What are your aesthetic hang-ups?

[Airi]

This is a point that's come up a lot when I've been talking to other moderators about decks, due to my own weird preferences but I'm curious. How much does the looks of your cards factor in to your decks? For commanders, or even for the 99. Things like art, border style, color, etc. And more importantly, how much does it deter you from running certain cards?

For me, my two biggest hang ups are card art, and old borders. Much as it might be heresy, I really don't like running old bordered cards (or cards with 'unique' borders) if I have the option not to, as it kind of breaks the uniformity of the deck. It's not an absolute deal breaker, because not every card has the option to be modern, but it's a pretty big tilt on my preferences, and it'll definitely place a general lower on my radar.

Card art however, is the huge deal breaker. It won't always factor it out of a choice for the 99, if the card is good enough that I can get past it's art, such as Eldritch Evolution, but it's a huuuuuuuuge point against it. And I absolutely won't consider running a general with art I don't like, regardless of it's abilities. By that same measure, I'm much more likely to be resistant to cutting or upgrading cards with art I do like a lot, even if they might be suboptimal.

So I pass the question to you: how much does the aesthetic of a card impact your choice to run, or not run it?

[ISBPathfinder]

Cards have art?

That is me saying not in the slightest. I play cards for what they do.

[Dunharrow]

0%

I appreciate the art, and will go buy alternate arts often enough. But if the only art for a card is ugly, I will still run it.

[Airi]

Cards have art?

That is me saying not in the slightest. I play cards for what they do.

They do! And it'll be a cold, cold day in hell before I run a general like Wrexial, the Risen Deep (sorry Wrexial fans) or anything prominently featuring bugs in the art.

I get it though, there are things I know other people dislike, such as off-color fetchlands aesthetically that don't phase me in the slightest, because I'm there for the functionality and they don't violate my other preferences. Not caring is just as much a preference!

[ISBPathfinder]

I guess there are some cards that I avoid just because they make me shudder looking at them. Looking at you over there Mind Maggots / Brain Maggot|Magic Online Promos. But really, at least those cards suck in this format because ohhhhh man I can't take that whole burrowing through people thing.

Thank god those effects aren't remotely good in this format. I haven't had to make a call on them but I would not be happy having to look at that art all the time.

[Sinis]

Like many people, I hate white borders. To the point where it's part of the reason I don't play my revised dual lands all that much. They're jarring and I wish Magic production teams had clued in early that white borders are peak hideousity.

Other than that, I have almost no dislikes; I have no phobias and don't find much distasteful, not even gore, like the aforementioned Brain Maggot (or the FNM Brain Maggot), or the cards on the don't-meet-Magic's-social-standards-list (like Invoke Prejudice, etc., though, I do understand that it makes other people uncomfortable or they find it offensive).

That said, I have a preference for old art and frames, especially from the era in which most sets were white bordered. I loved the kind of art that appeared in Magic's early life, like Jokulhaups|5ED (though I don't play that one for fun-play reasons). Even Stasis I find nice. Years ago, I wrote an article about having a preference for a different style; unified art direction in a set is great and everything, but, I really liked the old style of art where the instance of a spell or creature had an abstract feel to it. I'm summoning a Force of Nature, not a specific Force of Nature sort of thing. It made the game feel a little bit more wizard-y, and less like scenes from a movie.

It's been 8 years since I wrote that. Maybe it's just nostalgia.

[Serenade]

I don't play bad art or any that make me feel bad about the art. FNM Anathemancer, OG Solemn Simulacrum, Heartless Act, Therese Nielsen Hanna, all as examples.

My nostalgia runs deep, so I'll run Classic Sixth Edition or Mercadian Masques versions of cards (really any old border stuff) over reprints, if possible.

[Magiqmaster]

In my case, I usually don't care about that, although there are some cards that I really hate, for example fan favorite. I also have to mention this one, as it makes me kinda sick when I see it: pulling teeth. Of course, I'd never play these cards in a EDH game...

[JWK]

I don't run off-color fetches. They strike me as a color identity fail.

Other than that, my biggest aesthetic gripe is crappy proxies. Printers are cheap and available; if you can afford sleeves and take the time to brew a deck, there's no reason you can't do better than using a Sharpie to write CABAL COFFERS on a folded Post-It and sliding it into a sleeve atop a random Plains or Soldier token.

