Magic: The Gathering and Wizards of the Coast are excited to announce our partnership with Global Fund for Women, one of the world's leading foundations for gender justice. For this partnership, we're releasing a brand-new Secret Lair drop in support of Global Fund for Women: Their Magic Is Limitless.

Global Fund for Women supports grassroots gender justice organizations around the world, helping resource the leaders and communities working toward lasting change. That spirit of connection shaped this drop from the beginning. Their Magic Is Limitless celebrates women through the women of Magic: the characters on the cards, the artists who brought them to life, and the Wizards creative team behind it all.

Their Magic Is Limitless will be available at MagicSecretLair.com from July 20–August 3. This drop will be printed to demand, and fifty percent (50%) of the product price will be donated to Global Fund for Women. For more information on our partnership with Global Fund for Women, and to hear directly from the creative team who helped bring this drop to life, read on!

Secret Lair Presents: Their Magic Is Limitless

Contents:

  • 1x Dark Ritual
  • 1x Cultivate
  • 1x Finale of Devastation
  • 1x Lathril, Blade of the Elves
  • 1x Coat of Arms
  • 1x Sol Ring
  • 1x Path of Ancestry

Price:

  • Non-foil: $39.99 USD*
  • Foil: $49.99 US*

*Fifty percent (50%) of the sales price (less third-party transaction fees) will be donated to Global Fund for Women via Our Change Foundation 501(c)(3), a public charity and donor-advised fund.

Making of Their Magic Is Limitless

In this section, you'll hear directly from members of the team who helped bring Their Magic Is Limitless to life, with select excerpts attributed to the people behind the creative work.

Finding the Theme

Taking inspiration from the mission of Global Fund for Women, this drop was developed to spotlight the strength and vastness of womanhood, capturing through each card the many lived experiences within. Seeking to balance power with beauty, this drop aims to reflect the truth that womanhood is big enough to absorb every expression of it: feminine, masculine, androgynous.

To that end, you'll find a range of combined stylistic choices like realistically rendered figures with graphic framing elements, characters shown in positions of expertise, a deliberate range of body types, ages, races, and more. An intentional throughline of the drop was the rich inner life and the deep social networks that women build as a thing to be valued and revered.

That emphasis on relationship-building was so central that it even informed our creative team structure with an established mentor and learning mentee in each role. Visually, narratively, and functionally, this drop was in pursuit of showcasing women with agency and autonomy and affirming the many roles in life they can occupy.

Above all, this drop should feel like a celebration of women through the women of Magic.

The Team

Our creative team was comprised of eight Wizards from various teams and disciplines:

Lauren Bond (Senior Narrative Designer, Magic IP), Narrative Designer Mentor

Lauren Bond is a senior narrative designer on Magic: The Gathering. She seeks to create meaningful and exciting player experiences through diverse, inclusive, and engaging worlds. When not crafting Magic worlds, she's an avid cosplayer and sewist. On this drop, Lauren was the narrative design mentor, providing guidance on Magic characters, lore, and the quirks of collaborating on a creative vision.

Sloane Leong (Narrative Designer, Universes Beyond), Narrative Designer Mentee

Sloane Leong is a queer māhū/2spirit narrative game designer, cartoonist, illustrator, and writer of mixed indigenous ancestry. Through her work, they engage with visceral futurities and fantasies through a radical, kaleidoscopic lens. When he's not making Magic cards, they're making art, comics, and writing fiction across genres. She is currently living on Chinook land near what is known as Portland, Oregon, with his fiancé and three dogs. On this drop, Sloane was the narrative design mentee and learned to oversee the creative vision of the drop from start to finish.

Stephanie Cheung (Art Director, Magic IP), Art Director Mentor

Stephanie Cheung is a queer Asian American art director on Magic: The Gathering. She is invested in creating exciting worlds and stories that inspire and reflect the diaspora experience. It is through thoughtful and engaging collaboration that we create stories that inspire us into a better future. On this drop, Steph provided advice on developing the project's visual approach and offered guidance on the card art process, from distilling feedback to setting the artists on the right path. When not working on Magic, you can find Steph squirreled away in a museum drawing bones or doting on her pet snakes.

