As you may have guessed, all (four) of the 'Oath' Cycle of card arts are provided on the Ultra PRO deck sleeves and deck box with the Kozilek, the Great Distortion illustration featured on the fifth.
Card portfolio featuring Fall of the Titans & Bonds of Mortality while the two playmats have the OGW key art and 'Call the Gatewatch' art.
I actually think it's quite bad. Different folks, different strokes I guess. It's way too busy the art.
Btw, have they finally established Chandra's garb? That boob armor though.. not a fan.
Didn't she always have boob armor? Lol. I can see why the mat might be a turn off for some. The art is quite busy. I just saw the team together being all battle ready with Gideon charging in and Chandra literally out in front burning her enemies and my mind just said "Awesome!".
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"Pop in, find a dragon, roast a dragon."
-Chandra Nalaar
Second playmat has good art, but is too busy, it's better of being a wallpaper/poster than a playmat.
The first playmat is actually a lot better for a playmat (than most others), especially with the whole perspective thing with the planeswalkers facing the same direction most people play with their playmats.
I'm still annoyed by the Bonds of Mortality/Fall of the Titans art, not because they have the same background, but that the Eldrazi Titans apparently still can feel/understand pain. I thought they should have transcended that already. There's something funny yet bugging me that Kozilek in particular seems to be howling in pain from a headache instead.
I actually think it's quite bad. Different folks, different strokes I guess. It's way too busy the art.
Btw, have they finally established Chandra's garb? That boob armor though.. not a fan.
At least she isn't overly sexualized like most fantasy women. Magic only has 1 such character, Liliana of the Veil, and she doesn't even have overly large, spine-breaking boobs.
I love how on the second mat everyone but Jace is in a fighting pose. "He just stood there. Menacingly."
Because Jace has been written more and more LESS bad ass. Which is good. He isn't bamf. Hes a kid with mind powers. 'Bout time Magic treats him like such.
Meanwhile Gideon is like "Brahhhhh. I fight for justice and PC tolerance!"
I actually think it's quite bad. Different folks, different strokes I guess. It's way too busy the art.
Btw, have they finally established Chandra's garb? That boob armor though.. not a fan.
At least she isn't overly sexualized like most fantasy women. Magic only has 1 such character, Liliana of the Veil, and she doesn't even have overly large, spine-breaking boobs.
Kioradisagrees. Shes not written that way, sure is drawn that way.
As far as current lore goes, elspeth is the only woman written and drawn like an ACTUAL woman warrior. Boob plates are a form of sexualization. They redirect blades to the heart, then you die. Its the complete opposite of what you wanna do. If they wanted to give her more of a blacksmith like they originally tried to do, do it with Short sleeves and leather like actual people who work with fire do.
Magics woman are sexualized, just like most fantasy art. Just less so. For what its worth, most men are too, jace being the exception, thankfully.
I actually think it's quite bad. Different folks, different strokes I guess. It's way too busy the art.
Btw, have they finally established Chandra's garb? That boob armor though.. not a fan.
At least she isn't overly sexualized like most fantasy women. Magic only has 1 such character, Liliana of the Veil, and she doesn't even have overly large, spine-breaking boobs.
I don't know how much do you people know about Chandra's backstory from various media, books and trivia, but she is one of the most independent, strong and well-characterized personalities in MTG. Unlike some of the other badly-designed characters (I'm looking at you Jace), Chandra has both discernible strengths and weaknesses, a complex personality with a lot of spirit. She's also mostly drawn as a rather awkward-looking late teen rather then a voluptuous, erotic woman. Just look at her on Chandra Nalaar (particularly the Duel Deck version), and especially on Oath of Chandra. Her look on the latter is the one I think Magic should keep, since while she's cute and attractive in her own way, it's a very different look when compared to Liliana of the Veil and it gives her a lot of character and bravado, making her unique and relatable.
It's not that Magic characters (regardless of their gender) shouldn't be or look attractive, but that their looks shouldn't be the only thing about them. They should have distinct personalities, weaknesses, flaws, desires and be written and portrayed convincingly.
Oh, good art. Didnt look at her oath. I agree, that one is rather good. Truth is, its really up to the artist how the present her. Alot of artist just opt to go "generic fantasy woman + fire," which I hate. Few take the effort to show her as a person, they just lay it thick with lighting effects and the flame brush tool.
I think wizards is working on it. They've been trying to open up the woman angle of things. The writers have a ton to do with that (most of them are in fact, woman.) plus magic has openly admitted to trying to shake up their player base since the trend of woman and gaming has dramatically shifted (with in the last 10 years, its almost shifted to 50-50, since woman feel more comfortable now about being geeky and its mainstream). But as it stands, her "shift" like all magic characters hasnt quite translated to the art yet.
