Movie star and well-known tabletop nerd Joe Manganiello is promoting his latest reality series by showing off an MTG proxy of himself. A social media post from April 8 includes the pretend (but oddly plausible) card ‘Joe Manganiello, Island Host’. “Deal or No Deal Island”, Manganiello writes, “tune in tonight for an all new episode on NBC!!!”.
There’s no clear connection between Magic: The Gathering and Deal or No Deal Island. One is a game show where contestants run, mud-crawl, and jet ski around an island, opening cases and striking deals with a banker to win cash prizes. The other is a trading card game that has islands in it but doesn’t consider them overly important. Maybe you could win some money playing Magic, if you’re really good.
Manganiello himself has clearer ties to the tabletop world. He’s renowned for his love of Dungeons and Dragons and MTG Commander decks, so maybe this was just an excuse to bring his personal passions into his work life. In an Instagram post, Manganiello describes the MTG proxy as a “mid-season gift” from its artist, NerdoftheCoast.
The card itself is actually a crossover within a crossover, having used the MTG colors and rules text from a Universes Beyond card. The original is actually The Celestial Toymaker, a Legendary Creature from the MTG Doctor Who set.
“Whenever Joe attacks, look at the top three cards of your library”, says the proxy. It then instructs you to exile any number of cards in a face-down pile and place the rest in a face-up pile. The defending player chooses a pile to put in your hand. Additionally, at the start of every end step, each opponent loses two life for every spell or ability used that forced them to guess or group cards that turn.
Honestly, the mechanics are pretty on-theme for a game show that makes you choose between a banker’s deal and a mystery cash prize. We’re still not sure Joe Manganiello is the best MTG Commander for our Esper deck, though.
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