Gay play the queer possibilities of Magic : The Gathering

Abstract

It goes almost without saying that "fantasy” and "reality" are not as dichotomous as we might presume them to be; one often shapes the other. Like all other games that situate themselves on this spectrum, Magic: The Gathering plays with the real and familiar to offer up the new and fantastic. This is accomplished through several means, from expansive transmedial narratives and stimulating visual representations to diverse adaptations, translations, and promotional materials (video trailers, online articles, cross-branded marketing, and so on). Crucially, as it shall be argued here, this transformation of the familiar is also carried out through the gameplay itself. As a tabletop card game that debuted nearly three decades ago, Magic's relation with the familiar has changed over the years. Dragons, sphinxes, and powerful sorcerers are both ever-present and to be expected; on the other hand, for instance, the in-game quotations of the Bible, the Arabian Nights, and the works of William Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Lewis Carroll, among others, are much less expected. While Wizards of the Coast (henceforth WotC) has nowadays moved away from such explicit references, even recent expansion sets have nonetheless often remained within the realm of the common literary imaginary, whether European medieval folktales or Greek and Egyptian myth, allowing for an ease of access and level of familiarity that helps new and veteran players alike in recognizing the tropes at play.