Reviewing (some) Tenth Edition art

Before we get into all the tribal lore (and LOTR feel) of Lorwyn with all the cute and feisty Kithkins, wise and wet Merfolks, still rowdy Goblins, scary (Kamigawa spirit-like) Elementals, literally hot Flamekins, big and sturdy Treefolks, (sometimes black) killer Elves, and all the rest that I forgot, let's take a look back at the new art of some Tenth Edition cards.

The release of a Core Set means spanking new art of some reprinted (and sometimes even debuting Core Set) cards. These cards might be Core Set regulars that have been sporting updated artwork as they were reprinted in past Core Sets, Core Set regulars that has never had new artwork ever even as they got reprinted, or debuting Core Set cards (thus never having the chance for an updated artwork).

Being an art afficionado (though not exactly an artist), I always take time to appreciate the new artwork of (new) releases. Tenth Edition being a Core Set and Core Sets being what they are, it will be much easier to look and choose through all the new art because I don't need to look at ALL of the cards. Sorting them is another matter though and my most gracious thanks to Cebu Regionals Qualifier 2nd placer Ramon "JR" Alivio for providing the list of Tenth Edition cards having new artwork. Obviously, Ramon had plenty of time in his hands.

Before anything else, here are some "disclaimers" to my "judging" technique:

1. As I'm not an artist myself (ey, I draw a bit but only for my own appreciation), the opinions here are purely my own and are debatable (well, what topic isn't debatable?). And that's why there's a forum for the debate. Have something to say? Post it!

2. How do I look at the art? Firstly, the art has to do something. A good illustration has to show a clear interpretation of its ability rather than just being a studio pose. The art has to "move". No movement means no fun. Readers might notice that there isn't one legendary creature in my list. Obviously, all these legendary creatures look like they are just posing. Probably the closest legendary creature that can be mentioned is Squee but the funny thing is, he's not shown as a nabob.

3. Second way that I look at the art is probably my normal human perception on appreciating how the colors are mixed together to form the masterpiece, how realistic the illustration is, how detailed is the drawing, etc.

4. While going over each drawing, I went through the process of giving each piece a rating from 1 to 5. 5 is very nice, 4 is good, 3 is average, 2 is "could be better", and 1 is really sucky. Maybe I'm scared of myself giving a rating of 1 because I'm not an artist (I'm biased to myself) so not one new art got 1. But I did give some 2s.

5. Not to impend me further considering my lack of artistic experience, I chose ten "top" artworks from the criteria above. They are not in order of preference. It's too difficult and too much effort to rank each art.

Without further ado, here are my top ten number 5s (I placed my initial reaction as well as further observations upon better scrutiny):



Air Elemental by Kev Walker
"better than previous, a much more intimidating elemental"

Kev Walker has always been well-known for his cutting edge artwork and he delivers big time with this more intimidating Air Elemental. Air Elemental has long been a favorite of mine (5 to cast 4/4 is good for beginners). Though the art makes Air Elemental look like Cloud Elemental (which is also incidentally in Tenth Ed), Air Elemental gets the nod.



Diabolic Tutor
"awesome and very diabolic"

How else do you show the gaining of additional knowledge through searching for that (possibly) one card to win you the game? One needs the diabolic aid of a tutor, in this case, shown by the skeleton (a possible symbol of evil and diabolism). Of course this art could be mistaken for any other black tutor spell out there but I'm giving a nod to the diabolism of Diabolic Tutor here.



Earth Elemental
"Rock on!"

Another favorite from the first impression. Earth Elemental being red certainly helps to give us an idea that it's the color of violence and chaos and the art is chaotic enought and befitting Earth Elemental. I was surprised that Anthony S. Waters did this. But then again, I haven't been looking really close at his works. My bad.



Evacuation
"I love the showing of the hands, it's trying to show that the pieces are being summoned back"

Well obviously that's what Evacuation is supposed to do... I've seen the other artwork for Evacuation and so far this one really shows a real evacuation but not necessarily done by entities that needs to evacuate. The hands provide the appropriate communication to us. Incidentally, the game of Magic uses hands.



Firebreathing
"nice vibrant colors of a creature breathing fire"

Now that's what I call breathing fire. And the fiery feel to it add justice to the card. I'm a fan of Briclot art too and this one really gets to me. Seems like I could feel the heat whenever I play this card (though playing the card is seldom).



Holy Day
"the weapons going up is just what the card does"

At a closer look, you'll see the arrows going up (and floating?). The illustration shows a war in mid-action. It's moving, yet it's not. Go figure.



Incinerate
"3 words: Burn, baby, burn!"

