This probably belongs in a more general thread, but this week's story really showed the problems with the current length of the weekly stories. This really didn't need to be 6,500 words long. There was a whole lot of extraneous material, especially toward the beginning. And I suspect the ending was rushed due to the same reason, actually: it's hard to sustain a narrative for that long without it running out of energy after the climax.
Probably the whole thing would have been better told beginning with a "present-day" encounter between Djeru and Samut, then flashing back to the childhood scenes, all of which could have been handled more briefly.
I did think the action scene in the desert was well done, particularly the terrifying power of the Grim Strider (I guess its controller didn't have a very big hand at the time!). A shorter piece would have brought that scene into better focus.
Good ideas, terrible execution. Today's story felt like a checklist of details Creative needed us to know, conveniently discovered by the characters in very unrealistic ways. It's amazing how a farfetched, random, outlandish conclusion based on limited information just happens to be exactly what happened to Amonkhet and the first idea Samut would have when seeing the glyphs and ruins? There was potential for more development with this idea, more wonder and awe, more revelations that send our characters questioning the past and future, the promises of their world, the doctrine they've been taught. To develop the conflict of the faithful versus the doubtful. To unfold the cold truth of Bolas's machinations in series of anxiety inducing revelations about what transpired.
Instead, checklist. Given all the time off the authors had, I'm surprised to see the Amonkhet series of stories be worse than BFZ. At least BFZ had a brilliant Kiora arc, comparing Thassa and Theros divinity to Eldrazi Titans, developing the Titans as a multiverse ecosystem, and The Blight We Were Born For, perhaps the best Magic Story of all time since the novels ended. Oh well.
I feel like this story would have been more effective if it came before the last one. That said, it was a nice change of pace, and there were definitely some nice pieces of information. The pacing and they way they're foreshadowing and seeding things to come, this block has been a better mystery than SOI. The next story will have a lot to get through to wrap up the set, but if last weeks' story, Brazen, is anything to go by, they're perfectly capable of fitting multiple spotlight moments within a single story.
Good ideas, terrible execution. Today's story felt like a checklist of details Creative needed us to know, conveniently discovered by the characters in very unrealistic ways. It's amazing how a farfetched, random, outlandish conclusion based on limited information just happens to be exactly what happened to Amonkhet and the first idea Samut would have when seeing the glyphs and ruins? There was potential for more development with this idea, more wonder and awe, more revelations that send our characters questioning the past and future, the promises of their world, the doctrine they've been taught. To develop the conflict of the faithful versus the doubtful. To unfold the cold truth of Bolas's machinations in series of anxiety inducing revelations about what transpired.
Instead, checklist. Given all the time off the authors had, I'm surprised to see the Amonkhet series of stories be worse than BFZ. At least BFZ had a brilliant Kiora arc, comparing Thassa and Theros divinity to Eldrazi Titans, developing the Titans as a multiverse ecosystem, and The Blight We Were Born For, perhaps the best Magic Story of all time since the novels ended. Oh well.
I must say, your negativity is really getting a bit overbearing. Amonkhet is SO much better than BFZ, it's not even a fair comparison. The gatewatch experiencing real character growth, especially Nissa and Gideon, the sheer horror of a culture so warped that even the gods are corrupted (while still coming across as benevolent), the whole mystery of what Bolas actually did to Amonkhet and what his plans for the plane are... This story certainly was the weakest of the Amonkhet ones so far, but it wasn't without a few good points. I liked the description of the Grim Strider and the idea of how the death of their friend pushed the rest of the group to different extremes. As others have said, the execution was lacking, but the plot was fine. Could have been better though.
I'm probably not as inversed in the art of writing as most of you seem to be, but I enjoy all the UR stories so far, including this one. Every story, we learned something new about both the major characters as well as the world itself. So in general, I'm really happy with the stories and storyline.
