Irene the Alien and Bosco talk queering Magic: The Gathering in Spell Slayers
Magic: The Gathering has never been as glamorously intense as it is in the new YouTube liveplay series, Spell Slayers.
Hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Irene the Alien and Bosco, this new program shows Magic: The Gathering (MTG) fans a side of the trading card game that many have never experienced before.
Each episode pairs our hilarious co-hosts with a myriad of LGBTQ+ and gaming celebrities, with the group raving about all things nerd culture while engaging in a pulse-pounding game of MTG (with everyone dressed in impeccable drag, of course). A combination of hilarious conversation and complex gameplay, Spell Slayers has quickly gained acclaim as one of the most entertaining MTG series viewers have ever seen.
While it thrives as a love letter to this historic game, where Spell Slayers truly shines is how it spotlights the way queer players have always been a part of this franchise’s fanbase. With each conversation, the hosts and their guests remind viewers that not only Magic: The Gathering, but all of modern queer culture has been shaped by the LGBTQ+ nerds who paved the way… a fact that, sadly, far too many people would like you to forget.
The hosts sat down with Gayming Mag to talk about Spell Slayers and the passion for MTG that drove them to create this series. And while discussing things like their favorite strategies and what card mechanics they despise, it became clear that when it comes to how intertwined LGBTQ+ and nerd culture have always been, nobody understands this phenomenon better than Spell Slayers’ resident extraterrestrial herself, Irene the Alien.
“I feel like for most of the existence of nerd culture, [LGBTQ+ people] have been outsiders…and I think that’s why so many queer people are attracted to things like horror and Dungeons and Dragons,” explained Irene, when describing why queer folks have historically been drawn to these kinds of games.
The drag queen first gained fame on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15; despite going home first, she gained attention online for the unique way she combined intricate fashion with her many geeky passions through drag. Attention that was significantly increased during her successful return to the franchise in All Stars Season 10. This artistic approach reflected Irene’s personal experience of finding a game that understands you when nobody else does, with the co-host emphasizing, “[LGBTQ] people’s reality is often very difficult, and so there’s a lot of solace to be found in these fantasy worlds.”
It was a sentiment that her co-host Bosco agreed with wholeheartedly. While similar in their nerdy passions and Seattle roots, this queen had quite a different path to stardom; after dominating the competition with her chic fashion sense and comical confessionals, Bosco made it to the final five ofRuPaul’s Drag Race season 14 and the top four of All Stars Season 10. It was Irene who showed her the amazing chaos that is a good MTG match, with recent years seeing the queen delve into the history of the game she’s grown to adore. It’s that ample research that allowed Bosco to confidently assert many times during the interview that, “[Queerness] is baked into the DNA of this game.”
“A lot of the designers that work on these cards are trans!” The Spell Slayers co-host continued. “A lot of the people involved with the creation of these different domain expansions and different lore updates are queer people… I do think Magic is inherently queer, and we’re really, really excited to just continue queering it up.”
It’s an excitement that shows in every second of Spell Slayers, with the hosts balancing the stress of trying to undermine your opponent with an evident passion for the game. And with their understanding of those who helped make MTG the powerhouse it is today, Irene and Bosco turn Spell Slayers into a necessary reminder that our community is a vital aspect of nerd culture as a whole — even though certain folks would have you thinking otherwise.
Whether it be Magic: The Gathering or Dungeons and Dragons, most mainstream portrayals of anything remotely nerdy reserve these pastimes for very particular kinds of people (namely white, male, and straight). It’s an issue with representation that is sadly reinforced by many within the community, with Bosco detailing, “I do sometimes see pushback from a lot of people who are like, ‘No, this is supposed to be our space. This is supposed to be for us!’ And we’re like, ‘No, we’ve been here since the beginning!’”
This harmful rhetoric has existed since nerd culture first began, with LGBTQ+ people finding refuge in these games but still having to hide themselves from players who viewed their identities as wrong. It’s a discrimination that queer creators have spent the past few years fighting against, with Spell Slayers joining this fight with a very important message: we’ve always been here, and we’re only getting stronger.
“There’s power in representation,” continued Bosco. “We have to be visible. We have to be seen. It is so much easier to dehumanize people that you can’t put a face to… I’m convinced so many people [would] think differently about trans people [if they got to] laugh with me.”
Irene echoed her co-host, recognizing that this series is coming during a time when LGBTQ+ people are facing bigotry in every artistic avenue imaginable. “Things have gotten harder and harder [with the attacks] against our community — it can feel paralyzing,” the alien admitted. “My mission as an artist is [to] create a safe space for you to recharge your batteries so you can go out there and fight the good fight.”
As the interview came to an end, the co-hosts stressed that their show is a space for anyone even remotely interested in Magic: The Gathering to join in on their fun and become a part of a community that has always existed.
Through Spell Slayers, Irene the Alien and Bosco make this game accessible to everyone, all while offering the representation that so many people need to see right now. And when discussing what the future has in store for Spell Slayers, Irene ended the interview by saying, “I’m hoping that we can bring more queer people into the Magic community and [make this] even more colorful and flamboyant and rambunctious than they already are — because throwing a little glitter on something always makes it better!”
Watch Spell Slayers now on YouTube and follow the show on Instagram for the latest clips and updates.
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We love you Irene and Bosco!! Keep it up!