Summary
Even when it isn’t doing full-blown Universes Beyond crossovers,Magic: The Gatheringoften likes to hide references to pop culture within its cards. However, they’re not usually as prone to tugging on your heartstrings as this one players think they may have found in Tarkir: Dragonstorm.
Though players are theorising Fortress Kin-Guard could be an oblique tribute to some well-known canine faces, the chances of it being true are, unfortunately, fairly slim.
Rest In Piece, Cheems And Kabosu
The art for Fortress Kin-Guard by Daneen Wilkerson shows a Dog Warrior for the Abzan clan being backed up by a spirit. Ancestors are a huge part of Abzan culture, and having them return as spirits isn’t at all uncommon. However, who these dogs are could raise a few eyebrows.
As noted byReddit user /u/imnotokayandthatso-k, the two dogs share a striking resemblance to Cheems and Kabosu. Cheems was known for being the star of both the ‘cheemsburger’ and ‘bonk’memes, before sadly passing away in August 2023.
Cheems was really named Balltze, and lived in Hong Kong.
Kabosu, on the other hand, was known as the face of the ‘doge’ meme. She was plastered over many captions in the early 2010s, and gave us much wow, before her image was adopted as the logo of a cryptocurrency in 2013. Unfortunately, she has also since passed, dying at the impressive age of 18 in May 2024.
If this really is a reference to even one of these dogs, it’s quite a touching tribute, even if it is in one of the least-expected places.
Is Doge Really In Tarkir? Probably Not
Unfortunately, as /u/imnotokayandthatso-k points out, ikt is unlikely that this is a a real tribute to Cheems and Kabosu following their death. Art for sets is locked in between a year and eighteen months before it launches. This time does leave room for it to be a tribute to Cheems, but Kabosu would have died long after art was finalised forTarkir: Dragonstorm.
Of course, it could be that this art took on new meaning after it was locked in. Perhaps it started out as a silly reference, or they simply served as the artist’s reference for drawing Shiba Inus, and their death didn’t come until later. Is it still a tribute if it wasn’t a tribute when it was tributed? It doesn’t matter, it’s cute nonetheless.