Having said that, being a binge watcher, only having one story per week and then not learning anything new is really pushing my buttons in the wrong way. It feels like Dragonball Z in a way: we already know the outline of the story and where the plot revolves around, yet somehow we must spend a few more episodes durdling and watching the main characters "get ready". We know the setup, we know the characters and how they relate to one another: get on with it! This story could have been cool if the discoveries they made triggered memories or would give them new insights, which in turn would give us more insight in Amonkheti life and the extent of Bolas's manipulations.
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If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
Serious question - Do we know how Amonkhet is maintaining its population? Who is making babies if everyone is dying so young?
The "abandoned" barracks from Samut's secret made me think that maybe the population is shrinking, thus why old barracks are out of use.
Anyone think Grim Strider is one of the missing gods, a Bull-headed god maybe?
It is mentioned in one of the previous stories that Bolas came 10-20 years ago and since then there has been no mating and all the natives are less than 20 years old.
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Serious question - Do we know how Amonkhet is maintaining its population? Who is making babies if everyone is dying so young?
The "abandoned" barracks from Samut's secret made me think that maybe the population is shrinking, thus why old barracks are out of use.
Anyone think Grim Strider is one of the missing gods, a Bull-headed god maybe?
It is mentioned in one of the previous stories that Bolas came 10-20 years ago and since then there has been no mating and all the natives are less than 20 years old.
There was no account of years. There has been three generations since Bolas did what he did to Amonkhet.
This would have worked so much better in a video format as a flashback at the end of last weeks story. Either as Djeru is drowning his crop-mate (who's name I've already forgotten) with a "I do it for them" thought, or as he received his cartouche thinking "Nahkt, Samut, I did it." Sometimes I think the writers wish they were willing on video shorts instead of just written stories.
I would love it if his next planeswalker card was Nicol Bolas, the Trespasser. I'm sure it'll make reference to God-Pharaoh instead but Trespasser is an awesome title for a planeswalker IMO
He'll likely get two cards, right? One in the set proper and one for the planeswalker deck? I agree that "the Trespasser" is a good epithet with a unique vibe which I hope they do justice.
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Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
Not technically Amonkhet related, but today's Daily Update states that the story for the Commander Product will be familiar. Since it's in time with the Commander's Anthology release, I imagine we'll be seeing a story with either Kaalia, Derevi, Freyalise, or Meren. Three of them already have a story (or high relevance in a few, in the case of Freyalise), which makes them seem more likely as the "familiar face," but who knows? Maybe we'll finally get a full story on Derevi.
Not technically Amonkhet related, but today's Daily Update states that the story for the Commander Product will be familiar. Since it's in time with the Commander's Anthology release, I imagine we'll be seeing a story with either Kaalia, Derevi, Freyalise, or Meren. Three of them already have a story (or high relevance in a few, in the case of Freyalise), which makes them seem more likely as the "familiar face," but who knows? Maybe we'll finally get a full story on Derevi.
Maybe I missed the story on Derevi but do you mean Daretti? Also familiar doesn't necessarily mean they have had a story around them before.
Good ideas, terrible execution. Today's story felt like a checklist of details Creative needed us to know, conveniently discovered by the characters in very unrealistic ways. It's amazing how a farfetched, random, outlandish conclusion based on limited information just happens to be exactly what happened to Amonkhet and the first idea Samut would have when seeing the glyphs and ruins? There was potential for more development with this idea, more wonder and awe, more revelations that send our characters questioning the past and future, the promises of their world, the doctrine they've been taught. To develop the conflict of the faithful versus the doubtful. To unfold the cold truth of Bolas's machinations in series of anxiety inducing revelations about what transpired.
Instead, checklist. Given all the time off the authors had, I'm surprised to see the Amonkhet series of stories be worse than BFZ. At least BFZ had a brilliant Kiora arc, comparing Thassa and Theros divinity to Eldrazi Titans, developing the Titans as a multiverse ecosystem, and The Blight We Were Born For, perhaps the best Magic Story of all time since the novels ended. Oh well.
