WotC WotC on NPR today.

Was trying to figure out where to post this thread, was going to in another forum, but this is the only place with a WotC prefix.

Back last year, WotC made a move to try to honor and respect diversity among gamers. A short broadcast on NPR was made on this around the middle of 2020.

Dungeons & Dragons tries to Banish Racist Stereotypes

But that didn't cover the entirety of actions taken. There are various things WotC has been doing in the past few months. ONE of these things that got notice today isn't directly related to Dungeons and Dragons, but is related to Wizards of the Coast and their activities to respect the many different peoples and cultures that surround us.

Magic the Gathering Explores Black Life in New Black is Magic Card Set

They talk with Sydney Adams on the recent cards. You can listen to the talk and see the wonderful artwork there. It raises at least some interesting items on a few actions that WotC is taking, such as the position of the DEI director, which is the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion director.

Please show respect for the creators of the cards and ideas as well as how WotC is moving to show more inclusive material when posting in this thread. Thank you.

Note to Mods: If this belongs elsewhere, please move it to another forum, but if you could keep the prefix that would be great. Also, I don't want this turning into the turmoil of some other threads that talked about similar topics. Please moderate and regulate this topic to be more respectful of the source ideas, please do not let it fall into the traps other threads discussing this have, even if this makes it a short thread or has fewer posts. Thankyou.

GreyLord said:

Note to Mods: If this belongs elsewhere, please move it to another forum, but if you could keep the prefix that would be great. Also, I don't want this turning into the turmoil of some other threads that talked about similar topics. Please moderate and regulate this topic to be more respectful of the source ideas, please do not let it fall into the traps other threads discussing this have, even if this makes it a short thread or has fewer posts. Thankyou.

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I think you’re ascribing superpowers to us that we don’t have. There is nothing we can do to stop it turning into that exact same thread with the exact same people saying the exact same things until it gets closed.

That art is gorgeous!

Thanks for sharing! I only vaguely follow MtG, but the art on those pieces is really cool.

pukunui said:

That art is gorgeous!

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Agreed. The Teferi art is a little cartoony for my taste, but it's still a beautiful piece, and Cultivate is incredible. I hope the print run is big enough that these cards won't cost an arm and a leg on the secondary market.

I wonder if they will do something similar for D&D? I'm not even sure what it would look like if they did--a reprint of the PHB with all-new art? Seems like it that would be a heavy lift; the PHB has a lot more art to replace than that handful of Magic cards. On the other hand, they've been doing the alt-cover thing recently and that seems to be working out for them, so maybe an alt-cover would be the way to go.

I'm curious. The article about the cards says "Black Is Magic will only be printed once." Does that mean all of these cards are going on the "reserved" list?

With the current collector craze, that might imply that most of these cards will never actually be played.

Deset Gled said:

I'm curious. The article about the cards says "Black Is Magic will only be printed once." Does that mean all of these cards are going on the "reserved" list?

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No. Wizards doesn't put things on the reserved list any more, and hasn't for 19 years. None of these cards are new, anyway; they are all reprints with new art and flavor text.

It's not clear whether "only printed once" means "We're only going to do this particular Lair Drop once, but we might reuse the art in other sets" or "We're only going to use this art once." But it's safe to say that it does not mean "These cards are going on the reserved list."

Deset Gled said:

I'm curious. The article about the cards says "Black Is Magic will only be printed once." Does that mean all of these cards are going on the "reserved" list?

With the current collector craze, that might imply that most of these cards will never actually be played.

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No, all the secret lair stuff is a quick cash grab. Print once and done.

The cards all from what I see fairly common reprint targets.

Big Teferi is one of my favorite cards.

Dausuul said:

No. Wizards doesn't put things on the reserved list any more, and hasn't for 19 years. None of these cards are new, anyway; they are all reprints with new art and flavor text.

It's not clear whether "only printed once" means "We're only going to do this particular Lair Drop once, but we might reuse the art in other sets" or "We're only going to use this art once." But it's safe to say that it does not mean "These cards are going on the reserved list."

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Thanks, good to know. For what it's worth, knowing that a reserved list exists is about the extent of my MTG trivia knowledge. I am not a player. Also, it's interesting to learn these are all reprints; I don't think the article mentioned that.

Scribe said:

No, all the secret lair stuff is a quick cash grab. Print once and done.

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I get what you're saying here. But in a certain sense aren't all of their different card printings a "quick cash grab"? That's what makes the business model work, yes?

Deset Gled said:

Thanks, good to know. For what it's worth, knowing that a reserved list exists is about the extent of my MTG trivia knowledge. I am not a player. Also, it's interesting to learn these are all reprints; I don't think the article mentioned that.


I get what you're saying here. But in a certain sense aren't all of their different card printings a "quick cash grab"? That's what makes the business model work, yes?

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Not really. There are other sets which are reprinted on a different model.

Secret Lair (I believe, I only grabbed one and I was extremely disappointed with it) is printed based on demand at that time only within that narrow sales window.

I could be mistaken though, I cashed out around 10 months ago after their repeated failures in design, Dev, and format management.