How many believe that the final confrontation with Bolas on Ravnica is going to be a sort of Magic Infinity War, with a lot of the different PWs teaming up against the big bad?
According to today's MaRo article, two guilds in this set and three guilds in the next will be under Bolas' control/influence. Also, each of the five Bolas guilds will be led by a planeswalker loyal to Bolas.
Yep. What I'm wondering is which three guilds in Allegiance will fall under his sway. We only really know of two 'walkers besides Ral and Vraska still under his command: Liliana and Tezzeret. Liliana is both easy and poetic. I can easily imagine Bolas going "Hey, Lili, you have some experience killing demons, yes? Be a doll and go off Rakdos for me. Then take over the guild while you're at it."
Tezzeret is harder. We now know that Isperia is out of the picture, which makes Azorius a slightly more likely choice than Simic for the blue artificer. Especially given that he's originally from Esper, and that the Simic would likely firmly object to a technologically, as opposed to biologically, enhanced individual as their leader.
As for the last one, it's up in the air. Kaya doesn't seem like the sort to work for Bolas. We haven't heard from Domri in ages, and the same applies to him. Though he would obviously know how the Gruul operate, were he to be swayed via mind control. My bet though is on Ramaz taking over the Gruul. He never got a card, we know he works for Bolas, and the Gruul already have shamans. Yes, he'd be yet another RG planeswalker, but oh well.
According to today's MaRo article, two guilds in this set and three guilds in the next will be under Bolas' control/influence. Also, each of the five Bolas guilds will be led by a planeswalker loyal to Bolas.
Yep. What I'm wondering is which three guilds in Allegiance will fall under his sway. We only really know of two 'walkers besides Ral and Vraska still under his command: Liliana and Tezzeret. Liliana is both easy and poetic. I can easily imagine Bolas going "Hey, Lili, you have some experience killing demons, yes? Be a doll and go off Rakdos for me. Then take over the guild while you're at it."
Tezzeret is harder. We now know that Isperia is out of the picture, which makes Azorius a slightly more likely choice than Simic for the blue artificer. Especially given that he's originally from Esper, and that the Simic would likely firmly object to a technologically, as opposed to biologically, enhanced individual as their leader.
As for the last one, it's up in the air. Kaya doesn't seem like the sort to work for Bolas. We haven't heard from Domri in ages, and the same applies to him. Though he would obviously know how the Gruul operate, were he to be swayed via mind control. My bet though is on Ramaz taking over the Gruul. He never got a card, we know he works for Bolas, and the Gruul already have shamans. Yes, he'd be yet another RG planeswalker, but oh well.
For whatever its worth, I believe Ramaz's full identity is RGU. He would still probably be printed as an RG card, though.
As to the Guilds, I am still operating under the theory that the Pro-Bolas and Anti-Bolas Guilds will be color-balanced. With BG and UR covered, and I agree that Azorius is now likely, my current theory is that Golgari, Izzet, Azorius, Orzhov, and Gruul will be Pro-Bolas, leaving Boros, Dimir, Selesnya, Simic, and Rakdos to be Anti-Bolas.
If the guilds on either side are color balanced and the Planeswalkers for each side are the same colors as the guilds then that would mean presumably two new Planeswalkers next set at least. Granted it's hard to imagine no Liliana/Tezzeret or them getting different colors, so I'm not sure what to make of that. It would feel somewhat lame for the guilds to be influenced by Planeswalkers of the wrong colors though.
According to today's MaRo article, two guilds in this set and three guilds in the next will be under Bolas' control/influence. Also, each of the five Bolas guilds will be led by a planeswalker loyal to Bolas.
Yep. What I'm wondering is which three guilds in Allegiance will fall under his sway. We only really know of two 'walkers besides Ral and Vraska still under his command: Liliana and Tezzeret. Liliana is both easy and poetic. I can easily imagine Bolas going "Hey, Lili, you have some experience killing demons, yes? Be a doll and go off Rakdos for me. Then take over the guild while you're at it."
