Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Depth and Perspective in Memnarch’s Artwork
Memnarch isn’t just a card you throw into a blue-focused control shell; he’s a portal into how art and mechanics play with perspective in MTG. Carl Critchlow’s portrayal in the Arc: Archenemy print places the viewer almost inside Memnarch’s own cognitive storm—metal, circuitry, and a calculating gaze that seems to pull the scene toward the viewer with every subtle line. The artwork is less about a single moment of battle and more about a created depth field that makes you feel you’re stepping into Memnarch’s inner workshop, where every cog and crystal is a potential lever for power. 🧙♂️🔥💎
“In the blur between metal and flesh, Memnarch found madness.”
Composition, depth, and the drawing of focus
The eye is drawn to Memnarch’s silhouette—the central axis anchors the piece, and Critchlow leans on layered planes to push back a treasury of gears and circuitry. Foreground elements read as tactile machinery, midground as Memnarch himself—an imposing figure whose posture conveys both control and menace—and background textures recede via atmospheric shading, giving an almost cinematic sense of space. This is not a flat illustration; it’s a carefully engineered visual hierarchy that makes the 7-mana investment feel like a gateway to a larger mindscape. The blue-tinted lighting isn’t merely cosmetic: it’s a cue that Memnarch’s power filters through perception itself, bending reality as easily as he bends artifacts. 🧙♂️🎨
- Midground: Memnarch’s form dominates the scene, his gaze a focal point that establishes scale and intent.
- Background: Subtle, receding structures hint at a factory-like environment, reinforcing the sense of depth and an endless network of influence.
Color, light, and the illusion of depth
The color palette centers on cool blues and chromatic whites, which serves multiple purposes. First, blue in MTG is synonymous with control, tempo, and manipulation—perfect thematic alignment for a card whose abilities revolve around turning permanents into artifacts and stealing artifacts. The lighting emphasizes edges and reflections on Memnarch’s chrome surfaces, creating glare that acts like a breadcrumb trail for the viewer’s eye. The result is a painting that reads as both a character portrait and an architectural diagram of his power. The careful use of contrast—the bright highlights against deep shadows—gives you a tactile sense of the machine-world Memnarch inhabits, making the piece feel as if you could reach out and twist a lever or flip a switch. ⚔️
Lore, flavor, and visual storytelling
The flavor text crisply situates Memnarch as a mind that transgresses boundaries: “In the blur between metal and flesh, Memnarch found madness.” That sentiment is echoed in Critchlow’s design choices. The creature is an artifact in its own right, a fusion of wizardly intellect and machine-forged will. The art visually embodies the card’s mechanical verbs: you alter the nature of permanents, bend ownership, and twist the battlefield’s very fabric. The perspective work reinforces a theme of control—Memnarch looming over a world that could be reshaped at a thought, a reminder of why blue strategies prize patience, tempo, and the art of inevitability. 🧠🔧
Flavor-forward imagery often travels farther than text, and Memnarch’s gaze does the heavy lifting here—inviting you to contemplate what it means to owe allegiance to a mind that converts your world into artifacts that serve it.
Gameplay flavor: how art informs strategy
Memnarch’s abilities are a tidy spellbook in itself: {1}{U}{U} makes a target permanent an artifact in addition to its other types—an echo of the image’s metallic aura—and {3}{U} lets you steal a target artifact. The art’s perspective amplifies the thematic tension of control versus chaos. In practice, this is a card that wants to accelerate into a stable board state where artifacts proliferate and your control spells keep the game teetering on a knife-edge. Blue’s proclivity for tempo and permission makes Memnarch a natural in artifact-heavy builds or tempo-control decks that enjoy wrecking opposing strategies by converting key permanents into liabilities or taking away the pieces your opponent relies on. The visual anatomy of the piece—layers of machinery pushing forward toward the viewer—mirrors the way Memnarch’s effects repeatedly push the game toward a locked-in outcome, one artifact at a time. 🧙♂️🔥🎲
From a collector’s angle, the Arc print—reprint status, rarity, and the card’s nonfoil presentation—speaks to a particular nostalgia: a bold, unapologetic blue artifact threat from a crossover-style set that invites both lore fans and deck builders to explore its implications. The card’s rarity (rare) and its presence in the Modern and Vintage ecosystems, paired with a nonfoil finish in this print, make it a gem for players who relish both the story and the math behind artifact control. As of price tracking, you can expect a modest premium given its iconic status and the enduring appeal of Memnarch’s character. 💎
Collector value, history, and present-day reception
Memnarch’s arc—emerging in Arch Enemy as a standout rare—sits at an intersection of lore-driven legacy and functional play. The artwork by Carl Critchlow remains a touchstone for fans who relish the fusion of machine and mind. The set, Arc, dwells in a space where audioclip-worthy art meets clever mechanical design. With an EDHREC ranking around the mid-range, Memnarch isn’t the most-played blue artifact behemoth, but it has a loyal following among players who savor long, multi-turn control games and ambitious artifact theft plans. The flavor and mechanics feed the nostalgia for the Mirrodin era and the endless possibilities that blue magic offers when you’re not content with simply winning a race—you want to remap the entire playing field. 🧙♂️⚔️
For collectors and casual readers alike, the piece remains a vivid reminder that MTG art isn’t merely decoration; it’s a dialogue with how you imagine a spell as a physical action. The surface details—polished chrome, glimmering circuitry, and a gaze that feels both calculating and intimate—pull you into a moment where strategy, storytelling, and the craft of painting intersect. If you’re curating a Memnarch-centric showcase or simply looking to deepen a blue artifact suite, this card and its artwork sing a compact, unforgettable note. 🎨
While you savor the chrome-noir vibe of Memnarch’s workshop, you might also want to keep your table and tech organized for late-night game sessions. A sleekMagSafe phone case with a card holder can be a perfect companion for nerdy nights—handy for tokens, decklists, and those quick-notes you scribble between turns. The product is designed with both style and practicality in mind, marrying form with function so your gear reflects the same meticulous care you bring to your deck builds. Check it out here and elevate your setup while you dive into the multiverse’s blue-shaded depths. 🔥💎