Exhibition Centre 31st October 2025
Art: Mark Poole
At the end of October 2025 I had the privilege of being invited to attend this Magic the Gathering event along with fellow fantasy artist David O’Connor and our agent / facilitator and fellow art lover Guy Coulson. I haven’t had a lot to do with Wizard of the Coast for many years, but I have had a continuous stream of interest from the wonderful MTG fans over the years in the form of artist proof signings and original art creation on the back of said artist proofs.
The Magic spotlight series is a collection of open invite events, run by Fanfinity, that let anyone play high level ‘Magic’, win awesome prizes and gather to see who has the skill to claim ‘Magic’ greatness, so says the Magic spotlight website and this definitely is what I witnessed that weekend. I have been out of the MTG loop for some time, but from what I ascertained the theme of this event, or the latest IP they have acquired, was Marvel’s ‘Spiderman’.
Spidey welcomes us to Liverpool.
The event spanned 3 days with players paying about £75 GBP to enter the event and play their hearts out on long tables, trying to survive till Sunday when the lucky winner will get $10,000 USD.
Competition tables for players.
When players weren’t playing they could take some RnR and peruse the trade tables and buy cards and art. A number of traders and artists were there trying to make an honest buck. We had a table set up for us to hawk our wares enthusiastically which is exactly what we did. I had a nice corner where I spent most of the weekend painting, selling art prints and chatting to the wonderful Magic fans that had come from all over Europe as well as the UK.
Me pretending to be busy.
David was doing the same, but he had a much fancier art set up than me and his playmates were selling better than mine, the git, but fair play to him. In a surreal twist it turned out that David had designed the order of service pamphlet for my wonderful late partner’s funeral that I attended the day before this event started. I only found out this fact the night I turned up in Liverpool.
David is in the zone.
We were representing the old school Magic the Gathering artists and the punters were loving it, so if you are reading this Hasbro, take heed.
Our whole experience was expertly crafted and facilitated by top coordinator Guy Coulson who did a top notch job behind the scenes and up front selling and connecting to the fans that frequented our stands.
Guy with a twinkle in his eye.
There were many other artists at the event too. We shared a table block with the exceptional artist Chris Rallis who’s art was inspirational to say the least and he looked like he was doing a roaring trade. We had many interesting conversations with the artist Ralph Horsley who’s back catalogue of work was very impressive and a collection of shirts that was just as impressive.
Guy had done a good job with the digs too. After great dining experiences we returned to a high rise safe house after work that had a view of Liverpool that, after many glasses of red and a bit of hashish, was reminiscent of a scene out of Blade Runner.
The Exhibition Centre is located by the huge glowing wheel.
Overall, I think that Fanfinity hadn’t advertised the event enough and there wasn’t as many punters as expected and the coffers were not filled to what we we hoping, but the event was impressive and I hope they do more. The Magic the Gathering engine is the gift that keeps giving for me and although my name is tiny in the Magic wiki it has given me a lot over the years and I am very thankful. As far as a good craic goes, I had a magical weekend with Guy and David and the fans looked excited to be there.