Lonesome Unicorn | Illustrated by Alayna Danner
Have you had enough Booster Fun yet, kids?
Well, Magic sets keep coming and they don’t stop coming (RIP Steve Harwell), and WotC is determined to continue jamming new borders, foil treatments, serialized bait, and much, much more into each new Play booster and Collector booster that hits the scene. Saturation of the market aside, I’m here for it!
I love a good tweak to the typical Magic card frame, especially when it achieves something thematic or builds on the lore and world-building of a set. Not every frame is a hit, but with so many to choose from, I can focus my non-artistic brain on the most aesthetically pleasing of the bunch. All my opinion of course, so let me know how you’d rank MTG’s card frames in the comments below.
What Are Showcase Frames in MTG?
Ezio Auditore da Firenze | Illustration by Luisa J. Preissler
Showcase frames are special alternate MTG card frames associated with a certain set release, Magic plane, mechanic, or some combination of the above.
There’s a distinction between a “showcase” frame and similar stylistic changes. For example, vehicles have their own variation with metal bars on the card borders, and as of Foundations all enchantments use the Theros enchantment creature frame. These are mostly visual cues to remind players of their thematic identity and card types, but they’re not showcase frames.
Showcase frames are part of the Booster Fun initiative and are meant to up the appeal factor of certain cards in each set. Some sets muddy the waters between what does and doesn’t count as a showcase frame, so I’ll make things simple and include any treatments that significantly alter the usual card frame. There must be something different about the card frame itself; this isn’t a ranking focused on alternate Magic art or illustrations.
#31. Retro Frame
Associated Sets:
I don’t really care for retro border cards. I don’t have that early-MTG nostalgia for this aesthetic and I don’t believe a lot of modern MTG art looks good in this card frame, but I recognize some part of the community loves the “old-border” cards, so I’m dedicating a slot to them. I’ll admit this worked really well on the Retro Artifacts bonus sheet from The Brothers’ War, I’m just not a fan of the way it clashes with digital art.
#30. Assassin’s Creed Memory Corridor
Associated Sets:
I haven’t wanted to pick up an Assassin’s Creed game in quite some time, and the Universes Beyond crossover didn’t change that. However, that set’s kind of a hidden banger, full of awesome cards, full-art basic lands, and the Memory Corridor cards depicting characters from the franchise.
I do remember The Animus and the digitized alternate reality full of graphical glitching and polygons, and I think the memory corridor treatment portrays that well. It also makes these characters pop, which works with the set’s attempt at more photo-realistic illustrations.
#29. Tarkir Frame
Associated Sets:
March of the Machine did something interesting with its Multiversal Legends bonus sheet. Each legendary creature was printed with a showcase frame to match the plane that character was from. However, we didn’t have pre-existing frames for some of these planes, so the design team created new ones for planes like Tarkir.
This frame uses a black and white motif with what appears to be dragon scales winding around the edges. The scales correspond to the colors of the card, with the gold frame for Narset, Enlightened Exile standing out. I’m interested to see if this shows up in Tarkir Dragonstorm, given the confirmation of the Ghostflame frame from that set.
#28. Sketch Frames
Associated Sets:
- Modern Horizons 2
Modern Horizons 2 went overboard with alternate arts and treatments, but the sketch frame was meant to be their innovating showcase style for the set. I don’t love the art on most of these cards, but this is an evaluation of card frames, and I dig the sketchy, scratchy frames used here. It works particularly well on non-white cards, where the frame color contrasts well with the usual black-and-white art.
#27. Art Deco Frame
Associated Sets:
The art deco frames from New Capenna are 100% “not-for-me,” but I can respect their stylish and unique appeal for those who like them. SNC did a lot with different card frames and Booster Fun, too much honestly, but the art deco cards are certainly the “loudest” variants in the set.
#26. Enchanting Tales
Associated Sets:
Enchanting Tales was another bonus sheet, and I find the cards vibrant and playful despite not having too many distinct visual flourishes. Art on cards like Utopia Sprawl, Mana Flare, and Omniscience have a lot of room to breathe here.
#25. Equinox Frame
Associated Sets:
- Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
- Innistrad Remastered
Daybound/nightbound is an insult to the werewolf name, but the Equinox frame used for werewolves in Midnight Hunt gives this awful mechanic at least one redeeming quality. Honestly, I don’t really know what the borders are supposed to represent here, but the alternating sun and moon in the upper left corners look great. In a very frustrating move, this frame was not applied to werewolves in Crimson Vow, making the whole day/night thing feel even more convoluted. It did make a return on three werewolves from Innistrad Remastered.
