Sarkhan Unbroken was originally a totally diferent card with Jund colors. Development found that it was almost imposible to cast in Standard and asked Creative if they could make it Temur because they wanted it to see play.
Xantcha, Phyrexian Reject
Jodah, Archmage Eternal
Tovolar, Howlpack Alpha
Pivlic, Orzhov Informant
Crixizix, Master Engineer
Feather, Boros Peacekeeper
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!)
Being Jund would mean that B was part of his core (he would still be ''Unbroken'' afterall) and not just Bolas influence. Also, the whole Temur fascination would eclipse.
I don't know, after learning about this i kinda prefer the Jund version. Being Temur seems more forced than ever.
I used to expect Sarkhan to be a Mardu and also Jund. But since there are no Jund Shard land in this block, Temur could be the only way to go since Mardu basically doesn't exist in the new timeline flavor-wise.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern Decks:WRGThe Colors of FireGRW || CUBRAge of Ultron (Affinity - Under Construction)RBUC
It makes me wonder if his "Unbroken" title was also in the context of him being planned to have all of his colors up to that point intact. Anyways I'm happy with the result we have now.
standard playable temur lands:
1. u/g painland
2. u/r painland
3. g/r fetch
4. u/g scryland
5. g/r scryland
6/ u/r scryland
7. temur triland
...is there something I'm missing here? Aside from Frontier Bivouac, what is there that makes temur colors soooo much easier to pull off in standard than jund colors? Rattleclaw (which still gets you two-thirds of the jund colors)? Also, a big WTF/LOL to the fact that they were apparently concerned about players being able to cast a mythic rare in limited, particularly when the temur triland isn't even in dragons of tarkir or fate reforged. Even crazier, since Dragons is based around allied pairs, jund should actually be EASIER to make happen than temur. You can do Kologhan colors with a green splash, or Atarka colors with a black splash. To cast Sarkhan Unbroken, you can probably only realistically do Atarka colors with blue splash. So even if you accept the crazy premise that we need to be concerned with what a drafting player does with Sarkhan Unbroken when they open him in their pack, their conclusion is all wrong.
The khans/fate reforged life lands and Temur banner. Plus we don't know what we will get in Magic origins/Battle for Zendikar block/ Tears Block...not saying I approve of temur Sarkhan, I'd rather they kept him Jund. And I haven't played in standard in forever is Jund a thing?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I Liked hin going Temur after all , he had all the storyline of hin going with temur shamans and even knowing Surrak in his early years in Tarkir...
Also He had been Mardu but the only black mana influence on his peronality was his obsession on Dragons and what he would do to meet the dragons. I think it is better flavourwise for a Temur being his colors , after all, now he is enlighned and isn't insane about dragons, but instead wants to take every thing he can get from his new world...
If it was for gameplaay purposes they failed in that aswell because it would make litle diference the dificulty in casting him eitherway.Man Dragons was really a mess in the color pairing department mixed with flavour.I'm still salty that they made DoT ALLY color pair instead of enemy wich was their intention in the beggining of Khans,even the art showed that but nope is going to screw up Drafting so need to change an intire concept because of it making this set very messy.
Hopefully they will haave more focus in the upcoming Block format change
Haha. I called Sarkhan being Jund & a new UW walker last july. With all this mana fixing I dont know how we would have been impossible to cast. 10 scrys, 10 refuges, 5/5 fetches/pains, 3 tri lands, evolving wilds, mana confluence, urborg. And thats just the lands.
standard playable temur lands:
1. u/g painland
2. u/r painland
3. g/r fetch
4. u/g scryland
5. g/r scryland
6/ u/r scryland
7. temur triland
...is there something I'm missing here? Aside from Frontier Bivouac, what is there that makes temur colors soooo much easier to pull off in standard than jund colors?
Frontier Bivouac is a big deal. Look at how ubiquitous the trilands are in all the 3-color decks in Standard. Jund may only be missing one mana fixing land compared to Temur, but it's the most important one.
