Honestly, I'm rather disappointed with how blatantly, cartoonishly evil the Sultai are. It's like Sidisi was reading straight out of a book of Evil Overlord tropes. (They have actual crocodile pits FFS.) Even the Dimir and Golgari had some sides that served the greater good.
What is wrong with being blatantly evil? I enjoy villains who enjoy being evil, so that it is easier to support and cheer for the heroes and so that the heroes have no guilt or lack of justification in seeking to defeat the villains.
To quote Hayao Miyazaki:
"The concept of portraying evil and then destroying it - I know this is considered mainstream, but I think it is rotten. This idea that whenever something evil happens someone particular can be blamed and punished for it, in life and in politics is hopeless."
The way you worded it doesn't help.
It is also much more satisfying to see evil being punished. One of the functions of fiction is to be a way to escape from the unpleasant and boring aspects of real life, after all.
The problem, though, is that this link of thinking can't be applied to the Sultai. The Sultai are unlikely to be the main villains of this block, and the other four clans are neither good nor evil, nor in opposition to just the Sultai.
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I HATE what the Sultai stand for, They evoke more dislike from me than some malevelant "god of self-pity" like mono B Erebos. Evil has many facets and some evil actually IS more stereotypical in it's evilness than other types. I find it interesting that In Theros, There was a mono W "villain" Heliod who distrusted planeswalker outsiders to the point he killed his own champion, BUT there was also a RG Villian who represents the evils of abandon, reckless pursuit of freedom and the desire to up heave the Gods and give them the finger. Is there some sympathy/empathy for the Satyr? Sure, but he still destroyed a lot of property and killed alot of peeps in his path to godhood. Sometimes I think people are so quick to point out the evils in Black and, inversely, White they forget that Green, Blue and Red can also have their own brands of villain that make you say "I really, REALLY want to squish you."
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Wizards. listen. The Vorthos community will await the consequences of the Eldrazi Titans' deaths/sealing. We will keep the watch.
“The wind whispers, ‘come home,’ but I cannot.”
— Teferi
The problems I find with the Sultai:
They don't really have much Blue or Green in their philosophy. They do use some Green and Blue magic, but it isn't well integrated in them. The group of people they remind me the most of is probably the Cabal, not the Golgari or the Dimir.
Some traits of black, such as ruthlessness, pragmatism, ambition and persistence can be made somewhat positive when Black is the underdog and uses these attributes to come on top of dramatically larger threats. When black is already powerful, it just comes off as a cruel bully and that is more or less what we see in the Sultai, especially the Nagas.
What I'd have gone with is probably portraying the Sultai as a society that lived in fertile, but "too centric" and lacking in meaningful natural barriers (other than relatively shallow rivers), and thus had often become the target of raids of other Clans. To protect their territory, the Sultai had thus made deals with demons and fully embraced previously taboo magical arts, such as necromancy, mind control and fleshcrafting. The bulk of the undead and mind-controlled army that now serves them being mostly former raiders (as well as any intruders, and members the elite deemed enemies of the Sultai, but mostly raiders), often twisted horrendously and mockingly to serve as warnings to other tresspassers. Examples of their creations could be living or undead scarecrows, feral animals and vegetation "improved" to be more threatening and aggressive to outsiders as well as disease-spreading traps designed to prepare enemies for ideal zombification.
Also an interest in perfecting magical arts, as well as the plutocratic and meritocratic aspects of their governement should have been given more emphasis to increase the blue aspect in the group.
The problems I find with the Sultai:
They don't really have much Blue or Green in their philosophy. They do use some Green and Blue magic, but it isn't well integrated in them. The group of people they remind me the most of is probably the Cabal, not the Golgari or the Dimir.
Some traits of black, such as ruthlessness, pragmatism, ambition and persistence can be made somewhat positive when Black is the underdog and uses these attributes to come on top of dramatically larger threats. When black is already powerful, it just comes off as a cruel bully and that is more or less what we see in the Sultai, especially the Nagas.
