So on Ikoria, the Apexi of each location are Wedge color legends with this Mutate ability that displays their core color, which differs from the Tarkir Wedges. Brokkos, Apex of Forever is Sultai-green (instead of black), Illuna, Apex of Wishes is Temur-blue (instead of green), Snapdax, Apex of the Hunt is Mardu-white (instead of red), and Vadrok, Apex of Thunder being Jeskai-red (instead of blue). I'd imagine Nethroi, Apex of Death would be Abzan-black (instead of white).
I appreciate this take on wedges, it adds new flavor contrary to the humanoid-centric clans on Tarkir.
Savai - Human and civilization focus of Ikoria, fortified and ready for battle, though more on the defense than offense, therefore it's Mardu on the white side. It's also a cat region and cat frequently associates with white and red. Black may be symbolized via human tenacity.
Ketria - Elemental region where Illuna came from continues the Omnath, Locus of the Roil route with Temur. Ketria in a way is similar to Tarkir Temur where creatures modify your spellsling, though it takes one step deeper. This region also has the highest concentration of monster crystals (one that glow when a monster approaches), which might suggest Ikorian mutation and instability has something to do with it, and why dream and illusion can turn real in Ketria.
Indatha - Highest concentration of nightmares on Ikoria, though not the only place with it. Nightmare associates with black, so instead of white-aligned like on Tarkir here we have it fear-aligned. Indatha also an airborne human settlement that could adapt according to current monster threats, which may be the W/G aspect of this region.
Raugrin - Coastal Dinotopia, the dinosaurs here take blue instead of green like their Ixalan brethren, therefore appear to have more supernatural power rather than primal strength. Gavi, Nest Warden is an interesting, almost alternative universe take on Atla Palani, Nest Tender. Who knows, Gavi might've been the Bonder of Vadrok, that's why she's looking after his eggs.
Zagoth - Swampy but lush, this region harbors the largest Beast collection on Ikoria, thus far already has two legends with mutate in mind, which might suggest it to be the most evolve-centric area; Green implies size and power, blue the mutation, and black being its endurance (a trait signified in Eldraine). The greatest number of monster hunters here suggest that humans here too are quite green-aligned.
In this case its pretty straightforward since its literally just habitats instead of factions or philosophies. The monsters do have personalities, but they're very generic (the two blue-green ones provide knowledge and blessings, the black ones are psychos and the Jeskai one is just a rampaging not-dragon)
There is also a kinda of mix and matching of colors with the monsters. White is mostly cats, blue is mostly elementals, black is mostly nightmares, red is mostly dinosaurs and green is mostly beasts, so many of the multicolored monsters mixing those two or three type in themselves. The apex monsters are a blend of the three monster with their colors.
For Savai they hare prideful it seems since they boast how they haven't ever fallen (which if the trailer is fully canon thats gonna change) and while defensive they do have a military (who Lukka and his gf are apart of) that could add in the red some. As they might use any means to fight the monster black might also be an element there.
For the city they talk about being able to separate out into small groupers then come back together as a bigger whole which kinda feels white or white/green so that might be that aspect of it.
Zagoth- It says the apex beast gave visions of the past and future which goes into similar space of Kruphix.
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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"
This is why I didn't like Creative's wedge portrayal on Tarkir focusing on the first color of the trios rather than the central color. Shard of Alara had the focus on the central color of the shards and things resonated well. It showed how the core color interacted with its allies, and a little bit for enemy pairings. For me, Tarkir always felt off due to going with the first color for flavor and focus. They played up more of the allied pairs than the enemy pairs. Now Ikoria is taking the Shards approach and using the central color of each wedge to get flavor and focus. This isn't a knock against Tarkir because I did enjoy that block and world, I did give me Crackling Doom. I'm just looking forward to the core colors interacting more with their enemy pairs, with a little bit of allies thrown in.
For Savai they hare prideful it seems since they boast how they haven't ever fallen (which if the trailer is fully canon thats gonna change) and while defensive they do have a military (who Lukka and his gf are apart of) that could add in the red some.
Do you think that trailer speaks of an Attack on Titan vibe? It's understandable if Humans on Ikoria grew lax behind the wall and suddenly a giant monster head looks over you... it will remind them the fear of cattle.
