Gothic is the December 2025 set — 440 cards, the largest Sorcery release to date, themed around dread, devotion, and despair. As of mid-2026, the community has catalogued seven Curios in the set — a smaller number than Beta (18) or Arthurian (24+) only because the market hasn't matured. Boxes are still being cracked. New variants will surface.
For the full primer on what Curios are and how the silence works, see Curio Cards in Sorcery: Contested Realm, Explained. This article reflects the Collector Arthouse archive at this point in time. Expect revisions.
The 7 known cards
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- Fallen Angel
- Realm-Eater (Sketch)
- City of Glass
- The Manor At Daperyll Hill
- Gossamer Ghost
- Gift of the Frog
- Desecrate
Fallen Angel — the parallel commission
Fallen Angel (Curio version) by Scott Kirschner — via Collector Arthouse
The standout Curio of the set. The standard Gothic Fallen Angel carries art by Gerald Brom — the painter whose work defined a generation of D&D and Dark Sun covers in the 1990s. The Curio variant is a parallel commission by Scott Kirschner, depicting the same card from a different angle: a ragged angel curled up in a crater where it would have landed, rather violently, after losing its halo.
Kirschner has commented publicly that he wasn't told his version would be a Curio. He was commissioned to paint Fallen Angel; the publisher then printed Brom's version for the retail run and reserved Kirschner's for the Curio slot. The decision was unilateral.
This is the first documented case of two named artists producing parallel commissions for a single card where one became the Curio. It probably establishes a pattern. Watch future sets for similar splits.
Realm-Eater (Sketch)
Realm-Eater (Sketch) by Erik Olofsson — via Collector Arthouse
The Gothic entry in a sketch tradition that runs back to Alpha — pre-production sketches included as Curio variants. Olofsson's own hand on the sketch (he's credited as artist on the Curio) makes this one of the most direct connections to the design process anywhere in the Curio pool.
City of Glass
City of Glass by Elwira Pawlikowska — via Collector Arthouse
A Pawlikowska piece — she also painted Alpha's River Styx Curio — depicting a brittle, translucent cityscape that fits the Gothic set's dread-and-decay thematic. One of the most visually striking single Curios in the pool.
The Manor At Daperyll Hill
The Manor At Daperyll Hill by Melissa Benson — via Collector Arthouse
Benson is a long-time fantasy illustrator with credits going back to Magic's early days; this is her notable Gothic contribution to the Curio pool.
Gossamer Ghost
Gossamer Ghost (Curio version) by Drew Tucker — via Collector Arthouse
The second documented parallel commission in Gothic. The standard Gossamer Ghost is by Elvira Shakirova; the Curio is by Drew Tucker — a piece he originally painted as a personal Halloween work for Illuxcon, the annual imaginative-realism art show. The window in the painting is from a house on Tucker's daily walk in Bangor, Maine — yard cut back but vines and trees growing wild, paint chipped, glass dark enough that a passerby's reflection looks like someone watching from inside. Tucker painted directly into the sketch, partly plein air.
The Curio carries one of the most charming editorial details in the entire Curio pool: the flavor text reads "The cup trembled" instead of the standard "The candle trembled" — a nod to Tucker's well-known love of coffee. Erik's team picked the piece up after seeing it online and at the IX Art Show.
Gift of the Frog
Gift of the Frog (Curio version) by Pedro Ferreira — via Collector Arthouse
Same artist as the retail print — Pedro Ferreira — but with a single playful variation: the frog wears a small bow on its head, and the Curio carries lighter saturation overall (hands paler, greens brighter). Per Ferreira, this is one of the rare Curios produced traditionally rather than digitally: he originally wanted the bow on the base card, but Erik suggested holding it back for the Curio, so the painting was scanned twice — once before the bow was added (for the standard print) and once after (for the Curio).
Desecrate
Desecrate (Curio version) by Pedro Ferreira — via Collector Arthouse
Ferreira's second Gothic Curio. The standard art depicts a slain priest hanging upside down above an altar with a blood-painted pentagram beneath; the Curio digitally removes the pentagram, leaving the figure and blood splatters intact. Per Ferreira, this was 100% Erik's decision — unlike Gift of the Frog, the edit happened in post rather than at the easel.
Collector Arthouse reads the variant as a probable nod to Magic: The Gathering's Unholy Strength — a card whose original art carried a pentagram that was removed in 4th Edition under pressure from Christian groups. Whether deliberate homage or coincidence, the Sorcery Curio echoes the same edit-history beat: the pentagram print exists, then disappears.
What to expect next
A few realistic predictions, based on the Alpha / Beta / Arthurian pattern:
- The count will climb. Seven is likely an undercount. By mid-2027, expect 12–18 documented Gothic Curios.
- More parallel commissions will surface. The Brom/Kirschner Fallen Angel and Shakirova/Tucker Gossamer Ghost splits are too pointed to be one-offs — the parallel-commission pattern looks established for Gothic specifically.
- The artist roster will keep widening. Kirschner, Pawlikowska, Benson, Olofsson, Tucker, Ferreira — Gothic Curios already cover unusually broad illustrator ground for a single set.
What we still don't know
Whether the seven cards already documented are the full pool or a fraction of it. Whether the publisher will ever comment on the Brom/Kirschner decision. Whether the next set will continue the parallel-commission pattern.
This article gets updated as new Curios surface.
Sources
- Collector Arthouse Curio archive — canonical community archive. Source for every card image and editorial detail in this article; individual card pages linked inline above.
- Scott Kirschner public commentary on social channels regarding the Fallen Angel commission
- Drew Tucker, in conversation with Collector Arthouse, on the Gossamer Ghost Curio's Illuxcon / Bangor origins
- Pedro Ferreira, in conversation with Collector Arthouse, on the Gift of the Frog and Desecrate Curio production process
- Community pull data from r/SorceryTCG and the Sorcery Discord (acknowledged as anecdotal)