Tezzeret is harder. We now know that Isperia is out of the picture, which makes Azorius a slightly more likely choice than Simic for the blue artificer. Especially given that he's originally from Esper, and that the Simic would likely firmly object to a technologically, as opposed to biologically, enhanced individual as their leader.
As for the last one, it's up in the air. Kaya doesn't seem like the sort to work for Bolas. We haven't heard from Domri in ages, and the same applies to him. Though he would obviously know how the Gruul operate, were he to be swayed via mind control. My bet though is on Ramaz taking over the Gruul. He never got a card, we know he works for Bolas, and the Gruul already have shamans. Yes, he'd be yet another RG planeswalker, but oh well.
I was hoping for a Ramaz appearance. He always seemed like a perfect whacked out wild man of a shaman, which would make his card interesting. Kaya is an enigma. If she's with the good guys, then she's there to face down the Orzhov ghosts. But like Dimir being too paranoid and shadowy to go to Bolas, Orzhov seems too self-interested and profit-oriented to want to destroy the system. If she's with the bad guys, which I find unlikely, then she likely killed off the Obzedat. But what about Teysa, then?
I also don't know of the Simic would go Bolas' way. I think they'd work with Phyrexians, but not with Bolas.
So my gut says Azorius, Rakdos, and Gruul for Bolas in Act II. I'm still hoping for a Boros upset where Izzet is surprisingly not yet Bolas', but I doubt that's likely. I don't think Dovin would leave Kaladesh, but I also don't think Tezz would be able to woo the Azorious. Who leads them then, I'm not sure about. But Ramaz for Gruul and Liliana for Rakdos could work. And if she's super livid about her circumstances and wanting to be free and liberated, might she cross into R/B?
I posted a thread on this topic in the Speculation subforum of the Rumor Mill, but basically, if you're looking for returning PWs (i.e., PWs with a card) to lead the guilds in Allegiance, you have
Orzhov: Kaya
Azorius: Dovin Baan
Rakdos: Tibalt
Simic: Kiora
Gruul: Domri Rade
Sarkhan is another option for Gruul if you imagine that Bolas put in some kind of backdoor into his mind and has never activated it.
However, as others have pointed out, if the Bolas guilds are color-balanced, there is only one 3-guild selection that will color balance against Golgari and Izzet: Azorius, Orzhov, and Gruul. I can see (and hope for) Ramaz over Domri, because it's hard to believe a teenager could actually 'lead' the Gruul.
It also shows how important Vraska is in Jace's counterplan. Assuming that Jace knows enough to know which guilds will be taken over, then Bolas is counting on 5 guilds vs. 5 guilds, with his Eternal army thrown into the mix for the edge. But if Vraska switches sides, even without her personal power, that puts 6 guilds vs. 4 + Eternal army... which sounds a lot more survivable.
Currently, my belief is that Bolas has targeted the Azorius, Orzhov, and Rakdos guilds for takeover. Azorius because of Assassin's Trophy, Orzhov because of Kaya's presence on the novel cover (and she would at some point switch sides), and Rakdos because of Tibalt and the general Rakdos sentiment. If this is true, then the Golgari might be even MORE important because it would be the only green guild under Bolas's control... and perhaps you can't control Ravnica without all colors.
I think Azorious is all but confirmed, and I could see Dovan or Tezz taking it over. Yes, Tezz is UB, but he has experience working in Kaladesh as basically the head of a beauracratic government that was mostly WU aligned, and he's from Esper which is WUB. There is no artifact guild on Ravnica either, so he isn't tied down by that.
I think that the Gruul are likely to join up, because they are sort of low hanging fruit for Bolas to pick. They aren't organized, at all, so if Bolas manages to form some sort of organization around Domri, who should be easy to manipulate, then he could capture most of the guild. The Gruul also have the most to gain out of all the guilds from overthrowing the system. They are completely out of power and the only guild that does not benefit from the system. It has been all downhill for then since the first guildpact was signed, and they already live in a post apocalyptic existence, scrounging for scraps in the rubblebelt, a wasteland of destroyed cityscape. If Ravnica is destroyed, it will look like where the Gruul already live, and that leaves them the most suited to surviving the aftermath and rebuilding Ravnica in their image. That's why I think they'd be the most willing to cooperate, because knowing that Bolas intends to destroy Ravnican society would sell them on Bolas more than any lie he could tell them.
