WotC Cuts Support to Competitive League for Marginalized Players

Last updated on January 21, 2025

Niko, Light of Hope | Illustration by Vance Kelly

In a statement posted on X and Bluesky, the Venus and Mercury League (VML), a competitive Magic: The Gathering (MTG) league for players of marginalized genders, announced that it would cease operations due to the withdrawal of support from Wizards of the Coast (WotC), who will no longer support the VLM with financial backing or invitations to Pro Tour events.

VML's announcement highlighted that it was impossible for them to continue without the invites to Organized Play events; this was later confirmed on Bluesky by VML's Head of Production.

“We found out in early December the monetary support was being cut and we were looking into cutting costs and fundraising if we could still have the invites,” Magic_Mishamigo wrote in another Bluesky post, “but [at] the end of last week we found out those were being cut too.”

The announcement was drafted over the weekend, and published yesterday.

What Was the VML?

Danitha Capashen, Paragon | Illustration by Chris Rallis

The VML hosted a league-style tournament played on MTG Arena, open to people of marginalized genders, that rewarded cash prizes and invitations to WotC’s Regional Championships and Pro Tours.

Source: VML website

According to the VML website: “In the beginning we started out as a group of 20 or so friends who wanted to play competitive Magic together. The league was formed and from Season 3 has enjoyed the support of Wizards of the Coast, who have been incredible in the amount of help they have given us.”

Initially, the VML described the league as “for women and non-binary people,” but as a result of feedback from the community – which noticed that the initial description was unnecessarily exclusive – they changed to the language of “marginalized genders.”

“We know that this wording isn’t perfect,” the VML website reads, “but we also believe that talking openly about marginalization and the real life, tangible barriers that our players face is the first step towards breaking them down.”

Two WotC employees – Play Design members Carmen Klomparens and Arya Karamchandani – were actively involved in the League…

… with Arya Karamchandani also being one of the founders of Team Sanctum of All, currently widely regarded as one of the most innovative teams in all of Magic.

Cradle of Competitors

Readers familiar with top-tier MTG competitors will probably recognize a couple of names from VML's 2024 Championship rooster:

Autumn Burchett, the winner of MTG’s first Mythic Championship in Cleveland, 2019, joined the VML in 2024 and went on to win its 13th Season. And Jason Ye has, according to Jim Davis, “led Team Sanctum of All to really come on as a powerhouse that has not only performed exceptionally well, but done so with unorthodox and complicated decks over and over again in ways other teams have not been able to replicate,” at all Pro Tours during 2024.

“Over 20 players who have taken part in at least one VML season will be playing at Pro Tour: Aetherdrift next month,” notes MTG Scribe's Mike Provencher, “which speaks to the high quality of play we’ve come to expect from veterans of the VML.”

Why Did WotC Cancel Support for the VML?

At the time of writing, no formal communication from Wizards of the Coast has explained their decision to cut funding and Organized Play invites for VML, and VML's own announcement does not explain why.

VML learned in early December that financial support would end, but it was only last week that they were told that Pro Tour invites were also no longer available.

MTG Community Reaction

Fracture | Illustration by Miranda Meeks

WotC ending VML support has sparked quite a controversy in Reddit, to the point that the threads on the two largest subreddits – one thread on r/mtg, the other on r/magicTCG – had to be locked down by the mods, given the amount of vitriol sparked.

Source: Reddit

On the one hand, among the constructive comments many players expressed them having never previously heard about the VLM (to the point that r/magicTCG mods cited it as a reason for locking the thread down). That, in turn, led some posters to wonder if lack of general awareness was perhaps one of the reasons why WotC withdrew support.

“I am non-binary and a well enfranchised player,” wrote u/Paper_Kitty in a heavily upvoted post. “I’ve never heard of VML so I don’t know that they were accomplishing their mission statement in the first place.”

Others noted that the VMLMTG YouTube Channel, while quite prolific, has posted over 120 videos in about 4 years – has less than 350 subscribers, and just a few dozen views on each video. The VML excelled at fostering top-tier talent from marginalized genders but struggled to achieve widespread popularity among the MTG public, which may have been a factor in WotC’s decision.

On the other hand, Twitter and Bluesky have erupted with posts from high-profile content creators and competitors decrying WotC's decision.

It's of course no surprise that Team Sanctum of All has voiced their extreme disappointment, given their involvement with VML…

… but WotC cancelling support for VML has received condemnation from a lot of MTG personalities that had little to do with the league.

“The VML is such a great tournament series, and I love the opportunities it gives to marginalised players,” Autumn Burched said last November, a week before winning VML's Season 13. “For me personally I have been keen to get back into high-level play and VML seemed like a great gateway to that.”

At least for the time being, those opportunities are no longer on the table.

Draftsim has reached out to WotC for comment, but they have thus far declined to comment.