The new reality TV show, Deal or No Deal Island, has been advertised with a custom Magic: The Gathering card leading to some confusion.
Host of the latestDeal or No Dealspinoff,Joe Manganiello, has used a custom Magic card to advertise the show. Not only that, Manganiello has hired out a well-known custom card maker, Nerd of the Coast.
Reactions on both X/Twitter and Reddit have beenmet with confusionuntil someone did a quick Google to get to the bottom of it. The simple answer is that Manganiello is just a big nerd who loves the game.
•DEAL OR NO DEAL ISLAND•Tune in TONIGHT for an ALL NEW episode on NBC!!!#MagicTheGathering@wizards_magic#DealOrNoDealIslandpic.twitter.com/uYg58k1c6d
Over on the MagicProxies subreddit, the creatorsaid about the project:
“Still pinching myself to convince myself that this is real. Having someone with such a large following show interest and love [for] my work is such a great and reassuring feeling and wanted to share [it] with you.”
The card isn’t just a custom Magic card created from scratch. It’s a proxy alternative to the recent Doctor Who Secret Lair card, The Celestial Toymaker (featuring Neil Patrick Harris). If the group Manganiello was playing with agreed, he’d be able to use it in the casual format.
Some X/Twitter users appeared confused about the situation and whether or not Wizards of the Coast endorsed this:
“Okay, so what is “Deal or No Deal Island”? Has this anything to do with MTG? I’m so confused guys.”
Others were more concernedthat they’d missed anotherUniverses Beyondcrossover:
“I hate that I can’t tell what is or isn’t a real card anymore.”
While it might have confused some players and fans of the game, theMagic Mikeactor has been quite open about his love of the game. He was even featured in an episode of Big Bang Theory playing Dungeons & Dragons.
Related:
Manganiello has also been a guest on the popular Magic video series, Game Night. He actually won his match, besting the other threeCommanderplayers in the process.
Joel Loynds was Dexerto’s Deputy Tech Editor in the UK team. He has been writing about tech & games for over a decade, specializing in PCs, hardware, and handhelds such as the Steam Deck. He also has bylines at Scan, WePC, PCGuide, Eurogamer, Digital Foundry and Metro UK.
