Unpopular opinion: Aesthetics are overrated. Does it really matter that that your card is foil when you're getting beaten down by your opponent? On the flipside, does it matter if your card isn't foil if you're getting the thrill of victory? Aesthetics only matter when gameplay is not interesting or engaging, and if that's happening, then you have bigger problems.
Unpopular opinion: Aesthetics are overrated. Does it really matter that that your card is foil when you're getting beaten down by your opponent? On the flipside, does it matter if your card isn't foil if you're getting the thrill of victory? Aesthetics only matter when gameplay is not interesting or engaging, and if that's happening, then you have bigger problems.
Popular opinion: *****ting on things people like for no reason is not just an unpopular opinion, it actually makes you come off a bit like a jerk.
Some people have "draft lands". Some people just pull whatever randoms they can find in the store's bin. Neither of these things have an effect on how the game is played or the outcome. It's just a matter of preference. Claiming that people who have a preference about which version they include in their cube somehow have uninteresting game play is not just an unpopular opinion, it's just blatantly false.
I've gotta agree with Calibretto here. I agree with you zpgno insofar as the experience is truly defined by the quality of the gameplay, but that doesn't mean it can't be enriched further with aesthetics. Magic is more than just the game, it also has a rich history of story and artwork that spans decades. To deny that it has any impact on the quality of the experience is just being naive; or intentionally being rude just to troll. There's no reason why you can't have both a quality gameplay experience snd also enhance that experience for the players by selecting versions of cards that highlight the artistic spectacle that Magic can be. Good gameplay and good aesthetics aren't mutually exclusive ideas. It may not enrich YOUR experience, but if it makes it more enjoyable for even a single person at the table, it's worth pursuing.
New Pack Rat and Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni art from the Secret Lair series. I prefer Kev Walker's Pack Rat art from RTR, and I'm not running Ink-Eyes, but the Ink-Eyes art is very cool.
Agreed on both fronts. If I was running Ink-Eyes or even still had her in the on-deck binder, this would certainly be the preferred version. At 40 bucks, though, I just don't see this as worth it. It is exciting, though, that WotC is keeping these Secret Lair products up. I love the Bitterblossom, even if I do wish it had been foil. I'm really interested in seeing what future Secret Lair products offer us cubers.
While we're on the subject of these Secret Lair versions of cube cards, what are thoughts on the rest? I was a little worried I'd be tempted to buy myself a 200 dollar Christmas gift and get the whole bundle, but now that I've seen them all, I'm only interested in the Bitterblossom set for cube.
This is probably just me, but I would run the pixel art Serum Visions over any other version. That said, even if you don't want that kind of clearly non-MTG artwork in your cube, I think any of the other Secret Lair versions of Serum Visions are pretty good to run over any existing option if you run the card at all (though of course there is always the argument for that more organic-feeling original art and frame).
I'm also running the SL Bloodghast because I'm a sucker for having a variety of art styles, plus I love the idea of having a black card illustrated by someone who's worked for Iron Maiden (The LftL is pretty cool too)
This is probably just me, but I would run the pixel art Serum Visions over any other version. That said, even if you don't want that kind of clearly non-MTG artwork in your cube, I think any of the other Secret Lair versions of Serum Visions are pretty good to run over any existing option if you run the card at all (though of course there is always the argument for that more organic-feeling original art and frame).
I'm also running the SL Bloodghast because I'm a sucker for having a variety of art styles, plus I love the idea of having a black card illustrated by someone who's worked for Iron Maiden (The LftL is pretty cool too)
The art style on the Serum Visions didn't do it for me, but I can see the attraction. They were at least in foil. I really liked the Bloodghast/LftL as well, but them not being in foil turned me off from it. I almost didn't even buy the Bitterblossom I wanted because of it being non-foil, but in the end I bought it because it was full art and not just a regular card with different art on it.
I really don't understand why there weren't all just foil or offered in both foil/non-foil for folks who prefer one or the other.
Unpopular opinion: Aesthetics are overrated. Does it really matter that that your card is foil when you're getting beaten down by your opponent? On the flipside, does it matter if your card isn't foil if you're getting the thrill of victory? Aesthetics only matter when gameplay is not interesting or engaging, and if that's happening, then you have bigger problems.
