If you think that the Universe Beyond crossover with beloved sci-fi franchise Star Trek is the biggest thing currently going on in the Magic: The Gathering world, think again. On Nov. 10, details emerged from Italy about a country-exclusive collaboration between Magic and fast-food chain Burger King. Fans and players worldwide are going wild online about the Burger King-themed sleeves and deck box, but there is more to this unexpected campaign.
Announced through Burger King's Italian website, "Burger King Quest: The Great Gathering" will run from Nov. 10 to Nov. 30. Hungry fans can buy a Great Gathering Bundle at any Burger King restaurant for 19.90 euros ($22.20). The bundle includes a menu, choosing between Double Cheese King, Chicken Krispper, and Whopper Plant Based, plus a deck box and 100 sleeves branded with Burger King x Magic graphics.
The deck box in particular has sent Magic players into a frenzy, and it's allegedly already sold out, with scalpers selling it online for ridiculous prices. This is only half of what Burger King and Magic are cooking, pun intended. Also starting on Nov. 10, nine Burger King restaurants throughout Italy will host Magic tournaments.
The winners will qualify for a big final showdown held during the Milan Games Week & Cartoomics, on Nov. 27-29. The tournaments will use the Pauper format, an unofficial 60-card constructed format that allows use of almost every card printed at the common rarity throughout the history of Magic. Pauper is "unofficial" because it's not used in Wizards of the Coasts' official tournaments, such as the Pro Tour.
The format was created by the community in the early 2000s, and became an official Magic Online (MTGO) format in 2008. Since then, Pauper grew exponentially, and Italy has a particularly large and active scene, hosting the biggest Pauper event in the world, Paupergeddon, which gathered over one thousand players in its latest edition. Wizards of the Coast has slowly moved to give Pauper more official support through the Pauper Format Panel, an advisory panel led by Magic's principal designer Gavin Verhey that regulates bans and submits Pauper-related recommendations to the design team.
There has been a lot of talk recently about Wizards deciding to fully support Pauper with dedicated products and official events, and this collaboration with Burger King could be an important step forward. Pauper's popularity is due to many factors. First, the format is cheap, as one might expect.
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