Anh Nguyen (Graphic Designer, Packaging and Product), Art Director Mentee

Anh Nguyen is a graphic designer on Magic: The Gathering. She loves collaborating with other creatives to create fresh new design approaches and explore innovative ways to illustrate assets for packaging and marketing. Her passion lies in learning by doing and stepping outside of her comfort zone to try new things. She has the absolute honor of working with an extremely inspiring team of women to design the packaging and help art direct the cards in this drop.

Alicia Mickes (Senior Creative Director, Product Creative), Creative Lead Mentor

Alicia Mickes is a senior creative director leading the Product Creative team, focused on growing people through tailored creative, strategic, and technical mentorship. She's responsible for driving design excellence and consistency across the global Magic: The Gathering brand and owning the development of Magic's product line look across English and localized markets. Alicia also aids in streamlining creative development and standardizing processes while partnering cross-functionally with other Magic Studio X teams to shape brand and product strategy. When not scrutinizing design or illustrating silly things, she's usually out road cycling around Seattle in a neon pink helmet or deep in a rabbit hole learning about something new.

Kat Morgan (Art Manager, Magic IP), Creative Lead Mentee

Kat Morgan is the art manager for Magic IP, managing and supporting a robust team of art directors, concept artists, and art administrators who bring main set Magic to life. Kat seeks to build confident, creative, and inclusive teams that root their designs in authentic emotion and resonant worldbuilding. On this drop, Kat set high-level creative direction and reviewed the team's iterative work, and mostly made sure the path was clear for the narrative designers and art directors to work their magic. Outside of Wizards, Kat enjoys illustrating, cooking, and trying new snow sports.

Athena Froehlich (Executive Producer), Product Design Mentor

Athena Froehlich is an executive producer for Magic: The Gathering. She led product development on Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Magic: The Gathering® | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Secrets of Strixhaven, and Magic: The Gathering® | Marvel Super Heroes. As a lifelong Magic player herself, she is passionate about creating products that build community and bring joy to the world. As a new mother, she wanted to make sure this drop reflected the countless ways womanhood is expressed and celebrated. She is a diehard fan of a bird-themed Philadelphia football team and collects original cephalid Magic art.

Rachel Agnes (Product Architect), Product Design Mentee

At the time of the drop's development, Rachel Agnes was a product architect working on Magic: The Gathering. Rachel transitioned to the Product Strategy team after previously leading the marketing organization as director of global product and brand marketing. Also a lifelong Magic fan, Rachel was excited to use her marketing expertise to lead products aimed at expanding Magic's reach into new audiences. She now resides in sunny California with her family as a Phyrexian sleeper agent waiting for the next invasion.

Reflections on Mentorship

The goal of Their Magic Is Limitless was to create a collection of beautiful cards to support Global Fund for Women and to provide an opportunity for mentorship and development within the creative team. I had the distinct honor of taking on a mentorship role for this drop, crafting a creative vision alongside a crew of dedicated and passionate women.

It's easy to consider mentorship as one way, akin to teaching, where the "experienced" one passes their knowledge to someone else. But for me, true meaningful mentorship extends in both directions—no matter the years of experience, there is always more to learn, assumptions to be challenged, and perspectives to experience.

Stephanie Cheung and I both had been a part of Pride Across the Multiverse and were excited to bring many of our learnings and experiences from that project into this one. In many ways, this was a full-circle moment. Pride Across the Multiverse was a formative experience in our careers, and now we were able to support others through a similar opportunity.

At the start of the project, we brainstormed as a collective of art directors and narrative designers to craft the tone and theme as a creative team—the many and varied experiences of womanhood (or our shorthand, mom, mommy, and mother). From there, the art directors found ways to visually embody this, while the narrative designers considered the worlds, characters, and moments that would express the goals.

While at times Stephanie and I provided specific direction, most of our mentorship focused on fostering creative ownership—we wanted Sloane and Ahn to know that this was their vision to craft, and we were there to guide them on how best to make that happen within the goals of the drop.

I am beyond proud of this drop and everyone who contributed to it—a testament to the limitless expressions of womanhood.

