As someone who just started playing, I really enjoy the game as if I were a planeswalker myself. I like to imagine my army, my lands and everything else. Recently, I've read here in this forum, that planeswalkers summon things from their memories and the knowledge about those. I really like the idea, but there are somethings that started bogging me and I am quite sure you guys could enlighten me. Forgive my lack of knowledge about mtg for I've just started in this wonderful universe (or multiverse). So, if you guys could spare sometime, here are my questions.
- How long, lorewise, is a Player's turn? Less than a day (because of the Day and Night cicle)? More than a day? Minutes? I've always wondered how long does my guy (me) keep fighting...
- About the lands, I have a specific doubt regarding Astral Cornucopia (basically you pay mana for a mana source artifact). Am I creating a ginourmous asteroid with a copy of a bunch of terrains in it? If I were to imagine it, how big is a land in mtg? 100km²? as far as I can see in the picture? Is there any source of information regarding that?
- When I talk about summoning a crature, I'm basically creating a new soul from my memories, is that right? In Soul Foundry, you imprint a creature to keep playing that said creature whenever you want as long as you have mana to pay. The creature created is a token, therefore, it is a permanente that does not exist outside the battlefield. Lorewise talking, what would the battlefield be? The plane where the action is happening? A universe stadium for planeswalkers to battle each other? What is the graveyard in terms of lore?
According to pre-EMN werewolf transform triggers, a single turn could last an entire day or night. It really depends on if you define the game as a live-action battle between two armies or a longer military campaign with each combat phase being its own battle.
Artifacts can provide mana completely independently of lands, but the cornucopia looks as if it is drawing mana from some other plane or realm, perhaps Nyx, given its being in the Theros block. The more mana you spend, the more mana you will have access to in Nyx or wherever else.
Unfortunately, these things aren’t defined very well, so we don’t know much. The only in-game planeswalkers who consistently summon creatures from other planes are Garruk and Kiora, and we have not seen many examples of them doing it. We really know if summoning takes a creature from a plane and transfers it to another or simply creates a copy of a creature. Soul Foundry seems to be some kind of cloning device which would be different from planeswalker summoning, but we really can’t know for sure.
The battlefield is, as you said, just the place where planeswalkers are battling, most likely on a plane, while the hand and library (and perhaps exile) represent the blind eternities, the space between planes from which creatures are summoned.
The graveyard (as well as exile) can be interpreted different ways by different cards. Creature cards in your graveyard typically represent actual corpses, and other permanents in your graveyard are typically destroyed versions of themselves, while instants and sorceries are usually leftover mana/energy from a spell you cast. However, the flavor of mill and discard is typically attacking your opponents mind or driving them insane (or doing the same to yourself, in some cases). Obviously you would not create a corpse simply from being driven insane.
In conclusion, we are really lacking very much information about this except for the very basics, and there are many contradictions. Really it is up to you to use your imagination and interpret the events that happen in the however you want. Although in card design mechanics trump flavor, you can imagine whatever you want while playing, so have fun.
Not all game mechanics translate well into story elements. Turns are definitely one of them. I always pictured planeswalker duels more like fast paced one on one battles as pictured in Arcane Melee and less drawn out wars. But doing that in a card game is hard to reflect. So turns. Thusly things like the whole day night cycle peppered into werewolves don't gel very well into the idea of the duel unless you can manipulate the rotation of the planet.
- How long, lorewise, is a Player's turn? Less than a day (because of the Day and Night cicle)? More than a day? Minutes? I've always wondered how long does my guy (me) keep fighting...
A turn is however long it takes to accomplish something relevant. Based on what we've seen in recent lore probably not more than a few seconds, really.
- About the lands, I have a specific doubt regarding Astral Cornucopia (basically you pay mana for a mana source artifact). Am I creating a ginourmous asteroid with a copy of a bunch of terrains in it?
Astral Cornucopia appears to be more like a portal than a container, as perhaps befits its bottomless nature.
If I were to imagine it, how big is a land in mtg? 100km²? as far as I can see in the picture? Is there any source of information regarding that?
