Buy or make proxies, don’t play with pretentious assholes that refuse to play someone with proxies because of x, y , or z, make them distinguishable from a real one so you don’t get accused of x, y, or z , and have fun. There’s no reason to drop thousands on cardboard, ink, and glue.

Edit: also MTG can become an easy allegorical teaching tool for flaws of capitalism, and may or may not be used to radicalize those who are reachable through gameplay and them realizing 9/10 times it’s a pay to win game.