The current state of Magic

[KrzyMoose]

I think the art's gone to crap because it's so scripted now.

Veteran Bodyguard and Benalish Hero had the description: "Hero and Super-Hero, make one a girl." Like, that was it. So Schuler created two pieces of amazing art.

Now it's like a ten page description and includes reference pictures of the art/style guide. Nothing good will ever come out of that.

I was literally just talking with some friends about this very issue. My buddy asked if I wanted to go to the prerelease for the new set, and I was like "I have no idea, I haven't thought about it at all." So, I looked at some of the cards, and realized that Magic is basically dead to me for two reasons:

1. The art is no longer imaginative, evocative, interesting, etc.

2. Magic cards don't look like Magic cards anymore.

It all looks so digital. We're supposed to be in this world of fantasy and magic, and yet the game looks like it was made on a computer.

[jandax]

One thing they can't screw up is that feeling and smell of cracking packs.

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[Barook]

The very restrictive limitation for the artist (and WotC's rather shitty pay - cheap bastards) are some of the main reasons why many former staple artists of Mtg don't or just rarely work for WotC anymore. Digital art is also cheaper.

As for not looking like Magic cards, Google identifying freshly spoiled Amonkhet invocations as Yugioh cards takes the cake.

[Ronald Deuce]

One thing I will say in Wizards's favor is that the font they've been using post-M15 looks a lot better than the old new one. Wish they'd incorporate it into the text boxes or make it a bit more pronouncedly unique. Or both.

[Zombie]

I was literally just talking with some friends about this very issue. My buddy asked if I wanted to go to the prerelease for the new set, and I was like "I have no idea, I haven't thought about it at all." So, I looked at some of the cards, and realized that Magic is basically dead to me for two reasons:

1. The art is no longer imaginative, evocative, interesting, etc.

2. Magic cards don't look like Magic cards anymore.

It all looks so digital. We're supposed to be in this world of fantasy and magic, and yet the game looks like it was made on a computer.

Android: Netrunner literally has more organic-looking art than this supposedly fantasy card game.

[Aggro_zombies]

I think the art's gone to crap because it's so scripted now.

Veteran Bodyguard and Benalish Hero had the description: "Hero and Super-Hero, make one a girl." Like, that was it. So Schuler created two pieces of amazing art.

Now it's like a ten page description and includes reference pictures of the art/style guide. Nothing good will ever come out of that.

A bunch of classic artists were brought back for Time Spiral - Anson Maddocks, for example. While you can reasonably expect an artist's style to change and mature over the years, compare Fallen Ideal with something like Cyclopean Tomb or Breeding Pit.

They don't make cards like they used to. I still maintain that the Sue Ann Harkey era of art direction (roughly from Mirage through Tempest with 5th in as well) is hands-down the best era for Magic art.

[Dice_Box]

One thing they can't screw up is that feeling and smell of cracking packs.

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Modern Masters 2.

[Aggro_zombies]

Modern Masters 2.

What, are you saying you didn't like your expensive mythic rare reprint being LP right out of the pack?

[raudo]

We are just becoming old, lads. Old people never like changes. Let the next generation come and let us become the moanig oldies with our pimped legacy and 93/94 decks.

[morgan_coke]

I'm not OLD!!

I'm just saying, one of my neighbors let his yard get overrun by dandelions this summer, and I kinda want to off him and his whole family. I feel like no court would convict when presented with the evidence of how it was damaging my yard too.

[Crimhead]

I'm not OLD!!

I'm just saying, one of my neighbors let his yard get overrun by dandelions this summer, and I kinda want to off him and his whole family. I feel like no court would convict when presented with the evidence of how it was damaging my yard too.

The leaves are actually very tasty if you get them young. Steamed, or fresh in a salad.

Roots are edible too, but I've never tried them. I hear they make good wine.

I'm old, but at least I'm an old hippie.

[Lord Seth]

https://magic.wizards.com/en/article...ore-2018-01-11

A good chunk of those playmats look like total garbage. It's actually shocking how garbage the art/art direction has become.

I was expecting to look at them and think "oh, it's just people complaining because things are different." Then I actually did look and... yeah, pretty mediocre. These probably look okay when shrunk down on a card but when blown up they're much worse.

