Before the Booster Fun initiative inMagic: The Gatheringkicked off the steady stream of alternate artwork we’ve grown used to, the game went through a bit of an experimental stage, artistically speaking. This was the time of the short-lived Masterpiece series, a much more exclusive take on the alternate art concept that placed ultra-rare cards in packs, tied thematically to the setting of the expansion they appeared in.
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The first of these series was the Zendikar Expeditions, a collection that reimagined several iconic land cycles on the geographical anomaly that is Zendikar. Today, we’re breaking down the most visually impressive among them: the cards from the first Masterpiece series that truly deserve the title.
10Hallowed Fountain, By Min Yum
Min Yum’s hazy watercolour style is a perfect fit for this aqueous shock land, the colours blending together on the canvas as if splashed by the Fountain itself. The focus here is the self-contained continent floating in the centre, a living world of rock, cloud, and forest suspended above the Plane proper.
Despite the overall broad strokes, there are some fantastic details here. The way the top of the ‘Fountain’ disappears into the clouds adds a mysterious air, while also explaining the source of the constant water cascading down through its rocky ridges. The flock of birds, barely visible in front of the falls, provide a sense of scale, adding yet more grandeur to a piece already dripping with it.
9Wooded Bastion, By Adam Paquette
There’s something primal in the idea of a treehouse, a private space above the ground, nestled in the arms of nature, that holds appeal during childhood and far beyond. Adam Paquette taps into this idea in his art for Wooded Bastion, taking the idea of a treehouse and branching out into a whole tree fortress.
It’s a brilliant piece conceptually, the clustered buildings arranged in rings around the impossibly broad trunks of the Zendikar trees. The delicate lighting, provided by a few spare shafts of light trickling down through a canopy far above, Adds a golden hue to the Bastion itself, and a feeling of natural awe to the piece as a whole.
8Misty Rainforest, By Ryan Yee
Ryan Yee demonstrates a mastery of composition here, arranging a simple rainforest scene to make the viewer feel like they’ve just stumbled upon some long-lost paradise. The thick vines that frame the piece hint at the wider jungle beyond, and the secluded nature of this particular spot within it.
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As for the spot itself? Well, words struggle here. From the simple beauty of a cherry blossom tree leaning against a mossy hedron, to the clever continuation of that palette in the birds of paradise above, to the cinematic grandeur of the surrounding mountains and waterfalls, every stroke pulls you deeper into a world so rich you wish you could reach out and touch it.
7Cinder Glade, By Titus Lunter
Thick with smoke and charred foliage, Titus Lunter’s take on Cinder Glade has a moody air that defies the traditional beauty of many of its Expedition peers. From the jagged peak in the background, oozing lava through countless cracks, to the soot-soaked birds taking flight in the undergrowth, everything here feels dark and understated.
It’s a style typically reserved forblack-aligned lands, but it works wonderfully here, adding a unique texture that contrasts with the brighter general aesthetic that red lands tend to receive. The floating rocks, which recreate the central volcano in miniature, are a great final touch that remind the viewer that this particular Glade lies on Zendikar.
6Mana Confluence, By Howard Lyon
Howard Lyon perfectly captures the ever-shiftingchaos of Zendikaras a Plane here, packing all five colours of mana into a whirling vortex in the process of reshaping the land around it. The vortex itself bursts with energy, gouts of multicoloured flame mingling with sharp white lightning bolts that cut through the surrounding scenery, literally as well as figuratively.
The shape of the vortex is echoed in the surrounding landscape, which bends around it to form the kind of wonderfully creative geography we’ve come to expect from Zendikar. The fact that the river flowing into the foreground remains relatively untouched adds a lot of dynamism to the scene, letting the viewer know that this sudden terraforming is a work in progress.
5Forbidden Orchard, By Jesper Ejsing
A piece that lives up to the ‘Forbidden’ in its title better than any past iteration, Jesper Ejsing’s take on this unique land is downright eerie. The gnarled, twisting tree branches, thick with mysterious mushrooms, call to mind the kinds of fairytale woods where children fear to tread. The sinister green glow in which much of the piece bathes serves only to reinforce those notions.
Although there’s no explicit threat present here, or even adepiction of the Spiritsthat the land creates, as there was in past versions, this still feels like a ‘turn back’ sign in nicer clothing. Every time the cool blues of the background draw you in, you notice the spindly branches jutting from the trunks and come to your senses, making a mental note to leave this particular Orchard well enough alone.
4Sunken Ruins, By Adam Paquette
A rare dual land that manages to build a colour palette using only the colours of mana it produces, Adam Paquette’s Sunken Ruins drags the viewer down into its watery depths using a clever combination of blacks and blues.
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The latter does the heavy lifting, of course, with various subtle shades used to portray shafts of surface light and general ocean ambience, but the former gets a look in as well when it comes to sculpting the shadows the piece leans on for contrast. The perspective, which has the viewer looking up from the ocean floor, is also excellent, letting you feel the weight of the waves pressing down upon you as you stare longingly towards the surface.
3Bloodstained Mire, By Véronique Meignaud
An abstract take on a swamp that would only reallywork on Zendikar, Véronique Meignaud does a lot with a little here, creating a piece that treads a fine line between Magic land and impressionist print. There are no hard edges, just various degrees of staggered strokes, which blend together to build up a unique landscape of lava-tinged rocky spires.
As is often the case on Zendikar, the laws of physics seem to have taken a day off here, with lava flowing in all directions around impossibly balanced charcoal pillars. The blue background is a surprising choice, but it provides some excellent contrast that lets the main event in the foreground stand out all the brighter.
2Cascade Bluffs, By Christine Choi
Like someone took a colossal fist to the Australian outback, Christine Choi presents a piece that is simultaneously one of the most realistic Zendikar landscapes we’ve seen, and one of the most far-fetched. The red clay of the main landscape here matches up nicely with the red mana the land produces, while the huge waterfall flowing through it fills in for the blue mana as it spills down into nothingness below.
It’s a stunning piece, made all the more conceptually exciting by the fact that it cuts off as it moves into the foreground, the clouds above hinting that this may be some kind of isolated sky-island. If Zendikar had a travel brochure, this would be on the very first page.
1Verdant Catacombs, By Ryan Yee
A piece that expertly fuses cosy vibes with a sense of creeping dread, Ryan Yee’s Verdant Catacombs may just be the most striking of all the Zendikar Expeditions. Conceptually, it’s a creative take on the land, reimagining the titular Catacombs as a hollow nestled in a great tree. Visually, it’s even more exciting.
The hollow itself glows with welcoming light, beckoning the viewer in through the interlocking branches that criss-cross the entryway. Zoom out, however, and things get darker, the looming trunks and drooping vines casting shadows over the scene. It’s a delicate balance, coming together to deliver one of the most fetching lands Magic has ever seen.
