I am creating this thread following the response to the as-yet unconfirmed split card-face purportedly in Amonkhet. The card has received a lot of negative feedback as a poor aesthetic decision, and some people expressed a sort of card-face fatigue. So I thought to ask, what card-face/ template decisions have worked well, and which ones haven't? Do we as a community like all these different templates, or do we find them tiresome and/or confusing?
Early on, we had several stages that developed into what a card looks like. They started somewhat stripped down and washed out. Arabian Nights introduced expansion symbols. The unpopular white border came about with unlimited/revised. Legends introduced gold cards. From Mirage on, the colors became more saturated. Finally, Exodus introduced the colored rarity symbol. After that, the "old card-face" was basically established. Urza's Legacy marked the first pack foils, but I think they were less common then.
The first time (outside of Unglued) that they tried anything too funny with the template was with the original split cards. These were relatively popular here and in Ravnica, but included no reminder text, leading to rampant misunderstanding of the cards. This was later fixed with fuse. Eighth Edition brought about the new card-face, and Mirrodin brought it to black border. After this, Wizards got a lot more bold about changing templates. Kamigawa had the flip cards (which are generally unpopular). Ravnica introduced split mana, which came with a new color template. Time Spiral block was wacky: they brought back the old old face, then they made twonew ones. Lorwyn introduced planeswalkers, which required their own card template. Shards of Alara brought the colored artifact template, as well as the mythic rarity symbol. From this point on, most blocks included a variant template of some kind.
Colorless nonartifacts got a template in Rise of the Eldrazi. Remarkably, I don't think Scars of Mirrodin introduced new templates. Innistrad brought about double-faced cards. Theros enchantment creatures got a template. M15 brought the second major change to the card frame, although it's much closer to its predecessor than either is to the original frame. Tarkir block had no changes. Devoid got a template in Battle for Zendikar, and the expeditions came out with their own template. Eldritch Moon brought BFM to fruition with meld. Kaladesh (and every set in the foreseeable future) has its own masterpiece series with its own frame, as well as giving a new template to vehicles. All of these are cards you can pull from (at the time) standard legal booster packs. There are plenty of other wacky card-faces out there among promotional cards and supplemental sets.
Amonkhet is next, and promises another masterpiece series with another frame. Additionally, we have an unconfirmed, but convincing new take on split cards with its very own template. What do you guys think? Are these kinds of changes generally helpful, or do they meaninglessly service the "we're always changing" brand? Notably, most of these template changes weren't actually necessary for the play of the game with the exception of the planeswalker template, which was required to create the type. Would you guys be mad if they randomly decided to bring back the original card-face for good? Is the aesthetic trend generally positive, negative, or just neutral?
I know a number of people on this site are aesthetic sticklers who pay attention to small details, but I'm certain that the tastes of more than a few people on this site (myself included) are influenced by when they started playing. For example, I started during Shadowmoor, so I vastly prefer the look of hybrid cards to gold card and more recent frames to older frames. I always loved how planeswalker card art seemed to reach outside of the card border, something not done outside of Silver Border Land. The new location of the mana symbols on Future Sight frames annoyed me, but full-art vanilla creature are fantastic.
I think for the most part the frame changes are a positive thing. They generally look cleaner and better. Although that's not to say I don't like the look of the older cards as well so I wouldn't be too mad if they did decide to bring back the old frame for however long they wanted too. Magic is magic, so it doesn't really matter what the frame looks like yeah?
But I do have a slight problem with the kamigawa split cards, those are sort of hard to read. And I can't say I'm too fond of the rumored dusk//dawn card formatting, it almost looks like a printer error ha ha but if that's how it is, oh well.
If they brought back the old face then card readability and information quantity would objectively go down, and the Modern format concept would cease to make any kind of sense. The present (2015) version of the card face looks nice, not that there were major problems with the 8th Ed face. For as aesthetically unique as the "original" face was it definitely had problems.
I really quit prefer the old card face. I've never understood the "readability" issue that people talk about. I can read the cards right fine, and my vision isn't great. I guess colorblind people could have a bit of a problem.
As much as I love the old frame, I think the Planar Chaos frame took it to another level. I LOVE the Planar Chaos frame. It took all the aspects of the original that evoked the different colors, and elevated them. The woodgrain background on the green cards is my favorite.
