Creativity, mastery, and wonder don't just live in the cards of 

. They live in the stories we tell about them, and somewhere within these moments, 

 found its place as Sorcery's premier (and only) fan-made print magazine.

The idea didn't begin with a grand plan. It started, as many Sorcery stories do, with the community.

After a weekend at the Courtesan Cup in 2024, Jack/@ElektrickSorcerer came home energized. The event was the largest community gathering of its time, and something about it lit a fire in him. He wanted to contribute, to make something that celebrated the game and the people who played it. A blog felt too easy. A podcast was familiar territory, but not quite right. Whatever he built needed to feel old-school. It needed weight.

It had to be something in physical print.

If the game was going to have a print fanzine, it deserved a name worth carrying. Jack wanted something with a newspaper quality to it, something that felt like it belonged on a masthead. He turned the options over in his head until one landed cleanly: the Core-ier, a pun built around the iconic Cores of Sorcery. "Courier... Core-ier... 

Jack brought in his friend SpinScott to help with writing, but the workload was still immense: writing, editing, layout, printing, shipping. He handled the layouts himself through issues zero to nineteen. Then, as he was preparing for issue twenty, a graphic designer found him at exactly the right moment. As a result of this fateful meeting, issue twenty is now the first professionally printed edition of 

, a milestone that has been years in the making.

 made its public debut at Gen Con 2024. Jack had quit his job three weeks earlier, and being there felt like part of the same decision, a bet on something he believed in.

He remembers the first person he saw actually reading it. A stranger, sitting with the magazine open. Jack didn't approach him. He just pulled out his Game Boy Camera and took a picture from afar.

That camera, incidentally, is still how he shoots much of the magazine's photography.

With the transition to professional printing comes glossy pages, refined layouts, and artwork showcased in full color. Working directly with Sorcery artists, the magazine brings the game's art and history to the page, in a format you can hold.

For many players, it taps into something familiar. A lot of Sorcery's audience grew up on magazines like 

, and there's something about holding a card game magazine that speaks to them in a way a podcast or a YouTube channel simply doesn't. "It's not the pieces of paper stapled together like it used to be," Jack says. "It's the real deal now."

The digital version is available free at 

, for anyone who wants to see what it's about before committing to print.

The creation of each issue begins the same way: with a running document full of ideas. Match reports, card deep-dives, interviews, and observations from the table. From there, the issue takes shape through a mix of recurring and evolving features.

Some are evergreen. Realm and Reality, for instance, traces the real-world references woven into Sorcery's card names and lore. Others are more time-bound: tournament reports and deck breakdowns that double as snapshots of the game as it stands.

Jack is always looking for the next story and actively seeking contributors who want to share their passion for Sorcery and see their work in print. Anyone interested can reach him at therubycoreier@gmail.com.

 is, by every measure, a love letter. To the game, to the artists, to the conversations that keep happening long after the cards are put away. "I actually get a bit depressed when there are big events, and I'm not there," Jack says. "A lot of them really feel like my family."

Issue twenty marks a new chapter, but the spirit behind it hasn't changed since Jack first sat down to figure out what "old-school" actually meant to him.

 Erik Olofsson, Creative Director and Founder of Sorcery: Contested Realm, put it simply: "The Core-ier captures the old-school spirit of creativity perfectly."

Some stories don't fit in a feed. Some of them belong on a page.

Beyond the Feed: Sorcery's Fan Magazine in Print

Grand Contests are where the realm gathers. Players who have built communities at their local stores, who have contested Cornerstone Champions, or have felt the pull of something larger. This is where they converge.

Where Cornerstone Championships celebrate the communities that build them, Grand Contests widen the circle further. These regional gatherings bring players together from across multiple communities, where the creativity, mastery, and wonder that began at local tables meet on a larger stage.


The journey that started with a few players at a local store, which grew through Store Kit events and culminated in a Cornerstone Championship, does not end there. At Grand Contests, players who have never shared a table before find themselves contesting the realm together, recognising in each other the same passion that built their own communities back home.

