IIRC it didn't work on the werewolves cause they were too "feral"
Yeah. IIRC, the only werewolf he was able to directly affect was the newly turned one. The others were too far from human for him to be able to manipulate. He mostly just threw illusions at them (that they largely saw through cause they lacked scent) and ran (rode his horse) to safety.
Yes which I have a gigantic problem with, it is something of a huge plot hole that Jace is "the bestest mind mage ever" and can't do what Laquastas did.
His illusions were also ineffective against Garruk.
He also talks about how alien Nissa mind is and how she understands things in a way he can't, so I think its green aligned beings in general he just has issues with. I think it supposed to show the hex proof like aspects of green.
Considering a lowly green goblin can just shush blue mages into submission if we're going by game mechanics, I'm inclined to believe that.
Yes which I have a gigantic problem with, it is something of a huge plot hole that Jace is "the bestest mind mage ever" and can't do what Laquastas did.
What has led you to believe he is "the bestest mind mage ever"? He is certainly a mind mage, probably gifted, but nearly every other person they've shown with mental powers has been better than him in some way. Admittedly several of those are millennial old dragons so probably not a fair comparison.
The way he is portrayed in the stories? Able to Crush a mind by complete accident.
Until the plot says he can't do that for random arbitrary reasons..which is why I used quotes.
Considering a lowly green goblin can just shush blue mages into submission if we're going by game mechanics, I'm inclined to believe that.
The problem I have there is that the effects I am talking about are less targeted at the creature..and are more around the caster
Similar to the end of battle for zenidkar where we have the different points of view set at different timelines.
-Huatli semi betrays Angrath after he semi broke their truce so she and the merfolk can get to the city first
-Tishana now knows for sure there are other worlds
-Vraskas crew catches up
-Faction fight was neat with Malcolm saving the day for Huatli and Tishana
-NO ANGRATH DON'T HURT BREECHES! D:
-Love the bit of chat when Angrath tosses in the dino head to Huatli
-Angrath, Huatli and Tishana all got the cities blessing
-The emperor is sending an army
-Azor went around and "brought" order to many planes and then left them leading into chaos. While good intentioned, his meddling might have leads to countless war and abuses of power
-It seems Azor and Ugin planned to use the Sun to trap Bolas on Ixalan but things fell apart when Bolas *killed* Ugin
-Jace sentence Azor to live out on Useless Island forever to no longer meddle in the affairs of others. From Jaces words I get Azor also left the mage rings on Vryn (Edit: Nope)
“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"
Azor smells like cats. That is reason enough for me to approve of this story.
but to see Jace take full authority of his power was refreshing. No doubt or hesitation, and it felt allt he better because he earned that through the developments of Ixalan. well done, Wizards writers. Well done.
Still hope Breeches gets a card in a future commander product
So could Bolas plan just be a "reversed" version of Azor/Ugins plan?
Step 1: Find a suitable plane and transfer all eternals there
Step 2: Track "Heroes" with Project Lightning Bug
Step 3: Unleash some cosmic threat "near" the heroes and let them gather (like the eldrazi plan)
Step 4: Lure them to the plane and seal them there to be killed by an eternal army
Step 5: Profit! A way to get rid of all annoying planeswalkers who might get into his way (even thought he could just crush them)
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
.
Thanks to DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios for this sick Signature.
Namely, who got themselves into a little fight with Bolas just over a thousand years ago?
Azor never got the signal, because Bolas figured out the plan, ambushed Ugin on Tarkir and killed him (or coma'd him in the current timeline). Ugin's been worried about other things since he reawoke, so naturally Azor's been left to rot.
Oopsie!
It also explains how Bolas knows about the Immortal Sun in the first place.
Also, the Huatli/Angrath Chemistry is utterly amazing.
Still hope Breeches gets a card in a future commander product
So could Bolas plan just be a "reversed" version of Azor/Ugins plan?
