Welcome to this week’s Hipsters Weekly MTG Newsletter. Every Monday, we tell you know what you need to know about the week’s most important Magic news. Subscribe here!

All four commanders from Commander 2018 were leaked (spoiler warning) early this morning before the official start of its official preview season.

Unfortunately, leaks are a common occurrence in the Magic community. Just last March, the entire FAQ for Dominaria was leaked nearly two months before the set’s official release. That was preceded last year by the leak of a full foil sheet from Ixalan that revealed most of the rares in the set three months before its release.

We’ve gotten a lot of blowback on Twitter for reporting the leak of Commander 2018’s commanders, so let me state unequivocally: leaks are bad for both the game and the community. They not only take some of the hype out of a set’s preview season, but they also blow up the spot of many content creators that worked hard to make content around their exclusive (now leaked) preview cards.

Why do we cover leaks, then?

Quite simply: Hipsters of the Coast is a news media organization, and part of the responsibility we have to our readers is reporting the news, whether we like that news or not. It would be journalistic malpractice to refuse to report on something once its has become public information. Our job is to report that information to our audience and give it the proper context.

Leaked card images are, for better or worse, breaking news, and breaking news is, for better or worse, legitimate content. However, official preview articles, given to content creators by Wizards of the Coast, is also legitimate content.

It is our position that all content creators have the right to address leaks whether specific or in general. The content that is unique to the exclusive preview holder includes things like high-resolution official images, and first crack at analysis and commentary of the preview cards.

Hipsters of the Coast strives to bring the highest quality content to the Magic community and as such will continue to report on leaked previews. We will not publish analysis or any content that provides commentary on specific preview cards, except in extreme cases, until the official preview content has been published.

MTG Arena Will Likely Launch This Year

In its Q2 investors call this morning, Hasbro revealed that they intend to officially launch MTG Arena sometime this year. They expect MTG Arena and other digital games will help double the number of Magic players in the next few years.

Hasbro also announced that last week’s distribution of access codes to the MTG Arena Closed Beta helped get the game to over a million users.

A Black Lotus Was Opened in GP Chiba’s Unlimited Rochester Draft!

Sure, opening packs of Unlimited in Chiba is a little less exciting than opening packs of Beta in Las Vegas, but those of us watching the Beta draft only got to see a pack-fresh Mox Emerald get opened. In Chiba, on the other hand, they opened nothing less than a Black Lotus!

WizKids Announces a Line of MTG Miniatures, Creature Forge: Overwhelming Swarm

WizKids announced a new range of miniatures called Magic: The Gathering Creature Forge: Overwhelming Swarm, which will be released in September 2018 with an MSRP of $86.76 for a 24-miniature box.

Each miniature will represent a token from Magic’s history. There will be 28 Creature Forge minis upon the release of Overwhelming Swarm, including Angel, Dragon, Spider, Zombie, and Dinosaur. The miniatures will stand 55 millimeters high, which is slightly less than the short side of a Magic card, and will come with a colored base that matches the token’s color.

Odds and Ends

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Your friendly neighborhood robot,

David McCoy (@dmccoy)

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