What I'd have gone with is probably portraying the Sultai as a society that lived in fertile, but "too centric" and lacking in meaningful natural barriers (other than relatively shallow rivers), and thus had often become the target of raids of other Clans. To protect their territory, the Sultai had thus made deals with demons and fully embraced previously taboo magical arts, such as necromancy, mind control and fleshcrafting. The bulk of the undead and mind-controlled army that now serves them being mostly former raiders (as well as any intruders, and members the elite deemed enemies of the Sultai, but mostly raiders), often twisted horrendously and mockingly to serve as warnings to other tresspassers. Examples of their creations could be living or undead scarecrows, feral animals and vegetation "improved" to be more threatening and aggressive to outsiders as well as disease-spreading traps designed to prepare enemies for ideal zombification.
Also an interest in perfecting magical arts, as well as the plutocratic and meritocratic aspects of their governement should have been given more emphasis to increase the blue aspect in the group.
I find them currently to be quite Green: racist, social darwinist, implied higher designs (Sidisi), the fact that a majority of the population has legitimate spiritual beliefs.
Honestly, I'm rather disappointed with how blatantly, cartoonishly evil the Sultai are. It's like Sidisi was reading straight out of a book of Evil Overlord tropes. (They have actual crocodile pits FFS.) Even the Dimir and Golgari had some sides that served the greater good.
What is wrong with being blatantly evil? I enjoy villains who enjoy being evil, so that it is easier to support and cheer for the heroes and so that the heroes have no guilt or lack of justification in seeking to defeat the villains.
To quote Hayao Miyazaki:
"The concept of portraying evil and then destroying it - I know this is considered mainstream, but I think it is rotten. This idea that whenever something evil happens someone particular can be blamed and punished for it, in life and in politics is hopeless."
The way you worded it doesn't help.
It is also much more satisfying to see evil being punished. One of the functions of fiction is to be a way to escape from the unpleasant and boring aspects of real life, after all.
The problem, though, is that this link of thinking can't be applied to the Sultai. The Sultai are unlikely to be the main villains of this block, and the other four clans are neither good nor evil, nor in opposition to just the Sultai.
The problem is that sort of mentality is toxic. At the end of the day, priorities should be to fix problems, not to be a sadist.
The problems I find with the Sultai:
They don't really have much Blue or Green in their philosophy. They do use some Green and Blue magic, but it isn't well integrated in them. The group of people they remind me the most of is probably the Cabal, not the Golgari or the Dimir.
Some traits of black, such as ruthlessness, pragmatism, ambition and persistence can be made somewhat positive when Black is the underdog and uses these attributes to come on top of dramatically larger threats. When black is already powerful, it just comes off as a cruel bully and that is more or less what we see in the Sultai, especially the Nagas.
What I'd have gone with is probably portraying the Sultai as a society that lived in fertile, but "too centric" and lacking in meaningful natural barriers (other than relatively shallow rivers), and thus had often become the target of raids of other Clans. To protect their territory, the Sultai had thus made deals with demons and fully embraced previously taboo magical arts, such as necromancy, mind control and fleshcrafting. The bulk of the undead and mind-controlled army that now serves them being mostly former raiders (as well as any intruders, and members the elite deemed enemies of the Sultai, but mostly raiders), often twisted horrendously and mockingly to serve as warnings to other tresspassers. Examples of their creations could be living or undead scarecrows, feral animals and vegetation "improved" to be more threatening and aggressive to outsiders as well as disease-spreading traps designed to prepare enemies for ideal zombification.
Also an interest in perfecting magical arts, as well as the plutocratic and meritocratic aspects of their governement should have been given more emphasis to increase the blue aspect in the group.
You know, I kind of like this. The idea that the Sultai embraced the ruthlessness of the Dragon not as a for the EVULZ type deal but out of feeling they had no other choice to ensure their survival. I might find it interesting as an exercise to rewrite the Sultai section of the Planeswalker's guide with this in mind.
