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[Gentleman Jack]

Old MtG art is an extremely mixed bag. They've gotten much much more consistent in modern releases.

I do miss some of the older artists. RIP Quinton Hoover.

 

[shoplifter]

Just realize again how much better the early Magic artworks were.

Truly.

To be fair, I think the old stuff that was *good* has some sway because it tends to be so iconic now, but at least now there is a high level of consistency in the art. You don't get absolute garbage like you see above.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Not even close. The more modern you get the better the art IMO.

Though seriously, other than CGI gunk like this (both by the same artist), art has gotten more consistently good now. But because of that, we generally have less stand-outs.
The weird thing is that his other art tends to be just fine. One can only guess what's going on with the art in this upcoming set.

 

[RadioHeadAche]

Early in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Cyberstein was exceptionally good. Pay 5000 HP (out of 8000) to summon a Fusion monster without Polymerization or the Fusion materials.

If you owned the right fusion monsters that could get really nasty real fast.

Fortunately, the card was really rare and Blue Eyes Ultimate was not released in US at the time.

Some opponents use that in one of the gba games I have. I remember using magic cylinder on blue eyes ultimate and won. Serves them right.

 

[Siegcram]

Not even close. The more modern you get the better the art IMO.

Nah, you just don't get quality art like this anymore:

Edit: lol, I thought I was the only one who remembers Word of Command.

 

[PdotMichael]

What? The obscure stuff is great! Much for food for your imagination.

But I can see why they went with a more consistent comic style.

 

[Shuggananas]

Old MtG art is an extremely mixed bag. They've gotten much much more consistent in modern releases.

I do miss some of the older artists. RIP Quinton Hoover.

Rebecca Guay is the GOAT of MtG artists

 

[Gentleman Jack]

I actually like Drew Tucker's card artwork.

Jesper Myrfors though, bleah.

 

[HK-47]

What? The obscure stuff is great! Much for food for your imagination.

Spoiler

But I can see why they went with a more consistent comic style

.

A lot of newer magic artwork is very much not what I think of when I think of comics.

 

[Cosmo Clock 21]

Undoubtedly modern Magic art has higher production values, but that doesn't necessarily translate to quality.

 

[Neoriceisgood]

This is a really fun thread btw.

Not a MTG player but it's fun to see how some of these cards totally wreck the game when you think about it.

 

[PdotMichael]

A lot of newer magic artwork is very much not what I think of when I think of comics.

To be fair, I stopped playing Magic many years ago so I'm totally out of the loop, so I will take my first post back.

Just love the stuff from the 90s.

 

[HK-47]

You post Rebecca Guay work and dont post Bitterblossom?

 

[Shuggananas]

You post Rebecca Guay work and dont post Bitterblossom?

I couldn't find a decent one

 

[Siegcram]

Bitterblossom is GOAT. Looks like something Amano would draw.

 

[shoplifter]

I'm really fond of a lot of the old art (yes, even Word of Command) having been playing at the time the cards were made. I just think a lot of it suffers both from what is probably a lack of direction to the artists at the time with respect to what is needed for the card, and a lack of funds to pay.

Seriously, what the fuck is Mana Drain's art referring to?

Stasis is probably one of my favorites.

 

[Simply Sarah]

As some people have said, modern Magic art is much more standardized and consistent. This means we generally don't have some of the worst kinds of art from years past but it also means losing a lot of the unique positive character certain artists would bring.

 

[VoxPop]

As some people have said, modern Magic art is much more standardized and consistent. This means we generally don't have some of the worst kinds of art from years past but it also means losing a lot of the unique positive character certain artists would bring.

Came in to mention this. My gf's brother plays all sorts of TCGs and I saw his Magic deck. Noticed all the art was in anime form. I was baffled and wondered if it was actually Magic cards I was looking at. Wth happened there?

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Statis is pretty evocative artwork. I imagine the duel between two powerful wizards reduced to having every action permanently converted into a piece of useless, abstract artwork upon resolution for the rest of the duel. It's also one of my favorite cards to play.

Other old faves: Doug Shuler, Anson Maddocks, Ron Spencer. The older artworks just had this lurid, pulpy chaos about them that the more focused storylines of the current block by block format seems to disallow.

 

[HK-47]

Nah, you just don't get quality art like this anymore:

Edit: lol, I thought I was the only one who remembers Word of Command.

I love Stasis's art.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Came in to mention this. My gf's brother plays all sorts of TCGs and I saw his Magic deck. Noticed all the art was in anime form. I was baffled and wondered if it was actually Magic cards I was looking at. Wth happened there?

