The above cards aren't mere game pieces to me. They reference high art & low art, blend mechanics & flavor seamlessly, fuse frames & flavor text into gorgeous masterworks we're lucky enough to play with sometimes.

This cube is probably the least beginner friendly thing possible. There's inherent difficulty in drafting this cube while reading through so much variation in fonts, font sizing, text locations, languages, old mechanics (...banding...), textless cards, etc.

Plus this cube has a power band wider than the Gobi Desert. This is (mostly) by design. I'm including many cards with zero pedigree that I think exemplify beautiful art and card design while also not ignoring cards with tournament highlights. A few even have the gold border to emphasize just how cool tournament Magic is, from Worlds to FNM.

The explosion in Secret Lair drops, alternate art, unique foiling, serialized cards, showcase frames, and card treatments deserves a comment. I fully admit there may be a higher percentage of those cards represented here due to the intentional artistic flair from those releases. That said, a card's inclusion in any of those products doesn't make it interesting to me by default, nor does having a lot going on within the frame. Same applies to old cards too. The selections are by my taste alone (hence the preponderance of white borders, chiaroscuro, first-person perspective, loose brushwork, Adventure frames etc.)

Additionally, there's no way my cute cube can resolve the massive question of separating the art from the artist. All I'll say is that I have zero online reach, would reconsider my influence if I ever did, and that Magic: The Gallery isn't in paper (and would only ever be proxied) so there's zero financial benefit to any artist.