As the Mother of Machines and the former supreme commander of the armies of New Phyrexia, Elesh Norn is one of the most iconic villains in Magic: the Gathering. Evidently, however, she’s not quite as iconic as Vocaloid pop sensation HatsuneMiku, since, thanks to the upcoming Secret Lair Commander Deck, Miku now has more MTG cards featuring her likeness than Norn does.
So just how close is the competition between the Vocaloid and the villain, and how many cards do they each appear on? To determine that, and to ensure that you can see the results for yourself, I’ve made use of the Scryfall Tagger. Scryfall is a search engine containing cards from every MTG set, including cards that are featured in products that haven been previewed but haven’t been released. Scryfall operates a tagging system, allowing cards to be categorized both based on their mechanics and on what shows up in their artwork. For example, there are more than 1,800 pieces of MTG artwork featuring a character with a beard.
The Scryfall Tagger indicates that Elesh Norn, currently, appears on 28 cards. This not only includes each of her appearances as a legendary creature, but also every reprint of those cards with new artwork, as well as any noncreature spells that feature her likeness. Elesh Norn may just be a disembodied head in the artwork of Mirrodin Avenged, but that still counts for the purposes of the Scryfall Tagger.
Meanwhile, at the moment, Hatsune Miku appears on 38 cards. While she’s still yet to receive her very own mechanically unique legendary creature, the pixelated performer has successfully inserted herself into the artwork of a variety of cards ranging from Bountiful Promenade, to Vorinclex Voice of Hunger. Clearly, she’s a multitalented musician.
So that puts Hatsune Miku in the lead, with 10 additional cards. Not to worry, though, whether you prefer Phyrexians or pop stars, you can share your views in the Wargamer Discord.
Source: Wargamer
