I completely agree, and I"m so glad to hear another positive response to this set! I enjoyed all the special treatments in this set, but I was even more impressed by how many heavy-hitters appeared in the mainline art--like Ron Spencer's Mimeoplasm, Scott M. Fischer's Gonti, and Donato Giancola's The Aetherspark.
Hard agree on Cavalier of Dawn and very disappointed that I can't seem to find the original, without the frame, on Hiemstra's... anything.
Curious how you feel about the graffiti styles? Several artists seem to have no real connection to the art form but just sort of received it as part of a brief. Growing up in graff circles, I always hope it's treated with more reverence.
It's pretty refreshing to see a positive take on the extra lists for DFT. A lot of the discourse has been from entrenched Grognards, mostly provoked by the Hat Sets of 2024 I think. Had we gotten this set in a vacuum, divorced from MKM, OTJ and DSK the reception would've probably been much better. Great write up!
Huh, she never did post the full artwork. I'll see if I can fix that :)
Overall I like the direction they went, but I'm also nowhere near versed in that world/form as I could be (which is also why I skip over the anime style showcases in almost every case). My guess is there are some artists added for the look and feel more than experience in the graffiti form, but also folks like Andrew Thompson (SchmandrewART) who have worked that way digitally for a long time
I completely agree, and I"m so glad to hear another positive response to this set! I enjoyed all the special treatments in this set, but I was even more impressed by how many heavy-hitters appeared in the mainline art--like Ron Spencer's Mimeoplasm, Scott M. Fischer's Gonti, and Donato Giancola's The Aetherspark.
Hard agree on Cavalier of Dawn and very disappointed that I can't seem to find the original, without the frame, on Hiemstra's... anything.
Curious how you feel about the graffiti styles? Several artists seem to have no real connection to the art form but just sort of received it as part of a brief. Growing up in graff circles, I always hope it's treated with more reverence.
It's pretty refreshing to see a positive take on the extra lists for DFT. A lot of the discourse has been from entrenched Grognards, mostly provoked by the Hat Sets of 2024 I think. Had we gotten this set in a vacuum, divorced from MKM, OTJ and DSK the reception would've probably been much better. Great write up!
Thanks so much for reading and the kind words! I'm think this is exactly what was needed to get the engines running for a great MTG 2025
Huh, she never did post the full artwork. I'll see if I can fix that :)
Overall I like the direction they went, but I'm also nowhere near versed in that world/form as I could be (which is also why I skip over the anime style showcases in almost every case). My guess is there are some artists added for the look and feel more than experience in the graffiti form, but also folks like Andrew Thompson (SchmandrewART) who have worked that way digitally for a long time
This set was a beautiful blend of legends and brand new folks. Pretty hard to do, but I think it really worked
Just finished brewing with - monument of endurance - the card is amazing