'Magic: The Gathering' Set Will Have Alternate Planeswalkers Cards Illustrated by Japanese Video Game Legends

Magic: The Gathering's 'War of the Spark' expansion will feature some gorgeous alternate art cards illustrated by some of the biggest names in Japanese video game design. Earlier this week, Wizards of the Coast announced that the Japanese "War of the Spark" set will contain alternate-art versions of all 36 planeswalkers featured in the set. The alternate-art versions will have a 50% chance of replacing the usual planeswalkers cards in Japanese packs. Players outside of Japan will also have a chance of finding the cards in Wizards Play Network promo packs during the Core Set 2020 season, appearing in approximately 1 out of every 4 packs.

The alternate art cards include work by Yoshitaka Amano, the legendary illustrator who designed the characters and monsters in early Final Fantasy series and continues to contribute with 2D image illustrations to this day, Fire Emblem artist Daisuke Izuka, and Yuji Kaida, who is best known for his work doing artwork for the Godzilla franchise. The alternate-art cards are not only stunning re-designs of many classic Magic: The Gathering characters, they're also some of the best Magic artwork we've ever seen. You can see Amano's version of Liliana, one of the central characters of "War of the Spark," below:

"War of the Spark" is the culmination of a years-long Magic: The Gathering storyarc that pits the heroic Gatewatch, a team of magic-using Planeswalkers, against the Elder Dragon Nicol Bolas. The new set will be released on May 3rd.

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