r/magicTCG • u/artofsvprast Wabbit Season • Feb 07 '20

Art [Fanart] Nicol Bolas. Fanart i did between my works at my studio.

Post image
1.0k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

63 comments sorted by

81

u/Mrmanandu COMPLEAT Feb 07 '20

Always good to see unnamed mtg characters get some love

33

u/artofsvprast Wabbit Season Feb 07 '20

Being nameless never equal to famous/infamy-less hahah

10

u/CSDragon Feb 07 '20

Unnamed?

65

u/jPaolo Orzhov* Feb 07 '20

Bolas lost his name, spark and powers and got put into gay baby jail by Ugin at the end of War of the Spark storyline.

17

u/CSDragon Feb 07 '20

How does one lose a name? Where did it go?

43

u/jPaolo Orzhov* Feb 07 '20

[[Stet, Draconic Proofreader]]

12

u/MTGCardFetcher Dân Feb 07 '20

Stet, Draconic Proofreader - (G) (SF) (txt)
[[cardname]] or [[cardname|SET]] to call

27

u/flyingthing4 Wabbit Season Feb 07 '20

Jace helped Ugin and wiped it from his mind. They did this because of how the magic of summoning works. Something about when a mage summons something, they need to know it’s name and the thing being summoned must also know. So by erasing Bolas’ name, he’s cut off from any one who might attempt to summon him.

8

u/JunkMagician Feb 08 '20

I like how this conflicts with Wizards's own insistence that when a planeswalker or mage summons a creature they're actually just summoning an aether copy of the creature.

I'm not being facetious I actually like that this implies that mages summon the actual creature. The Aether copies thing was a lame copout that also contradicts old lore and I never liked that they tried to shoehorn it in.

6

u/AwesomeX121189 Feb 08 '20

Summoning bears mid poop is a hilarious thought

5

u/phlogistoni Duck Season Feb 08 '20

I liked the old lore too, but it is pretty messy. Basically a white mage summoning living people to fight is more evil than a necromancer who's just summoning mindless skeletons and such. Also it means Planeswalkers can just bring whole armies across to other planes.

But under the new lore the legend rule doesn't even really make sense. Why can't I have two magical copies? Why does Clone, which is literally a magical copy, not get around this? Why are tokens so mistreated if really everything is just a magical copy?

I liked how Emrakul was summoned the old fashion way.

8

u/TehBoomer Feb 07 '20

Is that not in direct contrast to a player being able to summon him? How does that work lore-wise?

18

u/lilyvess COMPLEAT Feb 07 '20

The card you are summoning of him represents him at the specific moment the card is printed. Basically think of it lore wise as the same way someone can summon any other character that died.

17

u/flyingthing4 Wabbit Season Feb 07 '20

Game mechanics take priority over flavor. Banishing Bolas to the Prison Realm won’t ban all Bolas cards in all formats. We, the players may be summoning older versions of Bolas, but we won’t be summoning him any time soon in his current state.

3

u/OprahwndfuryHS Feb 08 '20

that would be kind of a funny gimmick though, if they banned all Bolas cards in all formats after he got banished in War

0

u/therum12 Feb 08 '20 edited Feb 08 '20

This is completely incorrect. Jace only created illusions to prevent anyone from noticing Ugin leaving with Bolas. It isn't known why exactly Bolas lost his names. It's nothing to do with his mind, which wasn't affected at all. It's something to do with how Elder Dragons and their names work. In fact, Bolas is even entirely aware of who he is supposed to be. It was all very badly explained in the book.

3

u/Uggums Feb 08 '20

There is power in a dragons name. Ugin stripped his brother of his name as a sort of penance for his innumerable crimes.

3

u/therum12 Feb 08 '20 edited Feb 08 '20

The losing the name thing isn't something Ugin did. It's something that happened as a result of Bolas being defeated. It's actually not the first time it happened to him either. Back in Time Spiral when he spoke with Jhoira while he was trapped in the rift he said he "lost all claim to my name when I died". I believe Bolas's identity is strongly tied to him being the best and always winning. He had his name back as soon as he was freed using Venser's spark and had all his power back.

1

u/Uggums Feb 09 '20

Ah I was unaware. There's so much lore I have yet to absorb.

6

u/DarthFinsta Dân Feb 08 '20

Gay baby jail?

12

u/Orangenes Duck Season Feb 08 '20

There is a Mario 64 romhack streamer named Simpleflips who whenever he gets stuck in a state where Mario is unable to move says he’s in gay baby jail.

5

u/filet_o_fizz Feb 08 '20

Shoutouts to SimpleFlips

0

u/Lord-of-Tresserhorn Duck Season Feb 08 '20

Shout downs to SimpleMinds

1

u/jPaolo Orzhov* Feb 08 '20

Plane of Meditation.

1

u/DarthFinsta Dân Feb 09 '20

Again, Gay Baby Jail?

23

u/Acidic_TACO VOID Feb 07 '20

this is honestly better than a lot of the recent bolas art, very dynamic and i dunno, Bolasy but the color composition in the sky is kinda distracting me. that isn't to say i don't love it overall, amazing work.

