What will xenagos do once he becomes a god? Will he destroy the other gods for worldly domination, or will he just be like a universal prankster? Using his god powers to trip some farmer guy causing him to spill his freshly picked fruits, or maybe setting one guy on fire and laughing all the while.
I don't know why they'd want two White walkers for one block, but I guess nothing else would really work from a Lore standpoint. Koth is MIA, Venser is dead, Karn is messing around on Mirrodin, but Ajani is relatively free now that the events of Alara block are over.
How many times must they say it....
They don't chose planeswalkers based on colour, they chose them based on relevance
Theros is about Elsepth and her best friend is Ajani
I really hope they don't, because I don't feel like Xenagos has a lot of mileage, and to be quite frank, if nobody ever dies, then it destroys any illusion of tension that they want to cultivate.
I don't think we'll ever see another walker die. They're sales items, not characters.
Venser died to kill the past attachments of oldwalkers (I believe Karn and Bolas are exceptions, not the rule), not because it made a better story.
This is all my pessimistic opinion and I'd love for Creative to change my views.
That would explain why the gods can't influence other planes, and why other planes don't have gods; Theros is the only plane with a Nyx-like sub-plane that allows people to "ascend". It would also explain why the current gods are so worried about a new god arriving into the pantheon. If mortals are able to start journeying into Nyx then when they arrive they'll see the gods for what they really are - powerful mortals. Very powerful, in fact, but still only mortals.
There are gods, but they might only be able to travel to planes where they are worshiped.
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"If you don't wear your seatbelt, the police will shoot you in the head."
- To my youngest sister when she was 6.
Everyone knows that good luck and good game are such insincere terms that any man who does not connect his right hook with the offender's jaw on the very utterance of such a phrase is no man I would consider as such.
Well, they've never really defined what it means to be a god on Theros. Is it like the Greek gods? In that case, they are demi-gods who, while in charge of the affairs/destinies/afterlives of mortals, aren't omnipatant beings with infinite powers. In fact, Greek gods are very akin to powerful wizards by MTG standards.
Pre-mending planeswalkers were much more god-like. In fact, they often posed as gods. I doubt very much that Theros enchantment gods are capable of doing anything close to what pre-mending planeswalkers were capable of, even on Theros. But again, this hasn't been fleshed out.
So far, all we know if that Theros gods can't planeswalk. Do they have souls? Could a Theros god ascend? Or are they magical constructs like angels? If so, who built them?
The 5 PW slots are still sorted by color and factored into the Mythic margins. Theros block does not have two mono-white slots reserved for PWs, guaranteed.
Now, what's interesting is that a GW Ajani would make for 3 G/x Walkers in the same block. Not since Alara has WotC given us three walkers in the same block that share the same color. I'm excited.
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I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
>unless Ajani 4 is enchantment based, like I suspect, in which case maybe not.
I'm confident we'll get an enchantment-focused Ajani (Ajani's Chosen in M14 is pretty good foreshadowing of that one), but I half-expect him to finally be GWR. (GW seems most likely, but given Ajani's one of the few non-Bolas walkers we could reasonably expect to be tricolored, I'd love to see him use all three.)
I'm confident we'll get an enchantment-focused Ajani (Ajani's Chosen in M14 is pretty good foreshadowing of that one), but I half-expect him to finally be GWR. (GW seems most likely, but given Ajani's one of the few non-Bolas walkers we could reasonably expect to be tricolored, I'd love to see him use all three.)
I don't quite see that. And I can actually quantify it. Here we go...
Bolas is Grixis because every color fits, in every possible way. I could see Bolas being monored, monoblue, or monoblack. I could see him being Izzet (albeit an evil Izzet), Dimir or Rakdos.
Now let's the other Alaran walkers.
Tezzeret? Can be be Orzhov? **** no! I couldn't even see him being Azorius without a big leap.
Sarkhan? Can he be Golgari? Again, no. Red is too essential to his identity. (It took me a while to realize and appeciate this, though).
Elspeth? Mixed color and/or nonwhite? Nah. She's barely Bant (flavor-wise) to begin with. I can't imagine her changing color(s).
And then there's Ajani. Firstly off, he's not red. He has/had access to red mana, but he's not flavorfully red. Vengeant is in his past. He's mellowed out since then. And green? Well, he's technically never even been green before. Flavor-wise, he's certainly capable of being green. (Thus the speculation about a Selesnyan Ajani in JOU.) But Naya? No way. The mere fact that he's from there doesn't mean he'll embody all three colors, let alone simultaneously. Besides, can you see a RG Ajani? No? Me neither. Just not strong enough parts of his identity.
