MTG Top 10: WORST Art | Magic: the Gathering | Episode 156
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- čas přidán 30. 05. 2024
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I get disagreeing with me, and pointing out things that I didn't see initially (like the Scavenger taking a ring off of the hand), but those of you who seem to think that your opinion about art is 100% correct, and I am 100% wrong about the art I dislike don't seem to get what "opinion" means! We all have different tastes when it comes to pretty much everything, including art. I'm not trying to say the cards in this video have universally bad art that everyone hates, I'm just saying that I personally don't like the art on these cards. How can I be wrong if all I am doing is stating my own opinion? You liking the art and me disliking the art can coexist without either of us being "wrong."
I just think this was a very silly video to make. One of your biggest appeals is how you intelligently and objectively list cards according to a pre-existing basis. To make a random list of your opinions on the most subjective thing in humanity didn't exactly seem like a recipe for success with your subscriber base
@@GacNac I think doing opinion based videos on occasion is good. Also, my subscriber base voted for this video
@@NizzahonMagic I'm not saying don't do it, just why it will definitely be much more decisive then your normal Fridays
I liked the video, I enjoy hearing your opinion on magic cards and seeing interesting cards I haven't seen in years or from sets I didn't really get into. There are so many cards out there that I didn't understand the art but a friend instantly saw what it was supposed to be and vice versa. If its that confusing its probably not great art tbh (unless its trying to be an optical illusion etc).
One thing i think you should have pointed out about Stasis is according to different sources, Fay Jones is one of the original twenty-five Magic: The Gathering artists. Being an established artist in Seattle, Fay did the one illustration for Alpha as a way to support her nephew Richard Garfield. I agree, the card doesn't evoke the idea of what it's suppose to do. It's weirdness though and cards similar to it is what really drew me to magic. I like videos like this one where a little bit of MTG history is highlighted. Keep up the good work!
The scavenger is taking a ring off the dead body's hand
I always thought that was pretty obvious.
That is my take as well
yeah that felt really obvious too
It is really obvious blown up and up close.
He's basically Dio's dad.
Mold demon is fun to look at and I appreciate when the art style goes different directions rather than boring hyper realism 24/7
I wish we had more impressionist pieces in modern magic :(
I do agree. Getting older, I am apreciating the diversity in styles more.
Yeah I think it's awesome. The style of application makes it looks literally like mold
Yeah, it’s a striking and evocative look. I think it’s a nice bit of impressionism.
Yes thats why i love timewalk and statis, wish we got a bit more creative art.
I think Mold Demon is good art, the style is abstract and I like that. It just doesn't fit for MTG
I feel that way about a lot of the art on this list. Especially Stasis. He did preface the video by saying cards that just didn’t feel appropriate for Magic would qualify though.
I don't, it's too figurative to be abstract and it looks very much like a student made the art. Abstract art can be good, you just have to know what you're doing. It looks like Eysing wanted experiment with another style that's different from what he'd done up to that point and it doesn't look great. Like he saw abstract paintings and thought "Oh I get it, it's meant to be a bunch of colors just thrown around nonsensically I'll just do it with a figure in mind."
I like the art, but it doesn't seem to match mold demon, imo. In a different pallette, it might make a good angry thallid or lava monster.
This. Now every single card looks the same and I hate it
@Kel'Thuzad Only people with poor artistic taste would say such a thing, Mold Demon doesn't belong on this list even you're not a fan of the picture, there's much worse art on Magic Cards to choose from.
Obviously I am not the only one who like mold demon.
I like it, but I don't think it fits the name well.
I think it just looks bad. It's just splotches with razor claws and eyes.
@@jebronekitty it goes hard
it's great
With the right restructure, this thing could look unique and great. As a Yu-Gi-Oh player, some extra detail and darker lighting would make this feel right at home as a vanilla monster.
Stasis was the one and only card illustrated by Fay Jones, aunt of Richard Garfield. That's a fun fact for y'all.
Wow, never knew that, thanks for the factoid. My best 60 card deck is a control faerie stasis lock deck, I love the card Stasis even if the artwork is a little wacky.
