I didn't know where to put this thought, and so I'll just put it here. Mirage was just more flavorful and memorable set and storyline in many more ways than Amonkhet and/or Hour Of Devastation is.
And your reasoning for this is...? Scratch that, what has Mirage to do with Amonkhet at all? It's such a random negative thing to say... so I will just argue against it in a similar way: In my opinion Amonkhet is extremely flavorful and it's tragic storyline much more compelling than many parts of the Weatherlight saga. I will certainly remember it better.
And I'll leave it at that.
You really needed me to point out Mirage took it's inspiration from a northeastern African setting like Amonkhet took it's inspiration from Egypt?
The flavor of Mirage is in no way related to ancient egypt. Therefore comparing the two is a pretty useless thing to do. And even if they had something to do with each other, you are not explaining why you feel that way, you just state your opinions as facts. You can't just do that and expect everyone to agree.
I didn't know where to put this thought, and so I'll just put it here. Mirage was just more flavorful and memorable set and storyline in many more ways than Amonkhet and/or Hour Of Devastation is.
And your reasoning for this is...? Scratch that, what has Mirage to do with Amonkhet at all? It's such a random negative thing to say... so I will just argue against it in a similar way: In my opinion Amonkhet is extremely flavorful and it's tragic storyline much more compelling than many parts of the Weatherlight saga. I will certainly remember it better.
And I'll leave it at that.
You really needed me to point out Mirage took it's inspiration from a northeastern African setting like Amonkhet took it's inspiration from Egypt?
The flavor of Mirage is in no way related to ancient egypt. Therefore comparing the two is a pretty useless thing to do. And even if they had something to do with each other, you are not explaining why you feel that way, you just state your opinions as facts. You can't just do that and expect everyone to agree.
I'd like to know, since Mirage predates when I started playing (Odyssey block, FYI); what even was the flavor and/or story of the Mirage-block?
I didn't know where to put this thought, and so I'll just put it here. Mirage was just more flavorful and memorable set and storyline in many more ways than Amonkhet and/or Hour Of Devastation is.
And your reasoning for this is...? Scratch that, what has Mirage to do with Amonkhet at all? It's such a random negative thing to say... so I will just argue against it in a similar way: In my opinion Amonkhet is extremely flavorful and it's tragic storyline much more compelling than many parts of the Weatherlight saga. I will certainly remember it better.
And I'll leave it at that.
You really needed me to point out Mirage took it's inspiration from a northeastern African setting like Amonkhet took it's inspiration from Egypt?
So we should compare Kaladesh, Tarkir and Kamigawa simply because they are all Asian based? Or Theros and Fiora simply cause they are both Mediterranean based? Or Innistrad and Lorwyn since the both are Western European?
This is comparing limes to oranges bud.
Yeah, they can all be compared to each other, they're all mtg storylines and such. Marketers do a fair job of comparing their wares.
I didn't know where to put this thought, and so I'll just put it here. Mirage was just more flavorful and memorable set and storyline in many more ways than Amonkhet and/or Hour Of Devastation is.
And your reasoning for this is...? Scratch that, what has Mirage to do with Amonkhet at all? It's such a random negative thing to say... so I will just argue against it in a similar way: In my opinion Amonkhet is extremely flavorful and it's tragic storyline much more compelling than many parts of the Weatherlight saga. I will certainly remember it better.
And I'll leave it at that.
You really needed me to point out Mirage took it's inspiration from a northeastern African setting like Amonkhet took it's inspiration from Egypt?
The flavor of Mirage is in no way related to ancient egypt. Therefore comparing the two is a pretty useless thing to do. And even if they had something to do with each other, you are not explaining why you feel that way, you just state your opinions as facts. You can't just do that and expect everyone to agree.
So everyone needs to state their opinion with "(opinion)". Alright then.
So everyone needs to state their opinion with "(opinion)". Alright then.
Considering that it's common for opinions to be confused with facts, I do think it's necessary.
That said, you did come out of nowhere and made a comparison between this block's story and the story of a very old set, with the only commonality being the continent the civilizations they're inspired by are located.
So everyone needs to state their opinion with "(opinion)". Alright then.
Considering that it's common for opinions to be confused with facts, I do think it's necessary.
That said, you did come out of nowhere and made a comparison between this block's story and the story of a very old set.
A comparison I might add that he didn't bother to explain in the slightest and still continues to not explain at all, which was my main criticism in the first place. It's also not very hard to write "In my opinion..." before making such statements.