#24. D&D Modules
Associated Sets:
I’ve never been much of a D&D guy, but I’ve always appreciated it from afar, and I appreciate how they just kinda went for it on the Module frames from Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. They’ve got a similar look to the full-art basics from Unstable, and for a non-D&D normie like me, they click way better than the rulebook cards from the same set. This treatment was used sparingly, appearing on just nine lands from the set.
#23. Soft Glow
Associated Sets:
Neon Dynasty was home to several different card frames and treatments, all of which fit the modernized feel of NEO. The “Soft Glow” treatment is subtle, managing to give the cards it appears on a technological look without being too distracting. Just a few light bars around the rules text and a variation of the name plate and you’ve got a cool alternative to the normal card frame.
#22. Ring Treatment
Associated Sets:
It’s Lord of the Rings, and the art’s inside of a ring! Sometimes the low-hanging fruit just works.
#21. Magnified Treatment
Associated Sets:
Speaking of Things-in-Rings (patent pending), let’s zoom in on the Magnified treatment from Karlov Manor. Every story spotlight card from the set used a magnifying glass frame to showcase a big story beat from the murder mystery set, and I heavily prefer these to the dossier frames in MKM. The best part is, they can just use this same exact frame again whenever we get the eventual Sonic: The Hedgehoggining Universes Beyond crossover.
One knock is that all the art featuring the Magnified frame is highly digitalized, beyond Magic’s normal scope, which is a point of contention for many people, but not a focal point of this list.
#20. Fang Frame
Associated Sets:
- Innistrad: Crimson Vow
Ooo, edgy! Crimson Vow’s “Fang frame” is one I’d simply describe as “cool” even if it’s not the most vampiric stylization I could imagine. This frame only appears on vampires inside the Mardu () color identity, and it fits that color trio, though I can’t help but wonder how the dingy, muted aesthetic would look on green and/or blue cards.
Same complaint I made about the Equinox frame: This style was locked to Crimson Vow and excluded from the 15 vampires in the neighboring Midnight Hunt, which just feels super wrong. Three vamps from Innistrad Remastered got the treatment, including the ever-popular Edgar Markov.
#19. Phyrexian Card Frame
Associated Sets:
- Magic sets with Phyrexian language cards
The Phyrexian frame isn’t really that different from the vampire Fang frame, with the main distinction being its attachment to Phyrexian language cards. It’s inconsistent though, having appeared on many Phyrexian script cards but not others. For example, the compleated planeswalkers use a different style altogether. Also, the frame itself doesn’t scream “Phyrexian” in any meaningful way, though it’s still rad as a pointy, edgy alternate frame.
#18. Viking Frame
Associated Sets:
Kaldheim had this really bizarre marketing ploy where it was being advertised as “the most metal Magic set ever.” They even had members of prominent heavy metal bands like Amon Amarth and Mastodon spoil cards from the set. I don’t know about you, but I never really picked up on the metal vibes they were insinuating in this set.
That’s all an aside to say the Viking frame from Kaldheim gets a thumbs-up, but it isn’t really evocative of face-melting power chords in any way. It’s appropriately runic in nature and appears to have a sort of wooden texture to it, which feels Norse enough for me.
#17. Comic Book Art
Associated Sets:
The Comic Book style from Ikoria is more of an art thing, but the textbox was minimized and there’s enough frame-breaking to qualify. Strangely enough, this treatment was given to Ikoria-related cards in March of the Machine: The Aftermath, but with a new splash of stones surrounding the name and text box. So maybe this qualifies as two different card frames, but I think the Aftermath version is supposed to be an update to the original.
#16. Samurai/Ninja Frames
Associated Sets:
- Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
Ninjas and samurai? Must be Kamigawa.
NEO was home to a bunch of different Booster Fun variants, with samurai and ninjas both getting their own stoic makeovers. These two frames are very distinct, and I love the type line bar on the samurai frame. The ninja frame seems to play into the more modern, technological part of the set’s lore, whereas the ropes on the samurai frame seem to hint towards the more traditional, spiritual parts of the plane. Not sure if that’s intentional or just a personal interpretation.
