Zendikar Rising art review

Zendikar Rising marks the third visit to Magic: the gathering’s ‘adventure world’.

In previous years Zendikar has been the closest thing magic can come to Dungeons & Dragons. However with this recent announcement:

It’s not clear what Zendikar’s identify is meant to be. For this set they have leaned into the the adventure theme of a party exploring a wilderness together. This comes through very clearly in the art. I like the look and feel of the world, but the D&D announcement has me wondering what Zendikar’s purpose in the game even is, if they can simply visit the various adventuring settings of D&D at will.

Anyway, on to the art! This third visit to Zendikar is filled with visual treats, and the floating rocks and ancient relics theme of the original Zendikar comes through nicely. Here are five of my favourites:

Needleverge Pathway by Alayna Danner

Magic sets all have their variant car art these days, and Needleverge Pathway is just one example for this set. Zendikar’s rock formations have always viewed gravity as optional, and it’s good to see that hasn’t changed.

Nullpriest of Oblivion by Yongjae Choi

Zendikar isn’t all bright and sunny. There’s darkness in the shadowed places, as illustrated here quite wonderfully.

Brightclimb Pathway by Johannes Voss

Back to the sunshine, where a lone adventurer looks on at his next exploration.

Adventure Awaits by Billy Christian

This art sums up Zendikar for me in one great image.

Nissa of Shadowed Boughs by David Rapoza

It wouldn’t be Magic without planeswalkers, and Nissa returns to her home world for this set. This time she’s dabbling in black as well as her more usual green magic. This art is from a variant card which will come in regular boosters… I think. It’s hard to tell these days.

Click here to see all Zendikar Rising cards at Scryfall.