If it was for gameplaay purposes they failed in that aswell because it would make litle diference the dificulty in casting him eitherway.Man Dragons was really a mess in the color pairing department mixed with flavour.I'm still salty that they made DoT ALLY color pair instead of enemy wich was their intention in the beggining of Khans,even the art showed that
What makes you think that? Yes, it was an idea at the beginning, but DTK was going to be ally-colour long before any artists were commisioned to draw art, probably even before creative worked on concepts.
The khans/fate reforged life lands and Temur banner. Plus we don't know what we will get in Magic origins/Battle for Zendikar block/ Tears Block...not saying I approve of temur Sarkhan, I'd rather they kept him Jund. And I haven't played in standard in forever is Jund a thing?
The khans/frf life lands come in each color pair, though. So there is one in b/g just like there is one in u/g, doesn't tip the scales either way. I did forget about the temur banner, but that's pretty weak and there are other mana rocks too. (Jund gets two dragon monuments, temur only gets one, though I realize they're weak.)
Frontier Bivouac is a big deal. Look at how ubiquitous the trilands are in all the 3-color decks in Standard. Jund may only be missing one mana fixing land compared to Temur, but it's the most important one.
Fair enough, but is it really more important than the fetches (or at least, having TWO fetches, like jund does)?
As an aside, wouldn't it have made so much more sense for kahns to have enemy fetches, since they would each work in two clans instead of just one (r/u fetch would work in jeskai and temur, whereas r/g works only in temur), and then dragons could have had ally color fetches to match with the dragon broods.
If it was for gameplaay purposes they failed in that aswell because it would make litle diference the dificulty in casting him eitherway.Man Dragons was really a mess in the color pairing department mixed with flavour.I'm still salty that they made DoT ALLY color pair instead of enemy wich was their intention in the beggining of Khans,even the art showed that but nope is going to screw up Drafting so need to change an intire concept because of it making this set very messy.
Hopefully they will haave more focus in the upcoming Block format change
And the reason why they choose allied colors weren't limited. Both type of multicolor pairs would be equally good.
The reason is the ambiguity that dual colors bought. While WU only appears in WUR wedge, UR appears in WUR and URG, so each brood would be connected to two clans instead of one.
And the reason why they choose allied colors weren't limited. Both type of multicolor pairs would be equally good.
You know they specifically said they went with allied colors because of draft? As in, drafting wedges you start with an enemy pair, choosing the third color later, which would make Khans and Dragons (as an enemy set) drafts veeery similiar - and they wanted them to be different.
Oh I didn't knew that. If that was the real reason then it's a bad one in my opinion :/
And the reason why they choose allied colors weren't limited. Both type of multicolor pairs would be equally good.
You know they specifically said they went with allied colors because of draft? As in, drafting wedges you start with an enemy pair, choosing the third color later, which would make Khans and Dragons (as an enemy set) drafts veeery similiar - and they wanted them to be different.
Oh I didn't knew that. If that was the real reason then it's a bad one in my opinion :/
Prioritising gameplay over flavour fluff is a bad reason? Boy, am I glad at least Wizards has their priorities straight, or they'd be bankrupt in no time.
If they wanted him to see play they should have just made him abzan colors. Temur is okayish at best in standard/he still won't see much play. If they wanted a flagship card to see play so badly they should have just dropped him down to 4 mana then I can guarantee he would see play although it may be another JTMS on their hands as sarkhan with his current abilities and loyalty at 4 mana would be utterly disgusting in terms of power level.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Yawgmoth," Freyalise whispered as she set the bomb, "now you will pay for your treachery."
Were all of his abilities the same besides his plus activation being a Fling? That would be a sweet card. Casting that post-combat after a Rabblemaster attack...
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
One of these day I have to get myself organizized.
If it was for gameplaay purposes they failed in that aswell because it would make litle diference the dificulty in casting him eitherway.Man Dragons was really a mess in the color pairing department mixed with flavour.I'm still salty that they made DoT ALLY color pair instead of enemy wich was their intention in the beggining of Khans,even the art showed that but nope is going to screw up Drafting so need to change an intire concept because of it making this set very messy.
Hopefully they will haave more focus in the upcoming Block format change
And the reason why they choose allied colors weren't limited. Both type of multicolor pairs would be equally good.
