We got a chance to chat with Zack Stella, Art Director for the upcoming Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty which releases for Magic: The Gathering (MtG) this week. He spoke to us about all things neon cyberpunk and dragons in this mix of sci-fi and fantasy.

For those of you new to the game, Zack was kind enough to explain exactly what the role of an art director is for a big project like MtG, which sees scores of artists designing all your favorite cards.

“I (along with the rest of the Art Directors) am responsible for defining the look and  feel of our various Magic planes and characters, and for how our game presents itself  in final card art”, he says.

” I led a small team of artists on a concept  push to generate the Neon Dynasty worldguide, and then worked with hundreds of  talented freelance illustrators in creating all the amazing card art for Neon Dynasty,  picking which artists got assigned to which card”.

That being said, he was also kind enough to walk us through his experience working on Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, which you can read below.

Could you go through some of the big visual changes from the original  Kamigawa to Neon Dynasty?

Zack: We last saw Kamigawa 1200 years in the past. Since then, Kami War has ended, the  spirit realm has slowly started to merge with the physical realm, and the world has  modernized.

Much like real-world Japan, Kamigawa both embraces the future while retaining  elements of its past. Skyscrapers might exist along more traditional structures, and  in the case of Towashi and Eiganjo, structures have traditional structures built right  into them and composing them.

Since the worlds have begun to merge, weird kami of all shapes and sizes are  everywhere, walking and floating through the city streets, but they’re no longer just  aggressive – they’re integrating into society.

MTG has had sci-fi-esque elements before, but Kamigawa Neon Dynasty looks like the  first head-first foray into that aesthetic. How do you incorporate things like  cyber ninjas and still keep it feeling MTG?

Zack: It turns out the trick is making your sci-fi elements look a little bit fantasy, and your  “magic” elements a little bit sci-fi.

For example, the way we chose to represent the merge of the spirit realm with the  physical realm – there’s a pixelation effect on the magic that gives it a great  futuristic look simply because of how we’ve been visually trained to see overlapping  squares;

For the other side of the equation (keeping the futuristic elements in the realm of  Magic fantasy) material shifts went a long way. Motorcycles made of carved enamel;  robots made of folding paper and wood casings; skyscrapers of wood, plaster;  signage and digital “screens” are projections of floating magic; and ceramic exosuits.

We literally had to reinvent the wheel – what were tires and roads here? Asphalt and  rubber tires looked too real world. Then there was this one day of the push where  Steve Prescott just nailed it – he drew this badass rat biker on a motorcycle, except  the body of the motorcycle was made of carved enamel, and in place of rubber tires,  it had… nothing – an empty, invisible wheel, that you could only see because it had  purple crackling energy “off-gassing” around its edges (like a black hole – it is itself  invisible to our eyes, and we can only see its shape because of the light around it).  In that moment, I was like “YES. That’s perfect” It LOOKS high tech, but out of the  realm of anything we’re capable of with our own technology.

 On that note, is there any hard line for what’s “too out there” with regards  to keeping things feeling like MTG?

Zack: At one point, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty would have been “too out there”. While we  recognize that “fantasy” is at the core of Magic: the Gathering, there are so many  subgenres of fantasy now. What we have learned is that as long as there is a strong  element of magic and the fantastical, it feels like Magic.

Even Star Wars, one of the most famous science-fiction properties out there is  actually a “space fantasy”. What really excites me right now is that we are exploring new genres and seeing  what new worlds we can bring to Magic.

Have you ever altered a card illustration to better portray its effect?

Zack: Our Worldbuilding & Narrative Design Team is responsible for writing the art  descriptions that Zack and other art directors send to the artists. Using the  worldguide as our main worldbuilding reference, we translate the card mechanics  into art briefs for each illustration. So each illustration is customized for the card  effects. And then every artist brings their own interpretation to our art descriptions,  so it really is a wonderful collaboration.

 “Japanese-neon-cyberpunk” is a pretty popular theme nowadays, can you  talk about what MtG is doing to make your take on it feel special?

Zack: This particular genre space is usually presented with a degree of cynicism – incredibly  future-facing, and that future is grim. Kamigawa, on the other hand, may be  futuristic, but it’s an optimistic future. It also embraces its incredibly deep, rich  history, and bakes it into the look and feel of its tech. Even the scrappiest tech is made with artisan craftsmanship and incorporates some form of traditional artistry  (ornate bronzework, kintsugi, origami, intricate woodwork, etc.)

As an AD, it’s your job to work with the artists to make sure each  illustration looks its best. Do you have any stories about designing any of  these cards?

Zack: Here’s one! I knew I had to give Donato Patchwork Automaton. Donato had  previously done multiple paintings based on the very cyberpunky Phillip K. Dick novel  “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” (which Blade Runner is based off of).  Patchwork Automaton is a robot that folds origami creatures, and I knew this was  the one place he’d be able to sneak in an origami unicorn as a subtle reference.

Our thanks to Zack Stella and Wizards of the Coast for answering our MtG questions ahead of the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty launch this week. If you’ve any love for robots, Japanese mythology and sick ninjas, don’t forget to pick up any of the offerings of cards from the latest expansion for Magic: The Gathering.