The release of The Brothers’ War is just around the corner! Wizards of the Coast is giving it all to make this anticipated set the best it can be. With Retro Artifacts and some incredibly rare Transformers cards thrown in, there are a lot of cards to hunt for with MTG’s newest set. As spoiler season slowly comes to a close, some YouTubers are showing off early looks at the new MTG serialized foiling techniques being used in this set, and players are split about whether they like it or not.
Serialized MTG Cards
To quickly recap, The Brothers’ War will include serialized cards. Outside of the mirrored Viscera Seer that popped up in Secret Lair Bonus Slots, this is something that has traditionally been done with other collectible cards that MTG is dipping into for the first time. We saw the price of the mirrored Viscera Seer cards exceed $5000, so there is a strong chance that these numbered cards will be going for a good amount of cash.
Youtuber Askrias recently revealed a first-hand look at what the new Serialized foiling technique looks like. Here, he shows off the 80th of 500 Serialized Ivory Towers beside a regular Schematic foil copy of the card. Wizards of the Coast promised that these serialized cards would have a unique foiling technique, and this comparison does not disappoint in that regard.
“All Wizards mentioned is that it was going to be like a ‘double rainbow,’ whatever that means. But, holding it side-by-side, I can show you what they mean by that. The first thing that you’ll that the foiling on the numbered card, it pops out very nicely.” -Askrias.
Added here is that the foiling technique found with everyday retro and schematic artifacts is similar to what was found with the foil timeshifted bordered cards in Time Spiral Remastered.
Unfortunately, players are raising an issue with is the serialized number itself.
Players’ Opinion
The double-rainbow foiling on these serialized MTG cards is exciting, but some MTG players aren’t thrilled with how the serialized numbers look on the card. Many hope that Wizards will consider changing how the serialized numbers actually look to the old style of handling prerelease stamped cards:
“I think the serialized numbers would have been nice without the black background. I think it ruins the art a bit, unfortunately.” – Cardboard Guide
“Numbers look ugly, the gold lettering was way better and way more appropriate.” – salgarj
“This numbering gimmick is going to bomb. That looks terrible.” – cloudy_skies547
“As a collector piece they’ll be nice, but that serial number handling really does hurt the overall presentation. I was seriously hoping that was just placeholder on the original images.” – KungFuMan316
“Yea I was kind of thinking it would maybe be like pre-release cards with Gold lettering but it kinda just looks like an after thought” – Gloomy_Duck
To be clear, the central issue players seem to have with these serialized cards is how the numbers look on the card. Otherwise, players are rather excited for the collectible card game classic to be introduced to the world of MTG:
“I think after looking at this they do stand a good chance to compete with the KLD inventions given also the premium foiling, but unlike inventions I’m not convinced these will appreciate as reliably, given they will likely start out quite high.” – digitek
“So i’m hyped to see serialized stuff in the future, but this is not good enough for me to replace Kaladesh inventions.
And the big black box with the serialized number on the artwork is really bad.” – Soupealatomate
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The Complete Nostalgia Experience
The collectability of these serialized schematic cards is incredible, and the only thing holding them back is the apparent communal distaste for how the actual serialized numbers look. Since Wizards of the Coast already has access to the Prerelease stamped style of serialization seen on the Viscera Seer cards from the Secret Lair Bonus Slot, we know that another option can be utilized if this look is truly one that the community does not care for. Players know this too, and many seem to anticipate the return of the nostalgic Prerelease style of serialization to go along with their nostalgic old-bordered cards.
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