Ugh, poor gods. All the subtle hints of Oketra's dread, and Nissa altering Kefnet's mana-physiology were all for nothing. Well Oketra's dread was to hint at their history I suppose.
Still, I wonder how/if they will stop the bug gods.
Today's story was incredible! I've never before had such an interest in the stories as I am for the Hour of Devastation and Amonkhet storylines. I've followed the stories since around BFZ but with this block for the first time I'm actively looking forward to the story each week and I can't wait for more!
I absolutely love the feel the writers have developed in these last few stories: the utter despair and terror they're conveying perfectly, the world crumbling around us as we read, and transition from glorious end times to the apocalypse has been absolutely perfect.
For today's story in particular, I loved the constant repetition of the locust droning as it really set the mood for everything collapsing and being swarmed and the desert covering everything. Reading today's story made me feel the plagues of the insect gods more than just reading about them. It was incredible and if all the coming stories are as good as this block, I don't know if Ill survive much longer
Fun to see the plague of wild beasts are being used as a good thing in this set.
I'm seeing more now how the people of Amonkhet can adapt to "Bolas world". And the gods deaths are really hitting home to me.
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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"
A single story from her perspective and I think I like Hapatra more than both Samut and Djeru combined now.
Or anyone else from that (almost) godforsaken plane.
Didn't expect her to survive to be honest. It was refreshing to be actually worry about a character.
Like when she decided to charge the Scorpion God I was like "noooo you'll die!" but he didn't care and just moved on.
I'd love a Tolsimir Wolfblood esque card of her and Tuya although that's quite unlikely at this point.
A basilisk rider would be super cool though.
I loved Hapatra too. This was a great piece. When Tuya appeared and especially when she and Hapatra charged the scorpion god, I was like damn, another Arixmethes situation. Wouldn't mind a Legendary Creature - Snake honestly!
This story more than made up for the general lack of significant mention of many of the native characters in the art book. You really see Hapatra come into her own and Alison Luhrs once again hit a home run with the storytelling. She managed to make combat interesting and emotional rather than a slog, which I like.
I'm hopeful that the story articles will answer some of the questions the art book left us with.
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Lapsed DCI Rules Advisor - Retired from playing but still hanging around
I love how each consecutive story just ups the dread and horror of the hours. And Nicol Bolas is STILL not on Amonkhet.
It makes me wonder though: We know that the gatewatch will lose, that Bolas gets his eternal army, that all gods except Hazoreth die (I hope that at least she will be "reset" to remember the past), that the Scorpion god at least dies as well, and that Samut and Djeru stay at Hazoreths side (with Samut becoming a planeswalker). So what is the aftermath? Bolas doesn't have the planar bridge yet, so he can't get his eternals out of there quite yet, and he won't just leave the survivors be. Perhabs Hazoreth will lead them out of the remnants of the city into the desert? Since the gatewatch is gone as well at that point there is no one who could help them against an onslaught by Bolas. Or does he leave as well? And what happens to the other two gods? I really can't wait for the resolution of this plot. Amonkhet has already become one of my absolute favorite planes (even though it lies in ruins and has lost nearly all of its gods) and I really hope that we'll return there some time down the line.
I love how each consecutive story just ups the dread and horror of the hours. And Nicol Bolas is STILL not on Amonkhet.
It makes me wonder though: We know that the gatewatch will lose, that Bolas gets his eternal army, that all gods except Hazoreth die (I hope that at least she will be "reset" to remember the past), that the Scorpion god at least dies as well, and that Samut and Djeru stay at Hazoreths side (with Samut becoming a planeswalker). So what is the aftermath? Bolas doesn't have the planar bridge yet, so he can't get his eternals out of there quite yet, and he won't just leave the survivors be. Perhabs Hazoreth will lead them out of the remnants of the city into the desert? Since the gatewatch is gone as well at that point there is no one who could help them against an onslaught by Bolas. Or does he leave as well? And what happens to the other two gods? I really can't wait for the resolution of this plot. Amonkhet has already become one of my absolute favorite planes (even though it lies in ruins and has lost nearly all of its gods) and I really hope that we'll return there some time down the line.
