Magic: The Gathering Artists Boycott MagicFest

Wizards of the Coast

A group of Magic: The Gathering artists are boycotting all Magic Fests (new term for Grand Prix weekends) in 2019 due to "the continued changes made by the Channel Fireball organization". Vorthos Mike has shared a letter on CoolStuffInc explaining why the artists are boycotting Magic Fests next year.

According to the letter, the support for artists was cut after they were viewed as vendors rather than guests. "Support dropped sharply, travel was no longer funded, and services slowly started to erode," The letter reads. "The financial burden was passed onto us and subsequently onto the people attending. There is a misconception that every artist who attends a GP walks away with money to burn, but unfortunately, this is far from the truth; many of us barely break-even and frequently make losses now that our overall costs have increased."

"On top of the additional financial burden, we are often asked to host art classes, seminars and workshops without compensation," the letter reveals. "This may seem like a small inconvenience, but in reality, these events take a great deal of planning and time. It is worth noting that all other workshops, both public-facing and within the entertainment industry, will happily pay for professional artists to attend in exchange for their time, paying for flights and accommodation as well as tickets to the event. It is an industry standard."

The letter went on to list the services MTG artists can expect a few years ago:

Paid Flights

Paid Hotel

Break room

Place to store our gear (often locked or secure)

Free large tables

Thursday dinner with organizers

Sunday group event with event staff

Here is a list of what we are offered in exchange for our time today

Smaller table arrangement (expensive upgrade option)

Limited and unclear hotel sponsorship (for some)

You can read the full letter here. Below the letter is a list of MTG artists that have signed to support this message, and they include the following names:

Steven Belledin

Johann Bodin

Paul Scott Canavan

Jonas De Ro

Nils Hamm

Suzanne Helmigh

Lake Hurwitz

Izzy

Tomasz Jedruszek

Titus Lunter

Ben Maier

Mitch Malloy

Slawomir Maniak

Winona Nelson

Jason Rainville

Shreya Shetty

Chase Stone

Randy Vargas

Svetlin Velinov

Lars Grant-West

It's sad to hear that MTG artists are boycotting Magic Fests. They contribute a huge part to give the best Grand Prix weekend experience fans can get. Hopefully, artists will be supported better in the future.

Related: Magic: The Gathering Player Disqualified From Grand Prix Warsaw 2018