#15. Signature Spellbook Frame
Associated Sets:
Once upon a time before the age of Secret Lairs, we’d get one supplementary collector’s set per year, and for a while that was the Signature Spellbook series. These focused on a single planeswalker and cards of the same color, all reprinted with a dazzling new card frame. A variation was used in Core Set 2021 for each mono-colored planeswalker, as well as a common, uncommon, and rare card associated with that character.
For example, Garruk's Gorehorn, Garruk's Uprising, Garruk's Harbinger, and Garruk, Unleashed all used the green frame. It was a nice touch to add some storytelling to the set, though it hasn’t been used since, and the Signature Spellbook series has long been discontinued.
#14. Pip-Boy Treatment
Associated Sets:
Sometimes WotC’s shots don’t land, but the Fallout Pip-Boy treatment hits a perfect note. The HUD here fits the set and the source material perfectly, even if these clash with non-Fallout cards sitting next to them on the battlefield. These stand in stark contrast to the Paranormal frames from Duskmourn, which are busier and have art that’s harder to latch onto.
#13. Stained Glass
Associated Sets:
Stained Glass was the main showcase treatment from Dominaria United, but we’ve seen it used on the planeswalkers from War of the Spark, though there it was purely an alteration to the art and not the card frame itself. The DMU version adds uniformity across all the cards by centering the subject within the card frame and bleeding the rest of the mural through the text box of the card. Stained glass is a cheap way to get me to like something, and it helps that DMU is just an altogether excellent set.
#12. The Big Score
Associated Sets:
- Outlaws of Thunder Junction (technically The Big Score)
The Big Score was messy. It was planned as a small subset of cards similar to Aftermath, but that set flopped so hard they repurposed these as an add-on to Outlaws of Thunder Junction. Even though it was only 30 cards in total, it still got its own special frame and foiling treatment.
I’m big on any frame that gives the cards a more metallic look. It’s appropriate here as these cards are supposed to thematically represent things that you’d bust out of some super-secret vault, and many of the cards are artifact-centric. I just like the bronze and platinum look to everything; it reminds me of my Constructed rank on the MTG Arena ladder.
#11. Ravnica City Showcase
Associated Sets:
- March of the Machine: The Aftermath
- Murders at Karlov Manor
Just like the Tarkir frame, this Ravnica Cityscape frame first appeared in March of the Machine, though it returned in Murders at Karlov Manor on alternate art for the guild leaders. Simply put, this frame is awesome. It very distinctly captures the feel of Ravnica’s endless metropolis, and the color of the buildings changes to match the color of the card. They’re even gold-capped on the Niv-Mizzet Reborn version!
#10. Hedron Frame
Associated Sets:
This card frame is evocative of the hedrons associated with the plane of Zendikar, and it was originally used on the landfall cards from Zendikar Rising. It bothers me a little that this card frame reappeared in the Showcase: Zendikar Revisited Secret Lair on non-landfall cards, but they still look good. Very geometric, very symmetrical.
#9. Expedition Frames
Associated Sets:
- Battle for Zendikar
- Oath of the Gatewatch
- Zendikar Rising
Though these are two separate collections of cards, these lands are all collectively called “expeditions.” The original batch uses a more hieroglyphic-adjacent border while the Zendikar Rising versions are a bit more… Zendikarian? Triangles and hedrons and all that, a tell-tale sign you’re doing something on Zendikar. These appear almost exclusively on powerful, highly played lands, which helps their appeal a good bit.
#8. Lord of the Rings Scrolls
Associated Sets:
The Special Edition release of Lord of the Rings brought a dizzying amount of extra card treatments to a set that already had enough to begin with. The Scroll frame is pretty cool, despite being locked behind Collector boosters. Did it need to be applied to literally every card in the base set? No, not really, but some cards look great in this grainy alternate frame.
It does have a similar issue to the cards from Double Feature, in that the style was just applied to every card without further adjustment, so it works better on some cards than others. But cards like Inherited Envelope and Eagles of the North look like they were illustrated specifically for this Scroll treatment.
#7. Ixalan Coin Art
Associated Sets:
- March of the Machine
- The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Fun story about these golden coin arts: Most of the original versions from March of the Machine and The Aftermath were illustrated by Jody Clark, a British artist who’s worked directly for the Royal Mint. In other words, creating actual real-world currency. Super cool to see that translated into Magic art. Other artists have had a crack at this too, though the card frame is something else entirely.
