D&D 5E Which Is Better: Regular or Alternate Cover Art For Theros?

Here's a look at the full art pieces for the covers of Mythic Odysseys of Theros. The first is the regular, and the second is the alternate cover. Which is better?

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[jasper]

I don't know which one I'd prefer as a book cover, but I wouldn't mind seeing the alternate art painted on a van.

Thanks. The second one is van art and the first one is cover art.

 

[Fenris-77]

Is he... booping the snoot?

Pls no boop. I am doing a sleep.

As a piece of art I like the regular cover art better by a fair bit. However, when you actually wrap it around a book, the alternate picks up a lot of ground because the cover frames things differently.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I hadn't picked up an alternate cover until Eberron, but it was just too pretty to pass on.
This will be the second alternate cover I get, I think, I actually really like the colourful psychedelic version here.

It's a shame there wasn't an alt-version of Ravnica (although I love the cover of that) and Wildemount, so that all my setting books could have a bit of consistency to them, but it's no biggy.

I like the normal cover too, don't get me wrong. I actually came across a thread on Twitter where the artist showed the artwork at various stages, even posted the written brief which was interesting to read.

Same feels here.

Didn't pick up the Tiamat alt cover nor the alt covers for the 3 core books - because I couldn't justify spending $200 for material I already had... Maybe some day I'll try to find the alt cover PHB, since no harm in having an extra of that.

 

[Jester David]

The regular matches the other books on my shelf. The fancy version diesn’t even match the other fancy versions.

 

[jayoungr]

They were running neck and neck for a while, but the alternate cover has been growing on me. I think I'll order that one when I get around to picking this up (hopefully by the end of the month).