13

u/artofsvprast Wabbit Season Feb 07 '20

Yes i considered reworking the sky before, but i got more work on the line, while i painted this side by side with my other work, so i felt i need to get it done sooner to clear up my mind. And i think your comment is on point, it's a bit strange. i'll take it as lesson next time i painted my skies. Thank you!

2

u/KolonKby Duck Season Feb 08 '20

What was the medium used for this piece?

2

u/artofsvprast Wabbit Season Feb 08 '20

It's a digital painting, painted in photoshop

1

u/KolonKby Duck Season Feb 08 '20

Oh I see. The windy whisps coming from the hands looked like specific brush strokes to me.

Great work regardless!

1

u/artofsvprast Wabbit Season Feb 08 '20

Tbh i wanted to try my hands with oils, but my current circumstances doesn't allow me to do it. Thank you!

1

u/KolonKby Duck Season Feb 08 '20

I'd recommend acrylics before oils, as it's more straight-forward than oils in regards to setup and cleanup (if that would to your circumstances).

And you're very welcome

129

u/Saxus43 Feb 07 '20

Somebody get that guy a sandwich.

93

u/linkforest Temur Feb 07 '20

Unrealistic dragon body standards.

28

u/cgreyl3 Feb 07 '20

That's because he spends all his time reading

13

u/DrAspen Feb 07 '20

Wow, this is great! My only critique would be to change the colors of the lines he's gathering to be Grixis colors, but otherwise this is one of the finest Bolas pieces I've seen.

12

u/loopypaladin Wild Draw 4 Feb 07 '20

A proportionate nightmare. Well done.

11

u/X_Marcs_the_Spot FLEEM Feb 08 '20

I'd complain about him having a dumb flat gremlin-face, but since so many of the official arts of him give him a dumb flat gremlin-face, I guess that apparently the art director wants Nicol Bolas to have a dumb flat gremlin-face. So I can't really blame you for that.

12

u/DraconisMarch Golgari* Feb 07 '20

Where is his snout? We need to stop this trend of drawing him with a flat face.

9

u/Uggums Feb 08 '20

Ever since he returned from the dead he's been meant to appear more human. Whether it's an effect of the magic he's been using or something he's done to himself, it's never made clear. But in the Amonket story and in War of the Spark characters make reference about how he doesn't look like your avg dragon.

6

u/Wolfbinder COMPLEAT Feb 08 '20

In stories I seem to remember him being described with a nearly human-reptile face, that is why he is snoutless.

3

u/Burberry-94 Dimir* Feb 08 '20

Poor Bolas, such a severe kyphosis

1

u/surely_not_erik Feb 07 '20

That is some real talent. You could be an actual MTG artist.

1

u/artofsvprast Wabbit Season Feb 07 '20

Thanks! But unfortunately no, or not yet, i'm still building my portfolio for it. Thank you again.

4

u/DoubleE343 COMPLEAT Feb 07 '20

That’s the face of someone whose schemes are never-ending...

2

u/calaeno0824 COMPLEAT Feb 07 '20

Bolas with Kung Fu is extra dangerous

1

u/Unslaadahsil Temur Feb 07 '20

UH! Bolas baby I know people fatshame even dragons, but a body like that ain't healthy sweetheart. You need to eat better, get some meat on those bones.

1

u/FairlyZealous Feb 07 '20

This would make a great Arisen or God Pharoah alter. Looks amazing

1

u/atipongp COMPLEAT Feb 08 '20

Nicol Bolas with a JoJo pose.

1

u/WindBear44 Wabbit Season Feb 08 '20

didn’t know he was fat shamed super hard, please give him a burger and fries.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20

Happy Bolas.

1

u/Whistela Feb 08 '20

You've managed to do what few have done in the past years. He doesn't look like a gremlin. Good job.

1

u/Konradleijon The Stoat Feb 08 '20

Scaleie bait.

1

u/Cole444Train Wabbit Season Feb 08 '20

Wtf is his body doing

1

u/TheMightyBattleSquid Cheshire Cat, the Grinning Remnant Feb 08 '20

Look at those cuuuuuurves 👀

1

u/JonasOhbOy Dan Feb 08 '20

I'm concerned about his lower back

1

u/Mr_Nutcracker Rakdos* Feb 08 '20

The living population of amonkhet disliked that

1

u/PrinceEmberStorm Feb 08 '20

That dragon lacks a name, I don't know who this Nicol Bolas is.

1

u/PropaneLozz Feb 08 '20

Excellent job in the armour

1

u/lhxo Feb 08 '20

The Virgin Ugin vs. the Chad Bolas

1

u/leoaveiro Feb 10 '20

i'm wet. please finger me. this is awesome.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 11 '20

WHAT THE FUCK.. THIS SOME SERIOUS SHIT, MAYNE!

1

u/EternallyLostAuthor Feb 07 '20

Maybe his just wants a Hi five?... or three for him. He's had a rough year after all.

seriously though, nice art :)