Hello happy people! I hope that your day is going incredibly well! Today we are looking at my favorite art from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty and the Commander set that it debuted with. A few years ago we had enough space between sets after my 3-5 Top Ten card articles to take a week or three to look at my favorite art from a set, but that's not been the case recently, so I enjoy the fact that before we get caught up in the next spoiler from Streets of New Capenna that I can take a week off to look at my favorite pieces of art from NEO and NEC.

Note that views on art are subjective and my favorite pieces might be quite different from yours. Also note that I am not a critic or an artist, just a fan who has a few pieces on my wall. (My favorite art I own is Temple Acolyte by Lubov which I picked up direct from the artist).

Ready? Let's look and see!

Honorable Mention #1 - Kaito Shizuki

I really enjoy Yongjae Choi's 90th piece for the game! As you can see, this fun cyber-ninja is a big name in the format and one of the key cards and characters introduced. I enjoy the background in this and the building on the right of the picture near Kaito's hand. The detailed work on the background in the upper left is quite well done as well as the body and posture and remember that planeswalkers are often presented with more lush details and time. This is a great example of that here and is one of the key reasons it's on my list at basically #12...well sorta #14 you'll see later.

Yongjae Choi has some fun art, and you might know Anje, Maid of Dishonor; Chandra, Fire Artisan; Chevill, Bane of Monsters; Ghired, Conclave Exile; Gisa, Glorious Resurrector; Grist, the Hunger Tide; Inalla, Archmage Ritualist; Jeska, Thrice Reborn; Jodah, Archmage Eternal; Kaya, Orzhov Usurper; and Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow. My favorite is likely Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom. Check it out:

What do you think?

Honorable Mention #2 - Mechtitan Core AND its Token

I love this piece of art and I adore the token. This is a fun Voltron card, literally. The Vehicle is a fun-colored piece with the Core over to the right and a few things behind it that nicely show off its size. I really loved the colors of the piece. And then the token is a big giant far away Ultraman created dork that wants to punch above its weight and I love the moon in the sky above. I love each of these! According to Gatherer, artist Victor Adame Minguez has 120 pieces and is in the triple digit club. You can find it here.

You might know Victor's Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants; Ajani, the Greathearted; Atraxa, Praetor's Voice; Binding the Old Gods; Bonecrusher Giant; Cataclysmic Gearhulk; Divine Visitation; Elvish Reclaimer; Hammer of Nazahn; Morophon, the Boundless; and Osgir, the Reconstructor. My favorite is probably Storm the Vault. Good stuff!

#10. Dragonspark Reactor

Now let's turn to the Top Ten proper and Billy Christian's Dragonspark Reactor. My favorite piece of this art is the rounded energy ball in the jaws of the artifact. Look at how nicely done it is. The rest of the piece looks pretty keen as well, and I enjoy the dragon artifact and more in this piece. Billy has done 23 other pieces, you might know the Augur of Autumn (my favorite piece); the alternate art Cultivate from Core Set 2021; White Dragon; You Come to the Gnoll Camp.

#9, Junji, the Midnight Sky

Junji is the only one in the Dragon Spirit cycle to score one here. As you can see, this fun work has a great use of purple and I love the flowers here that make Junji seem so welcoming and fun. The crown and details are very nicely done, and I enjoy it a lot.

Who made our token Dragon Spirit? Chase Stone did! Chase is also a part of the 100+ card with 104 cards. You might know Chase's Bontu the Glorified; Chromium, the Mutable; Dragonlord Ojutai; Erebos, Bleak-Hearted; Extus, Oriq Overlord; Feldon of the Third Path (my favorite?); Ghalta, Primal Hunger;Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge; and Wrenn and Six. Love Chase a lot! What's your favorite card by Chase Stone?

#8. The Wandering Emperor

Our highest-charting planeswalker is everyone's favorite "The Wanderer." Again, I find this art to be lush with details like her clothes, the robe flapping in the wind, the posture, the shrine in the back and loads more. It's really strong stuff! Tommy Arnold, artist of this piece, has 23 pieces in the game including As Foretold; Glimmer of Genius; Patron of the Vein; Rona, Disciple of Gix; Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord; and Watcher for Tomorrow. My favorite is probably the Masterpiece version of Static Orb. Thoughts?