To the Mods and anyone else, would it be acceptable to post that rewrite here or should I find somewhere else to post that?
Also, I just saw that Sorin is back. any chance he'll have a major role in this story, or do you think he's just sightseeing, or just here to visit "an old friend"?
Also, I just saw that Sorin is back. any chance he'll have a major role in this story, or do you think he's just sightseeing, or just here to visit "an old friend"?
I think that his role was fulfilled by the (bitter) revelation. I doubt he is going with Sarkhan to the past, so he will hardly be of any assistance, and if the past is changed, what else might change? Sorin might not have any reason to come to Tarkir in the new timeline.
It would be even possible that it causes a massive retcon considering the fate of Zendikar. If Ugin is alive at the time of the Eye being breached by Jace and Chandra, he would be probably drawn to Zendikar, like Sorin, who arrived to investigate - and the whole thing with Nissa breaking the Titans loose can be prevented. In extension, Sarkhan would never leave Tarkir if he has a mentor in Ugin there, does not become Bolas's pawn...
...uh, my brain hurts...time travel be thrice-damned
The more I read, the more I think this is going to be a ripoff of Skyrim.
Ugin's defeat at the hands of Bolas caused some kind of major rend in the fabric of reality at Ugin's Nexus. Ugin's soul or whatever has been trapped in some kind of temporal limbo at the Nexus.* Whatever Sarkhan does at the nexus catapults Ugin to the future (like Alduin was bounced out of the timestream to reappear at the start of Skyrim). Ugin's not being dead and/or whatever butterflies Sarkhan had to step on in the process of pulling him forward in time somehow allows the dragons to avoid extinction**, radically altering Tarkir's present, but the only consequences to history are local to Tarkir. As far as the multiverse at large is concerned Ugin was still MIA for the last couple of millennia, meaning everything on Zendikar still goes to pot, etc.
*Ugin's known as the Spirit Dragon. Maybe he pulled a Bolas and had part of himself in his nexus and part of himself in the physical world of Tarkir, and Bolas played Umezawa by severing that connection, leaving Ugin's body to die in Tarkir while his spirit/soul/some fragment of his existence was stuck in the nexus, horcrux style. It'd be a neat irony if Ugin was pseudo-dead by Bolas' hand the same way Bolas got later pseudo-killed by Tetsuo, and further play up the mirror images thing they've got with Ugin as Not Evil Dragonwalker versus Bolas as Evil Dragonwalker.
**Uber baseless speculation: The original clans were inspired to take up dragon killing because they witnessed Bolas killing Ugin. Before that, they didn't think killing dragons was even possible, but once they saw that dragons could be killed, it was game on. Ugin not dying (even if he vanishes) leaves them still unsure that dragons can be killed, so they don't start with the dragon hunting.
In regards to the time-traveling aspect of this block, I do not believe that Sarkhan shall go backwards in time and alter the past to alter the future, but he shall simply travel backwards in time, rescue the dragons (as many as he can, since I doubt that he shall be able to rescue all the dragons), and bring them to the present. That makes much more sense, and is less likely to lead to any paradoxes or convoluted storytelling.
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That would still alter the present, though. There will be a bunch of dragons that were suddenly not there (and also a lot of dragon corpses that the clans couldn't use the parts of). From a Storyline/gameplay crossover perspective, just bringing a bunch of dragons to present-day Tarkir would not justify the mechanical shift that WotC has seemed to indicate will happen this block. If the third set is literally just "the same Tarkir, but here are some dragons too", there would be a disconnect if the clans didn't operate identical to how they do now.
I am also intrigued about the timetravel from another perspective. From how far back in time it seems we are going, it will be prior to the Mending. While this may or may not affect Sarkhan's spark (not interested in speculating on this), it definitely means that Ugin will be a pre-Mending planeswalker, which makes me wonder: how did the clans of Tarkir kill a pre-Mending dragon planeswalker?