Nepotism at its best
I believe it was also a fill-in because a piece of art was missing or something. I can't remember the details but it wasn't the best planned piece of art.
I've always really liked the art on Stasis.
I think it is so intricate in it's meaning that you have to enter stasis to understand what it meant
I think mold demon is supposed to be more abstract. I kind of like it, but not so much on a magic card.
Yea. I mean I like the art in a vacuum, but like it clashes so much with the rest or with the cardframe
agreed, mold demon was actually my favorite art because it was abstract and disturbing.
There were many cards with abstract art in the beginning, I really liked it and found it fitting.
Now it’s all gone and everything is just regular computer drawings.
If a kid painted that Mold Demon I would be very very concerned...
I disagree heabily with the inclusion of mold demon, but i am very happy you included it as I had never seen mold demon before and have fallen in love with its art
Its nightmarish and abstract and I think its sick
The art of stasis is on of my favorites, because i always made up my own story about what we see. The artwork kinda fits the theme of "stasis". We look at a scene so strange we cant comprehend it because it has been like that since millenias ( or 10 turns against stasis ). Imagine a board of creatures with stasis in play, they would look even more strange then the artwork.
Also the artist is Richard Garfield's Aunt, a celebrated artist known for using clowns and other circus themes in in her art. It is the only art she contributed to MTG and did so as a favor to her nephew to help attract the art community.
It really feels like the art of MTG has become more and more homogenized. And because of that, fewer pieces feel “iconic”.
Necro but I disagree. The art is more consistent and more routinely feels like it fits in the same universe. There's still plenty of art that looks and feels iconic.
3 words. Deliver Unto Evil.
Allure of the unknown and doom foretold are amazing and iconic to me
Sometimes they still hit gold; like someone mentioned, Deliver unto Evil.
Just imagine if MTG was more abstract thematically like Mold Demon... That'd be so cool!!
I’m waiting for a block that’s all anime styled.
@@ElfHostage a year later and Kamigawa Neon Dynasty has anime showcase arts on a lot of cards :)
Stasis is some of my all-time favorite art. I really miss the abstract nature of early MtG art.
Yeah this one had me rush for the dislike button. While I get it is subjective, Stasis has made best of classic MTG art lists online and off and for someone who likes to do objective lists, probably should have left a couple of these off. Maybe done an honourable mentions section to account for personal taste.
For the argument that more abstract art has no place in magic, I would point to Seb Mckinnon, a modern MTG artist with a huge fanbase. One of the biggest, to be sure.
The danger of making subjective lists when you are known for objective ones, is that people who come to your channel may have wildly different views as they never came to your channel for that reason. Now that I have seen this video, I will listen to Nizzahon and think, 'Ah, he is one of THOSE guys'. I mean it is just art and it isn't a big deal in this case, but it is something to think about.
@@jamiemc2313 to compare seb McKinnon's art to stasis is such an insult to him. Yes, his art is not the boring, generic cg looking story based art of many modern cards. And is very good standalone art, his artwork still conveys at least somewhat what the card it is on does. They make sense in the context of the mechanics
@@jamiemc2313 Seb Mckinnon's art is abstract, sure, but it still looks like it took effort. Stasis has art that I could easily reproduce in MS Paint.
@@mpapalionakis7816 I never once compared to the two artists. I'm not sure what you are talking about, I think you misread what I was saying. I brought up Seb in reference to Nizzahon's suggestion that more abstract/surrealist art has no place in MTG.
It is however interesting you mention that, as Seb was chosen to do the reprint for Stasis.
Stasis is my favorite mtg art in all of magic, period. Seb McKinnon is also a great artist that I like however his art is nothing compared to the masterpiece that is Stasis.
I NEVER noticed that Scavenger Folk is holding a dismembered hand! I thought that was his hand, and I always hated how dumb it looked. Actually, now that it's like holding some yucky hand and they're stripping the ring from it, I love it a whole lot more! That's awesome.
