Im curious about the story behind Mathes the fiend hunter. Fiend hunter would imply he kills monsters...but then he's a vamp..disconnect?
We've had vampires in fiction that kill their own kind before, so this wouldn't be new.
Yes but im curious what world this is happening on, not Innistrad I think.
I'd sooner want the name of Rome world that Licia is from, and I suspect we're getting neither piece of information.
Isn't that part of the fun is getting some stuff set up that will pay off later. They have done this well in the past couple of years with Nahii, Daetti where the character hints at future things we may not know about entirely. Plus if they paint themselves into a corner then we get things like the origins retcons. I prefer to have a good mix of old and new.
Im curious about the story behind Mathes the fiend hunter. Fiend hunter would imply he kills monsters...but then he's a vamp..disconnect?
As for Taigam's role and Alison's lore knowledge i think its more that WOTC hasnt decided what they want to do w/ character/worlds yet so they dont want to get written into a corner. As such Luhrs cant confirm answers because the answers arent known yet.
Uh, but we already know who Taigam was in both timelines. We know that in the Khans timeline he was a Jeskai monk who wanted more power, so he defected to Sultai, made a pact with a rakshasa and ended up as Sidisi's Hand.
In Dragons timeline, he was the highest ranking Ojutai human, a monk and a martial arts master. This is his dragon deck version.
Seriously, a Wizard version of Taigam, who Alison says that he defected from Jeskai, is the first one.
AL: Yeah, he’s still wearing the Jeskai robes in his art too, like a traitor. But he went over to the dark side, swapped red for black and now he’s cruising with the Sultai. Or what used to be the Sultai.
But, he’s quite happy with his new digs.
BR: So we’re getting two versions of Taigam in this product?
AL: Yes we are.
BR: That’s kind of cool. Now is this a old Tarkir-new Tarkir thing or is this just Taigam being shady?
AL: This is just Taigam being shady, I believe. Because in the art he’s still wearing his old Jeskai robes, you can totally see them. So I think he’s just a crappy guy. Just a traitor!
Emphasis mine. She does not know. She was unprepared. Like she did not know that this Taigam was already on Taigam's Scheming in Khans.
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Former Fact Prospector of the Greek Alliance.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Unfortunately, these podcast aren't really helpful... it seems almost they come in without preparation... If they don't want to go trhough the lore, they could at least take a quick look at the wiki, it should be enough to not make this bad impression. It seems they are deciding on what to speak about on the fly...
I still wonder how many new legends we are getting per deck. Should be five.
Yes, 5 seems right. But right now I suspect the 5th new commander in each deck won't actually have the respective creature type (like Taigam in the Dragon deck). The blurb from a Japanese magazine from a few days ago mentioned 4 new commander cards per deck, so they either made a mistake or they meant the "proper" tribal commanders. So it could be that the mono-G legend in the cat deck (if there isn one) isn't actually a cat.
On the podcasts: Yeah, it seems like they're just winging it. I didn't listen to the Vampire one because so many people say it wasn't worth it, but in the one from yesterday there was this bit where they were talking about how the lights went out and that Alison person was like "no, this isn't going to be cut out, this is good content". She was obviously joking, but that make it seem like these podcasts aren't actually aimed at people who know about the lore but are just supposed to be a piece of "entertainment" with a bit of trivia and new information thrown in.
So, I think Mairsil might be one of the most flavorful cards in the set. His abilities fit his story absolutely perfectly, and the description of the art in the mothership article is pretty much perfect. My original guess was that he was taunting Lord Ith, trapped in Barl's Cage. I was pretty close.
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So we now have Kess, a random who may or may not be from Grixis (if that's the case, it would have been nice for Zaliki to join in for more Alara goodness, and Qasali Slingers is in the Cat deck).
We also have Portal Mage who's from Vryn. I like that Wizards still has Vryn in mind.
He has still Jeskai robes, as if he just defected. But he is Sidisi's Hand, it is far after he made defected, then made a pact with the rakshasa and ascended to second most powerful post in the clan.
