With any expansion to a card game, it's easy to be excited about the new competitive cards that you can use to dominate your opponents. But just as exciting is the unique art that comes with every added card. Flesh and Blood is no exception, as the Dynasty expansion introduced a slew of new card art from its fantastic visual artists.
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Not all card art is created equal, though; while the art in Dynasty is phenomenal, there are some cards that are the absolute cream of the crop. Marvels tend to have some of the best art in Flesh and Blood, but don't count out the other varieties of cards that the game has to offer – any card can have great art.
10 Blessing Of Qi
Blessing of Qi's ethereal tigers are the best part of the card's art – they immediately pop out and make themselves memorable, especially in juxtaposition with the character summoning them.
The art for this card makes a lot of sense, since its only use is to summon the Crouching Tiger card; it does well to communicate that fact by making the tigers the most visually interesting component of the piece.
Faizal Fikri made almost everything in the card red, from bright plasma reds to rich crimsons that use their contrast to keep the image from being too visually muddled. The result is a card that is easy to recognize and a great candidate to join a display.
9 Crouching Tiger (Marvel)
Carlos Cruchaga's Crouching Tiger marvel is quite a bit different from the regular version, depicting a tiger menacing two people, as though it is about to pounce. The original version of the card depicted a tiger after an attack, which doesn't do as well to represent the card's effect – the art style in both, and the lack of physical consequence in the marvel, perfectly represent the zero attack, ephemeral card that this is.
The art style used here is visually distinct from the standard Flesh and Blood fare, choosing limited and muted colors as well as a cartoonish flair to make this card as appealing as possible. This would be a great image to hang in a gallery, let alone add to your collection.
8 Shred
Shred is an absolutely brutal card by Henrique Lindner, depicting someone with a few metal shards sticking out of their head, causing them to bleed. This card is too visceral not to be memorable, and making you wonder if the person on the receiving end of those shards is alive, and whether that would be a good thing.
The muted red and green in this card enhance the tone of the piece, making it feel sickly and perverse– while the imagery alone is enough, the whole thing comes together to form a heart-stopping grotesque tableau.
7 Diabolic Ultimatum
Diabolic Ultimatum depicts an arachnid-like beast looming over a miniscule humanoid figure, and it just oozes an intimidating aura. The size and shape of the beast certainly backs the nature of the card, which forces both you and your opponent to get rid of either an ally or an aura.
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The orange that occupies the stomach and limbs of the beast perfectly encapsulates the sense of threat that the card promises, and adds a level of contrast that makes the art really pop. All in all, this card is a wonderful addition to any gallery that it's in.
6 Mind Warp
Carlos Cruchaga's Mind Warp has to be the most creative cards to come out of the Dynasty expansion, using a good mix of color and blocking to make something uniquely memorable. The card depicts the world morphing and changing from a first-person perspective, as magic flows through the air. This visual reshuffling matches well with the actual reshuffling that it will be making your opponent do.
The colors give this a particularly interesting feel, choosing vibrant yellows, greens, and blues to make everything look airy and whimsical in an expansion mostly dominated by the color red. The way everything flows in this scene makes it look satisfying as well, with the magical lines moving your eyes around the complex mess set before you.
5 Crown Of Dominion (Marvel)
Crown of Dominion by Andy Aslamov is an intimidating card that uses a limited palette to channel the feeling of ruling an empire in conflict. The crown pictured is impressive, which matches the card's effect of making your hero royal. But a crown of such magnitude would lay heavy on the brow of the ruler wearing it, which the art gets across with its grim tone.
The browns and oranges that dominate this card nail this tone, and make it clear that to take the throne is to be saddled with the grief of the empire. This piece is full-bodied, and would work well as a centerpiece in any collection.
4 Swell Tidings
Your jaw might just drop when you get a look at Federico Musetti's work in the Swell Tidings card, which presents a stunningly colorful and visually interesting tableau that anyone could appreciate. The complexity on display in this card's art represents its staggering damage and surge effect, implying that something arcane and infinitely powerful will come from the caster seen in the picture.
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The center of the spell being a vanishing point for so many of the lines makes it feel like it is intensely focused magic. It's surprising that this layered masterpiece didn't end up getting a marvel, but even without a closer look, it's fantastic.
3 Nitro Mechanoid (Marvel)
The Nitro Mechanoid by Sam Yang is one of the more expensive cards from the Dynasty expansion, and has great art that underlines its power as a weapon card well. The mech seen in the art manages to look as though it could both overpower the strongest of knights and fall apart at any second.
The steampunk style lets you know without reading that this is a Mechanologist card, and is further enhanced by the radiant parts that float around the mech, which show just how powerful the machine at hand really is.
2 Arakni
This young version of Arakni, illustrated by Isuardi Therianto, paints the picture of a young assassin carving his way up the ranks, not quite as legendary as he will one day be. Arakni is not portrayed as incapable, but instead as scrappy and at the start of his career.
The work put into rendering a young Arakni is really cool, especially in the way that the mask resembles an unrefined version of his older form's. Arakni is not only a great choice for a hero, but also a nice card to display in your collection.
1 Emperor, Dracai of Aesir (Marvel)
Being the card around which the entire Dynasty expansion is based, it makes sense that the art for Dracai, rendered by Federico Musetti, is one of the most eye-catching cards in the entire expansion. The emperor looks exactly the right amount of regal, prepared to delegate Command and Conquer to do devastating damage to the opponents of his empire.
The commanding reds and golds that he is adorned in are eye-catching in comparison to the darker browns and muted reds that surround him. It looks as if you are approaching him as a citizen of his empire, being gazed down at by your sovereign; this card art speaks well to the prevailing theme of the entire Dynasty expansion, and is perfect for any collection.
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