—Narrative Design Mentor Lauren Bond

Mentee Musing

Working on Their Magic Is Limitless with our mentors Lauren and Stephanie was not only educational and fun but incredibly confidence-instilling. While it's something I always wished for, I have never been in a position to have a mentor take me under their wing. The mentorship I've received from my fellow Wizards has truly strengthened my capabilities and given me new skills in ways being a lifelong autodidact hasn't. I'm so grateful for our mentors' care and attention in sharing their knowledge with us.

From the start, Lauren and Stephanie gave Anh and me the reigns and trusted our vision, letting us take this drop to a truly unique aesthetic and thematic place. I'm proud of this drop because even in a few cards, we were able to create a truly multifaceted perspective of womanhood across gender expressions and worlds. From New Capenna to Ixalan, across age and race, this drop represents a small but expansive glimpse of women and their ways of being throughout the Multiverse.

—Narrative Design Mentee Sloane Leong

Cultivate | Art by: Ivy Dolamore

These few months of working on Their Magic Is Limitless felt like years of learning adventures with the dream team. From the very beginning, I was able to jump right in and help with ideation of card themes and vision. I learned a ton from our many brainstorming sessions. I value the collaboration and problem solving we were able to do together when there were bumps on the road. I learned to be proactive and voice ideas that I believe in. My favorite part of the process is working with artists and providing them with guidance on how to achieve our visual goals for each card. It was fun seeing all artists have fun with the concept and have so much passion about the drop's goal.

We want this drop to be a celebration of women and empowerment to showcase our relentless strength and leadership in constant balance with our nurturing kindness. Through a wide variety of experiences, we have shown time and time again the value of caring deeply for one another and giving it our all to help each other overcome hardship and achieve greatness. This drop means so much to me personally, and I am so lucky to be working alongside a team of amazing and talented women to bring this vision to life with fantastic artists.

—Art Director Mentee Anh Nguyen

Making the Cards

Global notes from the creative lead to the narrative designers and art directors when crafting the cards:

To capture the multitudes of womanhood, we should strike a balance of beauty and power while also capturing contradictions. Allow this to inform card selection and final decisions on which characters to include, as we want to show a range of women in many stages of life. Also consider new artists that we can bring onto the project who have yet to illustrate for Magic.

Visually, we can explore contrast between well-rendered figures with graphic, stylistic elements to emphasize this idea of duality. Our goal is to communicate the relentless strength and meaningful impact of all women, regardless of age, role, relation, or moment in time. We want to capture both the rich inner life and robust social ties that women cultivate, so on all cards, show figures in positions of agency and autonomy, even in moments of injury or quiet reflection. We can explore how color drives mood and lands the desired tonal punch for each card, from jewel tones to add depth and a sense of ancient opulence, all while keeping the focus on each character and what she brings to her corner of the Multiverse.

Lathril, Blade of the Elves

Sloane: One of the elements of this drop we wanted to feature was motherhood, and after Lauren told us Lathril has a daughter, everyone was excited to feature them together. Lathril is a very strong, serious character and, of course, a fan-favorite commander, so we wanted to show that strength being imparted to her very cute daughter as they train together.

Lauren: Magic has an incredibly long history, and our sets often don't have space to explore the complex past of our lore. Secret Lair drops provide opportunities to showcase elements of characters and planes that we may not otherwise get to see.

Stephanie: I also love that one character could add so much depth and history to a world like Kaldheim! Lathril comes from a time in the distant past before the elves were split in two. She was a powerful leader and gave her sight away to become a god! It's always a treat to shine the light on a tidbit of lore and give it the spotlight.

Anh: I was speechless and stunned by Magali's iconic work on Magic, and I still can't believe I got to work with her. It was pure magic to see her piece come to life so effortlessly. Magali nailed the composition within the first round, and I will always be amazed by how quickly she works. She illustrated Lathril and her daughter perfectly with a deep emotional connection communicated through their expressions and poses.

Artist Interview with Magali Villeneuve

Tell us a bit about your background!

I have been a self-taught professional illustrator since 2006. I started out in fantasy literature in my own country, before gradually expanding my work to other media, many pop culture IPs, and other continents. I became an artist for Magic nearly 13 years ago, with my first card, Guardians of Meletis, in the first Theros set.

What attracted you to this project or excited you about working on this project?