Scavenger Folk took me a minute to understand. It looks like the eponymous Scavenger Folk has scavenged a gold ring from a dead person's massive hand. He (or she?) is holding the ring between thumb and forefinger and staring really, really intensely at it.
Yeah beat me to it. Not that this revelation makes the art any better cause it is so hard to parse
@@gbort1 For me it just seems weird that the card is in green
My..... PRECIOUS !!!
In Scavenger Folk, you can actually see that the Scavenger is lifting up the large hand by the wrist with its left hand, while holding a ring in its right. That's what the folk is gazing so much and why the ring ringer of the big hand is pointed out.
Still garbage art, but you just gotta take your focus away from the big hand to see the smaller hands.
Word of Command actually is from the Alpha (and was printed up until Masters Edition IV). I think I understand what they tried to do there - a mysterious figure commanding you with his eyes, something like overtaking your mind.
This is a really interesting video, considering how this channel focuses almost exclusively on uncontroversial statements about magic stats, and here we have that channel dipping it's toes into a more vulnerable expression of personal taste. I disagreed with a lot of the list and that's awesome, this channel isn't generally a place I go to for opinions and it's cool to see a glimpsr the person behind that impersonal content, how they think and what they value on a more personal level
The Gimmick in seventh edition was that every card had new art. The players did not like those new artworks very much so most were quickly changed back in 8th.
Missed some of your audio on Glacical Wall.
Earth
i don't understand
Stasis for me is one of the most iconic of the early mtg art, up there with black lotus and the like. I know a lot of ppl hate it, but it really just works for me. Most of these others I agree with tho, except scavenger folk
I actually like the dodgy old art. It felt like it had character unlike many of the soulless CGI renders they churn out now
Also, is the guy in Rampart Growth already dead, or just trapped? Because he doesn't look like he's dead - he's still holding his sword, his head is upright etc.
But at the same time, he looks awfully chill for this kind of situation: instead of some kind of frantic response, he's just like "well...I'm trapped in vines that ties themselves around my neck. Maybe I should take a nap and it'll pass naturally".
It also looks far too realistic for the guy while the sunflower looks far less realistic.
I always interpreted that card as:
Rampart Growth = the growth is growing rampant or really fast, hence the thorned vines around him..
I really like the art of stasis. I think it makes sense to abstract art for that card. I wish magic incorporated more variety of artsyles when thematically appropriate. The dramatic lighting & misty backgrounds on so many of the modern cards is cool, but it gets repetitive
The flavor of Scavenger Folk's art makes me like it actually. I also enjoy Mold Demon's art b/c its just different and odd while still nightmareish in the right context. In general, I liked you judgements though and really like the objective videos.
Am I the only one who liked the chaotic nature of the older art styles? I really liked that all the art felt unique as opposed to what is now a ultra cohesive flow. All of the art on this list make the sets more interesting and more archaic feeling... more like uhhh "Magic" cards. Shoot... I always thought it would be cool to do an ultra mystical cycle of tarot cards.
Now you gotta do Top 10: Best Art and maybe Top 10: Strangest Art :P
Stasis makes it to the all the lists
Top 10 would all be cards illustrated by Rebecca Guay though
@@tomaszurbanowicz1559 its so true
The rampand growth artwork is really good imo. Nice composition, lighting and atmosphere.
Hey. I run that particular Rampant Growth. I feel personally attacked.
Nah. Just kidding.
I saw it and immediately thought "man, I really like that art. I should go pick up some copies to replace the newer versions in my commander decks!"
If it was a Naturalize, I wouldn't mind.
I like how confused the dude is.
Honestly, I think the art makes sense in context of 7th edition. It's sort of eerie, creepy, otherworldly in the way 7th edition green cards are. Think of thorn elemental. Creeping mold. Elves as a concept. Familiar Ground. Lure. Nature's resurgence. Nature's revolt. Wild growth. There's this whole idea of nature being significantly more *alive* . Cognizant. Powerful, something you have to battle with directly; it's actively looking to mess with you. Rampant growth captures that in the same way the rest of the set does, it's nature *directly* fighting back.