I disagree.
I would counter your unpopular opinion with my own unpopular opinion:
Your opinion isn't actually that unpopular. If a Magic artist literally smeared ***** on a canvas, Magic players would buy deckboxes and playmats with that card's garbage art if the card did something sufficiently powerful. Magic players don't give a damn about the art on the cards, that's why it's all soulless homogenized garbage now. You know, before I played Magic I would walk past the card showcase or someone playing a game and look at a card like Serra's Sanctum and say, "That's a beautiful card." The only Magic card I owned for years until I got into the game was a Kev Walker 1/1 flying spirit token that was given to me.
Magic players only want to play with things at maximum power. Which means they have a smaller pool of cards to work with when building a cube (and therefore less room for interesting and engaging gameplay). If you play (worse) cards with art that you like, you can build around that lower power level and still have interesting and engaging gameplay. Playing a mediocre card (with nice art) opens up possibilities, now one has to get creative and try to support it.
Look at Suture Spirit. The art on this card is amazing. And wouldn't you know, it has synergy with other cards in my cube. Suture Spirit has 3 things going for it:
1.) It regenerates, so it's real good with Banding, the quintessential white ability.
2.) It's a spirit, so it has synergy with the Arcane/Spirit craft theme I have going in my cube.
2.) It makes an artifact, so it has synergy with artifact matters.
3.) I ******* hate looking at it.
Why would I play with cards that I hate looking at? Why?! I don't care how infrequently Oasis is playable in my cube, looking at it pleases me very much and brings the Lawrence of Arabia theme to mind. It's also occasionally very good, it allows Crypt Rats to be repeatable or turns into the Death Star if Horobi, Death's Wail is on the battlefield.
What do you all think of masterpieces in cube? I have to admit, at first I was blown away and would have wanted every one for myself, but after having had some exposure to my Hangarback Walker and Daze (how do I change artwork shown here?) I came back to liking my Mirrodin Chrome Mox much better than the MP. Granted, the Inventions look nice, since the border matches the Artifact-theme quite well, but I think I prefer the original MTG-style to the exclusive feel of MPs in general.
How do people feel about the expeditions? I guess it's not even a question about blinging out your cube, since I'd rather have a foil Onslaught Fetchland than the expedition, but people might disagree.
I don't much care for any of the masterpiece frames, so I pick maybe 1-2 cards to showcase those frames for the cube, and leave all the other ones in the cube OG.
What do you all think of masterpieces in cube? I have to admit, at first I was blown away and would have wanted every one for myself, but after having had some exposure to my Hangarback Walker and Daze (how do I change artwork shown here?) I came back to liking my Mirrodin Chrome Mox much better than the MP. Granted, the Inventions look nice, since the border matches the Artifact-theme quite well, but I think I prefer the original MTG-style to the exclusive feel of MPs in general.
How do people feel about the expeditions? I guess it's not even a question about blinging out your cube, since I'd rather have a foil Onslaught Fetchland than the expedition, but people might disagree.
Otherwise I hate them. I hate most of the art on new cards. I look at the masterpiece Wasteland for example and hate it, wishing it was instead the Carl Critchlow promo or the original art. The original fetches are beautiful, so the masterpieces just ruin them. The original shock duals look great, the master pieces ruin them. The Shadowmoor filterlands look great, the masterpieces ruin them. I like the original and Player Rewards Promo versions of Wrath of God and Damnation, the masterpieces ruin them. Goryo's Vengeance had great COK Block art, don't see why it had to be replaced. There are like half a dozen great Counterspell arts, the best of which is the DOM! judge promo, and the master piece (and pretty much all modern reprints) ruin it. And so on.
It's not that they have weird frames or weird text in the case of the Ahmonkhet ones, it's that they have that soulless new card look to them. It has nothing to do with the fact that they're masterpieces.
I'm going to revive this and ask for people's opinions on the aesthetics of the Ikoria alt-arts.
I don't have strong feelings about the foil extended arts enough to track them down. I did it for Questing Beast, and I don't need to do that for every set.
