- but I already have a new favorite line from any Magic story, ever:
They fancied themselves The Gatewatch. As though for some bizarre reason there were gates scattered throughout the Multiverse. That deserved watching.
Yes! I loved this. Feels like it was a call out to all the people who are sick of the Gatewatch. Like it was Wizards' way of saying "We heard you. Let Bolas speak for you."
But man... This was a close second:
Why bother being smart when the Multiverse so conveniently conspired to keep your idiocy alive?
So basically the story team has watched One Piece? Same type of thing happens. Then they come back together after years of training to fight together again with their new found abilities....
To be fair, Nissa started her path to said newfound abilities before Bolas whupped her. She was even thinking about where the Watch went wrong and the approach they could have taken during the whupping, which (to me) is kinda interesting.
I think if they want to stand any chance against Bolas, they either need to really amp up their prowess with their primary colors (Gideon actually using hieromancy to its fullest, for instance), or follow Nissa's example and branch out into other colors to help shore up their weaknesses. Of course, they also need to actually follow Ajani's advice and recruit help.
I thought the wall of crystal mind was Alhammaret's because Jace hardly remembered it - but it is indeed Ugin. Why is the memory of their interactions vague to him, then? I must be forgetting something (ironically).
Looking back, Ugin seems awful disingenuous about the Eldrazi - acting like Ulamog's moves can't be predicted until Jace actually notes he's drawn to concentrations of life, saying Ulamog cannot be killed until the Gatewatch goes out and actually does it. He's not any less manipulative himself. I find reasons to justify Nahiri's rage all the time looking back. I can see her taking out the dragons of Tarkir (with the reinstatement of the clans as an unforeseen consequence) just for revenge.
It's worth noting that a whole lot of things make more sense if Ral is working for Bolas. The whole 'he created the Gatewatch' thing from the art book makes sense when you realize Ral (attempted to have) led Jace to Gideon in Project Lightning Bug, and also appears In This Very Arena where Liliana reveals they found Tezzeret and are all heading to Kaladesh.
It's worth noting that a whole lot of things make more sense if Ral is working for Bolas. The whole 'he created the Gatewatch' thing from the art book makes sense when you realize Ral (attempted to have) led Jace to Gideon in Project Lightning Bug, and also appears In This Very Arena where Liliana reveals they found Tezzeret and are all heading to Kaladesh.
Can you explain this a little further, please? There are a lot of things here I don't know/understand.
Niv, Bolas, seems like Ral is a bottom for all dragons. Perhaps against his will, we'll see.
Despite how anticipated this story was, I cringed through the entire thing. Some of Bolas's lines were amusing for sure, but overall the taunting and excessive dialogue were just painful and uncharacteristic. Only his exchange with Lilliana felt natural, as I'd expect him to coerce her into leaving with promises of survival and more power. Otherwise, I found the development of this piece rather immature. I'd expect some wisdom from Bolas, some casual indifference, some display of experience - showing it, rather than telling it. Reminding everyone how long he's lived before even doing anything (as an example) cheapens him. Delivering the final blow and casually mentioning his millennia-long experience with the Gatewatch's form of magic at that last moment is more dramatic.
I had envisioned Bolas being rather silent and wise, casually sweeping the Gatewatch like an old, tired and disappointed parent. Partially distracted while doing it, even. The bit with the tail crushing Gideon was… odd. We've seen better battles than this, even recently. Bolas being so physical about this approach despite his access to Blue and Black mana felt awkward. I guess he wanted to defeat each with their own strengths, but really he could have mind-crushed them all. Perhaps the author was trying to highlight how diminished Bolas is - but the entire piece felt too passive. And dull. Thassa vs. Kiora, Kiora vs. Kozilek, GW vs. Emrakul, etc all felt like more engaging battles.
What's with the Raven Man saying she was never more a fool thinking she could win against Bolas? Lilliana was pretty outmatched against Emrakul just before.
Amonkhet as a desiccated backwater wasteland - so it seems like the plane was going to end, anyway?