This is why I didn't like Creative's wedge portrayal on Tarkir focusing on the first color of the trios rather than the central color. Shard of Alara had the focus on the central color of the shards and things resonated well. It showed how the core color interacted with its allies, and a little bit for enemy pairings. For me, Tarkir always felt off due to going with the first color for flavor and focus. They played up more of the allied pairs than the enemy pairs. Now Ikoria is taking the Shards approach and using the central color of each wedge to get flavor and focus. This isn't a knock against Tarkir because I did enjoy that block and world, I did give me Crackling Doom. I'm just looking forward to the core colors interacting more with their enemy pairs, with a little bit of allies thrown in.
I think it's actually a good approach to have different foci each time a color pair/trio come up. Boros for example, being combat-centric only became a theme since Ravnica #2, but it's a convenient design so WotC went with it, but it hardly express how much W/R could potentially do, consider Lorwyn had a very different approach on Boros.
For Shard/wedges, more colors, more possibilities, what works on one plane may require different look on another. I appreciate WotC takes time to design them from different angles. I wouldn't mind seeing a Bant take a turn on design, where beasty creatures "domesticate" human beings.
For Savai they hare prideful it seems since they boast how they haven't ever fallen (which if the trailer is fully canon thats gonna change) and while defensive they do have a military (who Lukka and his gf are apart of) that could add in the red some.
Do you think that trailer speaks of an Attack on Titan vibe? It's understandable if Humans on Ikoria grew lax behind the wall and suddenly a giant monster head looks over you... it will remind them the fear of cattle.
I see that now, along a bit with Innistrad as this is gonna kinda be humans darkest times/on the run after this.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
For Savai they hare prideful it seems since they boast how they haven't ever fallen (which if the trailer is fully canon thats gonna change) and while defensive they do have a military (who Lukka and his gf are apart of) that could add in the red some.
Do you think that trailer speaks of an Attack on Titan vibe? It's understandable if Humans on Ikoria grew lax behind the wall and suddenly a giant monster head looks over you... it will remind them the fear of cattle.
The trailer makes no sense, why is Vivien defending a city? She would be right alongside the city destroyer, cheering.
Y'know... We tend to run into this 'Civilization vs the dangerous wilderness' conflict a lot in MtG...
Do we?
Innistrad wasn't so much the wilds as monsters in general, they specifically had monsters within civilization.
Amonkeht was a ruined world where the noncivilization was brutal and hellish but it wasn't fighting civilization.
Ravnica has an exceptionally small part of its theme being civilization vs the wilds but it's more of a footnote.
Eldraine definitely had a strong nature vs civilization.
Ixalan had a primeval world feel but it wasn't at all wilds vs civilization it was natives vs invaders.
Theros lacks even the faintest hint of such a theme.
The same with Dominaria and Kaladesh.
Zendikar comes close but it's more of the world vs everyone rather than civilization vs the wilds. Then it was a simple us vs them.
Mirrodin had a specific enemy in the phyrexians or Memnarch.
I don't think lorwyn had such a theme but I missed that set.
Alara had 5 themes and none of them were civilization vs nature.
Tarkir showcased the brutality of nature but it wasn't fighting civilization.
So this theme actually rarely shows up in magic. We usually have a more concrete enemy than the vague enemy of the "unknown" or the "wilds"
Theros lacks even the faintest hint of such a theme.
Not true, part of the original block's theme was to contrast the poleis with the dangers of the wilds. Monstruous versus heroic, after all. Hell, the main villain is the wilderness combo while Elspeth is the color of civilisation.
Theros lacks even the faintest hint of such a theme.
Not true, part of the original block's theme was to contrast the poleis with the dangers of the wilds. Monstruous versus heroic, after all. Hell, the main villain is the wilderness combo while Elspeth is the color of civilisation.
It wasn't "the dangers of the wilds" but overcoming heroic challenges. The "wilds" weren't dangerous in Theros it just so happened that there were great beasts in the wilds to challenge. There was no fear of the unknown or of the untamed in Theros. The main villain fell into the 'wilderness' colors but he wasn't representing the wilderness he was representing a usurping of the status quo.
And, I presume why the Bonders in the story are in a conflicted position. Humans in Drannish fight monsters all the time and likely banished Lukka for his bonding. They may well be the mediators between wild and civilization in this world.
Judging by Kathril and the general description of Indantha I think deception might be the default motif for White/Black/Green in this set and its kind of interesting.
Judging by Kathril and the general description of Indantha I think deception might be the default motif for White/Black/Green in this set and its kind of interesting.
