Sharing here something I wrote in the new Werewolf card thread, and slightly off-topic from the current discussions but still of relevance overall:
We've just seen our third mono-G werewolf, but we've had no R ones so far. And this one looks like anti-madness. Are werewolves going to be the good guys in this tale? And are they out of R for that reason? Mono-G Arlinn perhaps? Guess we'll find out later, but if she is, it might suggest we won't get any R werewolves at all.
(ETA: From a set-building POV, with angels drifting into R a little and madness maybe pushing more vamps into R too, maybe it was getting a little over-crowded?)
And the other new card is yet another feeding-frenzied Falkenrath vamp. Really does look like they're the lineage losing control the most.
I've actually noticed and been wondering about this too. Idk about Arlin's colors, but I will be shocked if WOTC does not print a legendary werewolf. (Having a werewolf PW is awesome, but it does not give what most people were asking for which was a legendary werewolf for edh). I am also fairly certain the legendary werewolf, when it is printed, will be GR so as to be useable as a commander with all the existing werewolf cards. My prediction is that We will get Arlin as the leader of the good werewolves and, either in SOI or Eldritch moon, we will get a GR Tovolar as the leader of the evil "wanton" werewolves. Werewolves that follow Arlin will be green, while the ones loyal to Tovolar will be in red.
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My Decks:
UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin" RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!" BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
And the other new card is yet another feeding-frenzied Falkenrath vamp. Really does look like they're the lineage losing control the most.
It would be interesting to see that this is caused by the fact that their progenitor is dead. Maybe the other heads of the vampire houses can somehow help their subjects control them.
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100% Vorthos Spike and Storyline Expert
Former Fact Prospector of the Greek Alliance.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
If Arlinn's front side is a legendary creature rather than a planeswalker, as some have speculated (and possibly in keeping with the background that indicates that she can only enter her human form on Innistrad), then she's a lock for RG. With how much people have been begging for a Legendary werewolf, they're 100% printing one, and if it's Arlinn, then there's absolutely no way they finally make a werewolf legend only to make it unable to be the commander for a RG werewolf deck.
I guess by that reasoning, RGx could also be possible, and of course it's possible that she's not the werewolf legend.
Colour identity for Commander doesn't necessarily equate to RG casting cost though. Could be mono-G with a R effect, a la Tazri as five-colour commander.
Personally though, I think Arlinn will be a walker on both sides. Her bio makes it clear she's long-since mastered changing back and forth easily, so I don't see why either side wouldn't show her as a walker. I think she'll be a mono-G DFC walker, and we'll get another legendary werewolf that fulfills the RG demand, but not necessarily by casting cost.
(I will caveat all this though with the fact I'm very prepared to be wrong. It's purely a hunch.)
Colour identity for Commander doesn't necessarily equate to RG casting cost though. Could be mono-G with a R effect, a la Tazri as five-colour commander.
Personally though, I think Arlinn will be a walker on both sides. Her bio makes it clear she's long-since mastered changing back and forth easily, so I don't see why either side wouldn't show her as a walker. I think she'll be a mono-G DFC walker, and we'll get another legendary werewolf that fulfills the RG demand, but not necessarily by casting cost.
(I will caveat all this though with the fact I'm very prepared to be wrong. It's purely a hunch.)
There is only one gold transforming card this set, and Arlinn as written only seemed green. Her werewolf side could easily bend to red, but the checklist card would still show her as green. This would put her as 193 in the SOI number crunch, leaving the gold card for a true werewolf... Or perhaps a toad.
I think it's pretty hard to doubt that Nahiri is the Harbinger of Emrakul; there's simply not anything else she could... harbinge. Unless Wizards wants her to have gone and had a whole plot off camera to introduce yet another titanic evil force, anyway, which I think everyone agrees would be stupid.
That said, just because Nahiri is Emrakul's harbinger, that does not mean Emrakul herself will show up. I think the most we'll see of the Eldrazi is her shadow across the Plane, with the clues pointing towards killing Kozilek and Ulamog having significantly increased Emrakul's power and intellect. This lets Wizards keep the plot going, and yet also avoids the main issue in BFZ: The Eldrazi just being natural disasters.
Thus far the Eldrazi haven't actually made for good villains, because their sole motivation is "I want to eat everything" and they don't talk, plot, or even really act. They just sort of wander around and destruction follows in their wake. But, if killing Ulamog and Kozilek caused Emrakul to change, she'll be a more viable recurring issue than just "SURPRISE I ATE EVERYTHING AND DROVE PEOPLE CRAZY!"
