Following accusations from an artist that their art was plagiarized on a Magic: The Gathering card, Wizards of the Coast has issued an official statement. Magic: The Gathering has seen a resurgence in popularity during the pandemic, as tabletop game and fantasy fans were pushed online due to in-person safety risks. While the popular card game has had a steady audience for decades, it's become so popular recently that parent company Hasbro has given it and Dungeon & Dragons their own division.
Part of Magic: The Gathering's popularity is because of its gorgeous card art. Each card features a character, monster, item, or location drawn in beautiful detail. Wizards of the Coast employs a number of artists and creators in the development of these cards, and there's a widespread network of freelance artists who bring their own flair to each card. The game also has a vibrant fan community, some of whom were brought in by Magic: The Gathering Arena, the game's digital iteration.
One of those fans, artist Scarypet, has alleged that the Magic: The Gathering card Crux of Fate plagiarizes a piece of their art from 2016. They posted the accusation and a comparison video on Twitter, demonstrating how one of the monsters on Crux of Fate matches the head and hands of the same creature in their art perfectly. Scarypet does acknowledge that the body of the creature on the card looks slightly different, but they say that that's mostly likely due to the large watermark in the original piece. The art on Crux of Fate is by artist Jason Felix, who has not issued a statement of their own.
Screen Rant reached out to Wizards of the Coast for a comment, but the company declined. Shortly thereafter, it released an official statement on the Magic: The Gathering website. The short statement reads that Crux of Fate "may overtly feature Magic: The Gathering fan art and the contracted artist did not receive permission for this incorporation." Wizards of the Coast goes on to say that it is suspending work with Jason Felix pending further investigation. In a response to the tweet above, Scarypet says that they're "not really looking for confrontation" but that they hope that other artists can gain something from viewing the situation.
The art on Crux of Fate looks extraordinarily similar to Scarypet's original art. While it's possible that Felix was simply heavily inspired, Scarypet's comparisons are just too close to disregard. Hopefully the company will issue another statement and potentially even redesign the card, bringing the whole situation to a positive conclusion. Scarypet's calm attitude and positive outlook about the whole situation are to be admired - many a game's community could learn from their handling of the event.
Wizards of the Coast needs to handle this situation carefully. Even if it determines that Felix did not plagiarize, the game's community will be more aware of plagiarism and art theft in the future. It would be a shame if a game that's seeing its first real resurgence in years and collaborating with franchises as big as Lord of the Rings is hurt by a lack of oversight in the art department, particularly if similar incidents occur in the future. In the meantime, fans are waiting impatiently for a conclusion to this unusual saga of plagiarism in Magic: The Gathering.
Source: Scarypet, Wizards of the Coast