I must say, your negativity is really getting a bit overbearing. Amonkhet is SO much better than BFZ, it's not even a fair comparison. The gatewatch experiencing real character growth, especially Nissa and Gideon, the sheer horror of a culture so warped that even the gods are corrupted (while still coming across as benevolent), the whole mystery of what Bolas actually did to Amonkhet and what his plans for the plane are... This story certainly was the weakest of the Amonkhet ones so far, but it wasn't without a few good points. I liked the description of the Grim Strider and the idea of how the death of their friend pushed the rest of the group to different extremes. As others have said, the execution was lacking, but the plot was fine. Could have been better though.
So essentially what you're saying is: good ideas, terrible execution. Which was the first sentence in my analysis that you called me negative for posting. Got it.
As for planeswalkers, either Samut or Djeru could ignite, tough call. One will be freed from a physical prison, one from a spiritual prison, and as I wrote that, damn, what a moment it would be if they both sparked?
I'm going to guess Djeru, so he can fill the white slot of (my theory) Bolas's Legion of Doom. Also, there's room for one native walker in Hour of Devastation, could be Djeru.
You sir are a gentleman and a scholar. I can't wait till I can play my bicycle land out, thus making me heckbent, while I have Nessie on the field. You know, so I can attack with my Pervert.
Maybe I missed the story on Derevi but do you mean Daretti? Also familiar doesn't necessarily mean they have had a story around them before.
Nope, Derevi, Empyrial Tactician. The decks of those 4 characters are the ones located in the Commander's Anthology, which is why I presume they are the options for a story.
And Tiro, the problem is not that post specifically, it is your continued negativity at every story and topic in the moment. Negativity that you seem amenable to changing over time. If every story since the last is the worst one ever, as it often feels like you say, then it feels like you're better off saving yourself the stress and just reading the cliff notes, coming up with your own interim for the basic points.
And none of that is even to say that I think what you bring to the discussion is bad. It just gets draining to see the same thing every week, and set, when things aren't planned the way you specifically would plan them.
Good ideas, terrible execution. Today's story felt like a checklist of details Creative needed us to know, conveniently discovered by the characters in very unrealistic ways. It's amazing how a farfetched, random, outlandish conclusion based on limited information just happens to be exactly what happened to Amonkhet and the first idea Samut would have when seeing the glyphs and ruins? There was potential for more development with this idea, more wonder and awe, more revelations that send our characters questioning the past and future, the promises of their world, the doctrine they've been taught. To develop the conflict of the faithful versus the doubtful. To unfold the cold truth of Bolas's machinations in series of anxiety inducing revelations about what transpired.
Instead, checklist. Given all the time off the authors had, I'm surprised to see the Amonkhet series of stories be worse than BFZ. At least BFZ had a brilliant Kiora arc, comparing Thassa and Theros divinity to Eldrazi Titans, developing the Titans as a multiverse ecosystem, and The Blight We Were Born For, perhaps the best Magic Story of all time since the novels ended. Oh well.
I must say, your negativity is really getting a bit overbearing. Amonkhet is SO much better than BFZ, it's not even a fair comparison. The gatewatch experiencing real character growth, especially Nissa and Gideon, the sheer horror of a culture so warped that even the gods are corrupted (while still coming across as benevolent), the whole mystery of what Bolas actually did to Amonkhet and what his plans for the plane are... This story certainly was the weakest of the Amonkhet ones so far, but it wasn't without a few good points. I liked the description of the Grim Strider and the idea of how the death of their friend pushed the rest of the group to different extremes. As others have said, the execution was lacking, but the plot was fine. Could have been better though.
So essentially what you're saying is: good ideas, terrible execution. Which was the first sentence in my analysis that you called me negative for posting. Got it.
Ok, first of all, I didn't say the execution was "terrible" I said it was lacking, I didn't even mind it very much. I believe a few ideas were handled pretty well (like Grim Striders' appearance, which I explained in my previous post). That's not why I was calling you overly negative in the first place anyway, your constant hyperboles like Amonkhet being worse than BFZ for example (I answered other similarly exaggerated claims from you in the last few weeks) were the reason.
