Did WotC Steal Your Design?!

Comments

• Ranshi

  April 22

  I can say with certainty that in your cited example, no they did not copy your homework.
  
  The set design process reportedly takes them about 2-3 years, and even then have the cards all ready to go a couple months before spoiler season.
  
  That and while they for legal reasons cannot admit to looking at fan designs even, there are likely some eyes on sites like ours.
  
  If you'd like, while not stolen (yet hopefully) I have an experience where there's a somewhat decent chance that Gavin Verhey saw a few of my original designs. (No way of knowing for certain or even suspicion until something strikes close to them tho)
• LvB

  April 22 edited April 22

  Thats a coincidence. Magic cards are designed about 2-3 Years before they are released. WOTC needs that much time to plan the production and the release for each set. So if you made your card 1 month before release, the Leyline of the Guildpact already existed for about 2 years, but wasnt released yet.
  
• TheCubicalGuy

  April 24 edited April 24

  While I have to agree that the likelyhood of Wotc stealing card ideas from this site is extremely unlikely, there are still funny little coincidences with cards they do print, as we tend to expand into design space much faster than they do.

  This leads to similarities such as this card of mine from over 4 years before modern horizon 3's harbinger of the seas.
  

  https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/engulfing-pressure

  
  
• TenebrisNemo

  April 24 edited April 24

  Silly coincidences, but there was one instance where the name of my card appeared on one of the War of the Sparks spoilers shortly after.
  
  
  
  And another instance where I "predicted" keyword counters of Ikoria, though my design was much more janky. Recycla-bird was also released around the same times when I designed T'omig'on.
  
  
  
  Edit: Another case of name-steal which I just remembered. They spoiled the card the same day I published my design, if you can believe that. This discussion is good proof though:
  https://forums.mtgcardsmith.com/index.php?p=/discussion/comment/158112/#Comment_158112
  
  
• StuffnSuch

  April 25 edited April 25

  @Ranshi @LvB As I mentioned in the post, I really don't think that they stole my design.  I actually believe Leyline of the Guildpact was spoiled before I even made my card.  This is just a place to share those fun coincidences and to see what cardsmiths are at least on a similar brain wave as the pros some of the time.
• StuffnSuch

  April 25

  @Ranshi I'd love to hear your story
• Ranshi

  April 26

  @StuffnSuch,
  
  The short version is I was a guest in late 2020 on a stream called the Commanders Creatives, or something of the sort. The previous stream had featured our very own @East2West on account of her blog. I showed up to support her, and the hosts took notice of me, East spoke my praises in custom card design, at which points the hosts mused about how they had not explored the custom card space yet as a creative means of engaging with magic.
  
  They then reached out over discord, asking if I was interested. I said yes, and then a week or two later I was on the stream. We played 2 games that day, and for the first game, I had designed each person (the two cohosts and one other guest) a custom commander, based on their answers to what sorts of archetypes they enjoy.
  
  I only learned months later from a twitter post, that Gavin Verhey frequents that stream series. Obviously, seeing as nobody in chat specifically was named Gavin Verhey or anything suggesting it to be him, I have no way of knowing if he saw it. Though with every passing set, I scan for things that resonate with the designs I made for that day.
• StuffnSuch

  April 28

  @Ranshi That's pretty cool.  Let us know if you ever spot something.
• Ranshi

  April 29

  Have no doubt, should the day come of one of those designs being taken or clear inspiration, we will be bragging about it for sure.