Plagiarism in Magic art

This page is about unauthorized use of artwork within Magic art. For unauthorized use of Magic art elsewhere, see Plagiarism of Magic art.

Beginning in 2021, multiple Magic artists have been credibly accused of plagiarism on social media. As of 2025, three such accusations have been substantiated, and Wizards of the Coast has responded to each and suspended their relationships with those artists, following their creative policies. However, Wizards has been criticized for lax enforcement and failing to catch the copied artwork before printing it.

Crux of Fate

The plagiarized artwork, framed by Swanland's original Ugin painting on the left, and Lapeña's Bolas on the right.

The 2021 Strixhaven Mystical Archive printing of Crux of Fate is credited to Jason Felix. After the art was previewed, artist Kitt Lapeña posted a video on Twitter and noted that the figure of Nicol Bolas, on the right, was copied from fan art that he had created five years earlier. The artwork credited to Felix copies an error made by Lapeña, giving Bolas the wrong number of fingers, and appears to be modified to avoid the DeviantArt watermark in Lapeña's original. Others observed that the depiction of Ugin, on the left, was mirrored from Raymond Swanland's Ugin, the Spirit Dragon.

Wizards of the Coast suspended future work from Felix two days after Lapeña's initial post. No further statement was made by Wizards, but Felix's website listed 2021 as the date of his last work for Wizards. He issued a public apology, to mixed reception. One critic argued that the only acceptable outcome would be for Felix to be permanently blacklisted, and suggested that the authenticity of all of Felix's previous card art was in doubt.

Lapeña was later successful in becoming a Magic artist in his own right. His first credited Magic art, Bite Down, was printed in 2022, and he posted process images on Twitter. He also illustrated a Dinosaur token for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander.

Wayfarer's Bauble

An animation of the stolen art for Wayfarer's Bauble, laid over the mirror of the original artwork.

In November 2023, Lorenzo Lanfranconi posted a now-deleted Tweet alleging plagiarism by fellow Magic artist David Sondered. The background of Wayfarer's Bauble from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander was mirrored and copied from Lanfranconi's "Morning walk to the city". Sondered acknowledged that he had used Lanfranconi's artwork as a reference, and admitted that he had not made a sufficiently unique painting. He deleted social media accounts in response to community backlash.

Wizards promptly suspended Sondered. Sondered's final printed artwork was a Thopter token released four months after the incident.

Trouble in Pairs

The illustration on the left marks elements of the Trouble in Pairs art with the artists they were plagiarized from. The arm on the far left, unmarked, is also plagiarized.

In March 2024, Fay Dalton was accused of plagiarizing a 1995 book cover by Donato Giancola to illustrate Trouble in Pairs. Further posts on social media found evidence that the card's art incorporated stolen elements from at least three other artists: Boris Vallejo, Mort Künstler, and pulp artist Will Hulsey. Giancola reportedly contacted a lawyer in response, but observers noted that the copyright for the book cover was likely held by R. Talsorian Games.

Three days after the initial social media posts, Wizards confirmed that they had suspended their relationship with Dalton.