Step 1: Find a suitable plane and transfer all eternals there
Step 2: Track "Heroes" with Project Lightning Bug
Step 3: Unleash some cosmic threat "near" the heroes and let them gather (like the eldrazi plan)
Step 4: Lure them to the plane and seal them there to be killed by an eternal army
Step 5: Profit! A way to get rid of all annoying planeswalkers who might get into his way (even thought he could just crush them)
I'm not so sure. Again, why doesn't Bolas just crush the people he wants dead. Hour of Devastation wasn't just about Bolas thinking the Gatewatch was so far beneath him they weren't worth killing. It pretty much said flat out that he felt they were more useful alive. Seems weird to intentionally go out of his way to not kill them on Amonkhet just to kill them later. No, this is more deeper than that, I think.
I mean, it was made using a Planeswalker's Spark, and we know from Scars block that those are transferable. It could be a "Kill Several Birds with One Stone" kind of thing in that it removes something that could cause him problems down the line, and if he can pull that spark into himself, he can get a vast increase in power.
Maybe his overall goal is to become the only Planeswalker.
EDIT: I also just realized that while "Lawbringer" is an apt title, the way things have worked out, it's more like "Lawleaver".
I had that bit of hope Azor would be the sanest of the oldwalkers, turns out he's possibly the craziest of them all.
At least most oldwalkers despite their insanity and disregard of life are relatively self-centered (even Nahiri to some degree), meanwhile we have the arguably the most Lawful Stupid Oldwalker in existence that prioritizes lawful systems so much he created one capable of binding himself to guard Useless Island. No, I do not really consider Jace to be exploiting some legal loophole because the entire legal system was created by Azor himself to begin with, including the fact that the Backup Guildpact plan involves making a singular entity the Guildpact itself and considering Dragon's Maze, there's a solid chance it'll be someone capable of utilizing Legal Loopholes to begin with (The Ghost Council already did that to some degree and Niv-Mizzet was the one who uncovered the Maze anyway).
But then again, from varying unconfirmed sources about Crucius (possibly having "sacrificed" himself to essentially become all Etherium to some degree), I suppose the insanity that comes with being an oldwalker has... even more unstable repercussions on Sphinxes.
Why do I have this feeling Ugin doesn't care about Azor at all (seriously I doubt he cared a shred about Sorin & Nahiri, the whole Eldrazi fiasco was him upset about his science project being ruined...), but Jace has inadvertently antagonized Ugin once again (this time less directly) and at this rate I think our planeswalkers (not only Gatewatch) are about to be thrown into an Elder Dragon War of sorts. I mean, if Ugin could convince a naive Nahiri to trap the Eldrazi, I wouldn't imagine it would be to difficult to deceive your way through a law-system-obsessed Sphinx that Bolas needs to be "stopped", especially when Bolas doesn't exactly conceal his evilness unless that concealment was necessary (and usually for Bolas that's only needed so he could gloat even more later on, if Amonkhet is any indication).
Thinking about Azor and Ugin being allies, there's something I'm wondering. Namely, does Ugin yet realize that the Spark's nature has changed?
I bring this up because I've been tossing about in my head the idea that Ugin and Azor's ultimate goal is to put the Multiverse under the rule of the most qualified of gods--namely, oldwalkers. All necessary to keep "small minds" from damaging the place beyond repair. And knowing that Ugin sees the Spark as a "gift", he may see the Multiverse itself as having "chosen" those "gods". (On the other hand, given his exasperation with planeswalkers in general, if I remember the close of the Battle for Zendikar story correctly...Like you're not a planeswalker, Ugin.) Could Ugin seek to restore the Multiverse to its pre-Mending state, once he realizes what's happened?
On an allied note, I'm wondering if Ugin created Tarkir, successfully made it genuinely stable--in terms of not dissolving back into the Blind Eternities, that is--and regards himself as its god. Not a particularly nice god, though--his idea of "balance" on Tarkir was a constant deadlock between the dragons and khanates, after all. I have to wonder what he'd envision as good for the Multiverse as a whole.
