During Digimon Con 2021, Bandai announced that it would be hosting an illustration contest, inviting all Digimon fans to submit their fanart of specific characters for a chance for their art to be printed on a future card in the Digimon Card Game. Many fans submitted their artwork, and they were all fantastic, but some rose above the rest with their unique takes on fan-favorite Digimon like Agumon and Digimon: Ghost Game's adorable tiny dinosaur protgaonist, Gammamon.
The cards were eventually distributed in packs given away for attending the pop-up Digimon Museum exhibit in Akihabara to celebrate Digimon's 25th anniversary, while English-speaking Digimon fans were finally able to get their hands on these cards through special box topper packs when purchasing BT11 Dimensional Phase.
8 Three Seconds To Launch - Atarime
In Atarime's rendition of Machinedramon revving up its cannon, ready to fire straight out of the confines of the card. The perspective of this artwork is phenomenal and looking down the barrel of that cannon is frightening.
The only downside is that it was printed as the starter deck version of Machinedramon, objectively not a great card. The only other Machinedramon already has an alternate art version of it, so it makes sense why Bandai picked this version instead. This artwork would've received a bit more fan love if it had gotten printed as the new BT-11 Machinedramon, since that card did not receive the alternate art treatment.
7 Numemon In The Marsh - Yuki Mukai
Although Numemon is not the most popular Digimon, given its gross nature, Yuki Mukai's entry for their Numemon card is beyond charming. They found a way to make Numemon adorable by placing its lonely self in a dark and boggy marsh atop an adorable pink lily pad.
This artwork feels quite cartoonish at first, but Yuki Mukai gives it a splash of realism by drawing the Numemon's reflection in the water, adding a much-needed touch of clarity when most Numemon artworks are dark and gritty to match the slimy monster's personality.
6 Fallen - Spareribs
It must be a rule at Bandai that if it is a good card, it will receive many alternate art cards. From its original printing in the first purple starter deck to event-exclusive stamped cards, Spareribs gives fans Devimon's fourth alternate art.
Not to say it's beating the dead devil horse, but quite the opposite.Evil Digimon don't tend to get as many fans are protagonists like Agumon or Gammamon, so seeing amazing artwork of normally seen as antagonist Digimon is fantastic.
Spareribs does a great job at showcasing the length of Devimon's extremities as if he were a man on stilts, barely keeping balance.
5 Two Scenic Flights - Yamuretsu
Illustration contests like these are great for shining a light on smaller artists with unique art styles. Digimon artwork tends to fall more in line with an anime-heavy style, with some outliers here and there, but Yamuretsu's take on Terriermon shows that incredible children's storybook art style can also work on Digimon.
This adorable Terriermon art is even better as an alternate art since the one found in EX-02 Digital Hazard was only an anime screenshot rather than a unique artwork.
4 Peach - 61
A niche thing that fans of Digimon and Pokemon alike love is seeing a sense of camaraderie between their favorite creatures. Something about seeing Agumon palling around with Gabumon, or Togepi sharing a meal with Pikachu, hits that spot in the back of your brain that will turn any bad day around.
61 does that exact thing with their version of this Gammamon card. Simply receiving a small peach from Monmon is enough to win the hearts of fans of one of Digimon's cutest protagonists.
3 Patamon Is Eating An Apple - Mojuke
There is a reason why Patamon is so round. After eating two apples, he's already begun to work on the third one in this adorable Patamon artwork by Mojuke. Everyone's favorite potato looks cute in just about any kind of artwork, but Mojuke's style feels like it fits the Digimon Card Game perfectly.
It's not busy or harsh on the eyes and keeps enough negative space to able to place card text on, giving this Patamon card one of the best things a card can have: amazing artwork and legibility.
2 Pepper Breath Training - Gosha
Although Gosha's Agumon did not win first place in the contest, it won first place in our hearts. With one of the more unique art styles in the competition, Gosha gave fans a cute design highlighting Agumon's comically large head while using his signature Pepper Breath.
This design feels a bit nostalgic as well, featuring small Botamons in the background strolling about the huge green hills with randomly placed radio towers and railroad tracks from the Digimon World games.
1 Lilly Tale - Poroze
Poroze's Lillymon artwork was the winner of the illustration contest, and you can see why. Not only this Lillymon artwork gives an alternate art to a card that needed one, but it is an amazing artwork in its own right. Poroze's art is majestic, and it shows how beautiful and regal Lillymon is.
Lillymon is prominently shown on this card, but the small details are what take it to the next level. The wrapping vines on side of the card, and the stained-glass artwork behind Lillymon, almost resembling Kingdom Hearts art, make this card worthy of first place. Hopefully, we can see more of Poroze's beaufiful takes on our favorite Digital Monsters soon.