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Reprint Review – The Value of New Art

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When I published my daily piece on the spoiler for From the Vault: Angels I touched on what I thought were the high value cards in the set. User "dean" pointed out that the new art for the Akroma's is a relevant factor. Many players simply prefer to use the original printing of a card, and when it comes to foil enthusiasts the preferred choice is almost always the original printing, as they'll be the most scarce. There is a different crowd- the Vorthoses of the world- that will increase demand for pieces with great art.

Art isn't an easy topic to debate- at least for me anyway. You can prove that certain techniques are more difficult to master, and there is a science to aesthetics, but at the end of the day what is going to matter is the popular opinion. I personally think the new RAkroma art is a huge improvement over the original in terms of aesthetic appeal, but that's just one guy's opinion.


To get a better gauge for popular opinion, I would appeal to the poll at originalmagicart.com. According to their numbers, the FTV Akroma, Angel of Wrath is the most popular of the three arts with 50% of the vote, with the new Akroma, Angel of Fury beating its old counterpart with a whopping 70% of the vote!

Currently the FTV RAkroma can be had for right around $10, with the original foils still sitting above $20. Over time I would expect the FTV version to approach the value of the original foil, though the more limited supply of the original will always be a factor.

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Ryan Overturf

Ryan has been playing Magic since Legions and playing competitively since Lorwyn. While he fancies himself a Legacy specialist, you'll always find him with strong opinions on every constructed format.

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One thought on “Reprint Review – The Value of New Art

  1. You have a valid theory but you picked a very curious card to try and make your case around.

    1) To put it blutnly, FtV foiling is just ugly to look at. The only time one has ever been sought out over the pack foil is if the original art is just REPUGNANT. I can’t recall a single example that defies this rule but..there is probably one out there. (Fun fact: FtV foiling also *chemically reacts* with perfect-fit sleeves, slowly warping & ruining them over time. I learned this the hard way over the years.)

    2) White Akroma sees several orders of magnitude of play over Red Akroma. (Just on the power level alone–egad–she MUST.) Not to mention, red is considered (by a very wide margin) the worst monocolor to build your deck around in Commander to begin with–surely that extends to monored commanders.

    Honestly, I think this article would have made a bit more sense if you had chosen the new Iona. She actually sees SOME competitive play somewhere outside of kitchen table Magic and the new art is at least as good as the old. What do you predict for her?

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