Me and you are the exact opposites when it comes to what we like in Magic art, hahah. This could literally be a Top 10 list for me.
If you ever need someone to split a lot of random Magic paintings, we should go in on it -- we could probably split them down the middle without any arguments, hahaha.
I like that you're keeping in style with the rest of your Best/Worst videos with this one despite subjectivity. Others claim clickbait, I claim this. Kinda funny how others apparently can't see this simple truth, and argue with you about minutae like "well the intro's not enough to explain the subjectivity away." I won't comment on whether I thought your specific choices were good or not, that doesn't matter. What matters is that people who like to complain will find whatever they can to complain about, so letting it get to you is pointless.
Tl:dr, it's pointless to get so pissed one way or the other. It's subjective but keeping with Nizzahon's normal style of Best/Worst videos, not clickbait, as I have seen argued.
You're right on Scavenger Folk. That's because there's no proper flow of motion. You basically have to read the card and name to figure out the art, which isn't quite good. Hence the late realization that he's stealing a ring.
Good list! I would really like to hear some explanation of Stasis’s art from its artist. Like what even is that.
How would you feel about doing a top 10 most weirdest effects? Like just effects on cards that do really fringe, unusual things- not necessarily bad, but just something you don’t really see on other cards. Reverse Polarity actually gave me this idea. That effect is odd.
Mold demon is a great piece of art. Hyper realisim doesnt = good art.
Case in point, Picasso and the modernism movement.
Bad art is bad art. It looked amateurish, even if it weren't made for magic I'd say it's bad art.
Disagreed, it looks like something my 6-year-old cousin could make.
Art is subjective. That alone implies that bad art is not necessarily bad art. I think it looks cool but I can see why it's not very popular.
@@lexnaum Mold Demon looks creepy AF, maybe the simplistic approach gives it an eerie unnerving edge but it does a good job of leaving the viewer feeling a little unsettled while observing it. Art is more than just trying to make something look realistic, I'm guessing you're not a fan of Picasso.
Stasis is cool. I liked when the art could be more impressionistic rather than adhering to a strict aesthetic theme and setting.
Not going to pick Lure from Ice Age. It is the most brilliant and dumb are for a that card. It depicts a pebbly goblin being pull by a fishing lure. It is my favorite art for that card because of how ludicrous it is.
How about the green enchantment Regeneration? For years I thought it was showing a dude ripping his own head off! I thought it was some hard for flex, but damn if a dude ripped his head off when fighting me and acted like it was nothing, then I'd stop fighting! Turns out he is putting his head BACK on. (I like my interpretation better)
Phil Foglio! He is a legend from Dragon magazine.
Fun fact. The dudes face in flash is actually Teferi
Glad/ surprised to not see any Phil Foglio
Good news! The 7ED Rampant Growth art is coming back for Double Masters 2022!
If Justin Hampton’s art looks like that so consistently over so many cards then I think it eventually stops being his fault and wraps back around to whoever kept commissioning an artist with that style for magic cards. They clearly had an idea of what he was going to give them and they kept asking him for it so at that point he’s just doing his job.
I am really glad you didn't mention the Foglios in your video! #bringbackthefoglios
I love those two! Love them in the old Dragon and Mtg mags.
Scavenger folk appears to be a grave robber. evidence being the dark purples indicating dead flesh, the dirt wall behind the character indicating its perhaps inside a grave.
the selfie comment about Flash was a good one.
I just realised, did you forget that Presence of the Master, Urza's Mita, Unholy Strenth (the pentagram one...and you know the other) and Descendent's Path?
And a few of the cards referenced in the video are in Circle of Protection: Art.
Oh man, I missed the Circle of Protection: Art thing. Definitely would have mentioned the cards on the list that made it on to that card, since it is Wizards essentially acknowledging that people don't like the art of those cards -- including Stasis, which it turns out has a lot of fanboys!
For clarity's sake.
Justin Hampton was very young when he was illustrating for WOTC.
