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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[Count_Zero]

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.

 

[pukunui]

This is the first time I actually like an alternate cover. (That said, my desire to have matching spines on my bookshelf means I will only purchase the regular cover version.)

 

[Fandabidozi]

Which is better? There’s only one way to find out. Fight!

 

[DWChancellor]

Artistically I find both hard to parse. Maybe they look better in print? Very busy and without a lot of contrast in the figures to set things more apart. Hard to get a sense of scale in the first one but it is promising (though the figures feel a little weightless).

The alternate one would make a killer van paint for sure but... why are the gods fighting a hydra with glowing eyes? I guess it makes sense if you play Magic?

 

[BrockBallingdark]

First time I almost wanted the alternate cover but the normal one wins out again for me.

 

[JeffB]

I like them both- a lot.

Yes, I said that about a modern WOTC piece of art. I like them both a lot.

I voted alternate- the weird Blue shading/astral look on the regular cover's Hydra just seems a bit off and clashes hard with the very light background. If the Hydra was colored normally- I'd have a tougher time choosing.

The Alternate cover strikes me as something Gloranthan-like.

 

[slobster]

The alternate one would make a killer van paint for sure but... why are the gods fighting a hydra with glowing eyes? I guess it makes sense if you play Magic?

Oh yeah, if you played Magic you'd immediately recognize that as a depiction that, sometimes in Theros, hydras and dudes get in fights. Big part of the lore.

 

[Morrus]

Oh yeah, if you played Magic you'd immediately recognize that as a depiction that, sometimes in Theros, hydras and dudes get in fights. Big part of the lore.

Hercules wants his idiom back!

 

[whimsychris123]

The alternate cover for Eberron was a no brainer for me. It evoked the setting far more than the regular cover. But with this one I like regular more. The alternate cover seems kinda weird.