Humans do not fly. Most wizards most of the time do not fly. They could if they cast a spell but they could also cook fish with a fireball and they don't.
Mechanically the card belongs to slow grindy control decks. Blocking flying creatures is not the main purpose. Neither is racing someone in the air.
Actually humans are weak and wizards are weak so why 3 power and 4 toughness?
It's a stupid little question but I can't get it out of my mind. Thank you so much!
I think it is just to push it a bit more for constructed play. Slow control decks tend to want evasive creatures they can protect and keep swinging in with. I don't know if there is a flavor reason she can fly other than her appearing to do so in the art, but hey, if i was a legendary mage and could fly I probably would.
Power/toughness is always weird, but I guess she has picked up some pretty sweet defensive magic (enough to take a lightning bolt to the face anyway and is probably an ok offensive spellcaster. Remember a Grizzly Bear, Savannah Lion and heck even a Traveling Philosopher all have 2 power, I would like to think a legendary figure in magic should at least be able to beat any of the previously mentioned creatures with no issues so 3/4 kinda makes sense.
I don't think there are any relevant flavor reasons for card representing Kess having 3/4 and flying. Notice that she levitates on the art, so the flying part is realised (I don't know what was first, the art or the ability).
It's not an only Wizard having high power and toughness. Examples are Magus of the Arena or Jodah, Archmage Eternal. Out of other types a glaring example is Emmara Tandris. Those numbers not only mean physical power and size, but also can mean magical power.
As for mechanical reasons, I think they wanted to have a creature that can block incidental attacks, as that could be a problem for a deck like this. I also think they wanted it to have a chance in Legacy, and 4 CMC creature that dies to Lightning Bolt wouldn't work.
Because she's shown levitating in the art. There are something like 17 Human Wizards that natively have flying. It's not like she has annihilator and the whole thing is totally inappropriate.
Because she's shown levitating in the art. There are something like 17 Human Wizards that natively have flying. It's not like she has annihilator and the whole thing is totally inappropriate.
Also "humans are weak" is a generalization that isn't even entirely accurate. Humans are incredibly adaptable (even IRL), and you'd be dead wrong to consider humans on harsh planes like Innistrad, Jund and Tarkir as "weak".
The long answer is: She's a powerful wizard, and she uses her magic to levitate, to protect herself, and to deal damage, in addition to helping you give spells quasi flashback. She's blue, and using magic to float around might not be Blue Mage 101, but its definitely no higher than a 200 level class at the Tolarian Academy. Using magic to buff power is common in both black and red, her other two colors, and plenty of creatures in those colors are flavored as using magic offensively and having that reflected only by their base power or an ability that increases power, rather than direct damage abilities. The only thing about her that sort of maybe doesn't fit her colors is using magic to protect herself, having a high toughness, but red gets to buff toughness along with power sometimes, and black has over the past few years gotten into the fat butt game so it can contribute to toughness boosts (flavor wise, this can be justified by black's self interest making black creatures not want to die, and thus focused on protecting themselves). In any case, all colors get enchantments that boost both power and toughness, so I always grok p/t as not only counting physical size and ability, but magical enhancements that are intrinsic to the creature, either do to the creature having an inherently magical nature or through magical enhancement over time that has become a latent feature of the creature rather than a flimsy add on like an aura (also, combat ability, as I assume a master swordsman like Gerrard derives some of his p/t from his technique, both being able to hit opponents and find weak spots as well as the ability to avoid getting hit).
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The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Kess was designed as an alt-commander for a precon, so she's supposed to be a powerful and/or exciting card that suggests a new way to build EDH or expands on an old setup, so from a Doylist perspective the designers probably figured giving her flying and good stats could encourage combat-based wins, rather than just spellslinging.
From a Watsonian perspective, we know that "Vitals of Grixis who eschew undeath must scrape and scratch to retain their mortality. The result is a breed of inventive mages." and that "Not once in the history of Grixis has anyone died of old age.", but Kess's art makes her look late middle-aged, so she's justifiably tougher than average and magically armed.