You might be right. Strangely I'm not liking Abzan a whole lot this set. Then again, not all Abzan are 'abzan' and I accept that. No different really than Azorius is not the same as Ojutai which is not the same as Ephara.
WBG nightmares are wierd! I cannot discern what's white about its monster. The Big Cat and Flying Volcano at least have an 'obiterate everything' feel to em.
Bet Narset is here trying to figure out how to bring her plane back into balance, Humans and Dragons together. Not that anything we know so far about the wold suggests anything reassuring on that front.
Only a massive plane-wide partnering of monster and human would provide the kind of evidence and study worthy of replication on Tarkir.
I mean, White is just “you’re a Cat” if it’s a monster basically here. I’m simplifying but I don’t think the monsters here really would line up with more traditional White things unless it’s just within their own groups.
For the city they talk about being able to separate out into small groupers then come back together as a bigger whole which kinda feels white or white/green so that might be that aspect of it.
Skysail is mentioned in the Indatha section, but even going by the little information we have about it, it very much feels like a "Rwu" type of place. The main value is freedom (R) which is achieved by careful planning and engineering (U) and a strong social structure (W) which are both necessary to successfully maintain a floating city that has to defend itself against giant sky monsters.
For the city they talk about being able to separate out into small groupers then come back together as a bigger whole which kinda feels white or white/green so that might be that aspect of it.
Skysail is mentioned in the Indatha section, but even going by the little information we have about it, it very much feels like a "Rwu" type of place. The main value is freedom (R) which is achieved by careful planning and engineering (U) and a strong social structure (W) which are both necessary to successfully maintain a floating city that has to defend itself against giant sky monsters.
The Skysail is floating for safety's sake, not necessarily because of freedom (a side benefit perhaps). Valuing safety via congregation is a W/G trait, soaring above the danger (B) below them. Though, there's no deny that Skysail could go else where when they choose to, as we saw in Xyris, the Writhing Storm, but the "Jeskai" region of Ikoria is Raugrin, that place is filled with flying dinosaurs so Skysail's advantage is naught over there. Indatha is terrible but most threats appear to be nonflying. Most.
The Skysail is floating for safety's sake, not necessarily because of freedom (a side benefit perhaps). Valuing safety via congregation is a W/G trait, soaring above the danger (B) below them. Though, there's no deny that Skysail could go else where when they choose to, as we saw in Xyris, the Writhing Storm, but the "Jeskai" region of Ikoria is Raugrin, that place is filled with flying dinosaurs so Skysail's advantage is naught over there. Indatha is terrible but most threats appear to be nonflying. Most.
Hm, I'm not convinced.
First off, if "safety via congregation = GW", then Drannith should be G as well.
Second, interpreting B as "the danger below" seems very flimsy, especially since monsters of all colors are dangerous and black is supposed to be the central color of the wedge in this case.
I'm pretty sure a group that is mainly B and has GW as its secondary colors would laugh at the idea of Skysail. Abzan is one of the most pragmatic color pairs, it favors conservatism and "playing it safe". You need a lot of idealism to propose something like a flying balloon city, let alone actually build and run it. BGW would see something like that as a waste of time and resources at best and suicide at worst.
Also, all cards that picture Skysail (or better, Skysail itself and its inhabitants) that we've seen so far have clearly lean towards Jeskai: Valiant Rescuer, Decoy Gambit, Fluctuator (in the Jeskai commander precon) and Twinning Staff (it's colorless, but if you had to apply colors to it, its effect would be RU). Additionally, blue and white are the main two colors for flying.
Quite a few cards picture balloons being destroyed so I'm not sure if there's really a region that's safer than the others, but yeah, maybe they moved over Indatha because it has the least number of airborne threats.
According to the planeswalker's guide they're from Indatha and took to the air since. Its possible that they might have shifted colors but it is pretty weird so so throughly associate them with that region and not have them be White/Black/Green.
They took to the air out of desperation. The Green part is counterintuitive, but Black has been getting aerial cards lately (case in point, Locthwain's castle being mobile and on top of a cloud).
They also do get a Green spell in the form of the reprint of Plummet. Blue and Red spells associated with them are mostly of attacking creatures. So yeah, that is a pretty good justification for them being in White/Black/Green: they are anti-air.