Jace is still shown as a upstanding mind mage of huge powers, rather than the super reluctant, inexperanced kid he is. Chandra is still shown as hot girl + fire, rather than the rash 20 something who messes up everything she does. Gideon is shown pretty well, as a way too buff dude who jumps the gun. And Liliana is still shown as super sexy woman rather than super sexy woman whos pretending to be allouf and dead inside rather than feel all the emotions shes locked away.
I love how on the second mat everyone but Jace is in a fighting pose. "He just stood there. Menacingly."
Because Jace has been written more and more LESS bad ass. Which is good. He isn't bamf. Hes a kid with mind powers. 'Bout time Magic treats him like such.
Meanwhile Gideon is like "Brahhhhh. I fight for justice and PC tolerance!"
I actually think it's quite bad. Different folks, different strokes I guess. It's way too busy the art.
Btw, have they finally established Chandra's garb? That boob armor though.. not a fan.
At least she isn't overly sexualized like most fantasy women. Magic only has 1 such character, Liliana of the Veil, and she doesn't even have overly large, spine-breaking boobs.
Kioradisagrees. Shes not written that way, sure is drawn that way.
As far as current lore goes, elspeth is the only woman written and drawn like an ACTUAL woman warrior. Boob plates are a form of sexualization. They redirect blades to the heart, then you die. Its the complete opposite of what you wanna do. If they wanted to give her more of a blacksmith like they originally tried to do, do it with Short sleeves and leather like actual people who work with fire do.
Magics woman are sexualized, just like most fantasy art. Just less so. For what its worth, most men are too, jace being the exception, thankfully.
There is some sexualization, but not near as much as your usual fantasy media that depicts "battle-ready" women in metal bikinis. Even Elspeth has been depicted with boob armor in Elspeth, Sun's Champion (duel deck one), though I agree that what she's wearing is more practical.
I forgot about Kiora, but I give her a pass. Her character could wear armor akin to Chandra, but in a merfolk style that would still translate to not much more than a morph suit made of hide or scales. It would still be form-fitting and make her look nude.
I actually think it's quite bad. Different folks, different strokes I guess. It's way too busy the art.
Btw, have they finally established Chandra's garb? That boob armor though.. not a fan.
At least she isn't overly sexualized like most fantasy women. Magic only has 1 such character, Liliana of the Veil, and she doesn't even have overly large, spine-breaking boobs.
I don't know how much do you people know about Chandra's backstory from various media, books and trivia, but she is one of the most independent, strong and well-characterized personalities in MTG. Unlike some of the other badly-designed characters (I'm looking at you Jace), Chandra has both discernible strengths and weaknesses, a complex personality with a lot of spirit. She's also mostly drawn as a rather awkward-looking late teen rather then a voluptuous, erotic woman. Just look at her on Chandra Nalaar (particularly the Duel Deck version), and especially on Oath of Chandra. Her look on the latter is the one I think Magic should keep, since while she's cute and attractive in her own way, it's a very different look when compared to Liliana of the Veil and it gives her a lot of character and bravado, making her unique and relatable.
It's not that Magic characters (regardless of their gender) shouldn't be or look attractive, but that their looks shouldn't be the only thing about them. They should have distinct personalities, weaknesses, flaws, desires and be written and portrayed convincingly.
Oh, good art. Didnt look at her oath. I agree, that one is rather good. Truth is, its really up to the artist how the present her. Alot of artist just opt to go "generic fantasy woman + fire," which I hate. Few take the effort to show her as a person, they just lay it thick with lighting effects and the flame brush tool.
I think wizards is working on it. They've been trying to open up the woman angle of things. The writers have a ton to do with that (most of them are in fact, woman.) plus magic has openly admitted to trying to shake up their player base since the trend of woman and gaming has dramatically shifted (with in the last 10 years, its almost shifted to 50-50, since woman feel more comfortable now about being geeky and its mainstream). But as it stands, her "shift" like all magic characters hasnt quite translated to the art yet.
Jace is still shown as a upstanding mind mage of huge powers, rather than the super reluctant, inexperanced kid he is. Chandra is still shown as hot girl + fire, rather than the rash 20 something who messes up everything she does. Gideon is shown pretty well, as a way too buff dude who jumps the gun. And Liliana is still shown as super sexy woman rather than super sexy woman whos pretending to be allouf and dead inside rather than feel all the emotions shes locked away.
