This is an alteration done by Earl Grant de Leon, a card alterer from the Philippines who goes by the screen name Poxy14. For those unfortunate enough to be unaware, this is an homage to the movie poster for Labyrinth, a classic 1986 film starring David Bowie. Here's a poster-to-card flowchart for your enjoyment:
To add to how phenomenal this card already is, due to the positioning of the figure on the foil pattern of the card, his eyes shine. This card is by far my favorite in the deck because the idea was original, well recognizable, and included David Bowie, and the execution was beyond perfect. Poxy14 has a knack for close-up faces (though that is far from all he can do well - see his gallery here if you think your jaw could use a Power Tower ride) and his skill is further reflected in the other alters he did for the deck, all of which have their own stories.
I had conferred with several friends about exactly what to commission for each of these pieces. The Vampiric Tutor was one of the fastest decisions - there was just no way it couldn't be Twilight. Note that the opinions of every person who contributed to this decision, myself included, ranged from complete indifference to absolute hatred. But that was exactly why it had to be done - it's a shock value card. It's hilarious to see it when you draw it, and the reactions from the table are stellar and usually include a resounding, "Oh, God!". Check out Poxy's work on Edward's coat, too! Doing it in black and white was a great call on his part!
The Demonic Tutor was an idea that I was pretty set on from the start. I've always been a big Star Wars fan (who, among us, isn't?), and actually my first card game - my gateway game, as it was responsible for starting my cardboard addiction - was the very complex but super cool original Star Wars CCG by Decipher. Despite sharing the rather unanimous distaste for Hayden Christensen (though I do think he was much improved in Revenge of the Sith), this alter was too flavorful to pass up. Emperor Palpatine acting as the evil tutor of impressionable young Anakin Skywalker - it had my inner Star Wars fan tingling. Again, Poxy nails it - check out Palpatine's face! This one he was also going to do in black and white, though I intervened and asked for a red tone to be added as well, because I like to make references to the Commander's color identity as much as I can. After seeing the end result, I was very glad I asked for it, and Poxy was too. It gave it an awesome ominous feel.
The Demonic Tutor was an idea that I was pretty set on from the start. I've always been a big Star Wars fan (who, among us, isn't?), and actually my first card game - my gateway game, as it was responsible for starting my cardboard addiction - was the very complex but super cool original Star Wars CCG by Decipher. Despite sharing the rather unanimous distaste for Hayden Christensen (though I do think he was much improved in Revenge of the Sith), this alter was too flavorful to pass up. Emperor Palpatine acting as the evil tutor of impressionable young Anakin Skywalker - it had my inner Star Wars fan tingling. Again, Poxy nails it - check out Palpatine's face! This one he was also going to do in black and white, though I intervened and asked for a red tone to be added as well, because I like to make references to the Commander's color identity as much as I can. After seeing the end result, I was very glad I asked for it, and Poxy was too. It gave it an awesome ominous feel.
The Swords to Plowshares is the one that is the most out-of-nowhere. The card name is a Biblical reference, so why is Gandalf on it? Originally, the idea was to take the farmer figure in the original card art and turn him into Gandalf, redoing his scythe as the staff and adding wizard garments and plenty of white hair. Poxy informed me that it would be very difficult to detail at that small angle, and it would turn out a lot nicer if he just did a close up. He sent me a mock up and I thought it still was pretty cool and went with it. It turned out very nicely! As an added bonus, I can now say, "You shall not pass!" every time I Swords something.
Volrath's Stronghold was the card for which I had the hardest time coming up with an alter idea. It's really difficult to make out what's going on in the original art, and the card is entirely soaked in Magic lore so there aren't a lot of clever puns to work with. I gave Poxy some idea of putting it in space or something, and basically let him run free with it and trusted his creativity. What came out is probably the most beautiful card in the deck that does not have David Bowie on it. I'm still not entirely sure what's going on in the art, but I definitely adore it.
Poxy14 is actively taking commissions, though he has a day job as well, so he can be pretty backlogged at times. His email to take commission requests is here. He's fantastic to work with and amazing at what he does, so if you are looking to get some alters done, I highly recommend him! And just in case you missed it the first time, here's another link to his gallery where you can find all his alterations and his other original, not-related-to-Magic-but-still-awesome works.
I hope these stories (and pictures of David Bowie) have entertained you as much as they entertain me!
Until next time,
Day 2 Dan
Volrath's Stronghold was the card for which I had the hardest time coming up with an alter idea. It's really difficult to make out what's going on in the original art, and the card is entirely soaked in Magic lore so there aren't a lot of clever puns to work with. I gave Poxy some idea of putting it in space or something, and basically let him run free with it and trusted his creativity. What came out is probably the most beautiful card in the deck that does not have David Bowie on it. I'm still not entirely sure what's going on in the art, but I definitely adore it.
Poxy14 is actively taking commissions, though he has a day job as well, so he can be pretty backlogged at times. His email to take commission requests is here. He's fantastic to work with and amazing at what he does, so if you are looking to get some alters done, I highly recommend him! And just in case you missed it the first time, here's another link to his gallery where you can find all his alterations and his other original, not-related-to-Magic-but-still-awesome works.
I hope these stories (and pictures of David Bowie) have entertained you as much as they entertain me!
Until next time,
Day 2 Dan
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