“I want to share it with my friends and my family and other Latinx, Hispanic people - it’s a fun representation of our culture,” she says. It’s an event that Monarez has long been looking forward to. “Lost Caverns of Ixalan” officially releases Friday. “My objective was to use this inspiration to make people curious about the real peoples and the real histories and the real events.” We’re theming it around the clash of cultures, to be sure, and the indigenous factions are very much empowered,” says Cartagena.

“We take a lot of inspiration from many moments in history. To let us know about the inspiration.” Ultimately, he hopes that the set avoided the pitfalls of common appropriations that reduced indigenous people to colonialist tropes or mascots. “I wanted every frame to feel like Ixalan. “We wanted the set to feel rich and full,” says Cartagena.

“It’s almost like if the Mayans or Aztecs were to make their own magic cards,” says Monarez, “They would look something like this.”Ī variant of “Caparocti Sunborn,” where the card’s graphic design as well as its art resembles Mesoamerican styles. Some cards take these cultural touchstones one step further - ditching “Magic: the Gathering”’s traditional graphic design to more closely resemble regional art styles. “They resemble the gods from the Popol Vuh.” “We have the Malamet, who are literally jaguars. Its underworld mythology informs “Lost Caverns of Ixalan”’s subterranean setting, but it’s also reflected in its characters. He even initially pitched the set to his employers as an homage to the ancient Mayan text, the Popol Vuh. I think somebody really knew what they were doing.”Ĭartagena confirmed that designers did indeed base this bat card, “Aclozotz,” on the Mayan god, Camazotz. Just that specificity - I really admire it. “Bats were a very big part of the Mayan culture, and a lot of people worshiped bats.

“So I was just very happy that it inspired people in all the right ways.”Ĭartagena, who first contributed card art to the game before its maker, Wizards of the Coast, hired him full-time, even referenced his native Guatemala in a card he illustrated for “Lost Caverns.”Ī special version of the card “Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal,” a bat god directly inspired by the Mayan god Camazotz. “We had a lot of artists from Latin America and we knew this was going to be probably the largest indigenous and Latino American-themed release in the year in gaming,” says set art director Ovidio Cartagena. “Lost Caverns” creative leads also saw it as a chance to represent their cultures in a staple fantasy franchise. “It made me think like if I were European, this would be what it’d be like to see King Arthur for the first time.” “It was really nice to see a full-blown American game with a high budget with people who look like me and represent my culture,” says LGBTQ activist and artist Laya Monarez. Unlike the usual fantasy fare of elves and dragons, the hundreds of cards in “ Lost Caverns of Ixalan” burst with goblin pirates, vampire conquistadors, Mayan-style merfolk and Aztec-inspired warriors riding dinosaurs.Īnd while the game is designed for whimsical fun, it’s also resonating with players. The world’s oldest trading card game, “ Magic: The Gathering,” returns this week to a world drawn from real Mesoamerican cultures. ‘Lost Caverns of Ixalan’ centers Aztec, Olmec, Mayan culture in huge new ‘Magic: the Gathering’ set

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