0

Your Cart is Empty

Products
  • Gift Cards

  • June 12, 2019 14 min read 0 Comments

    The release of Modern Horizons marks a new paradigm for Magic, bringing brand new designs and spicy reprints straight to Modern without the need for a Standard pitstop. Even better, with all those spicy new reprints comes spicy new art, which means that 19 cards in Modern Horizons are ripe for the Reprint Rumble treatment. And, for a whopping 13 of those cards, it’s their first time ever being reprinted with new art.

    As such, the release of Modern Horizons means that Modern players aren’t the only planeswalkers getting a bunch of new toys -- art aficionados now have more choices than ever when it comes to which illustration to pick, whether they’re sleeving up Infect at an MCQ or just curating the perfect 100 for the kitchen table.

    This means that, even though Modern Horizons may represent a bold new direction in Magic product design, it’s time for us here at OMA to ask that same old question: do the original illustrations maintain pride of place in our hearts (and decks), or will the new look of these classic cards capture our imagination?

    There’s only one way to settle it: this is the Reprint Rumble: Modern Horizons edition!

    Classic Genius vs. New Hotness, which vying team will reign supreme in this oh-so-Modern contest? To find out, let’s go in for a closer look!


     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


    In the end, the OMA scoreboard shows a virtual split decision: is 8-7 in favor of Classic Genius if we treat the snow basics as a singular entity, or 11-8 on the side of New Hotness if we count the snow lands individually. It’s all a matter of perspective, and you can frame it either way that you like.

    In either case, the vote totals are deceiving, because there isn’t a bad Modern Horizons illustration in the lot -- in fact, even in many cases where I ended up scoring the fight for Classic Genius, the Modern Horizons art is objectively great, and I won’t fault anyone who finds they prefer any of the new reprints.

    In many cases, I went with “does this art fit the card?” as a mental tie-breaker in an otherwise too-close-to-call comparison, and the result is that some downright gorgeous Modern Horizons art ended up getting the short straw just because I felt like it was even the tiniest fraction off-theme. That’s not a knock on the artists, who have continued to turn in amazing work, and we’re lucky to have them working on the game -- I say often that we’re living in a golden age for MTG art, and I stand wholeheartedly behind that assessment.

    As such, whether you’re a Modern grinder or an art aficionado, you can’t go wrong picking up a box of Modern Horizons, and players who want to supplement their existing decks with new-art singles will have more and better choices than ever before. Would you have picked the same versions as the Reprint Rumble did, or does a different collection of art spark your fancy? Cast your vote in the comments and let us know!


    Until next time!

    Please check out our latest Kickstarter ending in 24 hours! - Terese Nielsen's Tokens of Spirit!

     

    test