Why doesn't Wizards ever publish its style guides after the end of a block? I'm having a hard time thinking of one person I wouldn't kill to get my hands on the Kamigawa style guide.
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"I'd rather die speaking the truth than live a lie." --Gix, to Yawgmoth (pre-Phyrexia)
This week's column was, surprisingly, a short story. I rather liked it. I couldn't figure out, though, if it was inspired by some twisted combo... We may see in the next From the Lab column.
Why in the world would anyone imprint a Clone Shell in a Clone Shell in a Clone Shell in a Clone Shell..etc.? I didn't really get the strategy behind that.
Simple, they where both counting on the other's big beastie. But the human has teh upper hand, since her shells can fight far longer than that of her adversary, she has time to fight throught the Phyrexians and have enough power left, when the last shell failed, to control something else, like teh vedalken's critter.
Didn't read it, only scanned it. I read Alara Unbroken, and that was enough for me. But, I do really like the fact that they use the column occasionally to do short stories. I would rather see more style guide stuff, like they did with Zendikar and recently did with the humans of Mirrodin column. But, anyway, two readable articles in a row is great. Continue.
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Didn't read it, only scanned it. I read Alara Unbroken, and that was enough for me. But, I do really like the fact that they use the column occasionally to do short stories. I would rather see more style guide stuff, like they did with Zendikar and recently did with the humans of Mirrodin column. But, anyway, two readable articles in a row is great. Continue.
I'd be fine without short stories, if only they WOULD do that.
About any "subpar" mechanics or cards: Context is king.
If I make a templating or grammar error, let me know.
The franchise MtG most resembles is Battlestar Galactica. Why? Its players exist in, at most, a dozen different models at any given point in time, with perhaps up to 3% variation, 5% if you're lucky.
I love the short stories. They add flavor to the world and help round it out in a way that the novels, and even the style guide, can't. The Kamigawa short stories were awesome, as were the Ice Age and Ravnica stories.
Savor the flavor is indeed getting better. maybe Beyer's been reading our complaints.
Oh, don't take it so seriously; The story wasn't bad. I expected it to be pun-heavy, given the title, but it was okay. Imagine how you'd react if that was a Wizards Community Platinum Planeswalker article and you had to pay $9.99 a month to read it. But you didn't, it was free.
I haven't read this column. The sheer stupidity of the premise makes me shiver.
And hence you missed something actually worth reading.
If there's one thing I've learned with fiction, its to never dismiss something as stupid before actually reading it. To be honest, if I hadn't been following Magic already since Odyssey, and you tried telling me now to play a game about magical wizards who can summon creatures and spells using mana to fight one another, I'd probably think, "Wow, that sounds stupid."
But here I am. Same thing goes with fiction. Just try reading it. If after a couple minutes you decide you don't like it, then stop. Or don't read it at all, but if you choose not to, you don't really have any authority to bash it.
I encourage you to just give it a go. It's the best we've got right now without novels.
Though quite frankly, at this point, we know so little about what's going on in Scars and the story is sooooo distant that any fiction is better than no fiction. This is why they need THREE books per arc. Not one. Whithout being exposed more to the characters, story, and setting -- beyond the cards and player's guide -- I'm having difficulty caring at all about the fate of Mirrodin.
What I took out of the last short story was that the human had somehow looped the cloneshells as armor until she exited the cloneshell herself. Basically, as armor while she did exactly what the vedalken in the story was thinking - force the other person to bring out their powerhouse so that she could swoop in and win the tower.
Also, this weeks guide on the rest of the Mirrodin inhabitants was great - and I think we got quite a few previews of future legends.
This week's column was, surprisingly, a short story. I rather liked it. I couldn't figure out, though, if it was inspired by some twisted combo... We may see in the next From the Lab column.
OT: I really don't like Doug Beyer. The story was alright but the characters are so incredibly one-sided and bland. And it's generally always been like this. Doug Beyer is also responsible for the atrocious punny and nonsensical flavour text we have on cards lately. Personally, I think his literary approach is very amateurish, and columns where he details how he applied the window dressing to cards (flavour text, card name, et al.) really shows it. Not to mention the reader questions he answers in the column tend to be pretty juvenile. Apparently he has very low standards for what he thinks might entertain us.
But it's just a free column on a website, so I have nothing against the existence of Savour the Flavour. I'm just not a fan of the man who helms it.
