With its latest hilarious "Un-Set" in Unfinity, Magic: The Gathering has given fans some fun, weird and hilarious new artwork along with incredibly bizarre (albeit not tournament-legal) effects.
Magic: The Gathering is known for having some of the best art of any collectible card game, ranging from humorous to epic. But with tens of thousands of cards released over the course of the game's 30-year history, there are bound to be a few with art that doesn't measure up to the highest standards.
Unholy Strength
Unholy Strength is a fairly simple spell — for one black mana, it gives an enchanted creature a fairly paltry +2/+1 in stats — but it's a limited staple that pops up every so often.
Shujinco2 pointed out that Unholy Strength is a "classic card that's always had wonderful art." While fans praised the the art on most reprints of Unholy Strength, Shujinco2 admitted that the character in the card's seventh edition art is "one ugly ass dude."
Celestial Prism
While Magic: the Gathering Arena is one of the best digital card games on the market, there are tens of thousands of old cards still not on the platform. One of these is the over-costed Celestial Prism.
User FatTomIV was the first to bring up the prism, and the conversation quickly shifted to the quality of the card text in addition to the art. Comments that the card "is also a really sh--ty card" in addition to its having bad art were prevalent.
Wood Elemental
Wood Elemental comes at a reasonable cost of four mana, but the payoff is a card that requires sacrificing untapped land to gain power.
Redditor quickasafox777 comments that Wood Elemental doesn't just have bad art, adding that it is "one of the worst creatures ever printed." Wood Elemental is admittedly worse than even vanilla creatures, not even functioning as a way to sacrifice lands.
Word Of Command
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Word of Command is infamously one of the most poorly worded cards in the game, but taking control of an opposing action can be a scary effect for just two black mana.
Redditor DerekPaxton commented that "Word of Command always seemed like the laziest art ever." It certainly is one of the simplest cards art-wise in the game, and the lone pair of eyes staring out from darkness doesn't necessarily give the feeling of a "word of command" either.
Mwonvuli Ooze
Cumulative upkeep was a tricky design to balance, with cards like Mystic Ramora being commander staples. Mwonvuli Ooze, however, didn't pack the same punch as its blue brother.
Reddit user GoodLuckGuy comments that "there are so many things wrong with this art, you could write a book about it." The placement of the monkeys near the ooze is certainly bizarre, and there are very few cards where there's so much going on outside the creature itself.
Animate Wall
Animate Wall is a fairly mediocre Aura spell that allows Wall creatures to attack as though they didn't have defender. It's not usually the most useful spell, but it does have some fun uses.
Redditor burf12345 mentioned Animate Wall, with others responding that "The OP said worst, not best," in support of Animate Wall's art. It's difficult to tell if the art is good, bad, hilarious, or disturbing MTG art. Either way, it's certainly memorable.
Kraken of the Straits
Kraken of the Straights is a seven-mana blue bomb that was likely printed exclusively for limited formats, just serving as a big, difficult-to-block creature with no protection.
One Reddit user commented on Kraken of the Strait's low-quality CGI-style look, saying that the giant Blue creature "looks like a cutscene from a PS2 game." Certainly, the card does seem to be of lower quality than cards of a similar style.
Unflinching Courage
Unflinching Courage is a typical Selesnya card. It's an aura that gives creatures different stats and a few various keywords. In this case, it gives trample and lifelink as well as +2/+2.
Reddit user matahxri comments on the card being "ugly and senseless," both in terms of the action on the card and the ridiculous outfits that the creatures are wearing. The scene also brings into question the name of the card and what exactly is supposed to have been the target of the Enchantment.
Blue Mana Battery
Blue Mana Battery is a colorless artifact that generates blue mana for a very expensive cost by today's standards, a four-mana rock that pays two mana for a single charge counter.
Reddit user Everwake8 had some harsh comments for Blue Mana Battery, writing that its art "looks like a screenshot from an Atari game." The comment is undeniably humorous and does feel accurate for Blue Mana Battery's style, which definitely feels similar to an Atari game. Whether that's a bad thing, however, is up to the viewer.
Flash
Flash is an oddball card from early Magic that enabled some wild plays. The card was also the origin of the flash keyword used in today's magic, which allows players to cast creatures at instant speed.
WiggityWackFlapJack first suggested the card, with it being referred to as a "dark age photo bomb" due to the ridiculousness of the selfie-like face looking out at the player. The face notably also seems to be totally out of place with the dragon, adding to the bizarre art.
Source:gamerant.com