It was his first gig as a professional artist and he has since improved. He now does bold retro art-deco pieces. I highly recommend checking him out. His use of bright saturated colors and wavy loopy lines and shapes make for beautiful visuals.
www.justinhampton.com
I think my favorite art style is Impressionism, and in Magic you get a lot of Impressionism these days with lands that convey enormous scopes or panoramas with highly "detailed" attributes. Although I do love realism, I really hate the newer Eldrazi style that looks completely computer generated- like they belong in a bulbous Jimmy Neutron cartoon. This is painfully obvious when you compare old Ulamog and new Ulamog, or even with Emrakul. Kozilek on the other hand actually has the opposite problem where his initial art was animated in that bulbous style while the new one looks pretty neat. They just look like videogame characters on cards, and that doesn't feel right to me.
Thanks for showing me my new favorite art, Nizz 🤙🏼MOLD DEMON 4 LYFE
Man, I love that Rampant Growth's art... But I totally agree that it is a disconnect with the mechanics.
In Scavenger folk the big hand does not belong to the creature you are seeing the face off. there are two smaller hands in the picture. one is holding the big hand and the other one is holding a ring fetched from the big hand. the big hand seems to be from a corpse in graveyard, probably where the ring was stolen from.
Kinda sad of seeing Scott M. Fisher art here because he made the art of my favorite card ever: Meloku, the Clouded Mirror
Meloku is a gorgeous looking card.
For the OG Flash art just look at straight at the ground underneath the creapy drake creature's tail and it will look nicer, at first glance the art is shit, but if you look at that one area under the tail it gives SOOO MUCH MORE DEPTH AND FEEL TO THE ART.
A bit of abstract stuff is cool in my opinion. I wouldn’t want all the art to be like that, but it’s nice to have a little variety and uniqueness.
Rapid fire needs a big giant "DOING!!!"
As everyone has already said, subjective videos are great to have every now and then.
And I know that this request is older than an Alpha Black Lotus, but gimme top 10 vintage cards.
Photo bombed selphie lol!
Great list, man. Thanks for the content!
Fun list! Mold Demon is one my personal favorites! It's fun to hear other perspectives, though
Scavenger folk is pretty damn straight forward artwork. It really made no sense putting it on this list. It's a pretty well put together piece too.
Mold demons art is fantastic.
While, I get your choices for this list and mostly go accord with you.
The last statement at 7:50 is not what art is supposed to be - not even an a hyper commercial trading card game like MTG.
Yeah the artwork shouldn't be too abstract. But the most appealing cards in the game also have a picture that stimulate you fantasy just by looking at it - Even if the card itself is trash.
Sadly these days the art of magic cards inspires me less and less. There are too few artist like Seb McKinnon for my tastes.
If you flip Rampant growth upside-down looks like Mussolini, he died like that, tied and hung upside-down.
Ma cos ahahah
Number 7, scavenger folk is taking a ring from the finger of a corpse.
The hand is in the foreground and he is staring at the ring.
The art is pretty meh, but not "worst"
Stasis has some of greatest abstract art that we will never see again in magic. I built a Stax deck solely for how much I like the art. The balance of beings blinded by the abstract colors of another's personality puts them at a standstill until somebody gives up the argument. Flavor for upkeep restrictions and depth of the art. Didn't dislike the video because most of it I agreed with.
I understand this is your opinion and respect your choices in art as art is in the eye of the beholder. I love the art to stasis it doesn't need text. Anyone who has played this card or had it played on them will never forget it. I may have a print of it and would love the original but it is way out of my league now. Love the top 10 videos and I will try to figure out my best and worst top 10 art.
Scavenger Folk is also a flavor fail. It destroys an artifact. That's the opposite of scavenging!
What artifact? *whistles casually*
Whatever artifact is scavenged is probably going to be taken apart and/or melted to make it unrecognisable. This ring for example, it may have an engraved name so then it must be melted down so that it can be sold as just gold.
Silver holy cross with gemstones? Take out the gems, melt the silver!