Maybe it was the style of writing but I didn't enjoy this story nearly as much as the others. Lots of rambling and beating around the bush to get through. I don't think I've read a story with Bolas in it and going by this, I'm not really liking him as a villain so far. His schemes are apparently more interesting than him. He's incredibly powerful AND incredibly intelligent and cunning. It can make for a boring character without deft writing to support him. Then again he was on Amonkhet where his power was stronger so maybe on a neutral world it would have been a different fight. Nissa seems to be the powerhouse of the group and could have been a force if he didn't have such control over the plane.
I did pick up on the Raven Man and Chain Veil's reactions to Bolas, though. Remember how panicked the Chain Veil and Raven Man were when Liliana was in Emrakul's presence? They were scared and pleading with her to leave. Much different from their reactions to Bolas. The Chain Veil was ready to take him on and Raven Man was pretty casual in his responses by comparison.
Anywho, I'm curious to see where all this scheming leads to. Amonkhet had some great story moments and I'm very curious to see how this plane rebounds (if it even does) later on.
Definitely one of my favorite stories from MTG in awhile, and not just because there was some stellar catharsis in seeing the Gatewatch so thoroughly whupped. I'm pleased at Liliana's "betrayel," as she was a much weaker character (in every respect) while working with the Watch, and there are some fun plot threads forming up around their defeat.
Niv, Bolas, seems like Ral is a bottom for all dragons. Perhaps against his will, we'll see.
Despite how anticipated this story was, I cringed through the entire thing. Some of Bolas's lines were amusing for sure, but overall the taunting and excessive dialogue were just painful and uncharacteristic. Only his exchange with Lilliana felt natural, as I'd expect him to coerce her into leaving with promises of survival and more power. Otherwise, I found the development of this piece rather immature. I'd expect some wisdom from Bolas, some casual indifference, some display of experience - showing it, rather than telling it. Reminding everyone how long he's lived before even doing anything (as an example) cheapens him. Delivering the final blow and casually mentioning his millennia-long experience with the Gatewatch's form of magic at that last moment is more dramatic.
I had envisioned Bolas being rather silent and wise, casually sweeping the Gatewatch like an old, tired and disappointed parent. Partially distracted while doing it, even. The bit with the tail crushing Gideon was… odd. We've seen better battles than this, even recently. Bolas being so physical about this approach despite his access to Blue and Black mana felt awkward. I guess he wanted to defeat each with their own strengths, but really he could have mind-crushed them all. Perhaps the author was trying to highlight how diminished Bolas is - but the entire piece felt too passive. And dull. Thassa vs. Kiora, Kiora vs. Kozilek, GW vs. Emrakul, etc all felt like more engaging battles.
What's with the Raven Man saying she was never more a fool thinking she could win against Bolas? Lilliana was pretty outmatched against Emrakul just before.
Amonkhet as a desiccated backwater wasteland - so it seems like the plane was going to end, anyway?
Maybe it was the style of writing but I didn't enjoy this story nearly as much as the others. Lots of rambling and beating around the bush to get through. I don't think I've read a story with Bolas in it and going by this, I'm not really liking him as a villain so far. His schemes are apparently more interesting than him. He's incredibly powerful AND incredibly intelligent and cunning. It can make for a boring character without deft writing to support him. This story was a letdown.
I did pick up on the Raven Man and Chain Veil's reactions to Bolas, though. Remember how panicked the Chain Veil and Raven Man were when Liliana was in Emrakul's presence? They were scared and pleading with her to leave. Much different from their reactions to Bolas. The Chain Veil was ready to take him on and Raven Man was pretty casual in his responses by comparison.
Anywho, I'm curious to see where all this scheming leads to. Amonkhet had some great story moments and I'm very curious to see how this plane rebounds (if it even does) later on.
The story did indeed beat around the bush a lot, never quite saying what it needed to say, and was just passive rather than engaging when it finally did attempt anything.
I noticed the contrasts with Emrakul and Bolas as well. Notice too how the Chain Veil went mysteriously quiet when Lilliana was convinced to leave. Let's not forget that Bolas guided her to Kothophed, who requested the Chain Veil that she ended up using for herself. It must be a way Bolas is manipulating her.
