I loved MagicCon Atlanta, but I have a couple of core complaints (shared with others I've spoken to) that I hope Wizards takes into account in the future. Frankly, I feel that the con was falsely advertised to me with the Edge of Eternities publicity theming, only for me to arrive and see primarily Spiderman.
I will preface this post by saying that though I mention Universes Beyond here and admittedly oppose it, this is not primarily a case against UB; it is about queer representation in Magic, and the importance of visibly committing to it.
I love Edge of Eternities. It's a groundbreaking Magic set with unprecedented levels of openly queer, particularly NB/genderqueer, representation. It proved that MtG can do sci-fi and do it well, incorporating and QUEERING(!!!) tropes without coming off as overly referential or unoriginal. For that reason, I was super excited for MagicCon. I came for a celebration of the set that I love, its flavor and story, just like cons past have done with the likes of All Will Be One or Duskmourn. I wanted to see merch, cosplay, and props about EOE--not a tall order considering precedent.
Instead, when I came in, I was greeted by a massive Furby and Daily Bugle booth. The pillars outside were decorated with Spiderman full-art lands. No Edge scenery in sight. My ticketed merch (for regular weekend, the cheapest and likely most commonly bought badge) was a Spiderman comic, Spiderman and ATLA cards, and two Avacyn's Pilgrims. My friend's Black Lotus badge had not Tezzeret or Sami on it, but a Spiderman character. The ribbons being given away at the info booth were references to either Star Trek or Avatar: the Last Airbender, two of Magic's other collaborations. Unlike past cons, no contracted cosplayers were dressed like EOE characters on the show floor. The photo booth, too, was Spiderman-themed.
This was not the con I'd come to expect after all the space-themed ads and promotion. I was bummed, to say the least.
Only on Day 2 did I learn that there was an EOE area: tucked behind the Daily Bugle, literally facing the wall, a narrow space consisting of two Commander tables, a staff-only supply closet(?), and nothing else. Nearly impossible to find unless one went out of their way to look behind the huge Spiderman exhibit.
There was very little EOE merch at the Marketplace (shoutout to Gatherers' Tavern) and none at the official show store. Granted, this next part may just have been an oversight, but my friends and I scoured the show floor and found official pins (sometimes even multiple!) for every EOE main character except Sami, a protagonist and the Seriema's nonbinary captain.
I signed up for Gavin Verhey's $200 Unknown 2HG event, which usually features Mystery Booster 2 (one of the only places you can play it) and the coveted Unknown playtest cards. When I sat down, I was handed three MB2 packs… and three Spiderman. Not only was I disappointed, I felt ripped off. Those Spiderman packs were not at all what I paid that steep (and recently hiked) price for, and not what precedent had led me to expect. Many of my fellow attendees shared the same sentiment with me.
I have heard so many trans and queer Magic fans speak about how much EOE means to them, and how seen they felt, being finally included in the kinds of stories we grew up thinking would never be for us. Especially in today's political landscape, openly supporting trans people means everything. We were so stoked to see Sami's they/them pronouns on a card: unignorable, open, proud. Only to see the con hide them away, making them as invisible as possible. At risk of sounding dramatic, it felt a little like being pushed back into the closet. We thought we would be celebrated. Instead, we were sidelined at best, and actively buried at worst. It's especially difficult not to notice that this happened with such an overtly queer set, as if the queer representation was put out there so that they could say they'd done it and then immediately smothered with UB being blasted at full volume.
I could make this about UB being excessive, and in part it is, but it's mainly about Magic's queer playerbase. If Wizards truly want to assert that Magic is for everyone, that includes committing to visibly including us in their stories, like EOE--and embracing that at events.
I got to meet Martina Fačková, the artist behind Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines, at Magiccon!
She was incredibly nice, I actually spoke to her the day before I came in costume to get some autographs and let her know I'd be coming in costume the next day.
I let her wear my headpiece for a photo of her own and she signed my copy of Elesh Norn for my commander deck!
I had the honor of contributing my art of D00-DL the robot (and Eoe the mascot) to a playmat for MagicCon Atlanta's D00-DL showdown event!!! It will run from 1-4 PM on Saturday during the con!
Here's the whole, finished playmat below, featuring over 40 artists' work. And here's the Linktree listing of who did what!
I'm officially making my first item for my Magicon 2026 cosplay. 1 month behind where I was last year, but I have a much better game plan this time around!
I'm about to call a local zoo to see if they can get me reference info for a cosplay.... I'm also reaching out to a local SCA branch... MagiCon is gonna be something this year