[pokken]

I absolutely love revised basics. It's what I grew up on and they're iconic for me. I run them in any non-snow non-foil deck.

[cryogen]

I was prepared to respond that while I have a certain amount of aesthetic dislikes, like white borders and new borders, I can look past most of it because function trumps form. But then JWK posted and I am in the camp of not playing "off-color" cards so I don't run off color fetches even when I have them.

[tstorm823]

When possible, I play old basics or full arts. The modern default basic with regular sized art and one big ugly symbol in the text box kinda stinks.

[materpillar]

This is a point that's come up a lot when I've been talking to other moderators about decks, due to my own weird preferences but I'm curious. How much does the looks of your cards factor in to your decks? For commanders, or even for the 99. Things like art, border style, color, etc. And more importantly, how much does it deter you from running certain cards?

My Chromium deck is basically "my favorite magic cards the deck". I'm jamming Voidmage Husher, Baneslayer Angel, Pristine Angel, Sheoldred, Whispering One, Master Transmuter, Restoration Angel, River of Tears, Worldslayer, Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Darksteel Colossus, Fact or Fiction|Invasion and Narset, Parter of Veils|War of the Spark in large part because of their art. In the case of Voidmage Husher and Narset, Parter of Veils|War of the Spark, solely because of their art. Most of those cards are decent to good, but they give me lots of joy just looking at them. Chromium is the general, solely because I really liked the art when I was really really young.

In fact Chromium art >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Chromium, the Mutable art. Fight me.

That deck is the exception though, usually I play cards because of their textbox not their art. That being said a suboptimal card with drastically better art will get the nod over a slightly better card with way worse art.

White bordered cards don't tilt me much at all. I'm not sure why everyone hates them so.

[toctheyounger]

I'm not a white border fan, but if it's a card I want to run and it's the only copy I have I'll go with it.

Mostly my aesthetic leanings I devote to the land base. I try to go for full arts where possible, or lands from the commander's home plane. Which I guess is only really pseudo-aesthetic, but it's close.

In terms of picking up cards for play as singles, if it's in budget and doable, I'll definitely try to pick up the more pleasing copy of cards where I can. Case in point, I really want a copy of Moraug, Fury of Akoum for my Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded deck, but I'd much prefer the showcase version of the card. That art is super sweet.

[duducrash]

I recently found out that I really like cards that look like comic book art, specially the special arts from Ikoria. I also LOVE the work of magali villeneuve. I also wont run cards that look super bad to me either

Lands i'm versatile I guess. Sometimes full arts work really well, sometimes they look wonky. Right now I'm in love with some Ikoria lands that look specially great in foil. Forest #274 and island #265.

[DirkGently]

DEATH TO FOILS.

Otherwise whatever.

Ofc I did have my phelddagrif altered, in part because the original art is kinda bad. But if I didn't have an alter I'd still play it 100%.

[Treamayne]

DEATH TO FOILS.

Seconded. Whenever possible I will avoid the foil version of anything. When it isn't possible (e.g. Commander Pre-Con Legends) I *might* use it if it is a deck I really want; otherwise, I'll just sideline the idea until a non-foil version is available or shift the deck to a non-foil alternate.

Other Aesthetic Considerations:
- When multiple printings/artwork are available, go with the one I like best (usually the old-frame art such as Jens)
--White border is almost never the one I like best
- Preference for cards by artists I tend to like, such as RKF (e.g. Arcane Denial) or Foglio (e.g. Lure) even if/when that card is sub-optimal in the deck
- Tribal decks won't run off-tribe creatures
--Though I do allow the alternate Tribal considerations I discussed here
-Preference for on-theme cards, even if they are sub-optimal (e.g. Spirit deck runs Broken Visage since it received errata to be a Spirit token when Shadow was removed as a creature type)
- As many different basic land art as possible (e.g. a deck running 8 Islands would have 1 each of the 8 different islands, rather than 8 copies of the same island)
-- Avoid using basics with art I don't like
-- Avoid mixing basic styles/frames (either all old or all modern/either all full-art or no full-art, etc.)

[5colorsrainbow]

As a vorthos I really like it better if all my cards where flavored similar. So example for my Will and Rowan deck I tried to make as much of it eldriane themed with the basic lands, command tower and doing stuff like swapping out Kasmina's Transmutation with Fortify ect. Not a deal breaker but I do like my decks all in themed if possible.

