You don’t look at Riptide Rex—you duck. The moment this card hits the screen, it erupts with the force of a naval bombardment.
The visual isn’t just loud, it roars. There’s no question what kind of card this is. It’s not here for subtlety, it’s here to raze the board and leave bite marks.
Illustration Breakdown
The centerpiece of Riptide Rex is, of course, the titular beast—an anthropomorphic shark with a mouth full of war and a pose mid-blast. Perched atop a battered pirate ship, cannon barrels flare around him as debris and fury fly skyward.
The curve of the ship deck subtly frames the chaos, pulling your eye into the Rex’s howling snarl. His body surges forward like he’s halfway between leaping and commanding fire, and the cannon-lit shadows play beautifully across the detailed textures of his bulk.
The storm clouds in the background, the splinters of broken wood, the way his left hand still clutches a railing while the right is clenched like he’s about to tear something in half—it’s pure kinetic storytelling.
MAR Studio doesn’t just paint a pirate shark. They launch him straight through your screen.
The color palette does a lot of heavy lifting here too. Rusted bronze, deep greens, and oceanic blues crash together, evoking both high-seas adventure and imminent devastation.
You can practically feel the thunder of the cannons and the salt spray in the air.
Gameplay Integration
Mechanically, Riptide Rex fits his art to a T. Six mana for a 6|6 Pirate from Bilgewater is already solid. But the real prize? That on-play nuke: Deal 6 to an enemy unit at a battlefield. No questions, no setup, no RNG.
It’s targeted removal and a massive body—exactly the kind of force-of-nature effect the art telegraphs.
That sense of explosive timing, of Rex arriving and flipping the board, is captured perfectly in both the card’s function and the composition.
The shark doesn’t wait. The damage doesn’t wait. This is the moment when the fight turns.
Collector Details / Value Mention
Riptide Rex is card 092/298 in Riftbound’s base set, and everything about this card screams rare-to-epic tier. If MAR Studio’s version is the only one, it’ll still be a sought-after staple.
But this feels like a card that will have an alt-art or foil variant. Possibly even overnumbered. It’s too flashy, too iconic to just stop here.
If you’re a collector, keep an eye out for foil versions—the glowing cannon fire and metallic highlights on Rex’s body would pop with the right treatment.
And for players, this will likely slot into midrange and control lists that want a hard board swing with a body attached.
Read more – The art of Mageseeker Warden from Riftbound TCG
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