Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Data-driven look at Lulu's Hollyphant artwork across sets
Magic: The Gathering has always rewarded both skill and storytelling, and Lulu, Vengeful Hollyphant is a perfect example of how flavor and mechanics can dance together. This particular card comes from Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate (a digital-friendly entry point in the Alchemy family), sporting a distinctive black-and-white palette and a vibe that sits somewhere between celestial grace and heroic mischief. As fans, we love hunting for the moment when a card’s art reappears in new prints, or when a familiar character gets a fresh coat of paint across sets. Today, we chart art reprint frequency by looking at Lulu and the related hollyphant variants. 🧙🔥💎⚔️🎨🎲
At a glance, Lulu, Vengeful Hollyphant is a Legendary Creature — Elephant Angel with flying, mana cost 2 generic and one white and one black (that's {2}{W}{B}), and a 2/4 stat line. Its oracle text—“Flying; Whenever you attack with one or more other creatures with flying, each opponent loses that much life and you gain that much life.”—embodies a powerful, politics-light strategy: you threaten life drain and life gain by leveraging a crowd of evasive creatures. The card’s rarity is uncommon, and while it exists in the Arena ecosystem, its physical footprint is limited since this print is digital in nature. This matters for art analysis because digital-only prints influence how collectors and players perceive the frequency with which the exact artwork appears in the game’s ecosystem. 🧙♂️
What the data shows about Lulu’s art family
- Six distinct Lulu-themed cards appear as related pieces in Scryfall’s records, all sharing the same heroic hologram of an elephant-angel character family: Lulu, Vengeful Hollyphant; Lulu, Curious Hollyphant; Lulu, Inspiring Hollyphant; Lulu, Helpful Hollyphant; Lulu, Wild Hollyphant; and Lulu, Forgetful Hollyphant. The all_parts section highlights this family as a cohesive cycle rather than a single reprint line, illustrating how Wizards plays with variant art to keep the character fresh in players’ minds. 🎨
- The Lulu cycle is spread across different sets and printings, not just a single release window. That means some artworks live primarily in digital formats (as in Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate), while others may exist in earlier or later physical printings depending on the card’s distribution and foil availability. This mix is exactly the kind of nuance collectors pay attention to when evaluating art provenance and reprint risk. 🧭
- For Lulu, Vengeful Hollyphant, the data point we have confirms a digital-first footprint in its Alchemy Horizons slot, released in 2022. The card’s art is by Jakob Eirich, and the piece exists in multiple digital sizes on Scryfall (normal, large, PNG, art crop, etc.), underscoring how modern card art is distributed across formats—sometimes without a physical foil print to accompany it. This digital reality subtly shifts how often a single artwork might reappear in someone’s collection versus a traditional, multi-printing print run. 💾
Patterns and takeaways for artists, collectors, and players
- : The Lulu family demonstrates that a single character can sport several distinct representations. The frequency with which one artwork resurfaces is lower than for evergreen staples with constant reprint cycles, but higher than for one-off promos—especially when a character is tied to a thematic arc across the Baldur’s Gate saga. This nuance can impact collector value and deck-building vibes, as art can influence perceived rarity and nostalgia. 🧙♀️
- : Lulu’s Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate incarnation sits squarely in digital space. Digital-only prints tend to appear less often in the physical market, which can lower immediate physical reprint risk but boosts digital card art discussion and fan-driven memes. For players chasing a specific artwork, the digital nature means you might encounter the exact same image in a digital collection more than in physical booster packs. ⚡
- : The presence of multiple Lulu variants in one family suggests a deliberate design choice to keep a single iconic unit fresh across formats. For those who love lore and design cohesion, this kind of art-centric cycle is a treasure trove—each variant contributes to the mythos of the Hollyphants and their celestial mischief. 🪐
Gameplay and deck-building implications
Lulu’s flying support and the life-drain life-gain symmetry become more potent when paired with other fliers. In exploring Lulu’s role in a deck, you’ll lean into a crowd-control vibe: swing with multiple fliers to maximize life loss for your opponent and life gain for you. The Alchemy Horizons environment encourages experimentation: you can lean into a midrange or tempo posture, using Lulu as a finisher once you’ve assembled a chorus of evasive threats. The color pairing—Black and White—gives you access to removal and lifegain tools that keep you resilient as you threaten big life swings with Lulu’s trigger. 🧠⚔️
If you’re targetting modern or legacy-play viability, Lulu’s art-forward identity can also influence your playgroup’s culture around the card. Collectors often value variant art more when it’s aesthetically coherent or narratively resonant, which makes Lulu’s cycle of Hollyphants a potential talking point at kitchen table tournaments or card-swap meetups. And for players who love the tactile joy of a well-curated deck, the aesthetic story behind these Hollyphants adds an extra layer of joy to every attack step. 🎲
Lore, design, and the magic of the Hollyphants
Hollyphants are celestial, protective beings with a gentle menace, which Lulu embodies in a delightful paradox: a formidable flying threat that evokes grace and guardianship. The Vengeful variant hints at a more intense, perhaps protective interpretation of Lulu’s character arc, while the other names—Curious, Inspiring, Helpful, Wild, Forgetful—suggest a playful spectrum of personalities within the same celestial choir. The art, inked by Jakob Eirich, blends sharp lines with soft luminescence, reinforcing the sense that Lulu is both a saintly sentinel and a clever trickster. This duality is precisely the kind of flavor MTG designers chase when they craft new planes, characters, and cycles. 🎨
As you plan your next round of Commander or casual Arena sessions, consider how art reprint frequency—not just the card’s power—shapes your experience. A reprint can renew interest, introduce new players to a beloved character, or simply let fans revisit a favorite piece of art with a fresh perspective. The Lulu cycle embodies that magic, turning a single creature into a gallery of moments, each with its own bite and brilliance. 🧙♂️
Curious to see more Lulu lineage and compare your own collection against broader print runs? Explore the Lulu family in Scryfall’s database and keep your eye on the art variations as you draft or trade. And if you’re decking up for long nights of drafting or casual play, a reliable desktop companion can elevate the vibe—like a sleek mouse pad that matches the measured elegance of Lulu’s white-and-black aesthetic. For a tasteful, customizable desk item, check out the product below and keep your battlefield as stylish as your spells. 💎