This art was chosen by readers and players of magicthegathering.com. From the sketch alone, you could see that the creature (looks like a zombie or a normal soldier) is being burned bad. Thus my initial 3 words. By the way, I think the Boros & Szikszai tandem has a great future ahead of them. They constantly turn up really good artworks.



Might of Oaks
"Matt Cavotta lost out on the poll, this one's really much cooler with the big oak fists and all"

I remember the poll. As much as I like Matt's work, the Jeremy Jarvis version blew me away. Yup, big oak fists. Now that's mighty. Nice symbolism all in all.



Regeneration
"wicked! the representation of regeneration is just wicked"

Regeneration reminds me of that "skin" regeneration spell from Kamigawa that had the creature removing the excess skin the symbolize the regeneration. That was kind of gross in a way of describing it. Tenth Ed Regeneration removes the gross part with the symbolism of flowers. Okay, it's now flowery.



The Hive
"nice creature producer and nice art to it"

What a funny initial comment. Well, I couldn't find a better way of describing this creature generator. I like how golden (or yellow) the hive is. Is it because it's all shiny that I'm attracted to the art.

Here are the other cards in Tenth Ed that I gave a rating of 5:

Faerie Conclave
Forbidding Watchtower
Fountain of Youth
Ghitu Encampment
Giant Growth
Hill Giant
Holy Strength
Legacy Weapon
Nekrataal
Overgrowth
Puppeteer
Robe of Mirrors
Sea Monster
Serra's Embrace
Shivan Hellkite
Story Circle
Sudden Impact
Time Stretch
Uncontrollable Anger
Unholy Strength
Wall of Air

Unexpectedly, I've got all five colors (and an artifact) present in my top ten. Too bad that there's no land though I did consider Faerie Conclave, Forbidding Watchtower, and Ghitu Encampment to be right up there with the rest of the 10.

Incidentally, here are cards from Tenth Ed that I gave a score of 2:

Bog Wraith
Lord of the Pit
Suntail Hawk
Wild Griffin

My decision on Lord of the Pit must be biased because I didn't vote for it. Hehehe. Well, I really consider it to be non-demonic considering how the left arm is positioned. It reminds me of gayness (ey, no offense to gay people).

All card images are courtesy of magicthegathering.com.

Polls

The link above is for Wizard Universe´s Captain America poll. There are 5 choices, namely: Hawkeye, Falcon, USAgent, Punisher, and Winter Soldier. Here are my takes on each choice and why I chose who I chose.

Hawkeye is an archer and he needs his bow and arrows. Although I think he´s as agile and athletic as Steve Rogers, Hawkeye is too hot tempered and too unpatriotic to don the mantle of Captain America.

Falcon definitely can´t be Captain America. The dude is too buffed up. I wonder if he´d be able to jump around the way Cap does.

Punisher is a hitman, a gunman and any other ¨man¨ as long as it´s associated with a gun. How ironic that Cap uses a shield (which can be described as the opposite of the gun because the shield deflects projectile objects like a gun). Punisher as Captain America would mean a gun-wielding Cap. And considering how sane (or insane) Frank Castle is, no villain would remain alive if the are captured by the Punisher-Captain America. And in closing on the discussion about the Punisher, he is too much of a vigilante to be Captain America.

Winter Soldier would be the next closest to the character I supposedly chose. Which leads me to the defining point on why I chose USAgent (despite probably some character issues with the Agent): the use of the shield. USAgent is probably the best suited person to wield a shield. He should be comfortable enough and he´s almost Captain America. But it´d be a gimme already if that´s the case right. So anyway, I wouldn´t be surprised if Marvel Comics would choose Winter Soldier to be the next Captain America.



The second link is for Wizard Universe´s poll for Spider-Man´s worst costumes. And again, a take on each choice.

The Ben Reilly version is probably the sleekest of the 5. It looks good and close to the Spidey original costume.

The Spider-man 2099 is probably a homage to the Black Spider-man costume and in a ¨dark¨ futuristic age, the black costume fits the bill. He just doesn´t look all that friendly being black.

I personally read the issue that featured the Silver Spider Armor prominently. I think the cover itself prompted me to ask my father to buy the comic book for me. It was the 100th issue of Web of Spider-man. I forgot the villain he was facing but Peter Parker had to do something about his costume (or had to think up of something) to not get killed easily so in a snap he made the armor. Of course he won against the villain!

The red and gold spider armor is courtesy of Tony Stark and featured prominently in Civil War. It´s actually a cool costume too and with all the arms coming out behind him.

And finally, the worst of the 5. Scarlet Spider costume with the grey (or blue) hooded jacket (or vest). I mean, where in Heaven´s name did he get such a jacket? And with the weird positioning of the spider symbol? Sheesh. No wonder Wizards voted this as the lamest character - off the charts!