No AI Art Here - Artist-Themed Decks in Premodern

Hello and thanks for stopping by! Today we’re focusing on something a little bit different from my other articles under the Competitive MTG Finance category. 

There’s been a lot of buzz around the AI art incident with Wizards of the Coast. I find it all very interesting, as AI seems to have really ramped up in the last year or so, especially with how the general public is interacting with, and has been affected by, more consumer-facing products that utilize AI technology.

AI or Not

I’m excited to see how things unfold for Wizards of the Coast as a company and how Magic’s art will evolve, whether it continues to utilize AI or not. Additionally, I started to think about the early days of Magic and how I was mesmerized by the artwork when I was introduced to the game some time in 1994. And I thought to myself…wow, the game and the artwork have really come a long way since then.

After I read more about the AI art incident, it made me think about a couple of posts I saw on Facebook regarding some artist-themed decks in a Premodern group which I thought were pretty cool. And I’d like to feature them in this article.

Ron Spencer

The first one is a Ron Spencer deck. Take a look at this beauty.

Aside from the original artwork of Terror, I think another cool version is the Magic Player Rewards version which was also done by Ron Spencer. And even with all the different versions of many individual cards printed these days, I think it’s pretty safe to say that there won’t be a version printed that’ll be similar to the Magic Player Rewards version since Wizards has moved away from textless cards. Thus, I could see the price of these holding or even going up slowly over time.

Another target I like as a potential pick-up from the deck is foil Maggot Carrier. It’s one mana, it’s a Zombie (which is a popular creature type that people seem to like building around), and it’s legal in Pauper. Playing a playset seems to make sense curve-wise. And it doesn’t target players.

Terror	CardKingdom $2.99	TCGPlayer $4.85
Maggot Carrier	CardKingdom $0.35	TCGPlayer $0.25

Pete Venters

The second artist-themed deck I’d like to feature is by Pete Venters. Feast your eyes on this. Every card is signed by Pete too!

Foil Coffin Purge has kind of shot up in price in recent years. But if you can find cheap copies, these are probably good pick-ups. I like how both its mana cost and Flashback cost are just .

We also see another Magic Player Rewards card show up in this deck…Infest. The art and card style are so cool! And although the Onslaught version was done by Ben Thompson and not Pete Venters, I think foil copies are also decent pick-ups to consider. The Ben Thomson artwork is also awesome!

I also like targeting foil Boneknitters. which is another low mana-value Zombie that can even regenerate Maggot Carrier.

Finally, I’d like to talk about Duress. What an iconic card, especially when foil versions of the Urza's Saga artwork hit the market via the Arena Promos. And since then, Duress has become a card that has seen many reprints, including the 7th Edition version by Pete Venters. I imagine that Wizards will continue to reprint Duress from time to time, even after this current Standard rotation. And since the card still sees play outside of Standard, I think it’s hard to say you can go wrong with picking up the Arena Promos and/or foil 7th Edition versions, even though they’re a bit on the pricey side.

Coffin Purge	CardKingdom $0.35	TCGPlayer $0.25
Infest	CardKingdom $0.69	TCGPlayer $0.57
Boneknitter	CardKingdom $0.35	TCGPlayer $0.28
Duress	CardKingdom $0.49	TCGPlayer $0.46

Wrap-up

Other than taking a look at the financial side of some cards from these two decks, I really enjoyed reminiscing about the older days of Magic artwork. And I hope you did too.

I’d love to see and hear about other artist-themed decks that you’ve come across or built. Hit me up on social media with pics and decklists!

Respectfully,

Eddie

Further Reading:

Eriette, and Why Art Matters

Secret Lair Shakeup