In May of this year, Wizards of the Coast released a Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair drop called Goblin Storm, consisting of a goblin Commander deck with art by popular artist and goblin fanatic Dakota Cates, aka Wizard of Barge. Unfortunately, the Secret Lair sold out immediately — as they tend to do — leading to a wave of disappointment from Cates’ many fans who weren’t able to get their hands on the coveted product.
Cates’ statements at the time unwittingly added fuel to the fire, especially when he revealed that Wizards sent him just one copy of the deck. The artist doesn’t have any control over the Secret Lair’s production and distribution. However, he decided to reward his fans by giving them a chance to at least purchase the art depicted on the cards, even if in different form. The Goblin Storm Side Quest Kickstarter launched on July 10, containing, according to the project description, “a series of playmats, sleeves, and other accessories celebrating the artwork & my eternal love of all things goblin!!”
Predictably, the project is already a huge success, with almost $280,000 collected at the time of writing. Backers will receive up to nine playmats (depending on their tier), with art from one of the cards included in the Goblin Storm deck, plus Wizard of Barge’s first card sleeves and deck box. As a bonus, the artist will also give away artist proofs of the Mountains he designed for the Goblin Storm deck.
The Goblin Storm Secret Lair controversy had little to do with Cates and everything to do with Wizards of the Coast’s limited print run policy for the product. Fans have complained about it for years, as it allows scalpers to hoard product to resell it later at much higher prices (as happened with the Goblin Storm drop). The company remained staunch in its defense, citing logistical issues as the obstacle to a return to the print-on-demand policy of early Secret Lair drops.
However, just last week, Wizards announced a print-on-demand charity Secret Lair drop, teasing that perhaps there is hope for a policy change. While it’s unlikely that we will see more Goblin Storm decks printed, at least Cates is giving his fans the next best thing by making his art available in different forms.
The Goblin Storm Side Quest Kickstarter campaign will end on August 3.