I mean, it was made using a Planeswalker's Spark, and we know from Scars block that those are transferable. It could be a "Kill Several Birds with One Stone" kind of thing in that it removes something that could cause him problems down the line, and if he can pull that spark into himself, he can get a vast increase in power.
Piggybacking on this, I wonder if maybe since the Immortal Sun was created when planeswalkers were still oldwalkers, Bolas is hoping that Azor's spark inside it will still be an oldwalker spark that will allow him to vastly surpass any potential opposition.
Angrath should be able to handle a small goblin with zero issue if he could kill a dinosaur that had him pinned...like really man. head cannon ia he burned the dinosaur foot to escape early. How is the entire jungle not up in flames?
All the history and reference to Azor for him to get tossed away like garbage was upsetting. You have a character that has had some of the most build up (rav 1 and 2 stories, impact on Jace, flashy mythic spells etc., finally ties into other walkers) just get dismissed? Talk about missing the mark. Azor was a huge let down. I wanted a good guy that was just flat out not crazy and kinda old. I got a cat smelling crazy old walker who indirectly imprissoned himself because of rules he made.
Jace, again, feels like he's slipping into old Jace lawl mind magic/counter you I'm immune again. What should have imposed a significant physical threat was rendered totally useless because mind magic and rules. While I don't hate him using azors magic against him, it feels waaaay lazy for writing. The good guys finally had a chance to recruit someone else, or at least establish ties like with Ugin, and it is just let go.
Assuming azor was working with ugin, how would Bolas even find out about the plan to kill ugin? Where they warring before hand? Does Ugin even know about Amonkhet? Wtf does it matter and why do they have to fight. Why trap bolas...why trap the eldrazi...why can't Ugin finish his foes off properly. He's like the bad guy in a video game that has poorly thought out evil plots.
I get bolas wanting an army, I get bolas wanting a planar bridge, I get bolas wanting a spark cookie jar, I don't get him releasing the eldrazi. You can say it's to see a team of heroes rise up and how they handle an interplanar threat, which did pay off on Amonkhet...but it's all convineince so far. Unless it's to shake out the multiverse and see what old threats pop up, I just don't get it. giddeon just happens to be helping zendikar out and goes to Jace, who reaches out to friends to kill eldrazi. Ugin sends them to INN to look for sorin (legit), and nahiri just happens to be free at this exact time to get revenge on sorin by summoning eldrazi. They just HAPPEN to travel to kaladesh because story magic hand waving while bolas is getting tezz to find/build the planar bridge. They go to Amonkhet to confront bolas at a time when he just HAPPENS to be reaping his harvest. Ugin sets a trip wire in jaces mind that just HAPPENS to send him to the plane of bolas' next step. Like wtf...at least sprinkle some world spells that trip an alarm for old walkers when crap is going down or something. All this happenstance just makes it feel incredible gimmicky. The "good guys" know way too much about the enemy for nothing more than story reasons alone. It just feels weak and rushed. Ugggghhhhh.
Pretty good story today, only biggest disappointment is the total plot device that Azor turned out to be. The dude was the progenitor of law on countless planes, and he's told to go sit in a corner and think about what he did by an upitty teenager (admittedly whom he had given ultimate power over himself to).
It just seems like Azor turned out to be a total pencil pusher instead of an awesome oldwalker, which I'm sure is going to be a huge letdown for a lot of plot diehards.
Positives, the more we hear about Ugin, the more I'm getting excited for him to be an eventual enemy of the Gatewatch. The dude is just as maniacal as Bolas, he cares for others just as little, and we keep seeing the broken people he leaves behind. The only difference between the two dragons is Bolas is a self-proclaimed evil genius. Ugin thinks he's doing this for the betterment of the multiverse, but we've seen countless villains with similar MO's.