I liked it. I thought they could have made Nicol Bolas a bit more 'inscrutable and acient' and far less passive aggressive and, well, petty. It was all a bit much.
"And then there were three. I didn't want to annoy your dear departed necromancer, but between us, I admit I know a fair bit of necromancy. Do you have an opening in your Gatewatch? Is there some type of application process?"
First off, great 'voice' here. Is he 20,000 years old or 20? This endless taunting..he sounds more like he's 20. I'm also pretty sure there's no such things as jobs, or application processes, in the Magic multiverse. WTF, author?
"Enough, foolish child." SEE? THIS IS BETTER.
His voice was just wrong for most of the article.
Surprised Gideon survived, but then again, who's going to replace him anytime soon? They replaced Ajani for a reason.
This wasn't my favorite of the stories but it's nice to see it finished all the same. Great storyline this block!
I love that one line about Alhammarret, for a moment I thought Bolas was gonna turn Jace's mind inside-out with the memory of him killing his master (but leave out all the wrong Alhammarret did, just to guilt trip Jace). I mean, he even kept Gideon out of the fight the whole time knowing it hurts the "tank" most by not being able to tank for his teammates.
And Bolas's thoughts prior to the battle was far calmer than his demeanor, suggests that his theatric dialogues and taunts were for enjoyment (as a dragon) and method to cow the Gatewatch. Bolas do not care if they live or die and while they're more useful alive, a healthy dose of fear make them more manipulatable, and he successfully turned their heroic image into that of cowards. No wrong in escaping Bolas, but most of them fail to see that, therefore it'd cut deeper.
I do feel Liliana here, because she was actually trying to do something good for her compatriots. I start to wonder if the Raven Man is a mental implant of Bolas, consider Bolas is a better telepath than Jace therefore could definitely see Raven Man, yet he made no comments about him.
Ral being Bolas's agent was a surprise and not a surprise at the same time. We all know Bolas have ears everywhere, the question is actually "who?" And as one of you mentioned earlier, Ajani's plan of seeking allies has a good chance of including one of his agents, which means even if Gatewatch agree to Ajani and look for teammates they'd still be within Bolas's grasp; perhaps this is also Bolas's plan right from the start (consider Ral might be the first to report GW's existence).
In short, everything Gatewatch has accomplished, even their victory on Kaladesh, is within the perimeter of Bolas's plan, no matter what they do it'd end up benefiting Bolas in some way. Bolas also mentioned other "heroes" in multiverse whom he's aware, he most definitely also anticipated all of them joining hands also, and serve him one way or another.
Fantastically speaking, if Bolas and Urza scheme together or against each other, the multiverse would suffer.
It's worth noting that a whole lot of things make more sense if Ral is working for Bolas. The whole 'he created the Gatewatch' thing from the art book makes sense when you realize Ral (attempted to have) led Jace to Gideon in Project Lightning Bug, and also appears In This Very Arena where Liliana reveals they found Tezzeret and are all heading to Kaladesh.
Can you explain this a little further, please? There are a lot of things here I don't know/understand.
It connects a lot of dots.
In the artbook, Bolas' reason for releasing the Eldrazi is to see how planeswalkers would react. He also takes credit for the Gatewatch. That's more interesting when you realize that Jace and Gideon become aware of each other in Project Lightning Bugbecause of Ral Zarek.
During In This Very Area, Jace and Ral are having a meeting when Liliana shows up. She blurts out that they're heading to Kaladesh and they found Tezzeret. Ral is also the one who points Jace to Vraska in that story... and where do we see Vraska next? Ixalan, alongside Jace.
Plus, it's possible the mystery project of Ral's is that the Planar Bridge need Project Lightning Bug (which can track planeswalkers from plane to plane) as a kind of Navigation unit. Rashmi was able to use it to teleport on the same plane, but when she ducks her head into it there's a ton of different planes it cycles through all at once. That would explain why the Eternals weren't moved off-plane during the story. Bolas is still waiting on a final component, and Ral has only had the last two days to work on it.