Stuff confirmed on PT stream straight from creative. Probably nothing too surprising/extraordinary but still good to review
1. Gideon joined the trials as his way to investigate Amonkhet, devotion to Oketra notwithstanding.
2. Amonkhet is specifically a "healthy corpse factory". whether this means the suspected planeswalker farm side is incidental or completely disqualified is unknown.
3. In the stories we're missing, the first one will have the GW track down Samut, they'll talk about stuff with her and eventually free the dissenters as shown in By Force. This is mildly confusing because...
4. In the last story, the GW and everybody is there to watch Djeru win the trial of zeal, and Samut pushes him out of the way while Gideon activates his invulnerability. How they can just go and watch something so public without trouble when they've committed as big a treason/crime as releasing all dissenters is anybody's guess but I suppose they could just employ stealth. Also, this is timed so that at the exact moment the execution would take place, the second sun finally reaches its promised place, and "things become really, really interesting".
5. The curse of wandering seems to be the result of an accumulation of black mana.
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Lets get something straight. Trauma is not the only thing that triggers the spark. Jace's just sort of happened. Sarkhan's happened as he watched the Sultai and Mardu army's die beneath his flame dragon, in a state of overwhelming joy. Yes trauma is their go to but its not necessary for a walker to trigger.
That said I think Djeru is more likely. For one we already got a card for Samut and I imagine they want to hold that two cards one character like Xenagos trick for special occasions. Second Djeru has an obvious spark moment coming up.
A spark ignites at the moment of great trauma. Samut has already had her great trauma and nothing happened. What worse could happen to her? She already knows that Bolas is from another world and that her whole life is a lie.
Djeru, on the other hand, is a different story.
Q: Is it possible for a planeswalker's spark to ignite due to an overwhelmingly positive emotional experience? For example, could a parent have their spark ignite after seeing their newborn child enter the world, or a planeswalker's spark ignite after hearing their significant other say "I love you" for the first time?
A:
<world-building hat on>
Sure. Any powerful, emotionally-affecting, perspective-altering life event will do the trick.
<story-telling hat on>
A powerful, positive, emotional life-peak is great ways to end a character’s story, and most of the time we’re concerned with the spark event as the beginning of a planeswalker’s story arc. So storywise, it does more work for the character to be facing big, difficult problems they need to solve at the moment they become a planeswalker. Wrapping some trauma into their spark moment nicely propels them on a path of action, and connects their journey through their story with their nature as a planeswalker.
.
(Personally I think it be beautifully tragic to see a walker who walkers from hearing "I love you" or see their partner on a wedding day and they spend their time trying to get back home (cause for REASON they can't) to return to their love)
and 2) having extreme emotion has a chance to make a maybe-walker spark, its not a 100%. Narset in the Khans timeline was stabbed by Zurgo and didn't spark, Glissa went through the whole Mirrodin block with chased by memnarch and didn't spark and Chandra saw her father murdered in front of her and didn't spark. Just because Samut hasn't sparked from the info on Bolas or being boxed up doesn't mean anything.
There is no doubt in my mind. Djeru's spark will ignite because of what Samut and Gideon will do. Read this and tell me is there anything that you can think of that would make Samut's spark ignite instead of Djeru's because I can't.
Seeing Bolas and having destroy your world in front of you? I'm more on the boat of Djeru is the next walker too but their still some case for both. For me what hasn't counted out Samut is that her card design was very focused on her being a speedster, her name translates to "combust" (aka ignite) and creative has really built her up for a legendary creature we won't see again.
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“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"
Trauma is not the only thing that triggers the spark. Jace's just sort of happened.
I agree with most of your post, but finding out that your incredibly powerful sphinx mentor has been using you as his personal spy/mind assassin and then mind wiping you after every mission, then getting into a mind magic battle with him in which you are horrendously outmatched, and feeling him rip your memories away and erase your mind as you struggle to put all your energy into making him forget how to breath, and thus killing him, I'd say that's pretty damn traumatic.
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The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
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Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Trauma is not the only thing that triggers the spark. Jace's just sort of happened.
