I really hope that the artbook finally gives us an answer to the whole wing thing with angels.
In the original Ravnica they had 4 wings, so if all angels there were copies of Razia all had to have 4 wings. It was said that Feather was the only surviving angel, so where did the others come from? If they are copies of Feather, they should also have 4 wings, but all the angels in the last two Ravnica blocks had 2 wings. With this story we got another "Razia copy" reverence, but then this angel should have 4 wings, sadly they never reference the number of wings here.
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Thanks to DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios for this sick Signature.
I really hope that the artbook finally gives us an answer to the whole wing thing with angels.
In the original Ravnica they had 4 wings, so if all angels there were copies of Razia all had to have 4 wings. It was said that Feather was the only surviving angel, so where did the others come from? If they are copies of Feather, they should also have 4 wings, but all the angels in the last two Ravnica blocks had 2 wings. With this story we got another "Razia copy" reverence, but then this angel should have 4 wings, sadly they never reference the number of wings here.
Well iirc the Orzhov know how to make angels, so non-Razia clone angles seems to be around but more clarity would be nice.
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"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
One of my major gripes (continuing from RtR) is almost abandoning the Slavic inspiration when it comes to names. I miss Cory Herndon creating names for his original trilogy using English-Czech, Polish and Russian vocabularies....
Instead of names Zlovol ("malicious"), Pierakor (pierko - feather), Cisarzim (cesarz - emperor), Razia (raid, bust) we are getting Merrett, Leighbet, Tamsyn, Skormak, Ossett Weslyn, Aresaan, Baas Solvar Radley (sounds like something from Harry Potter), Devin Sidian (Star Wars?!) , Rook Atalay (a TURKISH surname...)
While I personally don't mind some diversity, I wish they wouldn't do it at the cost of Ravnica's cultural core identity and would actually use it to make the different parts of Ravnica more distinct. There should be more variety between the districts. Ravnica as a world is just way to homogenous.
I really hope that the artbook finally gives us an answer to the whole wing thing with angels.
In the original Ravnica they had 4 wings, so if all angels there were copies of Razia all had to have 4 wings. It was said that Feather was the only surviving angel, so where did the others come from? If they are copies of Feather, they should also have 4 wings, but all the angels in the last two Ravnica blocks had 2 wings. With this story we got another "Razia copy" reverence, but then this angel should have 4 wings, sadly they never reference the number of wings here.
Didn't WotC just recently proudly announce how well they're going to integrate new writers into this process by literally ignoring previous works "skip over unnecessary details"?
Well iirc the Orzhov know how to make angels, so non-Razia clone angles seems to be around but more clarity would be nice.
If I recall correctly, Orzhov angels were defectors from the legion, but who knows. Personally I always found the "all Angels are Razia clones" a bit weak. It may work for a specific kind of angels, those serving in the legion or leading the guild, but for an entire plane, that seems weird, especially since Angels are supposedly to spontaneously generate, when enough white mana coalesces.
Orzhov angels in the original trilogy were made by them, but now they are defectors from the Boros Legion who feel like they don't get respect. Kind of like this one, actually.
As angels are mana constructs, it makes sense that the Razia clone angle is dropped, just as male angels that have kids were.
They really need to organize canon and what counts and what doesnt and tell us...presumably that is what Jay is doing for them as their new canon consultant expert. I don't agree with all of Jay's opinions when it comes together but he loves and knows the material which is more then I can say for most of WOTC Story Group.
I liked this story, it seemed to keep up the idea of paranoia going around Ravnica. I was a little let down that it was just one elemental causing these problems, I thought as the stories went on we would get a ramping up of problems that indicate bigger conspiracies.