Uh, you mean this kind of anime?

I can't think of any modern art that looks particularly anime-like. If it's not the above, it could have been custom art.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Uh, you mean this kind of anime?

Haha what the hell did they do to Chandra.

 

[VoxPop]

Uh, you mean this kind of anime?

I can't think of any modern art that looks particularly anime-like.

More of the cutesy chibi type stuff and they were all in English

 

[HK-47]

Haha what the hell did they do to Chandra.

I mean at least Jace has his robes. I wouldnt be able to tell you that was Chandra.

 

[DrArchon]

Uh, you mean this kind of anime?

Oh my God. That's just the worst kind of generic anime art isn't it? Holy shit, I'd be embarrassed if I was at WotC and had to sign off on that.

 

[Simply Sarah]

Oh my God. That's just the worst kind of generic anime art isn't it? Holy shit, I'd be embarrassed if I was at WotC and had to sign off on that.

Yep, that's official alt. art. And you'd have assumed this would have been something less recent, but nope.

 

[kirblar]

Oh my God. That's just the worst kind of generic anime art isn't it? Holy shit, I'd be embarrassed if I was at WotC and had to sign off on that.

It's a one and done failed market test- they were doing some Manga stuff as well at the time as well.

 

[fader]

Nah, you just don't get quality art like this anymore:

Edit: lol, I thought I was the only one who remembers Word of Command.

wtf? that art... that effect....

 

[Zornack]

Truly.

To be fair, I think the old stuff that was *good* has some sway because it tends to be so iconic now, but at least now there is a high level of consistency in the art. You don't get absolute garbage like you see above.

Wait, those are supposed to be examples of bad looking art? I think everything except Celestial Prism looks fantastic.

 

[SigmasonicX]

More of the cutesy chibi type stuff and they were all in English

They haven't done cutesy art in a long time, and certainly not chibi. Either he had custom art done, or you weren't actually looking at Magic cards.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

Hearthstone is the only card game I'm familiar with and seems to be underrepresented in here so I will post some cards that used to be OP and some ones that are widely considered to still be.

This combo was widely considered busted as fuck, as against Hunter people were afraid to play minions, which against hunter is a death sentence. Buzzard was changed to a 5 mana 3/2, effectively killing it forever (thank fuck) and UTH was changed to a 3 mana card, which everyone still uses.

You can have a max of 10 mana (save certain situations) in Hearthstone. Leeroy is a legendary, you can only have 1 copy of him in your deck. The Miracle Rogue deck would commonly play Leeroy, Shadowstep Leeroy, then play Leeroy again, then Shadowstep him AGAIN for 18 damage and still have two mana left for a hero power or Eviscerate. This was obviously bullshit, so Leeroy was increased to 5 mana so the combo didn't work anymore.

Probably the most despised card in the game for a long time before it was nerfed to gain just 1 attack, a good opening hand using Deathrattles pretty much won you the game, which is extremely frustrating.

What cards are still broken?

Mad Scientist costs 2 mana. Paladin secrets cost 1, which is still great value. Hunter secrets cost 2, which is insane value. Mage secrets cost 3, which is fucking stupid as hell value. This guy has been a problem for over a year now.

This card can instantly win you the game from a pure diceroll, which is stupid. There is NOTHING more frustrating then losing to a lucky Unstable Portal which gave the opponent the exact card they needed to win.

AKA Dr. Balanced, this is widely considered to be the strongest card in Hearthstone now and is so strong it has changed the meta around itself and the only reliable neutral card counter, Big Game Hunter, which some consider to also be OP because every decks runs it and any minion above 7 attack is now dead.

On first glance it didn't appear that strong, but it soon became pretty obvious that that 1-4 damage could turn the game around completely.The little 1-1 suicide itself into a 5 health minion, then killing it with the 4 damage from the deathrattle became one of the most annoying things to see in the game.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

wtf? that art... that effect....

Stasis/Mine control was so fun to play against friends before the Modern combo cards started falling from the sky.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Ignore the part of about 'both players". The older version required only you to have fifteen cards in YOUR graveyard. Your opponent now has zero cards in their deck, and in Yu-Gi-Oh, if you can't draw, you lose.

Fuck this stupid card. I've only seen this strategy once, but it was the most frustrating thing ever.

I never played the TCG, but I remember watching the anime, and how it almost completely screwed Kaiba over in his duel with Ishizu. https://youtu.be/B1l7OrlU6xE?t=3m44s

 

[Fj0823]

The entire Galaxy Breaker ability in Duel Master was horrible HORRIBLE game design

■ Cross Gear (Put this card into the battle zone. To cross this card with a creature, pay this card's cost again. When that creature leaves the battle zone, this card remains in the battle zone.)
■ The crossed creature gets +12000 power.

