Something I found interesting;
Mavren Fein and Vona are searching for the first vampire named Elenda who is "the guardian of the Immortal Sun". Maybe she was the one who brought the Immortal Sun to Ixalan (continent) and as someone else I saw online suggest, one of the guardians the river heralds spoke of.
Goblins are native to Ixalan (continent) and joined up with the pirates when they first showed up.
Orcs really hate the Vampires.
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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"
Elendra you say? As in the glen? An odd choice for a name conaidering it already has a use.
Also interesting the way they seem to be conflating Kopala and Kumena. In last week's story Kopala didn't seem very ambitious. Seemed more like the go with the flow sort. Kumena on the other hand seems ready to take Tishana's spot.
Elendra you say? As in the glen? An odd choice for a name conaidering it already has a use.
Also interesting the way they seem to be conflating Kopala and Kumena. In last week's story Kopala didn't seem very ambitious. Seemed more like the go with the flow sort. Kumena on the other hand seems ready to take Tishana's spot.
No, it's Elenda.
Reading these snippets only magnifies my personal feeling that the pirates don't belong on this plane. The plane could have been beautiful, but the pirates sort of stain it.
Reading these snippets only magnifies my personal feeling that the pirates don't belong on this plane. The plane could have been beautiful, but the pirates sort of stain it.
I don't think they have, actually. We only know of Jace attempting it once (iirc). Likewise we've only seen Hualti do it once. Vraska seems like she's tried it at least once (cause she described it when she first saw Jace), but most likely not more than that. Bolas told her she couldn't return till her task was done, and while she(we) might have interpreted that to mean that the meditation realm wouldn't let her back in without completing her objective, it's not a far leap to consider that he might (also) have meant that she couldn't leave Ixalan till she found what he sent her for.
Angrath's really the only definitely unknown variable here, we have no idea how long he's been there, nor how many times he's tried to leave.
It's possible that it's only happened three times recently. Once with Vraska, most likely not long after she arrived a few months ago. Once for Jace over a month ago, and once for Hualti, an indeterminate time ago.
Depending on how long, and how often Angrath's been trying to leave, this might not be all that unusual at all.
I feel like he probably tried it a few times, but I'm sure even someone as impulsive and bull-headed (;p) as Angrath would wise up after a while
Something I found interesting;
Mavren Fein and Vona are searching for the first vampire named Elenda who is "the guardian of the Immortal Sun". Maybe she was the one who brought the Immortal Sun to Ixalan (continent) and as someone else I saw online suggest, one of the guardians the river heralds spoke of.
Goblins are native to Ixalan (continent) and joined up with the pirates when they first showed up.
Orcs really hate the Vampires.
Yeah, that was my read on Saint Elenda and the Immortal Sun as well.
Loyalty counter removal is a cost for the activation of the - abilities and not the abilities themselves removing the counters, so with that wording, his card wouldn't stop that if I'm not mistaken.
I agree that The Immortal Sun will have a planeswalker-centric ability due to it (presumably) driving the planeswalk lock on the plane.
Reading these snippets only magnifies my personal feeling that the pirates don't belong on this plane. The plane could have been beautiful, but the pirates sort of stain it.
How so? the more I read and see of Ixalan the more the odd elements blend together better.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“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"
Loyalty counter removal is a cost for the activation of the - abilities and not the abilities themselves removing the counters, so with that wording, his card wouldn't stop that if I'm not mistaken.
I agree that The Immortal Sun will have a planeswalker-centric ability due to it (presumably) driving the planeswalk lock on the plane.
Beyond the activation cost, when has a planeswalker ever had an ability that removed Loyalty counters from a(nother) planeswalker you control (aside from direct damage, which, why would you be aiming it at your own planeswalker?).
Ertai Planeswalker's own analysis/stated goal of the affect was that Loyalty only ever goes up.
This way, when it comes to loyalty counters, the only way is up so Planeswalkers never leave the battlefield. however, the can still be killed (destruction or damage) and the card remains balanced since you cannot activate abilities you have not accumulated enough counters for yet.
That would preclude removing loyalty counters as payment. Either the ability doesn't work as intended (it doesn't stop removal of Loyalty counters as costs, thus Loyalty does go down) or is insanely broken.