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Cyme we inne frið, fram the grip of deaþ to lif inne ðis smylte land.
Interesting that Odric is associated with the Lunarch when there is no Lunarch anymore. Unless he's working for the Lunarch council. That would be scary.
I think it's pretty hard to doubt that Nahiri is the Harbinger of Emrakul; there's simply not anything else she could... harbinge. Unless Wizards wants her to have gone and had a whole plot off camera to introduce yet another titanic evil force, anyway, which I think everyone agrees would be stupid.
Honestly, I would like to doubt Emrakul's presence because A) Im tired of the Eldrazi at this point, and B) SOI is so lovecrafty (in a sea-god'ish way) that I want to believe some other ancient evil is being kept in the moon (just like demons/avacyn was being held in the Helvault).
My personal desires aside, I believe there is sufficient evidence out there to doubt the existence of Eldrazi on Innistrad. Honestly, it can go both ways, depending on your own wishes for the story, but I remain hopeful for something with a bit more character and intrigue than the "I want to eat everything" Eldrazi.
I think it's pretty hard to doubt that Nahiri is the Harbinger of Emrakul; there's simply not anything else she could... harbinge. Unless Wizards wants her to have gone and had a whole plot off camera to introduce yet another titanic evil force, anyway, which I think everyone agrees would be stupid.
Honestly, I would like to doubt Emrakul's presence because A) Im tired of the Eldrazi at this point, and B) SOI is so lovecrafty (in a sea-god'ish way) that I want to believe some other ancient evil is being kept in the moon (just like demons/avacyn was being held in the Helvault).
My personal desires aside, I believe there is sufficient evidence out there to doubt the existence of Eldrazi on Innistrad. Honestly, it can go both ways, depending on your own wishes for the story, but I remain hopeful for something with a bit more character and intrigue than the "I want to eat everything" Eldrazi.
Side note, Arlinn Kord is out, looks hella sick
Though there is still some room to speculate, it does seem more like Nahiri is calling the sea-God or a potential Eldritch horror.
I think it's pretty hard to doubt that Nahiri is the Harbinger of Emrakul; there's simply not anything else she could... harbinge. Unless Wizards wants her to have gone and had a whole plot off camera to introduce yet another titanic evil force, anyway, which I think everyone agrees would be stupid.
Honestly, I would like to doubt Emrakul's presence because A) Im tired of the Eldrazi at this point, and B) SOI is so lovecrafty (in a sea-god'ish way) that I want to believe some other ancient evil is being kept in the moon (just like demons/avacyn was being held in the Helvault).
My personal desires aside, I believe there is sufficient evidence out there to doubt the existence of Eldrazi on Innistrad. Honestly, it can go both ways, depending on your own wishes for the story, but I remain hopeful for something with a bit more character and intrigue than the "I want to eat everything" Eldrazi.
Side note, Arlinn Kord is out, looks hella sick
Though there is still some room to speculate, it does seem more like Nahiri is calling the sea-God or a potential Eldritch horror.
How is an Innistradi sea-god anymore of a threat to the multiverse than Heliod or Phenax?
So I just realized that Avacyn is essentially the robot Santa Claus from Futurama. She was originally made to do good, but somewhere down the line, a programming error set her standards way too high, and essentially judges everyone as naughty. She then punishes the naughty with extreme prejudice and violence. Combined with the fact that I recall someone saying that Brady himself mentioned of Avacyn being somewhat robot-like in function, this feels even more true (red and white are even her colors, haha).
I got the impression Avacyn started off as robotic, but over time acquired understanding and more of a conscious existence and sense of self. That she, like a child angel, was learning how to perform her function, and integrate into angelic and human culture. How to answer prayers, foster faith, etc.
I think it's pretty hard to doubt that Nahiri is the Harbinger of Emrakul; there's simply not anything else she could... harbinge. Unless Wizards wants her to have gone and had a whole plot off camera to introduce yet another titanic evil force, anyway, which I think everyone agrees would be stupid.
Honestly, I would like to doubt Emrakul's presence because A) Im tired of the Eldrazi at this point, and B) SOI is so lovecrafty (in a sea-god'ish way) that I want to believe some other ancient evil is being kept in the moon (just like demons/avacyn was being held in the Helvault).
