Ephemeron: Honoring Classic Fantasy Art Legends

Ephemeron: Honoring Classic Fantasy Art Legends

In TCG ·

Ephemeron by Keith Parkinson, Tempest Remastered—classic blue illusion with flying and a delicate, otherworldly aura

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Ephemeron and the Legacy of Fantasy Art

There’s something irresistibly nostalgic about Ephemeron—the blue illusion from Tempest Remastered that feels like a friendly nod to the golden era of illustrated fantasy. It’s a card that doesn’t just exist in a deck; it sits at the crossroads of art and play, a beacon for players who savor both strategy and story. When you see Ephemeron rise from your hand with its glimmering wings, you’re not just casting a spell—you’re stepping into a lineage of painters and illustrators whose work defined a generation of magic across games and fantasy worlds. 🧙‍♂️🔥💎

Card Spotlight: Ephemeron

  • Name: Ephemeron
  • Set: Tempest Remastered (Masters)
  • Mana Cost: 4UU
  • Converted Mana Cost: 6
  • Type: Creature — Illusion
  • Power/Toughness: 4/4
  • Rarity: Rare
  • Abilities: Flying. Discard a card: Return this creature to its owner's hand.
  • Artist: Keith Parkinson
  • Flavor Text: “From nothing came teeth.”
  • Legalities: Legacy, Vintage, Commander, and more modern formats where applicable

Ephemeron is blue through and through—a tempo-friendly behemoth that rewards careful sequencing. Its flying ensures it sometimes slips past a wall of blockers, while its activated ability—discard a card to bounce Ephemeron back to hand—invites a delicate game of cat-and-mouse with an opponent who would love to keep your creatures grounded. In practice, you’ll often deploy Ephemeron in a control-leaning tempo shell: you hold countermagic or removal in hand, pressure with evasive creatures, and then arc a precise bounce at a moment that denies your foe a clean answer. The mana cost of 4UU is not cheap, but the payoff—evading a blocker, recasting later with an extra tool in your hand, or triggering paradoxically valuable card-discard interactions—can swing momentum in your favor. ⚔️

For deckbuilders, Ephemeron embodies a classic blue motif: card economy, midrange inevitability, and the subtle art of buying time. In Commander or Legacy, it shines as a polymath—fitting into many blue critical-strategy archetypes, from control to rejuvenation loops. The ability to return Ephemeron to your hand after discarding a card plays nicely with effects that draw or filter through your deck, letting you re-establish pressure while stalling opponents’ advances. And yes, the flavor of a rare, painterly illusion that feels like a living brushstroke on the battlefield ties the card to the broader tradition of fantasy art that this homage concept loves to celebrate. 🧙‍♂️🎨

Ephemeron’s art, like many classic fantasy pieces, captures that moment of suspension—where the creature looks both iridescent and approachable, as if the story behind the card is just about to spill onto the battlefield. Keith Parkinson’s work on this piece channels the late-90s-early-2000s mood of epic adventure, a style that MTG players still recognize with a fond, reverent nod. In Tempest Remastered, Ephemeron isn’t merely a card; it’s a bridge to a storied era of illustrated wonder, a reminder that the game’s visuals have always carried as much weight as its rules. 💎

Speaking of weight and polish, Ephemeron’s rarity and reprint status give it a collector’s sheen that’s hard to ignore. Being part of Tempest Remastered means you’re seeing a reimagined take on a familiar silhouette, and that sense of revival is part of what this homage series aims to honor: paying tribute to the artists who shaped our imagination while keeping the card’s mechanics accessible to modern players. The artwork’s “From nothing came teeth” line adds a touch of unsettling whimsy—the way a quiet moment in a fantasy epic might reveal a sharper, more primal truth below the surface. 🔷🧠

As you curate your blue-inclusive strategy, Ephemeron also invites talk about art-as-inspiration. The Ghostly, edge-of-math elegance of Illusions in MTG mirrors the classic fantasy art lineage—tales of wizards, dragons, and improbable scenes where light bends in clever ways. It’s no accident that a card with an image so steeped in iconic fantasy artistry can spark conversations not just about play lines, but about the artists who colored our childhoods with their brush and ink. Whether you’re trading in a shop, swapping stories online, or just admiring a well-timed bounce, Ephemeron stands as a little monument to that shared love. 🎲⚔️

Whether you’re chasing a tempo win, building a nostalgic blue deck, or simply collecting pieces that echo the great fantasy illustrators, Ephemeron offers a thoughtful, evocative centerpiece. And if you’re looking to keep the vibe of your desk as vibrant as your play—consider a neon touch that mirrors Ephemeron’s electric blue sparkle. A certain neon desk mouse pad can keep your game space as sharp and radiant as your plays, marrying form and function in one gleaming package. Wizards of the coast would approve of that level of focus. 🧙‍♂️🔥

Custom Neon Desk Mouse Pad 9.3x7.8 in

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Ephemeron

Ephemeron

{4}{U}{U}
Creature — Illusion

Flying

Discard a card: Return this creature to its owner's hand.

From nothing came teeth.

ID: 82ebfe9c-a584-41d2-a33e-7aefbe55de0e

Oracle ID: e4f28144-71c8-4393-b383-047529fe8878

Multiverse IDs: 397565

Colors: U

Color Identity: U

Keywords: Flying

Rarity: Rare

Released: 2015-05-06

Artist: Keith Parkinson

Frame: 2015

Border: black

EDHRec Rank: 29402

Set: Tempest Remastered (tpr)

Collector #: 48

Legalities

  • Standard — not_legal
  • Future — not_legal
  • Historic — not_legal
  • Timeless — not_legal
  • Gladiator — not_legal
  • Pioneer — not_legal
  • Modern — not_legal
  • Legacy — legal
  • Pauper — not_legal
  • Vintage — legal
  • Penny — legal
  • Commander — legal
  • Oathbreaker — legal
  • Standardbrawl — not_legal
  • Brawl — not_legal
  • Alchemy — not_legal
  • Paupercommander — not_legal
  • Duel — legal
  • Oldschool — not_legal
  • Premodern — legal
  • Predh — legal

Prices

  • TIX: 0.02
Last updated: 2025-11-15