The stories focus on something not directly tied to the bigger story, but have details that hint at it. The first story was about a low ranking Dimir agent/perpetual screw up and his conflict with his *****ty boss, and how Lazav ends up bailing him out, but his job with the Dimir is monitoring illegal weapons shipments, which have increased significantly, hinting at preparations for open conflict. The second was about a mad scientist trying to make a name for herself and her conflict with a Dimir agent trying to steal her discovery, but her musings on the Izmagus making ever increasing demands from their researchers and the recent change in mood within the Izzet (more tense, jobs on the line, greater demand to produce results) hints at Bolas' interference and one way he is using the guild (he can steal any innovations they come up with, and even if they fail it's useful because failed Izzet experiments tend to cause chaos and destruction. Putting pressure on the guild to deliver results will not only glean more innovations, but push them to be even more reckless in their pursuit of such, contributing to the destabilization if Ravnican society as disaster follows disaster). This story is about a Boros Wojek undercovering an officers conspiracy to get promoted via murder, but it hints at the Gruul expanding their territory into more civilized neighborhoods, and the tension this is causing. We see a situation ripe for conflict, long time residents resentful and agry at the tribal vagrants openly stealing from them and ruining their home, but we also see the pitiful existence of the gruul, with starving children. That little starving girl stealing to eat and reacting to Ossets kindness with betrayal (stealing her purse), and the Viashano shopkeeper wishing the girl starves to death so she won't be a problem later. Conflict is inevitable. Eventually the locals will have enough and the Boros will arrest some thieves or break up a gang, they'll be heavy handed, and this will spark the Gruul to open revolution.
Edit:
I've also been thinking about what others have said regarding the loss of Slavic style names in RTR and the new Ravnica sets, and I agree that it was neat and a bit of a loss now that its gone, but I'd like to defend the decision to downplay it. I don't actually believe that its in pursuit of diversity (OG Ravnica's main character was a black man after all), but to save space for a Slavic mythology themed plane down the road instead of squandering that flavor on Ravnica.
The original Ravnica block really had a lot going on. The plane spanning city theme and the guilds both gave the plane a great identity and tons of flavor that is still being mined over a decade later. In addition to these two heavyweights, Ravnica had two more sub themes that were significantly pushed: ghosts and Slavic inspiration. The ghosts showed up in the cards as more spirits than usual (to mechanically tie in with Kamigawa, the preceding block) and some key ghost flavored cards (like Ghost Quarter and Ghost Council of Orzhova). It also played a major role in the stories. In addition to the Orzhov literally being run by ghosts, Ravnica was a plane where the spirits of the dead could not leave, and thus lingered in the streets or found themselves used by the guilds for various purposes (or running them like Orzhov), or went to Agyrem, the literal ghost quarter, a section of the city for ghosts. The plot of the first novel involves ghosts, and Kos himself, along with Szadek, are ghosts for the entirety of the third novel. Basically, ghosts were a big deal, both directly in the story and in the general flavor and world building of Ravnica. The Slavic influences were pushed beyond just place and character names, but also into creature concepts like the Rusalka. They were trying to push Ravnica as a 'Slavic' plane in addition to a city plane and the guild plane and even a ghost plane. Had they kept this up, I think it would have continued to be lost in the shuffle and they'd have wasted resonant Slavic inspired designs and flavor points on a plane that already has more than enough going on. This way, they can save that up for a proper Slavic mythology inspired plane that does justice to the source material without making it take a back seat to other flavor beats. At most, it could be paired up with just one other big theme, like how Kaladesh is a mix of Indian inspired flavor and the semi original aetherpunk, or Ixalan being a mix of age of exploration in the Americas meets dinosaurs.
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"
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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!
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Not related to the plot I guess, but I wanted to point out that in todays article it was said that the grey hair streaks among many izzet mages are the result of experiments gone awry. I always thought that particular design choice was weird and gimmicky, but I like the way it's explained. They could've gone the mile and say it's a side effect of handling Mizzium, but whatever.
I liked this story, it seemed to keep up the idea of paranoia going around Ravnica. I was a little let down that it was just one elemental causing these problems, I thought as the stories went on we would get a ramping up of problems that indicate bigger conspiracies.
Plot explanation
Thats true about the Gruul expansion, I forgot about that when rethinking about the story. In that case it was different from the other two in that it was showing a different guild's larger conflict in the story. Thanks for restating it with an easy explanation.
I guess there is no story today? Article says coming soon when this is usually the time I read the article.
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I liked this story, it seemed to keep up the idea of paranoia going around Ravnica. I was a little let down that it was just one elemental causing these problems, I thought as the stories went on we would get a ramping up of problems that indicate bigger conspiracies.
Plot explanation
Thats true about the Gruul expansion, I forgot about that when rethinking about the story. In that case it was different from the other two in that it was showing a different guild's larger conflict in the story. Thanks for restating it with an easy explanation.
I guess there is no story today? Article says coming soon when this is usually the time I read the article.
Yeah, I guess they are taking off for Halloween?
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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!
They could've gone the mile and say it's a side effect of handling Mizzium, but whatever.