Lastly, we need to remember that Bolas' tricolor status is as much a sign of his sheer power level as it is an indicator of his color identity. Ajani is not even close to Bolas' level, and I doubt he'd ever be able to harness all three of his colors in the same way Bolas has.
And then there's Ajani. Firstly off, he's no red. He has/had access to red mana, but he's not flavorfully red. Vengeant is in his past. He's mellowed out since then.
He's empathic and loyal. Very red things. It's not the core of his character, but one doesn't unlearn colors.
Ajani is nearly as strong as Bolas,
That's not even remotely true. Not even a little bit.
Bolas is Grixis because every color fits, in every possible way. I could see Bolas being monored, monoblue, or monoblack. I could see him being Izzet (albeit an evil Izzet), Dimir or Rakdos.
Now let's the other Alaran walkers.
Tezzeret? Can be be Orzhov? **** no! I couldn't even see him being Azorius without a big leap.
Sarkhan? Can he be Golgari? Again, no. Red is too essential to his identity. (It took me a while to realize and appeciate this, though).
Please, please stop using guilds and shards as shortcuts for color combos. That kind of thing may fly in the deck discussion areas (although the phrase "Standard Esper deck" still sets my teeth on edge being that Alara hasn't been in Standard for YEARS), but it this is Storyline, and those names have very specific meanings here. The ONLY current walker who can be described using a guild name is Ral, BECAUSE HE IS A MEMBER OF THE IZZET LEAGUE. Even Vraska is a stretch, because she's not really concerned with the politics of Ravnica or the actions of the Swarm.
Disclaimer: This is user!kaburi and not mod!kaburi talking. I'm saying this as a Vorthos, and not as a member of the MTGS staff.
Please, please stop using guilds and shards as shortcuts for color combos. That kind of thing may fly in the deck discussion areas (although the phrase "Standard Esper deck" still sets my teeth on edge being that Alara hasn't been in Standard for YEARS), but it this is Storyline, and those names have very specific meanings here.
So Tezzeret and Ajani aren't Alaran natives? Elspeth and Sarkhan didn't debut in ALA block?
The ONLY current walker who can be described using a guild name is Ral, BECAUSE HE IS A MEMBER OF THE IZZET LEAGUE. Even Vraska is a stretch, because she's not really concerned with the politics of Ravnica or the actions of the Swarm.
Vraska grew up in the Undercity. She's Green-Black. Her current apolitical and/or anarchist nature doesn't somehow erase this. She's Golgari. Call her a lapsed member, if you must.
Domri, who you may have forgotten, is also a verified member of the Gruul Clans.
In essence, every multicolored 'walker from RTR block was both a Ravnica native and a guild affiliate. The technicalities of the storyline don't explicitly contradict this.
Ultimately, you're taking this "exactly accurate" use of the Shard and guild names to an unnecessary extreme. So sorry to have offended you, but...
A. You're not entirely right on these issues.
B. It's just not that serious, either way.
Uh...no? Those are both white. Red is independent, self-involved and unpredictable. Now, red is also emotional, but that's not necessarily the same as being empathic.
You might be confusing Boros (and its mixed flavor) with pure Red.
It's not the core of his character, but one doesn't unlearn colors.
Never said he unlearned it. I'm saying he moved passed the need to focus upon it. In order for him to be R/x, he'd need to still have the anger, the "fire in the belly," if you will, that made him Vengeant. It's just not there anymore. He's mellowed out.
That's not even remotely true. Not even a little bit.
I meant to say "not nearly close". I've edited my post. Honestly, the main reason I'm uncomfortable with the idea of non-Bolas tricolor PWs is that I see tricolor as such a sign of power. And we agree, there's a definite PW disparity between Bolas and Ajani (not to mention the vast majority of Neowalkers).
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I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
So Tezzeret and Ajani aren't Alaran natives? Elspeth and Sarkhan didn't debut in ALA block?
Sure, but calling a GW Ajani "Selesynan" is even more wrong under that logic because he IS a native Nayan and he HASN'T been to Ravnica (that we're aware of). Using guilds/shards as a shorthand for color combinations is technically incorrect. It's perfectly possible to have a GWR deck that isn't focused on creatures with a power greater than 5. It's perfectly possible to a WUB deck that doesn't focus on exploiting artifacts. (I have one--it's an Oloro lifegain deck.)
Uh...no? Those are both white. Red is independent, self-involved and unpredictable. Now, red is also emotional, but that's not necessarily the same as being empathic.