This isn't really relevant to the topic though, so I apologize from the derailment. On Topic-wise. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's (assumed) Vampire story. I'm hoping we get some nice moral grey from at least one of the legends. (Arguel or Mavren Fein* most likely, as having a title like "Butcher of Magan" strong indicates Vona won't be particularly relatable/palatable.)
EDIT:* I'm forever reading/writing his name as Marvin...
The Shapers was my favorite Ixalan story so far. In terms of prose alone, it was a pleasing read. Content-wise, it lifted the River Heralds into my favorite faction (when the Ixalan factions were first spoiled, the River Heralds seemed by far the least interesting to me. Now that spot belongs to the pirates.)
Kopala and Kumena are both excellent characters. Kopala has the right balance of courage and doubt; he knows his power, but this is balanced by humility and an awareness that he still has much to learn. "Least of the greatest of my people" was a perfect line because it captures, in a droplet, the essence of his personality and worldview. I'd like to see him play a larger role.
As for Kumena... I think we'll be seeing much more of him. So far he is the only character taking up the mantle of the villain, but even then, he is a nuanced figure and there is an undeniable logic to his arguments. I find myself caught between Kopala's reasoning and Kumena's--it's been a long time since we've had a villain like this. After Bolas last block, and Tezzeret the block before, and the Eldrazi the two blocks before that, it's refreshing to have an antagonist whose motives are not only so understandable, but sympathetic.
Loving the art in the plane guide. Especially how reminiscent the Legion of Dusk is to Innistrad (rightfully so). The Sun Empire's settlements look great. And of course, my favorite artwork for Jace (a very high standard to equal, let alone surpass) has been delivered at long last. Man I love this set. Merfolk and Vampires especially. Much respect for Meso-American and Dinosaur influences for fans of those (definitely suits this world). Concur these are the most stunning merfolk of all. Kinda sad Theros didn't have such colorful ones!
Reading these snippets only magnifies my personal feeling that the pirates don't belong on this plane. The plane could have been beautiful, but the pirates sort of stain it.
How so? the more I read and see of Ixalan the more the odd elements blend together better.
Just for me personally, everything on the plane is beautiful and thematically-cohesive. And then, pirates. It's one thing to blend odd elements together, it's another to just put them together. And the latter is how I feel about pirates being part of this world, thematically and aesthetically and even mechanically.
Hm. So the next chapter will be live in a couple hours. There's three stories left for Ixalan, let me take a shot at predicting, just off the top of my head.
This week (Episode 5): Focus on the Legion of Dusk. Probably Mavren Fein and Arguel, with some mention of the latter's Blood Fast.
Next Week (Episode 6): Jace and Vraska run into the River Heralds' trap. Probably some Kumena shenanigans. We might even see Kumena get hold of the compass somehow. Jace and Vraska are our heroes, but so far in the race for Orazca, they're holding all the best cards, as it were. It seems natural that somehow one of our villains finds a way to get there first, or at least take the lead.
Episode 7: Seeking to reach Orazca without the compass, Jace and Vraska find their journey beset by new danger (as seen in Perilous Voyage). Huatli and her explorers will likely make another appearance before this chapter is done. Jace will take his tumble down the waterfall, and we'll close out with either Kumena or the Legion of Dusk reaching the City of Gold first.
And then we wait until December.
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"I'd rather die speaking the truth than live a lie." --Gix, to Yawgmoth (pre-Phyrexia)
Reading these snippets only magnifies my personal feeling that the pirates don't belong on this plane. The plane could have been beautiful, but the pirates sort of stain it.
How so? the more I read and see of Ixalan the more the odd elements blend together better.
Just for me personally, everything on the plane is beautiful and thematically-cohesive. And then, pirates. It's one thing to blend odd elements together, it's another to just put them together. And the latter is how I feel about pirates being part of this world, thematically and aesthetically and even mechanically.
And I'm the opposite. The more I lean about the Age of Discovery (which looks to be the top-down theme of this set) it blends. For pirates it works (for me) since the Golden age of Piracy was during the tail end of the age of discovery and many major conflicts during that time where with pirates and the Spanish Colonies in Central and Southern America (Pirates of the Caribbean is called for that reason), which links them nicely with the starting point of vampire conquistadors). I also like how the pirates (and the vampires) stand out since they are the foreigners to Ixalan.
I will give you though, the themes do work but not as strongly as I think Wizards was thinking.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“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"
If there's only two episodes after today what the hell are we doing for the next two and a half months? God I hope its not podcasts. Some stuff for Iconic Masters I imagine but what else?