As a writer I'd say there were wise not to. Making that association would of fueled wild speculation about it's importance to the plot, distracting from the elements WOTC does want the audience to be attentive of. At best, it would be a flavourful touch of flare stoking eager minds, at worst it would box them in in future due to audience expectations.
I don't really see how that would have led to any sort of speculation. How does one go from "Mizzium makes people's hair grey" to ... I dunno "Mizzium defeats Nicol Bolas". Bolas isn't made of hair.
Plus, it was never mentioned in "official" sources. It's background information for storybuilding purposes. Personally I find that having an internally consistent world creates more robust and more vibrant stories as well.
I like the somewhat alien ideals and thoughts of our Kraul protagonist, both because they show a bit more insight into the Kraul themselves (which they barely got until now) and the Golgari mindset as a whole.
The Erstwhile zombies are mentioned here as somewhat "higher-class" zombies, but I thought they would be a bit more than that actually, does someone remember the story they first appeared in well enough to clear this up?
I also find it interesting that Vraska wanted to be the Golgari leader so badly to help her people, overthrowing Jarad in the process... and already she is the target of some who want to overthrow her. Is it just me or are the Golgari kind of hypocritical in a few respects? They are the guild of the downtrodden and often think of themselves as such, but at the same time they are extreme social darwinists and the respective groups inside the Golgari all think of themselves as superior to the others. And Vraska has seemingly not yet done much to change any of the speciesist discrimination in the Swarm, something she hated Jarad for if I remember correctly.
The story yet again showed the rising tensions between guilds. The Boros arrest Gruul for crimes that would point much more directly to the Golgari. They conspire with a lich to finally get some dirt on Vraska.
Also damn, that Ravnicans can even sleep at nights at all is astonishing with all the underworld horrors beneath them, demons, deadly fungi, woodwraiths, spatial anomalies, failed Izzet and Simic experiments, vampires, all of House Dimir...
All in all I enjoyed this story, quite the sad ending though for our Kraul protagonist.
All of the enemy colored guilds are “hypocritical.” The Golgari stand for togetherness(green), but not if it gets in the way of ambition(Black). The Boros stand for peace and order(white), and will use violence and chaos(red) to achieve it. The Orzhov use religion and laws that were created for the betterment of society(white) for personal gain(black). The Simic embrace natural growth(green) by speeding it up by unnatural means(blue). The Izzit logically want to gain knowledge(blue) by doing illogical crazy experiments(red).
These guilds are more interesting to me, because they have more depth and aren’t the stereotypical fantasy characters.
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Modern
JundBGR
RW Blood MoonRW
Pauper
Delver U
Elves G
Control B
Commander
Edgar Markov BRW
Captain Sisay GW
Niv-Mizzet, Parun UR
Tymna and Ravos WB
All in all I enjoyed this story, quite the sad ending though for our Kraul protagonist.
I thought it was more of a happy ending to be working for Mazirek, kraul death priest as a zombie than to be a zombie supervisor under the lich, who gave the devkarin apprentice many more opportunities.
I liked that they linked the previous story to this one with the tin street massacre/ boros poisoning, and I hope it is setting up for even bigger things. Although next week is Selesnya and we havent really seen them in any of the stories so far.
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All of the enemy colored guilds are “hypocritical.” The Golgari stand for togetherness(green), but not if it gets in the way of ambition(Black). The Boros stand for peace and order(white), and will use violence and chaos(red) to achieve it. The Orzhov use religion and laws that were created for the betterment of society(white) for personal gain(black). The Simic embrace natural growth(green) by speeding it up by unnatural means(blue). The Izzit logically want to gain knowledge(blue) by doing illogical crazy experiments(red).
These guilds are more interesting to me, because they have more depth and aren’t the stereotypical fantasy characters.
Yeah, you are right about that. I somehow forgot that this is one of the reasons these are usually enemy colors, working together only works via hypocrisy (negatively speaking) or compromise (positively speaking). I do enjoy these guilds more than the allied ones as well, and the wedges more than the shards. They feel somewhat more complex and "real" to me, so to speak (at least most of the times). Though I also like it when the few specifics the allied colors can't agree over are brought forward as well, which is sadly rarely the case.
On the ending: Well, if you call losing most of your mental faculties, Mazirek controlling your actions, not even near your dream of actually making it as a necromancer in the Swarm (or even becoming a Lich yourself) and a horrifying fungus spreading through your body, destroying your limbs, eyes etc. a good ending for him, then his previous situation must have been so horrible that I would find the whole thing sad regardless.
