do not cost life. They do not make you reveal a card. They just work.
That is also why they are such common proxy targets. Players do not usually proxy dual lands because they are trying to make the table miserable. They proxy them because mana screw is not a personality trait.
Best Proxy Options For Dual Lands In MTG
There are four main ways to handle MTG dual land proxies:
- Order printed proxies from a player-focused site.
- Buy a prebuilt dual land proxy set.
- Use MPCFill and MakePlayingCards for bulk printing.
- Print paper proxies and sleeve them over bulk cards.
None of these is automatically “correct.” The right choice depends on how many duals you need, how much setup you want to do, and whether you care more about cost, card feel, or convenience.
Best Overall: PrintMTG
My best overall pick for most players is PrintMTG.
The main reason is simple: it fits how MTG players actually build decks. You can upload or paste a card list, pick versions, review the order, and get physical proxy cards printed on black-core stock. That is a lot less annoying than manually building every card image yourself, especially if your goal is to sleeve up a Commander deck before the next game night.
PrintMTG is a strong fit if you want:
- a small batch of dual lands for one deck
- a full Commander mana base
- a Cube update
- readable proxies with consistent sizing
- a smoother ordering process than DIY card uploads
It is not always the cheapest path if you only want one or two cards. But once you start printing a real batch, the convenience matters. For dual lands, fetch lands, shock lands, and other mana staples, a decklist-friendly order flow saves time.
This is the option I would point most casual Commander players toward first. You still get enough control to choose the card versions you want, but you are not spending your evening fighting with image files. Magic already asks you to understand layers. Your printer should not add another one.
Best For A Full Classic Set: Proxy King
Proxy King is a good option if your main goal is a complete dual land set.
This is especially useful for players who want all ten original duals for a Cube, a proxy box, or a shared Commander collection. Instead of building an order card by card, you can grab a full Revised-style dual land proxy set and move on with your life.
Proxy King makes the most sense if you want:
- one of each original dual land
- a simple prebuilt product
- classic-looking dual land proxies
- a small set rather than a whole deck
- a quick way to fill a proxy binder or shared play box
The tradeoff is flexibility. If you want custom art, alternate frames, or a full decklist workflow, a service like PrintMTG or ProxyMTG may be a better fit. But if the job is “I want the ten dual lands,” Proxy King is clean and direct.
I like this route for Cube owners. A Cube often wants cycles. You are not just looking for one Volcanic Island for one Izzet deck. You want balanced access across color pairs, and a full set keeps the environment cleaner.
Best For Bulk And Custom Art: MPCFill And MakePlayingCards
MPCFill plus MakePlayingCards is the bulk-printing route.
This option usually appeals to players who want a lot of proxies, want custom or community-made card images, and do not mind a more hands-on process. It is popular for Cubes, full Commander decks, powered environments, and players who want multiple mana bases across several decks.
The upside is cost and flexibility. You can build large orders, choose from community-created renders, and set up a lot of cards at once. The downside is effort. You are dealing with more setup, more image choices, more file handling, and a less plug-and-play ordering experience.
MPCFill is best if you are the kind of player who says, “I just need to proxy 540 cards for a Cube,” and somehow means that as a weekend project, not a cry for help.
Choose this route if:
- you need a large number of proxies
- you want custom art options
- you are building or refreshing a Cube
- you care about price per card at scale
- you do not mind doing extra setup
Avoid this route if you want ten dual lands and zero homework.
Best Simple Alternative: ProxyMTG
ProxyMTG is another strong done-for-you option, especially if you want a simple search, browse, and print workflow.
It is useful for players who want to build an order around specific cards rather than manage print files themselves. You can browse sets, search cards, pick versions, and order physical proxy cards. Like PrintMTG, it works well for casual play, Commander, Cube nights, and deck testing.
ProxyMTG is a good fit if you want:
- tiered pricing
- standard trading-card sizing
- black-core cardstock
- UV-coated cards
- a direct order flow
- an option that can handle singles or larger batches
The practical difference between PrintMTG and ProxyMTG comes down to interface preference, pricing at your quantity, and which site has the card versions or order flow you like better. For most players, either one is easier than building a full MPC order from scratch.
Best Same-Night Budget Option: MTG Print And Sleeves
Sometimes you do not need beautiful. You need playable by 7 p.m.