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Treasure maps, fallen trees, operator please
Patch me back to my mind
I really liked today's column. It reminded me very much of some of my favorite bits of Test of Metal, where it gets very philosophical in much the same way with regard to things like clockworking and etherium. That sort of stuff really appeals to me.
I could never suffer through Darksteel Eye.
Having said that, neither of those explanations really appeal to me.
I'm kind of the opinion its some form of purified ore, and once the impurities are removed, it's indestructible... I mean, it IS Darksteel and not Darkiron.
What did you mean by this? Steel is an alloy, by definition still containing "impurities" of some kind. I haven't read the latest article yet, but I've always thought of darksteel being alloyed with mana somehow. 89% iron, 1% carbon, 10% magic!
Yeah, i too recall the book mentioning a bit on Darksteel.
Darksteel is associated with Memnarch, He built an entire tower out of it. So i'd say it was created by Memnarch and the knowledge was given or stolen by the Vedalken. (Or that all the darksteel things around now were created by Memnarch and are still around because Darksteel is indestructible.)
What did you mean by this? Steel is an alloy, by definition still containing "impurities" of some kind. I haven't read the latest article yet, but I've always thought of darksteel being alloyed with mana somehow. 89% iron, 1% carbon, 10% magic!
It's not just the composition but the processing as well. Many different Steels can have the exact same composition of Iron and Carbon but their processing was different so their properties will be different, not to mention the effect of smaller alloying elements. Darksteel is always equally indestructible, but sometimes it's sentient, which probably requires a higher alloying concentration of Magic. Unless it's just Darksteel armor around a regular artifact creature.
The Physical properties of Darksteel have always intrigued me, what exactly is meant by "indestructible?" I assume that it can never be dented. A material's toughness is its ability to absorb energy before failure. Stronger materials usually have lower toughness because they are more likely to just snap rather than dent. If Darksteel cannot be dented or broken, than I believe that it has an infinite elastic response. No matter how far it is bent, it will never yield, the atomic bonds can never be broken. Perhaps that's what the magic does, it absorbs energy, or diverts it away from the atomic bonds. That's what the swirling particles around Darksteel could be, Energy that would have gone to stretching the bonds are magically converted into heat or light and directed to the outside of the material.
I read this post just after I finished my Physical Properties of Materials final.
I KNEW someone was going to complain.
It was Doug answering questions, which is never THAT bad.
That said, it was just okay. Doing a mail bag column is kind of phoning it in, but among his mailbag articles, this one wasn't the bottom of the barrel. It was just sort of there.
Well, at least the forthcoming blurb from "The Nonhuman Cultures of Mirrodin" gave us some idea what kind of card we can expect to featurethis piece of art.
Goblin holy days. Their holiest day is when the red sun is directly over the red lacuna. At that time, they believe, the Sky Tyrant and Steel Mother are joined, and the life of new goblins is seeded within her body. It is a huge fertility festival, where as many as possible try to mate near the lacuna itself, believing this will produce numerous and strong offspring. The Great Furnace is stoked to red-hot on that day as well, with every available offering of metal cast into it.
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I admit, his articles have been dispointing lately. The article used to be the one i was MOST intersted it. Now, i always hope, but it never delivers. They need to give us something NEW. he only has 12 articles per set(about that) So why not give us new stuff. Things the cards dont say. Espcially with the new "story matters" Scars of Mirrodin. They could use his article to give us more story then the website has been doing. There are SOO many things they could tell us that are insignificat details, but we would love and it it up.
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Why doesn't Wizards ever publish its style guides after the end of a block? I'm having a hard time thinking of one person I wouldn't kill to get my hands on the Kamigawa style guide.
~Lil Kalki
Proud Disciple of the Church of the Wary
Simple, they where both counting on the other's big beastie. But the human has teh upper hand, since her shells can fight far longer than that of her adversary, she has time to fight throught the Phyrexians and have enough power left, when the last shell failed, to control something else, like teh vedalken's critter.
“I once had an entire race killed just to listen to the rattling of their dried bones as I waded through them.”
—Volrath
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B W A A A A A A A A
Seriously though, I liked it. It was nice that it didn't end with everyone dead, as these things usually go.
I'd be fine without short stories, if only they WOULD do that.
About any "subpar" mechanics or cards: Context is king.
