Demonic Tutor
Demonic Tutor is arguably one of Magic’s most powerful spells. If you want to play you have to turn to Vintage or EDH, despite that it isn’t on the reserve list I can pretty much guarantee It’s never coming back. An entire type of effect, searching your library for a specific card or tutoring, has been named after it. Diabolic Tutor a spell printed later with the same effect costs twice as much mana. The question is, has Demonic Tutor consistently been given the art it deserves?
Original art by Douglas Schuler:
Is this art fitting on sitting on one of the greatest cards of all time? Wel regardless of the answer to that question it certainly has become iconic because of it I mean just take a look at this:
Judge foil art by Daarken:
This is a homage if I’ve ever seen one. It’s also art I like more than the original though it has “Daarken Lighting” something that isn’t bad really, it just confuses me. It also more aptly captures the idea of a tutor. Schuler’s demon is certainly prepared to impart some eldritch knowledge, but Darrken’s demon is already in the act. I think Schuler’s art is good in the sense that he gave us something interesting to focus on, something that could be iconic in the demon. However the rest of the card is sort of boring and seems a little out of place at times. Daarken gave us a scene that evokes Schuler’s original art while also displaying actual action and place. What else could this iconic card possibly need? Flavor of course.
Divine Vs. Demonic art by Scot Chou:
Here we again have a demon and we have a student, but here part of Magic’s current Storyline is present. Here we see Lilanna and Kothoped. Kothoped here basically had the planeswalker in his control until he sent her off to find the Chain Veil, which didn’t end very well for him. So of course the knowledge that was given to Lilianna is representative of the effect of the card. I also like the mood of this art a lot more. It’s much more dire. In the other arts there really isn’t any implication of the consequences one could face for seeking demonic power. The distress that Lilianna is in here along with her entire storyline gets that idea across.












