Nettle Swine

Nettle Swine was released in 2012 as part of the Avacyn Restored expansion for Magic: The Gathering. Set on the gothic horror-inspired plane of Innistrad, the card reflects the dark, twisted nature of the environment, where the boundaries between nature and supernatural corruption often blur. It was designed as a common-rarity creature intended to populate the limited environment of the set, providing a straightforward but flavor-rich presence within the black color identity.

The card was illustrated by Dave Kendall, a long-time contributor to the game known for his dark and visceral artistic style. Kendall sought to capture the grotesque mutation of the creature, emphasizing the thorny, parasitic flora fused with its porcine anatomy to evoke the unsettling, cursed atmosphere of the world. Upon its release, the card was received as a functional piece of set design that successfully reinforced the expansion's thematic emphasis on the grotesque transformation of Innistrad's local wildlife.