While Narset's artwork looks pretty WU, I'm still holding out hope she's WUR.
As stated earlier, Taigam called her a "heretic" of the brood. One of my favourite old tropes in kung fu legend is that masters are often portrayed as having a childish, whimsical, flexible sort of attitude, so Narset retaining (or gaining) a R identity would not only make her "heretical" in the eyes of a strict, WU environment, but could be a nice, flavourful throwback to the spontaneity of old kung fu master tropes.
I'm still hoping for URW Narset and RG Sarkhan as the walkers for this set. Means every color still gets a 'walker in KTK block, with three red walkers showing the plane's natural bias (like the three green 'walkers in Theros block). Also, unless things have changed since Bolas, 3-color walkers have an entirely gold frame, which the Narset art on the booster packs would go excellently with. We'll see, I guess.
I have neither the skill to correctly and accurately analyze this set in the context of current and future formats after 12 hours of exposure, nor the hubris to delude myself into believing that I do.
I think UR is most likely for Narset with an outside shot at UWR. Prior to FRF, I would have bet on UW, but with Ojutai's tyranny and her being expelled from that brood, I think the red is now much more likely.
If anyone is going to be only the second three colored walker to get a card methinks it would be the face of the block, Vol. According to the UR back from Khans that detailed Narset's daily life she seemed very red to me, breaking her meditation which the other elders would likely frown upon only to find a child doing the same and poking her tongue out at him seem red. If anything White is the least likely color to be on her card as she seems to lack in white relative to the other colors. Also of note: Ghostfire is not red, bloodfire is. Her losing the mark means nothing to her color identity.
I'd love it if it wasn't narset but the girl from Temporal Trespass and instead of giving you an extra turn it's just a reprint of Time Stop with rebound.
Wait, what? Why on earth would you want to rebound Time Stop?
I'd love it if it wasn't narset but the girl from Temporal Trespass and instead of giving you an extra turn it's just a reprint of Time Stop with rebound.
EDIT: Just realised how bad casting time stop on your upkeep would be. I derped.
First of all, I don't think it's most likely that Narset is going to be UW. It's true that with Venser gone, we would need a new UW walker, but Narset seperating herself from Ojutai's brood without that being represented in her color alignment would seem kind of weak, symbolically. UR is also not likely, in my mind, because there's already Ral and Dack. U seems a bit weak as well. Symbolizing a seperation from Ojutai by dropping white, yet white is among the most heretical colors?
It'd seem that therefore Jeskai colors would be most fitting. BUT! Here I don't think it'll happen for plot reasons. If you have read the Uncharted Realms articles and Maro's comments on what he thinks of as the archetypical time travel story, I think you might come to a similar conclusion. I'll post some quotes that hopefully would make you see where I'm coming from.
Quote from "Maro" »
The main character would come to the world, find it flawed in some way, go back in time and fix what he or she thought was the problem, and then return back to present day to see what impact the change has had. As is dictated by the archetype, it never goes exactly the way main character expects.
So we started Khans of Tarkir design knowing we needed a flawed world that would get changed into an even more flawed world.
Alright. So obviously what that primarily means is that instead of the Khans, the Dragonlords will turn out to be even worse. That's not all that Sarkhan hoped to change by saving Ugin though.
If you have read the Uncharted Realms, a major change he wanted to bring about is to create a better Tarkir for Narset, one in which she would still be alive.
Quote from "Uncharted Realms" »
“It is as you said it would be. The clans are stronger, the humans mightier.” Sarkhan turned to tell Narset. “It is perfec—” But she was not there.
He swallowed the fresh wave of pain.
She was not supposed to have died.
She should have seen this. She deserved to see this.
And she would. Sarkhan resolved in that moment to make it so. He would do anything, everything in his power, to make certain that when her time came, when Narset lived again on Tarkir, there would be dragons waiting for her.
He smiled, picturing Narset’s new fate. She would thrive with the dragons, strong and mighty. And she would not die at Zurgo’s hands. For none of it had happened yet, none of the missteps, none of the regrets.
....
Narset! He barked the name out across the land.
This world, the wonder, the balance, the perfection, Narset would know it. She would rejoice in it. And he would tell her that he had made it so.
