Four of the best
April 27th 2010 07:51
This is what Hymn to Tourach looks like.
So is this.
And this.
And this.
Randomly replacing cards in boosters, especially common cards, with an alternate-art version is one of Magic’s best ideas and one of its least frequently used (not since Alliances in 1996). It offered another level of customization to one of the most highly customizable games in history – you might be playing four Hymns in your deck, and I might have another four, but if you like the Quinton Hoover version and I have one of each, it feels a lot more like a face-off between two planeswalkers with different spellbooks. It let you make your deck your own, not only in strategy but also in appearance.
Really, the only arguments against it are that it requires artists to produce more material per set, and that some people recognize cards by their art. And I am not sure that these are even arguments any more. Considering how many hints Future Sight contained for Shadowmoor, Shards of Alara, and even Rise of the Eldrazi, I doubt our favorite artists would have any problem doing another piece or two for ten common cards. And unless you are playing with people who never, ever say the names of their spells, or don’t know how to read game text, there are plenty of ways to figure out what is going on.
It would be rather appropriate to return alternate-art commons to booster packs on the 20th anniversary of the last set that had them. But why release next decade what could be printed today?
So is this.
And this.
And this.
Randomly replacing cards in boosters, especially common cards, with an alternate-art version is one of Magic’s best ideas and one of its least frequently used (not since Alliances in 1996). It offered another level of customization to one of the most highly customizable games in history – you might be playing four Hymns in your deck, and I might have another four, but if you like the Quinton Hoover version and I have one of each, it feels a lot more like a face-off between two planeswalkers with different spellbooks. It let you make your deck your own, not only in strategy but also in appearance.
Really, the only arguments against it are that it requires artists to produce more material per set, and that some people recognize cards by their art. And I am not sure that these are even arguments any more. Considering how many hints Future Sight contained for Shadowmoor, Shards of Alara, and even Rise of the Eldrazi, I doubt our favorite artists would have any problem doing another piece or two for ten common cards. And unless you are playing with people who never, ever say the names of their spells, or don’t know how to read game text, there are plenty of ways to figure out what is going on.
It would be rather appropriate to return alternate-art commons to booster packs on the 20th anniversary of the last set that had them. But why release next decade what could be printed today?
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