Heroes of the Realm

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Heroes of the Realm are a series of Magic: The Gathering celebration cards created by Wizards of the Coast to recognize internal teams and individuals who have "had a tremendous impact on the business".[1][2] They form part of the company employee recognition program and are awarded for work done during the year.

Description

Heroes of the Realm cards have black-bordered front faces and a special "Heroes of the Realm" card back.[3] Each card includes the name of the employee who received it in the bottom right-hand corner, above the legal text.[4] Since these cards don't have the regular Magic card back, they aren't legal in any format but the Commander Rules Committee has made an exception for Commander if the person playing the card is the person whose name is on that card.[5]

The Wizards of the Coast executive team chooses the teams they believe have gone above and beyond during the year and the winners design the cards (sometimes, but not always, with a little help from R&D).[6] Mark Rosewater notes that Heroes of the Realm cards don't go through the normal design processes, so they aren't always representative of what R&D might actually do on a printed card.[7] The result are cards primarily designed to be read, rather than played.[8] Heroes of the Realm cards are not limited to teams working on Magic: The Gathering products, but can be awarded to any team or individual across any the entire company.[4]

An oversized version of each card hangs in the Hall of Heroes at the Wizards of the Coast headquarters. Underneath the card is a list of that card's recipients.[2]

Awarded cards

This section lists the known Heroes of the Realm cards. The cards are listed under the year they were awarded but due to the production process (i.e. card design, art commission, printing), employees may not receive their physical card until the following year.[4] Cards have the legal text for the year they are printed.

Information in this section is based on Wizards of the Coast employees sharing their cards and what they were awarded for on various social media channels. The cards are not publicly released by Wizards of the Coast itself.

2016

There were only four copies of each card created for this year.

Card HTR# Awarded to Awarded for Posted
Chandra, Gremlin Wrangler 001 Planeswalker Decks team Kaladesh/Planeswalker decks 2017-09-20[9]
Dungeon Master 002 Dungeons & Dragons team Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition 2017-09-20[10]
Nira, Hellkite Duelist 003 Duel Masters team 2017-09-20[11]

2017

Card HTR# Awarded to Awarded for Posted
Diabolical Salvation 001 WotC strike team Dealing with quick, fast-moving projects 2019-03-08[12][4]
Inzerva, Master of Insights 002 Consumer Insights team 2019-03-08[12][4]
M'Odo, the Gnarled Oracle 003 Magic Online team 2018-08-11[13]

2018

Card HTR# Awarded to Awarded for Posted
Kharis & the Beholder 001 Influencer projects team Magic and D&D influencer events 2019-11-26[14][15]
Optimus Prime, Inspiring Leader† 002 Transformers trading card game (TCG) team 2019-12-04[16]
Sol, Advocate Eternal 003 Game Support and Customer Service team 2019-12-02[17]
The Legend of Arena 004* Magic: The Gathering Arena team Launch of Magic: The Gathering Arena 2019-12-07[18]

Notes

^* There are two versions of this card, each with different art. One is by Noah Bradley and the other by Olena Richards. Both have the same collector number.

^† This card is a triple-faced card usable in both Magic: The Gathering and Transformers TCG games.

2019

Card HTR# Awarded to Awarded for Posted
Collectigull 001 Booster Fun crew The start of Booster Fun treatments in Eldraine 2021-04-09[19][20][4]
Keeper of the Secret Lair 002 Secret Lair crew 2021-04-09[21][19][4]
War of the Spark 003 War of the Spark teams Culmination and release of the War of the Spark event 2021-04-09[19][4]
Champions of Archery 004 Throne of Eldraine team 2021-04-09[19][4]
Myntasha, Honored One 005 Modern Horizons team 2021-04-09[19][4]
The Cinematic Phoenix 006 Cinematics crew War of the Spark trailer and Throne of Eldraine triailer 2021-07-29[22][4]
Fabled Path of Searo Point 007 Operations crew 2021-04-26[23][4]

2020

Card HTR# Awarded to Awarded for Posted
Euroakus 001 European crew Promotion of Magic and D&D across Europe. 2021-10-05[24]
Mountain Mover 002
The Secret Lair 003 Secret Lair crew 2021-09-23[25]

2021

The collector numbers were changed for the 2021 cards; from the traditional three-digit number (e.g. 001/003) to a four-digit number (0001).

Card HTR# Awarded to Awarded for Posted
Andrios, Roaming Explorer 0001 Arena mobile team 2022-12-09[26]
Arteeoh, Dread Scavenger 0002 Various teams Return-to-office effort post pandemic. 2023-01-06[27]
Byode, Inverse Sun 0003 Universes Beyond crew 2022-12-09[28]
Ersta, Friend to All 0004 Human Resources team 2022-12-07[29]

Card types

Universewalker is a card type only used on Byode, Inverse Sun. It is a Planeswalker variant reference to Universes Beyond.

Byode, Dungeon Master, Ersta, and Inzerva are Planeswalker types that are specific to Heroes of the Realm.

Fighter is a token-specific creature class that is only mentioned in Dungeon Master as a D&D reference. The other three standard D&D classes (Cleric, Rogue, Wizard) already existed in Magic.