I using this tag since we don't have a spoiler free thread. I'm guessing playing on the passover tropes we been getting, Hazoret and the remaining Amonkhet people will wonder into and start to re-build in the desert (from the cards this seems to be in some ruins called Ramunap). With Bolas weakened from the mending and his god of godsend gone, Hazoret might be enough protection (but too weak on her own to reclaim the plane) for a new-city state to be build. Someone pointed this out but a lot of the remaining Amonkhet people where training to be turned into Eternals, so they would be pretty powerful fighters.
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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"
This was the first story in a long time that I actually felt so many things. The moment of Gideon mourning Oketra, Hapatra being rather likable and seeing the death and destruction through her eyes was a welcome change. You really did feel their sorrow and dread over the whole thing. Definitely a great part.
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.
What's weird is the army on this plane, what does he needs an almost literal continent worth of zombies for if the plane's inhabitants are dead? Obviously he needs these armies and minions for something more, which was the purpose of finding something like the portal Kaladesh, but where exactly could he need such troops? Is there a place that he himself has need of but is unable to do anything about it on his own or is he just wanting to control every plane he comes across that may or may not even have a chance at returning his powers.
He needed the "mechs" from Kaladesh and these zombies for something far bigger than just taking over a world here or there, because he can do that mostly by himself. We know it's to get his powers back, but what can he not do by himself that he needs so many forces for?
Amonkhet has already become one of my absolute favorite planes (even though it lies in ruins and has lost nearly all of its gods) and I really hope that we'll return there some time down the line.
I'm sure at least some pockets of civilization will survive. Non-zombified life survived on Grixis for quite a long time and Hekma-less Amonkhet isn't nearly as bad as that.
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My decks
Standard - RIP Cat
Modern - Death & Taxes
Commander - Mazirek, Trostani, Angry Omnath
I liked this story. My only complaint was that the last cycle for the gods cycle will not play out in the story in the same way as Rhonas's last stand did last week. Oh well I guess there wasn't much for Kefnet to steal.
This was the first story in a long time that I actually felt so many things. The moment of Gideon mourning Oketra, Hapatra being rather likable and seeing the death and destruction through her eyes was a welcome change. You really did feel their sorrow and dread over the whole thing. Definitely a great part.
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.
What's weird is the army on this plane, what does he needs an almost literal continent worth of zombies for if the plane's inhabitants are dead? Obviously he needs these armies and minions for something more, which was the purpose of finding something like the portal Kaladesh, but where exactly could he need such troops? Is there a place that he himself has need of but is unable to do anything about it on his own or is he just wanting to control every plane he comes across that may or may not even have a chance at returning his powers.
He needed the "mechs" from Kaladesh and these zombies for something far bigger than just taking over a world here or there, because he can do that mostly by himself. We know it's to get his powers back, but what can he not do by himself that he needs so many forces for?
I think people are really overestimating how many eternals there are. The 20,000 figure another poster calculated was really an upper bounds, and assumed one person per day was found 'worthy.' we have no indication that the ACTUAL number of 'worthy' is anywhere even remotely near that number (and every reason to believe that it's not).
I would think the real number of eternals couldn't number more than a few thousand.
Well, ask a silly question, get a silly...question. I suppose we can take this as a sign that the Eternals aren't the culmination of Bolas's plans for Amonkhet, and that it's just part of a much grander plan (which I kind of hope is Bolas using the Planar Bridge to fight the nekoru and Clan Umezawa in Madara on Dominaria).
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Ugh, poor gods. All the subtle hints of Oketra's dread, and Nissa altering Kefnet's mana-physiology were all for nothing. Well Oketra's dread was to hint at their history I suppose. Still, I wonder how/if they will stop the bug gods.
I think that you may've answered your own question. My guess is that Nissa will apply what she learned from Kefnet's mana-physiology to unraveling the insect gods' auto-resurrection magic. The Gatewatch will lose to Nicol Bolas, but they won't necessarily lose to his subordinates.
Ugh, poor gods. All the subtle hints of Oketra's dread, and Nissa altering Kefnet's mana-physiology were all for nothing. Well Oketra's dread was to hint at their history I suppose. Still, I wonder how/if they will stop the bug gods.