Giving it some thought (largely because I am bored):
Savai: Savai's Red/White/Black "factions" manifest the combination differently. Snapdax is effectively a serial killer, combining White's sense of justice with Black and Red's sadism; the same likely applies to most other cats. Drannith is completely opposite to the Mardu in being a highly pragmatic society where nothing goes to waste, where class inequality does exist and where constant research and even philosophical pursuits occur. It is in a way a stereotypical fascist nation, mostly White/Black but with hints of Red in its application of violence and few artistic pursuits.
Ketria: Ketria's Green/Blue/Red factions seem to be more united, largely because human populations are mostly composed of small settlements. Illuna craves perfection (Blue) through using cosmic harmony (Green) and the imagination of dreams (Red), and human worshippers likely seek the same through pilgrimages to see it. Most elementals have different agendas or none at all.
Indatha: Like in Savai, the monster and human factions are well seperated. For the nightmares, White/Black/Green means using the light to conceal the darkness, and maybe spice up death magic as with Nethroi, making them a bit closer to Sultai's idea of ruthlessness and Dimir's idea of deception than to Abzan's endurance. For Skysail, White and Green are represented by their sense of community and peacefulness, while the Black is likely manifesting through their desire for independence, again pretty opposite to the Abzan. Notably there are several Skysail zoologist quotes on Black and Green cards, suggesting a Black/Green fascination with these creatures.
Raugrin: Dinosaurs are dinosaurs. There might be something more to Vadrok, what with the town incident, but otherwise it is just a raging not-dragon that can fly and shoot holy fire. Lavabrink, by contrast, is a thriving city that combines artistry with progress, using lava as a technology to construct beautiful cannals, waste disposal and all manner of artifacts. Close enough to the Jeskai, though far more physical than spiritual.
Zagoth: The beasts, much like the nightmares and the cats, do show this wedge's philosophy. They're herbivores that are typically peaceful, but have a long picture perspective of things and are willing to get ruthless. Brokkos in particular fits the "neutral" Black/Green/Blue archetype speculated but not seen until now, someone who isn't really concerned with petty thinks like an attempt on his life and even offers his own perspective of the past and future to help humanity for probably some unspecified agenda. The hunters, by contrast, are simple exploiters of wildlife, just less whimpy than the Sultai.
For Skysail, White and Green are represented by their sense of community and peacefulness, while the Black is likely manifesting through their desire for independence, again pretty opposite to the Abzan.
I don't want to keep on going on and on about this, but "desire for independence" reads like a red thing to me. It's not like black can't have it, but it would have to be associated with a somewhat predatory material/political/societal gain. Maybe it's just me, but I can see a "independence to ensure peace and the security of the community" mindset as Naya, Jeskai, or Mardu - definitely not Abzan though, especially when black is supposed to be the center color.
Looking through the spoiler again and finding things like Facet Reader, I got the feeling that the human settlements on Ikoria are simply less defined by their colors than the Tarkir clans. At first I thought "settlement X is mainly [wedge] because it's in that region" was a weak argument, but it might just be this way. Drannith definitely is the settlement that best matches its colors in terms of philosophy, with Lavabrink coming in second and Skysail third.
I think Lavabrink first and Drannith second if one assumes Facet Reader and the forests they use to get timber do reflect their society, while Lavabrink is pretty strictly confined within Red/White/Blue and honestly I can't think of any way they'd deviate from that philosophically.
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So on Ikoria, the Apexi of each location are Wedge color legends with this Mutate ability that displays their core color, which differs from the Tarkir Wedges. Brokkos, Apex of Forever is Sultai-green (instead of black), Illuna, Apex of Wishes is Temur-blue (instead of green), Snapdax, Apex of the Hunt is Mardu-white (instead of red), and Vadrok, Apex of Thunder being Jeskai-red (instead of blue). I'd imagine Nethroi, Apex of Death would be Abzan-black (instead of white).
I appreciate this take on wedges, it adds new flavor contrary to the humanoid-centric clans on Tarkir.
Savai - Human and civilization focus of Ikoria, fortified and ready for battle, though more on the defense than offense, therefore it's Mardu on the white side. It's also a cat region and cat frequently associates with white and red. Black may be symbolized via human tenacity.
Ketria - Elemental region where Illuna came from continues the Omnath, Locus of the Roil route with Temur. Ketria in a way is similar to Tarkir Temur where creatures modify your spellsling, though it takes one step deeper. This region also has the highest concentration of monster crystals (one that glow when a monster approaches), which might suggest Ikorian mutation and instability has something to do with it, and why dream and illusion can turn real in Ketria.
