Trading card games

Alternate Art

Also written: Alt art · Alternate art rare · AA

A second printing of an existing card with an entirely different illustration — same name, same rules text, new picture.

ArtThe picture changes

An alternate art is the same card printed again with a completely different illustration. The name is the same, the attacks or rules text are the same, the card does the same thing in a game — only the picture has changed, usually from a portrait of the subject to a scene the subject is in.

Confirming one

1. Find the ordinary version of the same card in the same set. If the two cards share a name, a cost and a text box but show different pictures, one of them is the alternate.
2. Read the card number. Alternate arts are usually placed at the end of a set's checklist, so the number runs past the set's stated total — a card numbered beyond the count printed beside it is a strong signal.
3. Look at what the art is doing. Ordinary versions pose the subject; alternates tend to put it in a scene, with a background, other characters, or a moment from a story.

Why they carry a premium

The ordinary version already satisfies anyone who needs the card to play. That leaves the alternate with no floor from play demand, and its price is set almost entirely by collectors deciding whether the artwork is worth owning. This is why alternate arts move in a wider range than any other tier: two alternates from the same set, seeded at the same rate, can differ enormously in price purely on which one people wanted to look at.

The word means different things in different games

Pokémon

A specific kind of card — a premium version with new illustration work. Modern sets often print the same idea under the names Illustration Rare and Special Illustration Rare instead, so all three phrases end up describing overlapping things in listings.

Magic: The Gathering

Not an official term. What people mean is usually a borderless or showcase printing.

Disney Lorcana

The equivalent is Enchanted, which is a defined rarity rather than a description.

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