However, so many of the cards having alternate versions calls to me. I'm probably going to try to get the Mothra version of Luminous Broodmoth, even though it's a bit goofy, as well as the comic-book versions of the triomes, Vivien, and Sea-Dasher Octopus (but probably not end up actually getting all of them due to cost issues).
It's not that they have weird frames or weird text in the case of the Ahmonkhet ones, it's that they have that soulless new card look to them. It has nothing to do with the fact that they're masterpieces.
I think I get your point and agree mostly. There are some gems now and then but on the whole, I like artworks from around Kamigawa-, Lorwyn- and first Mirrodin-blocks the most. I have to say that I like the artwork of the Daze-Masterpiece quite a bit and hate the Nemesis one.
I'm going to revive this and ask for people's opinions on the aesthetics of the Ikoria alt-arts.
However, so many of the cards having alternate versions calls to me. I'm probably going to try to get the Mothra version of Luminous Broodmoth, even though it's a bit goofy, as well as the comic-book versions of the triomes, Vivien, and Sea-Dasher Octopus (but probably not end up actually getting all of them due to cost issues).
Thoughts?
I'm not really into most artworks of the Ikoria alt-arts. They are too close-up for my taste, without using this fact to weave mystery about the thing they are depicting. Just like someone taking a photograph of you being too close. I won't get any of those I suppose.
This in turn makes me like the alt-arts for the Triomes, since they offer some perspective, so I may snatch one up if I get the opportunity. Luminous Broodmoth is a tough card for me, since I think the original art is just plain ugly. Mothra however will be too expensive for me, so I have to figure that out.
In general I think if you want to represent this artstyle in your Cube, the Triomes are most worthwile!
I'm going to revive this and ask for people's opinions on the aesthetics of the Ikoria alt-arts.
I don't have strong feelings about the foil extended arts enough to track them down. I did it for Questing Beast, and I don't need to do that for every set.
However, so many of the cards having alternate versions calls to me. I'm probably going to try to get the Mothra version of Luminous Broodmoth, even though it's a bit goofy, as well as the comic-book versions of the triomes, Vivien, and Sea-Dasher Octopus (but probably not end up actually getting all of them due to cost issues).
Thoughts?
I love the comic arts, but I'm not really a fan of the Godzilla arts. I see the appeal for folks that are fans of the big monster movies, but that was never my jam. The comic art, though, that's right up my alley. Quenton Hoover is one of my all time favorite Magic artists and I think the comic art on these new ones kind of reminds me of his style. I especially love the comic art Vivien. Unfortunately, there aren't that many of the cards with that alt art option that are viable for cube; Vivien, the Triomes, maybe Octopus and Gemrazer. No matter, though, I'm glad they made both of these alternate art options and it makes me really look forward to what they do for Zendikar in the fall and even M21 this summer.
I can't afford, and would be surprised if many could afford getting foil extended arts for every card they wanted to try out. Mothra is a favorite of one of my drafters, so I might trade for that if someone has it, but the premium cost is way too much for these cards to buy. That being said, Gemrazer has a beautiful comic art, and his godzilla version art is hideous. I did get a gyruda, doom of depths as gigan, cyberclaw terror just by chance, and its pretty cool.
Also got a foil extended vivien, monster's advocate and it looks great, convinced me to test it over garruk relentless.
On the previous conversations, AMONKHET masterpieces were illegible, that alone made them garbage except for Hazoret the Pervert. Kaladesh some cards looked amazing, and others were not so great.
I wasn't really a fan of the Gideon and Jace Spellbook series, but I'm liking the Chandra one quite a bit. First foil option for Fiery Confluence, and with good art. Frames look nice. I think I'll be picking it up for Chandra, Confluence, and Young Pyromancer if the price is good. Also a few other cube playables for people that support storm
Is anyone interested in the plethora of alternate art/showcase cards that seem to be the new toy of Wizards?
I personally think the cards are either not visually appealing or, if they are, the artwork does in no way match the flavour of the card. The only exception that comes to my mind is the Box-Topper of Doubling Season, but the rest is just weird. Biggest flavour-fails for me are Cultivate and Blightsteel Colossus.
Sorry for it actually being a negative post, but I'm interested what the community here thinks.
I'm excited for the showcase Toxic Deluge. Council's Judgement and Goblin Guide also look good. Academy Ruins is also nice, but I don't include that card in my cube.
