Wizards investigating MTG plagiarism scandal as accused artist deletes Instagram

Following accusations of plagiarism in the art of a recently released Magic: The Gathering card, Wizards of the Coast has launched an investigation.

Developers of the trading card game, Magic: The Gathering, have said they’re investigating the latest plagiarism scandal. The announcement was buried amongst the influx of posts on Reddit as MTG is currently in its “spoiler season”, where new cards are shown off for the next set.

On the original Reddit post calling into question the art featured on the card “Trouble in Pairs”, the official Wizards community team account stated:

“We appreciate our community flagging concerns on the card art featured in “Trouble in Pairs” – we’re looking into it.”

Outside of this, Wizards has made no other mention of where the investigation is currently at.

The accusation of plagiarism was directed at artist Fay Dalton, who had worked with Wizards of the Coast before this. “Trouble in Pairs” artwork was taken from an old Cyberpunk 2020 book, drawn by Donato Giancola.

On his Facebook page, Giancola posted an image and said that he wasn’t “speechless enough” to request legal representation.

It’s unknown when, but after the news had hit, Dalton deleted her Instagram account. Her website is still up.

MTG Trouble in Pairs plagiarism scandal worsens as more comparisons made

Since the original scandal hit, the card’s art has been analyzed further by the Magic: The Gathering community. While it’s unconfirmed, fans have compared it to other works by Will Hulsey and Boris Vallejo.

Somehow the Trouble in Pairs situation has gotten even worse.
It seems the Male figure's face was entirely copied over from a Will Hulsey Trapped magazine cover, while the body, neck & left arm come directly from a Boris Vallejo illustration.
UNREAL https://t.co/NkSMIOfhyV pic.twitter.com/jZGh8JE7Wn

— The Herald's Horn (@HeraldsHorn) March 28, 2024

Comparing art from Hulsey’s cover of a pulp detective story and Vallejo’s work called Corniche, it’s being claimed that the man featured in the forefront is a collage of the two works.

Illustrating how much has potentially been lifted from other pieces, a post on Reddit now “redacts” parts of the image that are being accused of plagiarism.

Dexerto has also reached out for comment to Wizards, Giancola, and Dalton, but at the time of publication had no response.