Wizards also tend to have Flying at a pretty high rate because mobility is useful, particularly on the dregscape of Grixis.
Humans do not fly. Most wizards most of the time do not fly. They could if they cast a spell but they could also cook fish with a fireball and they don't.
Mechanically the card belongs to slow grindy control decks. Blocking flying creatures is not the main purpose. Neither is racing someone in the air.
Actually humans are weak and wizards are weak so why 3 power and 4 toughness?
It's a stupid little question but I can't get it out of my mind. Thank you so much!
Power/toughness is always weird, but I guess she has picked up some pretty sweet defensive magic (enough to take a lightning bolt to the face anyway and is probably an ok offensive spellcaster. Remember a Grizzly Bear, Savannah Lion and heck even a Traveling Philosopher all have 2 power, I would like to think a legendary figure in magic should at least be able to beat any of the previously mentioned creatures with no issues so 3/4 kinda makes sense.
Not all humans are weak either, look at Kamahl, Pit Fighter, Tireless Tracker, Surrak, the Hunt Caller, Zhou Yu, Chief Commander and Tasigur, the Golden Fang. Power takes a lot of things into consideration and 3 power isn't giant in the grand scheme of things, its only 5o% bigger than a bear. The power of mages is always weird but it's not hard to imagine that 3 power just means she is firing off lightning bolts when she crashes in.
It's not an only Wizard having high power and toughness. Examples are Magus of the Arena or Jodah, Archmage Eternal. Out of other types a glaring example is Emmara Tandris. Those numbers not only mean physical power and size, but also can mean magical power.
As for mechanical reasons, I think they wanted to have a creature that can block incidental attacks, as that could be a problem for a deck like this. I also think they wanted it to have a chance in Legacy, and 4 CMC creature that dies to Lightning Bolt wouldn't work.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Jodah, Archmage Eternal and Adeliz, the Cinder Wind are also examples of this, both of which are in the latest set (Dominaria).
Also "humans are weak" is a generalization that isn't even entirely accurate. Humans are incredibly adaptable (even IRL), and you'd be dead wrong to consider humans on harsh planes like Innistrad, Jund and Tarkir as "weak".
Thanks to DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios for this sick Signature.
The long answer is: She's a powerful wizard, and she uses her magic to levitate, to protect herself, and to deal damage, in addition to helping you give spells quasi flashback. She's blue, and using magic to float around might not be Blue Mage 101, but its definitely no higher than a 200 level class at the Tolarian Academy. Using magic to buff power is common in both black and red, her other two colors, and plenty of creatures in those colors are flavored as using magic offensively and having that reflected only by their base power or an ability that increases power, rather than direct damage abilities. The only thing about her that sort of maybe doesn't fit her colors is using magic to protect herself, having a high toughness, but red gets to buff toughness along with power sometimes, and black has over the past few years gotten into the fat butt game so it can contribute to toughness boosts (flavor wise, this can be justified by black's self interest making black creatures not want to die, and thus focused on protecting themselves). In any case, all colors get enchantments that boost both power and toughness, so I always grok p/t as not only counting physical size and ability, but magical enhancements that are intrinsic to the creature, either do to the creature having an inherently magical nature or through magical enhancement over time that has become a latent feature of the creature rather than a flimsy add on like an aura (also, combat ability, as I assume a master swordsman like Gerrard derives some of his p/t from his technique, both being able to hit opponents and find weak spots as well as the ability to avoid getting hit).
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
|| 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 ||
From a Watsonian perspective, we know that "Vitals of Grixis who eschew undeath must scrape and scratch to retain their mortality. The result is a breed of inventive mages." and that "Not once in the history of Grixis has anyone died of old age.", but Kess's art makes her look late middle-aged, so she's justifiably tougher than average and magically armed.
Wizards also tend to have Flying at a pretty high rate because mobility is useful, particularly on the dregscape of Grixis.
1) citation needed
2) do we actually know enough about Kess to call her a Mary Sue or is this just a buzzword?
Art is life itself.