I love Ron Spencer's art, and the Brainstorm isn't bad, but it doesn't beat out DiTerlizzi's version for me, though.
I like having a variety of styles in my cube, so I usually plan to pick up one or two of the various art styles they print. I'll probably pick up Council's Judgment of these. I don't expect these to be particularly cheap, so I don't think I'll aim for more than the one, but I'd consider Metamorph and Deluge.
Popular opinion: *****ting on things people like for no reason is not just an unpopular opinion, it actually makes you come off a bit like a jerk.
Some people have "draft lands". Some people just pull whatever randoms they can find in the store's bin. Neither of these things have an effect on how the game is played or the outcome. It's just a matter of preference. Claiming that people who have a preference about which version they include in their cube somehow have uninteresting game play is not just an unpopular opinion, it's just blatantly false.
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This is probably just me, but I would run the pixel art Serum Visions over any other version. That said, even if you don't want that kind of clearly non-MTG artwork in your cube, I think any of the other Secret Lair versions of Serum Visions are pretty good to run over any existing option if you run the card at all (though of course there is always the argument for that more organic-feeling original art and frame).
I'm also running the SL Bloodghast because I'm a sucker for having a variety of art styles, plus I love the idea of having a black card illustrated by someone who's worked for Iron Maiden (The LftL is pretty cool too)
The art style on the Serum Visions didn't do it for me, but I can see the attraction. They were at least in foil. I really liked the Bloodghast/LftL as well, but them not being in foil turned me off from it. I almost didn't even buy the Bitterblossom I wanted because of it being non-foil, but in the end I bought it because it was full art and not just a regular card with different art on it.
I really don't understand why there weren't all just foil or offered in both foil/non-foil for folks who prefer one or the other.
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I disagree.
I would counter your unpopular opinion with my own unpopular opinion:
Your opinion isn't actually that unpopular. If a Magic artist literally smeared ***** on a canvas, Magic players would buy deckboxes and playmats with that card's garbage art if the card did something sufficiently powerful. Magic players don't give a damn about the art on the cards, that's why it's all soulless homogenized garbage now. You know, before I played Magic I would walk past the card showcase or someone playing a game and look at a card like Serra's Sanctum and say, "That's a beautiful card." The only Magic card I owned for years until I got into the game was a Kev Walker 1/1 flying spirit token that was given to me.
Magic players only want to play with things at maximum power. Which means they have a smaller pool of cards to work with when building a cube (and therefore less room for interesting and engaging gameplay). If you play (worse) cards with art that you like, you can build around that lower power level and still have interesting and engaging gameplay. Playing a mediocre card (with nice art) opens up possibilities, now one has to get creative and try to support it.
Look at Suture Spirit. The art on this card is amazing. And wouldn't you know, it has synergy with other cards in my cube. Suture Spirit has 3 things going for it:
1.) It regenerates, so it's real good with Banding, the quintessential white ability.
2.) It's a spirit, so it has synergy with the Arcane/Spirit craft theme I have going in my cube.
3.) The art is beautiful.
Contrast this with something more standard, say Thraben Inspector.
1.) It draws you a card.
2.) It makes an artifact, so it has synergy with artifact matters.
3.) I ******* hate looking at it.
Why would I play with cards that I hate looking at? Why?! I don't care how infrequently Oasis is playable in my cube, looking at it pleases me very much and brings the Lawrence of Arabia theme to mind. It's also occasionally very good, it allows Crypt Rats to be repeatable or turns into the Death Star if Horobi, Death's Wail is on the battlefield.
Ignoring what Magic players say isn't the answer, it's listening to what they have to say and doing the exact opposite that's correct.
What do you all think of masterpieces in cube? I have to admit, at first I was blown away and would have wanted every one for myself, but after having had some exposure to my Hangarback Walker and Daze (how do I change artwork shown here?) I came back to liking my Mirrodin Chrome Mox much better than the MP. Granted, the Inventions look nice, since the border matches the Artifact-theme quite well, but I think I prefer the original MTG-style to the exclusive feel of MPs in general.
How do people feel about the expeditions? I guess it's not even a question about blinging out your cube, since I'd rather have a foil Onslaught Fetchland than the expedition, but people might disagree.