My personal desires aside, I believe there is sufficient evidence out there to doubt the existence of Eldrazi on Innistrad. Honestly, it can go both ways, depending on your own wishes for the story, but I remain hopeful for something with a bit more character and intrigue than the "I want to eat everything" Eldrazi.
Side note, Arlinn Kord is out, looks hella sick
Though there is still some room to speculate, it does seem more like Nahiri is calling the sea-God or a potential Eldritch horror.
How is an Innistradi sea-god anymore of a threat to the multiverse than Heliod or Phenax?
According to current understanding, Nahiri doesn't care about the multiverse, she cares about making Innistrad feel Zendikar's pain.
I think it's pretty hard to doubt that Nahiri is the Harbinger of Emrakul; there's simply not anything else she could... harbinge. Unless Wizards wants her to have gone and had a whole plot off camera to introduce yet another titanic evil force, anyway, which I think everyone agrees would be stupid.
Honestly, I would like to doubt Emrakul's presence because A) Im tired of the Eldrazi at this point, and B) SOI is so lovecrafty (in a sea-god'ish way) that I want to believe some other ancient evil is being kept in the moon (just like demons/avacyn was being held in the Helvault).
My personal desires aside, I believe there is sufficient evidence out there to doubt the existence of Eldrazi on Innistrad. Honestly, it can go both ways, depending on your own wishes for the story, but I remain hopeful for something with a bit more character and intrigue than the "I want to eat everything" Eldrazi.
Side note, Arlinn Kord is out, looks hella sick
Though there is still some room to speculate, it does seem more like Nahiri is calling the sea-God or a potential Eldritch horror.
How is an Innistradi sea-god anymore of a threat to the multiverse than Heliod or Phenax?
According to current understanding, Nahiri doesn't care about the multiverse, she cares about making Innistrad feel Zendikar's pain.
Didn't the blurb for the art guide mention some potential threat to the multiverse itself? Doesn't look like that refers to Nahiri if she's the harbinger, nor to some random sea-god since those would be plane-bound.
Well, Magic stories are often buckets of equal parts raw sewage and deus ex machina, so sure, it could easily not be Emrakul that Nahiri is bringing. But, I thought the change to the block structure was to allow them to keep moving a central storyline along more quickly, right? So, I don't think it would be odd at all for them to follow up an Eldrazi block with an Eldrazi affecting a new block. Heck, maybe we're in for a Bad Ending block like New Phyrexia that will set the stage for future conflict?
EDIT: Or, if not a bad ending, what if Eldritch Moon is all about the Superfriends' attempt to stop Nahiri from completing the ritual that will summon Emrakul to manifest on Innistrad? Isn't that exactly the plotline of Akrham Horror every Lovecraft story? The heroes need to stop the ritual that will end the world?
But, I thought the change to the block structure was to allow them to keep moving a central storyline along more quickly, right?
I thought they wanted more inter-connected stories from block to block? Or am I mistaken? There was so much (mis)information around the new block structure that I'm not quite sure what is true and what isn't.
Odric's back (Yay!) Interesting that it says he's a lunarch marshall. Does that mean he's working for Avacyn's inquisition? If so I think it's only a matter of time until he defects to helping the people being attacked by the angels. No way is he going to be ok w/ the mass slaughter of innocent people.
About Avacynian Inquisitors, are they in service to Avacyn directly or just a couple violent crazies who say they are doing her will? If she is really out to kill all humans it's weird that some would still be taking orders from her.
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My Decks:
UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin" RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!" BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
Didn't the blurb for the art guide mention some potential threat to the multiverse itself? Doesn't look like that refers to Nahiri if she's the harbinger, nor to some random sea-god since those would be plane-bound.
"Terror falls from the skies on blood-spattered wings, and nameless horrors lurk in the shadows. These pages, lavishly illustrated with the award-winning art of Magic: The Gathering, are your entry into a world beset by terrible evils on all sides and betrayed by the hope it held most dear. Tread lightly as you follow the heroic Planeswalkers of the Gatewatch as they investigate these dark mysteries, for the nightmare they will uncover is a threat to the whole Multiverse."
It did, but that could also be Nahiri, despite her vendetta. I mean, a terrorist cell might just be using one bomb on Innistrad, but they could have more bombs for other planes, if you know what I mean.