He should have the robes from Taigam's Scheming....
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Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
He has still Jeskai robes, as if he just defected. But he is Sidisi's Hand, it is far after he made defected, then made a pact with the rakshasa and ascended to second most powerful post in the clan.
He should have the robes from Taigam's Scheming....
The art is off, but the effect seems pretty in line with what you'd expect.
He has still Jeskai robes, as if he just defected. But he is Sidisi's Hand, it is far after he made defected, then made a pact with the rakshasa and ascended to second most powerful post in the clan.
He should have the robes from Taigam's Scheming....
The art is off, but the effect seems pretty in line with what you'd expect.
He has still Jeskai robes, as if he just defected. But he is Sidisi's Hand, it is far after he made defected, then made a pact with the rakshasa and ascended to second most powerful post in the clan.
He should have the robes from Taigam's Scheming....
The art is off, but the effect seems pretty in line with what you'd expect.
Yeah, the card is good.
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Former Fact Prospector of the Greek Alliance.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
He has still Jeskai robes, as if he just defected. But he is Sidisi's Hand, it is far after he made defected, then made a pact with the rakshasa and ascended to second most powerful post in the clan.
He should have the robes from Taigam's Scheming....
I think it meant to show his story of being Jeskai and then to the Sulti but your right it would have been better to either keep the name and give him Sulti robes i the art or give him a name like "Taigam, Jeskai defector" flavor it has him newly joining the clan.
I really hope we see some of these plane where these new characters come from, this year has really made me interested in some of these planes the legends come from.
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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"
I really hope we see some of these plane where these new characters come from, this year has really made me interested in some of these planes the legends come from.
Licia is clearly from a Roman plane or a plane with MTG!Rome in it, and the speculations for Kess have so far been Grixis, Equilor (more specifically, Bloodhill Bastion) and post-Emrakul Innistrad (which I think is highly unlikely). I can't begin to guess where Nazahn, Mathas, Arahbo and Inalla are from.
Arahbo: unknown
Nazahn: Alara (Naya/Bant), present day
Mirri: Dominaria (Invasion era), ~360 years ago; deceased
Balan: unknown
Inalla: unknown
Kess: Alara (Grixis), time unknown
Mairsil: Dominaria (Dark Age), ~4000 years ago; deceased
Edgar Markov: Innistrad, sometime in the last 7,000 years, unknown if he is alive or not
Mathas: unknown
Licia: unknown
The Ur-Dragon: Kinda everywhere
Ramos: Dominaria (Brothers' War), ~4500 years ago / Mercadia (Invasion era), ~360 years ago
O-Kagachi: Kamigawa, end of the Kami War. ~1000 years ago
Wasitora: Dominaria, around 400 years after the Kami War
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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"
He has still Jeskai robes, as if he just defected. But he is Sidisi's Hand, it is far after he made defected, then made a pact with the rakshasa and ascended to second most powerful post in the clan.
He should have the robes from Taigam's Scheming....
I think it meant to show his story of being Jeskai and then to the Sulti but your right it would have been better to either keep the name and give him Sulti robes i the art or give him a name like "Taigam, Jeskai defector" flavor it has him newly joining the clan.
Exactly my point. Alison even said it that they wanted to show the transition. Having Taigam, who is already a member od Sultai for a long, long time still in Jeskai robes, does not work for those who know the story.