Quite depressed that Vraska and Mazirek turned out to be hypocrites who didn't do right for the kraul after all. Other than the kraul, the Golgari could stand to be incinerated.
Vraska's been guild leader for like what, a month? If that. You don't overhaul a society and all it's prejudices in just a couple weeks. **** takes time.
Yeah, I don't get what Vraska is supposed to do. All the xenophobic tendencies come from the elves and that one gorgon. Vraska can't control the thoughts and actions of her people. Note that there were many kraul present in Vraska's speech and most guards were kraul as well. I really don't see Vraska being a big hypocrite here and if her behaviour from Ixalan wasn't just a farce, she probably genuinely cares about the people under her.
Some interesting tidbits taken away from this story:
- Kraul reproduce by depositing eggs into host insects, like parasitic wasps. Considering the kraul are the protagonists of this story, that's a pretty amazing subversion of the chestbursters trope.
- Apparently other guilds get a say in appointing new guild leaders? Or is backing really meant to refer to shady business here?
- The zombie fungus is also pretty amazing and terrifying. (It's also inspired by a realworld fungus, essentially it's literally the same except the real world analogue only affects insects.)
- After the past three episodes I kinda expected a happy ending, that somehow the two fungi he ate canceled each other out. But no... It also didn't help that this guy was the most relatable/sympathetic character of the bunch so far.
- Speaking of which, the way the personality and such of a person is preserved when raised as a drudge is 100 leagues deep into horror territory.
- Still for some reason I can't help but feel this as a bittersweet ending. I don't even know why. Maybe it's because now with his death the struggle is over? That he tried so hard to find something he is good in, but now that burden has been lifted? Sheesh, someone psychoanalyze me.
The Golgari are hypocrites of the highest order, more so than the other enemy color guilds. Vraska is an idiot, Jarad wasnt promoting Golgari tribalism, he was working to minimize it and make peace with the other guilds, which we know from Dissension. The Golgari have always been internally competitive and prone to revolt. Vraska hasn't changed much because she can't, she's dealing with the same issues as Jarad and is focusing her energy on her alliance with Bolas to overthrow the guildpact (at least until Jace restores her memories and she wises up again). The mean ol lich was the good guy here, trying to get rid of a violent revolutionary who recently deposed the best leader the guild ever had. He was self serving, but his interests aligned with what was good for Ravnica, a stable Golgari, aligned with the Boros, helping to uphold the instrument of peace and security on the plane.
The other enemy color guilds aren't very hypocritical. The Boros use violence to promote order, but that's not hypocritical. They have a pretty solid code that they stick to, and their R comes from destructiveness and passion. They actually blend the aspects of their colors that compliment rather than contradict each other.
The Orzhov are more corrupt than hypocritical. They are under no illusions about what they are. They are a guild dedicated to money, power, and family, and the preservation of a status quo which benefits them, and everything they do works towards those goals. They combine the order of white with the power and ambition of black, again complimentary rather than contradictory. Only in the church aspect do we see any hypocrisy, but the church is entirely a scan, and nobody involved in running it actually believed in it. In any case, it doesn't preach morality, it preaches obedience and the relief of suffering for a price. Neither are contradictory to the Orzhovs other ideals.
The Izzet are not hypocritical. They seek knowledge via experimentation. It's chaotic and destructive, but they've never expressed any disdain for those things, nor have they ever expressed blues dispassionate detachment. The Izzet really lack any sort of guiding morality, and thus cannot be hypocrites. They want to push the limits of knowledge and invention no matter the risks, and they do just that. The only potential guiding principle they have is "innovation at all costs" and I've seen nothing to suggest they don't meet that perfectly.
The Simic, at least the new Simic, are hypocrites. The old Simic were less about nature and more about promoting biological life, and biological life doesn't need to be natural. They embraced the artificiality of their work, even operating as a corporation with branding. It is their rejection of nature which set them apart from the other green guilds. The new Simic, though, play up the nature side of green, and pretend to give nature a fighting chance while using gene manipulation and other artificial means. They are actually hypocritical.
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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!
To be fair Jarad didn't really lift a finger to resolve the racist conflicts. He didn't intend to continue the social issues, but he should have seen it coming.