Sharing here something I wrote in the new Werewolf card thread, and slightly off-topic from the current discussions but still of relevance overall:
We've just seen our third mono-G werewolf, but we've had no R ones so far. And this one looks like anti-madness. Are werewolves going to be the good guys in this tale? And are they out of R for that reason? Mono-G Arlinn perhaps? Guess we'll find out later, but if she is, it might suggest we won't get any R werewolves at all.
(ETA: From a set-building POV, with angels drifting into R a little and madness maybe pushing more vamps into R too, maybe it was getting a little over-crowded?)
And the other new card is yet another feeding-frenzied Falkenrath vamp. Really does look like they're the lineage losing control the most.
I've actually noticed and been wondering about this too. Idk about Arlin's colors, but I will be shocked if WOTC does not print a legendary werewolf. (Having a werewolf PW is awesome, but it does not give what most people were asking for which was a legendary werewolf for edh). I am also fairly certain the legendary werewolf, when it is printed, will be GR so as to be useable as a commander with all the existing werewolf cards. My prediction is that We will get Arlin as the leader of the good werewolves and, either in SOI or Eldritch moon, we will get a GR Tovolar as the leader of the evil "wanton" werewolves. Werewolves that follow Arlin will be green, while the ones loyal to Tovolar will be in red.
I like this idea and hope it comes to pass. I like when a story/plane/block has multiple layers and levels, with different conflicts. BFZ suffered from a lack of those things, so competing werewolf 'tribes' would be fascinating and exciting!
Arlinn Kord talks about something that is coming, a bad something, that she thinks the werewolves can stand against. Does that imply she's aware of whatever Nahiri may be doing, or who the big bad is? Or more like an instinctual inclination?
With Avacyn going mad and maybe being destroyed at some point (or not), I'm thinking about 'what next?' Someone mentioned that maybe Sigarda takes over for the good angels. Kord might take over for 'good' werewolves. Sorin or another vamp night take over for 'good' vamps. Odric for humans. Does it seem like instead of Super Friends, or Guildpact Jace, they're setting it up for these diverse groups to combine to be a dispersed new 'Avacyn' in the face of the yet unknown big bad of the block?
Didn't the blurb for the art guide mention some potential threat to the multiverse itself? Doesn't look like that refers to Nahiri if she's the harbinger, nor to some random sea-god since those would be plane-bound.
"Terror falls from the skies on blood-spattered wings, and nameless horrors lurk in the shadows. These pages, lavishly illustrated with the award-winning art of Magic: The Gathering, are your entry into a world beset by terrible evils on all sides and betrayed by the hope it held most dear. Tread lightly as you follow the heroic Planeswalkers of the Gatewatch as they investigate these dark mysteries, for the nightmare they will uncover is a threat to the whole Multiverse."
It did, but that could also be Nahiri, despite her vendetta. I mean, a terrorist cell might just be using one bomb on Innistrad, but they could have more bombs for other planes, if you know what I mean.
This blurb, especially the 'uncover a threat' part makes me think we aren't getting Emrakul. We already know the Eldrazi are a threat. This is something new.
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I've actually noticed and been wondering about this too. Idk about Arlin's colors, but I will be shocked if WOTC does not print a legendary werewolf. (Having a werewolf PW is awesome, but it does not give what most people were asking for which was a legendary werewolf for edh). I am also fairly certain the legendary werewolf, when it is printed, will be GR so as to be useable as a commander with all the existing werewolf cards. My prediction is that We will get Arlin as the leader of the good werewolves and, either in SOI or Eldritch moon, we will get a GR Tovolar as the leader of the evil "wanton" werewolves. Werewolves that follow Arlin will be green, while the ones loyal to Tovolar will be in red.
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
It would be interesting to see that this is caused by the fact that their progenitor is dead. Maybe the other heads of the vampire houses can somehow help their subjects control them.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
I guess by that reasoning, RGx could also be possible, and of course it's possible that she's not the werewolf legend.
Personally though, I think Arlinn will be a walker on both sides. Her bio makes it clear she's long-since mastered changing back and forth easily, so I don't see why either side wouldn't show her as a walker. I think she'll be a mono-G DFC walker, and we'll get another legendary werewolf that fulfills the RG demand, but not necessarily by casting cost.
(I will caveat all this though with the fact I'm very prepared to be wrong. It's purely a hunch.)
There is only one gold transforming card this set, and Arlinn as written only seemed green. Her werewolf side could easily bend to red, but the checklist card would still show her as green. This would put her as 193 in the SOI number crunch, leaving the gold card for a true werewolf... Or perhaps a toad.