If there's only two episodes after today what the hell are we doing for the next two and a half months? God I hope its not podcasts. Some stuff for Iconic Masters I imagine but what else?
Actually, now that I think about it, we might have some stories for Explorers of Ixalan.
While the set features no new cards, it's all Ixalan-themed reprints. Mechanically, nothing is new, but for us flavor, story, and art fans, we have plenty to look forward to. Maybe we'll see some more Ixalan stories--interquels, if you will, between Ixalan and Rivals. In a way, it's the closest thing we've had to a middle set since the introduction of the "two-sets-per-block" system.
One can hope, eh?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"I'd rather die speaking the truth than live a lie." --Gix, to Yawgmoth (pre-Phyrexia)
If there's only two episodes after today what the hell are we doing for the next two and a half months? God I hope its not podcasts. Some stuff for Iconic Masters I imagine but what else?
I hope Unstable. It said to be getting the full creative treatment like any other set, which I'm taking as getting a storyline and maybe jokey story spotlight cards.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“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"
If there's only two episodes after today what the hell are we doing for the next two and a half months? God I hope its not podcasts. Some stuff for Iconic Masters I imagine but what else?
I hope Unstable. It said to be getting the full creative treatment like any other set, which I'm taking as getting a storyline and maybe jokey story spotlight cards.
We know for sure Maro is writing at least one story for Unstable, it will probably get a few more.
this week's ixalan Story deepens the bond between Jace and Vraska. Read it here
AND we also get a more in-depth glimpse into Vraska here.
Good stuff all-around. Writers are doing a great job of making these two more likable. also begs the question of what's in store for them when they return to Rav.
The character dynamic between Jace and Vraska on display here is probably the single most real, nuanced, and adorable relationship MTG has produced since I started following the story in OG Zendikar block. 10/10, Jaceka OTP.
Also:
As they departed the sanctuary, a winged being descended from the sky. It took the Immortal Sun, carrying the relic across the sea and into the west.
I'm happy they are handling Jace and Vraska so well. I like showing the area where both blue and black meet (as well as the green conflict), not letting your past/"destiny" control who you are and that its your future to look too. Plus also Vraska doesn't need Bolas since now she has the guildpact. I think Jace can replace the guild leaders.
I wonder where Vraska planes walked to when she sparked.
Also Orazca/ the Immortal Sun has the same kind of engery/magic that is given off when walkers planeswalk.
Jace is starting to remember his childhood with that flash of him mind-killing his teacher, really hinting that if/when he gets his full memories back he might also get his childhood memories back.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“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"
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Board wipes every one of your turns.
Gain 100 life on each of your turns.
Mass token generation.
Mass creature pumps.
Infinite turns.
https://archidekt.com/user/71716
https://magic.wizards.com/en/story/planes/ixalan
Something I found interesting;
Mavren Fein and Vona are searching for the first vampire named Elenda who is "the guardian of the Immortal Sun". Maybe she was the one who brought the Immortal Sun to Ixalan (continent) and as someone else I saw online suggest, one of the guardians the river heralds spoke of.
Goblins are native to Ixalan (continent) and joined up with the pirates when they first showed up.
Orcs really hate the Vampires.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Also interesting the way they seem to be conflating Kopala and Kumena. In last week's story Kopala didn't seem very ambitious. Seemed more like the go with the flow sort. Kumena on the other hand seems ready to take Tishana's spot.
No, it's Elenda.
Reading these snippets only magnifies my personal feeling that the pirates don't belong on this plane. The plane could have been beautiful, but the pirates sort of stain it.
Oops. Misread it. Twice lol. Muh bad.
I feel like he probably tried it a few times, but I'm sure even someone as impulsive and bull-headed (;p) as Angrath would wise up after a while
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
Loyalty counter removal is a cost for the activation of the - abilities and not the abilities themselves removing the counters, so with that wording, his card wouldn't stop that if I'm not mistaken.
I agree that The Immortal Sun will have a planeswalker-centric ability due to it (presumably) driving the planeswalk lock on the plane.
How so? the more I read and see of Ixalan the more the odd elements blend together better.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Beyond the activation cost, when has a planeswalker ever had an ability that removed Loyalty counters from a(nother) planeswalker you control (aside from direct damage, which, why would you be aiming it at your own planeswalker?).
