He is, without a doubt, pure evil. But strangely, not without the capacity for somewhat selfless acts.
He did take responsibility for the Madaran Rift, even if he didn't use himself up in its sealing. As he fully expected it to not work, he had no real reason to do so.
He's also very interested in defending what he considers his, even if the subject in question disagrees with that assessment.
But definitely Evil, no two ways about it.
Evil, yes, but not Pure Evil. This verges on Philosophy as opposed to actual storylines, but any capacity for good, selfless acts, or indeed joy, negates the purity of Evil. The fact that Bolas could take responsibility means he isn’t PURE evil. The fact he can take delight in something (even if it’s the suffering of others) means he isn’t PURE evil.
I suspect if ‘pure’ evil exists then it does so as an unthinking virus, infecting others, and only doing what it does because it cannot do anything else.
tl;dr: I wasn't saying she was "good". I was saying she wasn't evil. She doesn't go out there killing people for lulz. She is quite selfish, but that's to be expected. Which is why I put her in Orzhov.
In general, B ends up being "good" under a few separate conditions:
1 W is evil due to its obsession with tradition (though U and R will also oppose this), attempts to build a utopia (though G and R will also oppose this), or tendency toward revenge (though U will also oppose this). G can also be evil due to its obsession with tradition.
2 The set has some gray-and-grey morality. The original Ravnica had film noir elements. In Lorwyn, Maralen and Oona were bonded already.
3 The Big Bad threatens the protagonist himself! For all that it deals with zombies, B is ultimately trying not to die. (Though G is the only color that really accepts death as inevitable.)
4 B is the "least evil" of a five-color evil faction, due to Starscream tendencies. If you think about it, the green, white, and blue Phyrexians are far scarier than the red (due to empathy) and black (due to their inability to work together) Phyrexians.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
No one here is trying to claim otherwise, but "not good" =/= "evil".
The bad things she does because she's backed into a corner or under the influence of an evil artifact that may or may not be possessed by the vengeful spirits of troll cultists, and she's shown regret about it.
She doesn't look for villages full of soft, squishy people full of blood to murder for the hell of it.
Mind Raping however, *is* an evil act.
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It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
This is why this thread doesn't work.
What is or is not evil is so subjective that one person's anti-hero is another person's bastard hellspawn of Hitler and Skeletor.
This is why this thread doesn't work.
What is or is not evil is so subjective that one person's anti-hero is another person's bastard hellspawn of Hitler and Skeletor.
I more meant she doesn't consider herself evil; she's just very ambitious and pragmatic about it. She is supposed to be the representation of black as a philosophy. ("I didn't make this world; I'm only telling you how it works.")
And from a purely pragmatic perspective, she is humanity's savior on Innistrad.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
I more meant she doesn't consider herself evil; she's just very ambitious and pragmatic about it. She is supposed to be the representation of black as a philosophy. ("I didn't make this world; I'm only telling you how it works.")
And from a purely pragmatic perspective, she is humanity's savior on Innistrad.
According to Doug, she also prefers her sandwiches made from her neighbors pets. Make of that what you will.
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It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
According to Doug, she also prefers her sandwiches made from her neighbors pets. Make of that what you will.
That same post also has Ajani liking sandwitches of rosted Nayan birds. Granted, he is a carnivore, but the description of the sandwitch seems to imply he rosted them alive...
That same post also has Ajani liking sandwitches of rosted Nayan birds. Granted, he is a carnivore, but the description of the sandwitch seems to imply he rosted them alive...
Well, if he hit them with a Lightning Helix, their death (and roasting) would have been instantaneous.
And if he bought them dead, he may have simply chosen not to remove their feathers before roasting them. It was quite common up until the mid 20th century to purchase dead fowl with feathers on them, and you plucked them yourself.
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It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
---
Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.
Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.
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Evil, yes, but not Pure Evil. This verges on Philosophy as opposed to actual storylines, but any capacity for good, selfless acts, or indeed joy, negates the purity of Evil. The fact that Bolas could take responsibility means he isn’t PURE evil. The fact he can take delight in something (even if it’s the suffering of others) means he isn’t PURE evil.
I suspect if ‘pure’ evil exists then it does so as an unthinking virus, infecting others, and only doing what it does because it cannot do anything else.
In general, B ends up being "good" under a few separate conditions:
1 W is evil due to its obsession with tradition (though U and R will also oppose this), attempts to build a utopia (though G and R will also oppose this), or tendency toward revenge (though U will also oppose this). G can also be evil due to its obsession with tradition.
2 The set has some gray-and-grey morality. The original Ravnica had film noir elements. In Lorwyn, Maralen and Oona were bonded already.
3 The Big Bad threatens the protagonist himself! For all that it deals with zombies, B is ultimately trying not to die. (Though G is the only color that really accepts death as inevitable.)
4 B is the "least evil" of a five-color evil faction, due to Starscream tendencies. If you think about it, the green, white, and blue Phyrexians are far scarier than the red (due to empathy) and black (due to their inability to work together) Phyrexians.
On phasing:
Mind Raping however, *is* an evil act.
---
Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.
Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.
Guess Jace is evil uh?
What is or is not evil is so subjective that one person's anti-hero is another person's bastard hellspawn of Hitler and Skeletor.
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I more meant she doesn't consider herself evil; she's just very ambitious and pragmatic about it. She is supposed to be the representation of black as a philosophy. ("I didn't make this world; I'm only telling you how it works.")
And from a purely pragmatic perspective, she is humanity's savior on Innistrad.
On phasing:
According to Doug, she also prefers her sandwiches made from her neighbors pets. Make of that what you will.
---
Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.
Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.
That same post also has Ajani liking sandwitches of rosted Nayan birds. Granted, he is a carnivore, but the description of the sandwitch seems to imply he rosted them alive...
Well, if he hit them with a Lightning Helix, their death (and roasting) would have been instantaneous.
And if he bought them dead, he may have simply chosen not to remove their feathers before roasting them. It was quite common up until the mid 20th century to purchase dead fowl with feathers on them, and you plucked them yourself.
---
Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.
Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.