It is not a huge shock that the art in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty is stunning. It would be hard to screw up Magic + cyberpunk. What’s striking isn’t just how good it is, but also how *varied*. At the prerelease, an art discussion broke out and someone commented how they liked how Magic was veering away from the “Marvel house style.” I loved that framing. Compare:

No shade thrown to M. Villeneuve. Serra is a great illustration (related to one of my most beloved cards, Serra Angel) that would have absolutely blown my mind not long ago. But it’s not flavorful: it has the CGI-ish sheen that the 20-minutes-too-long climax of Black Widow also suffered from. Where as the art to Inkrise Infiltrator is just… gorgeous. Anime-influenced without being overt, great color balance. And even though it’s almost certainly digitally drawn as well, it doesn’t have that same-ness feel. And the rest of the art in this set delivers as well.