If Amonkhet reintroduced the Phasing mechanic from Mirage I think I would understand more. But other than that, I don't see how they correlate. As sure Jamuraa and Amonkhet are based on cultures who physically were part of Africa, but culturally speaking Egypt/Amonkhet is separate from African/Jamuraa. As Amonkhet is considered more apart of the middle east and would be more comparable to Rabiah the Infinite or the Dromoka/Abzan cultures.
The distance between Egypt (which Amonkhet is based on) and Kenya (Mirage is based on the Savannah and jungle of Africa, and especially evocative of the Lake Victoria region, of which Kenya is the closet state in the region to Egypt) is greater than the distance between England and Ukraine. It is as relevant to think the best comparison for an Egyptian themed set is an African Great Lakes themed set as it is to think the best comparison for a Slavic themed set would be a British Isles themed set. Its far more relevant to compare Amonkhet to Theros, especially due to the themes the two settings are working with.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
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!
The distance between Egypt (which Amonkhet is based on) and Kenya (Mirage is based on the Savannah and jungle of Africa, and especially evocative of the Lake Victoria region, of which Kenya is the closet state in the region to Egypt) is greater than the distance between England and Ukraine. It is as relevant to think the best comparison for an Egyptian themed set is an African Great Lakes themed set as it is to think the best comparison for a Slavic themed set would be a British Isles themed set. Its far more relevant to compare Amonkhet to Theros, especially due to the themes the two settings are working with.
So, comparing Innistrad to Lorwyn?
Honestly, having read about the Mirage War (thanks, Quannage!), I find it odd that anyone would compare Mirage and Amonkhet at all; the stories have nothing in common.
While I absolutely love the stories, I find it harder and harder to speculate anything reasonable as to why Bolas would go through all this trouble when he was/is powerfull enough to simply take what he wants without much hassle. All the good writing aside, this is a suspension of disbelief that will make or break this storyline for me.
Someone speculated the story involving Dominaria, which we return to next year. It makes sense that Bolas attempts to reclaim his Oldwalker powers where it was taken from him.
Some baseless speculation:
Bolas returns to Dominaria and somehow (with or without Tezz's planar bridge) takes the Lazotep army with him. There he manipulates the remains of the the Time Rifts at the Academy Ruins, and sends the Lazotep army back in time to try and prevent the mending from happening somehow (Magic turns 25 -> story flashback galore!) so he never lost his Oldwalker powers to begin with. The Gatewatch, being the good guys they are, suddenly wield massive powers that they never had before (which is what makes Jace strong enough to dispell whatever it is non-Oldwalker Bolas does to him before he kicks his butt to Ixalan) but still decide to cooperate to take down Bolas because it's the right thing to do (They can, because 5 times Oldwalker upgrade > 1 time Elder Dragon Oldwalker upgrade). But only after Liliana uses her temporary power increase to go find and kill Belzenlok.
Then Jhoira and Teferi show up, and/or Tamiyo with a story scroll, explaining the Mending to the Gatewatch and what it's intent was. The Gatewhatch then proceeds to mend the universe again, possibly this time without the accidental ressurection of Nicol Bolas.
They could stretch this all out over 2 Dominaria blocks so we can finally get PW cards of some older characters. A man can dream..
While I absolutely love the stories, I find it harder and harder to speculate anything reasonable as to why Bolas would go through all this trouble when he was/is powerfull enough to simply take what he wants without much hassle.
A nice reminder of why the Oldwalkers as protagonists had to be jettisoned. (And why they will never let Bolas actually achieve this goal.)
While I absolutely love the stories, I find it harder and harder to speculate anything reasonable as to why Bolas would go through all this trouble when he was/is powerfull enough to simply take what he wants without much hassle.
A nice reminder of why the Oldwalkers as protagonists had to be jettisoned. (And why they will never let Bolas actually achieve this goal.)
Eh, Bolas was particularly, ridiculously OP even amongst old walkers. He was near Urza and Taysir. The only reason he's crushing it to this degree in this block is because he set everything up when he was still an old Walker before the mending stripped his power. Most old walkers were more on Lili's level, stronger than neo walkers by far, but nowhere near the heavy hitters like Bolas. And even Bolas got iced by a human archer and Urza nearly ate it to some robot birds he made (being saved by I think Multani giving him a power surge at just the right moment to planeswalk inside Kerrick).
Still, the old walkers were rarely protagonists back in the day, they were larger than life supporting characters that connected stories across planes and centuries, while mortals were the main characters. They were Gandalfs (and some were antagonists), popping in and out of the storyline, playing a role when needed. Even Urza wasnt the main character in the novel's for his block, he was was a secondary protagonist at his most prominent, with Xantcha, Jhoira, and Barrin being the main povs.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
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!