Red's ability to understand and empathize with the feelings of others is exactly why the Red Phyrexians felt conflicted about the horrible things they did to people.
Red is the color most concerned with feelings and expressions of them, among other things.
In order for him to be R/x, he'd need to still have the anger,
Ultimately, you're taking this "exactly accurate" use of the Shard and guild names to an unnecessary extreme. So sorry to have offended you, but...
A. You're not entirely right on these issues.
B. It's just not that serious, either way.
Anywaaay...
The color combinations of the Shards and Guild pairs are not the full extent of what those combinations are capable of or capable of being. MaRo even came up with "Variant guilds" that utilied different sides of the color pairing, and there are many. When you use the specific appelation of a guild, you are evoking a very specific meaning behind those combinations.
While Kaburi might not be entirely right, neither are you.
Never said he unlearned it. I'm saying he moved passed the need to focus upon it. In order for him to be R/x, he'd need to still have the anger, the "fire in the belly," if you will, that made him Vengeant. It's just not there anymore. He's mellowed out.
No, for him to be Vengeant, he would have to have that anger. He could be red by tapping into his passion or the extreme emotions circulating around his connection to Elspeth.
Honestly, the main reason I'm uncomfortable with the idea of non-Bolas tricolor PWs is that I see tricolor as such a sign of power. And we agree, there's a definite PW disparity between Bolas and Ajani (not to mention the vast majority of Neowalkers).
The irony being that the two most powerful walkers besides Bolas are (normally) black and colorless.
Red's ability to understand and empathize with the feelings of others is exactly why the Red Phyrexians felt conflicted about the horrible things they did to people.
Not quite. Red is corncerned with indepentence, including but not limited to the concept of FREEDOM. The Phyrexians subjugate people, and that's what Red guys like Urabrask were a little conflicted about.
But their feelings? Ura would probably say "**** their feelings".
Loyalty and empathy are definitely more white and green attributes, IMHO.
Red is the color most concerned with feelings and expressions of them, among other things.
But in a selfish way. You gotta remember that. Red is all about the individual.
There's more to red than anger.
Well, obviously. My own posts already noted this. But for Ajani, I don't think there's enough red attributes in him to justify going so deep on that color again.
Sure, but calling a GW Ajani "Selesynan" is even more wrong ... I admit, this bothers me more than most people.
As long as you recognise it. Cool. And I'll freely admit that Guilds and Shards as shorthand isn't a perfect system. Let's just not pretend that it's completely off base.
While Kaburi might not be entirely right, neither are you.
Never said I was.
He could be red by tapping into his passion or the extreme emotions circulating around his connection to Elspeth.
Ajani's not really one for extreme emotions, though. You move passed that grief/anger and he's basically a level-headed bastion of white ideals. It was him who had to reel in Elspeth at one point.
The irony being that the two most powerful walkers besides Bolas are (normally) black and colorless.
... stupid Lord of Innistrad....
I think Sorin's always had more to him than meets the eye. Although, we don't know for sure how powerful post-mending Sorin is. Unlike Karn or Bolas, he hasn't had any post-mending powerups, nor sought any (that we know of).
And Karn would likely be tricolor--as i've often assumed Urza was--if not for the whole artifact thing.
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I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
Please, please stop using guilds and shards as shortcuts for color combos. That kind of thing may fly in the deck discussion areas (although the phrase "Standard Esper deck" still sets my teeth on edge being that Alara hasn't been in Standard for YEARS), but it this is Storyline, and those names have very specific meanings here. The ONLY current walker who can be described using a guild name is Ral, BECAUSE HE IS A MEMBER OF THE IZZET LEAGUE. Even Vraska is a stretch, because she's not really concerned with the politics of Ravnica or the actions of the Swarm.
Disclaimer: This is user!kaburi and not mod!kaburi talking. I'm saying this as a Vorthos, and not as a member of the MTGS staff.
That'd be pretty lame. I'd hate the message that sends about knowing and staying in your place. Me? I'm rooting for him!
How To Keep Your FOIL Cards From Curling: http://youtu.be/QTmubrS8VnI
The Best Deck Boxes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEwgLph_Pjk
The Best Binders: http://youtu.be/H5IauASYWjk
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
How many times must they say it....
They don't chose planeswalkers based on colour, they chose them based on relevance
Theros is about Elsepth and her best friend is Ajani
It just so happens that they are both white
I don't think we'll ever see another walker die. They're sales items, not characters.
Venser died to kill the past attachments of oldwalkers (I believe Karn and Bolas are exceptions, not the rule), not because it made a better story.