I'm apparently alone here in thinking that Azor was kind of bullied by Jace and Vraska. The thing with UW-types is that they don't ever believe that they are being malevolent in what they are doing, so just using straight up force against them as punishment accomplishes little except making those who feel wronged feel better.
Nicol Bolas, on the other hand, deserves far worse treatment than Azor, yet he gets so many players hard that Wizards is unlikely to give him the comeuppance he truly deserves. I'm talking the ol' Alhammarret mind-reversion-to-infant treatment, dying emaciated and covered in his own feces, except with Bolas' full awareness that of what's going on and that this is how he will die. I would pay money to see that happen.
Anyhow, if Jace allows Bolas to get the Eternal Sun (which we know happens), he's as short-sighted as Ugin claimed he was.
I'm apparently alone here in thinking that Azor was kind of bullied by Jace and Vraska. The thing with UW-types is that they don't ever believe that they are being malevolent in what they are doing, so just using straight up force against them as punishment accomplishes little except making those who feel wronged feel better.
Nicol Bolas, on the other hand, deserves far worse treatment than Azor, yet he gets so many players hard that Wizards is unlikely to give him the comeuppance he truly deserves. I'm talking the ol' Alhammarret mind-reversion-to-infant treatment, dying emaciated and covered in his own feces, except with Bolas' full awareness that of what's going on and that this is how he will die. I would pay money to see that happen.
Anyhow, if Jace allows Bolas to get the Eternal Sun (which we know happens), he's as short-sighted as Ugin claimed he was.
I know I felt a bit let down at how quickly Azor was dealt with. He should have persisted to the close of the Ixalan storyline. Although I do have a feeling that Jace won't so much let Nicol capture the Immortal Sun, as that his efforts will fail to prevent the capture. (Interference from Angrath?)
(I'm curious, by the way. What do players like about Bolas, from what you've heard them say? My identification with planeswalkers, such as it is, is more to the tune of Ajani and Elspeth.)
(I'm curious, by the way. What do players like about Bolas, from what you've heard them say? My identification with planeswalkers, such as it is, is more to the tune of Ajani and Elspeth.)
From what I can tell, the players who like Bolas are mostly enamored with his power and his supposed badassery. It's one of those things where people are attracted to power despite how morally reprehensible the character behind that power is.
(I'm curious, by the way. What do players like about Bolas, from what you've heard them say? My identification with planeswalkers, such as it is, is more to the tune of Ajani and Elspeth.)
His portrayal as a character in the Time Spiral novels, Agents of Artifice and the old Tetsuo story, basically. Great portrayal. He's also just "cool": an ancient elder dragon who then on top of that became a planeswalker? Awesome.
That said, he's so much larger than life in that regard that I feel like trying to use him as your main villain can only end up disappointing unless you're a really good story teller. He wasn't the main focus on both Time Spiral and AoA which is how I like him most.
Tetsuo actually killing Bolas is so amuzing now, btw. Millenia old oldwalkers tried to imprison him using an elaborate plan. Doesn't work. Clever human with a hammer? There you go...Man I want to reread Tetsuo's story now, so good.
But yes, I too feel a bit disappointed with how this was handled. So far the Ixalan story was great (at least the Jace/Vraska part), so don't get me wrong, I think the writing has improved immensely since BfZ and I can only give kudos for that and hope it they keep improving their game like this. But I do agree with what mapccu said a couple posts back. MtG's story is riddled with so many insane coincidences to drive the story forward. "And then" writing rather than "but" and "therefor" writing.
Really, the cards depict a much bigger and drawn out battle for Orazca.
Also, Ugin feels a lot like Urza in the way he treats people and has all these elaborate plans.
Considering a lowly green goblin can just shush blue mages into submission if we're going by game mechanics, I'm inclined to believe that.
The way he is portrayed in the stories? Able to Crush a mind by complete accident.
Until the plot says he can't do that for random arbitrary reasons..which is why I used quotes.
