RENTON, Wash. — Insider sources showed reporters how Wizards of the Coast arrived at the decision to proceed with the wild-west themed set called Outlaws of Thunder Junction. After brainstorming a list of their favorite Halloween costumes, the cowboy theme was selected narrowly beating out fireman and slutty nurse.
“The process was an eye opener for sure,” said R&D Head Mark Swanson. “As we went down the list, we realized how little was left for us in terms of ideas. Shelly offered up pirates. Uh, Ixalan anyone? Ninjas? Done. Mummies? Done. Vampires? Done. Robots? Same set as the ninjas! We had people forgetting angels and cats and gangsters already existed too. We needed more inspiration.”
As Halloween retail pop-ups begin taking over spaces previously occupied by eccentrically named candle stores, WotC’s R&D department took to the malls.
“The trick isn’t to find a single outfit, but to find several to pivot from,” Swanson said, leading reporters around rows and rows of costumes. “Look here for example. We’d never be able to make an entire set based on Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. But fairytales . . . that became Throne of Eldraine and now Wilds of Eldraine. That Zeus costume over there… Theros. Couple of times over now. Eventually we were able to narrow down the remaining costumes and landed on cowboy. Barely beat slutty nurse in terms of votes.”
Each generation brings with it new fads and trends. For WotC this means new challenges.
“These days kids want to dress up as characters from their favorite franchises. It’s one reason why we’re crossing over with other IPs. If you want to know how the concept of Universes Beyond came about . . . well there you go. It may seem like we just opened up Steam and wrote down the games that were on sale, and yeah, maybe that’s how it started. But in the end we want to be sure if you see it walking around getting candy on October 31st they have representation in the Magic: The Gathering universes.”