I have mild Trypophobia (fear of small holes be careful googling) and some body horror issues so while a I can handle most cards from Shadows Over Innistrad block, a few freak me out too much to play.

[Sinis]

I was prepared to respond that while I have a certain amount of aesthetic dislikes, like white borders and new borders, I can look past most of it because function trumps form. But then JWK posted and I am in the camp of not playing "off-color" cards so I don't run off color fetches even when I have them.

I have (mostly) stopped doing this (I'll still occasionally play a panorama in an enemy colour guild deck). It's a budget issue, but also, it's a bit extra.

[Dragoon]

I only care about the language (not a huge fan of non-english cards) and border (not a huge fan of white border, although that white-bordered Tibalt looks good). The pricier the card is and the less it matters though

My only exception is my random Golos deck which I try to pimp with as many different "templates" as I can. I've got classic foils, pre-release foils, old foils, extended or showcase art (foil or non-foil), alter sleeves, borderless alterations, masterpieces, gold border, etc. Even my basics all have a different template. The only thing I'm missing right now are white borders but I'm getting into the process of getting the commander-only cards that do not exist in foil to be white-bordered. And I'm eager to replace my foil Battlebond duals by expedition ones.

[BaronCappuccino]

I used to insist on original printings only, but I would build decks with enough tangential artificial restrictions to forbid myself from using any cards that would become unaffordable. For example, I'd been a mono-colored only player for years so that no deck would need an ABUR land, because getting one of those, even Beta (I'd have been willing to consider Beta an original print, as I'd make card corners an aesthetic rule), are four digits. I very quickly abandoned all precepts of "pimping out" my deck as I became a Rakdos guy. Now I'm running a beat to hell Badlands, a Mox Diamond with what I thought was a pen scribble but what a friend says is actually the artist signature, and essentially all the cheapest versions of the card you can get. If I have one rule left, and I only have one rule left, it's all foils or no foils, and, given everything I just said, the result is pretty clear. I don't know what I'd do if a card I wanted only had a foil print. Fortunately, that's not the case. As of right now, I haven't wanted a precon only cover-legend for my deck.

EDIT: Reading some of the posts above, I could also add no off color fetches for me as well, if that's aesthetics.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

1. Card art is critical. Like the OP, I won't build a general whose art I despise. In the 99, it matters less.

2. I love beautiful basic lands, and I have a stack of basics from the various portal sets which are my favorite. I also prefer that my basics have white borders for indexing purposes. Makes them easier to find.

3. I hate, hate, hate full art cards, foils, and other typical "bling" ( the sole exception being Kaladesh black masterpieces, but hell if I own any of those). I think they're gawdy and thay can occasionally make the field of play diificult to read. So I just don't play em, but I don't care if anyone else does.

4. I really like beaten-up cards. I like buying HP and DMG cards because they're cheap and I never intend to liquidate, but I also weirdly like the look of a double-sleeved frayed old card. Reminds me of when I was a kid, learning to shuffle with a ratty, miscellaneous stack of cards.

[Lifeless]

I only have a few of these but I'd say they're moderately insane:

• Commander must be foil if possible and ideally no other foils in the deck.
• All basic lands must be the same art and printing, and each basic type must also be from the same printing.

I've also moved to using proxies instead of my Revised duals but that's really a soft rule and just as much to keep them in good condition as anything.

[Airi]

Card art is critical. Like the OP, I won't build a general whose art I despise. In the 99, it matters less.

Yeah, Najeela, the Blade-Blossom is the closest I've come to maintaining a deck for a general with art I don't love (it's not bad, it's just... meh). I envy people who don't have that weird hang-up about art because occasionally I'll look at a card and love what it does, but then have to go through the mental battle of "but if I build this, I need it very heavily altered, and altered well and..." and then just not building it.

[toctheyounger]

4. I really like beaten-up cards. I like buying HP and DMG cards because they're cheap and I never intend to liquidate, but I also weirdly like the look of a double-sleeved frayed old card. Reminds me of when I was a kid, learning to shuffle with a ratty, miscellaneous stack of cards.

I'm down with this too. It's like...you know this card has seen some %$#%, been through some battles and still survived. It's earned its place.