I was expecting many things in this set. I did not expect Djeru to become a legendary Mono W creature that helps Superfriends and is flavorfully saying
"...ok, you were right". I hope he doesn't die but he probably will and tht will spark Semmet.
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():
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Wizards. listen. The Vorthos community will await the consequences of the Eldrazi Titans' deaths/sealing. We will keep the watch.
“The wind whispers, ‘come home,’ but I cannot.”
— Teferi
I know you get it but Innistrad is heavily German inspired, not Slavic, and Gothic Horror originated in England and Germany mostly, so comparing those two is a pretty reasonable comparison.
Bolas returns to Dominaria and somehow (with or without Tezz's planar bridge) takes the Lazotep army with him. There he manipulates the remains of the the Time Rifts at the Academy Ruins, and sends the Lazotep army back in time to try and prevent the mending from happening somehow
I may be mistaken but... without the mending, wouldn't the multiverse go "boom"? The time rifts would swallow the multiverse, I guess... (Or was it just Dominaria?)
And without the time rifts, Wouldn't Bolas still be "dead"?
My guess: Maybe in the future, to defeat Bolas, they will have to find someone from the Umezawa bloodline (it already happened once, right?)
Bolas returns to Dominaria and somehow (with or without Tezz's planar bridge) takes the Lazotep army with him. There he manipulates the remains of the the Time Rifts at the Academy Ruins, and sends the Lazotep army back in time to try and prevent the mending from happening somehow
At this point? I'm willing to believe anything in regards to time travel.
I may be mistaken but... without the mending, wouldn't the multiverse go "boom"? The time rifts would swallow the multiverse, I guess... (Or was it just Dominaria?)
You are correct on this point. It would have created a chain reaction, with Dominaria as the nexus for it, which would have taken the multiverse with it. Think of how the Sun will eventually die and then expand out.
And without the time rifts, Wouldn't Bolas still be "dead"?
Yes and no. If all but one of the time rifts is sealed, then Nicol Bolas still gets to keep his oldwalker self. Using his lazotep army, he could have them guard the last active time rift. However if one time rift is still active then the end of the multiverse via time rifts is still a possibility.
My guess: Maybe in the future, to defeat Bolas, they will have to find someone from the Umezawa bloodline (it already happened once, right?)
Possible, though it depends if the same trick would work twice on Nicol Bolas.
Bolas might be more powerful now, but he can't be everywhere at once. The Eternals make a ton of sense as a means of enforcing his will. The Infinite Consortium, all his agents on Alara, all show he can't be everywhere and do everything to get what he wants. The Eternals have the added advantage that they will never turn on him like Tezzeret, Sarkhan Vol, or Tetsuo Umezawa.
Story was amazing. I loved that it was told from Hepatra's point of view, and made her into an even more thematic, colorful character to remember as a native taking charge of her own world's fate. This is what I like to see - a balanced mix of the Planeswalker cast and the locals taking part in the story. Not just PWs being Mary Sues on every world they arrive in within minutes.
The flavor of Mirage is in no way related to ancient egypt. Therefore comparing the two is a pretty useless thing to do. And even if they had something to do with each other, you are not explaining why you feel that way, you just state your opinions as facts. You can't just do that and expect everyone to agree.
I'd like to know, since Mirage predates when I started playing (Odyssey block, FYI); what even was the flavor and/or story of the Mirage-block?
sounds like a good idea for an Archive Trap (wink wink hint hint)
anyway, here's a good place to start in delving into Mirage and Visions.
http://mtg.gamepedia.com/Mirage_War
Click the pic for more info.
Yeah, they can all be compared to each other, they're all mtg storylines and such. Marketers do a fair job of comparing their wares.
So everyone needs to state their opinion with "(opinion)". Alright then.
Considering that it's common for opinions to be confused with facts, I do think it's necessary.
That said, you did come out of nowhere and made a comparison between this block's story and the story of a very old set, with the only commonality being the continent the civilizations they're inspired by are located.
A comparison I might add that he didn't bother to explain in the slightest and still continues to not explain at all, which was my main criticism in the first place. It's also not very hard to write "In my opinion..." before making such statements.
The distance between Egypt (which Amonkhet is based on) and Kenya (Mirage is based on the Savannah and jungle of Africa, and especially evocative of the Lake Victoria region, of which Kenya is the closet state in the region to Egypt) is greater than the distance between England and Ukraine. It is as relevant to think the best comparison for an Egyptian themed set is an African Great Lakes themed set as it is to think the best comparison for a Slavic themed set would be a British Isles themed set. Its far more relevant to compare Amonkhet to Theros, especially due to the themes the two settings are working with.
