The Gathering One Ring art controversy ends with artist admission

In a lengthy Facebook post published hours after the reveal, veteran fantasy illustrator Donato Giancola — who previously worked with Wizards of the Coast for 28 years — accused the company of reusing and modifying older artwork rather than commissioning an original piece. “They just digitally sampled the previous One Ring card from the Lord of the Rings set and flipped and deleted the Elvish Runes,” he wrote. “I doubt Dan Frazier had any real say in how this came about.” In the comments on that post, Frazier’s agent said that was the case, writing, “He did not. After several changes requested we never saw this version.”

Giancolo was referring to the borderless art treatment for The One Ring illustrated by Marta Nael that also features Gollum’s outstretched hand. He alleges that Wizards of the Coast sampled the Ring itself, mirrored it, and then removed the Elvish runes.

In a statement from Wizards of the Coast obtained by Polygon that has since been posted online, the company and Dan Frazier confirmed that Marta Nael’s work had been used in a public apology. “In trying to create an iconic version of The One Ring, while looking at references online, I ended up using Marta’s Ring as a reference and painted over it to try to depict the item fans hold dear to their hearts,” Frazier wrote. “In doing so, I didn’t make it my own.”

Wizards of the Coast echoed that sentiment in its own statement, saying its internal review process “didn’t catch the issue” before the card was revealed. The company says it has also apologized to Nael, will update digital versions of the card to credit both artists, and ensure that Nael is compensated.

Wizards described the situation as unintentional, but acknowledged failures on both sides. “Dan made a mistake,” the statement reads. “We made mistakes in our process to not catch the error.”