Surprised Gideon survived, but then again, who's going to replace him anytime soon? They replaced Ajani for a reason.
Considering all the breadcrumbs for a Gideon plot in Return to Theros (whenever that is), I can't understand why anyone who's been following the story would be surprised at Gideon surviving.
Definitely one of my favorite stories from MTG in awhile, and not just because there was some stellar catharsis in seeing the Gatewatch so thoroughly whupped. I'm pleased at Liliana's "betrayel," as she was a much weaker character (in every respect) while working with the Watch, and there are some fun plot threads forming up around their defeat.
I'm pleased at Liliana's "betrayal", but for a very different reason. She was completely reasonable with said "betrayal". Everyone else in the Gatewatch that was there was just being colossally stupid. Nissa was the only one there other than Liliana who might have potentially had something to fight Bolas with, but Bolas had too much control over Amonkhet for it to be effective, which brings back the whole point of Nissa being way more effective on Zendikar.
Well THIS is hands down my favorite story since I started playing! Bolas was everything I had hoped, and I must admit, I cried laughing when he bounced Gideon off the wall.
The hype was justifed. I knew the Gatewatch would lose Round 1, but that was a curbstomp of beautiful proportions. Really hoping for more like this, and for them to not come back and kill him like a punk. Still salty after BFZ.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Project Booster Fun makes it less fun to open a booster.
Definitely one of my favorite stories from MTG in awhile, and not just because there was some stellar catharsis in seeing the Gatewatch so thoroughly whupped. I'm pleased at Liliana's "betrayel," as she was a much weaker character (in every respect) while working with the Watch, and there are some fun plot threads forming up around their defeat.
I know right (the betrayal)
It was almost like watching Star Wars III with the scene palpintine (darth sidious) bringing anakin to the dark side
It's worth noting that a whole lot of things make more sense if Ral is working for Bolas. The whole 'he created the Gatewatch' thing from the art book makes sense when you realize Ral (attempted to have) led Jace to Gideon in Project Lightning Bug, and also appears In This Very Arena where Liliana reveals they found Tezzeret and are all heading to Kaladesh.
Can you explain this a little further, please? There are a lot of things here I don't know/understand.
It connects a lot of dots.
In the artbook, Bolas' reason for releasing the Eldrazi is to see how planeswalkers would react. He also takes credit for the Gatewatch. That's more interesting when you realize that Jace and Gideon become aware of each other in Project Lightning Bugbecause of Ral Zarek.
During In This Very Area, Jace and Ral are having a meeting when Liliana shows up. She blurts out that they're heading to Kaladesh and they found Tezzeret. Ral is also the one who points Jace to Vraska in that story... and where do we see Vraska next? Ixalan, alongside Jace.
Plus, it's possible the mystery project of Ral's is that the Planar Bridge need Project Lightning Bug (which can track planeswalkers from plane to plane) as a kind of Navigation unit. Rashmi was able to use it to teleport on the same plane, but when she ducks her head into it there's a ton of different planes it cycles through all at once. That would explain why the Eternals weren't moved off-plane during the story. Bolas is still waiting on a final component, and Ral has only had the last two days to work on it.
Cool, thanks. Would it be more impressive if they were actually writing this far out, or if they opportunistically found these story gaps and plugged them with Bolas as the master manipulator afterward?
Definitely one of my favorite stories from MTG in awhile, and not just because there was some stellar catharsis in seeing the Gatewatch so thoroughly whupped. I'm pleased at Liliana's "betrayel," as she was a much weaker character (in every respect) while working with the Watch, and there are some fun plot threads forming up around their defeat.
I know right (the betrayal)
It was almost like watching Star Wars III with the scene palpintine (darth sidious) bringing anakin to the dark side
Anakin's heel-face turn was the result of a culmination of many different factors over several years, including his history as a slave, his mother's death, his fear for his wife's life, the Jedi code forcing him to keep his already-boiling emotions bottled up, Palpatine whispering sweet nothings into his ear, the departure of his apprentice, and the Jedi Masters basically disrespecting him.
