Magic: The Gathering Appears To Add Autumn Burchett, Known for Defacing Cards With Anti-TERF Messages, To Official Lore in New Ikoria Set
Spencer Baculi
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Autumn Burchett, a professional Magic: The Gathering player who previously garnered attention for attempting to play in an official tournament using cards defaced with anti-TERF messages, appears to have been officially added to the game’s official lore by Wizards of the Coast.
In 2019, Burchett attempted to enter the Mythic Championship VI tournament using a deck featuring cards defaced with handwritten anti-TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist) messages. Burchett defaced the cards due to the conservative political views of their artist, Terese Nielsen:
I was instructed by tournament officials to remove these defaced Terese Nielsen lands from my deck pic.twitter.com/IeeQdW2LnX
— Autumn Burchett (@AutumnLilyMTG) November 8, 2019
However, Magic the Gathering barred Burchett from entering unless they removed the defaced cards from their deck, sparking a controversy regarding freedom of expression which eventually resulted in a compromise that allowed Burchett to play with a different set of cards featuring anti-TERF messages.
Have been approved to have these in my deck for the tournament. Didn’t really want the previous art in my deck anyways.
Trans rights are human rights!#MythicChampionshipVI pic.twitter.com/JTivscqloP
— Autumn Burchett (@AutumnLilyMTG) November 9, 2019
On April 2nd, artist Jesper Ejsing revealed a new design for Magic the Gathering’s Ikoria set.
He didn’t indicate the art was inspired by Burchett, only writing, “This one is a concept for a Hunter girl from the new Ikoria Magic the Gathering set.”
Ejsing added, “The exploration was to create humans that hunt for huge monsters. That means very big weapons. I came up with the idea of giant hooks that they could use to hold on to the prey while trying to land a deadly blow.”
Burchett also shared the piece art from the Planeswalker’s Guide to Ikoria, and replied to others indicating the character is based off of her.
Check out this concept art from the Planeswalker’s Guide to Ikoria AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA pic.twitter.com/EHkefyLJPt
— Autumn Burchett (@AutumnLilyMTG) April 2, 2020
I LOVE THIS SWORD SO MUCH!!
— Autumn Burchett (@AutumnLilyMTG) April 2, 2020
— Autumn Burchett (@AutumnLilyMTG) April 2, 2020
A lil’ pteramander floating by my side 😍
— Autumn Burchett (@AutumnLilyMTG) April 2, 2020
Got handed it by someone in a lake
— Autumn Burchett (@AutumnLilyMTG) April 2, 2020
As of writing, the full extent of the role the Burchett-inspired hunter will have in the lore of Ikoria, or if they will appear on any cards within the set, remains unknown.
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