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Scroll Rack and Strip Mine are two that I'd specifically like to pick up for my cube. I'm also a fan of the Sundering Titan invention.
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What do you mean by masterpieces? Do you mean extended art cards? If so, Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis, Calix, Destiny's Hand, and Ashiok, Nightmare Muse have great Chuck Lukacs art.
Otherwise I hate them. I hate most of the art on new cards. I look at the masterpiece Wasteland for example and hate it, wishing it was instead the Carl Critchlow promo or the original art. The original fetches are beautiful, so the masterpieces just ruin them. The original shock duals look great, the master pieces ruin them. The Shadowmoor filterlands look great, the masterpieces ruin them. I like the original and Player Rewards Promo versions of Wrath of God and Damnation, the masterpieces ruin them. Goryo's Vengeance had great COK Block art, don't see why it had to be replaced. There are like half a dozen great Counterspell arts, the best of which is the DOM! judge promo, and the master piece (and pretty much all modern reprints) ruin it. And so on.
It's not that they have weird frames or weird text in the case of the Ahmonkhet ones, it's that they have that soulless new card look to them. It has nothing to do with the fact that they're masterpieces.
One of the reasons I play with so many COK Block cards in my cube is that they're from what I would consider the golden age of this game's art. Look at Wandering Ones or Day of Destiny or Nim Replica or Gutless Ghoul or the original Imperial Recruiter or Hana Kami. The cards don't look like this anymore.
Ignoring what Magic players say isn't the answer, it's listening to what they have to say and doing the exact opposite that's correct.
I don't have strong feelings about the foil extended arts enough to track them down. I did it for Questing Beast, and I don't need to do that for every set.
However, so many of the cards having alternate versions calls to me. I'm probably going to try to get the Mothra version of Luminous Broodmoth, even though it's a bit goofy, as well as the comic-book versions of the triomes, Vivien, and Sea-Dasher Octopus (but probably not end up actually getting all of them due to cost issues).
Thoughts?
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I think I get your point and agree mostly. There are some gems now and then but on the whole, I like artworks from around Kamigawa-, Lorwyn- and first Mirrodin-blocks the most. I have to say that I like the artwork of the Daze-Masterpiece quite a bit and hate the Nemesis one.
I'm not really into most artworks of the Ikoria alt-arts. They are too close-up for my taste, without using this fact to weave mystery about the thing they are depicting. Just like someone taking a photograph of you being too close. I won't get any of those I suppose.
This in turn makes me like the alt-arts for the Triomes, since they offer some perspective, so I may snatch one up if I get the opportunity.
Luminous Broodmoth is a tough card for me, since I think the original art is just plain ugly. Mothra however will be too expensive for me, so I have to figure that out.
In general I think if you want to represent this artstyle in your Cube, the Triomes are most worthwile!
I love the comic arts, but I'm not really a fan of the Godzilla arts. I see the appeal for folks that are fans of the big monster movies, but that was never my jam. The comic art, though, that's right up my alley. Quenton Hoover is one of my all time favorite Magic artists and I think the comic art on these new ones kind of reminds me of his style. I especially love the comic art Vivien. Unfortunately, there aren't that many of the cards with that alt art option that are viable for cube; Vivien, the Triomes, maybe Octopus and Gemrazer. No matter, though, I'm glad they made both of these alternate art options and it makes me really look forward to what they do for Zendikar in the fall and even M21 this summer.
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Also got a foil extended vivien, monster's advocate and it looks great, convinced me to test it over garruk relentless.
On the previous conversations, AMONKHET masterpieces were illegible, that alone made them garbage except for Hazoret the Pervert. Kaladesh some cards looked amazing, and others were not so great.
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I personally think the cards are either not visually appealing or, if they are, the artwork does in no way match the flavour of the card. The only exception that comes to my mind is the Box-Topper of Doubling Season, but the rest is just weird. Biggest flavour-fails for me are Cultivate and Blightsteel Colossus.
Sorry for it actually being a negative post, but I'm interested what the community here thinks.
I love Ron Spencer's art, and the Brainstorm isn't bad, but it doesn't beat out DiTerlizzi's version for me, though.
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