I think that you may've answered your own question. My guess is that Nissa will apply what she learned from Kefnet's mana-physiology to unraveling the insect gods' auto-resurrection magic. The Gatewatch will lose to Nicol Bolas, but they won't necessarily lose to his subordinates.
Which might lead to Hazoret's survival and keep watch of her people. Anubis is the patron God of orphans so it makes sense for her to be the one taking care of Amonkhet residents after dusts settle. I'm sure Bolas would not waste his time on hunting the refugees.
Ugh, poor gods. All the subtle hints of Oketra's dread, and Nissa altering Kefnet's mana-physiology were all for nothing. Well Oketra's dread was to hint at their history I suppose. Still, I wonder how/if they will stop the bug gods.
I think that you may've answered your own question. My guess is that Nissa will apply what she learned from Kefnet's mana-physiology to unraveling the insect gods' auto-resurrection magic. The Gatewatch will lose to Nicol Bolas, but they won't necessarily lose to his subordinates.
Which might lead to Hazoret's survival and keep watch of her people. Anubis is the patron God of orphans so it makes sense for her to be the one taking care of Amonkhet residents after dusts settle. I'm sure Bolas would not waste his time on hunting the refugees.
Or power to spare. He was only able to wreak the gods before them since he was running on old walker fumes and if his plan was for The Scorpion God to kill off the gods it might hint he at neowalker level can't or doesn't have the power to waste trying.
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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"
This was the first story in a long time that I actually felt so many things. The moment of Gideon mourning Oketra, Hapatra being rather likable and seeing the death and destruction through her eyes was a welcome change. You really did feel their sorrow and dread over the whole thing. Definitely a great part.
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.
What's weird is the army on this plane, what does he needs an almost literal continent worth of zombies for if the plane's inhabitants are dead? Obviously he needs these armies and minions for something more, which was the purpose of finding something like the portal Kaladesh, but where exactly could he need such troops? Is there a place that he himself has need of but is unable to do anything about it on his own or is he just wanting to control every plane he comes across that may or may not even have a chance at returning his powers.
He needed the "mechs" from Kaladesh and these zombies for something far bigger than just taking over a world here or there, because he can do that mostly by himself. We know it's to get his powers back, but what can he not do by himself that he needs so many forces for?
I think people are really overestimating how many eternals there are. The 20,000 figure another poster calculated was really an upper bounds, and assumed one person per day was found 'worthy.' we have no indication that the ACTUAL number of 'worthy' is anywhere even remotely near that number (and every reason to believe that it's not).
I would think the real number of eternals couldn't number more than a few thousand.
From the Hour of Glory story: " In the past, Rhonas had seen the Gate to the Afterlife crack open as part of the daily passage of worthy dead to the beyond."
This is not even the first mention that the gate opened daily to allow the worthy to pass through the gate and not just one worthy either.
The 20K number seems reasonable.
The thing is, there is no reason but sheer evil malevolence to annihilate Amonkhet, Bolas could come and go if he wished into the necropolis and take his eternals. Gotta be something else going on.
So the character i was more ivnested on was Tuya. I was actually praying that the Basilisk would survive XD. I really like Hapatra in this story. her companion Tuya needs a card.
So the character i was more ivnested on was Tuya. I was actually praying that the Basilisk would survive XD. I really like Hapatra in this story. her companion Tuya needs a card.
Creature type - Dinosaur? Just kidding
Anyone else find it cute that the people always want to take care of their gods? It's a shame they're all dying.
I'm enjoying the story this block a lot, actually, but I am dying waiting for Bolas to appear. Is he really going to be the last chapter? Talk about getting all Dragonball Z on us.
I loved that this was from Hapatra's perspective. It's too bad she wasn't Amonkhet's planeswalker (or another one) because I'd love to see her story continue across the multiverse. It makes me sick that Oketra and Kefnet died. I loved how it described how magnificent their combat skills were in tandem and really how Rhonas and Kefnet + Oketra were more than a match for the Scorpion God, killing him, but his blasted resurrect ability is OP.
Hazoret being the lone surviving god (of the five at least) leaves me with hope, though. I just want this plane to rebuild itself after Bolas takes his army and leaves. I still think it be interesting to see at least one of the bug gods uncorrupted (possibly with Nissa's help). I'm curious to know what they were like before Bolas twisted them. What their godhood entailed.
