Opinions on alternate art cards?
General forum
Posted on April 4, 2016, 12:25 a.m. by acbooster
Note I'm not talking about getting alters, that's an entirely different thing. No I'm talking about things like judge promos, full art promos, and really any kind of card that WotC has printed with different art outside of regular sets.
I'm in the boat of, "I'll get it if it's near or below the price of the normal one" myself. I was browsing through tcgplayer looking at random cards when I saw Wrath of God listed and remembered that I needed one for my new deck, Thalia's Debt Collectors. I ended up finding (and purchasing) a few more like Batterskull and Stoneforge Mystic and wanted to ask: What do you think of alternate art cards? Will you go for them if you see them? Will you only buy them if they're near the same price or cheaper? Or do you not care at all and see them as just another printing?
It's a shame though that you can't just tag a card with a specific printing, as far as I know.
Yeah I'll still go for art I like more. Quick question though, how did you tag the specific printings? I tried putting the expansion code in the double brackets and the formatting tips didn't really say anything on it for forum use.
April 4, 2016 12:33 a.m.
[[hanna, ship's navigator]] and [[hanna, ship's navigator (000)]]
April 4, 2016 12:35 a.m.
Ohhhh okay, gotta use parentheses.
So the ones I went for for the deck were
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Umezawa's Jitte
Batterskull
Stoneforge Mystic
Wrath of God
Banisher Priest
The Priest I'm on the fence between it and the original art, but it was only a dollar so I figured I could get the promo and not feel broken up about it if I like the original better.
April 4, 2016 12:37 a.m. Edited.
I'm into promos. Usually I think they look better, but even if a little worse I like the flair for cards I wanna show off.
April 4, 2016 1:08 a.m.
DERPLINGSUPREME says... #7
NOPE IGNORE ME MY COMMENT DIDN'T PERTAIN TO THIS I MISREAD.
April 4, 2016 1:37 a.m. Edited.
You know what the worst thing about promos is? Seeing ones that will never see play anywhere. Cards like Orator of Ojutai or Encroaching Wastes. Congrats! You've won something less useful that a common basic land of your choosing. Even if they look decent, it just feels like a wasted opportunity. I'm not saying that all promos need to be Snapcaster Mages or anything. Something as simple as Duress, Naturalize, Steppe Lynx, Urban Evolution, etc. Just cards that could potentially be used in a deck somewhere at some time within reason. Just image getting an FNM promo of something like Griptide. God damn... It's like pulling an expedition Tectonic Edge. No complaints really, but still...
April 4, 2016 1:50 a.m.
ducttapedeckbox says... #9
I like promos for the most part. The foiling can get irritating if you don't keep them compressed, so they do require a little more attnetion that regular prints. Im trying to promo-out my Modern decks. Things like Treasure Mage for UTron (these are so hard to trade for) and Batterskull for Blue Moon. Please Wizards, don't print a promo Blood Moon... Unless I get a job this summer....
Oh, and then there's this one:
April 4, 2016 7:41 a.m.
Yeah since this is all going into my Death and Taxes EDH, my most expensive deck by a long shot, they're all going to be double-sleeved and in a deckbox that fits them all with a little compression. Until I get the sleeves though, they'll be staying in the toploaders they'll be delivered in.
And two people in my playgroup play Blue Moon and they both have full sets of "Semen Visions" as it's been 'lovingly' called haha
Arvail says... #2
I feel like WotC actually puts more effort into their normal cards than promos. After all, those are the printings that most player see. There are so many trash promos. Ankle Shanker and Ankle Shanker and Siege Rhino and Siege Rhino come to mind. Different doesn't necessarily mean better. I mean, don't get me wrong, when a promo looks good, they're amazing. Hanna, Ship's Navigator, anyone?
April 4, 2016 12:31 a.m. Edited.