On September 4th 2024, US federal prosecutors file an indictment against two employees of Russia Today, describing in detail how a number of right-wing media influences, including members of a company that appears to be Tenet Media, were being paid by agents of the Russian government in a $10 million propaganda program to further Russian approval among the USA’s conservative population and spread Russia-approved talking points, since 2023
On September 23rd, the Commander Rules Committee, a third party unaffiliated with Wizards of the Coast who set the rules of the most popular casual format of Magic the Gathering, announce a ban on four cards, including three cards with very high secondary market value. Being as these cards are no longer legal in Commander, and their secondary market price is based on their status as staple cards in high powered Commander decks, the secondary market value of these cards begins to plummet as owners try to sell them off and recoup losses. Tim Pool, an employee of Tenet Media and know MtG player, posts the following on Twitter:
Hypothesis:
Some unknown amount of money spent by the Russian government to spread Kremlin-friendly propaganda in the United States was annihilated by the Commander Rules Committee.
