Zendikar Land Grab

~
Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

The latest Magic: the Gathering set, Battle for Zendikar releases tomorrow at midnight here in North America with many local gaming stores (like our very own beloved OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario) staying open late to hit the street release date.  We'll be zipping on over to the store at midnight in order to avoid a (larger) crush of rabid gamers clearing out singles and sealed product.  As is our custom here at MTG Realm, we will have a Fat Pack unboxing - and this may be the one time where will will NOT complain about getting a 80-card land pack (over the earlier version of a 40-card land pack). 

Why?  Because of these beautiful beasts -

Full-Art Lands

We recall way back in 2009 with the release of the original Zendikar set, some stores were cracking Fat Packs just because of the demand for the full art lands.  In fact, we had purchased a 40-card land pack for $16 bucks, which was a great investment we think considering that just a few short years later single Zendikar full art lands were going for about $2 locally.  Speaking of Fat Packs, you may notice that the price for a Battle for Zendikar Fat Pack is going for anywhere between $50 to $60, which is not surprising at all as these contain that 80-card full-art land pack.

Is the jack in price still worth it?  Here is a quick run-down of what single full-art BFZ lands were selling for (at the time of this post) :
StarCity Games - 49 cents
Cool Stuff Inc - 45 cents
Card Kingdom - 49 cents
MTG Mint Card - 54 cents
And Face-to-Face Games here in Canada (Toronto / Montreal) - 65 cents.

One can expect to pay fairly close to about $40 for a Fat Pack and with that sweet full-art land pack in the back seat of your Fat Pack, it would have been another $40 were you to purchase all those full-arts as singles.

So, yeah . . . we won't be complaining (too much) for forking out a bit more to the retailer.

~

Lands Ahoy

~
Happy Monday MTG peeps,

We hope all had a great weekend.  As we head on into the Holidays, we suggest you pop by one of our sponsors - CCG House, MTG Mint Card, Cardhoarder, BCW Supplies, Ideal 808, or Ultra PRO to finish up any left-over shopping you may have for presents.  Over on the mothersite, they are running previously published articles as staff take a well-deserved break for the next two weeks.  

For today's post, we wanted to take a look back to MaRo's 'mailbag' article last week, when he had solicited questions from the Magic: the Gathering community.  More specifically, a question posed by Don Wiggins (of Don's Magic and Sundry) - a particular question we ourselves had been wondering about since 2009 . . .

I'm writing a mailbag column today and I need your help. Please send me a question that's a single tweet that starts with "When".
— Mark Rosewater (@maro254) November 14, 2014

@maro254 When will we see full art basic lands again?
— Don Wiggins (@TheSundry) November 14, 2014

When will we see full art basic lands again?  To which MaRo responds -

I can't tell you an exact date just yet, but I can say this: They are currently planned for an upcoming block that I know about. Nothing's definitive until it sees print, but I have a lot of confidence they will see the light of day again.

This, for us, is very exciting.  We've been playing with the Zendikar full-art basic lands ever since they had come out and were fortunate enough to pick up two full sets - enough to have several decklists fully furnished with these beautiful cards.  

Anywhoos - let's yatter a titch about full art basic lands.  A lot of players we know personally love to include these and it's all about the aesthetics and the cred you may acquire at the gaming store for having such very lovely swag.


Unglued - August 11, 1998

These full art lands are technically extended and are framed inside an oval frame stretching from near the the top to bottom of the card.  Again, there were only five separate illustrations - one for each land type and were done by artists Terese Nielsen, Daren Bader, Tom Wänerstrand, Christopher Rush, and Mark Zug.

Unhinged - November 20, 2004

The Unhinged lands are simply gorgeous.  These were true 'full art' basic lands from the first (of two) fun 'joke sets' as the art stretched from almost top to bottom.  The illustration for each of the five different lands (Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain and Forest) were all by artist John Avon.

Zendikar - October 2, 2009

Technically not quite full art with this one, but none the less very beautiful.  These were thought necessary as this set and block had a land theme.  There were four of each of the five basic land arts commissioned and executed by Vincent Proce, Véronique Meignaud, Jung Park, and John Avon.  
~

Zendikar Art Spoiler 4

~

Hello again my peeps. I did indicate in yesterday's post that I would be away from the blog for a few days. Well, very sorry I lied - I had to drop just one more post on for fresh Zendikar image collected from Gen Con Indy 2009.

Here is a promotional Magic the GAthering Zendikar poster / advertisement from the Gen Con Catalog sent in by vatechguy from the forums. Artist is Jaime Jones.


w0w - that's cool. Apparently on the plane of Zendikar, they are very fond of outdoor sports such as climbing. This image has a Prince of Persia / Indiana Jones feel to it. For some unknown reason, I have a feeling that this particular art will not be making it onto a card - it was just a promotional art. I'm certain we'll see in September.


Speaking of mountain climbing, we have Zendikar Mountains ! If you, the blog reader, anticipated another full frame Zendikar art spoiler, good on you! More specifically, if you anticipated seeing two full art swamps from the upcomming Magic the Gathering expansion set today, give yourself a star. If this comes as a complete surprise (after seeing the Plains and Islands on Monday and Tuesday), perhaps you should reevaluate your medication dosage.