Liliana's motive for "betraying" the Gatewatch was happening in real-time for us to see.
Cool, thanks. Would it be more impressive if they were actually writing this far out, or if they opportunistically found these story gaps and plugged them with Bolas as the master manipulator afterward?
I'm not sure it was thought out as far back as Return to Ravnica (likely not), but it was certainly intended with Project Lightning Bug. It works out almost too well.
Good, I'm glad this story happened. Not that I thought the Gatewatch were handled spectacularly well during BFZ, but I don't think they deserve as much ire as they seem to get here. The only thing I could think about through this entire thing was how glad I will be when (if) Nicol Bolas finally gets his comeuppance. Sure, he's an old planeswalker and an elder dragon so he's incredibly powerful, but he's still an arrogant prick and there's nothing sweeter than watching the arrogant brought low. Cannot wait to see the Nicol Bolas' Defeat card.
She said that the dead Gods' "uses were unexplored", which is a pretty...cold description of the situation. I wonder if that has any significance to her character development.
If Ral was indeed working for Bolas all along, it means him informing Jace of losing track of Vraska to a hidden plane was purposeful. I dare say Bolas may have wiped his memory but left the location of losing Vraska intact... Purposeful?
First of all, I hope all the people talking incessantly about how MUCH they hate the Gatewatch, how they deserve to lose or die, etc... will finally SHUT THE HECK UP. If this was not enough for you, I do not know what. Curbstomping of epic proportions indeed.
Second...GOD BLESS WIZARDS that they did not let Wyatt or Beyer ruin this story.
Third...Ken Troop writes Bolas like a pro.
I am really curious how Liliana can remain a member of the Watch after this. But I am sure that they all will have a lot to think about now, and the door are not closed for her. After all, there is still her love/sympathy/whatever for Jace. And if anything, she was again reminded how weak she can be alone.
Nissa's part is interesting. She really got some interesting traits after the Kefnet's trial, being more self-aware and self-confident. Her sudden doubting the purpose of the Watch was interesting.
The mystery how and when she encouraged the people of Amonkhet to rebuild and embrace the wild deserts remains unresolved. Her realization that the land accepted Bolas as its master, etc. etc... and the cards simply contradict.
And Ral. Unexpected. Kudos to Jay for his analysis. It makes sense.
The next sets in the Empire Strikes Back mode will be interesting.
Good, I'm glad this story happened. Not that I thought the Gatewatch were handled spectacularly well during BFZ, but I don't think they deserve as much ire as they seem to get here. The only thing I could think about through this entire thing was how glad I will be when (if) Nicol Bolas finally gets his comeuppance. Sure, he's an old planeswalker and an elder dragon so he's incredibly powerful, but he's still an arrogant prick and there's nothing sweeter than watching the arrogant brought low. Cannot wait to see the Nicol Bolas' Defeat card.
Enchantment: "If you have one of each [names of planeswalkers here] in play, you win the game."
She said that the dead Gods' "uses were unexplored", which is a pretty...cold description of the situation. I wonder if that has any significance to her character development.
I took that to mean that she was wondering why the plane had created those gods, since they were embodiments of the plane's leylines.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Yes! I loved this. Feels like it was a call out to all the people who are sick of the Gatewatch. Like it was Wizards' way of saying "We heard you. Let Bolas speak for you."
But man... This was a close second:
To be fair, Nissa started her path to said newfound abilities before Bolas whupped her. She was even thinking about where the Watch went wrong and the approach they could have taken during the whupping, which (to me) is kinda interesting.
I think if they want to stand any chance against Bolas, they either need to really amp up their prowess with their primary colors (Gideon actually using hieromancy to its fullest, for instance), or follow Nissa's example and branch out into other colors to help shore up their weaknesses. Of course, they also need to actually follow Ajani's advice and recruit help.
