MTG: New Strixhaven Crux Of Fate Card Fuels Questions of Plagiarized Art
An artist on Twitter has pointed out some striking similarities between the Strixhaven Crux of Fate art, and a 2016 Deviantart piece by the original poster.
With the doors to Strixhaven opened, many are enjoying the beautiful and experimental new art unleashed in the new set. However, a recent post alleges that one of the new pieces, Crux of Fate, appears to be lifted without permission from Deviantart.
It starts when artist Kitt Lapeña, who goes by ‘scarypet‘ online, received a comment congratulating them for their artwork appearing in the new Strixhaven art for Crux of Fate.
With some surprise at this notification, Lapeña investigated, comparing the art for Crux of Fate (above) with the piece in question (below).
Lapeña then outlined their findings on Twitter, posting up a video that shows a comparison of the two pieces.
Should I be flattered?hehe.But seriously,#MtG has been a major influence that developed my love for making art. (and I've sent application/portfolio many times to WotC.) Now someone told me my art made it into a Card! Ironically,in a somewhat s̷t̷o̷l̷e̷n̷ way #MTGStrixhaven pic.twitter.com/1HvUXOgGZk
Advertisement— 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚢𝚙𝚎𝚝 (@omgscarypet) March 28, 2021
There are noticeable similarities, as Lapeña points out in the above video, in particular, the head seems to be a perfect match between the two, which Lapeña demonstrates:
And perhaps more importantly, the official art contains the exact same error in depicting Bolas’ hand that the original does:
The dragon has five claws instead of the three that appear in other cards featuring the Planeswalking Dragon.
Contrast these to other Nicol Bolas pieces:
For Lapeña’s part, they have clarified they don’t want a confrontation:
“I just posted this hoping that other artists in particular, might get some insight about such incidents :).”
The artist of the Crux of Fate, Jason Felix, is a freelance artist who has contributed art for many other Magic: The Gathering cards, including Wall of Stolen Identity and Duplication Device.
At press time, neither WotC nor Felix have issued a statement in regards to Lapeña’s post, though we will be updating this story as more develops.
Let us know what you think of the story below.