Recap from the two previous posts . . . Apparently, within Zendikar Booster Packs (from Booster Display boxes and Fatpacks), one may expect to pull full art basic lands ! Quite a few people I know now are thinking of picking up a fatpack specifically for the 40-card land pack (8 of each land), just so they can get their paws on the full frame arts. If one were to get just a Zendikar Intro Pack however, expect to pull the traditional half-art basic land card - which in my opinion is still very kewl.

Watch your keyboard for drool as you check out these Zendikar Mountains by John Avon and Véronique Meignaud.

. . .
. .
.

We will get a Zenikar Forest tomorrow, but since I'm stepping away from the blog, I will need you to check it out on Magic Arcana or one of my buddies blog. Alternatively, go outside and play - it's probally summer where you are.

Zendikar Art Spoiler 3

~

If you, the blog reader, anticipated another full frame Zendikar art spoiler, good on you! More specifically, if you anticipated seeing two full art swamps from the upcomming Magic the Gathering expansion set today, give yourself a star. If this comes as a complete surprise (after seeing the Plains and Islands on Monday and Tuesday), perhaps you should reevaluate your medication dosage.

Recap from the two previous posts . . . Apparently, within Zendikar Booster Packs (from Booster Display boxes and Fatpacks), one may expect to pull full art basic lands ! Quite a few people I know now are thinking of picking up a fatpack specifically for the 40-card land pack (8 of each land), just so they can get their paws on the full frame arts. If one were to get just a Zendikar Intro Pack however, expect to pull the traditional half-art basic land card - which in my opinion is still very kewl.

Watch your keyboard for drool as you check out these Zendikar Swamps by Jung Park and Vincent Proce.

. . .
. .
.

Fist Swamp, by Jung Park. Not bad at all. I think it could have used more cowbell (you know - some stagnant fetid water). I imagine that the two columns shown here were actually full obelisks at one point of time and are now pitted and corroded from this unpleasant environment.

Second Swamp by Vincent Proce. Soooo sweet. Two Words . . . 'Swamp Balls' !!! We can see the requisite obelisk in the foreground slowly being encased by roots but the highlight here really are those swamp topiaries. I should think that tumbleweeds would look much like these root balls in a world with slightly lesser gravity than earth's.

Unfortunately, I have some out-of-country biz to take care of so please go outside and play and not expect posts for Thursday and Friday. See y'awl soon.

Zendikar Art Spoiler 2

~

As promised by Wizards in yesterday's Arcana, Magic the Gathering fans are treated yet again to some Zendikar spoilers. Today we have two more stunning Zenkidar full art lands. More specifically, we have two Islands. I think we see a progression here and can expect two additional full art lands until the end of the week to cover off all five mana colours.

Recap from yesterday . . . Apparently, within Zendikar Booster Packs (from Booster Display boxes and Fatpacks), one may expect to pull full art basic lands ! If one were to get just a Zendikar Intro Pack however, expect to pull the traditional half-art basic land card - which in my opinion is still very kewl.

Watch your keyboard for drool as you check out these Zendikar Islands by Véronique Meignaud and Vincent Proce.

. . .
. .
.

First island by Véronique Meignaud is rather interesting. Perhaps not as epic as the Plains we saw yesterday but still very nice. It's one of those mysterious obelisks which looks like it impinged on a coastal cliff. The obelisk's midsection looks like it may be cracked open a titch to reveal some blue energy which may have resulted in those water spouts and force field.

The second island by Vincent Proce is as awesome as the Plains which was previewed yesterday here on MTG Realm. Only when you focus on the flock of birds do you get a sense of huge honk'n size of those rock crucibles. A few weird things about the crucibles . . . Why are there not any oblelisks here as we have seen in previous land arts? Also - where is the water coming from ?











We're not certain about the lack of obelisks but here at MTG Realm, we think portals all the time. This image also reminds me of that old 1974 Zardoz movie - you know the one - floating stone heads, Sean Connery au couture. This film was made by those on drugs and most likely enjoyed most by those on drugs. As for the stone crucibles doing a Niagara Falls thing into the ocean, I say 'surf's up dude!'.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Zendikar full art swamps . . . Yeah !

Zendikar Art Spoiler 1

~

Today on Magic Arcana some amazing news and stunning Zenkidar art spoilers for this upcoming Magic the Gathering set.

Apparently, within Zendikar Booster Packs (from Booster Display boxes and Fatpacks), one may expect to pull full art basic lands ! If one were to get just a Zendikar Intro Pack however, expect to pull the traditional half-art basic land card - which in my opinion is still very kewl.

Watch your keyboard for drool as you check out these Zendikar Plains by Jung Park and Vincent Proce.

. . .
. .
.

O.M.G. ! These are just phreak'n awesome !

The Obelisk field (first Plains art shown) shows your vantage with an obelisk in the very near foreground which is adorned in runes. Although most of the floating obelisks are doing just that (floating), we can see some action in the background as some obelisks are crashing into the landscape.

The second Plains art shows what appears to be a small city built within an obelisk which has come to rest along it's lateral line. Who lives within this settlement ? Why do they live there ? Do they have cable TV ? So many questions . . .

~

Wizards promises to follow-up tomorrow with two full art textless Zendikar Islands. I will anticipate that singles market retailer may sell these Zendikar textless lands for up to a $1 and foil textless lands for up to $3 (U.S.) so grab 'em while you can.