Notably, there are two different versions. The MOM versions have colored feathers on the vertical sides representing the color(s) of the card, while the Lost Caverns god cards replace the feathers with torches or pyres of some sort. The symbols and flourishes around the edges are also different, though there’s a level of consistency between the two sets.
#6. Constellation Frame
Associated Sets:
Perfect fit for the plane of Theros, even if we’re stretching a bit on the logistics of some of these constellations. Then again, someone looked up at Ursa Major and said “looks like a bear to me!” so I don’t suppose it’s too far off.
#5. Ghostflame Frame
Associated Sets:
Tarkir Dragonstorm isn’t out at the time of writing, but we’ve had a sneak-peek of the Ghostflame frame (Ghostframe?) with Ugin and Sarkhan from this set.
It’s got the swirling energy bits associated with morphs and manifests from the original Tarkir block, and an overall cool blue pallet befitting of the spirit dragon himself. I wonder if this means we won’t be seeing that MOM Tarkir frame again?
#4. Woodland Showcase
Associated Sets:
Bloomburrow was a masterclass in Magic world-building. Yes, it’s just Redwall incarnate, but using that as source material for MTG’s very own woodland creature set absolutely works. The Woodland showcase frames are spectacular, with an array of swirls and busy card art, but it feels very autumnal, and I love the subtle changes in the borders between different colors of cards.
#3. Mystical Archive
Associated Sets:
Strixhaven marked the glorious return of bonus sheets with the Mystical Archive and showcased exactly how to make alternate-art cards that still felt like Magic cards. Abstract art, a roster of fantastic reprints, and a particularly controversial Faithless Looting brought about one of MTG’s best alternate frames. I’m focusing specifically on the English versions, though the Japanese alternatives are beautiful in their own right.
#2. Kaladesh Inventions
Associated Sets:
The Kaladesh Inventions are outstanding and a treat to look at in person. These come from a day when you could open jaw-dropping cards like this in normal booster packs, though very rarely. And they’re consistent across the board, displaying a bunch of top-tier artifacts in a way that’s also highly representative of the inventors’ ingenuity on Avishkar (formerly Kaladesh). It felt wrong when this frame returned on non-artifact cards in the Multiverse Legends bonus sheet.
#1. Eldraine Storybook
Associated Sets:
- Throne of Eldraine
- Wilds of Eldraine
The mac-daddy of card frames is the storybook variation introduced in Throne of Eldraine, originally used to show off the new adventure mechanic, and reused in Wilds of Eldraine for the same purpose. Similar to the Mystical Archive, this is a perfect blend of flavor and function, tying into the worldbuilding and game mechanics at the same time. It’s whimsical and perfect for the setting.
Minor gripe: This has shown up on non-adventure cards associated with Eldraine, like Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn and Questing Beast, but it doesn’t quite work the same for those cards. The partition of the storybook in the rules textbox is perfect for adventures, not so much for normal cards.
What Is the Difference Between Borderless and Showcase?
Borderless cards simply remove part of the card frame itself and extend the art to the outer edges of a card, whereas showcase frames are variations of the border, often with artistic flourishes that match the aesthetics of a set. “Showcase” also refers to specific border treatments designated by WotC, whereas some alternate frames aren’t given the showcase tag. Generally, there’s 1-2 showcase frames per set, whereas almost all sets have borderless versions of rares and mythics found in Collector boosters.
Can You Get Showcase Cards in Play Boosters?
For the most part, yes. Most showcase treatments can be opened in all booster types, though some are exclusive to Collector boosters. Those ones aren’t generally considered “Showcase” treatments by name, but most variants that are can be found in Play boosters.
Show’s Over!
Thought Monitor | Illustration by Martina Pilcerova
That’s a wrap on the best showcase treatments in Magic, including some that aren’t technically part of the Booster Fun showcase program. I’m a sucker for alternate arts and card frames, so everything listed here appeals to my sensibilities in some way. It’s all subjective though, and there might be some I left off that you’re a fan of, like the Amonkhet Invocations or the Breaking News frame with the terrible “Prosperity” logo at the top.
If I skipped over a showcase frame from a major set, or missed a niche one from some supplementary product, please let me know! Shout out in the comments below, or on the Draftsim Discord and Twitter!
As always, thanks for making Draftsim your #1 stop for all things Magic!
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