This curio displays early card designs, art, and mechanics before the release of Alpha. The collage of 9 cards can be broken down by the following:
1. Ormfjord Holmganger by Vincent Pompetti
Holmgang is a duel practiced by early medieval Scandinavians. It was a legally recognized way to settle disputes. The name connects to Sorcery creator Erik Olofsson's highly graded Alpha MTG collection registry, which he titled "Holmganger". During the Kickstater campaign, the fate of "Ormfjord Holmganger" was revealed when it was introduced as a "prize" card in the retailer "innkeeper" pledge tier. It is evident that this card has special personal meaning for Erik. This art was re-named and distributed as The Champion out of the Kickstarter's Pledge Pack and is no longer a playable card at all.
2. Thunderbolt by Ossi Hiekkala
Thunderbolt, now known as Lightning Bolt, is a truly incredible artwork illustration by the great artist Ossi Hiekkala. The history of Lightning Bolt was actually very well documented in an article written by Erik's Curiosa game developer Rafa Novellino and titled "Designer Diary: The Path of a Lightning Bolt". This is very well done and worth the read. It documents the design evolution, including everything from its casting cost to its damage mechanic, and how those two elements were extensively refined to settle on an appropriate power level balance for the Alpha set. It also describes challenges with the "Quick" mechanic, and how ultimately the team decided not to include the mechanic for Alpha, but hopes to further develop it and potentially introduce it with future sets. From a Curio card discover perspective, the key historical items of note here are the older casting cost symbols, the Quick mechanic, the older gameplay mechanic, and the enhanced type line text. Additionally, wasted space and poor aesthetic detail in a text box is poor form and would not survive final design refinement, so naturally this was refined in its final Alpha form. The text is centered in the text box, and the type line text received an obligatory flavorful refinement: "Ordinary Magic of shocking uncertainty".
3. Furious Storm by Vincent Pompetti
The third "mini-card" in this Curio brings us back to artist Vincent Pompetti. "Furious Storm" (or as we now know it - Stormy Seas) is a great example of Vincent's mastery of capturing motion in an illustration. In beautiful colorful water-color, Vincent does a masterful job of illustrative storytelling by bringing the chaos of this raucous scene to life. The Curio aspects are quite like the prior example for Thunderbolt, with its historic resource cost symbols and minimal type line text. At this stage of the game, we do not know if the word "enduring" had a specific gameplay significance, or if it was used for flavor. The current Alpha version of the card uses the "submerge" mechanic.
4. Windmill by Elwira Pawlikowska
Windmill, much like another curio River Styx, was originally created in portrait style and redone in landscape format. It similarly shows the mana resource yield in the upper right corner of the title box like the early version of River Styx, before being moved to the type line text line in in the final Alpha version.
5. Blasted Oak by Dan Seagrave
In Dan Seagrave's Blasted Oak, we find another early version of an Atlas site in portrait format; in this case yielding a spell power enhancement rather than a mana resource value. Again, we find the "Legendary" rarity level.
6. Tower by Michal Nagypal
In Michal's "Tower", we once again find an Atlas site card in portrait format. The type line text is largely indistinguishable. The illustration concept here is a night view from inside the beautiful Gothic building Rievaulx Abbey. Michal noted that the building had a mystical atmosphere, and is one of the most beautiful Gothic buildings he has have ever seen in England. Note that the title of this card is simply called "Tower". We found evidence in the early development Spellcraft cards that all three of Michal's "Tower" illustrations/cards simply have the name "Tower."
7. Fire Maiden by Severine Pineaux
The four elemental avatars by artist Severine Pineaux hold a very special place in the history of Sorcery TCG. These four avatars were the early face if the game in the pre-Alpha era. The Preconstructed Decks product that introduces players to the game's Alpha debut prominently feature the avatars, with a deck for each of the Elemental Avatars and the avatar illustrations displayed on the deck boxes. Additionally, one of the original oil-on-canvas paintings was included with each of the four top Kickstarter pledge tiers - the Avatar of the Realm tier. Notice that the Curio card is titled "Fire Maiden". This was the original name for the Avatar when it was commissioned with Severine. Now, taking a look at the Curio card we once again find the "Legendary" reference. In the final version for the Alpha debut, we find the Avatar of Fire only in foil version in booster boxes (non-foil versions are exclusive to the Preconstructed Decks) and its rarity level is comparable to Elite rairty cards. The card also conveys as a "Dragon", indicating a vastly different design concept for this card.
8. Storied Sharpshooter by Vincent Pompetti
Next on the card we find an early development rendering of Vincent Pompetti's "Storied Sharpshooter". The type line text is so small here, that it is largely indistinguishable.This card has retained its "Ranged" effect since its very early beginnings. However, we find the "Warcry" effect which has since been replaced by the term "Genesis" for Alpha. This indicates an effect that is proc'd when the card enters play. We learn from this card that the "legendary" rarity or card type must have been quite prevalent in the early stages of the game. From an artistic standpoint, we can appreciate the great care and attention that Erik's Curiosa takes in its meticulous attention to design details and card aesthetics. In final alpha form, we find the composition more zoomed out, which really enhances the great water color background to frame the archer character in Vincent Pompetti's signature style.
9. Pollimorph by Francesca Baerald
The final card rendering that we find on the Curio card is artist Francesca Baerald's "Pollimorph". Like several cards before it, we find similar casting cost symbols in the upper left portion of the title box. Once again, the "Quick" mechanic is prevalent. Like many other cards over the past 2+ years, the card has seen quite a bit of card mechanic design change. In its current alpha form, the flavorful concept of transforming a frog into a prince is removed and the mechanic is streamlined to only transform a nearby minion into a frog token.