Indatha - Highest concentration of nightmares on Ikoria, though not the only place with it. Nightmare associates with black, so instead of white-aligned like on Tarkir here we have it fear-aligned. Indatha also an airborne human settlement that could adapt according to current monster threats, which may be the W/G aspect of this region.
Raugrin - Coastal Dinotopia, the dinosaurs here take blue instead of green like their Ixalan brethren, therefore appear to have more supernatural power rather than primal strength. Gavi, Nest Warden is an interesting, almost alternative universe take on Atla Palani, Nest Tender. Who knows, Gavi might've been the Bonder of Vadrok, that's why she's looking after his eggs.
Zagoth - Swampy but lush, this region harbors the largest Beast collection on Ikoria, thus far already has two legends with mutate in mind, which might suggest it to be the most evolve-centric area; Green implies size and power, blue the mutation, and black being its endurance (a trait signified in Eldraine). The greatest number of monster hunters here suggest that humans here too are quite green-aligned.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
For Savai they hare prideful it seems since they boast how they haven't ever fallen (which if the trailer is fully canon thats gonna change) and while defensive they do have a military (who Lukka and his gf are apart of) that could add in the red some. As they might use any means to fight the monster black might also be an element there.
For the city they talk about being able to separate out into small groupers then come back together as a bigger whole which kinda feels white or white/green so that might be that aspect of it.
Zagoth- It says the apex beast gave visions of the past and future which goes into similar space of Kruphix.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Do you think that trailer speaks of an Attack on Titan vibe? It's understandable if Humans on Ikoria grew lax behind the wall and suddenly a giant monster head looks over you... it will remind them the fear of cattle.
I think it's actually a good approach to have different foci each time a color pair/trio come up. Boros for example, being combat-centric only became a theme since Ravnica #2, but it's a convenient design so WotC went with it, but it hardly express how much W/R could potentially do, consider Lorwyn had a very different approach on Boros.
For Shard/wedges, more colors, more possibilities, what works on one plane may require different look on another. I appreciate WotC takes time to design them from different angles. I wouldn't mind seeing a Bant take a turn on design, where beasty creatures "domesticate" human beings.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
I see that now, along a bit with Innistrad as this is gonna kinda be humans darkest times/on the run after this.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Then again there are only so many different types of conflict and some are easier to portray on cardboard than others.
Innistrad wasn't so much the wilds as monsters in general, they specifically had monsters within civilization.
Amonkeht was a ruined world where the noncivilization was brutal and hellish but it wasn't fighting civilization.
Ravnica has an exceptionally small part of its theme being civilization vs the wilds but it's more of a footnote.
Eldraine definitely had a strong nature vs civilization.
Ixalan had a primeval world feel but it wasn't at all wilds vs civilization it was natives vs invaders.
Theros lacks even the faintest hint of such a theme.
The same with Dominaria and Kaladesh.
Zendikar comes close but it's more of the world vs everyone rather than civilization vs the wilds. Then it was a simple us vs them.
Mirrodin had a specific enemy in the phyrexians or Memnarch.
I don't think lorwyn had such a theme but I missed that set.
Alara had 5 themes and none of them were civilization vs nature.
Tarkir showcased the brutality of nature but it wasn't fighting civilization.
So this theme actually rarely shows up in magic. We usually have a more concrete enemy than the vague enemy of the "unknown" or the "wilds"
Not true, part of the original block's theme was to contrast the poleis with the dangers of the wilds. Monstruous versus heroic, after all. Hell, the main villain is the wilderness combo while Elspeth is the color of civilisation.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
You might be right. Strangely I'm not liking Abzan a whole lot this set. Then again, not all Abzan are 'abzan' and I accept that. No different really than Azorius is not the same as Ojutai which is not the same as Ephara.
WBG nightmares are wierd! I cannot discern what's white about its monster. The Big Cat and Flying Volcano at least have an 'obiterate everything' feel to em.
Bet Narset is here trying to figure out how to bring her plane back into balance, Humans and Dragons together. Not that anything we know so far about the wold suggests anything reassuring on that front.
Only a massive plane-wide partnering of monster and human would provide the kind of evidence and study worthy of replication on Tarkir.
None of the Ikoria monsters have any real personalities, but Nethroi at least makes sense in its color set given the tools it uses.