EDIT: Derp, Bolas said he did it. Okay, then different question: Does this mean that Bolas was instrumental in eliminating the dragons on Tarkir? (ok maybe more speculation than I originally planned)
I was just thinking about the paradox problem earlier today. If Sarkhan prevents Ugin's death and the extinction of the dragons on Tarkir, it would have massive implications. Sarkhan's own backstory would be completely changed, to the extant that the character as we know him will effectively be replaced by a stranger - if he even still exists! His spark was ignited by Ugin's spirit whispering to him; if Ugin isn't trapped on Tarkir that never would have happened, meaning Sarkhan never could have gone back in time, etc etc etc ad nauseum. I assume Wizards will find some way to avoid that particular paradox, but it still leaves the problem of Ugin on Tarkir. If Sorin was drawn to the seal weakening, surely Ugin would have been as well, which may have prevented the Eldrazi from escaping in the first place. Since they probably want to avoid massive retcons of this nature, my best guess is that Sarkhan's Adventure in the Past will just make the present change, with Ugin and the other dragons suddenly appearing on Tarkir; the actual history of the plane and the wider multiverse won't be affected. It would be interesting to see how the clans would react to that.
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Unless he only brings Ugin back, and learns/helps the dragon recreate the "mighty elemental storms" that "produced" dragons?
It's almost as if the "crucial turning point" mentioned in the planeswalker's guide is the death of Ugin itself, causing the dragons to stop spawning. If Ugin manages to come in our present, maybe he can reset the storms? (Wild speculation)
I think Kaburi's theory is the most likely. There is no other way to do it without huge time travel ramifications. The bones of Dragons are literally everywhere on Tarkir as a Chekhov's Gun, so a Skyrim-esque revival of them all seems like it might be likely. Although a completely planar history rewrite isn't out of the question. For instance, Sarkhan could potentially survive by coming back to the future the long way, or being sent back to a future where he was never born.
As for Ugin and Zendikar, how would Ugin have changed things? The Jace/Chandra/Sarkhan fight occurred before Sorin returned to the plane. Potentially, Ugin might have also been along for the ride in In the Teeth of Akoum (would have made things a lot easier), but as a Neowalker he also probably wouldn't have had the power to stop the Eldrazi once Nissa released them. Nissa's actions were very spur of the moment, and I doubt Ugin would have changed her mind at that point about trying to get them off Zendikar rather than resealing. And without the Lithomancer, they couldn't have even tried to reseal them once truly released. It took the power of three oldwalkers to do it in the first place.
I believe if the timeline will be changed by saving Ugin and subsequently the dragons of Tarkir as a race, then this "timeshift" will be applied only to Tarkir. I imagine there's some sort of bubble surrounding Tarkir until we arrive in present times and the rest of the multiverse remains unchanged.
Otherwise there would need to be way too many changes applied to what we know about the multiverse its ridiculous.
or being sent back to a future where he was never born.
Well, he does have that "I was never born at all" line in the trailer. Is it possible that that portion of the trailer wasn't set at the beginning of the block? It could also explain the white streak in his hair.
Ooh, I like that! So by the end of the block Sarkhan will be a man stuck out of time who remembers a past that never existed? Cool!
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As for Ugin and Zendikar, how would Ugin have changed things? The Jace/Chandra/Sarkhan fight occurred before Sorin returned to the plane. Potentially, Ugin might have also been along for the ride in In the Teeth of Akoum (would have made things a lot easier), but as a Neowalker he also probably wouldn't have had the power to stop the Eldrazi once Nissa released them. Nissa's actions were very spur of the moment, and I doubt Ugin would have changed her mind at that point about trying to get them off Zendikar rather than resealing. And without the Lithomancer, they couldn't have even tried to reseal them once truly released. It took the power of three oldwalkers to do it in the first place.
Mostly, I don't think Nissa would have been drawn into being Sorin's guide in the first place if Ugin had shown up. Being a dragon and everything, he could have just flown ahead of the group and taken care of it.
