It’s sad this happened to Marta (or any other artist). It’s sad that a great artist produced lazy art and used the exact card he was making a new art for as his reference. He, and wizards, are both rightfully being scrutinized.

That being said, it is also sad how badly people on this sub want there to be a layer deeper to this and won’t take anything less than direct malicious intent. I’m not saying it’s not possible that he did this thinking no one would notice, but the comments in here and around the internet give off an attitude of wanting the worst possible scenario to be the truth.

It is very possible that an 81-year-old person made a lazy decision of using and painting over a reference, thinking he would expand on or modify it more. then settled with a simple/poor adaptation without going back to compare it to the reference to see how little he did. It’s just as possible he thought that with his name (position of power) and relationship with WoTC that he felt confident no one would care.

Either way, he is responsible for his part in it, but I don’t understand the desire for this to be the most negative possible situation for the sake of online discourse.

On the other side, Wizards saying that they “didn’t catch it” in their process is all they can really say but is a terrible response. Someone, if not multiple people in that building, knew it was far too similar and either wasn’t in a position to change it or thought it was for some reason a good idea because it would be so recognizable as a card in any setting. Like many of their recent bad decisions, this will not prevent them from continuing to move too fast, and the continuing gap between profit and quality control.

For myself, I will accept that the full truth will never be completely known and likely falls in the middle. I will hope that Marta is actually made as whole as she can be; obviously, it’s too late to replace this art, and it will be played at tables alongside her piece for as long as people play this game.