Mountain 344

i remember just being very impressed with this work when it first came out. i'm not sure if its some type of lava uprising or maybe a tortured soul from hades depths. whatever, it works. the foil version is just beautiful. extremely great. *sheesh*.........recommend highly.................

the pinnacle of john avon's MTG career. where to begin? this is the mountain picked by WOTC to be made into a promo foil and deservedly so, in my opinion. with this block of mountains and also its swamps, avon really hit his stride for the first time. in the years since then he may have become a bit slicker and put out some other good pieces, but this baby tops them all in my opinion. the first appearance of the "cloud swoop" motif that he uses later for multiple lands in MTG first shows up here in all its glory. a 'mood' artist extraordinaire, avon produces a piece that leaves more questions than answers. i honestly can't think of a cliche or piece to compare this to. although i don't want to exaggerate and say i'm in a rapture or ectasy. i just really feel this is one from the best of avon. enough. now the foil version is a bit of a quandary. while framing the art with a darker border(almost always a good thing)and bringing out the darker tints and inks that the foil process seems to do, this card is one of the few that loses some of its definition('blastoderm' being another similar card in this category). so. i almost always recommend the foil but here the art is better in the base set than in the promo while the inks, tints, and borders are better in the promo. so it's a pick 'em......