Having literally hundreds of amazing artists to choose from for this post, these eight artists only scratch the surface of the vast collective skill that comes along with each pack of Magic cards. Feel free to share other great Magic artists that I might have missed. Enjoy!

Please note that all of the following artworks are © Copyrighted to Wizards of the Coast

Todd Lockwood

Website: http://www.toddlockwood.com/

Blog: http://www.tolo.biz/

Quote: “I have been drawing since before I can remember, literally since I was old enough to hold a pencil. Growing up, it was my main recreation. I taught myself to draw by making my own comic books on typing paper; it was great practice, drawing the same characters, objects, and settings in sequential multiples. It honed my story telling skills at the same time; story telling was really what was on my mind.”

John Avon

Website: http://www.johnavon.com/

Bio: John is an English freelance illustrator, working primarily in the field of Fantasy and Science Fiction. His professional art career started in 1983, when he began to paint book-covers, including authors such as Stephen King, Terry Pratchett, Arthur C. Clarke, among many others. Over the last decade John has produced hundreds of paintings for the cards of Magic the Gathering.

Donato Giancola

Website: http://www.donatoart.com/

Bio: Since beginning his professional career in 1993, Donato’s list of clients has grown to include LucasArts, National Geographic, CNN, DC Comics, Microsoft, Playboy Magazine, Wizards of the Coast, Scholastic, Tor Books, Random House, Time/Warner, The Scifi Channel, Milton-Bradley, and Hasbro.

Matt Cavotta

Website: http://cavotta.com/artists/cavotta/main.asp

Bio: Matt has loved games since he was slumlording over Baltic Avenue as a kid. Scattergories, Scrabble, Balderdash, and Boggle are all faves, but Matt does not reach his full gamer nerdhood until he busts out the D&D or Magic. After a while, it only seemed natural to try and contribute to the artwork of the games he loves. After a lot of practice and perseverance, Matt cracked into the “biz” and now his work and play are nearly one and the same.

Scott M. Fischer

Website: http://www.fischart.com/

Bio: After coasting through high school on extra credit art assignments, he found himself at the Savannah College of art and design. In 1994 he graduated from college with honors, and a little plaque inscribed with the words ‘painter of the year’. A sampling of the worlds he’s visited are; Peter Pan, Secrets of Dripping Fang, Halo, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Robert Jordan’s ‘Wheel of Time’, Magic the Gathering, and Dungeons and Dragons.

Heather Hudson

Website: http://www.studiowondercabinet.com

Bio: “Since the early 90‘s, I’ve drawn and painted art for tabletop games for the young adult market including licensed properties based on the Dungeons and Dragons game system, the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and H.P. Lovecraft.  My work for the collectible card game “Magic; the Gathering” (Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro) is known to players and collectors around the world.”

Mark Tedin

Website: http://marktedin.com

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-Tedin-Illustration/297091821503?ref=ts

Bio: Since 1992 Mark has worked as a Set Designer for various companies, Art Director and Concept Artist at Wizards of the Coast. He recently has been an Adjunct Faculty member at Northwest College of Art since 2003.

Rob Alexander

Website: http://www.robalexander.com/

Bio: Rob Alexander is an Illustrator and Concept Artist working in the Publishing, Magazine, Computer Gaming and Collectable Card Game markets. He paints Fine Art, Fantasy and Science Fiction, Children’s Illustrations and contemporary landscapes.

Other notable Magic the Gathering artists:

Daren Bader – http://www.darenbader.blogspot.com/

Carl Critchlow – http://www.carlcritchlow.com

Dan Frazier – http://www.danfrazier.com

Gallegos – http://gallegosart.com

Here is some fantastic fan-art of this great series that has captured the hearts of millions of children and adults around the world.

Each one is a blank canvas, and all ready for scribbling, piercing, painting, posing, piling, dressing up, and sculpting into forms straight from your imagination.

Epicness (Urban Dictionary Definition):

To describe something that is so amazing that no other word is able to describe its awesomeness.

Some of these games have been on the iTunes store for many many months, gaining more and more “5 star” ratings and great reviews, while others have only recently come out, but are topping the charts ‘out of the gate.’

If you own an iPhone/iPod Touch, you should also check out 10 Insanely Useful iPhone Apps

Doodle Jump

iTunes link: Doodle Jump

Price: $0.99

iTunes rating: 4.5/5 Stars

This extremely simple looking game may look outdated and childish, but it is anything but. Doodle Jump has been the #1 app in numerous countries since it was released over a year ago. It has been featured in dozens of “best game/app” lists all over the web, and is still getting “5 stars” and excellent reviews daily. With the current version being 1.14, fourteen updates since its release is almost unheard of for iPhone apps. The updates always bring new dimension and fun to this simple, yet great game.

All-In-1 GameBox

Link to iTunes: All-In-One Gamebox

Price: $0.99

iTunes rating: 3.5/5 Stars

This compilation started off with 8 games and has grown (fairly quickly) into 25. At the time you are reading this, there could be even more than that too. This is another game that has been sitting happy at the top of the “Top 25″ in the iTunes store, and deserves to be. I’ll admit, not all of the 25 included game are “great,” but there are at least a dozen or so that are worth playing and fun too. Even if only ONE of the 25 included games was perfection-in-game-form, it would still be worth your money at $0.99.

Hook Champ

iTunes link: Hook Champ

Price: $2.99

iTunes rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Hook Champ is a very fast and fun game, with tons of upgrades, unlockables, and challenges. If you love side scrollers, running from one-eyed monsters with big teeth, swinging from a grappling hook “Indiana Jones style,” or just fun quick games, Hook Champ is a must for your iPhone arsenal.

