MTG Salvation

Quote from Ashiok »

They are not fleshing out the legendary characters enough and, besides that, they could have written more real horror stories for the horror-ghotic world.

The unfortunate reality is that we are subject to the whims of the greater playerbase. Fans who don't like Legendary Creatures and just want all Planeswalkers all the time, with rare characters like Avacyn (who is hugely popular despite being a non-entity) being the exception. :/

Quote from Jay13x »

Quote from Ashiok »

They are not fleshing out the legendary characters enough and, besides that, they could have written more real horror stories for the horror-ghotic world.

The unfortunate reality is that we are subject to the whims of the greater playerbase. Fans who don't like Legendary Creatures and just want all Planeswalkers all the time, with rare characters like Avacyn (who is hugely popular despite being a non-entity) being the exception. :/

The story telling paradigm shift as of Khans block has shown that legendary creatures have been getting more attention in the plot. Many of the legends in Bfz block were part of multiple story articles. Innistrad has given us less in regard to legendary creatures in the story articles partially because we are still in the middle of it. I feel like we should wait till the end of this block to judge whether it used the locals enough. So far all five of the legends from shadows have been featured in at least one story article plus call back appearances from characters already known from the original block and I strongly feel as though we will see all of them again aside from The Gitrog Monster before the block concludes. That does not change the fact that Jace has been in more articles anyone else in this story block though.

Quote from dox »

Quote from Jay13x »

Quote from Ashiok »

They are not fleshing out the legendary characters enough and, besides that, they could have written more real horror stories for the horror-ghotic world.

The unfortunate reality is that we are subject to the whims of the greater playerbase. Fans who don't like Legendary Creatures and just want all Planeswalkers all the time, with rare characters like Avacyn (who is hugely popular despite being a non-entity) being the exception. :/

The story telling paradigm shift as of Khans block has shown that legendary creatures have been getting more attention in the plot. Many of the legends in Bfz block were part of multiple story articles. Innistrad has given us less in regard to legendary creatures in the story articles partially because we are still in the middle of it. I feel like we should wait till the end of this block to judge whether it used the locals enough. So far all five of the legends from shadows have been featured in at least one story article plus call back appearances from characters already known from the original block and I strongly feel as though we will see all of them again aside from The Gitrog Monster before the block concludes. That does not change the fact that Jace has been in more articles anyone else in this story block though.

I'm happy with that - I'm simply repeating what I've seen mentioned by members of R&D - that Legends aren't even half as popular as Planeswalkers.

I think it's telling that we have people arguing very passionately that the Magic Story articles need to focus more on planeswalkers and plot, while others argue with equal passion for more focus on Legendary creatures and worldbuilding. Given that, creative is probably in the right ballpark.

I'm sure Thalia and Odric are up on the idea of the mysterious stranger from "far away" that sounds and looks nothing like someone from Innistrad popping up and claiming to be able to help. Maybe that flies on Ravnica where everyone is so different that Jace blends in perfectly or on Zendikar where people seem to know more about walkers but I can't imagine it working on Innistrad.

Perhaps in future sets but I think for Innistrad the way they've handled walker-legendary balance is fine.

New Story is up!!!!

http://magic.wizards.com/node/1029451

Now we see Nahiri's side of the story!

A good story. Minor nitpick over the use of 5000 years when at that time only 4000 had pasted but whatever. Nice to see Nahiri's coping mechanism, seems to pave the way for her connection to red mana. And it was nice to show the difference between pre and post Mending on both Walkers and the relation between planes and the Blind Eternities.

I really enjoyed this story. This is how you do it. So, Nahiri is nod MAD, but she is angry. OK. I like the explanation for her actions. The fact that she is still alive post-mending is neatly tidied up with the Helvault (not exactly breaking news). I was entertained by the insight we gained into her psyche. Overall, a great story. I suppose you could say the main plot wasn't advanced, but I did not care as the exposition more than made up for it. Solid A for this story.

I call this my victory lap.

I'm so ecstatic right now. Awesome.

Definitely a good story, filled in some blanks and gave great insight into Nahiri's personality and mindset changes during her tribulations. Def something needed to add meat to the storyline and now I cannot wait to see how everything plays out.

That was heartbreaking. And Sorin is wretched.

I don't hope that she destroys Innistrad, but I hope Sorin gets his.

Honestly, it was a really good story. It was longer than I was expecting, and perfectly lays out her motivations.

That was really, really good.

It's hard to describe my reactions to this story as I'm conflicted with the 2 main character's point of views. Sorin, is ancient and probably has a really good reason for creating the "wards" that were protecting his plane. I wonder what he was trying to keep out, and it did seem like he was focusing on some other threat and didn't want to deal with Nahiri at point in time. Nahiri, I do feel bad for her, she looked up to Sorin, and considered him a friend/mentor. When your the person you've looked up poops on you and then imprisons you, I'd call that a rough day.

Nahiri lures a titan to Innistrad? Is she even capable of doing that? We do know that the Kor say 3 Titans are active on Zendikar. Fast forward to what we know today, 2 Titans were left on Zendikar at the start of Oath of the Gate Watch. WHat happened to Emrakul? Nahiri gave it some biscuits and took her pet to Innistrad...revenge, damn Sorin.

Quote from racerxen »

Nahiri lures a titan to Innistrad? Is she even capable of doing that? We do know that the Kor say 3 Titans are active on Zendikar. Fast forward to what we know today, 2 Titans were left on Zendikar at the start of Oath of the Gate Watch. WHat happened to Emrakul? Nahiri gave it some biscuits and took her pet to Innistrad...revenge, damn Sorin.