I honestly didn't expect this apparent xenophobic attitude that Hapatra and Djeru have been displaying towards the Gatewatch.
I don't mind it, and I get why it's happening (Outsiders have, at best, been judgmental or indifferent to their ways, and at worst, tried to destroy everything they hold dear), but the Gatewatch doesn't really deserve to be lumped in with Bolas, especially not Gideon who genuinely revered Oketra and wanted only to help them.
I also find this interesting since it's come up not long after we've been talking about walkers and their attitude towards the planes they visit and their denizens.
I honestly didn't expect this apparent xenophobic attitude that Hapatra and Djeru have been displaying towards the Gatewatch.
I don't mind it, and I get why it's happening (Outsiders have, at best, been judgmental or indifferent to their ways, and at worst, tried to destroy everything they hold dear), but the Gatewatch doesn't really deserve to be lumped in with Bolas, especially not Gideon who genuinely revered Oketra and wanted only to help them.
I also find this interesting since it's come up not along after we've been talking about walkers and their attitude towards the planes they visit and their denizens.
For all they know, the reason this all went to hell is because these interlopers showed up. At this point, I think only Samut is really aware of the Gatewatch's nature (since they rescued her and filled her in). Everyone else knows that they didn't come from there, and everything was fine until they showed up. Can't blame them for being a bit suspicious.
That being said
Gids may not be from there, but one look at that scene and it should be apparent to everyone that he does care.
Awesome story today, sad to see Oketra and Kefnet go but we knew it was coming and it's nice to see they carried on Rhonas's tradition of going down like hammahs. As others have said, it was cool we got this from Hapatra's point of view. It gave the story a sense of danger and stakes that it doesn't have when from the pov of a GW member.
On the Eternal army, it's worth noting that not all of the members are "basic" eternals. There are mages, cats, and even ammit it would seem. A single living ammit was powerful enough that an eternal one is probably horrifying. What I'm getting at is, from the story it seems likely we could expect the eternal army to measure around 20,000, but even if they number much less than that I think expecting them to be anything less than devastating would be a mistake, they're not just the cream of the crop, they're the top layer of the film of cream...and they brought zombie crocodile demons.
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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"
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Still, I wonder how/if they will stop the bug gods.
I absolutely love the feel the writers have developed in these last few stories: the utter despair and terror they're conveying perfectly, the world crumbling around us as we read, and transition from glorious end times to the apocalypse has been absolutely perfect.
For today's story in particular, I loved the constant repetition of the locust droning as it really set the mood for everything collapsing and being swarmed and the desert covering everything. Reading today's story made me feel the plagues of the insect gods more than just reading about them. It was incredible and if all the coming stories are as good as this block, I don't know if Ill survive much longer
I'm seeing more now how the people of Amonkhet can adapt to "Bolas world". And the gods deaths are really hitting home to me.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
|| 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 hopeful that the story articles will answer some of the questions the art book left us with.
It makes me wonder though: We know that the gatewatch will lose, that Bolas gets his eternal army, that all gods except Hazoreth die (I hope that at least she will be "reset" to remember the past), that the Scorpion god at least dies as well, and that Samut and Djeru stay at Hazoreths side (with Samut becoming a planeswalker). So what is the aftermath? Bolas doesn't have the planar bridge yet, so he can't get his eternals out of there quite yet, and he won't just leave the survivors be. Perhabs Hazoreth will lead them out of the remnants of the city into the desert? Since the gatewatch is gone as well at that point there is no one who could help them against an onslaught by Bolas. Or does he leave as well? And what happens to the other two gods? I really can't wait for the resolution of this plot. Amonkhet has already become one of my absolute favorite planes (even though it lies in ruins and has lost nearly all of its gods) and I really hope that we'll return there some time down the line.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
What's weird is the army on this plane, what does he needs an almost literal continent worth of zombies for if the plane's inhabitants are dead? Obviously he needs these armies and minions for something more, which was the purpose of finding something like the portal Kaladesh, but where exactly could he need such troops? Is there a place that he himself has need of but is unable to do anything about it on his own or is he just wanting to control every plane he comes across that may or may not even have a chance at returning his powers.
