In case you’ve been in an MTG playing stupor and lost track of time, it’s June right now! This means that it’s Pride month, and it has been for twelve days already. Many companies have been showing off their colorful side to celebrate the occasion, with social media icons and promotional products.
One such company continuing this consumerist tradition is Wizards of the Coast. Offering a suite of Pride-branded MTG and D&D products, Wizards is allowing players to celebrate in style. More than just looking good, however, this promotion also allows players to do good, as all profits are going to charity!
MTG 2023 Pride Products
Magic: The Gathering is for everyone! 🏳️🌈
— Magic: The Gathering (@wizards_magic) June 12, 2023
The Magic #Pride collection supports the @TrevorProject!https://t.co/5mArS4TRLk pic.twitter.com/xBJIPq1KDH
To celebrate Pride Month in 2023, Wizards is offering a relatively typical suite of rainbow-adorned apparel for players to purchase. Available in a variety of styles, from a tank top to a hoodie, the Pride 2023 clothing simply features an MTG or D&D logo. To make the clothing Pride Month themed, the logo is decorated in the colors of the Pride progress flag.
While these officially licensed clothes are a nice option for fans, admittedly, they’re not too exciting. After all, t-shirts can be incredibly cheaply produced, and disingenuous consumerism is rife around Pride Month. Thankfully, the clothing on the MTG Pro Shop isn’t just a flagrant cash grab.
As we mentioned at the start of this article, all the profits from this Pride Month sale go to charity. Specifically, this year, just like last year, Wizards is donating profits to The Trevor Project. If you’re unfamiliar with them, The Trevor Project aims to end suicide among gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people.
To be as clear and communicative as possible in their support of The Trevor Project, Wizards isn’t hiding the amount donated. Instead, the amount donated is explicitly stated when purchasing a product on the MTG Pro Shop. For the $60 Pride 2023 Magic: the Gathering Hoodie, the amount donated is $33.
Alongside the suite of clothing options, for Pride 2023, Wizards is also offering a commemorative playmat and a pin. Similarly supporting The Trevor Project, the Playmat features the Secret Lair artwork of Bearscape. This artwork was first created for the Pride Across the Multiverse Secret Lair in 2022 by Ricardo Bessa. The commemorative Pin, meanwhile, is Wizards of the Coast’s 2020 Pride pin.
The Missing Piece
Thanks to the sizable donations to charity, these pride products are undoubtedly a good thing. In saying that, however, some MTG players may still be disappointed by the offerings from Wizards. This is due to the fact that, unlike last year, there aren’t any actual MTG cards up for grabs.
For 2022, Wizards of the Coast released the Pride Across the Multiverse Secret Lair. Featuring artwork created by LGBTQIA2+ artists, this Secret Lair brought a smorgasbord of unique and stunning looks to MTG. Beyond looking great, this Secret Lair drop also offered rather compelling value.
Boasting reprints worth $58.24 (at the time of writing), the Pride Across the Multiverse Secret Lair was an absolutely fantastic deal. This was largely due to the reprint of Mana Confluence. Alongside being good value for players, Wizards also donated 50% of each Pride Across the Multiverse purchase to The Trevor Project.
While the Pride Across the Multiverse Secret Lair was a fantastic celebration in 2022, 2023 hasn’t seen the same love. At the time of writing, no such similarly supportive and commemorative Secret Lair has been announced. Judging by the timer on the Secret Lair website, it appears no such Pride 2023 drop will be released any time soon.
In theory, it is possible that, once the current Superdrop ends on the 16th of June, Wizards will release a Pride 2023 Secret Lair. Considering this hypothetical Secret Lair Drop would be almost a month late, however, this seems somewhat unlikely.
While a hypothetical Pride 2023 Secret Lair drop is currently a mystery, we do know one of the upcoming Secret Lair releases at least. Teased by Wizards in a short blog post, the next Superdrop will feature drops commemorating The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth release.
A Proper Celebration
For MTG players who aren’t satisfied by what Wizards is selling, worry not, as WotC has even more up their sleeves. Specifically, on the 26th of June, Wizards will be joining the Seattle Pride Parade. According to Wizards, during this parade, there will be “Wizards of the Coast goodies for parade attendees!”
At the time of writing, it’s unclear what these goodies may be. On one hand, it could just be a lanyard, shirt, or pin, perhaps. On the other hand, however, Wizards could continue the trend of giving out serialized Secret Lair cards to event attendees. If this is the case, these hypothetical Pride Month MTG cards could be incredibly valuable.
At the end of the day, whatever Wizards gives out during the Seattle Pride Parade, this celebration is undeniably positive. Even if you don’t like the clothes or playmat, the generosity in Wizards donations is to be commended. According to Wizards, this won’t even be the last of their LGBTQ support, as their “commitment goes beyond June and Pride month.”
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