Art, Creativity and Cosplay at Magic Con Amsterdam: Interviews with MaxMakesMagic and Adam the Gathering
Art is always a huge focus at Magic Con, from the artist alley and cosplays, to the preview panels and exclusive playmats. Magic Con Amsterdam was no different, with many attendees and creators showing that art is something that continues to bring us all together.
Creativity dominated at Magic Con Amsterdam, not just within the incredible artwork previewed for upcoming sets Bloomburrow and Duskmourn. Between panels and ticketed events, Magic players could design their own tokens, make friendship bracelets, take photographs with cosplayers and get involved in the fun. We caught up with creators Adam (@AdamThe Gatherin) and Max (@MaxMakesMagic) to hear their experiences of bringing creativity to the con.
Magic characters were wandering the halls across the weekend, culminating in the cosplay competition on Saturday evening.
Max, known online as MaxMakesMagic, cosplayed as Karn, known for cards like Karn, the Great Creator. With a full set of armour and LED lights that Max put together himself, Max competed in the cosplay contest in the Novice category.
This was Max's first cosplay and it was a long time coming. "I've been planning to do a Magic cosplay on and off for 4 years now," Max says. "My biggest motivation though was wanting to do a crafting project and wanting to see it through to completion, and setting myself a deadline of MC Amsterdam was really the catalyst to getting it done."
The idea for Karn originated all the way back in February 2020, when Max messaged a friend saying Karn was "chunky Iron Man". "I've always wanted an Iron Man suit and I thought I could make it work," says Max. "As time went on it went on the backlog of ideas, but it was always present. Finally, in January I engaged with some artists about 3D modelling Karn's helmet - and once that hurdle was cleared, it sort of snowballed from there!"
Max has always enjoyed seeing cosplayers at events and feels they bring more to the event than just looking good. "Even before I'd made a cosplay, I appreciated the technique and skill that went into cosplayer's costumes," Max explains. "When you're bringing a character to life, a lot of people really enjoy that and it makes them feel like the universe is 'alive'."
During the day before the competition, many event attendees had the chance to see Max's and many other cosplays up close. Alongside the Magic displays, vendors and table after table of Magic games, it was easy to see what Max means when he says cosplayers bring the game to life. Self-expression in Magic is such an integral part of the game experience, especially in Commander, yet that expression is often limited within deck boxes and sleeves. Cosplay allowed players to shout about the characters and the planes that mean the most to them. In crowds of people queuing for merchandise, waiting for games and slinging cards, cosplayers remind us of a key reason why we were all there at Magic Con; a love for the universe and characters of Magic: The Gathering.
"Honestly the number of people who came up and said they liked my cosplay was amazing, even though I wasn't on the floor for all that long on the Saturday," remembers Max. "My favourite interactions though were the kids who came up for a photo - seeing the joy in their faces made me feel fantastic!"
The cosplay contest attracted a crowd at Magic Con, with many people taking the time to take photographs and cheer for every cosplayer who took part. Hosted by Filipa Carola and Anna Margaret, cosplayers and artists paraded their creations on stage and shared the stories behind their work. Alongside Max's Karn, highlights included eRren as Olivia, Crimson Bride, another first cosplay debuting at Magic Con which used soldering iron to create the intricate armored bodice. MBare Evans, who has cosplayed since 2011, showcased Sorin Markov in the Expert category. With his cosplay he began creating six years ago, Mbare went on to win Best in Show. And who can forget Chey Chey as Pantlaza? The skill and craftsmanship involved in every cosplay was undeniable. You can view all the winners and cosplays in full on the Magic: The Gathering YouTube channel.
Technical skill was something that drew Max towards cosplay. "Fundamentally, in the Magic: The Gathering multiverse, we're talking about magical entities and beings, and trying to work out how that would work in our world is, to me, a form of artistry," says Max. "Cosplay to me is definitely an art form. You're having to fully realise a 3 dimensional character from sometimes only one picture - meaning you have to make artistic decisions and extrapolate an entire design from it. There's also a level of intricacy involved at the higher levels of cosplay that I can only describe as art."
