The Land Art of Magali Villeneuve

Magali Villeneuve is known throughout Magic: The Gathering for illustrating some of the game's incredible Planeswalkers and many of its most iconic characters.

Now Magali has teamed up with the OMA Store to offer a limited edition collection of licensed Magic: The Gathering playmats and prints, gorgeously extended to see the full scene. 

...

The Magali Villeneuve playmat collection Kickstarter already exceeded all expectations! Since this is my first time backing a Kickstarter project, I don’t know what the “typical” performance is, but this seems to be exceeding expectations with a flourish! Already so many bonuses have been unlocked, with more to come!

In conjunction with this event, I’ve been writing articles designed to showcase and appreciate Villeneuve’s amazing contributions to Magic art. So far I’ve dived into a survey of her most iconic creatures as well as her incredible detail and talent in creating Planeswalker art.

Next, I want to touch on the lands. While the list isn’t quite as extensive, Villeneuve’s land artwork is no less impressive. So, without further ado, let’s dive in!

The Land Art of Magali Villeneuve

Basic Lands

I’ll start with some basic lands—basic in terms of their type, but not their appearance! The amount of detail and creativity Villeneuve puts into her basic land artwork is top-tier. For example, check out her Dominaria United basic lands:

These are absolutely stunning! Let’s take a look at my favorite of these up close:

The full frame gives Villeneuve ample space to capture a stained-glass style forest, including all shades of green and beautiful pinks, purples, and browns to represent the soil and flowers. The art flirts with the abstract, while also definitively being a forest associated with the green slice of the color pie. Each of her DMU basics follow this style, leveraging many colors while still showcasing a design that brings to life each color of the pie.

These basic lands are so beautiful that the $200,000 Kickstarter goal that’s already been unlocked will add a table-length playmat to the project featuring none other than these five basics!

The other majestic basic lands created by Villeneuve were a pair of Forests especially created for an artist-featured Secret Lair Drop back in 2022:

These are breathtaking! I especially love 476, with the colorful butterfly and falling leaves. It reminds me of a picturesque fall day. The lines emanating from the green mana symbol is like a sunshine from which light bathes the surrounding forest. My favorite part has got to be the animal sitting on a cliff in the background. I’m not 100% sure what the animal is—it looks like a cross between a dog and a Vulpix. Whatever it is, it’s a canine and blends in with the scene!

The image on the right brings the central sun-like forest mana symbol into focus because most of the card is in grayscale! It’s such a cool effect to see, and the card has a different feel as a result.

The Villeneuve Secret Lair Drop is still reasonably priced: around $30 for the non-foil and $33 for the foil version. There aren’t a ton in stock on TCGplayer, though, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see these climb over the years. For these Forests, it may be worth it, though I imagine filling a green Commander deck with these may get pricey!

Nonbasic Lands

Curiously, Villeneuve has only one nonbasic land to her name: a Secret Lair Drop Sacred Foundry from 2021.

This is by far my favorite of the Sacred Foundry artworks! Just look at the incredible detail! I don’t even know where to begin. The spiral on the ground in the foreground, the hand railing attached to the stairs, the light fixture hanging from the ceiling, the blue orbs scattered throughout the right side of the frame, etc. The list goes on and on!

The central focus of this art, of course, is the molten lava pouring down into the foundry. The bright yellow light cascades across the rest of the piece, giving an impressive array of light and shadow that brings out a sense of realism to the scene. It’s truly a work of art.

Bonus Section: Tokens

As of this article’s writing, there are no other pieces of art that Villeneuve has completed for Magic’s lands. For the final section this week, I’ll instead pivot to a different subset of cards: tokens! It turns out some of the coolest modern-day tokens have also been illustrated by Villeneuve.

For example, check out this Angel token, which originally debuted in Shadows Over Innistrad:

I always thought tokens were supposed to be generic representations of creatures from Magic, but this one really stands out as special. Like many of Villeneuve’s pieces, the armor on this angel is complete in detail from her legs all the way up to her head. That sword she’s wielding is a force to be reckoned it, and I love the light penetrating her wings—it gives her a sense of motion and depth that is worthy of a legendary angel card.

Next, there’s the construct token from Kaladesh:

This is yet another example of the tremendous detail that Villeneuve incorporates into all of her work. She has done multiple pieces for Kaladesh that incorporate the organic wave of metal that make up various creatures. It gives them a distinct look of being alive, while still mechanical in nature. It’s a brilliant design, and I admire the building in the background as well.

Next, there’s the Monk token a 2015 league token that appears in Fate Reforged.

I think you’re starting to get the point here: detailed clothing and jewelry, intense facial expression, dangerous sword, dynamic motion, and a flair in the background bring yet another incredible token to life.

Last but not least, there is the Soldier token from Modern Masters 2017 and the Warrior token from Amonkhet.

I’m notcing the same trend here as well. Both of these tokens depict characters that could just as easily be legendary creatures part of Magic’s lore. Instead, these detailed pieces of art are featured on simple tokens! Villeneuve really brings to life even this oft-overlooked component of Magic. They truly enhance the game in ways I never would have expected when I first started playing Magic in the late 90s, back when tokens were represented by pennies, small stones, or face-down cards. I’m so thankful Wizards commissioned official tokens for that reason.

Wrapping It Up

The list was a little shorter this week, yet no less impressive. Villeneuve’s Dominaria United Showcase basic lands are some of the most iconic in Magic. It’s no wonder they’re being used as part of a special table-length playmat, available exclusively through the Kickstarter campaign. Her Secret Lair Drop Forests and Sacred Foundry are also absolutely gorgeous.

Then there are her tokens. They may be generic creatures as far as gameplay is concerned, but her artwork on these pieces is far from generic. Each piece is meticulously detailed, ranging from the armor and weapons wielded by the central figures, all the way to the buildings or landscape behind them. Generic creatures no longer, these tokens really bring to life a component of the game that was once overlooked.

I continue to be blown away by Villeneuve’s work with each new piece I discover, and it has been an honor and pleasure writing about much of her various pieces of art these past few weeks. I hope you enjoyed the exploration as much as I have!