I am always motivated by projects that promote the representation of women in fantasy worlds, whether as fighters, mothers, or, as in this case, both at the same time. I think that's one of the things I enjoyed most about this commission: being able to express more than one facet of a woman on the same card.

My concept from the start was to alternate between fluid, supple shapes juxtaposed with areas featuring straighter, more aggressive lines and patterns, to convey the multiple facets of the central character. I started by creating a black and white sketch, as precise as I could. On one hand, to make sure that my concept worked on its own as well as on the card and that the overall balance was good. And on the other hand, to give my art director the most informative preliminary vision possible before I moved on to the color phase.

To finalize my illustration, I took reference pictures with the help of my assistant and friend Manju Cosplay. I do this for each of my illustrations for key and complex elements such as hands, drapery, or body joints. My choice of colors and the dynamics of the patterns were influenced by Gustav Klimt, an Austrian symbolist painter, who is one of my favorite artists. His books are always in a good place on my studio shelf for inspiration.

Process Sketch:

Dark Ritual

Sloane: At the outset, we wanted to feature Liliana, brutal queen of all queens! She's never been shown on Dark Ritual before, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so. I also wanted to lean into the abstract with this concept and give the artist room to play with Liliana's magic.

Lauren: We wanted to emphasize the theme of mentorship within the card art, showcasing Liliana with several other young necromancers was a great opportunity to show the many forms of Liliana at the same time—teacher, fearsome necromancer, and unapologetically powerful.

Stephanie: I was very excited we unanimously agreed to have Liliana in this drop. She has a complex history and is a woman who embraces herself unapologetically. It was important for the drop to have a diverse range of roles that didn't just depict womanhood as only motherly. She was our reminder that ambition is not a flaw and power is just waiting for you; you just need the audacity to take it!

Anh: I let out the loudest gasp when I saw Fury's work every week. It has always been a dream to be able to work on a Liliana card, and Fury made her look so powerful with the magical effects and composition. I am obsessed with Fury's intricate pattern that makes up Liliana's magic.

Artist Interview with Fury Galluzzi

Tell us a bit about your background!

My name is Fury. I'm currently an art director on Magic: The Gathering. Prior to that, I was a background designer in animation. I love comics and illustration, and Magic was an introduction to the latter and made me want to draw and paint for a living, so here we are. Maybe not exactly drawing and painting as much as I'd like to anymore but still in close proximity to it.

What attracted you to this project or excited you about working on this project?

I was asked if I wanted to do work for a Women of Wizards project last year, I had agreed to it since it's rare for me to do any sort of illustration work nowadays and this was a scary and exciting proposition. A little while later, I was told that I was to illustrate a Dark Ritual featuring Liliana. If you know me well enough, black cards are my favorite, and Dark Ritual is quintessentially a classic card.

  1. Everything starts with drawing; I make rough thumbnails that get refined into tighter drawings once a direction is figured out. In the case of this image, it was pretty clear already what I wanted to do compositionally with this. Designing an illustration for a Magic card has its own challenges, the aspect ratio and the card elements are a bit tricky to work around but ultimately, we settled with the team on a pretty central and pseudo-symmetrical composition. After that, I went wild with skulls and hot pink. I got to play the game, "How many skulls I can cram in one image?" There was room for more …
  2. Honestly? Most of the art that I do ends up being scary powerful women doing badass things while looking absolutely terrifying and in control. That's the main theme here as well with this piece. That's my power fantasy. I hope that comes across.

Process Sketch:

Cultivate

Sloane: I was really excited to showcase some of my favorite planes in this drop, and Ixalan was one of them! We decided we wanted this to feature the sweeter and more mature side of womanhood with an elder Ixalan woman caring for her community through connection to the land. I'm thrilled with just how adorable those fruit and veggie saprolings turned out!

Anh: Ivy is a new artist I have had the absolute honor to bring on for this drop. Her warm, cozy, and whimsical style was perfect for this card concept. She has so many options for the composition and it was honestly very difficult to choose from them. At the end, we landed with this beautiful composition where you see all the silly saprolings bring the scene to life. I loved the lightheartedness and the care that is evoked through the colors and expressions.

Artist Interview with Ivy Dolamore

Tell us a bit about your background!