The Orzhov I think will behave like the Dimir. They like the current system. They don't want to rule outright, they prefer letting others do that while they work their corruption from the shadows. The system works extremely well for them, and they are incredibly risk averse and tradition bound. The only way I see the Orzhov going to Bolas is if the Obzedat are annihilated and Teysa wrongly believes that Bolas will usher in the society she wants. As others have mentioned, Kaya could be key here.
The Rakdos I think will go to him. Again, he can be honest with them and they'd join up. Just tell them to go out and burn the place down, rape and pillage, cut some faces off, go nuts. Manipulating them would be as simple as sending in Liliana with the promise to reanimate them when they die so they can go out with a bang multiple times. It's already a necromantic guild, adding a really powerful necromancer to help them and to steer them to targets would be trivial. And Lord Rakdos would enjoy the show.
The Simic seem to have little and less to gain from helping Bolas. If they didn't want to join Ravnican society they could have simply stayed out of it and nobody would have been the wiser. They revealed themselves in RTR block because they wanted to fill the void left by Vig and be a part of Ravnica. They seem pretty on board with the state of Ravnica, and I don't see an in for Bolas, nor does he have any walkers to infiltrate it (as others have said, Tezz would not be welcomed there).
Given Isperias death opening up the Azorious, a guild that would otherwise be unmotivated to join Bolas, no predictions are safe. Generally I'd say that the guilds that benefit from the system would want to keep it, and those seeking change would be more open to manipulation, and this mostly holds in GoR. Selesnya wants peace, the Lazav lead Dimir are happy operating in the shadows and pitting guilds against each other, the Boros live for keeping the established order. On the other hand, the Golgari are an underclass now lead by someone who hates the system and Niv never stopped trying to take over the world and thinks he's smart enough to come out of all this on top. That pattern holding would have matched my predictions, with the exception of the Azorious, but Isperia being killed and Bolas installing a puppet changes them. Because of this, all I can say is that those that benefit from the system will stand against Bolas unless he is able to change their leadership, which seems worthless and might be, but I don't actually think we're going to see more leadership changes, especially because if we did we'd need to see guilds that would be naturally inclined to join Bolas find a reason to oppose him, and that's more difficult than the reverse.
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Dovin Baan isn't the only UW Planeswalker we've seen recently. There's also Azor, whose mind was crushed by Jace and left behind on Ixalan. It wouldn't be too far-fetched for Bolas to have gone back there to take a look once the Immortal Sun was gone and undo enough of that to make Azor a useful pawn. Especially given how motivated by revenge his actions seemed to be in the M19 story.
Azor was not mind crushed, Jace just forced him to reign over a useless island with the Guild Pact Powers cause Jace is hypocritical and petty. Apparently its bad for Azor to not do his job on Ravnica and meddle in other worlds but when Jace does its A-Okay.
Azor was not mind crushed, Jace just forced him to reign over a useless island with the Guild Pact Powers cause Jace is hypocritical and petty. Apparently its bad for Azor to not do his job on Ravnica and meddle in other worlds but when Jace does its A-Okay.
Especially when Azor was literally unable to return to Ravnica for the vast majority of that time, both from the immortal sun AND from Ravnica being cut off from the multiverse. And that despite his absence the system he built worked for 10,000 years, making it more successful than any real world society and most, if not all, magic the gathering civilizations.
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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!
Not to mention Jace mostly punished him because bad things happened to Vraska and wanting to get into her pants...bad things that only happened because the Guild Pact got broken. Honestly, the fact that Azor set down and negotiated peace with non Walker Paruns is kinda weird for an Oldwalker.