Ertai Planeswalker's own analysis/stated goal of the affect was that Loyalty only ever goes up. That would preclude removing loyalty counters as payment. Either the ability doesn't work as intended (it doesn't stop removal of Loyalty counters as costs, thus Loyalty does go down) or is insanely broken.
This isn't really relevant to the topic though, so I apologize from the derailment. On Topic-wise. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's (assumed) Vampire story. I'm hoping we get some nice moral grey from at least one of the legends. (Arguel or Mavren Fein* most likely, as having a title like "Butcher of Magan" strong indicates Vona won't be particularly relatable/palatable.)
EDIT:* I'm forever reading/writing his name as Marvin...
Kopala and Kumena are both excellent characters. Kopala has the right balance of courage and doubt; he knows his power, but this is balanced by humility and an awareness that he still has much to learn. "Least of the greatest of my people" was a perfect line because it captures, in a droplet, the essence of his personality and worldview. I'd like to see him play a larger role.
As for Kumena... I think we'll be seeing much more of him. So far he is the only character taking up the mantle of the villain, but even then, he is a nuanced figure and there is an undeniable logic to his arguments. I find myself caught between Kopala's reasoning and Kumena's--it's been a long time since we've had a villain like this. After Bolas last block, and Tezzeret the block before, and the Eldrazi the two blocks before that, it's refreshing to have an antagonist whose motives are not only so understandable, but sympathetic.
|| 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 ||
Just for me personally, everything on the plane is beautiful and thematically-cohesive. And then, pirates. It's one thing to blend odd elements together, it's another to just put them together. And the latter is how I feel about pirates being part of this world, thematically and aesthetically and even mechanically.
This week (Episode 5): Focus on the Legion of Dusk. Probably Mavren Fein and Arguel, with some mention of the latter's Blood Fast.
Next Week (Episode 6): Jace and Vraska run into the River Heralds' trap. Probably some Kumena shenanigans. We might even see Kumena get hold of the compass somehow. Jace and Vraska are our heroes, but so far in the race for Orazca, they're holding all the best cards, as it were. It seems natural that somehow one of our villains finds a way to get there first, or at least take the lead.
Episode 7: Seeking to reach Orazca without the compass, Jace and Vraska find their journey beset by new danger (as seen in Perilous Voyage). Huatli and her explorers will likely make another appearance before this chapter is done. Jace will take his tumble down the waterfall, and we'll close out with either Kumena or the Legion of Dusk reaching the City of Gold first.
And then we wait until December.
And I'm the opposite. The more I lean about the Age of Discovery (which looks to be the top-down theme of this set) it blends. For pirates it works (for me) since the Golden age of Piracy was during the tail end of the age of discovery and many major conflicts during that time where with pirates and the Spanish Colonies in Central and Southern America (Pirates of the Caribbean is called for that reason), which links them nicely with the starting point of vampire conquistadors). I also like how the pirates (and the vampires) stand out since they are the foreigners to Ixalan.
I will give you though, the themes do work but not as strongly as I think Wizards was thinking.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Actually, now that I think about it, we might have some stories for Explorers of Ixalan.
While the set features no new cards, it's all Ixalan-themed reprints. Mechanically, nothing is new, but for us flavor, story, and art fans, we have plenty to look forward to. Maybe we'll see some more Ixalan stories--interquels, if you will, between Ixalan and Rivals. In a way, it's the closest thing we've had to a middle set since the introduction of the "two-sets-per-block" system.
One can hope, eh?
I hope Unstable. It said to be getting the full creative treatment like any other set, which I'm taking as getting a storyline and maybe jokey story spotlight cards.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
UBarrin, Master WizardU
USticher GeralfU
UIxidor, Reality SculptorU
UWNoyan Dar, Roil ShaperUW
Seems that theory was correct.
this week's ixalan Story deepens the bond between Jace and Vraska. Read it here
AND we also get a more in-depth glimpse into Vraska here.
Good stuff all-around. Writers are doing a great job of making these two more likable. also begs the question of what's in store for them when they return to Rav.
Click the pic for more info.
Also:
Ugin confirmed, pretty much.
I wonder where Vraska planes walked to when she sparked.
Also Orazca/ the Immortal Sun has the same kind of engery/magic that is given off when walkers planeswalk.
Jace is starting to remember his childhood with that flash of him mind-killing his teacher, really hinting that if/when he gets his full memories back he might also get his childhood memories back.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"