I was a homeschooled kid, raised by granola parents in the late '90s. From a young age, I spent my days drawing and meddling around Neopets and DeviantArt. You could call me "self-taught" in that I have little to no formal training, but I've received an incredible artistic education from the internet and the artists I've known and worked alongside. That early exposure to online creative communities continues to shape my artistic inspirations today.

I fell in love with the Artist Alley scene at anime conventions as a teenager. I tried a handful of part-time jobs and other career possibilities, but being an illustrator was an idea I always came back to. Over the Covid-19 pandemic, I began a monthly mailing club for my original artwork and used it as an opportunity to really lock in my skills. With that body of work, I've been able to work full time as an independent artist. My art has been made into puzzles, diamond paintings, and more. It's been an incredible journey to move from those online spaces as a kid to traveling the country for conventions and art shows, and it's especially rewarding to connect in person with fans and collectors.

In my personal life, I live with my cat in a cute Appalachian townhouse in Johnson City, Tennessee. I'm often a homebody, but I try to stay active in my community. This year, I learned ceramics and wheel throwing, and next year I'd love to learn more about cross-stitching. I also enjoy video games, music, hiking, rock climbing, and contra dancing.

What attracted you to this project or excited you about working on this project?

Being approached to work with Wizards of the Coast is a big honor for me. I'm a huge fan of the artistry that goes into each project. Plus, honoring women is very relevant to my work. My subject matter is primarily women, and I focus my illustrations on moments the viewer wants to step into—to become that girl.

What was your creative process like?

I spent more time prepping for this piece than I typically do. I ended up taking reference photos of my mom. She graciously squatted in her garden while I told her to imagine the funny little creatures she was interacting with.

The setting of Ixalan also takes inspiration from real-life cultures that I wanted to learn about for this piece. I had a lot of questions; how did the indigenous civilizations of the Americas "cultivate"? I went to my local library and read books on the Aztec, Maya, and Inca civilizations to help me plan out the garden.

For the actual illustration, I paint digitally in Procreate. I like using just a couple layers and meticulously rendering as the piece takes shape.

What themes or emotions were you invoking with your piece?
I aim for a joy that comes from the mundane. I try to put in an appreciation of little things in daily life, with a little added magic. It's the happiness of working together and the creatures in your life that make chores fun.

Any specific details you want to highlight about your piece?

How cute all the little saprolings are! Tomatoes are definitely my favorite.

Process Sketches:

   

Coat of Arms

Sloane: Felothar was a character we were excited to include in this drop for so many reasons. She's a badass leader from one of the coolest Tarkir clans, and she's a transwoman! We wanted this set to feel encompassing of womanhood and all women's experience as much as we could within the few cards we had. The energy and power Caroline brought to this art blew us away. I'm looking forward to sharing the exhilarating, emotional short story we commissioned from the incredibly talented Izzy Wasserstein exploring Felothar's backstory.

Anh: This composition was a puzzle to solve at the beginning, and Caroline came in and gave it her all! She gave Felothar a range of powerful commanding poses, and this pose that we landed on was a no-brainer. Her addition of the graphical magical element at the end helped tie this piece back to our global artistic direction and gave a strong visual impact that draws attention from everyone to follow Felothar's lead.

Artist Interview with Caroline Gariba

Tell us a bit about your background!

My name is Caroline Gariba, and I'm a Brazilian freelance artist working with illustrations since 2011. In the past, I had the chance to work in the publishing field, having my work being shown in popular national magazines. I have worked on Magic: The Gathering and several Dungeons & Dragons expansion books since 2019 along with other card games in the game industry. Also, I got a spot on Spectrum 26, by Flesk Publications, among a lot of amazing contemporary artists.

What attracted you to this project or excited you about working on this project?

This is a very important subject to me, as I have been vocal about more women in the gaming industry. Recently, I participated in a Brazilian art event focused on getting more women into the art scene and the obstacles that we have to deal with. It was packed with awesome artists women, and the event itself was truly well received; my sincerest wishes were that I was able to significantly touch their hearts and help them achieve their artist goals. Then, when Anh reached out to me with this subject, I felt that this was a match made in heaven since I was working on this card as I was writing my talking points for the event. This project has the initiative to support the Global Fund for Women, so how could I refuse it! Anything becomes more exciting when it matches making art with a good purpose.