He needed the "mechs" from Kaladesh and these zombies for something far bigger than just taking over a world here or there, because he can do that mostly by himself. We know it's to get his powers back, but what can he not do by himself that he needs so many forces for?
I'm sure at least some pockets of civilization will survive. Non-zombified life survived on Grixis for quite a long time and Hekma-less Amonkhet isn't nearly as bad as that.
Standard - RIP Cat
Modern - Death & Taxes
Commander - Mazirek, Trostani, Angry Omnath
I think people are really overestimating how many eternals there are. The 20,000 figure another poster calculated was really an upper bounds, and assumed one person per day was found 'worthy.' we have no indication that the ACTUAL number of 'worthy' is anywhere even remotely near that number (and every reason to believe that it's not).
I would think the real number of eternals couldn't number more than a few thousand.
http://ew.com/gaming/2017/06/28/magic-gathering-hour-of-devastation-first-look/
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[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Well, ask a silly question, get a silly...question. I suppose we can take this as a sign that the Eternals aren't the culmination of Bolas's plans for Amonkhet, and that it's just part of a much grander plan (which I kind of hope is Bolas using the Planar Bridge to fight the nekoru and Clan Umezawa in Madara on Dominaria).
Which might lead to Hazoret's survival and keep watch of her people. Anubis is the patron God of orphans so it makes sense for her to be the one taking care of Amonkhet residents after dusts settle. I'm sure Bolas would not waste his time on hunting the refugees.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
Or power to spare. He was only able to wreak the gods before them since he was running on old walker fumes and if his plan was for The Scorpion God to kill off the gods it might hint he at neowalker level can't or doesn't have the power to waste trying.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
From the Hour of Glory story: " In the past, Rhonas had seen the Gate to the Afterlife crack open as part of the daily passage of worthy dead to the beyond."
This is not even the first mention that the gate opened daily to allow the worthy to pass through the gate and not just one worthy either.
The 20K number seems reasonable.
The thing is, there is no reason but sheer evil malevolence to annihilate Amonkhet, Bolas could come and go if he wished into the necropolis and take his eternals. Gotta be something else going on.
Creature type - Dinosaur? Just kidding
Anyone else find it cute that the people always want to take care of their gods? It's a shame they're all dying.
I'm enjoying the story this block a lot, actually, but I am dying waiting for Bolas to appear. Is he really going to be the last chapter? Talk about getting all Dragonball Z on us.
Hazoret being the lone surviving god (of the five at least) leaves me with hope, though. I just want this plane to rebuild itself after Bolas takes his army and leaves. I still think it be interesting to see at least one of the bug gods uncorrupted (possibly with Nissa's help). I'm curious to know what they were like before Bolas twisted them. What their godhood entailed.
I don't mind it, and I get why it's happening (Outsiders have, at best, been judgmental or indifferent to their ways, and at worst, tried to destroy everything they hold dear), but the Gatewatch doesn't really deserve to be lumped in with Bolas, especially not Gideon who genuinely revered Oketra and wanted only to help them.
I also find this interesting since it's come up not long after we've been talking about walkers and their attitude towards the planes they visit and their denizens.
For all they know, the reason this all went to hell is because these interlopers showed up. At this point, I think only Samut is really aware of the Gatewatch's nature (since they rescued her and filled her in). Everyone else knows that they didn't come from there, and everything was fine until they showed up. Can't blame them for being a bit suspicious.
That being said
Gids may not be from there, but one look at that scene and it should be apparent to everyone that he does care.
An aside here: We've gone quite this far in the story, but why is Temmet not dead yet? Or have I missed something?
(If you ask why I want Temmet dead, his card has Embalm)
On the Eternal army, it's worth noting that not all of the members are "basic" eternals. There are mages, cats, and even ammit it would seem. A single living ammit was powerful enough that an eternal one is probably horrifying. What I'm getting at is, from the story it seems likely we could expect the eternal army to measure around 20,000, but even if they number much less than that I think expecting them to be anything less than devastating would be a mistake, they're not just the cream of the crop, they're the top layer of the film of cream...and they brought zombie crocodile demons.
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"