We need to remember that the Rakdos higher ups are psycho murder cultists, Bolas only needs to show up and say "Hey wanna kill a bunch of people, if so Join my side" though TBH I think that we are going to see a little twist when it comes to who are the "Good guilds" vs "Evil Guilds" I am betting at least the Boros end up on Bolas' side in some manner.
Both Feather and Jarad were protagonists in the first set of Novels, and both have been deposed for shaky reasons and replaced with people who are likely less willing to work with outside guild, that leaves Jace having to recruit from the generally less organized guilds.
Dimir
Gruul
Rakdos
Simic
The only exception there is the Selensya who we think Jace gets on his side by giving his secret to Emmara, which could be how Bolas recruits the Azorious, he tells Lavinia why Jace has been gone for months and months.
I know the "leaders" now more or less hold less importance since it's implied planeswalkers will be more or less taking over as Guildmasters (at least for half of the guilds), but I'm still worried about Niv now. Ral is definitely gunning for the power play over Izzet (and whether he'll turn to a alternative Tezz against Bolas is a further future issue) and will likely succeed.
The problem is with Niv's personality, there's a really good chance he'll bite the dust on this visit to the plane. From Nehpilim fights we do see he does retreat when he knows he's not winning, but ehhh if Bolas is involved I'm still not too optimistic of his chances. Doesn't help his Story Spotlight and Card is so generic (and I know gameplay is often segregated from the story, but it certainly doesn't help Research does exactly enough damage to kill Niv himself...) and the last time we got a "generic" Izzet Champion, Ral promptly ended him (speaking of which I still want MORE WEIRDS in the set).
Then again, he did tolerate Jace as the Guildpact, so it's not completely impossible for him to choose to lay low, but I would think that losing the guild and having to effectively "subordinate" under the Guildpact directly would drive someone of Niv's personality nuts. Doesn't help as fun as his character is, it's also been "just there" forever, so he's bluntly put, pretty disposable at this point of time.
Taking a wager at the ending even though this is a long shot
After Jace restores her memory the golgari will just like that switch sides maybe she’ll take out ral so niv (if still alive after everything) will gain leadership again Azorious may benforced to work with bolas since a death happen so they will revolt after the turn of taples
And how ever the other 2 goes we’ll see
Then bolas will be overthrown and either will be killed or retreats with his powers lost/reduced once again
I think the Azorius will have an active civil war, especially since Lavinia is aligned with Jace. It would be fitting for Bolas to target them for corruption, a sort of petty revenge against Azor for working against him
This is interesting. In the previous Ravnica block none of the Guild leaders died, and only one guild legend (the Izzet one.) Very little was gambled and very little was lost. In the first Ravnica Block, meanwhile, we lost Razia, Momir Vig, Augustin IV, Kraj, Lyzolda, Savra, 2/3 of the Sisters of Stone Death, Kos (now a ghost--where is he?) and Szadek (though technically he won, and is also now a ghost and supposedly still at large in Agyrem).
It will be interesting to have a high body count again to shake things up. I'm glad they're willing to take these kinds of risks with a familiar and beloved world.
I like the thought someone proposed earlier of Bolas having Liliana, hardened demon-killer, killing Rakdos and taking over.
I think the Azorius will have an active civil war, especially since Lavinia is aligned with Jace. It would be fitting for Bolas to target them for corruption, a sort of petty revenge against Azor for working against him
Sort of in support of this idea, we should keep in mind that MaRo states that many of the guilds will have influences (potentially factions within them) pulling in opposite directions. It's likely that even within guilds that do side with Bolas there will be groups that oppose him (and vise-versa).
Bolas could have a puppet installed as the technical "head" of Azorius after Vraska offs Isperia (poor Isperia, I actually liked her), and Lavinia could lead a rogue element against them.
Kaya might be there not as a leader, but contracted to assassinate the Ghost Council of Orzhova, and in that giving leadership to Teysa while indebting her to Bolas. After all, Ral Zarek is the de-facto leader, but Niv Mizzet is still around, holding power only in name.