What was your creative process like?

When the briefing was received, I tried a bunch of different angles for the composition, aiming for something that would be iconic. Since there are a lot of characters (an entire army!) and a shield, it was hard at the beginning to make everything in place and still have a good readability of all shapes and negative space. After sketching for a while, I went to two options that I thought would be the best ones to communicate everything I wanted. My focus was to make both Felothar and the army's body and facial expressions more impactful but still give the shield the emphasis it has for the scene. Felothar was already a known character from previous Magic sets, thus her visual and color palette were already set. For that reason, one of the challenges was to bring colors that complement her figure and make it pop. In addition, the briefing mentioned that the skies had warm clouds almost like burning flames, which helps to put a spot on the overall feeling of bravery of the scene.

What themes or emotions were you invoking with your piece?
The main themes I wanted to transmit were the power of an army and the strength of having a leader in command. Sometimes, challenges on our way can look like a big battle, and battles can be frightening. Felothar being in the center, branding a long flag in the wind and shouting her lungs out is an act of courage that I wanted to push on this piece, made it very clear that there's no sign of fear about the future that awaits.

Any specific details you want to highlight about your piece?

I was happy to create a piece that makes Felothar stand tall with imponent gestures, as I wish more women could be portrayed like that in the entertainment industry. There's something special about how the colors and symbols got meshed up together as well. A shield is often associated with defense, but in this piece, aligning with Felothar's roar, it turns into an empowerment representation. That got even more clear with the addition of a graphic element highlighting the shield. That was a really nice touch that Anh brought to the piece!

Process Sketches:

   

Sol Ring

Sloane: This concept was inspired by women in STEM and zany character team-ups! As we discussed who would be good matches, Saheeli and Breya popped out to us! They are such bold, inventive characters, and bringing them together to merge their metallic magic seemed like a natural fit. We were also happy to feature more queer women characters like Saheeli in the drop.

Anh: We are so excited about this card's tie back to the original Sol Ring. Lena did an amazing job of making the magical powers come to life with so much motion and depth. She had so much fun exploring the frame-breaking elements that feel immersive.

Artist Interview with Lena Richards

Tell us a bit about your background!

I'm a Ukrainian artist currently living in the states. From a very young age, I was always interested in fantasy art, designing cool fantasy swords my tabletop characters would use and sketching fairies and elves any moment I could spare. Not much has changed since. Growing up poor, I didn't get a chance to get a proper art education, and my current career as an illustrator was propelled by sheer interest and love for fantasy. I feel fortunate and grateful to be part of the wonderful projects I get to work on through all these years.

My first interaction with Wizards franchises was through the video game Neverwinter Nights based on the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of Dungeons & Dragons. It forever stole my heart.

What attracted you to this project or excited you about working on this project?

I find any project that tries to mix multiple styles into one particularly interesting. They allow me to play with shapes and form that otherwise would be out of place. But when the same "out-of-place-ness" is the point, it takes on a whole different shape and becomes a focal point instead of glaring disconnection.

What was your creative process like?

My approach to work might seem a bit confusing to people, especially in the light of so many classes being available right now that tell us in detail how to layer out work evenly and be able to have it look good at any point. My approach is a bit messier.

I always start with rough color planning. The shapes can be adjusted, but I like to distribute volumes of color and figure out a range of colors I might need for any given image. In a way, it is similar to just mixing my palette, but I prefer to do it in the shape of the image itself.

After that, I make a rough armature and pay extra attention to any parts that are meant to be in sharp focus (such as hands and the ring in this one) and likenesses of characters if there are any.

I find it very important to work with frames to make sure that any important detail stays visible and doesn't get cut off.

The rest becomes the matter of "adding resolution" to an image and feeling my way through shapes from larger to smaller and breaking them down more as needed.

Again, with the frame in the mix, sometimes plans have to be changed rapidly and strong shapes need to be added under a body of text, which had happened in this image.

What themes or emotions were you invoking with your piece?

In this one, the underlying message was collaboration and working with a friend.