This is all my pessimistic opinion and I'd love for Creative to change my views.
There are gods, but they might only be able to travel to planes where they are worshiped.
- To my youngest sister when she was 6.
Pre-mending planeswalkers were much more god-like. In fact, they often posed as gods. I doubt very much that Theros enchantment gods are capable of doing anything close to what pre-mending planeswalkers were capable of, even on Theros. But again, this hasn't been fleshed out.
So far, all we know if that Theros gods can't planeswalk. Do they have souls? Could a Theros god ascend? Or are they magical constructs like angels? If so, who built them?
How To Keep Your FOIL Cards From Curling: http://youtu.be/QTmubrS8VnI
The Best Deck Boxes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEwgLph_Pjk
The Best Binders: http://youtu.be/H5IauASYWjk
Don't know.
They usually don't reveal the metaphysics for a setting in the first block.
Level 1 Judge
I write flavor articles for RoxieCards.
I play and judge at Giga Bites Cafein Marietta, Georgia.
Kiora's inclusion, in addition to ashiok, elspeth, and Xenagos, makes all five colors accounted for in theros block.
All blocks have had at least five planeswalkers. So that leaves a slot open for Ajani, and he can still be mono white if they want.
Click the pic for more info.
Actually, all colors were already present way before Kiora - white Elspeth, blue and black Ashiok, red and green Xenagos.
I still think it's more likely a green/white Ajani than anything else, but we'll see.
Ajani has been gold in the past and can do so again.
Level 1 Judge
I write flavor articles for RoxieCards.
I play and judge at Giga Bites Cafein Marietta, Georgia.
Now, what's interesting is that a GW Ajani would make for 3 G/x Walkers in the same block. Not since Alara has WotC given us three walkers in the same block that share the same color. I'm excited.
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
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Let's make it happen!
>unless Ajani 4 is enchantment based, like I suspect, in which case maybe not.
Level 1 Judge
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I'm confident we'll get an enchantment-focused Ajani (Ajani's Chosen in M14 is pretty good foreshadowing of that one), but I half-expect him to finally be GWR. (GW seems most likely, but given Ajani's one of the few non-Bolas walkers we could reasonably expect to be tricolored, I'd love to see him use all three.)
@_kaburi_ on Twitter
Special thanks to Serrot_29 for Catbug'mrakul!
I don't quite see that. And I can actually quantify it. Here we go...
Bolas is Grixis because every color fits, in every possible way. I could see Bolas being monored, monoblue, or monoblack. I could see him being Izzet (albeit an evil Izzet), Dimir or Rakdos.
Now let's the other Alaran walkers.
Tezzeret? Can be be Orzhov? **** no! I couldn't even see him being Azorius without a big leap.
Sarkhan? Can he be Golgari? Again, no. Red is too essential to his identity. (It took me a while to realize and appeciate this, though).
Elspeth? Mixed color and/or nonwhite? Nah. She's barely Bant (flavor-wise) to begin with. I can't imagine her changing color(s).
And then there's Ajani. Firstly off, he's not red. He has/had access to red mana, but he's not flavorfully red. Vengeant is in his past. He's mellowed out since then. And green? Well, he's technically never even been green before. Flavor-wise, he's certainly capable of being green. (Thus the speculation about a Selesnyan Ajani in JOU.) But Naya? No way. The mere fact that he's from there doesn't mean he'll embody all three colors, let alone simultaneously. Besides, can you see a RG Ajani? No? Me neither. Just not strong enough parts of his identity.
Lastly, we need to remember that Bolas' tricolor status is as much a sign of his sheer power level as it is an indicator of his color identity. Ajani is not even close to Bolas' level, and I doubt he'd ever be able to harness all three of his colors in the same way Bolas has.
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
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That's not even remotely true. Not even a little bit.
Level 1 Judge
I write flavor articles for RoxieCards.
I play and judge at Giga Bites Cafein Marietta, Georgia.
Please, please stop using guilds and shards as shortcuts for color combos. That kind of thing may fly in the deck discussion areas (although the phrase "Standard Esper deck" still sets my teeth on edge being that Alara hasn't been in Standard for YEARS), but it this is Storyline, and those names have very specific meanings here. The ONLY current walker who can be described using a guild name is Ral, BECAUSE HE IS A MEMBER OF THE IZZET LEAGUE. Even Vraska is a stretch, because she's not really concerned with the politics of Ravnica or the actions of the Swarm.
Disclaimer: This is user!kaburi and not mod!kaburi talking. I'm saying this as a Vorthos, and not as a member of the MTGS staff.