- Kraul reproduce by depositing eggs into host insects, like parasitic wasps. Considering the kraul are the protagonists of this story, that's a pretty amazing subversion of the chestbursters trope.
- Apparently other guilds get a say in appointing new guild leaders? Or is backing really meant to refer to shady business here?
[quote]- The zombie fungus is also pretty amazing and terrifying. (It's also inspired by a realworld fungus, essentially it's literally the same except the real world analogue only affects insects.)
Its creepy af and with the link between bug, mushrooms and zombies its fit so nice with the themes of the Golgari and I kinda hope we see more of it when we get the Golgari in a set again. I'd love a BG Mind Control and/or Reanimate card flavored this way.
- Still for some reason I can't help but feel this as a bittersweet ending. I don't even know why. Maybe it's because now with his death the struggle is over? That he tried so hard to find something he is good in, but now that burden has been lifted? Sheesh, someone psychoanalyze me.
I guess it depends on how Golagari you are, since I think from thier pov I think this is a happy ending.
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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"
Yeah, I don't get what Vraska is supposed to do. All the xenophobic tendencies come from the elves and that one gorgon. Vraska can't control the thoughts and actions of her people. Note that there were many kraul present in Vraska's speech and most guards were kraul as well. I really don't see Vraska being a big hypocrite here and if her behaviour from Ixalan wasn't just a farce, she probably genuinely cares about the people under her.
Some interesting tidbits taken away from this story:
- Kraul reproduce by depositing eggs into host insects, like parasitic wasps. Considering the kraul are the protagonists of this story, that's a pretty amazing subversion of the chestbursters trope.
- Apparently other guilds get a say in appointing new guild leaders? Or is backing really meant to refer to shady business here?
- The zombie fungus is also pretty amazing and terrifying. (It's also inspired by a realworld fungus, essentially it's literally the same except the real world analogue only affects insects.)
- After the past three episodes I kinda expected a happy ending, that somehow the two fungi he ate canceled each other out. But no... It also didn't help that this guy was the most relatable/sympathetic character of the bunch so far.
- Speaking of which, the way the personality and such of a person is preserved when raised as a drudge is 100 leagues deep into horror territory.
- Still for some reason I can't help but feel this as a bittersweet ending. I don't even know why. Maybe it's because now with his death the struggle is over? That he tried so hard to find something he is good in, but now that burden has been lifted? Sheesh, someone psychoanalyze me.
The support could be shady dealings like arresting opponents, but it could also be overt support. Obviously the Boros wouldn't have a vote, but declaring their support and willingness to work with him might give him a boost amongst factions in the Golgari who want better relations with the other guilds. Also, the Golgari tend to solve disputes via war, so this could be as simple as him asking the Boros for military assistance when the time comes to press his claim.
I'd say from the protagonists point of view, this is unambiguously a happy ending. He saved Vraska, whom he admires, and now gets to work for his hero. The whole dying thing doesn't matter much to him as for the Golgari, unlife is just the next step. He definitely seems pretty stoked about the whole deal, fanboying of Mazirek and being really optimistic about the whole zombie servant thing. I mean, this IS the Golgari, being a zombie servant isn't a cursed hell, it's a career option.
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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!
What is facepalm-worthy about this discussion? Even in the first Ravnica trilogy these problems were kind of the focus of the entire Golgari storyline, it's the stated motivation of Vraska and therefore very much integral to the story.
The Simic, at least the new Simic, are hypocrites. The old Simic were less about nature and more about promoting biological life, and biological life doesn't need to be natural. They embraced the artificiality of their work, even operating as a corporation with branding. It is their rejection of nature which set them apart from the other green guilds. The new Simic, though, play up the nature side of green, and pretend to give nature a fighting chance while using gene manipulation and other artificial means. They are actually hypocritical.
No, the Simic actually aren't hypocrites if you follow this train of thought. They do preserve actual nature in contrast to the old Simic Combine (see their close partnership in this matter with the Selesnyans) and they have sworn to only use magical means (namely the Hybridization of Krasi) in their scientific advances. They never stated that they would shun anything unnatural from here on out, they just embraced more holistic ideals and actually started to do what they were supposed to do, finding ways so that nature can preserver in Ravnica.
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In the original Ravnica they had 4 wings, so if all angels there were copies of Razia all had to have 4 wings. It was said that Feather was the only surviving angel, so where did the others come from? If they are copies of Feather, they should also have 4 wings, but all the angels in the last two Ravnica blocks had 2 wings. With this story we got another "Razia copy" reverence, but then this angel should have 4 wings, sadly they never reference the number of wings here.
