Comic-Con

San Diego Comic-Con International a.k.a. Comic-Con or SDCC is a multigenre entertainment and comic convention held annually in San Diego, USA.

History

Comic-Con is a four-day event (Thursday-Sunday) held in July or August at the San Diego Convention Center in southern California. It was founded in 1970 and is considered to be the largest convention of its kind in the world.

Originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fantasy the convention now includes a larger range of pop culture and entertainment elements across virtually all genres, including collectible card games. Until the introduction of HASCON in 2017, a Magic panel always featured big reveals about the Commander series, Duel Decks and the fall set of that year.

Special releases

2013 Black on black Garruk

SDCC 2013

At Comic-Con 2013 the Hasbro ToyShop offered a limited edition collection of Planeswalker cards for sale. The five cards were presented with unique "black-on-black" art by Steve Prescott and were variants of those found in the core Magic 2014 set. These included:

• Ajani, Caller of the Pride
• Jace, Memory Adept
• Liliana of the Dark Realms
• Chandra, Pyromaster
• Garruk, Caller of Beasts

SDCC 2014

Comic-Con 2014 once again featured premium "black-on-black" core set planeswalkers, this time featuring the six from Magic 2015, illustrated by Jae Lee. In an SDCC exclusive, the six Planeswalker cards could be bought together with the NERF Garruk Axe.

• Ajani Steadfast
• Jace, the Living Guildpact
• Liliana Vess
• Chandra, Pyromaster
• Nissa, Worldwaker
• Garruk, Apex Predator

SDCC 2015

Comic-Con 2015 featured the five double-faced planeswalkers from Magic Origins (the last core set) in premium "black-on-black", illustrated by Wayne Reynolds. The set also came with an exclusive book, called Magic Origins: Planeswalker Anthology. The book explored the backstories of Chandra, Jace, Nissa, Gideon and Liliana. It contained a short story for each planeswalker, plus expanded art from some of the key cards in the set,

• Kytheon, Hero of Akros / Gideon, Battle-Forged
• Jace, Vryn's Prodigy / Jace, Telepath Unbound
• Liliana, Heretical Healer / Liliana, Defiant Necromancer
• Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh / Chandra, Roaring Flame
• Nissa, Vastwood Seer / Nissa, Sage Animist

SDCC 2016

Comic-Con 2016 featured the five most recent planeswalker cards of the members from the Gatewatch, where all of them, except Liliana, appeared as zombies. The price of a complete set of these foil cards by Eric Deschamps was $99.99 plus tax (about $108).

• Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
• Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
• Liliana, the Last Hope
• Chandra, Flamecaller
• Nissa, Voice of Zendikar

SDCC 2017

Comic-Con 2017 again featured the five most recent planeswalker cards from the members of the Gatewatch (without Ajani), all of them in the Ancient Egypt profile style. In addition there was the most recent Nicol Bolas card, depicting him while putting his spell on the Gatewatch. The Egyptian theme and the counteracted depictions connected to the story of the recent Amonkhet block. The price of a complete set of these foil cards by Vincent Proce, together with a 24” x 36” screen print of Nicol Bolas illustrated by Brandon Holt, was $180.--.

• Gideon of the Trials
• Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
• Liliana, Death's Majesty
• Chandra, Torch of Defiance
• Nissa, Steward of Elements
• Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh

SDCC 2018

The limited edition of Comic-Con 2018 ($99) again featured the five most recent planeswalker cards from the five first members of the Gatewatch, each in front of a stained-glass window depicting a planeswalker from the pre-mending era. The art is by longtime Magic artist Terese Nielsen.

• Gideon of the Trials — Gideon is paired with Serra. He strives to live his life according to the ideals of justice as she did. He will always be a fighter, though, and his face shows his doubts; did Serra do enough to directly face evil?
• Jace, Cunning Castaway — Jace doesn't know much about Urza, but he knows that he saved the world by manipulating thousands and sacrificing millions. To Jace, Urza is a cautionary tale. His back is facing Urza in this piece; an active rejection of all that Urza stood for.
• Liliana, Untouched by Death — Liliana stands in front of Nicol Bolas. She is a ruthless heroine, and though his influence looms large, her hands are alight with her own power. Liliana desires the control his overlapping figure refuses to secede.
• Chandra, Torch of Defiance — Chandra stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the stained glass image of her mentor, Jaya Ballard. Theirs is easily the friendliest relationship, as they know each other personally. There's nothing but loving companionship in Chandra's stance in this piece.
• Nissa, Vital Force — Nissa is next to Freyalise. Freyalise was ruthless in her defense of elvenkind and the natural world. Nissa used to feel the same way, but has come to realize interconnections are more valuable than ferocity, and that nurturing connections will preserve harmony.

SDCC 2019

Wizards of the Coast had produced sets of planeswalkers every year since the beginning. Gavin Verhey announced his willingness to switch things up a little bit and try some different approaches. For 2019, this turned out to be the Dragon’s Endgame package, featuring Nicol Bolas and his four God-Eternals in a double-sided sleeve and a box that could unfold to display all five cards. The cards themselves featured brand new artwork from Adam Paquette, matched with shadowed frame treatments. Instead of foil, they have a finish that plays up the art treatment:

• God-Eternal Bontu
• God-Eternal Kefnet
• God-Eternal Oketra
• God-Eternal Rhonas
• Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God

SDCC 2020

Comic-Con 2020 was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were no promos revealed.

SDCC 2022

For the first time since 2019, Comic-Con returned to the San Diego Convention Center on July 21 - 24, 2022. Mark Rosewater performed a Blogatog Live with spoilers for Unfinity. There were no special promos.

Gallery

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  2014: Garruk's NERF axe

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  2015: Magic Origins: Planeswalker Anthology

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  2016: packaging of the zombie set

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  2017: Bolas Print by Brandon Holt

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  2017: packaging of the Egyptian set

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  2018: packaging of the Nielsen set

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  2019: packaging of the Dragon's Endgame