That said, just because Nahiri is Emrakul's harbinger, that does not mean Emrakul herself will show up. I think the most we'll see of the Eldrazi is her shadow across the Plane, with the clues pointing towards killing Kozilek and Ulamog having significantly increased Emrakul's power and intellect. This lets Wizards keep the plot going, and yet also avoids the main issue in BFZ: The Eldrazi just being natural disasters.
Thus far the Eldrazi haven't actually made for good villains, because their sole motivation is "I want to eat everything" and they don't talk, plot, or even really act. They just sort of wander around and destruction follows in their wake. But, if killing Ulamog and Kozilek caused Emrakul to change, she'll be a more viable recurring issue than just "SURPRISE I ATE EVERYTHING AND DROVE PEOPLE CRAZY!"
On a completely different note: Yay! Odric is back, and as bad-ass as ever
Maybe Thalia is the current Lunarch?
Honestly, I would like to doubt Emrakul's presence because A) Im tired of the Eldrazi at this point, and B) SOI is so lovecrafty (in a sea-god'ish way) that I want to believe some other ancient evil is being kept in the moon (just like demons/avacyn was being held in the Helvault).
My personal desires aside, I believe there is sufficient evidence out there to doubt the existence of Eldrazi on Innistrad. Honestly, it can go both ways, depending on your own wishes for the story, but I remain hopeful for something with a bit more character and intrigue than the "I want to eat everything" Eldrazi.
Side note, Arlinn Kord is out, looks hella sick
Though there is still some room to speculate, it does seem more like Nahiri is calling the sea-God or a potential Eldritch horror.
Nahrir already more of a threat than two Eldrazi titans.
Ugin deserves her wrath more than Sorin IMO. He's the one who wanted to trap the Eldrazi knowing all the while they could be killed.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
How is an Innistradi sea-god anymore of a threat to the multiverse than Heliod or Phenax?
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
According to current understanding, Nahiri doesn't care about the multiverse, she cares about making Innistrad feel Zendikar's pain.
Didn't the blurb for the art guide mention some potential threat to the multiverse itself? Doesn't look like that refers to Nahiri if she's the harbinger, nor to some random sea-god since those would be plane-bound.
EDIT: Or, if not a bad ending, what if Eldritch Moon is all about the Superfriends' attempt to stop Nahiri from completing the ritual that will summon Emrakul to manifest on Innistrad? Isn't that exactly the plotline of Akrham Horror every Lovecraft story? The heroes need to stop the ritual that will end the world?
I thought they wanted more inter-connected stories from block to block? Or am I mistaken? There was so much (mis)information around the new block structure that I'm not quite sure what is true and what isn't.
About Avacynian Inquisitors, are they in service to Avacyn directly or just a couple violent crazies who say they are doing her will? If she is really out to kill all humans it's weird that some would still be taking orders from her.
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
"Terror falls from the skies on blood-spattered wings, and nameless horrors lurk in the shadows. These pages, lavishly illustrated with the award-winning art of Magic: The Gathering, are your entry into a world beset by terrible evils on all sides and betrayed by the hope it held most dear. Tread lightly as you follow the heroic Planeswalkers of the Gatewatch as they investigate these dark mysteries, for the nightmare they will uncover is a threat to the whole Multiverse."
It did, but that could also be Nahiri, despite her vendetta. I mean, a terrorist cell might just be using one bomb on Innistrad, but they could have more bombs for other planes, if you know what I mean.
I can't think of any like that. Lovecraft's settings were all doomed long before the protagonist arrives and generally remain doomed afterward.
I like this idea and hope it comes to pass. I like when a story/plane/block has multiple layers and levels, with different conflicts. BFZ suffered from a lack of those things, so competing werewolf 'tribes' would be fascinating and exciting!
With Avacyn going mad and maybe being destroyed at some point (or not), I'm thinking about 'what next?' Someone mentioned that maybe Sigarda takes over for the good angels. Kord might take over for 'good' werewolves. Sorin or another vamp night take over for 'good' vamps. Odric for humans. Does it seem like instead of Super Friends, or Guildpact Jace, they're setting it up for these diverse groups to combine to be a dispersed new 'Avacyn' in the face of the yet unknown big bad of the block?
This blurb, especially the 'uncover a threat' part makes me think we aren't getting Emrakul. We already know the Eldrazi are a threat. This is something new.