The Art of Fountain of The Youth

Fountain of the Youth is a celebration of the community and our little niche thing is to feature some special visual art every time the event is run. Here is a quick recap of the art of the FOYO.

Artist Juha Vanhatupa https://www.instagram.com/drsteel_art/ is a familiar face in the local Magic the Gathering scene and a friend. We wanted something spicy and original for our first ever Fountain back in 2023 and “Juhis” delivered this. In the picture you can see the finalized playmat version that was handed out to the finalists of FOYO 2023, so that was me (Slotherine) and this guy..

“VYL” or Valtteri Yli-Länttä won the whole thing first time around. The original art was and will be the tournaments main prize. He beat me on my spicy "Tampere Nights.deck, that is a take on mono black dreams prison, and everyone else (featuring some international wizards) with his equally spicy take on mono red burn feat. Goblin Artisans, Lands Edge, Blood Moon and sideboard that had such bangers as Magnetic Mountain, Artifact Blast and Active Volcano.

Here is the painting for FOYO 2024. After the first one, each painting will celebrate the cards and theme of the previous years winning deck. Juha Vanhatupa at it again, this time we have some Goblin Shrine vibes with the fountain. This was also the last year the tournaments original art was also made into a playmat given out to the finalists.

Miikka Niemi won the brothers war in the finals with his Robots, facing the brother Joni Niemi on a spicy Sage-Eggs-Robots.deck

In 2024 the talented Ville Saari from the cute little village of Hämeenlinna, right next to Tampere, made this very special promotional art for the second ever FOYO. A fellow Keldon Warlord, integral part of the local community and he can paint too! His Youtube page https://www.youtube.com/@shivan-librarian features live paper old school play from FOYO and other tournaments, with and without commentary. His take also commemorated the previous years champion with some Blood Moon aesthetics.

So the third time around we went for a fresh take and this piece is by skillful and protean artist Virpi Honkanen. Trike, sage and the bolt all show what went on in the last years finals. When she is not painting, her handywork can be seen worn by actors on the theater stages and people invited to the presidential independence day reception.

The enthusiasm and commitment people bring to the table never stops amazing me, it is a silly old card game after all, but I guess we together can make it that much more. 2025 Fountain of Youth Open will have it’s own blended rum as trophies for top8! Once again, both the bottle and the spirit desingned by our very own Ville Saari.

See you soon wizards!