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!
So, comparing Innistrad to Lorwyn?
Honestly, having read about the Mirage War (thanks, Quannage!), I find it odd that anyone would compare Mirage and Amonkhet at all; the stories have nothing in common.
Someone speculated the story involving Dominaria, which we return to next year. It makes sense that Bolas attempts to reclaim his Oldwalker powers where it was taken from him.
Some baseless speculation:
Bolas returns to Dominaria and somehow (with or without Tezz's planar bridge) takes the Lazotep army with him. There he manipulates the remains of the the Time Rifts at the Academy Ruins, and sends the Lazotep army back in time to try and prevent the mending from happening somehow (Magic turns 25 -> story flashback galore!) so he never lost his Oldwalker powers to begin with. The Gatewatch, being the good guys they are, suddenly wield massive powers that they never had before (which is what makes Jace strong enough to dispell whatever it is non-Oldwalker Bolas does to him before he kicks his butt to Ixalan) but still decide to cooperate to take down Bolas because it's the right thing to do (They can, because 5 times Oldwalker upgrade > 1 time Elder Dragon Oldwalker upgrade). But only after Liliana uses her temporary power increase to go find and kill Belzenlok.
Then Jhoira and Teferi show up, and/or Tamiyo with a story scroll, explaining the Mending to the Gatewatch and what it's intent was. The Gatewhatch then proceeds to mend the universe again, possibly this time without the accidental ressurection of Nicol Bolas.
They could stretch this all out over 2 Dominaria blocks so we can finally get PW cards of some older characters. A man can dream..
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
A nice reminder of why the Oldwalkers as protagonists had to be jettisoned. (And why they will never let Bolas actually achieve this goal.)
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Eh, Bolas was particularly, ridiculously OP even amongst old walkers. He was near Urza and Taysir. The only reason he's crushing it to this degree in this block is because he set everything up when he was still an old Walker before the mending stripped his power. Most old walkers were more on Lili's level, stronger than neo walkers by far, but nowhere near the heavy hitters like Bolas. And even Bolas got iced by a human archer and Urza nearly ate it to some robot birds he made (being saved by I think Multani giving him a power surge at just the right moment to planeswalk inside Kerrick).
Still, the old walkers were rarely protagonists back in the day, they were larger than life supporting characters that connected stories across planes and centuries, while mortals were the main characters. They were Gandalfs (and some were antagonists), popping in and out of the storyline, playing a role when needed. Even Urza wasnt the main character in the novel's for his block, he was was a secondary protagonist at his most prominent, with Xantcha, Jhoira, and Barrin being the main povs.
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!
"...ok, you were right". I hope he doesn't die but he probably will and tht will spark Semmet.
The Vorthos community will await the consequences of the Eldrazi Titans' deaths/sealing. We will keep the watch.
“The wind whispers, ‘come home,’ but I cannot.”
— Teferi
I know you get it but Innistrad is heavily German inspired, not Slavic, and Gothic Horror originated in England and Germany mostly, so comparing those two is a pretty reasonable comparison.
http://www.morphinlegacy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Z-Putties.jpg
I may be mistaken but... without the mending, wouldn't the multiverse go "boom"? The time rifts would swallow the multiverse, I guess... (Or was it just Dominaria?)
And without the time rifts, Wouldn't Bolas still be "dead"?
My guess: Maybe in the future, to defeat Bolas, they will have to find someone from the Umezawa bloodline (it already happened once, right?)
You are correct on this point. It would have created a chain reaction, with Dominaria as the nexus for it, which would have taken the multiverse with it. Think of how the Sun will eventually die and then expand out.
Yes and no. If all but one of the time rifts is sealed, then Nicol Bolas still gets to keep his oldwalker self. Using his lazotep army, he could have them guard the last active time rift. However if one time rift is still active then the end of the multiverse via time rifts is still a possibility.
Possible, though it depends if the same trick would work twice on Nicol Bolas.
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But on the bright side, three hours down so just one more to go, right?
And how bad can the Hour of Eternity be, really?
Best line in today's story.
RGTron
UGInfect
URStorm
WUBRAd Nauseam
BRGrishoalbrand
URGScapeshift
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RIP Cat-mom and Uncle-birb ;_;
"Kiora is the Aquaman of planeswalkers."
"Useless and everyone pretends to like her?"
Oketra
|| 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 ||