A champion will be crowned, but the players who travel to a Grand Contest carry something back with them beyond a result. New stories, new friends, and a sense of just how wide this community has grown.

promotional card for top finishers, featuring art by Marta Molina

 promotional card for judges, with art by Alan Pollack

promotional cards for community champions, illustrated by Drew Tucker

for event participants, featuring the art of Caio Calazans

These kits are designed to scale with your event. Additional kits can be added so that every community is set up for a great experience.

Marta Molina, Alan Pollack, Drew Tucker, Caio Calazans. These cards speak for themselves. Every promo features hand-painted art, a window into the realm you can hold in your hands. Artist Caio Calazans shares a peek into his process with a time-lapse of Croaking Swamp. Watch it come to life and find your copy at a Grand Contest near you.

Grand Contests are a new tier in Sorcery Organized Play for 2026, replacing Crossroads. They are designed to bring players together from across a wider region, typically spanning several countries or states, for a celebration of Sorcery at a scale beyond the local.

These are curated events. Grand Contest status is extended by invitation to select groups with a proven track record of community support.

In the United States, every SCG CON this year will be a Grand Contest event, beginning with 

, on May 29th. Our partners at SCG CON are known for bringing together passionate players, and we could not be more excited to continue to bring Sorcery into that experience at scale. 

In Europe, we are excited to announce that 

 (July 3–5) will be a Grand Contest, bringing together players from across the continent for what promises to be a landmark event.

 And SorceryFest is just the start. The team at White Rabbit, as well as Aquila Games and the Sorcerers at the Core, have been building some of Europe's strongest Sorcery communities, and we are looking forward to what is coming from that part of the realm.

The realm is wider than any one region. We are working to bring Grand Contests to Asia-Pacific as well, and more announcements are coming. 

This is a global program, and it is just getting started!

That brings us to the final circle for 2026: the Avatar of the Realm.

2026 Grand Contests: Where the Realm Gathers

This July 3–5, SorceryFest returns to Boutique Hotel Catshuis in the heart of Leeuwarden, Netherlands. For the first time, it hosts a 

 the first European Grand Contest of 2026.

Join players from across Europe and beyond for a weekend of competition, creativity, and connection.

 Boutique Hotel Catshuis, Leeuwarden, Netherlands

Trolls of the Realm, the team putting on the event, are no strangers to bringing the European Sorcery community together. As one of the region's premiere event organizers, they have been doing it for years. Those who have attended a Trolls of the Realm event in the past know exactly what to expect: three days with people who love the game the way you do.

The Grand Contest, Sorcery’s premiere regional event, takes center stage, where players will compete in a constructed tournament for exclusive prizes, including:

Alt-art Croaking Swamp (all participants)

As well as Community Champion and Judge Promos for the event.

But SorceryFest has never been just one event.

Across the weekend, players can dive into Sealed, Draft, and learn-to-play sessions, including an

 event! Whether they are chasing mastery or discovering the game for the first time, there's plenty of Sorcery to enjoy.

Tournament structure is only part of what Trolls of the Realm are building here. For the event organizers, Ron Dijkstra and Richard Boonstra, the Grand Contest designation does something larger. "This ties the European community in with organized play and connects to the worldwide community in a way that reflects what we have been working toward since the beginning,” they share.

That is the community this festival is designed to hold. Ron and Richard share their ultimate goal: for people to "return home with a feeling that they have spent a weekend with friends playing the game we all love."

SorceryFest is built for players who find joy in discovering unexpected card combinations, who pour their creativity into multiplayer decks, and who want to test their decks against skilled opponents from around the region.

Artists will be present throughout the weekend. 

 are confirmed, bringing original art, prints, and artist proofs, and the team expects to announce a third guest before long. Alter artists will also be featured, a nod to the creative dimension of this hobby that extends well past the game table.

Questions can be directed to trollsoftherealm@gmail.com.


SorceryFest 2026 - Grand Contest Event

Event Details

What to Expect

A Community Worth Traveling For

Sorcery Artists In Attendance

Take Your Seat at the Table

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Beyond the Feed: Sorcery's Fan Magazine in Print

2026 Grand Contests: Where the Realm Gathers