It's kinda weird that Force of Will is probably the TCG with the best art right now. Yeah, I can see why the anime style might rub some people the wrong way and it can be too fanservice-y at times, but I think it's mostly pretty good and I actually really like the fact everything is full art (well, planeswalker-style full art).

I think the art's gone to crap because it's so scripted now.

Veteran Bodyguard and Benalish Hero had the description: "Hero and Super-Hero, make one a girl." Like, that was it. So Schuler created two pieces of amazing art.

Now it's like a ten page description and includes reference pictures of the art/style guide. Nothing good will ever come out of that.

I find both of those arts you cited rather dull to look at, honestly. Not to say the current art doesn't have its issues, but I don't see Benalish Hero or Veteran Bodyguard as something to be nostalgic about.

I'm also dubious that being overly scripted is the issue. There was tons of great art I remember in Innistrad block (including my personal favorite art on an MTG card, Thalia Guardian of Thraben), and I believe the art was pretty scripted there too. It's more the general direction that seems to be a problem.

[rufus]

...
I find both of those arts you cited rather dull to look at, honestly. Not to say the current art doesn't have its issues, but I don't see Benalish Hero or Veteran Bodyguard as something to be nostalgic about.
...

Something to keep in mind is that the old art had a lot more stylistic variety. If only a fraction of the cards looked like oversaturated CGI, then it would probably be a pleasant thing to have a few cards that are flashier that way, but the phrase 'all ketchup, no fries' comes to mind when I look at RIX.

[l33twash0r]

https://magic.wizards.com/en/article...ent-2018-01-15
Standard:

Attune with Aether is banned.

Rogue Refiner is banned.

Rampaging Ferocidon is banned.

Ramunap Ruins is banned.

So Standard is dead in my eyes. So many bans in last year.

[simdude]

So Standard is dead in my eyes. So many bans in last year.

I certainly do not understand how anyone could have even an iota of consumer confidence in standard given the last year.

[morgan_coke]

Ramunap and Energy aren't combined 40% of the meta, they're combined 70%+. But I guess you can get that down to just 40% if you only count Temur Energy, and not the other six decks that are the exact same but with black splashes, or BUG Energy.

[MaximumC]

So Standard is dead in my eyes. So many bans in last year.

Standard is always boring. When you see all these bans, that's a GOOD THING. Why? it means they're taking risks. They're printing powerful cards, not watered-down Theros garbage. Standard with lots of bans is good news for Eternal formats.

[JackaBo]

Standard is always boring. When you see all these bans, that's a GOOD THING. Why? it means they're taking risks. They're printing powerful cards, not watered-down Theros garbage. Standard with lots of bans is good news for Eternal formats.

True

[morgan_coke]

Standard is always boring. When you see all these bans, that's a GOOD THING. Why? it means they're taking risks. They're printing powerful cards, not watered-down Theros garbage. Standard with lots of bans is good news for Eternal formats.

Nah, they're just getting worse at designing sets and balancing cards. Which was the one single thing they used to have going for them.

[Barook]

Standard is always boring. When you see all these bans, that's a GOOD THING. Why? it means they're taking risks. They're printing powerful cards, not watered-down Theros garbage. Standard with lots of bans is good news for Eternal formats.

Oh yeah, look at all those cards that tear up Legacy! Oh wait. Out of all the banned Standard cards, it was only Smuggler's Copter that barely broke through (maybe Emrakul, the Promised End in 12 Post, too, but I haven't followed the deck). Felidar Guardian couldn't even do jackshit in Modern. Then we have cards like Reflector Mage, Rampaging Ferocidon and Ramunap Ruins which are just laughable compared to real heavy hitters like JMS ans SFM. And energy is just highly parasitic gargabe.

They weren't really taking risks here - they're just piss-poor at balancing their main constructed format now. The most exciting card that really shook up things in Eternal was Walking Ballista (Edit: I forgot about Fatal Push, but that's just another removal spell). Other than that, we had a new Chandra, Nissa, Vital Force and other cards like Abrade and Hazoret the Fervernt, but those are hardly game-changers. The last few sets have been pretty boring from an Eternal point of view.

This is worst possible outcome. We don't get new toys to play with while WotC is going to dial back the power level.