I agree with most of your post, but finding out that your incredibly powerful sphinx mentor has been using you as his personal spy/mind assassin and then mind wiping you after every mission, then getting into a mind magic battle with him in which you are horrendously outmatched, and feeling him rip your memories away and erase your mind as you struggle to put all your energy into making him forget how to breath, and thus killing him, I'd say that's pretty damn traumatic.
Jace didn't spark then. It was during a training session with Alhammarret who wiped it from Jace's mind and was a big reason Jace started to distrust Alhammarret.
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“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"
Gideon Jura. Is his defining character trait, is to be dumb muscle that ALWAYS trusts the seemingly good characters he meets? For real, is he not supposed to grow and develop a sense of caution?? The last time he trusted and followed a purely white god... he was manipulated and almost killed. Oh, and that god ended up killing Elspeth.
Gideon Jura. Is his defining character trait, is to be dumb muscle that ALWAYS trusts the seemingly good characters he meets? For real, is he not supposed to grow and develop a sense of caution?? The last time he trusted and followed a purely white god... he was manipulated and almost killed. Oh, and that god ended up killing Elspeth.
Heliod is a complete jerk, but he didn't manipulate Kytheon, he set him up to save the city, which he did. Then in his arrogance Kytheon hurled the spear Heliod gave him to defend the city at Erebos. Erebos knocked it back killing all of his friends. Would have killed him too but the whole invulnerable thing. So Heliod's interaction with Kytheon is the one positive thing we've ever seen of him. Why wouldn't he trust other white aligned gods? Heck in the story even Erebos wasn't acting maliciously, he just wanted the returned back and then swatted an arrogent fly that flew too close to him.
Probably the whole thing would have been better told beginning with a "present-day" encounter between Djeru and Samut, then flashing back to the childhood scenes, all of which could have been handled more briefly.
I did think the action scene in the desert was well done, particularly the terrifying power of the Grim Strider (I guess its controller didn't have a very big hand at the time!). A shorter piece would have brought that scene into better focus.
Instead, checklist. Given all the time off the authors had, I'm surprised to see the Amonkhet series of stories be worse than BFZ. At least BFZ had a brilliant Kiora arc, comparing Thassa and Theros divinity to Eldrazi Titans, developing the Titans as a multiverse ecosystem, and The Blight We Were Born For, perhaps the best Magic Story of all time since the novels ended. Oh well.
|| 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 ||
The "abandoned" barracks from Samut's secret made me think that maybe the population is shrinking, thus why old barracks are out of use.
Anyone think Grim Strider is one of the missing gods, a Bull-headed god maybe?
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
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I must say, your negativity is really getting a bit overbearing. Amonkhet is SO much better than BFZ, it's not even a fair comparison. The gatewatch experiencing real character growth, especially Nissa and Gideon, the sheer horror of a culture so warped that even the gods are corrupted (while still coming across as benevolent), the whole mystery of what Bolas actually did to Amonkhet and what his plans for the plane are... This story certainly was the weakest of the Amonkhet ones so far, but it wasn't without a few good points. I liked the description of the Grim Strider and the idea of how the death of their friend pushed the rest of the group to different extremes. As others have said, the execution was lacking, but the plot was fine. Could have been better though.
Having said that, being a binge watcher, only having one story per week and then not learning anything new is really pushing my buttons in the wrong way. It feels like Dragonball Z in a way: we already know the outline of the story and where the plot revolves around, yet somehow we must spend a few more episodes durdling and watching the main characters "get ready". We know the setup, we know the characters and how they relate to one another: get on with it! This story could have been cool if the discoveries they made triggered memories or would give them new insights, which in turn would give us more insight in Amonkheti life and the extent of Bolas's manipulations.
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
It is mentioned in one of the previous stories that Bolas came 10-20 years ago and since then there has been no mating and all the natives are less than 20 years old.
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He'll likely get two cards, right? One in the set proper and one for the planeswalker deck? I agree that "the Trespasser" is a good epithet with a unique vibe which I hope they do justice.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
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Maybe I missed the story on Derevi but do you mean Daretti? Also familiar doesn't necessarily mean they have had a story around them before.
|| 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 ||
I'm going to guess Djeru, so he can fill the white slot of (my theory) Bolas's Legion of Doom. Also, there's room for one native walker in Hour of Devastation, could be Djeru.