But I don’t know why the scavenger folk must die for this. ;-)
With number 7, Scavenger Folk, you can actually see the little dudes other hand holding the arm along his shoulder. That leads me to believe that what he's holding is also the severed arms ring.
Scavenger Folk is a little person pulling a ring from another person’s (large) hand. You can tell because the large hand has a hand holding it at the wrist, while another one holds up a ring.
I was laughing so hard on your commentary of the art.super good keep it up
I think the art of "Flash" is that the creature is going to attack the figure in white, the face at the front and the white figures are the same person. He is taking steps towards the creature and suddenly he uses magic to teleports to the creature's back to avoid him, then the creature looks behind itself due to not understanding what happened.
I dont really think that mold demon looks that bad. It's abstract art imo which you don't really find nowadays in magic. I liked the old artworks more. There was a bigger variety of art. And I love the artwork of stasis. The only reason I wanna buy stasis is because of its special and cool unique artwork...
I'm with you. I think Stasis is as cool and iconic as Time Walk.
Stasis fans are all probably either old school Magic snobs or art snobs. Either way yous are probably not that fun to be around
I think the art for rapid fire is trying to convey that the Egyptian guy is swinging his sword at the viking a bunch of times in rapid succession. That is why there is a broken sword. Viking was going to swing, got his sword cut in half and was immediately put on the defensive.
Mold demons art slaps, but if needed to at least be a different card if not a different TCG. Like, if it had been a blue black nightmare it might have worked
I don't like that Rampant Growth art because when I first saw it I interpreted the flower as a yellow baby bonnet and I can't unsee it
There is a card from Theros block that might have made it on here. I can't remember the name for the life of me. But it was a group of kind of stiff looking soldiers behind what looked like a simple digital colour background. It looked VERY "bad CGI". Ahh! I can't remember the card.
Absolutely love scavenger folk, what a mood that little dudes face has
The first selfie was taken way back in 1839, actually.
Flash is the shit: It DEMANDS your attention. You can't NOT stare directly into that Zulu's eyes; then that wierd thing behind him is like "wut, fight me boi." I would hang that up as a shower curtain if I could.
I think a lot of your problem with older art stems from the way Wizards of the Coast used to deal with the artists. Back in the 90's, the only direction the card design team would give the artist was the name of the card they were painting. Which is why we ended up with Force of Will looking like it was a red card, because Terese Nielsen assumed it was a red card from the name. I was so glad when they reprinted it in EMA she was given the art to redo. Also, Word of Command wasn't the only rushed art for Alpha on your list. Stasis was one of the five last minute additional rares to the set as well. Fay Jones painted it on a two day schedule as a favor to her nephew, Richard Garfield. I think the art for that gets a bad rap. Imagine you have two days from concept to finished product and you are given such an abstract subject matter as time standing still. Based on the situation, it's a hell of a lot better than two eyes in darkness. :) Not saying you are wrong, just that our opinions differ. Have a nice day.
Atog.
They printed so many of that crap card you could have built a house out of them, and every one looked like a three year old drew it.
I really enjoy these subjective videos. I would rather have your opinion then research I could do myself. I’m excited for you going full time in May!
In Scavenger Folk, the hooded figure is taking a ring off a dead man's hand. You can see the cloaked man's right hand holding the ring and his left on the wrist of the large arm he is holding up.
Little late, I know, but I think what's going on in the art of Rapid Fire is that the Egyptian guy just swung his sword from his right and upwards, but the Viking guy blocked with this shield, but the force of the blow caused his shield to hit and break his sword. That's just what it looks like to me. What I find weird about both it and Justin Hampton's art style in general is how inconsistent it seems almost. I do like his art in general, though I will admit a lot of it feels out of place in Magic, but some I think still fits fine. If I looked at the arts for Illusionary Forces, Psionic Entity, and Flame Spirit, I don't think I'd be able to guess they were all done by the same artist.
Rampant Growth. 1G
Tie Bruce Willis up in vines, so he takes a chill pill. His relaxation pleases nature, so you are awarded another land from your deck.
I feel like the older, more abstract art pieces are special, considering how most modern mtg art is done in roughly the same style.
