A Russian competitive Magic The Gathering player has demanded to be able to play under a neutral flag, in protest of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.Dmitry Medvedev (no relation to the deputy chair of Russia's Security Council of the same name) is a player mostly known for his participation in Pauper format tournaments on Magic The Gathering Online, but he is also a prolific Vintage, Legacy, and Standard competitor.However, in a tweet, Medvedev has stated his wish to play under a neutral flag instead of the Russian one. In the tweet, he says that, while he felt the situation between Russia and Ukraine previously wasn't "black and white", Russia's invasion on February 24 was "beyond any meaning of acceptable". The tweet also includes a famous photo of the Russian band t.A.t.U. wearing shirts that read "Fuck War!" in Russian.
The next major Magic tournament is the Neon Dynasty Championship, held on March 11-13. The tournament is by invitation only, with many of the game's top players taking part. Medvedev managed to qualify for the tournament by coming first in the recent Pauper Super Qualifier championship on Magic The Gathering Online, using a mono-black Control deck to secure his place. A large part of professional MTG's visual identity is the prominent display of the flags of a player's home country.
Wizards of the Coast has not yet responded to Medvedev's demand, however the Magic The Gathering community has applauded him for his firm condemnation of the events of the last four days. The community has been recommending alternative flags, such as the use of the Apocalypse set symbol to represent "solidarity with the victims of Russia's zeal for Compleation" (referring to the in-game Phyrexians, who are known for invading planes of the multiverse to convert them all into its hive-mind), or the white flag of the Alliances set symbol.
On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine with a large-scaled military attack. While Russian President Vladimir Putin has described it as a "denazification of Ukraine", EU, and NATO have all called it what it is: an unprovoked attack on an independent nation. The games industry has also widely condemned the attacks, with numerous organisations such as Bungie, CD Projekt Red (and its storefront GOG), and Team Liquid all attempting to help victims of the attack.