Thanks to DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios for this sick Signature.
Well iirc the Orzhov know how to make angels, so non-Razia clone angles seems to be around but more clarity would be nice.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
While I personally don't mind some diversity, I wish they wouldn't do it at the cost of Ravnica's cultural core identity and would actually use it to make the different parts of Ravnica more distinct. There should be more variety between the districts. Ravnica as a world is just way to homogenous.
Didn't WotC just recently proudly announce how well they're going to integrate new writers into this process by
literally ignoring previous works"skip over unnecessary details"?If I recall correctly, Orzhov angels were defectors from the legion, but who knows. Personally I always found the "all Angels are Razia clones" a bit weak. It may work for a specific kind of angels, those serving in the legion or leading the guild, but for an entire plane, that seems weird, especially since Angels are supposedly to spontaneously generate, when enough white mana coalesces.
As angels are mana constructs, it makes sense that the Razia clone angle is dropped, just as male angels that have kids were.
I do hope we see Azorius archons.
The stories focus on something not directly tied to the bigger story, but have details that hint at it. The first story was about a low ranking Dimir agent/perpetual screw up and his conflict with his *****ty boss, and how Lazav ends up bailing him out, but his job with the Dimir is monitoring illegal weapons shipments, which have increased significantly, hinting at preparations for open conflict. The second was about a mad scientist trying to make a name for herself and her conflict with a Dimir agent trying to steal her discovery, but her musings on the Izmagus making ever increasing demands from their researchers and the recent change in mood within the Izzet (more tense, jobs on the line, greater demand to produce results) hints at Bolas' interference and one way he is using the guild (he can steal any innovations they come up with, and even if they fail it's useful because failed Izzet experiments tend to cause chaos and destruction. Putting pressure on the guild to deliver results will not only glean more innovations, but push them to be even more reckless in their pursuit of such, contributing to the destabilization if Ravnican society as disaster follows disaster). This story is about a Boros Wojek undercovering an officers conspiracy to get promoted via murder, but it hints at the Gruul expanding their territory into more civilized neighborhoods, and the tension this is causing. We see a situation ripe for conflict, long time residents resentful and agry at the tribal vagrants openly stealing from them and ruining their home, but we also see the pitiful existence of the gruul, with starving children. That little starving girl stealing to eat and reacting to Ossets kindness with betrayal (stealing her purse), and the Viashano shopkeeper wishing the girl starves to death so she won't be a problem later. Conflict is inevitable. Eventually the locals will have enough and the Boros will arrest some thieves or break up a gang, they'll be heavy handed, and this will spark the Gruul to open revolution.
Edit:
I've also been thinking about what others have said regarding the loss of Slavic style names in RTR and the new Ravnica sets, and I agree that it was neat and a bit of a loss now that its gone, but I'd like to defend the decision to downplay it. I don't actually believe that its in pursuit of diversity (OG Ravnica's main character was a black man after all), but to save space for a Slavic mythology themed plane down the road instead of squandering that flavor on Ravnica.
The original Ravnica block really had a lot going on. The plane spanning city theme and the guilds both gave the plane a great identity and tons of flavor that is still being mined over a decade later. In addition to these two heavyweights, Ravnica had two more sub themes that were significantly pushed: ghosts and Slavic inspiration. The ghosts showed up in the cards as more spirits than usual (to mechanically tie in with Kamigawa, the preceding block) and some key ghost flavored cards (like Ghost Quarter and Ghost Council of Orzhova). It also played a major role in the stories. In addition to the Orzhov literally being run by ghosts, Ravnica was a plane where the spirits of the dead could not leave, and thus lingered in the streets or found themselves used by the guilds for various purposes (or running them like Orzhov), or went to Agyrem, the literal ghost quarter, a section of the city for ghosts. The plot of the first novel involves ghosts, and Kos himself, along with Szadek, are ghosts for the entirety of the third novel. Basically, ghosts were a big deal, both directly in the story and in the general flavor and world building of Ravnica. The Slavic influences were pushed beyond just place and character names, but also into creature concepts like the Rusalka. They were trying to push Ravnica as a 'Slavic' plane in addition to a city plane and the guild plane and even a ghost plane. Had they kept this up, I think it would have continued to be lost in the shuffle and they'd have wasted resonant Slavic inspired designs and flavor points on a plane that already has more than enough going on. This way, they can save that up for a proper Slavic mythology inspired plane that does justice to the source material without making it take a back seat to other flavor beats. At most, it could be paired up with just one other big theme, like how Kaladesh is a mix of Indian inspired flavor and the semi original aetherpunk, or Ixalan being a mix of age of exploration in the Americas meets dinosaurs.
