One of the tokens from the upcoming MTG Commander Masters set uses art that was originally commissioned 17 years ago – a major blast from the past for the artist, who had no idea his work was being used. Jeff Miracola shared the printing of his Magic: The Gathering art via social media on July 17, adding “This painting has been in my basement collecting dust for 17 years”. Miracola’s art appears on the Graveborn token (which, ironically, has Haste).
As well as illustrating children’s books and D&D supplements, Miracola is a regular Magic artist. His art for Graveborn was first created for 2006’s Coldsnap MTG set. Miracola says the card was never printed, however.
His Graveborn token apparently appeared on MTG Arena’s predecessor, MTG Online, but Miracola never encountered it in the wild. He tells followers on Twitter he also wasn’t contacted about the Commander Masters card, instead hearing about his work resurfacing from fans online.
Miracola makes it clear this is pretty normal behavior for Wizards of the Coast. “WOTC didn’t contact me and they have no reason to”, he says on Twitter. “They paid for the art all those years ago. They own it. They can choose to use it or not.” “I’m glad they finally used it though”, he adds.
Miracola also mentions he’s got plenty of other unused pieces of MTG art hiding in his basement. “I have maybe half a dozen paintings for MTG that have never seen the light of day”, he says on Twitter. “Well, one less now.”
Commander Masters is next up in the MTG release schedule, with the Commander Masters release date set for early August. Keep a close eye on Wargamer for spoilerific details – and for news on MTG Arena codes and MTG Arena decks.