Now, what Sarkhan wants is to find the same kindhearted Narset in this world and her embracing the changes he has brought about. The happy end Narset would maybe turn out in Jeskai colors, like her alternate reality one. But I don't think it's going to happen. I expect a way more tragic turn of events, in which the Tarkir he created for her won't be hated as much by anybody else but her.
I think that this Narset might even be set out to kill Sarkhan.
It is very likely that Narset would have found Shu Yun's scroll. There in that scroll she would have read about what Yasova told the scribe about Sarkhan.
The sar-khan was wounded. I healed him, thinking to interrogate him, certain I had won, no longer certain I was right to. But he…he used some kind of magic I've never seen before. He encased Ugin in a great stone cocoon inscribed with draconic runes. The stillness ended. The tempests returned fourfold, the sky howling with fury at my presumption. And the sar-khan was gone, vanished back into whatever spirit world he came from.
My guess is that Narset, upon reading this would conclude that Sarkhan intentionally intensified the dragonstorms, that he trapped Ugin inside that cocoon so he couldn't help humans anymore, so that the dragons would rule.
Narset's goal is probably to free Ugin from the cocoon, and when she meets Sarkhan at the crucible, she would probably assume he came to stop her from breaking what she would think of as his binding spell and attack him. Or at least something along those lines is what I would predict.
For that reason, the color alignment I predict for her is actually Esper, while Sarkhan would maybe RG, to symbolize their opposition.
Another reason for why she is likely to have a black alignment is that Taigam, who took her place, used to be UB in Khans of Tarkir and is now UW instead, so some black drifting into Narset would make sense. I don't see her being purely UB though, as her packaging art looks clearly UW to me. Where the old Narset looked peaceful and calm, this one looks more ruthless and determined though, so maybe that's where the black comes in. Sarkhan has red eyes on the art, while Narset's are blue, so with that contrast there I also think Narset being in red doesn't make a lot of sense.
Could easily turn out she's just plain UW anyway, but I actually think Esper is more likely for her. I wouldn't bet money on it though.
Now I wonder how they would design an anti-dragon planeswalker without it being awfully narrow though. Some form of exiling maybe?
Don't worry folks, my predictions usually turn out to be wrong.
Right or wrong, that's an interesting take on the whole thing. I have to admit, the idea of Narset hunting down Sarkhan is too good to pass up.
It'd seem that therefore Jeskai colors would be most fitting. BUT! Here I don't think it'll happen for plot reasons. If you have read the Uncharted Realms articles and Maro's comments on what he thinks of as the archetypical time travel story, I think you might come to a similar conclusion. I'll post some quotes that hopefully would make you see where I'm coming from.
Quote from "Maro" »
The main character would come to the world, find it flawed in some way, go back in time and fix what he or she thought was the problem, and then return back to present day to see what impact the change has had. As is dictated by the archetype, it never goes exactly the way main character expects.
So we started Khans of Tarkir design knowing we needed a flawed world that would get changed into an even more flawed world.
Alright. So obviously what that primarily means is that instead of the Khans, the Dragonlords will turn out to be even worse. That's not all that Sarkhan hoped to change by saving Ugin though. [spoiler=Uncharted Realms]If you have read the Uncharted Realms, a major change he wanted to bring about is to create a better Tarkir for Narset, one in which she would still be alive.
My guess is that Narset, upon reading this would conclude that Sarkhan intentionally intensified the dragonstorms, that he trapped Ugin inside that cocoon so he couldn't help humans anymore, so that the dragons would rule.
Narset's goal is probably to free Ugin from the cocoon, and when she meets Sarkhan at the crucible, she would probably assume he came to stop her from breaking what she would think of as his binding spell and attack him. Or at least something along those lines is what I would predict.
For that reason, the color alignment I predict for her is actually Esper, while Sarkhan would maybe RG, to symbolize their opposition.
Another reason for why she is likely to have a black alignment is that Taigam, who took her place, used to be UB in Khans of Tarkir and is now UW instead, so some black drifting into Narset would make sense. I don't see her being purely UB though, as her packaging art looks clearly UW to me. Where the old Narset looked peaceful and calm, this one looks more ruthless and determined though, so maybe that's where the black comes in. Sarkhan has red eyes on the art, while Narset's are blue, so with that contrast there I also think Narset being in red doesn't make a lot of sense.