Indeed, as I've mentioned, Oath of Chandra is the single best representation of Chandra in any media. As good as Steve Argyle is as an artist, I really dislike his piece on Chandra Ablaze since it's basically what you said - "attractive woman" + "fire". None of her ego, fiery, childish nature or immaturity show. Chandra, in my mind, is supposed to be this late teen/young adult with a perpetual coal-blackened cheeks and nose, messy hair and a bratty expression. She's still rather attractive, yes, but with her own unique character and complex identity. If she is to be Magic's flagship red character, she needs to be shown displaying all range of emotions - hate, love, empathy, compassion, anger, sadness - and not just explosive fire she's always shown with in most forms of media. They still need to work on it, but her appearance in Oath of the Gatewatch and reluctant yet obvious participation in saving Zendikar is quite compelling. She doesn't care about your damn reason - she has her own.
Liliana is an entirely different story. I would actually argue that she's rather well-written, with some minor inconsistencies and issues. I think that the major focus of her character should just be portrayed differently. Don't just show how attractive and powerful she is, but show the cost she paid for that power, show her suffering because of it, he internal struggles, her desire to stay alive - just because she knows how vulnerable the dead are. She has a lot of sides to her, just not all of them are always shown or acknowledged.
Loving all the Chandra discussion in this thread <3
Anyhow, yes, I agree with this assessment of Chandra's character and the best lights she has been portrayed in. Honestly, though "Promises to Keep" may not have been the greatest story ever told, it did illustrate who Chandra is very, very well, even if it did do it almost exactly like the ending of the movie "Accepted". Her procrastination, her insecurity and inexperience as well are her impulsive goofing off and curious reactions to the world around her illustrated her character really, really well. Even if you don't think BFZ block is good for anything else, it did paint a very good picture of who Chandra is (at least it has so far).
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that Magic has always had a very, very good history of having strong, awesome female characters with actual agency and motivations. I wasn't playing back in the day but Sisay seemed awesome, Jaya was a great character. So was Radha and so was Jeska. Even more recently we've had characters like Narset and Elspeth. Sure there are some sexualized art pieces(which tend to be less common than non-sexualized art in this game) but as far as who these characters are, it seems like Magic has always had a tradition of really good representation and really god female characters with way more Veronica Marses than Princess Peachs.
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"Pop in, find a dragon, roast a dragon."
-Chandra Nalaar
As far as current lore goes, elspeth is the only woman written and drawn like an ACTUAL woman warrior. Boob plates are a form of sexualization. They redirect blades to the heart, then you die. Its the complete opposite of what you wanna do.
Not to mention that if you fall face down wearing one of those things, all the impact will be concentrated at that inward facing point between your boobs and your rib cage will snap in two. I can`t believe people still draw these things, they`re well beyond stupid.
The promo art of Elspeth, Sun's Champion has a particularly bad case of suicidal boob armor.
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When I hit my 3000 post mark, I'm gone for good.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
What the heck is Gideon doing in that art on the book (the combined art from Fall of the Titans). He is slashing with his Sural, but he's got at most six meet of reach on that thing, and the Eldrazi are far enough away to require atmospheric distortion in their art. So... is he just giving them tickets to the gun show and hoping they're intimidated or what?
What the heck is Gideon doing in that art on the book (the combined art from Fall of the Titans). He is slashing with his Sural, but he's got at most six meet of reach on that thing, and the Eldrazi are far enough away to require atmospheric distortion in their art. So... is he just giving them tickets to the gun show and hoping they're intimidated or what?
He's supposed to keep the lesser eldrazi away from the party while they do their thing. Would've made more sense if they showed some/one of them though.
Haha, yes I know what he's supposed to be doing plotwise, I'm just amused by the art depicting him making a melee attack with a range of six feet against an enemy hundreds of feet away
Card portfolio featuring Fall of the Titans & Bonds of Mortality while the two playmats have the OGW key art and 'Call the Gatewatch' art.
Source : http://www.ultrapro.com/division.php?d=g
~
-Chandra Nalaar
"Mountains? They ain't no big thang."
GGG [Primer] Omnath, Big Green Beatstick Machine GGG
Btw, have they finally established Chandra's garb? That boob armor though.. not a fan.
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
Didn't she always have boob armor? Lol. I can see why the mat might be a turn off for some. The art is quite busy. I just saw the team together being all battle ready with Gideon charging in and Chandra literally out in front burning her enemies and my mind just said "Awesome!".
-Chandra Nalaar
RGTron
UGInfect
URStorm
WUBRAd Nauseam
BRGrishoalbrand
URGScapeshift
WBGAbzan Company
WUBRGAmulet Titan
BRGLiving End
WGBogles
The first playmat is actually a lot better for a playmat (than most others), especially with the whole perspective thing with the planeswalkers facing the same direction most people play with their playmats.