Looking back, Ugin seems awful disingenuous about the Eldrazi - acting like Ulamog's moves can't be predicted until Jace actually notes he's drawn to concentrations of life, saying Ulamog cannot be killed until the Gatewatch goes out and actually does it. He's not any less manipulative himself. I find reasons to justify Nahiri's rage all the time looking back. I can see her taking out the dragons of Tarkir (with the reinstatement of the clans as an unforeseen consequence) just for revenge.
|| 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 ||
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Can you explain this a little further, please? There are a lot of things here I don't know/understand.
Maybe it was the style of writing but I didn't enjoy this story nearly as much as the others. Lots of rambling and beating around the bush to get through. I don't think I've read a story with Bolas in it and going by this, I'm not really liking him as a villain so far. His schemes are apparently more interesting than him. He's incredibly powerful AND incredibly intelligent and cunning. It can make for a boring character without deft writing to support him. Then again he was on Amonkhet where his power was stronger so maybe on a neutral world it would have been a different fight. Nissa seems to be the powerhouse of the group and could have been a force if he didn't have such control over the plane.
I did pick up on the Raven Man and Chain Veil's reactions to Bolas, though. Remember how panicked the Chain Veil and Raven Man were when Liliana was in Emrakul's presence? They were scared and pleading with her to leave. Much different from their reactions to Bolas. The Chain Veil was ready to take him on and Raven Man was pretty casual in his responses by comparison.
Anywho, I'm curious to see where all this scheming leads to. Amonkhet had some great story moments and I'm very curious to see how this plane rebounds (if it even does) later on.
I noticed the contrasts with Emrakul and Bolas as well. Notice too how the Chain Veil went mysteriously quiet when Lilliana was convinced to leave. Let's not forget that Bolas guided her to Kothophed, who requested the Chain Veil that she ended up using for herself. It must be a way Bolas is manipulating her.
|| 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 ||
"And then there were three. I didn't want to annoy your dear departed necromancer, but between us, I admit I know a fair bit of necromancy. Do you have an opening in your Gatewatch? Is there some type of application process?"
First off, great 'voice' here. Is he 20,000 years old or 20? This endless taunting..he sounds more like he's 20. I'm also pretty sure there's no such things as jobs, or application processes, in the Magic multiverse. WTF, author?
"Enough, foolish child." SEE? THIS IS BETTER.
His voice was just wrong for most of the article.
Surprised Gideon survived, but then again, who's going to replace him anytime soon? They replaced Ajani for a reason.
This wasn't my favorite of the stories but it's nice to see it finished all the same. Great storyline this block!
Fully-powered 600-Card "Dream Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/dreamcube
450-Card "Artificer's Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/artificer
Cubing in Indianapolis...send me a PM!!
It'll be interesting to watch Liliana wrestle with Bolas' promise of power and her deepening affection for her "pets."
And Bolas's thoughts prior to the battle was far calmer than his demeanor, suggests that his theatric dialogues and taunts were for enjoyment (as a dragon) and method to cow the Gatewatch. Bolas do not care if they live or die and while they're more useful alive, a healthy dose of fear make them more manipulatable, and he successfully turned their heroic image into that of cowards. No wrong in escaping Bolas, but most of them fail to see that, therefore it'd cut deeper.
I do feel Liliana here, because she was actually trying to do something good for her compatriots. I start to wonder if the Raven Man is a mental implant of Bolas, consider Bolas is a better telepath than Jace therefore could definitely see Raven Man, yet he made no comments about him.
Ral being Bolas's agent was a surprise and not a surprise at the same time. We all know Bolas have ears everywhere, the question is actually "who?" And as one of you mentioned earlier, Ajani's plan of seeking allies has a good chance of including one of his agents, which means even if Gatewatch agree to Ajani and look for teammates they'd still be within Bolas's grasp; perhaps this is also Bolas's plan right from the start (consider Ral might be the first to report GW's existence).
In short, everything Gatewatch has accomplished, even their victory on Kaladesh, is within the perimeter of Bolas's plan, no matter what they do it'd end up benefiting Bolas in some way. Bolas also mentioned other "heroes" in multiverse whom he's aware, he most definitely also anticipated all of them joining hands also, and serve him one way or another.