Sorin was capable of reinforcing the lock though I doubt it was his magic that actually did the sealing in the first place. I would imagine Ugin, what with it being his "eye" and all would be a better candidate to start with.
I seriously doubt that all of the Sultai are so cartoonishly evil. The guide is probably highlighting the extremes that exist at the highest echelons of Sultai society. Quite simply, a society of backstabbing selfish bastards couldn't possibly last long enough to make an enormous empire. I suspect that most of the Sultai rank and file are trying to make ends meat under the tyrannical rule of the deranged Sultai upper class.
Mark said that there were originally 4 clans only and that they added the Sultai later in design for colour balance, so maybe creative had less time to flesh them out and that's why we ended up with a clan of James Bond villains...
That's when Brady came back. It turns out that the creative team came up with an idea for a fifth clan. A sneaky clan that lived in the jungle and was willing to do whatever it took to win. Could we make five clans work?
Why are the bird people of Tarkir known as Avens? the word "aven" is clearly of Latin origin, making it out-of-place in an Asian-themed world. I believe that it would have been better if the bird people of Tarkir were known as Tengu, after the race of bird people from Asian (and more specifically, Japanese) folklore. Does anyone else here believe that that would have made more sense?
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Why are the bird people of Tarkir known as Avens? the word "aven" is clearly of Latin origin, making it out-of-place in an Asian-themed world. I believe that it would have been better if the bird people of Tarkir were known as Tengu, after the race of bird people from Asian (and more specifically, Japanese) folklore. Does anyone else here believe that that would have made more sense?
They called them Aven in the guide because that's what 'bird people' in magic are usually called (just like Elves are called Elves, and Merfolk Merfolk). The word does have Latin roots, but then again we have yet to see a Bird creature card from Tarkir that has "Aven" in its name, so they may circumvent that kind of 'issue' by just not using it in card names.
I wouldn't like Tengu however, because a) Tarkir is not japanese-flavored (that was Kamigawa, the Jeskai are chinese-tibetan) and b) Tengu are not just 'bird people', they have some own characteristics that wouldn't fit the design of magic aven at all (long noses for example).
Why are the bird people of Tarkir known as Avens? the word "aven" is clearly of Latin origin, making it out-of-place in an Asian-themed world. I believe that it would have been better if the bird people of Tarkir were known as Tengu, after the race of bird people from Asian (and more specifically, Japanese) folklore. Does anyone else here believe that that would have made more sense?
Tengu are specifically Japanese, which is not the theme of this set, so that wouldn't really work. Indian has mythological birds called Chakora, although the best analogy would be Garuda. I think those are a little overspecific, though.
I may have missed something, but I don't expect the time travel element to have damning implications for continuity. For the block, sure, we may see a Tarkir before the dragon-storms stopped the spawnings. Sure, Sarkhan may go into the past, but I don't expect rewritinings of history. As many suggested, maybe Ugin will be revived in the present and the dragons will return anew (new dragons), but minds won't forget the "real" history. This seems the easiest route, and since everyone does not read Uncharted Realms or the ebooks (any word on this for Tarkir yet?), completely negating Zendikar or other timelines seems unwise.
However, with Ugin returned (if this is the route that is taken), Sarkhan may align with Sorin, and we can see a return to Zendikar where Nissa, Kiora, potentially the lithomancer, and Ob Nixilis play a role in the next leg of the Eldrazi story.
I don't think we'll get a clockworking monstrosity here. It would not make sense with the current methods of storytelling and knowing that getting everyone on the same page of the plot is hard enough as it is without rewriting the past.
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Well, on one hand, I like the idea that only Ugin will return, and he will help bring dragons back when he's in the present, but I ALSO like validating Sarkhan's "I was never born" line.
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It is also much more satisfying to see evil being punished. One of the functions of fiction is to be a way to escape from the unpleasant and boring aspects of real life, after all.