How many believe that the final confrontation with Bolas on Ravnica is going to be a sort of Magic Infinity War, with a lot of the different PWs teaming up against the big bad?
I have made that parallel immediatelly after the book cover was released. After all, we got a Doctoress Strange right there.
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If I was writting this story, my solution to Izzet and Niv would be simple: Nicol Bolas would take over Niv Mizzet's identity.
He would go an kill the Firemind in silence, and then place himself as him. He would use illusions to make the part and he has the brain to fake it, at least for a while. It would be the most comfortable spot for him to hide, too, because Niv can do pretty much anything he wants and gets revered very much
Add to that the idea of Lili killing Rakdos, Kaya Killing Obzedat, Vraska killing the old Golgari leadership and Tezzeret taking over Azorious after Isperia dies... and that sounds like ver ruthless methods
I don't remember if Isperia was involved with any of Vraska's injustice, so correct me if so. But the assassination of a leader who is attempting to unite the people has some yummy subtext and is painting Isperia to be a face of the resistance. Her death won't be in vain. I hope she is succeeded by a great new UW legend when the dust settles.
Yep. What I'm wondering is which three guilds in Allegiance will fall under his sway. We only really know of two 'walkers besides Ral and Vraska still under his command: Liliana and Tezzeret. Liliana is both easy and poetic. I can easily imagine Bolas going "Hey, Lili, you have some experience killing demons, yes? Be a doll and go off Rakdos for me. Then take over the guild while you're at it."
Tezzeret is harder. We now know that Isperia is out of the picture, which makes Azorius a slightly more likely choice than Simic for the blue artificer. Especially given that he's originally from Esper, and that the Simic would likely firmly object to a technologically, as opposed to biologically, enhanced individual as their leader.
As for the last one, it's up in the air. Kaya doesn't seem like the sort to work for Bolas. We haven't heard from Domri in ages, and the same applies to him. Though he would obviously know how the Gruul operate, were he to be swayed via mind control. My bet though is on Ramaz taking over the Gruul. He never got a card, we know he works for Bolas, and the Gruul already have shamans. Yes, he'd be yet another RG planeswalker, but oh well.
For whatever its worth, I believe Ramaz's full identity is RGU. He would still probably be printed as an RG card, though.
As to the Guilds, I am still operating under the theory that the Pro-Bolas and Anti-Bolas Guilds will be color-balanced. With BG and UR covered, and I agree that Azorius is now likely, my current theory is that Golgari, Izzet, Azorius, Orzhov, and Gruul will be Pro-Bolas, leaving Boros, Dimir, Selesnya, Simic, and Rakdos to be Anti-Bolas.
I was hoping for a Ramaz appearance. He always seemed like a perfect whacked out wild man of a shaman, which would make his card interesting. Kaya is an enigma. If she's with the good guys, then she's there to face down the Orzhov ghosts. But like Dimir being too paranoid and shadowy to go to Bolas, Orzhov seems too self-interested and profit-oriented to want to destroy the system. If she's with the bad guys, which I find unlikely, then she likely killed off the Obzedat. But what about Teysa, then?
I also don't know of the Simic would go Bolas' way. I think they'd work with Phyrexians, but not with Bolas.
So my gut says Azorius, Rakdos, and Gruul for Bolas in Act II. I'm still hoping for a Boros upset where Izzet is surprisingly not yet Bolas', but I doubt that's likely. I don't think Dovin would leave Kaladesh, but I also don't think Tezz would be able to woo the Azorious. Who leads them then, I'm not sure about. But Ramaz for Gruul and Liliana for Rakdos could work. And if she's super livid about her circumstances and wanting to be free and liberated, might she cross into R/B?
Orzhov: Kaya
Azorius: Dovin Baan
Rakdos: Tibalt
Simic: Kiora
Gruul: Domri Rade
Sarkhan is another option for Gruul if you imagine that Bolas put in some kind of backdoor into his mind and has never activated it.