A subject near and dear to my heart as I also have a friend I really like painting with in tandem. Collaboration is a great thing, as it motivates us to be our best self to support the work of other people involved, and as a result, we are becoming more than just the sum of work put in by each person on the project. Roughly speaking, it becomes multiplication instead of addition.

Any specific details you want to highlight about your piece?
I really like the mix of volumetric and flat details and how they ooze and intertwine with each other. I really hope to make more similar work in the future. I think it's a very striking mix.

Process Sketches:

Path of Ancestry

Sloane: We wanted to show another example of motherhood, the powerful bond of chosen family, specifically adoptive mother and child. Queen Linden has such an iconic, strong design and story, as does Rowan. We were excited to show them in a space honoring their ancestry, letting their family bonds—both chosen and by blood—guide and teach them.

Lauren: Similar to Lathril, we don't have many chances to showcase our characters' pasts. Rowan's bond with her mother was an incredibly powerful one, and on Path of Ancestry, we are able to glimpse into a time we haven't seen in a Magic set.

Anh: It was a dream working with Livia Prima, another iconic legend in Magic. I am so amazed by her three-dimensional visualization and imagination. The statues each are unique and portray powerful women. The structure of the path and surrounding elements also are meant to make the space feel spacious and the statues feel massive compared to Rowan and Queen Linden. Again, another immersive piece that really draws you in and tells a story so well.

Artist Interview with Livia Prima

Tell us a bit about your background!

I was born in Indonesia in 1994. Growing up, I was exposed to both Japanese manga and Western fantasy illustrations, which have now become the influences of my style. My interest is to capture beauty, and sometimes with a touch of melancholy and dark fantasy. I am now working as a freelance artist and managing an art studio with Billy Christian, my husband, who is also a Magic artist. We have also just become new parents of a baby girl. I am still learning to balance my role (if there's such a thing) as a wife, a mother, and an artist.

What attracted you to this project or excited you about working on this project?

It is an honor to be chosen for this project. The art brief is so beautiful that I cannot miss. And the most important, it also allows some style experimentation, which I always find refreshing and challenging.

What was your creative process like?

Usually, I start with gathering references for the illustration mood. It can be anything, such as the composition, the color scheme, the wonderful objects that I want to be included as a little part of the painting, etc. Then I make some very rough thumbnail compositions and choose the ones that capture the mood pretty well. Sometimes I also incorporate traditional media in the process.

What themes or emotions were you invoking with your piece?

This time, I went with elegance, peace, hope, and legacy.

Any specific details you want to highlight about your piece?

I love designing and painting all the costumes for all the characters. Trying out what graphic elements may bring the whole piece together is fun, too. I think the clouds and flower petals work pretty well here.

Process Sketches:

Finale of Devastation

Sloane: Look, we love our cross-plane team-ups! Finale of Devastation is all about nature demonstrating its ruthless power and Vivien Reid, Ixalan's queen of ghosts, immediately sprung to our mind. We then thought about elven ranger Selvala and her love of animals and thought they would make great allies should they ever come across each other. In this dramatic (and dare I say darkly romantic?) scene, Vivien takes revenge on Selvala's enemies with her army of ghostly beasts.

Lauren: While much of this drop wanted to focus on joy and connection, we knew it would not be complete without rage. On Finale of Devastation, we wanted to give space to anger and sadness, and the power that can come when we express them fully.

Stephanie: Julie's style was a perfect fit for Anh's vision. Julie has a way of melding beautifully rendered figures with bold symbolic shapes that carry energy and emotion. The way care and fury are balanced in this piece is achingly gorgeous.

Anh: Julie Dillon was able to create such an action-packed scene with all the ghostly beasts supporting Vivien in her rescue mission. This scene is full of suspense and shows the deep care and compassion that women have for each other. I love the powerful pose that shows this final intense moment for Vivien to fight and protect!

Process Sketches:

About Global Fund for Women

Global Fund for Women is a feminist fund that supports grassroots organizations working for gender justice around the world. Thanks to our donors, Global Fund for Women has partnered with more than 5,000 organizations in over 180 countries, providing more than $250 million in grants. These grants help our partners work across climate justice, reproductive rights, freedom from violence, and supporting communities during crises.