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!
WELL, Mr. Bolas has a problem with a certain spirit... A Dragon Spirit.
Maybe their storylines will cross sometime?
Thats true about the Gruul expansion, I forgot about that when rethinking about the story. In that case it was different from the other two in that it was showing a different guild's larger conflict in the story. Thanks for restating it with an easy explanation.
I guess there is no story today? Article says coming soon when this is usually the time I read the article.
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Yeah, I guess they are taking off for Halloween?
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!
I don't really see how that would have led to any sort of speculation. How does one go from "Mizzium makes people's hair grey" to ... I dunno "Mizzium defeats Nicol Bolas". Bolas isn't made of hair.
Plus, it was never mentioned in "official" sources. It's background information for storybuilding purposes. Personally I find that having an internally consistent world creates more robust and more vibrant stories as well.
But whatever, minor nitpick.
JundBGR
RW Blood MoonRW
Pauper
Delver U
Elves G
Control B
Commander
Edgar Markov BRW
Captain Sisay GW
Niv-Mizzet, Parun UR
Tymna and Ravos WB
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/deaths-precious-moments-2018-11-07
I like the somewhat alien ideals and thoughts of our Kraul protagonist, both because they show a bit more insight into the Kraul themselves (which they barely got until now) and the Golgari mindset as a whole.
The Erstwhile zombies are mentioned here as somewhat "higher-class" zombies, but I thought they would be a bit more than that actually, does someone remember the story they first appeared in well enough to clear this up?
I also find it interesting that Vraska wanted to be the Golgari leader so badly to help her people, overthrowing Jarad in the process... and already she is the target of some who want to overthrow her. Is it just me or are the Golgari kind of hypocritical in a few respects? They are the guild of the downtrodden and often think of themselves as such, but at the same time they are extreme social darwinists and the respective groups inside the Golgari all think of themselves as superior to the others. And Vraska has seemingly not yet done much to change any of the speciesist discrimination in the Swarm, something she hated Jarad for if I remember correctly.
The story yet again showed the rising tensions between guilds. The Boros arrest Gruul for crimes that would point much more directly to the Golgari. They conspire with a lich to finally get some dirt on Vraska.
Also damn, that Ravnicans can even sleep at nights at all is astonishing with all the underworld horrors beneath them, demons, deadly fungi, woodwraiths, spatial anomalies, failed Izzet and Simic experiments, vampires, all of House Dimir...
All in all I enjoyed this story, quite the sad ending though for our Kraul protagonist.
These guilds are more interesting to me, because they have more depth and aren’t the stereotypical fantasy characters.
JundBGR
RW Blood MoonRW
Pauper
Delver U
Elves G
Control B
Commander
Edgar Markov BRW
Captain Sisay GW
Niv-Mizzet, Parun UR
Tymna and Ravos WB
I thought it was more of a happy ending to be working for Mazirek, kraul death priest as a zombie than to be a zombie supervisor under the lich, who gave the devkarin apprentice many more opportunities.
I liked that they linked the previous story to this one with the tin street massacre/ boros poisoning, and I hope it is setting up for even bigger things. Although next week is Selesnya and we havent really seen them in any of the stories so far.
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Yeah, you are right about that. I somehow forgot that this is one of the reasons these are usually enemy colors, working together only works via hypocrisy (negatively speaking) or compromise (positively speaking). I do enjoy these guilds more than the allied ones as well, and the wedges more than the shards. They feel somewhat more complex and "real" to me, so to speak (at least most of the times). Though I also like it when the few specifics the allied colors can't agree over are brought forward as well, which is sadly rarely the case.
On the ending: Well, if you call losing most of your mental faculties, Mazirek controlling your actions, not even near your dream of actually making it as a necromancer in the Swarm (or even becoming a Lich yourself) and a horrifying fungus spreading through your body, destroying your limbs, eyes etc. a good ending for him, then his previous situation must have been so horrible that I would find the whole thing sad regardless.