Lands are however large they need to be to generate the mana they produce. If mana is particularly concentrated then the land may be a small plot while a generic mountain or plain could be enormous.
True magic of the highest order. An abstract realm that contains, for a time, that which is ended. Be it forgotten memories or the very bodies of the dead. A place from which an lost thought may be manifested as a thing in itself and a corpse may be recalled into the present thoughts of a Planeswalker.
j/k There's no explanation for the graveyard. Its purely a gameplay thing and can't be translated into lore in any meaningful way. Thinking too much about it has been known to cause aneurysm and spontaneous transformation into the spawn of Emrakul.
- How long, lorewise, is a Player's turn? Less than a day (because of the Day and Night cicle)? More than a day? Minutes? I've always wondered how long does my guy (me) keep fighting...
- About the lands, I have a specific doubt regarding Astral Cornucopia (basically you pay mana for a mana source artifact). Am I creating a ginourmous asteroid with a copy of a bunch of terrains in it? If I were to imagine it, how big is a land in mtg? 100km²? as far as I can see in the picture? Is there any source of information regarding that?
- When I talk about summoning a crature, I'm basically creating a new soul from my memories, is that right? In Soul Foundry, you imprint a creature to keep playing that said creature whenever you want as long as you have mana to pay. The creature created is a token, therefore, it is a permanente that does not exist outside the battlefield. Lorewise talking, what would the battlefield be? The plane where the action is happening? A universe stadium for planeswalkers to battle each other? What is the graveyard in terms of lore?
Thanks a lot, guys.
Cheers!
Artifacts can provide mana completely independently of lands, but the cornucopia looks as if it is drawing mana from some other plane or realm, perhaps Nyx, given its being in the Theros block. The more mana you spend, the more mana you will have access to in Nyx or wherever else.
Unfortunately, these things aren’t defined very well, so we don’t know much. The only in-game planeswalkers who consistently summon creatures from other planes are Garruk and Kiora, and we have not seen many examples of them doing it. We really know if summoning takes a creature from a plane and transfers it to another or simply creates a copy of a creature. Soul Foundry seems to be some kind of cloning device which would be different from planeswalker summoning, but we really can’t know for sure.
The battlefield is, as you said, just the place where planeswalkers are battling, most likely on a plane, while the hand and library (and perhaps exile) represent the blind eternities, the space between planes from which creatures are summoned.
The graveyard (as well as exile) can be interpreted different ways by different cards. Creature cards in your graveyard typically represent actual corpses, and other permanents in your graveyard are typically destroyed versions of themselves, while instants and sorceries are usually leftover mana/energy from a spell you cast. However, the flavor of mill and discard is typically attacking your opponents mind or driving them insane (or doing the same to yourself, in some cases). Obviously you would not create a corpse simply from being driven insane.
In conclusion, we are really lacking very much information about this except for the very basics, and there are many contradictions. Really it is up to you to use your imagination and interpret the events that happen in the however you want. Although in card design mechanics trump flavor, you can imagine whatever you want while playing, so have fun.
A turn is however long it takes to accomplish something relevant. Based on what we've seen in recent lore probably not more than a few seconds, really.
Astral Cornucopia appears to be more like a portal than a container, as perhaps befits its bottomless nature.
Lands are however large they need to be to generate the mana they produce. If mana is particularly concentrated then the land may be a small plot while a generic mountain or plain could be enormous.
Yes, that's correct, except when it isn't.
The literal field of battle most of the time.
True magic of the highest order. An abstract realm that contains, for a time, that which is ended. Be it forgotten memories or the very bodies of the dead. A place from which an lost thought may be manifested as a thing in itself and a corpse may be recalled into the present thoughts of a Planeswalker.
j/k There's no explanation for the graveyard. Its purely a gameplay thing and can't be translated into lore in any meaningful way. Thinking too much about it has been known to cause aneurysm and spontaneous transformation into the spawn of Emrakul.
I really enjoyed MTG community. People here are nice they are here to help!
Thanks a lot!