The LGBTQ community takes refuge in fantastic worlds like those ofMagic: The Gathering. In a life where just existing has been made political, there is great value in works that let you escape to a place in which gender and sexual preference have no bearing on your rights as an individual.
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Magic: The Gathering has done a great job of empowering the LGBTQ community by creating queer characters and placing them front and center in card art. Though Pride Across The Multiverse is one of the best know sets to have released cards containing queer moments, there are even more throughout Magic’s history that celebrates queerness.
11Bearscape
Pride Across the Multiverse’s Bearscape depicts a hot spring filled with, you guessed it, bears relaxing in the water. What’s particularly great about the art is that it simultaneously embraces the erotic without making it the only feature; you can see many different aspects of a bear’s life, representing the euphoria that comes with being allowed to love who you love.
As a card, it allows you to create a 2/2 bear token in exchange for the destruction of two cards in your graveyard. Where the original card’s token was a literal bear, it’s quite funny to imagine a large, gay man casually coming to fight after a relaxing day soaking in the hot springs.
10Open The Way
Open The Way’s art shows two women walking towards a large, ethereal gate while holding hands in a way that implies intimacy beyond mere friendship. The whole thing is a cute scene that allows power to coexist with love and pride.
The card itself is quite strong, allowing you to grab a few cheap lands in the interest ofbuilding up a hefty mana pool. There’s something particularly moving about a card depicting queer love as an avenue for creation rather than destruction, using affection as a means of “opening the way” forward.
9Collective Voyage
It may not seem explicitly queer at first, but the art for Collective Voyage is meant to be a display of pride for one Chandra Nalaar. Due to rewrites of her character, Chandra’s open pansexuality was erased alongside her potential relationship with Nissa Revane– thankfully, she’s been allowed to have a queer relationship again through the newer media she appears in.
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The card itself mirrors Open the Way, having an effect that involves obtaining land in exchange for mana. Instead of it being restricted to just the owner, though, it goes into effect for every player in the game, giving your opponents a shot at gaining land.
This can be worth it depending on the situation, but otherwise, the effect is just a good match for the unity seen in the art.
8Diabolic Tutor
Diabolic Tutor is another card starring Chandra Nalaar, which shows her being advised by Liliana Vess. There’s a level of queer energy in this card implied by the double entendre in its quote, the knowing glance that Chandra seems to cast towards Liliana, and the intimacy created by the art’s blocking.
This card actually represents a moment in the pair’s story where Liliiana influences Chandra to take revenge against the Consulate– though the pair don’t end up romantically involved (Nissa is Chandra’s love interest up to this point), there’s a decent amount of romantic tension between them.
7Mana Confluence
Mana Confluence is a card depicting six hooded figures all contributing to a central pool forming the shape of a face. The colors of the figures' robes match those of a gay pride flag, implying a level of magic and wonder in the very act of being your truest self.
The effect of this version of Mana Confluence is exactly the same as the original, allowing you to trade a point of life for mana of any color. This works wonders in multi-color decks, which pairs well with a theme of diversity.
6Kynaios And Tiro Of Meletis
Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis are rendered beautifully in their card art, gazing across their kingdom while one rests his hand on the other’s shoulder. The composition does a good job of reinforcing the theme of power through love, allowing the romance between the characters to be integral to their motivations.
The actual effect of Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis is complicated,allowing you to draw a cardbefore every player chooses between playing a land or drawing a card of their own. Though it’s possible for your opponents to outdraw you through this effect, the fact you may get two draws every turn keeps things in your favor.
5Savor The Moment
Savor the Moment is maybe one of the most explicitly gay cards in the Pride Across the Multiverse collection, depicting two men on their wedding day surrounded by loving friends. The moment is especially wonderful thanks to the details left for you to pick out while you scan over every face.
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Like the original card, Savor the Moment lets you take an extra turn that skips the untap step. This is a pretty nice effect, allowing you to take advantage of your draw step to play more sorceries and creatures.
The lack of an untap phase keeps this card in check without completely destroying its benefits.
4Heartbeat Of Spring
Heartbeat of Spring is a close second to the most explicitly gay card in Pride Across the Multiverse, painting a tableau of two women holding each other close punctuated by a quote about the paradise they’ve made for each other.
The effect of this card is risky to use, but when everything goes right you’re able to reap a huge reward– by doubling most mana across the board, you can use high mana maneuvers like those seenin a Vial Smasher not-white four-color commander deck. On the other hand, your opponent can sweep if they’re running a deck that benefits from huge pools of mana.
3Sol Ring
Sol Ring’s Pride Across the Multiverse design includes a ring adorned in the colors of multiple pride flags, surrounded by memorabilia related to the LGBTQ community. What’s especially nice to see is the flavor text, which ties the art together by focusing on the immense role of community in the life of queer individuals.
The artifact’s effect is quite simple, allowing you to receive two colorless mana when tapped– it’s not the most groundbreaking ability, but it can be a nice bonus when building a deck focused on artifacts.
2Niko Aris
Niko Aris is a non-binary planeswalker themed around mirrors and defying destiny– the focus on perception through mirrors is a great way of reflecting on the struggle of being viewed through the lens of a binary society, and the rejection of destiny works really well for a character who defies reductive understandings of gender.
This card has quite a few nice effects, all based on using Shard tokens to enable frequent card drawing. It makes plenty of sense that drawing would be a major staple of Niko’s toolkit, as luck isn’t needed for someone who resists fate.
