Best/Ugliest Card Artwork

[Cnoedel]

Hey Forum,

So I want to hear your thoughts about your (least) favorite Artworks, since i have to get this off my chest and I am way to often on this forum and there is not much happening
Please don't feel offended, I am sure that every artist did a great job and deserve to be printed. I can see that there are other ideas around artworks and everyone prefers a different style.
Furthermore I had to pick between MANY not-so-good and MUCH MORE perfect cards, sometimes it is the cards design that does not allow to be creative (like some equipment) and please consider that i really like most of the art in this game!

Best:

Block/Nullify - Maybe it is because every Spellbook has them, but both cards represent Mage Wars for me. They look furiously good and I fell in love since i saw them!

Ravenous Ghoul - I loved Magic, since it has a lot of grim and dark artworks, this is what drove me into it in the first place and kept me in for a long time! Ravenous Ghoul to me is the most gruesome card there is so it desevers a mention. But there are better looking cards!

Togorah - Like THIS bad boy ent! He looks really nasty and I would love to play him! (But my girlfriend has dips on the druid )

Selesius, the East wind - Whoa, righteous fire and grace. She looks so awesome!

Pacify - grim, shady, dark: Thats how i like it, even if it is a holy card!

Arcane Corruption - so this one features the paladin and you can see a story in the picture (this is not the only card that does so, but my favorite!) The bear strength (in fact all of these animal-enchantments tell their story pretty simple) brings nothing but pain to the paladin! It is just so detailed!

Bear strenght (alterned artwork) - again a story, but with fun, maybe its not the best artwork and not well suited for this list, but i laughed at it


Worst:

Skeletal Minion/Sardonyx/Deathfang - whats up with this plain skeletons, they look very bad to me! Look at Skeletal Senetry/Knight, this is how an evil, rotten skelly looks like!

Adramelech - If you ask a 15 year old how to draw a cue chubby demon it would probably look like this.

Burst of Thorns - that priests face reminds me of Nicolas Cage. Nuff said!

Valshalla/Samandriel - the 90ies called, they want their style back.

Libro Mortus -  The Necro spellbook is my personal favorite but on this card i had to laugh, was it because of the dumb looking skinned face? Or because of the ridiculous lightning effects that make no sense to me? I will never know!

Funny mentions:

Barracks - I like the artwork but every time i shuffle through my cards I see a modern Base. Please tell me you do too 

Battle Forge - Is this a wookie? Because to me it looks like a wookie!

Decoy - Not sure if cute or horrible artwork but I love it for irrational reasons!

[Ganpot]

Due to the nature of Mage Wars, a lot of cards (while impressive and well-drawn) look stereotypical and therefore made less of an impact on me (since they weren't surprising).  Therefore, a lot of my favorite artwork are things that surprised me. 

Best:

Blood Demon - Unlike many of the previous demons, these guys actually look terrifying.  The semi-hidden mouths on their bodies, arms, and legs make them even more distinctive (and frightening). 

Infernian Scourger - Similar to the blood demons, these look distinctive, demonic, and intimidating. 

Iron Golem - I've seen a fair amount of golem artwork, but these are undoubtedly among the best.  The earth elemental looks extremely tame in comparison. 

Mana Leech - I think the most striking thing about this card is that it is impossible to tell the size of the creature.  It's probably fairly small (leeches typically are), but I like to think it's the size of a house.  The spikes (and tentacles?) all over its body are also a nice touch. 

Samandriel - I know, I know; it's a scantily clad female.  Just hear me out.  I think the flavor text and name of the card are extremely important to appreciating this artwork.  My opinion is that this card carries its theme better than any other card in the game.  Everything in the artwork is blindingly bright, from the sword to the armor, to the angel's wings, to the glow emanating from the center of the background.  Just looking at the card is enough to make my eyes water occasionally.  Plus, angels are typically shown as lightly covered (especially in older art, where they were usually either naked or covered by a sheet).  So I'm inclined to give this card some leeway. 

Worst:

Priestess - She looks like a belly dancer.  What kind of priestess walks around with partially transparent clothes and a top held together by two pieces of string?!  Lastly, what is up with her insanely long cuffs?  Those things have got to be dragging across the ground constantly. 

Knight of Westlock - Most of the card is fine, but that sword looks like a child's plastic toy.  Somebody needs to give that thing one of Sir Corazin's swords. 

Guardian Angel - Why would anyone try to go for both a heavily-armored look and a chain-mail bikini at the same time?!  Pick one or the other.  This also just makes the whole issue of scantily clad angels worse.  Be consistent! 


Some thoughts on the cards listed in the OP: I agree for the most part, but I'm fairly certain the "lightning" on the Libro Mortus card is supposed to be ethereal or death energy.  The statue on the Battle Forge card looks like a dwarf without a long beard to me, but now I will forever also see a wookie.  Why would you do this to me?

[Sailor Vulcan]

Death energy... It's just like time travel. It doesn't make any sense, and if you analyze it too carefully you go insane or destroy the universe.

[Cnoedel]