Canabalt

Online Flash version: Canbalt (you can also play in HD, which is just wonderful)

iTunes link: Canabalt

Price: $2.99

iTunes rating: 4/5 Stars

If Semi Secret Software hasn’t won any awards for Canabalt, it needs to as soon as possible. This game is the definition of “quick simple game.” The point of this scrolling platform game is to simply not die. The main character just runs, and runs, and runs, and your objective is to time the jumps right to keep him safely on top of buildings (while avoiding random futuristic bombs that crash down in front of you). The graphics are 8-bit-style, but are beautifully done. The two song soundtrack is one of the best two songs I have ever heard in a video game. Oh and did I mention this game only has one button? (jump).

Angry Birds

iTunes link: Angry Birds

Price: $0.99

iTunes rating: 4.5/5 Stars

When I first saw this game in the iTunes store, I thought “Angry Birds? I’m in!” I tried the lite version, loved it, moved onto the full version (and for $0.99 you can’t go wrong) and played it for the next week straight until I beat it. Even when you “beat it,” you can still go through and earn more “stars” for each level. Basically, green pigs stole some eggs from some birds, which pissed these birds off enough to let you fling them in a slingshot at the pigs, attempting to take out as many as possible. The concept is very simple, but the levels get increasing harder and harder. Yet the game progresses as a steady pace as to not overwhelm you with the difficulty (which is very appreciated). Also, the gravity engine is very smart and reacts like it should when a bird is thrown suicidally into a wooden house with pigs living in it.

Bejeweled 2

Popcap games link: Bejeweled 2 free online

iTunes link: Bejeweled 2

Price: $2.99

iTunes rating: 4/5 Stars

Bejeweled was the first game I purchased for my iPhone, and I still play it today. The concept is extremely simple; match three (or more) jewels in a row, and those jewels blow up and are replaced with more jewels, rinse, repeat, score big! If you haven’t heard of this game, do yourself a favor and go purchase it now! (or at least play it for free online first)

Cartoon Wars – Gunner

iTunes link: Cartoon Wars:Gunner

Price: $0.99

iTunes rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Cartoon Wars:Gunner is a great game if you love stick figures and shooting things. You play as “Captain J,” who is out to get revenge on the king who betrayed him. You basically run around and shoot at all monsters who come near you (who are also drawn “stick-style”). You have 11 types of weapons (each with their own skill set) to attack 30 different types of enemies. The more you kill, the more money you get (with bonuses given at the end of the level). This money is then used to upgrade your stats (more heath, more defense, etc), weapons, and skills.

Bloons

NinjaKiwi – The Original Bloons: Play Bloons Free Online

iTunes link: Bloons

Price: $0.99 (60% off sale – buy now!)

iTunes rating: 4/5 Stars

Your a monkey on a floating platform in the sky, armed with darts, attempting to pop all the balloons that you can. Why does this monkey hate balloons so much? Why is it hanging out in the clouds? And who gave this monkey darts of all things? None of the answers matter, because this is a great simple game that you can pick up at any time and play for as long as you want! With more and more level packs added with free updates, purchasing this game is a no-brainer.

Plants vs. Zombies

Popcap link: Plants vs Zombies Official Site

iTunes link: Plants vs Zombies

Price: $2.99

iTunes rating: 5/5 Stars!!!!

Angry mobs of zombies are about to take over your home, and your only defense (for some reason) are 49 zombie-killing plants. You have 26 different zombies (including a Michael Jackson Thriller zombie) to fend off before they reach your front door. If one makes it inside, game over. You purchase plants with sun (that falls from the sky, and is produced by what else, ‘sunflowers’ haha). You battle the zombies in your front yard, back yard (which has a pool), roof, and through fog.  This game is my new favorite game. It helps me sleep at night knowing that I just killed a bunch of zombies, and they won’t be able to enter my home.

Bookworm

iTunes link: Bookworm

Price: $2.99

iTunes rating: 4/5 Stars

Bookworm has been around for awhile, but it is still a classic game in every aspect. The basis of the game is to make words by connecting letters that are on the board. It seems simple, but you will be surprised how your vocabulary increases after playing this game over and over again. The iPhone version has added content (such as a “bonus book list” that gives you extra points for collecting certain words, plus it gives you something to shoot for).

Peggle

Popcap Games link: Peggle

iTunes link: Peggle

Price: $2.99

iTunes rating: 4.5/5 Stars

The premise is simple, ‘shoot and clear all of the orange pegs.’ Ten different master peg shooters (each with their own magical power they allow you to use) guide you through 55 levels of peg-shooting fun.  $2.99 is a steal for this great game, seeing how there are PC and Nintendo DS versions of this great game.

Booooly!

iTunes link: Booooly!

Price: $0.99

iTunes rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Booooly is a very cute, simple, yet fun game to play. Simply touch any booooly’s that are grouped together (three or more) in the same color, and they disappear. Sounds easy right? It is easy, but gets tougher as the levels go up and new booooly’s drop in faster and faster. If you have ever played Poppit on Pogo.com, this is your type of game!

Two souls with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one.”
–John Keats

In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities.”
–Janos Arnay

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.”
–Aristotle

Take away love, and our earth is a tomb.”
–Robert Browning

To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven.”
–Karen Sunde

Mondayn00dle (Brian Kescenovitz )

Jerac

Legohaulic (Tyler)