Wild Anime art in MTG Ravnica Remastered and rarity shifts leave community divided

Is it enough to justify collector booster prices?

An Illusion gets a sneak attack on copy
Spark Double anime | Image via WotC

Nearly 300 reprinted Magic: The Gathering cards covering sets printed over a decade ago will get featured in Ravnica Remastered, and to help sell the product, Wizards of the Coast has included borderless anime art and serialized retro frames. 

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The first Ravnica Remastered spoilers dropped on Dec. 11, with the remainder slated to get previewed on Dec. 12 through MTGWeekly on Twitch. Slated to drop into local game stores as a fully draftable set on Jan. 5, players can purchase cards through Draft and Collector booster packs. Every card in the Magic set is a reprint which includes cards from the Ravnica block, the Guilds of Ravnica block, and Return to the Ravnica block. 

Spicing up Collector booster packs are full-art anime prints, along with serialized retroframe cards and Shock lands. Initial reactions from the MTG community regarding the anime art were mostly positive. Of the Ravnica Remastered anime art cards spoiled as of Dec. 11, Spark Double was a favorite, along with Guardian Project.

“I think the anime art direction is getting a lot better (minus generic anime girl Aurelia),” said one Reddit user. “Coming from Yugioh I have a soft spot for this kind of art which is different from the more painterly of MTG art.”

But not everyone was impressed, with a Twitter user commenting, “Wake up bae, new worst-art version of every card is out.”

Players were also quick to complain about the shift in rarity for Guardian Project, which was upshifted to Mythic Rare from Rare. Also upshifted was Cyclonic Rift.  The only downshift at the time of writing is Arclight Phoenix from Mythic Rare to Rare. Rarity shifts in a reprinted MTG set like Ravnica Remastered typically take place as a balance measure within the Limited Draft format. But the shifts also reduce the possible number of printed cards, which can influence single prices on the secondary market. 

Players can start cracking MTG Ravnica Remastered cards starting on Jan. 5 at local game stores and a global release is scheduled for Jan. 12. 

Author
Danny Forster
Lead Magic: The Gathering/Teamfight Tactics scribe and staff writer for Dot Esports. Danny is a gamer beach bum residing in Spacecoast Florida and has been a journalist for seven years, of which five have been at Dot Esports. Prior media outllets Danny wrote for were Screen Rant and TheGamer. You can typically catch Danny playing TCGs and a variety of strategic games. He also hangs out on Twitter @Dannyspacecoast.