However, as others have pointed out, if the Bolas guilds are color-balanced, there is only one 3-guild selection that will color balance against Golgari and Izzet: Azorius, Orzhov, and Gruul. I can see (and hope for) Ramaz over Domri, because it's hard to believe a teenager could actually 'lead' the Gruul.
It also shows how important Vraska is in Jace's counterplan. Assuming that Jace knows enough to know which guilds will be taken over, then Bolas is counting on 5 guilds vs. 5 guilds, with his Eternal army thrown into the mix for the edge. But if Vraska switches sides, even without her personal power, that puts 6 guilds vs. 4 + Eternal army... which sounds a lot more survivable.
Currently, my belief is that Bolas has targeted the Azorius, Orzhov, and Rakdos guilds for takeover. Azorius because of Assassin's Trophy, Orzhov because of Kaya's presence on the novel cover (and she would at some point switch sides), and Rakdos because of Tibalt and the general Rakdos sentiment. If this is true, then the Golgari might be even MORE important because it would be the only green guild under Bolas's control... and perhaps you can't control Ravnica without all colors.
I think that the Gruul are likely to join up, because they are sort of low hanging fruit for Bolas to pick. They aren't organized, at all, so if Bolas manages to form some sort of organization around Domri, who should be easy to manipulate, then he could capture most of the guild. The Gruul also have the most to gain out of all the guilds from overthrowing the system. They are completely out of power and the only guild that does not benefit from the system. It has been all downhill for then since the first guildpact was signed, and they already live in a post apocalyptic existence, scrounging for scraps in the rubblebelt, a wasteland of destroyed cityscape. If Ravnica is destroyed, it will look like where the Gruul already live, and that leaves them the most suited to surviving the aftermath and rebuilding Ravnica in their image. That's why I think they'd be the most willing to cooperate, because knowing that Bolas intends to destroy Ravnican society would sell them on Bolas more than any lie he could tell them.
The Orzhov I think will behave like the Dimir. They like the current system. They don't want to rule outright, they prefer letting others do that while they work their corruption from the shadows. The system works extremely well for them, and they are incredibly risk averse and tradition bound. The only way I see the Orzhov going to Bolas is if the Obzedat are annihilated and Teysa wrongly believes that Bolas will usher in the society she wants. As others have mentioned, Kaya could be key here.
The Rakdos I think will go to him. Again, he can be honest with them and they'd join up. Just tell them to go out and burn the place down, rape and pillage, cut some faces off, go nuts. Manipulating them would be as simple as sending in Liliana with the promise to reanimate them when they die so they can go out with a bang multiple times. It's already a necromantic guild, adding a really powerful necromancer to help them and to steer them to targets would be trivial. And Lord Rakdos would enjoy the show.
The Simic seem to have little and less to gain from helping Bolas. If they didn't want to join Ravnican society they could have simply stayed out of it and nobody would have been the wiser. They revealed themselves in RTR block because they wanted to fill the void left by Vig and be a part of Ravnica. They seem pretty on board with the state of Ravnica, and I don't see an in for Bolas, nor does he have any walkers to infiltrate it (as others have said, Tezz would not be welcomed there).
Given Isperias death opening up the Azorious, a guild that would otherwise be unmotivated to join Bolas, no predictions are safe. Generally I'd say that the guilds that benefit from the system would want to keep it, and those seeking change would be more open to manipulation, and this mostly holds in GoR. Selesnya wants peace, the Lazav lead Dimir are happy operating in the shadows and pitting guilds against each other, the Boros live for keeping the established order. On the other hand, the Golgari are an underclass now lead by someone who hates the system and Niv never stopped trying to take over the world and thinks he's smart enough to come out of all this on top. That pattern holding would have matched my predictions, with the exception of the Azorious, but Isperia being killed and Bolas installing a puppet changes them. Because of this, all I can say is that those that benefit from the system will stand against Bolas unless he is able to change their leadership, which seems worthless and might be, but I don't actually think we're going to see more leadership changes, especially because if we did we'd need to see guilds that would be naturally inclined to join Bolas find a reason to oppose him, and that's more difficult than the reverse.
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!