The Skysail is floating for safety's sake, not necessarily because of freedom (a side benefit perhaps). Valuing safety via congregation is a W/G trait, soaring above the danger (B) below them. Though, there's no deny that Skysail could go else where when they choose to, as we saw in Xyris, the Writhing Storm, but the "Jeskai" region of Ikoria is Raugrin, that place is filled with flying dinosaurs so Skysail's advantage is naught over there. Indatha is terrible but most threats appear to be nonflying. Most.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
First off, if "safety via congregation = GW", then Drannith should be G as well.
Second, interpreting B as "the danger below" seems very flimsy, especially since monsters of all colors are dangerous and black is supposed to be the central color of the wedge in this case.
I'm pretty sure a group that is mainly B and has GW as its secondary colors would laugh at the idea of Skysail. Abzan is one of the most pragmatic color pairs, it favors conservatism and "playing it safe". You need a lot of idealism to propose something like a flying balloon city, let alone actually build and run it. BGW would see something like that as a waste of time and resources at best and suicide at worst.
Also, all cards that picture Skysail (or better, Skysail itself and its inhabitants) that we've seen so far have clearly lean towards Jeskai: Valiant Rescuer, Decoy Gambit, Fluctuator (in the Jeskai commander precon) and Twinning Staff (it's colorless, but if you had to apply colors to it, its effect would be RU). Additionally, blue and white are the main two colors for flying.
Quite a few cards picture balloons being destroyed so I'm not sure if there's really a region that's safer than the others, but yeah, maybe they moved over Indatha because it has the least number of airborne threats.
They took to the air out of desperation. The Green part is counterintuitive, but Black has been getting aerial cards lately (case in point, Locthwain's castle being mobile and on top of a cloud).
Savai: Savai's Red/White/Black "factions" manifest the combination differently. Snapdax is effectively a serial killer, combining White's sense of justice with Black and Red's sadism; the same likely applies to most other cats. Drannith is completely opposite to the Mardu in being a highly pragmatic society where nothing goes to waste, where class inequality does exist and where constant research and even philosophical pursuits occur. It is in a way a stereotypical fascist nation, mostly White/Black but with hints of Red in its application of violence and few artistic pursuits.
Ketria: Ketria's Green/Blue/Red factions seem to be more united, largely because human populations are mostly composed of small settlements. Illuna craves perfection (Blue) through using cosmic harmony (Green) and the imagination of dreams (Red), and human worshippers likely seek the same through pilgrimages to see it. Most elementals have different agendas or none at all.
Indatha: Like in Savai, the monster and human factions are well seperated. For the nightmares, White/Black/Green means using the light to conceal the darkness, and maybe spice up death magic as with Nethroi, making them a bit closer to Sultai's idea of ruthlessness and Dimir's idea of deception than to Abzan's endurance. For Skysail, White and Green are represented by their sense of community and peacefulness, while the Black is likely manifesting through their desire for independence, again pretty opposite to the Abzan. Notably there are several Skysail zoologist quotes on Black and Green cards, suggesting a Black/Green fascination with these creatures.
Raugrin: Dinosaurs are dinosaurs. There might be something more to Vadrok, what with the town incident, but otherwise it is just a raging not-dragon that can fly and shoot holy fire. Lavabrink, by contrast, is a thriving city that combines artistry with progress, using lava as a technology to construct beautiful cannals, waste disposal and all manner of artifacts. Close enough to the Jeskai, though far more physical than spiritual.
Zagoth: The beasts, much like the nightmares and the cats, do show this wedge's philosophy. They're herbivores that are typically peaceful, but have a long picture perspective of things and are willing to get ruthless. Brokkos in particular fits the "neutral" Black/Green/Blue archetype speculated but not seen until now, someone who isn't really concerned with petty thinks like an attempt on his life and even offers his own perspective of the past and future to help humanity for probably some unspecified agenda. The hunters, by contrast, are simple exploiters of wildlife, just less whimpy than the Sultai.
Looking through the spoiler again and finding things like Facet Reader, I got the feeling that the human settlements on Ikoria are simply less defined by their colors than the Tarkir clans. At first I thought "settlement X is mainly [wedge] because it's in that region" was a weak argument, but it might just be this way. Drannith definitely is the settlement that best matches its colors in terms of philosophy, with Lavabrink coming in second and Skysail third.