Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Art Across Decades: Visual Trends in MTG Enchantments
Take Possession is more than a spell with a dramatic effect — it’s a window into how Magic: The Gathering has visualized control, fantasy, and time across the decades. Published in Modern Masters with a heavy blue tint and a contemplative composition, this aura embodies the era’s fascination with painterly detail meeting digital polish. The card’s 5 generic mana plus two blue mana (total seven) is a steep price in any game, but the art invites you to imagine what you’re paying for: a moment of pure elemental extraction, a transfer of agency, a gaze into the other player's space. 🧙♂️🔥💎
Packaged in a 2003-era frame with modern sensibilities
Take Possession bears the 2003-style frame with a black border, a telltale sign of a transitional period in MTG art. The Modern Masters reprint kept the card’s original blue-blue color identity while presenting it with higher fidelity, crisp surfaces, and more refined texture than earlier printings. This blend of old frame cues and new production values gave players a vivid sense of nostalgia without sacrificing readability or impact on the battlefield. The result is a beautiful case study in how 1990s–2000s aesthetics evolved into 2010s digital painting, especially for blue enchantments whose flavor hinges on manipulating perception as much as mana. 🎨
From ink to infrared: the blue aesthetic through the decades
Blue in MTG art has long chased the argent edge of latency — those moments just before a plan crystallizes into reality. Early sets favored high-contrast linework and stark, almost architectural layouts. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, painterly textures and airbrushed gradients moved in, giving blue spells a cooler, more introspective vibe. In the 2010s, digital techniques allowed for luminous light effects, glassy reflections, and swirling motes of mana that felt both precise and ethereal. Take Possession sits squarely in that late-2000s to early-2010s sweet spot: the aura glows with a crystalline certainty, and the surrounding environment shimmers with a watery resonance. The choice of cyan and ultramarine hues communicates not just “blue mana” but a sense of strategic patience — exactly what you need when you cast a spell that momentarily shifts control. ⚔️🎨
Michael Phillippi’s artistry on this card embraces the blue core: cool tones, a calm composure, and a focus on the moment of jujitsu-like turnabout. The creature or permanent that’s about to be swayed appears in mid-frame, almost as if a lens has just shifted and the viewer is glimpsing a decision in flux. The aura’s thin lines and glowing edges reflect the 2003 frame’s clarity while the image’s depth and texture hint at more modern digital workflows. The juxtaposition mirrors MTG’s own arc: a game built on venerable rules and ancient themes, now illuminated by contemporary artistry that rewards close, patient looking. 🧙♂️💎
Split second and the texture of timing
One of Take Possession’s defining mechanics is split second, a rarely seen ability that freezes the stack while it’s on the way to resolution. This mechanic is a lens into how art and policy converge: the art promises a moment of absolute control, while split second punishes hasty strategic plays by stopping any non-mana responses as the aura resolves. The visual language reinforces that tension: a quiet, arcing light seems to thread through the scene, suggesting that time itself is bending to the spell’s will. The rarity and mana commitment reflect the premium nature of this effect, making the art’s elegance feel earned. The piece becomes almost an advertisement for patience—every turn a chance to align the stars, every play a small gamble with the flow of the game. 🧭💙
Gameplay implications in casual and competitive play
- Enchant permanent, You control enchanted permanent: The aura doesn’t just steal a threat; it gives you domestic access to the target’s strategic assets, at least for as long as the aura remains attached.
- Split second: Casting this on the stack stops others from casting spells or activating non-mana abilities while the spell resolves, creating powerful tempo plays in the right deck.
- High mana cost (7CMC): The price tag is steep, so it typically slots into control or commander (EDH) strategies that love big, decisive plays and late-game inevitability.
- Reprint realism: As a Modern Masters card, it represents a deliberate design choice to bring classic blue disruption into modern printing quality, letting newer players appreciate the same iconic moment in a refined aesthetic. 🧙♂️
For collectors and playset builders, the art’s aura of restraint and power is a reminder of why blue control remains a core pillar of MTG’s identity. The card’s market footprint—being an uncommon from a Masters set—also hints at its appeal to players who savor out-of-print power with a tasteful, collectible edge. The value is not purely monetary; it’s a ticket to a moment in the timelines of MTG history where artistry and strategy met in one elegant, shimmering spell. 🔥
Design legacy: art as narrative and tool
Take Possession offers a microcosm of how MTG has treated enchantments over the years. Enchantments that bend reality or seize the reins of fate—blue enchantments in particular—often come with a visual emphasis on containment: glistening bonds, translucent energy, and a restrained but potent energy. The art from Modern Masters captures this tension in a single frame: the aura, the moment before ownership is fully transferred, and the quiet inevitability of what comes next. It’s a design philosophy that continues to inform today’s sets, where the best card art marries atmosphere with mechanical clarity, inviting players to speculate about both the story and the math behind the spell. ⚔️🎲
Blue magic is about watching time bend; Take Possession is a perfect postcard from a moment when control becomes opportunity, and opportunity becomes a new reality on the battlefield. 🧙♂️
As we stretch our MTG horizons into newer sets and reprint cycles, this piece stands as a reminder that style isn’t just decoration—it shapes how we perceive power, timing, and risk. The evolution from the crisp lines of early frames to the luminous detail of modern digital illustration mirrors the game’s own growth—from the basics of a mana curve to the poetry of a well-timed counterplay. If you’re assembling an homage-heavy blue control list, or simply exploring the visual lineage of enchantments, Take Possession is a prime example of how art and mechanics interlock to tell a story that’s as strategic as it is stunning. 🧙🏻♂️🔥💎
Speaking of stories and collectability, if you’re looking to complement your MTG desk ritual, consider a sleek desktop accessory that keeps your setup as sharp as your timing. The same careful attention to detail that goes into a card’s art is what you’ll find in modern desk accoutrements—perfect for long nights of drafting and lore-reading alike. 🎨🧙♀️