@_kaburi_ on Twitter
Special thanks to Serrot_29 for Catbug'mrakul!
So Tezzeret and Ajani aren't Alaran natives? Elspeth and Sarkhan didn't debut in ALA block?
Vraska grew up in the Undercity. She's Green-Black. Her current apolitical and/or anarchist nature doesn't somehow erase this. She's Golgari. Call her a lapsed member, if you must.
Domri, who you may have forgotten, is also a verified member of the Gruul Clans.
In essence, every multicolored 'walker from RTR block was both a Ravnica native and a guild affiliate. The technicalities of the storyline don't explicitly contradict this.
Ultimately, you're taking this "exactly accurate" use of the Shard and guild names to an unnecessary extreme. So sorry to have offended you, but...
A. You're not entirely right on these issues.
B. It's just not that serious, either way.
Anywaaay...
Uh...no? Those are both white. Red is independent, self-involved and unpredictable. Now, red is also emotional, but that's not necessarily the same as being empathic.
You might be confusing Boros (and its mixed flavor) with pure Red.
Never said he unlearned it. I'm saying he moved passed the need to focus upon it. In order for him to be R/x, he'd need to still have the anger, the "fire in the belly," if you will, that made him Vengeant. It's just not there anymore. He's mellowed out.
I meant to say "not nearly close". I've edited my post. Honestly, the main reason I'm uncomfortable with the idea of non-Bolas tricolor PWs is that I see tricolor as such a sign of power. And we agree, there's a definite PW disparity between Bolas and Ajani (not to mention the vast majority of Neowalkers).
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
Cubes:
Modern Banlist Cube
Monocolor Budget Cube
Sure, but calling a GW Ajani "Selesynan" is even more wrong under that logic because he IS a native Nayan and he HASN'T been to Ravnica (that we're aware of). Using guilds/shards as a shorthand for color combinations is technically incorrect. It's perfectly possible to have a GWR deck that isn't focused on creatures with a power greater than 5. It's perfectly possible to a WUB deck that doesn't focus on exploiting artifacts. (I have one--it's an Oloro lifegain deck.)
I admit, this bothers me more than most people.
@_kaburi_ on Twitter
Special thanks to Serrot_29 for Catbug'mrakul!
Flavor forums notwithstanding, that's exactly why they named the pairs and shards to begin with.
Red's ability to understand and empathize with the feelings of others is exactly why the Red Phyrexians felt conflicted about the horrible things they did to people.
Red is the color most concerned with feelings and expressions of them, among other things.
There's more to red than anger.
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I play and judge at Giga Bites Cafein Marietta, Georgia.
Yes! There's also wuv!
The color combinations of the Shards and Guild pairs are not the full extent of what those combinations are capable of or capable of being. MaRo even came up with "Variant guilds" that utilied different sides of the color pairing, and there are many. When you use the specific appelation of a guild, you are evoking a very specific meaning behind those combinations.
While Kaburi might not be entirely right, neither are you.
No, for him to be Vengeant, he would have to have that anger. He could be red by tapping into his passion or the extreme emotions circulating around his connection to Elspeth.
The irony being that the two most powerful walkers besides Bolas are (normally) black and colorless.
... stupid Lord of Innistrad....
THIS CONCEPT OF "WUV" CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
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Not quite. Red is corncerned with indepentence, including but not limited to the concept of FREEDOM. The Phyrexians subjugate people, and that's what Red guys like Urabrask were a little conflicted about.
But their feelings? Ura would probably say "**** their feelings".
Loyalty and empathy are definitely more white and green attributes, IMHO.
But in a selfish way. You gotta remember that. Red is all about the individual.
Well, obviously. My own posts already noted this. But for Ajani, I don't think there's enough red attributes in him to justify going so deep on that color again.
As long as you recognise it. Cool. And I'll freely admit that Guilds and Shards as shorthand isn't a perfect system. Let's just not pretend that it's completely off base.
Never said I was.
Ajani's not really one for extreme emotions, though. You move passed that grief/anger and he's basically a level-headed bastion of white ideals. It was him who had to reel in Elspeth at one point.
I think Sorin's always had more to him than meets the eye. Although, we don't know for sure how powerful post-mending Sorin is. Unlike Karn or Bolas, he hasn't had any post-mending powerups, nor sought any (that we know of).
And Karn would likely be tricolor--as i've often assumed Urza was--if not for the whole artifact thing.
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
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Technically, can't we say that Domri is Gruul?
He would be WUR, wouldn't he?
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.