Eighth Edition and up just seems sterile and generic to me. I do not like the M15 one at all.
The Future Sight one is ok in small doses. I normally don't like mixing frames, but that one sneaking out periodically is kind of cool.
The white cards make it difficult to read power/toughness due to the background on the original frames. Other than that I prefer the old card frames myself.
Can't say I hate the old frames, but since I started to really get into the game around Mirrodin, I'm more used to the modern one (M15+ doesn't make much of a difference here imo). But in general, I prefer matching frames throug a deck, so switching around without any real reason would be annoying.
Some gimmicky stuff is alright, as long as it is mechanically neccessary (like split cards or DFCs), or unobtrusive (like miracle, enchantment creatures/artifacts or vehicles).
The only case were they really went over the top imo is the future sight frame - especially because the mana costs are not where you expect them to be and more difficult to read.
The future sight frames were hands down the worst. Personally I like the M15 frames as I thought the previous standard had gotten stale. The masterpiece series is the most gorgeous frames that have ever done imo.
I majorly prefer the look of hybrid cards over the multicolor 'gold' template.
Mark Rosewater has said the hybrid template was originally intended to replace gold, but they didn't go through with it because people were used to gold. They were also worried it might be confusing alongside hybrid.
Gold cards really stick out like sore thumbs, especially in two color decks. They hideously break that blended look your deck otherwise has going on.
Notice, by the way, that dual lands aren't gold. Their templating is purely hybrid. The inconsistency irks me quite badly.
I'd be ok with 3+ colored multicolored cards being gold, even better if they were some kind of colorful chrome or something. Or if the gold just had glints of each featured color.
That gold multicolored border just reeks of making the card appear special - when multicolor has become firmly evergreen for a while now.
Every non-core set since freakin' Zendikar has had multicolored cards. And they finally bit the bullet before they phased out core sets and included Nicol Bolas in Magic 2013. Magic Origins, the last core set, had multicolor cards.
It's bewildering, but R&D seems to think that multicolor was difficult for newer players to grasp. I'm sure it would have helped their focus group testing if they tried giving them multicolor templates that weren't that stupid gold.
There is no new player I have taught to play the game who ever had trouble understanding how a card with two different mana symbols works.
It's even the first thing some of them wonder. "Are there cards that cost red and green?" Why, yes Timmy! You're in for a treat!
Hybrid cards are only slightly more difficult to grasp, and again it did not take long for them to really get (and love) the idea.
It's almost alarming that R&D would on one hand make such bold and downright logicially inconvenient templating like double faced cards, but not allow hybrid cards to be evergreen and give multicolored cards the same beautiful templating. If you think having the same templating for two different costing styles would blow people's minds, well we had colorless and generic mana erroneously share visual space for decades.
Now, on the subject of enchantment creatures... I think enchantment creature templating is very nice. It is however, pretty unnecessary since regular enchantments don't have their own special templating. I for one think it would be nice to see, since artifacts have their own template. Of course, that gives us a slippery slope argument for sorceries+instants and creatures to also have distinct templating. Dang if the enchantment creature ain't pretty though. The same desire for consistency makes me think if artifact creatures are evergreen then enchantment creatures should be too.
Mark Rosewater says if they had thought to do it earlier, enchantment creatures would be a regular evergreen thing, and we'd see most elementals and illusions for instance be enchantment creatures.
But just because it's not the grandfathered-in status quo, they're not willing to do it.
You don't call "dying to removal" if the removal is more expensive in resources than the creature. If you have to spend BG (Abrupt Decay), or W + basic land (PtE) to remove a 1G, that is not "dying to removal". Strictly speaking Goyf dies to removal, but actually your removal is dying to Goyf.
Amonkhet is next, and promises another masterpiece series with another frame. Additionally, we have an unconfirmed, but convincing new take on split cards with its very own template. What do you guys think? Are these kinds of changes generally helpful, or do they meaninglessly service the "we're always changing" brand? Notably, most of these template changes weren't actually necessary for the play of the game with the exception of the planeswalker template, which was required to create the type. Would you guys be mad if they randomly decided to bring back the original card-face for good? Is the aesthetic trend generally positive, negative, or just neutral?
Low-power cube enthusiast!
My 1570 card cube (no longer updated)
My 415 Peasant+ Artifact and Enchantment Cube
Ever-Expanding "Just throw it in" cube.
