My Pretties (Stark, Alliance to Sun and Rose) 1.0

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• 1.0

Just a 75-card collection of my favorite art in this game and thoughts on select artists.

Nicholas Gregory: I could see this being a controversial choice as his style in Brienne and Highgarden Minstrel stands out with its flat sides reminiscent of cubism and almost-pastel palette and doesn't blend in with the rest of Fantasy Flight's stable, but it works for me. Honorable mention to his titular enemy of The Curse of the Rougarou, the best interpretation of that tortured soul.

Smirtouille: Oh man. She just might be my favorite artist in this game. Smirtouille doesn't go in for the detail that most of the artist's do, generally favoring thicker brush strokes, but there's such energy in her work. Nymeria's silks float around her, and Sansa pulling Lady closer. It's why her horses in Mare in Heat and Sand Steed work. The woman is not afraid of powerful colors, either. Honorable mention to her Core Red Viper who couldn't be included in this deck due to loyalty.

Joshua Cairos: Why are we not talking about this man in the same breath as Magali Villeneuve, Tomasz Jedruszek and Michael Komarck as a foundational artist in Fantasy Flight's Westeros? It could be a question of volume. He has 41-credited pieces in second edition and not all of them are hits, but those that are? Excellent. Dorea Sand and Bran Stark? Tasty. Robar Royce didn't get on a mat because anyone cares who he is. He got on a mat because Carios painted him. Cairos prefers three-quarter and half-body shots, so the faces are smaller, but the body language reveals a lot. I'm not a terrible fan of his core Arya, but you can still tell something of her character in her run. Honorable mentions to Tommen Baratheon, Robert Baratheon, Ours is the Fury and Othell Yarwyck.

Serena Malyon: I have really enjoyed Fantasy Flight's choice to tie series of cards together artistically. The minimal waterpaints of the "Way of" series in Legend of the Five Rings are great, and I've loved Serena Malyon's direction in illustrating songs. They have the feel of those animated asides in Deathly Hallows and Kill Bill Vols. 1, different but of the same universe. And switching it up for that tapestry texture for "A Rose of Gold" was just a delight.

Alfred Khamidullin: He doesn't have the most credits, but I love the character that he drew out of Last Hearth and The Dreadfort. Even in dark night, the lights of Last Hearth are inviting while The Dreadfort is this foreboding shadow in the middle of everything.

And just a word on Tomasz Jedruszek, as if any is needed. He doesn't get the centerpiece work. He's not doing named and favorite character. Jedruszek gets the grunt work, anonymous ships and armies, but he nails it. The armor is varied, and whether the soldiers are marching or at rest, they have character. He might be the most important artist in all of the game for giving such attention to the characters that fill the background.