Tokens

Token Name Color Type Line P/T Text Box Source Printings
Attendee White/​Blue/​Black/​Red/​Green Creature — Attendee 1/1
Cleric White Creature — Cleric 1/1 Lifelink
Devil Red Creature — Devil 4/4 Haste
When this creature dies, create a Treasure token.
Fighter Red Creature — Fighter 3/3 First strike
Gremlin Red Creature — Gremlin 2/2
Human White Creature — Human 1/1
Human Wizard Blue Creature — Human Wizard 1/1
Red Creature — Human Wizard 2/1
White/​Blue/​Black/​Red/​Green Creature — Human Wizard 1/1
Rogue Black Creature — Rogue 2/2 Hexproof
Skeleton Black Creature — Skeleton 1/1 When this creature dies, each opponent gains 2 life.
Wizard Blue Creature — Wizard 1/1 Flying

Gallery

  • Chandra, Gremlin Wrangler

    Chandra, Gremlin Wrangler

  • Dungeon Master

    Dungeon Master

  • Nira, Hellkite Duelist

    Nira, Hellkite Duelist

  • The Wall of Heroes

    The Wall of Heroes

  • Second side of Optimus Prime

    Second side of Optimus Prime

  • Oversized third side of Optimus Prime

    Oversized third side of Optimus Prime

References

  1. ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 20, 2017). "Any word on what special project(s) earned people these cards?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  2. ↑ a b Masami Ibamoto (March 8, 2019). "Hall of Heroes". Twitter. Retrieved on December 21, 2022.
  3. ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 20, 2017). "Why are the "Heroes of the Realm" cards black-bordered, when they're mechanically unique promo cards?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l 17 Magic Cards Rarer than a Black Lotus: The Heroes of the Realm! (Video). Good Morning Magic. YouTube (April 28, 2021).
  5. ↑ Sheldon Menery (December 8, 2019). "HTR legal in Commander". Twitter. Retrieved on December 31, 2022.
  6. ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 11, 2021). "Who designs the Heroes of the Realm cards and who decides who gets them?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  7. ↑ Mark Rosewater (December 7, 2019). "Why haven't we heard more of the Heroes of the Realm series?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  8. ↑ Mark Rosewater (December 7, 2019). "What are the chances that we will see a collection or compilation product of Heroes of the Realm for the public?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  9. ↑ Doug Beyer (September 20, 2017). "Gremlins of the Realm". A Voice for Vorthos. Tumblr.
  10. ↑ Mike Mearls (September 20, 2017). "One of four Dungeon Master cards for Magic...". Twitter. Retrieved on December 31, 2022.
  11. ↑ Masami Ibamoto (September 20, 2017). "The magic heroes of realm card has been released". Twitter. Retrieved on December 31, 2022.
  12. ↑ a b Masami Ibamoto (March 8, 2019). "When I came to the head office, the new Hall of Heroes was displayed!". Twitter. Retrieved on December 31, 2022.
  13. ↑ Lee Sharpe (August 11, 2018). "Here's my copy of this card.". Twitter. Retrieved on December 31, 2022.
  14. ↑ MishyFishyWhoo (November 26, 2019). "Heroes of the Realm card I had the pleasure to design with the rest of the team at Wizards who worked on influencer projects last year.". Twitter. Retrieved on December 31, 2022.
  15. ↑ Joe Slucher (November 26, 2019). "Kharis and the Beholder". DeviantArt.com. Archived from the original on August, 6, 2022.
  16. ↑ Drew Nolosco (December 4, 2019). "Heroes of the Realm Promo - Optimus Prime, Inspiring Leader". Reddit.
  17. ↑ David McDarby (December 2, 2019). "Allow me to introduce you to another WotC Heroes of the Realm card". Twitter.
  18. ↑ Lee Sharpe (December 7, 2019). "Every year, the WotCStaff executive team recognizes a few teams within Wizards as Heroes of the Realm.". Twitter.
  19. ↑ a b c d e Melissa DeTora (April 9, 2021). "Super thankful to be part of the team that was awarded cards for Heroes of the Realm 2019.". Twitter. Retrieved on December 31, 2022.
  20. ↑ Daniel Holt (April 10, 2021). "Another one of the Studio X Heroes of the Realm cards, Collectigull!". Twitter. Retrieved on December 31, 2022.
  21. ↑ Ari Zirulnik (April 10, 2021). "In 2019, Studio X received five Heroes of the Realm awards, and we finally got the cards this week!". Twitter. Retrieved on December 31, 2022.
  22. ↑ Jeff Stewart (July 29, 2021). "I finally got to the office today and got this for making the War of the Spark cinematic.". Twitter. Retrieved on December 31, 2022.
  23. ↑ Gavin Verhey (April 28, 2021). "Good morning Magic! Today I talk about the Heroes of the Realm.". Twitter. Retrieved on December 31, 2022.
  24. ↑ Dan Barrett (October 5, 2021). "In recognition of the tremendous success our European @Wizards team saw last year across both Magic and D&D, we were awarded Heroes of the Realm!". Twitter. Retrieved on December 31, 2022.
  25. ↑ Ari Zirulnik (September 23, 2021). "Extremely stoked to announce that the Secret Lair team won another Heroes of the Realm card in 2020!". Twitter. Retrieved on December 31, 2022.
  26. ↑ Danan Davis (December 9, 2022). "Andrios, Roaming Explorer (Heroes of the Realm 2021)". Twitter.
  27. ↑ u/flyeyes420 (January 6, 2023). "2021 Heros of the Realm card"
  28. ↑ Hanspeter Ziegler (December 7, 2022). "[Heroes of the Realm] Byode, Inverse Sun"
  29. ↑ Jontelle Leyson-Smith (December 7, 2022). "[Heroes of the Realm] Ersta, Friend to All". Twitter.
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