For that, the budget route is MTG Print, a home printer or local print shop, scissors or a paper cutter, and opaque sleeves. You print the dual lands on paper, cut them out, and sleeve each paper proxy over a bulk card or basic land.
This is not the nicest option. It will not feel like a real card unless it is sleeved over something. It can look rough if your printer is bad. And if you cut unevenly, the cards may shift in the sleeve.
But it works.
Use this option when:
- you are testing a deck tonight
- you are not sure the dual lands will stay in the list
- you need temporary playtest cards
- you want the cheapest possible route
- your group only cares that the cards are readable
For long-term use, I would upgrade to printed proxies. Paper proxies are great for testing. They are less great when they become permanent residents of a double-sleeved Commander deck for the next three years.
Which Dual Lands Should You Proxy First?
You do not always need all ten dual lands.
Start with your actual decks. If you play mostly Grixis, the first duals that matter are Underground Sea, Volcanic Island, and Badlands. If you play Bant, you care about Tropical Island, Tundra, and Savannah. If you play five-color Commander or Cube, then the full cycle starts making more sense.
A practical priority list looks like this:
For one Commander deck, proxy only the duals in your color identity. A two-color deck needs one original dual land. A three-color deck can use three. A four-color deck can use six. A five-color deck can use all ten.
For Cube, proxy the full cycle. Balanced land cycles make drafting cleaner, and nobody wants the Simic player getting Tropical Island while the Boros player gets a guildgate and a dream.
For cEDH testing, prioritize the duals that support your deck’s fastest colors. Blue duals often matter a lot because many high-powered decks lean on blue interaction and card selection, but the right answer still depends on the deck.
For a shared proxy box, start with the ten duals, then add fetch lands, shock lands, triomes, fast mana, and other expensive staples your group commonly uses.
What Makes A Good Dual Land Proxy?
A good dual land proxy should do three things well.
First, it should be readable. The card name, land types, and mana symbols need to be clear at a glance. Cool art is nice. Clear gameplay is better.
Second, it should be consistent in sleeves. If one card is thicker, shorter, glossier, or more warped than the rest of the deck, people may notice it during shuffling or cutting. That creates unnecessary problems.
Third, it should be clearly a proxy. This does not mean it has to look ugly. It just means it should not be used to deceive anyone. Custom backs, altered backs, clear proxy markings, or a different design treatment can all help keep expectations clean.
For dual lands specifically, I would avoid designs that remove too much functional information. The whole point of proxying a dual land is that the card plays like the real version. If your “Volcanic Island” proxy has gorgeous full-art lava but tiny unreadable type text, it is worse than a plain version with clean text.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
The first mistake is proxying a stronger mana base than your table expects. Dual lands are “just lands,” but they still make decks faster and more consistent. In casual Commander, that can matter. A smoother mana base does not automatically break a deck, but it can raise consistency.
The second mistake is mixing proxy styles in a way that makes cards identifiable in sleeves. Do not use thin paper proxies in clear sleeves. Do not use a different card back unless everything is sleeved in opaque sleeves. Do not mix card thickness in a way that makes one card easy to find by feel.
The third mistake is choosing art over clarity. This is common with full-art proxy lands. Some look great in a product photo and then become annoying during actual gameplay.
The fourth mistake is not telling the table. You do not need to make a speech. Just say, “I’m running proxy duals for the mana base. They’re just there so the deck functions.” That is usually enough in proxy-friendly groups.
The fifth mistake is buying or using anything intended to pass as authentic. Proxy cards are for casual play, testing, Cube, and personal use. They should not be sold, traded, or represented as real Magic cards.
My Recommendation
For most players, I would use PrintMTG for dual land proxies if you want the easiest balance of quality, price, and convenience. It is the clean middle path: less work than MPCFill, more flexible than a fixed dual land set, and better for long-term use than paper inserts.
Choose Proxy King if you specifically want a complete classic dual land set.
Choose MPCFill and MakePlayingCards if you are building a Cube, printing lots of decks, or want more control over custom art.
Choose MTG Print if you need temporary playtest proxies tonight.
That is the whole decision tree. If you are proxying one Commander deck, keep it simple. If you are proxying a Cube, think in cycles. If you are testing before buying or committing to a list, use cheap paper first and upgrade later.
Dual land proxies are not complicated. The good ones make your decks play cleaner and your games move faster. The bad ones make everyone squint.