The problem I have there is that the effects I am talking about are less targeted at the creature..and are more around the caster
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/arbiter-law-left-chaos-his-wake-2018-01-24?/
Similar to the end of battle for zenidkar where we have the different points of view set at different timelines.
-Huatli semi betrays Angrath after he semi broke their truce so she and the merfolk can get to the city first
-Tishana now knows for sure there are other worlds
-Vraskas crew catches up
-Faction fight was neat with Malcolm saving the day for Huatli and Tishana
-NO ANGRATH DON'T HURT BREECHES! D:
-Love the bit of chat when Angrath tosses in the dino head to Huatli
-Angrath, Huatli and Tishana all got the cities blessing
-The emperor is sending an army
-Azor went around and "brought" order to many planes and then left them leading into chaos. While good intentioned, his meddling might have leads to countless war and abuses of power
-It seems Azor and Ugin planned to use the Sun to trap Bolas on Ixalan but things fell apart when Bolas *killed* Ugin
-Jace sentence Azor to live out on Useless Island forever to no longer meddle in the affairs of others.
From Jaces words I get Azor also left the mage rings on Vryn(Edit: Nope)"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I wonder who could possibly be the partner Azor had for this endeavor. Truly a mystery for the ages.
It is a bit weird that Azor only had the brief reaction to his failsafe failing, and being trapped somewhere it couldn't do it's job.
On the other hand, he's more of a systems person than a people person so...*shrug*
but to see Jace take full authority of his power was refreshing. No doubt or hesitation, and it felt allt he better because he earned that through the developments of Ixalan. well done, Wizards writers. Well done.
Click the pic for more info.
So could Bolas plan just be a "reversed" version of Azor/Ugins plan?
Step 1: Find a suitable plane and transfer all eternals there
Step 2: Track "Heroes" with Project Lightning Bug
Step 3: Unleash some cosmic threat "near" the heroes and let them gather (like the eldrazi plan)
Step 4: Lure them to the plane and seal them there to be killed by an eternal army
Step 5: Profit! A way to get rid of all annoying planeswalkers who might get into his way (even thought he could just crush them)
Thanks to DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios for this sick Signature.
And this was probably NOT the result that Ugin intended when he rigged Jace's mind for a homing planeswalk to Ixalan...
On the other hand,bonus for unexpected development,Wizards.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Namely, who got themselves into a little fight with Bolas just over a thousand years ago?
Azor never got the signal, because Bolas figured out the plan, ambushed Ugin on Tarkir and killed him (or coma'd him in the current timeline). Ugin's been worried about other things since he reawoke, so naturally Azor's been left to rot.
Oopsie!
It also explains how Bolas knows about the Immortal Sun in the first place.
Also, the Huatli/Angrath Chemistry is utterly amazing.
I'm not so sure. Again, why doesn't Bolas just crush the people he wants dead. Hour of Devastation wasn't just about Bolas thinking the Gatewatch was so far beneath him they weren't worth killing. It pretty much said flat out that he felt they were more useful alive. Seems weird to intentionally go out of his way to not kill them on Amonkhet just to kill them later. No, this is more deeper than that, I think.
Maybe his overall goal is to become the only Planeswalker.
EDIT: I also just realized that while "Lawbringer" is an apt title, the way things have worked out, it's more like "Lawleaver".
At least most oldwalkers despite their insanity and disregard of life are relatively self-centered (even Nahiri to some degree), meanwhile we have the arguably the most Lawful Stupid Oldwalker in existence that prioritizes lawful systems so much he created one capable of binding himself to guard Useless Island. No, I do not really consider Jace to be exploiting some legal loophole because the entire legal system was created by Azor himself to begin with, including the fact that the Backup Guildpact plan involves making a singular entity the Guildpact itself and considering Dragon's Maze, there's a solid chance it'll be someone capable of utilizing Legal Loopholes to begin with (The Ghost Council already did that to some degree and Niv-Mizzet was the one who uncovered the Maze anyway).