Fantastically speaking, if Bolas and Urza scheme together or against each other, the multiverse would suffer.
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
In the artbook, Bolas' reason for releasing the Eldrazi is to see how planeswalkers would react. He also takes credit for the Gatewatch. That's more interesting when you realize that Jace and Gideon become aware of each other in Project Lightning Bug because of Ral Zarek.
During In This Very Area, Jace and Ral are having a meeting when Liliana shows up. She blurts out that they're heading to Kaladesh and they found Tezzeret. Ral is also the one who points Jace to Vraska in that story... and where do we see Vraska next? Ixalan, alongside Jace.
Plus, it's possible the mystery project of Ral's is that the Planar Bridge need Project Lightning Bug (which can track planeswalkers from plane to plane) as a kind of Navigation unit. Rashmi was able to use it to teleport on the same plane, but when she ducks her head into it there's a ton of different planes it cycles through all at once. That would explain why the Eternals weren't moved off-plane during the story. Bolas is still waiting on a final component, and Ral has only had the last two days to work on it.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Considering all the breadcrumbs for a Gideon plot in Return to Theros (whenever that is), I can't understand why anyone who's been following the story would be surprised at Gideon surviving.
I'm pleased at Liliana's "betrayal", but for a very different reason. She was completely reasonable with said "betrayal". Everyone else in the Gatewatch that was there was just being colossally stupid. Nissa was the only one there other than Liliana who might have potentially had something to fight Bolas with, but Bolas had too much control over Amonkhet for it to be effective, which brings back the whole point of Nissa being way more effective on Zendikar.
The hype was justifed. I knew the Gatewatch would lose Round 1, but that was a curbstomp of beautiful proportions. Really hoping for more like this, and for them to not come back and kill him like a punk. Still salty after BFZ.
I know right (the betrayal)
It was almost like watching Star Wars III with the scene palpintine (darth sidious) bringing anakin to the dark side
Cool, thanks. Would it be more impressive if they were actually writing this far out, or if they opportunistically found these story gaps and plugged them with Bolas as the master manipulator afterward?
Anakin's heel-face turn was the result of a culmination of many different factors over several years, including his history as a slave, his mother's death, his fear for his wife's life, the Jedi code forcing him to keep his already-boiling emotions bottled up, Palpatine whispering sweet nothings into his ear, the departure of his apprentice, and the Jedi Masters basically disrespecting him.
Liliana's motive for "betraying" the Gatewatch was happening in real-time for us to see.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
She said that the dead Gods' "uses were unexplored", which is a pretty...cold description of the situation. I wonder if that has any significance to her character development.
Modern:R 8Whack R|W White Knights W
First of all, I hope all the people talking incessantly about how MUCH they hate the Gatewatch, how they deserve to lose or die, etc... will finally SHUT THE HECK UP. If this was not enough for you, I do not know what. Curbstomping of epic proportions indeed.
Second...GOD BLESS WIZARDS that they did not let Wyatt or Beyer ruin this story.
Third...Ken Troop writes Bolas like a pro.
I am really curious how Liliana can remain a member of the Watch after this. But I am sure that they all will have a lot to think about now, and the door are not closed for her. After all, there is still her love/sympathy/whatever for Jace. And if anything, she was again reminded how weak she can be alone.
Nissa's part is interesting. She really got some interesting traits after the Kefnet's trial, being more self-aware and self-confident. Her sudden doubting the purpose of the Watch was interesting.
The mystery how and when she encouraged the people of Amonkhet to rebuild and embrace the wild deserts remains unresolved. Her realization that the land accepted Bolas as its master, etc. etc... and the cards simply contradict.
And Ral. Unexpected. Kudos to Jay for his analysis. It makes sense.
The next sets in the Empire Strikes Back mode will be interesting.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Enchantment: "If you have one of each [names of planeswalkers here] in play, you win the game."
I took that to mean that she was wondering why the plane had created those gods, since they were embodiments of the plane's leylines.