The only issue with Azorious is would they really get another Walker so soon lol.
Especially when Azor was literally unable to return to Ravnica for the vast majority of that time, both from the immortal sun AND from Ravnica being cut off from the multiverse. And that despite his absence the system he built worked for 10,000 years, making it more successful than any real world society and most, if not all, magic the gathering civilizations.
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!
We need to remember that the Rakdos higher ups are psycho murder cultists, Bolas only needs to show up and say "Hey wanna kill a bunch of people, if so Join my side" though TBH I think that we are going to see a little twist when it comes to who are the "Good guilds" vs "Evil Guilds" I am betting at least the Boros end up on Bolas' side in some manner.
Both Feather and Jarad were protagonists in the first set of Novels, and both have been deposed for shaky reasons and replaced with people who are likely less willing to work with outside guild, that leaves Jace having to recruit from the generally less organized guilds.
Dimir
Gruul
Rakdos
Simic
The only exception there is the Selensya who we think Jace gets on his side by giving his secret to Emmara, which could be how Bolas recruits the Azorious, he tells Lavinia why Jace has been gone for months and months.
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Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
The problem is with Niv's personality, there's a really good chance he'll bite the dust on this visit to the plane. From Nehpilim fights we do see he does retreat when he knows he's not winning, but ehhh if Bolas is involved I'm still not too optimistic of his chances. Doesn't help his Story Spotlight and Card is so generic (and I know gameplay is often segregated from the story, but it certainly doesn't help Research does exactly enough damage to kill Niv himself...) and the last time we got a "generic" Izzet Champion, Ral promptly ended him (speaking of which I still want MORE WEIRDS in the set).
Then again, he did tolerate Jace as the Guildpact, so it's not completely impossible for him to choose to lay low, but I would think that losing the guild and having to effectively "subordinate" under the Guildpact directly would drive someone of Niv's personality nuts. Doesn't help as fun as his character is, it's also been "just there" forever, so he's bluntly put, pretty disposable at this point of time.
After Jace restores her memory the golgari will just like that switch sides maybe she’ll take out ral so niv (if still alive after everything) will gain leadership again Azorious may benforced to work with bolas since a death happen so they will revolt after the turn of taples
And how ever the other 2 goes we’ll see
Then bolas will be overthrown and either will be killed or retreats with his powers lost/reduced once again
It will be interesting to have a high body count again to shake things up. I'm glad they're willing to take these kinds of risks with a familiar and beloved world.
I like the thought someone proposed earlier of Bolas having Liliana, hardened demon-killer, killing Rakdos and taking over.
Sort of in support of this idea, we should keep in mind that MaRo states that many of the guilds will have influences (potentially factions within them) pulling in opposite directions. It's likely that even within guilds that do side with Bolas there will be groups that oppose him (and vise-versa).
Bolas could have a puppet installed as the technical "head" of Azorius after Vraska offs Isperia (poor Isperia, I actually liked her), and Lavinia could lead a rogue element against them.
I have made that parallel immediatelly after the book cover was released. After all, we got a Doctoress Strange right there.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
He would go an kill the Firemind in silence, and then place himself as him. He would use illusions to make the part and he has the brain to fake it, at least for a while. It would be the most comfortable spot for him to hide, too, because Niv can do pretty much anything he wants and gets revered very much
Add to that the idea of Lili killing Rakdos, Kaya Killing Obzedat, Vraska killing the old Golgari leadership and Tezzeret taking over Azorious after Isperia dies... and that sounds like ver ruthless methods
See both guildgates
Tajic is now anti cooperation where once he was willing to work with Teysa.
Razia was usually the more combative figure as seen in her treatment of Feather.
The Vorthos community will await the consequences of the Eldrazi Titans' deaths/sealing. We will keep the watch.
“The wind whispers, ‘come home,’ but I cannot.”
— Teferi
Fix'd.
Anyway, here is a sneak peek at Azorius land. My money is on Hallowed Fountain (it is the same scene as on RtR art)
Notice anything interesting?
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)