Rapid Fire is supposed to represent a guy swinging a sword repeatedly at rapid speed. He (The Egyptian looking guy) broke the other guy's sword in his fury and now the other guy is hiding behind his shield, which is getting repeatedly struck.
You are wrong about the “scavenger folk”. You can clearly see both of the folks hands. One is holding up an obviously dead arm. The other is holding the ring they just scavenged from it.
I can think of 20 cards with way worse art lol. But thats just me
I miss the abstract, surreal and goofy art on some of the older cards. This was a time when comic books and graphic novels were super popular. Fine art was extremely abstract. Pop culture in general was going through a bizarre reformation. A lot of these cards fit right in with the general weirdness of those years.
There's a land card called Mogg Hollows with some weird art. It kinda looks like some moggs found a camera and they're trying to take a selfie. I thinks it's great though, I love weird art on cards.
Nizzahon: "This is 100% my subjective opinion. Not everyone will agree with me"
Viewer: *Doesn't agree*
Viewer: *Surprised Pikachu face*
I think the scavenger in scavenger folk just looted a ring of someone''s hand, hence the 1 straightened finger
I enjoy the art of modern MTG cards, but outside of select artists, they do tend to blend together in terms of style. Having abstract or even straight up bad art can really make things interesting once in a while. Frankly, I enjoy most of the art on this list, even if just for a laugh. Stasis in particular is a divisive one. I think I saw a Channel Fireball video where they had Stasis at or near the top of a favorite arts list. I personally really like it just because of how far outside the norm it is. It instantly draws your attention and makes you wonder about the meaning behind the illustration, and to me that's pretty good.
*scavenger folk pops up on screen*
Nizzahon: "it isn't clear what's going on here"
Me: Wtf he's literally scavenging a dead body. How do I know this you ask? Well, if you look REALLY closely, you can almost make out the fact that HES LITERALLY HOLDING THE RING HE JUST TOOK OFF OF THE DEAD GUYS HAND.
Ryan Bob you LITERALLY NEED TO CHILL OUT A LITTLE THERE
The scavenger makes perfect sense. You can see his right hand holding the ring and the left one holding the arm he removed it from. As for his creepy stare, he's just some Smeagol type of fella so what do you expect?
I knew Stasis would be on here. I love the card art! And Scavenger folk makes a lot more sense when you realize he is holding a dead arm that he pulled the ring he is inspecting from.
While most card art is glanced at for a second before moving on, stasis seriously engages the viewer's creativity to derive their own meaning from the art. Anyone who sees it for the first time will spend several minutes scrutinizing every detail, and if that isn't effective art I don't know what is. Same for Mold Demon, to a lesser extent.
I love the Pierrot like figure on Stasis alone. And Word of Command feels very creepily immersive, like a fear that controls you by its grip. I could get how the depiction of warriors in Oldschool Magic is too over the top while I'm ok with it. I always thought the thing on Flash to be Teeka's Dragon in a way though I could make this up completely
Scavenger Folk is a dope piece. The contrast of the dusk sky on the darks in the front looks amazing.
Never liked any piece of Scott M. Fisher.
Also I think Stasis has one of the coolest artworks in all of Magic and I've played a Stasis-Deck for a long time and was hoping for a cool reprint at some point. Sure, it doesn't make much sense but it's still very eerie and irritating to look at since it's taking away a important step every turn and basically freezing time.
Also one of my most favourite cards - Recurring Nightmare - has terrible art in my opinion by Jeff Laubenstein, who also did Show and Tell. Those and other cards done by him always looked far too cartoonish.
I knew stasis probably be on the list. I do think its a miss fit for magic but its also pretty iconic in my mind. it seems to have some mark as a piece though it does feel off for mtg.
Mold demon and Stasis are amazing arts. With old cards, mtg was deliberately attempting to have individual cards evoke the aesthetic of a page in a wizards tome. It makes perfect sense that some visuals would be more abstract than others, even just detailed pencil sketches would work as long as the art is thought out and not actually abhorrently ugly