#7. Norika Yamazaki, the Poet AND Heiko Yamazaki, the General

I only have one article to talk about art and 12 spots to do so, so I am cheating and tossing in two cards here that share the same art by the same artist - Magali Villeneuve. Magali is also in the 100+ club with 136 cards over on Gatherer here.

This is not the first time that Megali has appeared in one of my Top Ten Favorite Art lists either. I love the Poet's shiny scrolls and the armor and more, and I love the flaming sword and armor details of Heiko as well, so I am giving them both a slot here. They also have the lushness of planeswalkers. By the by, I built a Boros Samurai Deck around Raiyuu, Storm's Edge that leaned heavily into both of these which you can find here.

Which Megali card is your favorite? Mine is the Mina Harker re-art for Thalia, Guardian of Thraben.

#6. Blade of the Oni

Blade of the Oni is a nicely done piece of work. The Blade proper is very well detailed, and I love the Shrine details in the background that surround it. The colors of the blade pop nicely. I love the green light from above and the dark purple of the sword. This 3/1 menace Equipment Demon was illustrated by Jason A. Engle.

Jason is yet one more in the 100+ which you can find here. You might know his Beanstalk Giant; Blacksmith's Skill; Blim, Comedic Genius; Chatterfang, Squirrel General; Sakashima of a Thousand Faces; Timothar, Baron of Bats. Which card by Engle is your favorite?

Top Five Time!

#5. Bamboo Grove Archer

My favorite common, and mono-Green art is this fun Snake Archer. I have lots of warm feelings when I see this art. In this case our Snake is firing a magical arrow at a foe in the background, and other spectral arrows are around. The arrows are ably done, and the subject is also nicely done with great clothing and the bow is my favorite thing about this image.

And Steve Prescott created this image for us! Steve has an amazing 199 pieces, and that's incredible! We have the full list here. This is also not the first time Steve has appeared in my list and probably not the last as long as I am able to write these top tens. From Abzan Guide to Zephyr Charge he has a load of art to look at.

#4. The Kami War // O-Kagachi Made Manifest

This is our first and only Saga and I adore the art here in the front side. This thing is gorgeous! It's so detailed and intricate and I really cannot stop looking at it. I also really like the back as well. Good job Kieran Yanner, with 170 total cards.

They include Ajani Unyielding; Basri Ket; Djeru, With Eyes Open; Dovin, Grand Arbiter; Ghen, Arcanum Weaver; Jace, Cunning Castaway; Kenrith, the Returned King; Sarkhan the Masterless; The Immortal Sun; and Xanathar, Guild Kingpin. Love it!

#3. Tameshi, Reality Architect

Our highest-scoring Blue card is Scott M. Fischer's Tameshi, Reality Architect. This piece has the expected lushness from Commander-eligible cards, and I really enjoy what is happening. As you can see, there are a ton of amazing details in this card and loads of fun things happening. I really love the face and how well Scott performed it. The nicely done artifact that has both the viewer and Tameshi's attention is nicely done as well. Good stuff Scott! Scott is yet another in the 100+ club with 149 cards to his name - check it out here!

#2. Isshin, Two Heavens as One

This is a powerful creature, and I have built a Commander deck around him here. I really enjoy the details of the swords and the armor, and the reflection and the use of color. Even the background houses are nicely done, Ryan Pancoast doesn't take that off. Love it loads!

Ryan is yet one more in the 100+ club with 126 cards with his credit. You might know Ryan's Arena Rector; Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar; Elite Spellbinder; General Kudro of Drannith; Haktos the Unscarred; Kaya, Geist Hunter; and Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves. Good canon!

#1. Kami of Celebration

Our highest-scoring card and the only card from NEC is this fun thing. All I want to do is give this cute lil' Spirit a big ol' hug! It's so cute! I love the smiles on the bell looking things. I loved the Kami art with the floating objects around them in the original block, and this is a nice version of that. This is a very strong card and all I want to do is to say...."d'aww..." as I look at it. Good way to end things! It says here in Gatherer that Milivoj ?eran has 57 cards to the name, but a bunch of those are different Ineffable Blessings that have the same art. Those cards include ones you might have heard of like Cauldron Familiar; Chatterstorm; Court of Bounty; Earl of Squirrel; Grumgully, the Generous; Persist; Vanquisher's Banner. Good stuff! My favorite art might be the alternate art version of Halvar, God of Battle.

Anyways, there we are! I hope that you enjoyed our look at my favorite art from NEO and NEC. What are your top ten cards from the sets? Let me know!