The good thing is that Blake Rasmussen said in reply to Kelly we are getting an article with the legend blurbs "if he is in good mood" - that would mean it exists and they just have to find a place for it. https://twitter.com/kellydigges/status/895826032174874624
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Former Fact Prospector of the Greek Alliance.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Arahbo: unknown
Nazahn: Alara (Naya/Bant), present day
Mirri: Dominaria (Invasion era), ~360 years ago; deceased
Balan: unknown
Inalla: unknown
Kess: Alara (Grixis), time unknown
Mairsil: Dominaria (Dark Age), ~4000 years ago; deceased
Edgar Markov: Innistrad, sometime in the last 7,000 years, unknown if he is alive or not
Mathas: unknown
Licia: unknown
The Ur-Dragon: Kinda everywhere
Ramos: Dominaria (Brothers' War), ~4500 years ago / Mercadia (Invasion era), ~360 years ago
O-Kagachi: Kamigawa, end of the Kami War. ~1000 years ago
Wasitora: Dominaria, around 400 years after the Kami War
Well that puts the Kess debate to rest; Grixis just made the most sense for her, as her garb, the environment and what she says in the flavour text just screams Grixis. Also, Andethir, you were right about Nazahn being in Bant. Kudos. It seems they really like inserting Alara characters into these Commander sets with Derevi, Kaalia, Meren, possibly Roon, Nazahn, Kess, Breya, Silas Renn, Jazal Goldmane, Yidris, Maelstrom Wanderer, Thromok and probably others I've missed. Not that I mind.
The rest that were revealed were already known from a "Which plane are they from" point of view, but the time period is interesting. The "unknown" ones I guess mean that they're probably from somewhere brand new.
In one timeline on the world of Tarkir, Taigam is a dark wizard who betrayed his clan, defecting to the Sultai where he's working his way up the ranks, ruthlessly seeking power to fulfill his selfish ambition.
I think that makes it pretty clear that he's from the Khans timeline. But then the symbol on his head in the art makes no sense. Honestly, between the podcast info, the artwork and the text above, UB Taigam really is a mess.
This kind of makes me excited about a possible return to post-Conflux Alara, but at the same time it also makes me think they may intend to not return to it at all, since they're establishing all those characters that they would have to work into the narrative somehow (at least some of them would have to be mentioned). Could Alara have become the new Shandalar for now - a sort of "dumping ground" that's frequently used for random legends?
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Yes but im curious what world this is happening on, not Innistrad I think.
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"
I'd sooner want the name of Rome world that Licia is from, and I suspect we're getting neither piece of information.
Isn't that part of the fun is getting some stuff set up that will pay off later. They have done this well in the past couple of years with Nahii, Daetti where the character hints at future things we may not know about entirely. Plus if they paint themselves into a corner then we get things like the origins retcons. I prefer to have a good mix of old and new.
She is actually a superior writer, but her lack of knowledge and preparedness is disappointing.
Uh, but we already know who Taigam was in both timelines. We know that in the Khans timeline he was a Jeskai monk who wanted more power, so he defected to Sultai, made a pact with a rakshasa and ended up as Sidisi's Hand.
https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Taigam
In Dragons timeline, he was the highest ranking Ojutai human, a monk and a martial arts master. This is his dragon deck version.
Seriously, a Wizard version of Taigam, who Alison says that he defected from Jeskai, is the first one.
Emphasis mine. She does not know. She was unprepared. Like she did not know that this Taigam was already on Taigam's Scheming in Khans.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
I still wonder how many new legends we are getting per deck. Should be five.
Dragons have 3x 5c (Ur-Dragon, O-Kagachi, Ramos), Taigam and Wasitora (WU+BRG)
Cats have 3x GW, monowhite, and probably missing mono G legend.
Vamps have three RWB, we are missing both small legends
Wizards have Inalla and Mairsil, Sultai Taigam as small legend. Missing one 3c and one small.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
On the podcasts: Yeah, it seems like they're just winging it. I didn't listen to the Vampire one because so many people say it wasn't worth it, but in the one from yesterday there was this bit where they were talking about how the lights went out and that Alison person was like "no, this isn't going to be cut out, this is good content". She was obviously joking, but that make it seem like these podcasts aren't actually aimed at people who know about the lore but are just supposed to be a piece of "entertainment" with a bit of trivia and new information thrown in.
So, I think Mairsil might be one of the most flavorful cards in the set. His abilities fit his story absolutely perfectly, and the description of the art in the mothership article is pretty much perfect. My original guess was that he was taunting Lord Ith, trapped in Barl's Cage. I was pretty close.
|| 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 ||
In Mairsil's card's case, that word is 'cage'. I'm pretty sure I got actual chills when I read that word.
|| 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 ||
We also have Portal Mage who's from Vryn. I like that Wizards still has Vryn in mind.