But then again, from varying unconfirmed sources about Crucius (possibly having "sacrificed" himself to essentially become all Etherium to some degree), I suppose the insanity that comes with being an oldwalker has... even more unstable repercussions on Sphinxes.
Why do I have this feeling Ugin doesn't care about Azor at all (seriously I doubt he cared a shred about Sorin & Nahiri, the whole Eldrazi fiasco was him upset about his science project being ruined...), but Jace has inadvertently antagonized Ugin once again (this time less directly) and at this rate I think our planeswalkers (not only Gatewatch) are about to be thrown into an Elder Dragon War of sorts. I mean, if Ugin could convince a naive Nahiri to trap the Eldrazi, I wouldn't imagine it would be to difficult to deceive your way through a law-system-obsessed Sphinx that Bolas needs to be "stopped", especially when Bolas doesn't exactly conceal his evilness unless that concealment was necessary (and usually for Bolas that's only needed so he could gloat even more later on, if Amonkhet is any indication).
I bring this up because I've been tossing about in my head the idea that Ugin and Azor's ultimate goal is to put the Multiverse under the rule of the most qualified of gods--namely, oldwalkers. All necessary to keep "small minds" from damaging the place beyond repair. And knowing that Ugin sees the Spark as a "gift", he may see the Multiverse itself as having "chosen" those "gods". (On the other hand, given his exasperation with planeswalkers in general, if I remember the close of the Battle for Zendikar story correctly...Like you're not a planeswalker, Ugin.) Could Ugin seek to restore the Multiverse to its pre-Mending state, once he realizes what's happened?
On an allied note, I'm wondering if Ugin created Tarkir, successfully made it genuinely stable--in terms of not dissolving back into the Blind Eternities, that is--and regards himself as its god. Not a particularly nice god, though--his idea of "balance" on Tarkir was a constant deadlock between the dragons and khanates, after all. I have to wonder what he'd envision as good for the Multiverse as a whole.
Draft my cube! (630 cards)
This was cracking me up
Well, if you gotta yell something...
Angrath should be able to handle a small goblin with zero issue if he could kill a dinosaur that had him pinned...like really man. head cannon ia he burned the dinosaur foot to escape early. How is the entire jungle not up in flames?
All the history and reference to Azor for him to get tossed away like garbage was upsetting. You have a character that has had some of the most build up (rav 1 and 2 stories, impact on Jace, flashy mythic spells etc., finally ties into other walkers) just get dismissed? Talk about missing the mark. Azor was a huge let down. I wanted a good guy that was just flat out not crazy and kinda old. I got a cat smelling crazy old walker who indirectly imprissoned himself because of rules he made.
Jace, again, feels like he's slipping into old Jace lawl mind magic/counter you I'm immune again. What should have imposed a significant physical threat was rendered totally useless because mind magic and rules. While I don't hate him using azors magic against him, it feels waaaay lazy for writing. The good guys finally had a chance to recruit someone else, or at least establish ties like with Ugin, and it is just let go.
Assuming azor was working with ugin, how would Bolas even find out about the plan to kill ugin? Where they warring before hand? Does Ugin even know about Amonkhet? Wtf does it matter and why do they have to fight. Why trap bolas...why trap the eldrazi...why can't Ugin finish his foes off properly. He's like the bad guy in a video game that has poorly thought out evil plots.
