Late last night, Wizards of the Coast announced that they were delaying today’s Core Set 2021 preview stream and MTG Arena patch in order to observe a National Day of Mourning.
The National Day of Mourning was called for by leaders from several of the United States’ most prominent civil rights organizations to honor George Floyd and his family. Floyd was killed by a police officer who suffocated him by kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes, which sparked a national protest movement demanding that the officer be arrested and charged with murder. The officer has since been charged with second degree murder, and the three other officers who stood by while Floyd died were charged last night with aiding in his death.
“The tragic and senseless loss of Black lives to police-involved violence over the last several years —and the callous indifference to justice in response—should have been enough to persuade the nation of the need for dramatic change,” the civil rights leaders said in a statement. “The last several days have made it impossible to ignore.”
“We call on the nation to join the civil rights community in observing a National Day of Mourning on Thursday,” they continued, “as George Floyd’s family prepares for the painful task of laying their loved one to rest. We will spend the day in reflection and prayer for racial reconciliation and an end to the violence that is ravaging the nation.”
“We stand with impacted families and communities as they remember and mourn George Floyd, Sean Reed, Breonna Taylor and countless others,” the statement concluded. “We cannot rest until we get true justice for African Americans and other marginalized communities who bear the brunt of police violence.”
Today’s stream was intended to kick off a two-week preview period for Core Set 2021, Magic: the Gathering’s next expansions set, and will now be held tomorrow at 10 AM Eastern on twitch.tv/magic. The delayed MTG Arena patch would have implemented Monday’s new Banned and Restricted update, which banned Fires of Invention and Agent of Treachery in Standard and suspended them in Historic, while also changing the companion mechanic. Wizards said that they would provided an new date for the patch “as soon as possible.”
UPDATE: Wizards has also delayed the final two drops in the Secret Lair: Summer Superdrop series.
Feature image by John Lamparski of NurPhoto and Getty Images.