I think for the most part the frame changes are a positive thing. They generally look cleaner and better. Although that's not to say I don't like the look of the older cards as well so I wouldn't be too mad if they did decide to bring back the old frame for however long they wanted too. Magic is magic, so it doesn't really matter what the frame looks like yeah?
But I do have a slight problem with the kamigawa split cards, those are sort of hard to read. And I can't say I'm too fond of the rumored dusk//dawn card formatting, it almost looks like a printer error ha ha but if that's how it is, oh well.
BGGRock
Modern
BRGJund
BBGRock
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
As much as I love the old frame, I think the Planar Chaos frame took it to another level. I LOVE the Planar Chaos frame. It took all the aspects of the original that evoked the different colors, and elevated them. The woodgrain background on the green cards is my favorite.
Eighth Edition and up just seems sterile and generic to me. I do not like the M15 one at all.
The Future Sight one is ok in small doses. I normally don't like mixing frames, but that one sneaking out periodically is kind of cool.
Some gimmicky stuff is alright, as long as it is mechanically neccessary (like split cards or DFCs), or unobtrusive (like miracle, enchantment creatures/artifacts or vehicles).
The only case were they really went over the top imo is the future sight frame - especially because the mana costs are not where you expect them to be and more difficult to read.
W(W/U)U Ephara - Flash & Taxes W(W/U)U || B(B/G)G Meren - Circle of Life B(B/G)G
RGW Marath - Ever shifting Wilds RGW || (U/R)C(W/B) Breya - Artificial Dominion (U/R)C(W/B)
UBR Becket Brass - take what you can, give nothing back UBR
Phenax - Mill
Breya - Combo
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant - Token
Oloros - Combo
Jeleva - eh...working on it
Yidris - Soft Combo
Mark Rosewater has said the hybrid template was originally intended to replace gold, but they didn't go through with it because people were used to gold. They were also worried it might be confusing alongside hybrid.
Gold cards really stick out like sore thumbs, especially in two color decks. They hideously break that blended look your deck otherwise has going on.
Notice, by the way, that dual lands aren't gold. Their templating is purely hybrid. The inconsistency irks me quite badly.
I'd be ok with 3+ colored multicolored cards being gold, even better if they were some kind of colorful chrome or something. Or if the gold just had glints of each featured color.
That gold multicolored border just reeks of making the card appear special - when multicolor has become firmly evergreen for a while now.
Every non-core set since freakin' Zendikar has had multicolored cards. And they finally bit the bullet before they phased out core sets and included Nicol Bolas in Magic 2013. Magic Origins, the last core set, had multicolor cards.
It's bewildering, but R&D seems to think that multicolor was difficult for newer players to grasp. I'm sure it would have helped their focus group testing if they tried giving them multicolor templates that weren't that stupid gold.
There is no new player I have taught to play the game who ever had trouble understanding how a card with two different mana symbols works.
It's even the first thing some of them wonder. "Are there cards that cost red and green?" Why, yes Timmy! You're in for a treat!
Hybrid cards are only slightly more difficult to grasp, and again it did not take long for them to really get (and love) the idea.
It's almost alarming that R&D would on one hand make such bold and downright logicially inconvenient templating like double faced cards, but not allow hybrid cards to be evergreen and give multicolored cards the same beautiful templating. If you think having the same templating for two different costing styles would blow people's minds, well we had colorless and generic mana erroneously share visual space for decades.
Now, on the subject of enchantment creatures... I think enchantment creature templating is very nice. It is however, pretty unnecessary since regular enchantments don't have their own special templating. I for one think it would be nice to see, since artifacts have their own template. Of course, that gives us a slippery slope argument for sorceries+instants and creatures to also have distinct templating. Dang if the enchantment creature ain't pretty though. The same desire for consistency makes me think if artifact creatures are evergreen then enchantment creatures should be too.
Mark Rosewater says if they had thought to do it earlier, enchantment creatures would be a regular evergreen thing, and we'd see most elementals and illusions for instance be enchantment creatures.
But just because it's not the grandfathered-in status quo, they're not willing to do it.
Doesn't that strike anyone as totally lame?
"OH GOD MY BRAIN IS EXPLOADING AT HOW BAD THE ART IS ON MY OWN CARD"
-A friend's first impression of Ancestral Recall
10/10, I tapped.