That was part of the purpose of the Hedron Network, to Lure the Eldrazi to Zendikar.

I think the Cryptoliths are Nahiri's quicker, cruder version for Innistrad. They do the same thing, redirect leyline mana.

So since Sorin is the anti-hero,
does that make Nahiri the anti-villain?
their intertwined fates could be good material for a Shakesperean-styled trragedy.

Oh, and this should pretty much end any speculation on whether or not the Big Bad for Eldritch Moon is Emrakul.

Quote from Quannage »

Oh, and this should pretty much end any speculation on whether or not the Big Bad for Eldritch Moon is Emrakul.

While simultaneously telling us what the moon is.

Quote from Jay13x »

Honestly, it was a really good story. It was longer than I was expecting, and perfectly lays out her motivations.

It lays out her motivations perfectly, and it's all set into motion not by some massive piece of dramatic narrative, but instead by Sorin Markov's inability to not be a *********. That's fantastic in so many ways. Even with so much at stake he just can't not be a dick. Great character work all around.

This story only confirmed how this mess could have been avoided if both walkers did not were so eager to attack each other at the first sign of disagreement. Sorin started by being a jerk as usual and then, when he tried, Nahiri never let him explain that he was still willing to help but could not do it right after creating Avacyn.
Also, Sorin barely stays on Innistrad anyway, had the Eldrazi escaped a little earlier or later, Innistrad's protections would not have blocked the alarm.

Quote from Doctor.Hydrogen »

Quote from Jay13x »

Honestly, it was a really good story. It was longer than I was expecting, and perfectly lays out her motivations.

It lays out her motivations perfectly, and it's all set into motion not by some massive piece of dramatic narrative, but instead by Sorin Markov's inability to not be a *********. That's fantastic in so many ways. Even with so much at stake he just can't not be a dick. Great character work all around.

It's pretty true to how oldwalkers were always depicted, where almost every argument was settled with a fight.

Also, if you do the math, Sorin is 7,000 years old. Which means the vampires on Innistrad were created 7,000 years ago.

Maybe it's just me, but I didn't enjoy this one as much. Seemed kind of.....fillery, in a certain respect. Don't get me wrong; the meat on the bone was well-seasoned and delicious, but I'm left wanting at the end of it. I'm glad we know what caused Nahiri to snap and her perspective on it all, but we know nothing more as to how she *probably* lured Emrakul to Innistrad, or how a Boros walker drove the most powerful angel in the multiverse insane, nor how she plans to stop or imprison *super-probable Emrakul* once she shows up. It was the same ground retread in a new, more interesting light, but the same ground all the same.

Also, I'm totally fine with Nahiri's reasoning after her Helvault fate was confirmed, even if I don't agree with it, but the lead up fight still seems dumb to me. Sorin is a millenia-old egotistical vampire. Somehow I feel like beating him in a fight and showing yourself as a threat wouldn't earn his respect; only his anger. Which is exactly what it did. Old walkers really weren't too bright, all things considered.

And finally, come on Nahiri. Don't blame the child for the sins of the father. It's not Avacyn's fault she was a vampire-spawn. She can't help Sorin made her a certain way. Why did you you have to go and target her? Stupid Kor blacksmith.....got my angel killed and stuff.

Still curious who'll make it out of this alive. I get the feeling that if Creative foes this right, Sorin, Nahiri or both are dying in Eldritch Moon. Unless they screw it up again. Which hopefully they won't.

You wanted a novel-quality story? Well, you most certainly got it.

Nice call Jay. Your prediction nailed it on the head. This story is just awesome in general. Nahiri now solidly occupies my favorite character slot. Poor girl. I really hate Sorin now. Like as much as I hate Heliod.

Still need some time to process everything. This story was just so awesome!!!

Ahhhh this was just so good!! I've always loved Nahiri, but she may have just become my current fave. My heart broke for her as she returned to Zendikar after 1,000 torturous years of imprisonment to find it decimated and overrun by the Eldrazi. Her motivations make much more sense now. HOWEVER, though I completely understand her desire for vengeance against Sorin, I still don't buy her being ok with destroying an entire world of innocent people to do it. It would be different if she was truly mad, but the Nahiri we saw on Zendikar seemed completely sane and compassionate. I am not sure that there is redemption for Nahiri at this point...she will most likely never be the hero I would like her to be. She's gone too far. Still love her, though.


An interesting tidbit...Nahiri mentions coming into contact with a mad planeswalker at one time. Do we know who this is already or might it be foreshadowing for a future plot? Or just a random piece of information?

Overall I loved this story. Can people please stop complaining about these stories not advancing the plot? By "not advancing the plot" you mean "not outright confirming your theories about Emrakul." Which this story is about more than just that. This story is just as much about the history and conflict between Nahiri and Sorin and about Arlinn Kord and her struggle balancing two natures in her fight against evil as it is about Emrakul. They're all pieces of the mosaic. If we hadn't gotten this story, people would complain (as they have) that we don't fully understand Nahiri's motivations or that there wasn't enough exposition detailing what happened between Sorin and Nahiri. Can we all just be thankful that we're getting (mostly) high-quality stories EACH week advancing plots and characters that most of us care about?

Quote from Glamdring804 »

Nice call Jay. Your prediction nailed it on the head. This story is just awesome in general. Nahiri now solidly occupies my favorite character slot. Poor girl. I really hate Sorin now. Like as much as I hate Heliod.

The thing I'm weirdly happiest about is that I don't have to write a new summary. I'm just copy-pasting this part of my theory to the next archive trap.