■ Whenever the crossed creature attacks, until the end of the attack, that creature may get "Galaxy breaker" (A creature that has Galaxy breaker breaks all your opponent's shields. After the attack, break all your shields.)

 

[Siegcram]

The only good example of MtG anime art:

 

[VoxPop]

They haven't done cutesy art in a long time, and certainly not chibi. Either he had custom art done, or you weren't actually looking at Magic cards.

They were definitely Magic cards. I made sure by looking at the back of them lol. I'll try to take a picture next time and post them here.

 

[SigmasonicX]

To give credit to modern Magic art, there's Endless Ranks of the Dead

 

[The Xtortionist]

Magical Scientist in Yugioh. Turn 1, use a combination of Reasoning and Cannon Solder+Last Will to get Scientist and Catapult Turtle on the board. Then summon and launch 7 fusion monsters to kill your opponent. That's that

 

[Siegcram]

The new goyf kicks the shit out of all old art.

 

[ZeronosVega]

The entire Galaxy Breaker ability in Duel Master was horrible HORRIBLE game design

Heh, before even reading the artist's name, I knew that was a Daisuke Izuka card.

 

[Angry Grimace]

To give credit to modern Magic art, there's Endless Ranks of the Dead

I like how the art on the wall shows Avacyn as a friendly, demure angel figure.

Her actual card she's wearing heavy eyeshadow, form-fitting cleavage-exposing leather and thigh-high boots. Then again, that sounds pretty much exactly like what her in-universe creator would have wanted.

 

[espher]

There are some decent graveyard fillers like Satyr Wayfinder and Fetchlands in Standard, but you aren't firing off Turn 2 Ancestrals with Treasure Cruise like you were able to in Modern or Legacy. So it can be a good card in Standard, but isn't nutso.

OK, for some reason I was thinking Modern was Standard/Type 2 renamed but it looks like it's actually what replaced Extended? I can see why it was axed then, yeah. Legacy is essentially Type 1.5, Vintage is essentially Type 1?

I've been out of this for so long...

 

[ZeronosVega]

They were definitely Magic cards. I made sure by looking at the back of them lol. I'll try to take a picture next time and post them here.

If you can recall the names of the cards or are able to ask for them, it should be easy enough to search on Gatherer.

 

[SigmasonicX]

OK, for some reason I was thinking Modern was Standard/Type 2 renamed but it looks like it's actually what replaced Extended? I can see why it was axed then, yeah. Legacy is essentially Type 1.5, Vintage is essentially Type 1?

I've been out of this for so long...

Standard - Past few blocks (now two three-set blocks + two core sets, soon three two-set blocks and no core sets)
Modern - All cards from 8th Edition on (can be recognized with modern card frame)
Legacy - All cards, minus those on banned list
Vintage - All cards, minus those on a smaller banned list (just cards that don't fit tournament rules)

 

[Zombine]

edit: wrong thread lol

 

[Firemind]

To be fair, I think the old stuff that was *good* has some sway because it tends to be so iconic now, but at least now there is a high level of consistency in the art. You don't get absolute garbage like you see above.

 

[espher]

Standard - Past few blocks (now two three-set blocks + two core sets, soon three two-set blocks and no core sets)
Modern - All cards from 8th Edition on (can be recognized with modern card frame)
Legacy - All cards, minus those on banned list
Vintage - All cards, minus those on a smaller banned list (just cards that don't fit tournament rules)

Yeah, OK then, pretty much that. Interesting they're taking core sets out (or are they just no longer releasing core sets).

 

[Cymbal Head]

Did they really change the card design to make the colored frame end above the bottom of the text box in newer sets? Ugly.

 

[PdotMichael]

The Endless Ranks of the Dead card looks fantastic indeed.

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=180612&type=card[img][img]http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=270369&type=card[img][img]http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=383176&type=card[img][/QUOTE]

ugh.. is that even legal?

 

[Fragamemnon]

Standard - Past few blocks (now two three-set blocks + two core sets, soon three two-set blocks and no core sets)
Modern - All cards from 8th Edition on (can be recognized with modern card frame)
Legacy - All cards, minus those on banned list
Vintage - All cards, minus those on a smaller banned list (just cards that don't fit tournament rules)

Vintage has a sizeable restricted list (only one card of that name allowed) and that list really defines the format. That restricted list concept is unique to that format.

Otherwise spot on.