I get bolas wanting an army, I get bolas wanting a planar bridge, I get bolas wanting a spark cookie jar, I don't get him releasing the eldrazi. You can say it's to see a team of heroes rise up and how they handle an interplanar threat, which did pay off on Amonkhet...but it's all convineince so far. Unless it's to shake out the multiverse and see what old threats pop up, I just don't get it. giddeon just happens to be helping zendikar out and goes to Jace, who reaches out to friends to kill eldrazi. Ugin sends them to INN to look for sorin (legit), and nahiri just happens to be free at this exact time to get revenge on sorin by summoning eldrazi. They just HAPPEN to travel to kaladesh because story magic hand waving while bolas is getting tezz to find/build the planar bridge. They go to Amonkhet to confront bolas at a time when he just HAPPENS to be reaping his harvest. Ugin sets a trip wire in jaces mind that just HAPPENS to send him to the plane of bolas' next step. Like wtf...at least sprinkle some world spells that trip an alarm for old walkers when crap is going down or something. All this happenstance just makes it feel incredible gimmicky. The "good guys" know way too much about the enemy for nothing more than story reasons alone. It just feels weak and rushed. Ugggghhhhh.
It just seems like Azor turned out to be a total pencil pusher instead of an awesome oldwalker, which I'm sure is going to be a huge letdown for a lot of plot diehards.
Positives, the more we hear about Ugin, the more I'm getting excited for him to be an eventual enemy of the Gatewatch. The dude is just as maniacal as Bolas, he cares for others just as little, and we keep seeing the broken people he leaves behind. The only difference between the two dragons is Bolas is a self-proclaimed evil genius. Ugin thinks he's doing this for the betterment of the multiverse, but we've seen countless villains with similar MO's.
Nicol Bolas, on the other hand, deserves far worse treatment than Azor, yet he gets so many players hard that Wizards is unlikely to give him the comeuppance he truly deserves. I'm talking the ol' Alhammarret mind-reversion-to-infant treatment, dying emaciated and covered in his own feces, except with Bolas' full awareness that of what's going on and that this is how he will die. I would pay money to see that happen.
Anyhow, if Jace allows Bolas to get the Eternal Sun (which we know happens), he's as short-sighted as Ugin claimed he was.
I know I felt a bit let down at how quickly Azor was dealt with. He should have persisted to the close of the Ixalan storyline. Although I do have a feeling that Jace won't so much let Nicol capture the Immortal Sun, as that his efforts will fail to prevent the capture. (Interference from Angrath?)
(I'm curious, by the way. What do players like about Bolas, from what you've heard them say? My identification with planeswalkers, such as it is, is more to the tune of Ajani and Elspeth.)
From what I can tell, the players who like Bolas are mostly enamored with his power and his supposed badassery. It's one of those things where people are attracted to power despite how morally reprehensible the character behind that power is.
His portrayal as a character in the Time Spiral novels, Agents of Artifice and the old Tetsuo story, basically. Great portrayal. He's also just "cool": an ancient elder dragon who then on top of that became a planeswalker? Awesome.
That said, he's so much larger than life in that regard that I feel like trying to use him as your main villain can only end up disappointing unless you're a really good story teller. He wasn't the main focus on both Time Spiral and AoA which is how I like him most.
Tetsuo actually killing Bolas is so amuzing now, btw. Millenia old oldwalkers tried to imprison him using an elaborate plan. Doesn't work. Clever human with a hammer? There you go...Man I want to reread Tetsuo's story now, so good.
But yes, I too feel a bit disappointed with how this was handled. So far the Ixalan story was great (at least the Jace/Vraska part), so don't get me wrong, I think the writing has improved immensely since BfZ and I can only give kudos for that and hope it they keep improving their game like this. But I do agree with what mapccu said a couple posts back. MtG's story is riddled with so many insane coincidences to drive the story forward. "And then" writing rather than "but" and "therefor" writing.
Really, the cards depict a much bigger and drawn out battle for Orazca.
Also, Ugin feels a lot like Urza in the way he treats people and has all these elaborate plans.
Affinity
UW Control
Commander
Sidisi, Undead Vizier
Purphoros, God of the Forge
Dragonlord Ojutai
Gishath, Sun's Avatar
The Ur-Dragon
When you smell like a cat, maybe you're just a kitten.
Azor was done in by HIS OWN MAGIC. Jace used the Living Guildpact's magic to punish Azor. He did it to himself, and it's great.
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[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath