Looking Back

Hapless Researcher card art

2024 is nearly in the books; it is time to take a look back at the year in Magic.

Wizards kept to a blazing pace, releasing a ton of product in 2024. Ignoring the digital-only releases on Arena, the main pack-based releases this year were as follows (with 'traditional' releases in Italics):

- Ravnica Remastered: January 12, 2024 (compilation set)
- Murders at Karlov Manor: February 9, 2024
- Fallout: March 8, 2024 (commander decks & collector boosters only)
- Outlaws of Thunder Junction: April 19, 2024
- Modern Horizons 3: June 14, 2024
- Assassin's Creed: July 5, 2024 (starter kit, beyond boosters, and collector boosters only)
- Bloomburrow: August 2, 2024
- Duskmourn: House of Horror: September 27, 2024
- Foundations: November 15, 2024

Of the above, I ignored most releases except for Bloomburrow and Foundations. The former featured 'cute' critters in the Redwall vein, while the latter was the first core set in years, featuring foundational cards that I love. Fallout and Assassin's Creed were in the 'Universes Beyond' line, bringing in external intellectual property to the Magic world.

According to TCGPlayer, here are the most-sold singles in 2024 (with rarity, color, and set following):

10. Patchwork Banner (U, artifact, Bloomburrow)

9. Malevolent Rumble (C, green, MH3)

8. Fell the Profane (U, black, MH3)

7. Consign to Memory (U, blue, MH3)

6. Monstrous Rage (U, red, Wilds of Eldraine)

5. Novice Inspector (C, white, Murders at Karlov Manor)

4. Sink into Stupor (U, blue, MH3)

3. Lorien Revealed (C, blue, Tales of Middle-earth)

2. Hare Apparent (C, white, Foundations)

1. Slime Against Humanity (C, green, Murders at Karlov Manor)

It is interesting that no rares made the cut and Lorien Revealed (#1 in 2023) is still high on the list. And it is clear that Modern Horizons 3 has some popular cards.

Personally, my year in Magic centered on the further reduction and organization of my collection. On the blog, I am getting closer to a repeatable and preferred rhythm, but still not quite there. 

What will next year hold? More on that tomorrow.

Artist: Carl Critchlow

Finishing artist month, today I look at Carl Critchlow.

Critchlow started illustrating Magic cards in 1997 for the Weatherlight set and stopped in 2022 (Battle for Baldur's Gate) if this website is accurate. He appears to be in the top ten card producers for the game.

Critchlow's style (for his black cards) can remind me of Nils Hamm (see previous post): dreamlike and scary. But his others have a dash of whimsy. So his images can be dark or playful, but his colors have a softness to them either way.

I use Scryfall for searching for Critchlow illustrations. The following syntaxes in scryfall
artist:"Critchlow" not:digital not:artseries
artist:"Critchlow" not:digital not:artseries unique:prints
yield the following results, respectively:
238 cards
603 cards

So he illustrated 238 unique Magic cards that have appeared 603 times (some show up in multiple sets or special releases). Here are some of my favorites.

Artist: Nils Hamm

Continuing artist month, today I look at Nils Hamm.

Hamm started illustrating Magic cards in 2007 for the Future Sight set. He is still actively creating for the game today.

Hamm's style is hard for me to describe. In a 2019 interview, he says "The part I enjoy the most is "finding" the image in that chaotic abstract surface in the beginning." Chaotic abstract might be the phrase I am looking for. Hamm's images are dreamlike and dark; the thing you might see in a nightmare or frightfully imagine walking on a dark forest path. His style is 

I use Scryfall for searching for Hamm illustrations. The following syntaxes in scryfall
artist:"Hamm" not:digital not:artseries
artist:"Hamm" not:digital not:artseries unique:prints
yield the following results, respectively:
215 cards
476 cards

So he illustrated 215 unique Magic cards that have appeared 476 times (some show up in multiple sets or special releases). Here are some of my favorites.

Artist(s): Greg & Tim Hildebrandt

A Lord of the Rings illustration by the Hildebrandt brothers

Continuing artist month, today I look at Greg & Tim Hildebrandt.

The Hildebrandt brothers started illustrating Magic cards in 1999 (they had four cards in the Urza's Destiny set). Most of their works were joint endeavors, but each did some solo work too. Tim died in 2006; Greg continued illustrating until his death in 2024.

Having risen to fame through their Lord of the Rings and Star Wars illustrations in the 1970s, their fantasy focus and style fit in well to Magic. Their style reminds me of 'classic' fantasy in the '80s and '90s: illustrations that adorned book covers from the era. Work from that time had a 'whimsical' quality to it (for lack of a better word): it dealt with heavy themes and 'scary' creatures in a simplistic and light-hearted way. While that approach seems dated today, I enjoy the nostalgia it evokes: it encourages us to remember that this is fantasy.

I use Scryfall for searching for Hildebrandt illustrations. The following syntaxes in scryfall

artist:"Hildebrandt" not:digital not:artseries
artist:"Hildebrandt" not:digital not:artseries unique:prints
yield the following results, respectively:
191 cards

407 cards

So they have collectively illustrated 191 Magic cards that have appeared 407 times (some show up in multiple sets or special releases). Aside: They did 85 or 86 jointly, but Greg is credited with 161 total and Tim 116. Those totals include their solo work; Tim did 30 on his own and Greg 76 (both of the preceding queries erroneously include Cabal Ritual as a solo card, so I decremented each by one).

Here are some of my favorites:

Of special note are the 20 classic Hildebrandt prints that showed up in the Tales of Middle Earth Commander set. Four are below, but check out all of them.

Apparently their work on Lord of the Rings inspired John Howe to follow suit. So cements an honorable legacy; well done, brothers. Rest in peace.