Throughout the weekend, cosplayers were a shining example of how the community made Magic Con Amsterdam into a bustling creative landscape, their enthusiasm bringing infectious energy to the event. While the cosplay contest gave awards and categories, the competitive element of cosplay felt secondary at Magic Con. What was most palpable instead was the awe, fascination and even sheer giddiness of attendees in the face of seeing cosplayers up close.
Alongside cosplay, another competition was happening at Magic Con. While attending the event in cosplay took months or even years of preparation for those that took part, this competition took a different approach to getting creative.
Adam, known online as Adam The Gathering, ran the Design A Token Competition, where attendees could design their own token for display at the event. Adam had several motivations for running the event, aware that anything to do with playing Magic was very much already covered. He saw his event as something a bit different and a good break between games. "We all like to doodle on tokens and do arty things," Adam says. "It was just a casual idea to begin with, exploring what I wanted to do and it naturally grew into what it is... Let's get together and do some arts and crafts and draw on some cards!"
"The idea was initially a little contest where people would be on the clock to recreate some classic Magic pieces," explains Adam, but he decided to consider a more casual approach. It was important to Adam that the event prioritised fun over competitive elements. "I didn't want people to take it super seriously, so I wanted the categories to be things like "Silliest card", "Cutest card", "Scariest card". You don't have to be good to win in any of those categories. You could do something really silly and still be great. And then the judges would also have some fun rather than being really serious about it, so I think that worked really well. Everyone brought a wide variety to it as well, which was nice."
The journey to Magic Con was community-driven for Adam rather than focused on the artwork itself. "The art was definitely an afterthought," admits Adam. "I always wanted to do a communal thing. I can see we have the Family Magic area now and I think that's amazing and I wanted to do something along that line. It just happened that art was the logical next step. There's already other events making stuff, like the bracelets, badges and stuff so - there's a lot of very creative people hiding in the halls here and it's nice to give them somewhere to go."
Spilling out across the creator area on Saturday afternoon, the Design a Token competition achieved its aim to focus on community spirit; it brought people from across the con to sit together and doodle their own tokens. The event was far bigger than Adam thought it would be. "I thought maybe some people would turn up and it would be a fun little thing, but it was so busy," Adam says. "To the point where we were struggling to find space to put all the tokens up...People who didn't know each other were chatting, looking at each other's tokens."
Even though the focus on art was incidental, the Design a Token competition was a chance for many art lovers and Magic players to express themselves in a new way at Magic Con. " I had a guy come along today who was like, 'I haven't drawn anything in about six years'," remembers Adam. "His words were, "This was really good for me." He found it quite cathartic and got some inspiration out of it, and he was like "I think I'm going to draw again" after doing it and that was really lovely."
"The art was really widely varied, not just in ability but style," Adam says. "You had some really intricate pencil linework and then some really bold color choices. Some guy did almost like a watercolor, and I was like, I don't know how you've done that with felt tip pens but it looked great!...It was nice to see - you'd have someone who was a professional artist as a day job win some prizes and then you've got a seven, eight year old boy who's just doodled a zombie win some prizes as well."
Adam hopes that the Design a Token competition will be featured at future Magic Cons. "It's just nice to have something where you haven't got to pay money, you can just have fun. I think that was a bit refreshing for a lot of people. I'm really glad with how it went."
Cosplay, tokens and all the different ways people got creative at MagicCon reminded us that there's a whole other dimension to engaging with Magic: The Gathering beyond deckbuilding and collecting. Magic is fundamentally a creative hobby; no matter which deck you choose or how you play, there's always an element of choice and self expression. Everyone has a favorite piece of Magic art. The creative ways people got involved at Magic Con showcased what makes Magic what it is is not just the incredible work of artists and game designers, but also what we as players do with it.
What are some creative ways you engage with Magic? Let us know in the comments!
