Magic: The Gathering’s original Kamigawa set was a fan favorite, introducing Japanese mythology and many legendary lands, creatures, and enchantments to the game’s growing library. Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty marks a return to the plane, now in the far future. Ninja hackers and mecha-samurai battle across a cyberpunk version of the mystic land.
It should be no surprise that the set has some truly transcendent art pieces. Old legends return alongside new ones, including many sci-fi Vehicles and “living” artifact tools for planeswalkers to use. Strange spirits, humongous flying turtles, and MTG’s own iteration of a Gundam make for some of the artistic highlights.
10 Kitsune Ace
Kitsune Ace gifts us a portrait of a foxy Han Solo. Stanced up with confidence, this ace fighter pilot can crew many of your Vehicles at once or give them an upper hand as they fly into battle each combat.
Joseph Weston’s art is simple and powerful. Comfy white armor, golden helm nestled under arm, and a flowing red scarf all give the Kitsune Ace a sanguine composure. This is clearly a dude you can rely on to lead the pack.
9 Upriser Renegade
The Upriser Renegade has a pompadour hairdo and an unforgettable pose, not unlike a JoJo character just before unleashing their special move. This stylish Human Samurai wields a mechanical flame maul and is ready to swing away.
David Auden Nash’s art pairs with the flavor text to create a signature character for Neon Dynasty. Take a closer look, and you can see that his armor is flaring up his strong arm for a devastating turn into the red zone, hopefully alongside all his modified buddies. His streets, his rules.
8 Suit Up
Everyone loves a cinematic “suit up” sequence. Iron Man fans have been enjoying them for over a decade at the box office, and anime fans can go even further back. The wonder of jumping into the cockpit of a giant machine instantly readied for your piloting is just what Suit Up’s art and effect give to the blue player.
Miguel Mercado’s Suit Up lets you animate your favorite artifact in a pinch, just before combat without the crew cost paid or on defense to take out an attacker. Going from “smallest kid on the block to biggest hero in the city” will also earn you an extra card. This represents the adrenaline rush you’ll experience as your butt hits the seat.
7 Kami Of Transience
The “kami” spirit is a part of Japanese mythology and Shinto religious practice. They are the divine beings borne of nature, ancestors, and the universal energy of a parallel world. Holy and able to influence the mortal world in myriad ways, a kami’s power grows into the ages.
Kami of Transience is quite a vision, a four-legged tree spirit with a collection of masks and vividly red leaves. Steve Prescott’s art shows the kami crossing over a traditional red bridge, followed by its own seeds as they spread across the land. The Kami of Transience is a strong card, growing in power and able to constantly return within an enchantment-focused deck.
6 Gravelighter
Kami can be beautiful, or they can be terrifying. Miranda Meeks’ Gravelighter art presents the eerie, multi-armed monstrosity of a dark spirit that feeds on death. Sickly greens and wisping purple smoke surround this smiler. She carries a singular lamp lit for one not long for the world.
The Gravelighter is Kamigawa’s grim reaper, appearing only “to those whose lives are ending, welcoming them to their fate.” Gain energy from death, or cause it. This three mana flyer provides value either way. But whatever you do, do NOT look into her eyes.
5 Invoke Justice
The sorcery Invoke Justice provides Kekai Kotaki with the canvas to create the transcendent blaze of a cyber-samurai squadron entering the fray. Cast this and suddenly your battlefield becomes fiery, armored, golden, and wielding sabers that look honed from the sun.
Returning any permanent to the battlefield and buffing your army at the same time for only five mana is victory incarnate. Invoke Justice is definitely the kind of card that wins games. So it makes sense that the art lives up to its power level.
4 Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant
Jin-Gitaxias is one of Phyrexia’s strongest figures. As a card, as an art piece, and as a mythical Praetor capable of untold atrocities, this is a character central to MTG’s lore. Chase Stone’s art is not only impressive, but rather scary. Jin’s role for the nefarious Phyrexians is even more so: calculating a way to “compleat” planeswalkers, i.e. transform planeswalkers into Phyrexian minions.
Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant is meant to invoke terror. Like every Praetor, he boosts your casts and stymies all your opponents’ at once. This mecha monster with an arched back looks forward to raining copies and counterspells into the backstreets of your mega-city, continuously, mercilessly.
3 Colossal Skyturtle
Magic: The Gathering’s best art can evoke a true sense of wonder in the player. Not unlike something out of James Cameron’s Avatar, and perhaps drawing on the age-old myth of the “World-bearing Turtle,” Colossal Skyturtle’s art by Nicholas Gregory is otherworldly and wondrous.
The enchantment creature can be a finisher in a Simic (green and blue) deck, or just provide a pair of quick and advantageous effects when Channeled. Its versatility makes Colossal Skyturtle a winner in limited and a workhorse in any Commander deck that can carry the big guy.
2 Mindlink Mech
Science fiction harbors the giant robot as a sacred icon. From Gundam to Evangelion and Pacific Rim, the Mindlink Mech draws on a distinguished canon of mecha sagas. Robbie Trevino’s art shows a micro martial artist relative to the mech amongst the clouds, each perfectly mirroring each other’s movement with a big flying kick.
Mindlink Mech provides a unique Vehicle effect in blue, not just animating from its crew effect, but copying the pilot’s own effects and abilities each time. Live out your dream of commanding a mech by linking your mind with it and creating some exhilarating double payoffs.
1 Boseiju, Who Endures
Boseiju is known as the “Sacred Mother Tree” in Kamigawa lore, thousands of years old and forever green. The World Tree, or “Yggdrasil,” myth is as old as time, and Chris Ostrowski’s art shows how nature endures even into the accelerating techno future.
This legendary land presents the scale of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty’s core cyberpunk metropolis. Boseiju earns its enduring title by scaling high above the fellow skyscrapers. It is interesting how Mother Nature always seems to dwarf and outlive the monuments painstakingly built by Mankind.