He has still Jeskai robes, as if he just defected. But he is Sidisi's Hand, it is far after he made defected, then made a pact with the rakshasa and ascended to second most powerful post in the clan.
He should have the robes from Taigam's Scheming....
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
The art is off, but the effect seems pretty in line with what you'd expect.
Yeah, the card is good.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
I think it meant to show his story of being Jeskai and then to the Sulti but your right it would have been better to either keep the name and give him Sulti robes i the art or give him a name like "Taigam, Jeskai defector" flavor it has him newly joining the clan.
I really hope we see some of these plane where these new characters come from, this year has really made me interested in some of these planes the legends come from.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Licia is clearly from a Roman plane or a plane with MTG!Rome in it, and the speculations for Kess have so far been Grixis, Equilor (more specifically, Bloodhill Bastion) and post-Emrakul Innistrad (which I think is highly unlikely). I can't begin to guess where Nazahn, Mathas, Arahbo and Inalla are from.
I didn't notice it before, but I do see some things on his person that look kinda like sigils.
Bant is a possibility, for sure.
https://twitter.com/kellydigges/status/895829904482156546
Arahbo: unknown
Nazahn: Alara (Naya/Bant), present day
Mirri: Dominaria (Invasion era), ~360 years ago; deceased
Balan: unknown
Inalla: unknown
Kess: Alara (Grixis), time unknown
Mairsil: Dominaria (Dark Age), ~4000 years ago; deceased
Edgar Markov: Innistrad, sometime in the last 7,000 years, unknown if he is alive or not
Mathas: unknown
Licia: unknown
The Ur-Dragon: Kinda everywhere
Ramos: Dominaria (Brothers' War), ~4500 years ago / Mercadia (Invasion era), ~360 years ago
O-Kagachi: Kamigawa, end of the Kami War. ~1000 years ago
Wasitora: Dominaria, around 400 years after the Kami War
"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 ||
Quite frankly, one look at the Wiki timeline would reveal it, Jenrik...
The Thran precedes TBW even more, being the "oldest" revisionist novel, set about 9 500 AR years in the past from the current time.
Exactly my point. Alison even said it that they wanted to show the transition. Having Taigam, who is already a member od Sultai for a long, long time still in Jeskai robes, does not work for those who know the story.
The good thing is that Blake Rasmussen said in reply to Kelly we are getting an article with the legend blurbs "if he is in good mood" - that would mean it exists and they just have to find a place for it. https://twitter.com/kellydigges/status/895826032174874624
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
This... is really weird. Nothing about this Taigam makes sense.
Well that puts the Kess debate to rest; Grixis just made the most sense for her, as her garb, the environment and what she says in the flavour text just screams Grixis. Also, Andethir, you were right about Nazahn being in Bant. Kudos. It seems they really like inserting Alara characters into these Commander sets with Derevi, Kaalia, Meren, possibly Roon, Nazahn, Kess, Breya, Silas Renn, Jazal Goldmane, Yidris, Maelstrom Wanderer, Thromok and probably others I've missed. Not that I mind.
The rest that were revealed were already known from a "Which plane are they from" point of view, but the time period is interesting. The "unknown" ones I guess mean that they're probably from somewhere brand new.
http://magic.wizards.com/en/products/commander-2017-commanders
I think that makes it pretty clear that he's from the Khans timeline. But then the symbol on his head in the art makes no sense. Honestly, between the podcast info, the artwork and the text above, UB Taigam really is a mess.
This kind of makes me excited about a possible return to post-Conflux Alara, but at the same time it also makes me think they may intend to not return to it at all, since they're establishing all those characters that they would have to work into the narrative somehow (at least some of them would have to be mentioned). Could Alara have become the new Shandalar for now - a sort of "dumping ground" that's frequently used for random legends?