The problem, though, is that this link of thinking can't be applied to the Sultai. The Sultai are unlikely to be the main villains of this block, and the other four clans are neither good nor evil, nor in opposition to just the Sultai.
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The Vorthos community will await the consequences of the Eldrazi Titans' deaths/sealing. We will keep the watch.
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They don't really have much Blue or Green in their philosophy. They do use some Green and Blue magic, but it isn't well integrated in them. The group of people they remind me the most of is probably the Cabal, not the Golgari or the Dimir.
Some traits of black, such as ruthlessness, pragmatism, ambition and persistence can be made somewhat positive when Black is the underdog and uses these attributes to come on top of dramatically larger threats. When black is already powerful, it just comes off as a cruel bully and that is more or less what we see in the Sultai, especially the Nagas.
What I'd have gone with is probably portraying the Sultai as a society that lived in fertile, but "too centric" and lacking in meaningful natural barriers (other than relatively shallow rivers), and thus had often become the target of raids of other Clans. To protect their territory, the Sultai had thus made deals with demons and fully embraced previously taboo magical arts, such as necromancy, mind control and fleshcrafting. The bulk of the undead and mind-controlled army that now serves them being mostly former raiders (as well as any intruders, and members the elite deemed enemies of the Sultai, but mostly raiders), often twisted horrendously and mockingly to serve as warnings to other tresspassers. Examples of their creations could be living or undead scarecrows, feral animals and vegetation "improved" to be more threatening and aggressive to outsiders as well as disease-spreading traps designed to prepare enemies for ideal zombification.
Also an interest in perfecting magical arts, as well as the plutocratic and meritocratic aspects of their governement should have been given more emphasis to increase the blue aspect in the group.
I find them currently to be quite Green: racist, social darwinist, implied higher designs (Sidisi), the fact that a majority of the population has legitimate spiritual beliefs.
It's the Blue that's lacking.
The problem is that sort of mentality is toxic. At the end of the day, priorities should be to fix problems, not to be a sadist.
You know, I kind of like this. The idea that the Sultai embraced the ruthlessness of the Dragon not as a for the EVULZ type deal but out of feeling they had no other choice to ensure their survival. I might find it interesting as an exercise to rewrite the Sultai section of the Planeswalker's guide with this in mind.
To the Mods and anyone else, would it be acceptable to post that rewrite here or should I find somewhere else to post that?
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Also, I just saw that Sorin is back. any chance he'll have a major role in this story, or do you think he's just sightseeing, or just here to visit "an old friend"?
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I think that his role was fulfilled by the (bitter) revelation. I doubt he is going with Sarkhan to the past, so he will hardly be of any assistance, and if the past is changed, what else might change? Sorin might not have any reason to come to Tarkir in the new timeline.
It would be even possible that it causes a massive retcon considering the fate of Zendikar. If Ugin is alive at the time of the Eye being breached by Jace and Chandra, he would be probably drawn to Zendikar, like Sorin, who arrived to investigate - and the whole thing with Nissa breaking the Titans loose can be prevented. In extension, Sarkhan would never leave Tarkir if he has a mentor in Ugin there, does not become Bolas's pawn...
...uh, my brain hurts...time travel be thrice-damned
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
*Ugin's known as the Spirit Dragon. Maybe he pulled a Bolas and had part of himself in his nexus and part of himself in the physical world of Tarkir, and Bolas played Umezawa by severing that connection, leaving Ugin's body to die in Tarkir while his spirit/soul/some fragment of his existence was stuck in the nexus, horcrux style. It'd be a neat irony if Ugin was pseudo-dead by Bolas' hand the same way Bolas got later pseudo-killed by Tetsuo, and further play up the mirror images thing they've got with Ugin as Not Evil Dragonwalker versus Bolas as Evil Dragonwalker.