Could easily turn out she's just plain UW anyway, but I actually think Esper is more likely for her. I wouldn't bet money on it though.
Now I wonder how they would design an anti-dragon planeswalker without it being awfully narrow though. Some form of exiling maybe?
Don't worry folks, my predictions usually turn out to be wrong.
While I disagree with the color choices, I feel that it makes sense that Narset will come after Sarkhan. He changed history and saved her, but she is not the person he had feelings for.
I think she is the seer in both worlds though rather than getting knowledge from the scrolls. She "sees" what happens if the dragons die and may even think that is the path they needed to be and that is why Ojutai was mad.
Think of it as a mobius strip. No matter what Sarkhan does he cannot end the story the way he wants. Narset will either be his enemy when Dragons survive or dead if they don't.
So I just had a thought that upset my friend who is adamant that we will see the new Narset planeswalker card in Uncharted Realms tomorrow. Zurgo strikes Narset down. Her spark ignites and whisks her to another plane. Sarkhan goes back in time but outside of Tarkir time is passing normally and Sarkhan was only in the past for about a day. Narset could very well be on another plane all WTF'd out and we don't see her in this set. Just sayin'.
The problem with defining this format by what is "fun" is that everyone seems to define fun as what they don't lose to. If you keep losing to easily answered cards, that means you should improve your deck. If you don't want to improve your deck, then you should come to peace with the idea that you are going to lose because you chose to not interact with better strategies.
The problem with defining this format by what is "fun" is that everyone seems to define fun as what they don't lose to. If you keep losing to easily answered cards, that means you should improve your deck. If you don't want to improve your deck, then you should come to peace with the idea that you are going to lose because you chose to not interact with better strategies.
To be fair about 70% of the thread was about fetchlands. So Narset-talk had to make some ground.
All the threads whirlpooled into fetchland discussion, with half the people wanting the fetches in Standard, and the other half wanted to retain the money value of their fetches.
The story that goes along with the card's reveal still paints Taigam as a a bad guy. Good to see that didn't change. I wonder if he will get his own card. Judging by his probable deception of Sarkhan, he might actually have black still in his color identity. On the other hand, he could have believed what he said because he was lied to by his dragon lord. I hope he gets a legendary creature card and is blue black. He is sorta a "Dimir infiltrator." As for Narset. I will take 4 of her please.
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As stated earlier, Taigam called her a "heretic" of the brood. One of my favourite old tropes in kung fu legend is that masters are often portrayed as having a childish, whimsical, flexible sort of attitude, so Narset retaining (or gaining) a R identity would not only make her "heretical" in the eyes of a strict, WU environment, but could be a nice, flavourful throwback to the spontaneity of old kung fu master tropes.
(That and I'd just like a Jeskai walker.)
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
Everyone should learn from this
UR Blue-Red Control
Modern:
UBR Grixis Control
UWR Jeskai Control
That would be hilarious, though.
Many thanks to DNC at Heroes of the Plane Studios
Right or wrong, that's an interesting take on the whole thing. I have to admit, the idea of Narset hunting down Sarkhan is too good to pass up.
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While I disagree with the color choices, I feel that it makes sense that Narset will come after Sarkhan. He changed history and saved her, but she is not the person he had feelings for.
I think she is the seer in both worlds though rather than getting knowledge from the scrolls. She "sees" what happens if the dragons die and may even think that is the path they needed to be and that is why Ojutai was mad.
Think of it as a mobius strip. No matter what Sarkhan does he cannot end the story the way he wants. Narset will either be his enemy when Dragons survive or dead if they don't.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
All the threads whirlpooled into fetchland discussion, with half the people wanting the fetches in Standard, and the other half wanted to retain the money value of their fetches.
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=O ((U/R)) O=
(")(")
I'm an AI making Magic cards.
http://www.staalmedia.nl/nexus/#generate
edit: Gooowaaaaaaaaaah!
Legacy: UW RiP/Helm, UR Sneak and Show
Legacy: UW RiP/Helm, UR Sneak and Show
Many thanks to DNC at Heroes of the Plane Studios
RIP Batman guy. I hope somebody picks up the slack now that you are gone. Sick children need their Batman.