The reason is the ambiguity that dual colors bought. While WU only appears in WUR wedge, UR appears in WUR and URG, so each brood would be connected to two clans instead of one.
I think that could have made for more interesting cultures. There would be a WR culture made with remnants of Jeskai incorporated into the former Mardu, a UG culture made with remnants of Sultai that joined into the former Temur, a BW culture made with remnants of Mardu that joined into the Abzan, etc. It would feel more like something new was created rather than just the old world being stripped away from certain things.
On the whole "Play in Standard" thing: Remember that they're probably testing his castability in all the standards that he'll be a part of, not just Theros-KTK Block Standard. There's gonna be a point in time where the Allied Fetchs aren't available and Sarkhan Unbroken is.
On the flavor aspect of Sarkhan being Blue: Agreed that it's a bit weird, but creative said yes, Sarkhan never really fit into the Mardu clan like he did when he was with the Temur, and a big part of this story is Sarkhan, at least somewhat, getting his brain back together. Saying he's Black because the Dragon thing is a selfish wish isn't quite fair, because ALL the colors can be selfish. Even white.
Also Sarkhan isn't selfish from his perspective. To him dragons are - and I quote - "freakin awesome, mate". It never occurs to him that other people might not be fond of having giant winged predators living in the same area as them. And if he does, he probably only shakes his head and pities the fool who cannot admire the majesty of dragons. Black doesn't make much sense for him. To be honest I never really saw the black in him during his mad times either... I guess that was Bolas' influence.
However, I also don't really buy the blue in using timetravel:
A) I think the tools to be used matter little in determining one's colour alignment, the motivation for using those tools seems much more important in my opinion. But this is a bold claim considering that this is the official explanation from the guy who maintains and grooms the colour pie, so whatever, but there's still:
B) Sarkhan didn't really intend to use timetravel, he was basically shoved through the whole process by a series of events that ultimately led him to go to Tarkir, step through the portal and encase Ugin in the cocoon. It was never really his plan to change Tarkir, it was merely just a side effect of saving Ugin, something to which he was pushed to by Ugin's whispers in the first place.
But I will wait until we get to the UR dealing with Sarkhan. Maybe he had an enlightment or something that justifies him adopting blue. I'm not going to judge his character development, before we actually get to read about it.
Aww, I'm actually making a casual Jund dragons modern deck as we speak and this Sarkhan could have been a nice flavorful inclusion. Oh wells, can't win them all.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/latest-developments/m-files-dragons-tarkir-part-2-2015-03-27
Sarkhan Unbroken was originally a totally diferent card with Jund colors. Development found that it was almost imposible to cast in Standard and asked Creative if they could make it Temur because they wanted it to see play.
Xantcha, Phyrexian Reject
Jodah, Archmage Eternal
Tovolar, Howlpack Alpha
Pivlic, Orzhov Informant
Crixizix, Master Engineer
Feather, Boros Peacekeeper
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!)
I don't know, after learning about this i kinda prefer the Jund version. Being Temur seems more forced than ever.
1. b/g painland
2. r/g fetch
3. r/b fetch
4. b/g scryland
5. b/r scryland
6. r/g scryland
standard playable temur lands:
1. u/g painland
2. u/r painland
3. g/r fetch
4. u/g scryland
5. g/r scryland
6/ u/r scryland
7. temur triland
...is there something I'm missing here? Aside from Frontier Bivouac, what is there that makes temur colors soooo much easier to pull off in standard than jund colors? Rattleclaw (which still gets you two-thirds of the jund colors)? Also, a big WTF/LOL to the fact that they were apparently concerned about players being able to cast a mythic rare in limited, particularly when the temur triland isn't even in dragons of tarkir or fate reforged. Even crazier, since Dragons is based around allied pairs, jund should actually be EASIER to make happen than temur. You can do Kologhan colors with a green splash, or Atarka colors with a black splash. To cast Sarkhan Unbroken, you can probably only realistically do Atarka colors with blue splash. So even if you accept the crazy premise that we need to be concerned with what a drafting player does with Sarkhan Unbroken when they open him in their pack, their conclusion is all wrong.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Also He had been Mardu but the only black mana influence on his peronality was his obsession on Dragons and what he would do to meet the dragons. I think it is better flavourwise for a Temur being his colors , after all, now he is enlighned and isn't insane about dragons, but instead wants to take every thing he can get from his new world...