Nope, Derevi, Empyrial Tactician. The decks of those 4 characters are the ones located in the Commander's Anthology, which is why I presume they are the options for a story.
And Tiro, the problem is not that post specifically, it is your continued negativity at every story and topic in the moment. Negativity that you seem amenable to changing over time. If every story since the last is the worst one ever, as it often feels like you say, then it feels like you're better off saving yourself the stress and just reading the cliff notes, coming up with your own interim for the basic points.
And none of that is even to say that I think what you bring to the discussion is bad. It just gets draining to see the same thing every week, and set, when things aren't planned the way you specifically would plan them.
Ok, first of all, I didn't say the execution was "terrible" I said it was lacking, I didn't even mind it very much. I believe a few ideas were handled pretty well (like Grim Striders' appearance, which I explained in my previous post). That's not why I was calling you overly negative in the first place anyway, your constant hyperboles like Amonkhet being worse than BFZ for example (I answered other similarly exaggerated claims from you in the last few weeks) were the reason.
1. Gideon joined the trials as his way to investigate Amonkhet, devotion to Oketra notwithstanding.
2. Amonkhet is specifically a "healthy corpse factory". whether this means the suspected planeswalker farm side is incidental or completely disqualified is unknown.
3. In the stories we're missing, the first one will have the GW track down Samut, they'll talk about stuff with her and eventually free the dissenters as shown in By Force. This is mildly confusing because...
4. In the last story, the GW and everybody is there to watch Djeru win the trial of zeal, and Samut pushes him out of the way while Gideon activates his invulnerability. How they can just go and watch something so public without trouble when they've committed as big a treason/crime as releasing all dissenters is anybody's guess but I suppose they could just employ stealth. Also, this is timed so that at the exact moment the execution would take place, the second sun finally reaches its promised place, and "things become really, really interesting".
5. The curse of wandering seems to be the result of an accumulation of black mana.
Modern - Cheeri0s (building), Belcher (building), Lantern (building), UW Control (building)
RIP Magic Duels. Wizards will regret what they did to you.
That said I think Djeru is more likely. For one we already got a card for Samut and I imagine they want to hold that two cards one character like Xenagos trick for special occasions. Second Djeru has an obvious spark moment coming up.
Well 1) as Gutterstorm said it trama isn't what causes a sparking, any extreme emotions can trigger a spark, some word of god;
http://dougbeyermtg.tumblr.com/post/125905844029/is-it-possible-for-a-planeswalkers-spark-to
.
(Personally I think it be beautifully tragic to see a walker who walkers from hearing "I love you" or see their partner on a wedding day and they spend their time trying to get back home (cause for REASON they can't) to return to their love)
and 2) having extreme emotion has a chance to make a maybe-walker spark, its not a 100%. Narset in the Khans timeline was stabbed by Zurgo and didn't spark, Glissa went through the whole Mirrodin block with chased by memnarch and didn't spark and Chandra saw her father murdered in front of her and didn't spark. Just because Samut hasn't sparked from the info on Bolas or being boxed up doesn't mean anything.
Seeing Bolas and having destroy your world in front of you? I'm more on the boat of Djeru is the next walker too but their still some case for both. For me what hasn't counted out Samut is that her card design was very focused on her being a speedster, her name translates to "combust" (aka ignite) and creative has really built her up for a legendary creature we won't see again.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I agree with most of your post, but finding out that your incredibly powerful sphinx mentor has been using you as his personal spy/mind assassin and then mind wiping you after every mission, then getting into a mind magic battle with him in which you are horrendously outmatched, and feeling him rip your memories away and erase your mind as you struggle to put all your energy into making him forget how to breath, and thus killing him, I'd say that's pretty damn traumatic.
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Jace didn't spark then. It was during a training session with Alhammarret who wiped it from Jace's mind and was a big reason Jace started to distrust Alhammarret.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/judgment-2017-05-17