I'm still annoyed by the Bonds of Mortality/Fall of the Titans art, not because they have the same background, but that the Eldrazi Titans apparently still can feel/understand pain. I thought they should have transcended that already. There's something funny yet bugging me that Kozilek in particular seems to be howling in pain from a headache instead.
Jace looks like the figure from the Disturb indestructible cover, so maybe he is playing that song in everyone’s head, so they can fight fearless
Thanks to DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios for this sick Signature.
At least she isn't overly sexualized like most fantasy women. Magic only has 1 such character, Liliana of the Veil, and she doesn't even have overly large, spine-breaking boobs.
Because Jace has been written more and more LESS bad ass. Which is good. He isn't bamf. Hes a kid with mind powers. 'Bout time Magic treats him like such.
Meanwhile Gideon is like "Brahhhhh. I fight for justice and PC tolerance!"
Kioradisagrees. Shes not written that way, sure is drawn that way.
As far as current lore goes, elspeth is the only woman written and drawn like an ACTUAL woman warrior. Boob plates are a form of sexualization. They redirect blades to the heart, then you die. Its the complete opposite of what you wanna do. If they wanted to give her more of a blacksmith like they originally tried to do, do it with Short sleeves and leather like actual people who work with fire do.
Magics woman are sexualized, just like most fantasy art. Just less so. For what its worth, most men are too, jace being the exception, thankfully.
Oh, good art. Didnt look at her oath. I agree, that one is rather good. Truth is, its really up to the artist how the present her. Alot of artist just opt to go "generic fantasy woman + fire," which I hate. Few take the effort to show her as a person, they just lay it thick with lighting effects and the flame brush tool.
I think wizards is working on it. They've been trying to open up the woman angle of things. The writers have a ton to do with that (most of them are in fact, woman.) plus magic has openly admitted to trying to shake up their player base since the trend of woman and gaming has dramatically shifted (with in the last 10 years, its almost shifted to 50-50, since woman feel more comfortable now about being geeky and its mainstream). But as it stands, her "shift" like all magic characters hasnt quite translated to the art yet.
Jace is still shown as a upstanding mind mage of huge powers, rather than the super reluctant, inexperanced kid he is. Chandra is still shown as hot girl + fire, rather than the rash 20 something who messes up everything she does. Gideon is shown pretty well, as a way too buff dude who jumps the gun. And Liliana is still shown as super sexy woman rather than super sexy woman whos pretending to be allouf and dead inside rather than feel all the emotions shes locked away.
Ok, so for lili, they're doing an alright job then... but there still could be some more cards showing her secret "I actually care about things and it hurts me." side. Like in this pic where she shows that transition from "strong proud and beautiful, to fragile, spent and hurt.
There is some sexualization, but not near as much as your usual fantasy media that depicts "battle-ready" women in metal bikinis. Even Elspeth has been depicted with boob armor in Elspeth, Sun's Champion (duel deck one), though I agree that what she's wearing is more practical.
I forgot about Kiora, but I give her a pass. Her character could wear armor akin to Chandra, but in a merfolk style that would still translate to not much more than a morph suit made of hide or scales. It would still be form-fitting and make her look nude.
Loving all the Chandra discussion in this thread <3
Anyhow, yes, I agree with this assessment of Chandra's character and the best lights she has been portrayed in. Honestly, though "Promises to Keep" may not have been the greatest story ever told, it did illustrate who Chandra is very, very well, even if it did do it almost exactly like the ending of the movie "Accepted". Her procrastination, her insecurity and inexperience as well are her impulsive goofing off and curious reactions to the world around her illustrated her character really, really well. Even if you don't think BFZ block is good for anything else, it did paint a very good picture of who Chandra is (at least it has so far).
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that Magic has always had a very, very good history of having strong, awesome female characters with actual agency and motivations. I wasn't playing back in the day but Sisay seemed awesome, Jaya was a great character. So was Radha and so was Jeska. Even more recently we've had characters like Narset and Elspeth. Sure there are some sexualized art pieces(which tend to be less common than non-sexualized art in this game) but as far as who these characters are, it seems like Magic has always had a tradition of really good representation and really god female characters with way more Veronica Marses than Princess Peachs.
-Chandra Nalaar
MTGO: UberMower
I wonder if "Gatewatchers" is now the collective name for the heroes, like "Z Fighters" was lol
The promo art of Elspeth, Sun's Champion has a particularly bad case of suicidal boob armor.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
RIP Batman guy. I hope somebody picks up the slack now that you are gone. Sick children need their Batman.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath