May 9, 2026 5:00am PT

Inside the Unprecedented Growth of Hasbro’s Magic: The Gathering and Trading Card Game’s High-Stakes Pro Competition

Variety's 'Strictly Business' podcast features conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment

Jennifer Maas

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Jennifer Maas

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James Coletta/Wizards of the Coast

For this week’s episode of “Strictly Business,” Variety was on the ground at MagicCon 2026 in Las Vegas, a convention centered not around slight of hand tricks, but Hasbro’s hit trading card game Magic: The Gathering.

The three-day event featured 25,000 attendees engaging in multiple activities, everything from a headliner panel featuring the MCU’s Paul Bettany unveiling a first look at a new “Marvel Super Heroes” collaboration with Magic, to a “Cat Lair” adoption done in partnership with a Vegas-based kitten rescue. At the center of the convention is one event that only an elite few partake in: the pro tour, which splits a prize pool of $500,000 among the top Magic players from around the world.

Inside the Unprecedented Growth of Hasbro's Magic: The Gathering and Trading Card Game's High-Stakes Pro Competition