Some interesting tidbits taken away from this story:
- Kraul reproduce by depositing eggs into host insects, like parasitic wasps. Considering the kraul are the protagonists of this story, that's a pretty amazing subversion of the chestbursters trope.
- Apparently other guilds get a say in appointing new guild leaders? Or is backing really meant to refer to shady business here?
- The zombie fungus is also pretty amazing and terrifying. (It's also inspired by a realworld fungus, essentially it's literally the same except the real world analogue only affects insects.)
- After the past three episodes I kinda expected a happy ending, that somehow the two fungi he ate canceled each other out. But no... It also didn't help that this guy was the most relatable/sympathetic character of the bunch so far.
- Speaking of which, the way the personality and such of a person is preserved when raised as a drudge is 100 leagues deep into horror territory.
- Still for some reason I can't help but feel this as a bittersweet ending. I don't even know why. Maybe it's because now with his death the struggle is over? That he tried so hard to find something he is good in, but now that burden has been lifted? Sheesh, someone psychoanalyze me.
The other enemy color guilds aren't very hypocritical. The Boros use violence to promote order, but that's not hypocritical. They have a pretty solid code that they stick to, and their R comes from destructiveness and passion. They actually blend the aspects of their colors that compliment rather than contradict each other.
The Orzhov are more corrupt than hypocritical. They are under no illusions about what they are. They are a guild dedicated to money, power, and family, and the preservation of a status quo which benefits them, and everything they do works towards those goals. They combine the order of white with the power and ambition of black, again complimentary rather than contradictory. Only in the church aspect do we see any hypocrisy, but the church is entirely a scan, and nobody involved in running it actually believed in it. In any case, it doesn't preach morality, it preaches obedience and the relief of suffering for a price. Neither are contradictory to the Orzhovs other ideals.
The Izzet are not hypocritical. They seek knowledge via experimentation. It's chaotic and destructive, but they've never expressed any disdain for those things, nor have they ever expressed blues dispassionate detachment. The Izzet really lack any sort of guiding morality, and thus cannot be hypocrites. They want to push the limits of knowledge and invention no matter the risks, and they do just that. The only potential guiding principle they have is "innovation at all costs" and I've seen nothing to suggest they don't meet that perfectly.
The Simic, at least the new Simic, are hypocrites. The old Simic were less about nature and more about promoting biological life, and biological life doesn't need to be natural. They embraced the artificiality of their work, even operating as a corporation with branding. It is their rejection of nature which set them apart from the other green guilds. The new Simic, though, play up the nature side of green, and pretend to give nature a fighting chance while using gene manipulation and other artificial means. They are actually hypocritical.
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!
Its creepy af and with the link between bug, mushrooms and zombies its fit so nice with the themes of the Golgari and I kinda hope we see more of it when we get the Golgari in a set again. I'd love a BG Mind Control and/or Reanimate card flavored this way.
I guess it depends on how Golagari you are, since I think from thier pov I think this is a happy ending.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
The support could be shady dealings like arresting opponents, but it could also be overt support. Obviously the Boros wouldn't have a vote, but declaring their support and willingness to work with him might give him a boost amongst factions in the Golgari who want better relations with the other guilds. Also, the Golgari tend to solve disputes via war, so this could be as simple as him asking the Boros for military assistance when the time comes to press his claim.
I'd say from the protagonists point of view, this is unambiguously a happy ending. He saved Vraska, whom he admires, and now gets to work for his hero. The whole dying thing doesn't matter much to him as for the Golgari, unlife is just the next step. He definitely seems pretty stoked about the whole deal, fanboying of Mazirek and being really optimistic about the whole zombie servant thing. I mean, this IS the Golgari, being a zombie servant isn't a cursed hell, it's a career option.
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!
What is facepalm-worthy about this discussion? Even in the first Ravnica trilogy these problems were kind of the focus of the entire Golgari storyline, it's the stated motivation of Vraska and therefore very much integral to the story.
No, the Simic actually aren't hypocrites if you follow this train of thought. They do preserve actual nature in contrast to the old Simic Combine (see their close partnership in this matter with the Selesnyans) and they have sworn to only use magical means (namely the Hybridization of Krasi) in their scientific advances. They never stated that they would shun anything unnatural from here on out, they just embraced more holistic ideals and actually started to do what they were supposed to do, finding ways so that nature can preserver in Ravnica.