Today, Magic: The Gathering fans are descending on Las Vegas for the first ‘MagicCon’ of the year, one of three major official fan celebrations for the game. And Magic itself is certainly in a great place: there’s plenty of big new sets to look forward to, and even a brand new card game from Magic ‘s current head designer to try. Secrets of Strixhaven was just confirmed as having the biggest pre-release event since 2019, providing a balm to concerned players that even in the age of Universes Beyond crossovers , the demand for original Magic isn’t just there, but ascendant .

And yet Wizards of the Coast is very close to blowing that goodwill up.

Earlier this week, the development team behind Magic ‘s online platform, Arena , announced its intent to form United Wizards of the Coast with the Communications Workers of America, with the supermajority of workers having already signed in support of a bargaining unit that would number over one hundred members of the Arena team across its various disciplines—which…