 | 211. Saboteur
So first off, that shirt's arms are way too baggy for effective sabbing. He needs to be able to escape in a tough situation. The look on his face is also... quite flat, in an unnatural way. These things kind of jump out while staring at the image, but I'll commend the artist otherwise. Just a few touch ups would have made Saboteur jump a few tiers. |
 | 210. Bridge
It's kind of a dull picture. From afar, it's nice enough, but when you get up close you can see that the rocks aren't the best (where is this Bridge going anyway?) and that white... foam? at the bottom is sort of nonsensical. Overall, the card art does nothing for me here. |
 | 209. Fairgrounds
My problem with this card's art is just that it misses the atmosphere of Fairgounds entirely. They're supposed to be bright and colorful, not drab and morose. It doesn't help that the details are so small you may never even notice this is depicting Fairgrounds. I feel like this card started off intended for some other landscape like a swamp, which would have been a lot better fit.
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 | 208. Moneylender
This is another card that just looks sort of bland. A lot of the ones in this tier do. That isn't the biggest sin in the world, but the fact remains that if you want to win the beauty pageant you have to put some gusto in to it. I like his hat, and the characterization of the Moneylender comes through, but nothing else is exciting here. |
 | 207. Remodel
Until examining every card intently, I never noticed how strangely shaped that scroll is. What is with scroll art lowering the aesthetic appeal of these cards? I do see what the artist was trying to do: make the paper look all foldy. I don't think it entirely worked out, though. It's another ho-hum image. |
 | 206. Militia
Okay, there is no way this art started off as 'militia.' These guys are clearly crooked. They're raiders or pillagers for sure. I'd be interested in knowing some of the backstory of this art; it's interesting to get some perspective on the creative process. Anyway, I don't care for the guy on the left's head, though the second one looks like a cool Pirates of the Caribbean reject. His armor looks a little unnatural, though: could use some cuts or smudges to get across half the ruggedness needed for an Old Spice commercial.
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 | 205. Survivors
I like all of the Ruins images a lot other than this one. The people at the bottom are all stretched and blurry, which I guess is just a stylistic choice that may appeal to some people (but not me). The burning building is rad, though, I'll give it that. |
 | 204. Storeroom
This one is kind of a tough call because I think it's well-drawn; it's just a dull setting that doesn't inspire much excitement, and the way it's drawn is about what you'd expect to see with no interesting details. Hey, they can't all be the winners.
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 | 203. Border Village
Don't get me wrong here. This is a very nice scene, and the color choice is mostly good. My problem is that the blue colors all blend together when you're looking at a tiny card, which makes this just look like a tidal wave to me. It's another one that benefits from looking at scans.
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 | 202. Smugglers
We are getting to the top of the lower tiers here, and you can tell because the pictures on this post are significantly better on the whole than the ones before it. I like the style of Smugglers a lot. It evokes a cool mood and the Smugglers, despite not looking super realistic, fit it well. It could be a little bit TOO blue overall, but who am I to judge? I'd give them a snuggle |
 | 201. Duchess
And here it is, the final image of the lower tiers. Oh, it's pretty enough. The baby is adorable. The problem is... the Duchess herself freaks me out. I am pretty sure she is an axe murderer or some kind of Stepford Wife, so my main man the Duke had better watch out. I'm serious; sometimes I avoid looking at this card because her smile is more than a little creepy. Actually, now that I look at the baby close... oh, man, it's staring in to my soul! Enough! Enough for now! |