If I make a templating or grammar error, let me know.
The franchise MtG most resembles is Battlestar Galactica. Why? Its players exist in, at most, a dozen different models at any given point in time, with perhaps up to 3% variation, 5% if you're lucky.
Savor the flavor is indeed getting better. maybe Beyer's been reading our complaints.
Click the pic for more info.
Feel better now?
And hence you missed something actually worth reading.
If there's one thing I've learned with fiction, its to never dismiss something as stupid before actually reading it. To be honest, if I hadn't been following Magic already since Odyssey, and you tried telling me now to play a game about magical wizards who can summon creatures and spells using mana to fight one another, I'd probably think, "Wow, that sounds stupid."
But here I am. Same thing goes with fiction. Just try reading it. If after a couple minutes you decide you don't like it, then stop. Or don't read it at all, but if you choose not to, you don't really have any authority to bash it.
I encourage you to just give it a go. It's the best we've got right now without novels.
Though quite frankly, at this point, we know so little about what's going on in Scars and the story is sooooo distant that any fiction is better than no fiction. This is why they need THREE books per arc. Not one. Whithout being exposed more to the characters, story, and setting -- beyond the cards and player's guide -- I'm having difficulty caring at all about the fate of Mirrodin.
I don't either, and I play the game.
Also, this weeks guide on the rest of the Mirrodin inhabitants was great - and I think we got quite a few previews of future legends.
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Mana Severance to get rid of all your lands, Selective Memory to get rid of everything except four clone shells, Wheel of Sun and Moon, Ashnod's Altar, and Furnace Celebration in play for infinite damage?
OT: I really don't like Doug Beyer. The story was alright but the characters are so incredibly one-sided and bland. And it's generally always been like this. Doug Beyer is also responsible for the atrocious punny and nonsensical flavour text we have on cards lately. Personally, I think his literary approach is very amateurish, and columns where he details how he applied the window dressing to cards (flavour text, card name, et al.) really shows it. Not to mention the reader questions he answers in the column tend to be pretty juvenile. Apparently he has very low standards for what he thinks might entertain us.
But it's just a free column on a website, so I have nothing against the existence of Savour the Flavour. I'm just not a fan of the man who helms it.
Patch me back to my mind
R Citizen Cane (Feldon of the Third Path)
And I prefer this explanation, anyway.
R Citizen Cane (Feldon of the Third Path)
Having said that, neither of those explanations really appeal to me.
I'm kind of the opinion its some form of purified ore, and once the impurities are removed, it's indestructible... I mean, it IS Darksteel and not Darkiron.
What did you mean by this? Steel is an alloy, by definition still containing "impurities" of some kind. I haven't read the latest article yet, but I've always thought of darksteel being alloyed with mana somehow. 89% iron, 1% carbon, 10% magic!
Darksteel is associated with Memnarch, He built an entire tower out of it. So i'd say it was created by Memnarch and the knowledge was given or stolen by the Vedalken. (Or that all the darksteel things around now were created by Memnarch and are still around because Darksteel is indestructible.)
It's not just the composition but the processing as well. Many different Steels can have the exact same composition of Iron and Carbon but their processing was different so their properties will be different, not to mention the effect of smaller alloying elements. Darksteel is always equally indestructible, but sometimes it's sentient, which probably requires a higher alloying concentration of Magic. Unless it's just Darksteel armor around a regular artifact creature.
The Physical properties of Darksteel have always intrigued me, what exactly is meant by "indestructible?" I assume that it can never be dented. A material's toughness is its ability to absorb energy before failure. Stronger materials usually have lower toughness because they are more likely to just snap rather than dent. If Darksteel cannot be dented or broken, than I believe that it has an infinite elastic response. No matter how far it is bent, it will never yield, the atomic bonds can never be broken. Perhaps that's what the magic does, it absorbs energy, or diverts it away from the atomic bonds. That's what the swirling particles around Darksteel could be, Energy that would have gone to stretching the bonds are magically converted into heat or light and directed to the outside of the material.
I read this post just after I finished my Physical Properties of Materials final.
I KNEW someone was going to complain.
It was Doug answering questions, which is never THAT bad.
That said, it was just okay. Doing a mail bag column is kind of phoning it in, but among his mailbag articles, this one wasn't the bottom of the barrel. It was just sort of there.