**Uber baseless speculation: The original clans were inspired to take up dragon killing because they witnessed Bolas killing Ugin. Before that, they didn't think killing dragons was even possible, but once they saw that dragons could be killed, it was game on. Ugin not dying (even if he vanishes) leaves them still unsure that dragons can be killed, so they don't start with the dragon hunting.
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I am also intrigued about the timetravel from another perspective. From how far back in time it seems we are going, it will be prior to the Mending. While this may or may not affect Sarkhan's spark (not interested in speculating on this), it definitely means that Ugin will be a pre-Mending planeswalker, which makes me wonder:
how did the clans of Tarkir kill a pre-Mending dragon planeswalker?EDIT: Derp, Bolas said he did it. Okay, then different question: Does this mean that Bolas was instrumental in eliminating the dragons on Tarkir? (ok maybe more speculation than I originally planned)
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Urza's Head (Unglued!)
It's almost as if the "crucial turning point" mentioned in the planeswalker's guide is the death of Ugin itself, causing the dragons to stop spawning. If Ugin manages to come in our present, maybe he can reset the storms? (Wild speculation)
As for Ugin and Zendikar, how would Ugin have changed things? The Jace/Chandra/Sarkhan fight occurred before Sorin returned to the plane. Potentially, Ugin might have also been along for the ride in In the Teeth of Akoum (would have made things a lot easier), but as a Neowalker he also probably wouldn't have had the power to stop the Eldrazi once Nissa released them. Nissa's actions were very spur of the moment, and I doubt Ugin would have changed her mind at that point about trying to get them off Zendikar rather than resealing. And without the Lithomancer, they couldn't have even tried to reseal them once truly released. It took the power of three oldwalkers to do it in the first place.
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Otherwise there would need to be way too many changes applied to what we know about the multiverse its ridiculous.
Well, he does have that "I was never born at all" line in the trailer. Is it possible that that portion of the trailer wasn't set at the beginning of the block? It could also explain the white streak in his hair.
Xantcha, Phyrexian Reject
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Tovolar, Howlpack Alpha
Pivlic, Orzhov Informant
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Marisi Coilbreaker
O-Kagachi
Gix, Phyrexian Praetor
Karn, Father of Machines
Yawgmoth, Father of Machines
Serra, Mother of All Angels
Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools
Leshrac the Nightwalker
Jeska, the Thrice-Touched
Elspeth Returned
Crucius the Mad
Taysir the Infinite
Urza's Head (Unglued!)
Mostly, I don't think Nissa would have been drawn into being Sorin's guide in the first place if Ugin had shown up. Being a dragon and everything, he could have just flown ahead of the group and taken care of it.
Sorin was capable of reinforcing the lock though I doubt it was his magic that actually did the sealing in the first place. I would imagine Ugin, what with it being his "eye" and all would be a better candidate to start with.
That's not even remotely true.
Creative came up with the fifth clan.
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They called them Aven in the guide because that's what 'bird people' in magic are usually called (just like Elves are called Elves, and Merfolk Merfolk). The word does have Latin roots, but then again we have yet to see a Bird creature card from Tarkir that has "Aven" in its name, so they may circumvent that kind of 'issue' by just not using it in card names.
I wouldn't like Tengu however, because a) Tarkir is not japanese-flavored (that was Kamigawa, the Jeskai are chinese-tibetan) and b) Tengu are not just 'bird people', they have some own characteristics that wouldn't fit the design of magic aven at all (long noses for example).
Tengu are specifically Japanese, which is not the theme of this set, so that wouldn't really work. Indian has mythological birds called Chakora, although the best analogy would be Garuda. I think those are a little overspecific, though.
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[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
However, with Ugin returned (if this is the route that is taken), Sarkhan may align with Sorin, and we can see a return to Zendikar where Nissa, Kiora, potentially the lithomancer, and Ob Nixilis play a role in the next leg of the Eldrazi story.
I don't think we'll get a clockworking monstrosity here. It would not make sense with the current methods of storytelling and knowing that getting everyone on the same page of the plot is hard enough as it is without rewriting the past.