Because Blue in Sarkhan makes absolutely NO sense. And him not having black in him when all of this story is due to his selfish whims is a major fail.
So it being gameplay reasons at least explains that and restores some faith in Creative.
Your mods are terrified of me.
Hopefully they will haave more focus in the upcoming Block format change
Frontier Bivouac is a big deal. Look at how ubiquitous the trilands are in all the 3-color decks in Standard. Jund may only be missing one mana fixing land compared to Temur, but it's the most important one.
What makes you think that? Yes, it was an idea at the beginning, but DTK was going to be ally-colour long before any artists were commisioned to draw art, probably even before creative worked on concepts.
The khans/frf life lands come in each color pair, though. So there is one in b/g just like there is one in u/g, doesn't tip the scales either way. I did forget about the temur banner, but that's pretty weak and there are other mana rocks too. (Jund gets two dragon monuments, temur only gets one, though I realize they're weak.)
Fair enough, but is it really more important than the fetches (or at least, having TWO fetches, like jund does)?
As an aside, wouldn't it have made so much more sense for kahns to have enemy fetches, since they would each work in two clans instead of just one (r/u fetch would work in jeskai and temur, whereas r/g works only in temur), and then dragons could have had ally color fetches to match with the dragon broods.
And the reason why they choose allied colors weren't limited. Both type of multicolor pairs would be equally good.
The reason is the ambiguity that dual colors bought. While WU only appears in WUR wedge, UR appears in WUR and URG, so each brood would be connected to two clans instead of one.
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
Oh I didn't knew that. If that was the real reason then it's a bad one in my opinion :/
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
Prioritising gameplay over flavour fluff is a bad reason? Boy, am I glad at least Wizards has their priorities straight, or they'd be bankrupt in no time.
Currently Playing:
Retired
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/113665128523/sarkhan-got-sent-back-in-time-with-ugins
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/113662025433/sarkhan-is-blue-because-he-perfected-the-world
Your mods are terrified of me.
I think that could have made for more interesting cultures. There would be a WR culture made with remnants of Jeskai incorporated into the former Mardu, a UG culture made with remnants of Sultai that joined into the former Temur, a BW culture made with remnants of Mardu that joined into the Abzan, etc. It would feel more like something new was created rather than just the old world being stripped away from certain things.
So they should take their main character of the block completely out of red, his core color since forever?
Level 1 Judge
I write flavor articles for RoxieCards.
I play and judge at Giga Bites Cafein Marietta, Georgia.
On the whole "Play in Standard" thing: Remember that they're probably testing his castability in all the standards that he'll be a part of, not just Theros-KTK Block Standard. There's gonna be a point in time where the Allied Fetchs aren't available and Sarkhan Unbroken is.
On the flavor aspect of Sarkhan being Blue: Agreed that it's a bit weird, but creative said yes, Sarkhan never really fit into the Mardu clan like he did when he was with the Temur, and a big part of this story is Sarkhan, at least somewhat, getting his brain back together. Saying he's Black because the Dragon thing is a selfish wish isn't quite fair, because ALL the colors can be selfish. Even white.
However, I also don't really buy the blue in using timetravel:
A) I think the tools to be used matter little in determining one's colour alignment, the motivation for using those tools seems much more important in my opinion. But this is a bold claim considering that this is the official explanation from the guy who maintains and grooms the colour pie, so whatever, but there's still:
B) Sarkhan didn't really intend to use timetravel, he was basically shoved through the whole process by a series of events that ultimately led him to go to Tarkir, step through the portal and encase Ugin in the cocoon. It was never really his plan to change Tarkir, it was merely just a side effect of saving Ugin, something to which he was pushed to by Ugin's whispers in the first place.
But I will wait until we get to the UR dealing with Sarkhan. Maybe he had an enlightment or something that justifies him adopting blue. I'm not going to judge his character development, before we actually get to read about it.