W/B? Or Esper? She's definitely B, not only because of the assassin thing, but also because she believes that "the living should make the most of their lives and pursue what they want while they've still got time," but she also seems white in that she's principled about who she kills (i.e. ghosts).
But from a mechanics standpoint, her incorporeality is historically very U.
I dunno, are they trying to make 3-color planeswalkers for each shard and wedge?
Hopefully U/B. What Kaya did was seen as blasphemous by some, a disruption of the natural order of life beyond death.. U/B is the enemy of green for this reason.
Her ability is also very thematically Dimir from Return to Rav.
The big thing that makes me personally think she is white is that she does seem to have mortality. Instead of just killing the Dear Mother, she forces the noble to confront what he did to his mother as well as giving up the half of the money he said he'd pay her, since she was defaulting on the job. I'd think, personally, a UB would just expose the noble, using the knowledge of the murder against them. She also seems to hate kin-killers.
Kaya is wearing very "Earth in 2016" clothes for someone living in Fiora. It'd be cool if it turned out she actually was from Earth, but that will never happen.
That's what I'm saying-
she looks *exactly* like someone you'd see playing Magic
(well, maybe a bit hotter, but that's normal).
Her design is a bit on-the-nose for my tastes,
but I do like her character. She has an interesting background.
Honesty as long as the characters are well written* wizards can throw out the representation and grab at a new demographics as much as they want. Plus maybe it is a hint to whatever style her home plane is.
*As well written as creative can get since they can be hit or miss on some
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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"
Kaya is wearing very "Earth in 2016" clothes for someone living in Fiora. It'd be cool if it turned out she actually was from Earth, but that will never happen.
"Earth in 2016"... you mean the medieval leather jacket and spiked metal bracers?
Her presumptive 'walker card art definitely looks BW: halfway between light and shadow. (And, symbolically, between the corporeal and incorporeal, the living and the dead. It's a clever bit of art.)
And it's not like Black doesn't get evasion mechanics. They're usually conditional (only Tormented Soul has gotten straight-up unblockability in recent years), but it wouldn't be that much of a color pie bend if Kaya's card could grant unconditional evasion.
(Also, as has probably already been said, "Ghost Assassin" is possibly the best title for a PW card ever.)
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But from a mechanics standpoint, her incorporeality is historically very U.
That was my first thought too - but after reading the story I'm less certain. White deals a lot with blinking - especially when it comes to spirits/ghosts. Ghostway, for example, is flavoured as the creature escaping through the space between reality that the ghosts use - which is exactly what she does.
You have to remember, she's a planeswalker, not a creature. She herself probably won't be going incorporeal to attack (unless she becomes a creature the way Gideon does - but I don't expect wizards to do that on another planeswalker since that's kind of his signature thing). She'll probably have abilities that 'blink' others.
Her flavour and story distinctly say 'Orzhov' to me. And I'm not just talking about WB in general, but specifically the Orzhov Guild from Ravnica.
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I hope she isn't another BW walker. We already have 3. BR has 1 and it sux. Same with BG. BU has 2 but they are both fairly niche to Artifacts and Mill. Hell I would be extatic if she was a decent 4cmc mono black walker. Every other colour has a playable 4cmc walker but black which just has this trash.
White tends to have a lot of spirits, maybe the most. Since she hates em so much that gives me hope she isn't white.
I'm SO SICK of the "too strong for Standard" argument. It's the new "Dies to removal". We can have a two mana 4/4 with a zillion abilities, but we can't just have Accumulated Knowledge. Makes sense.
I hope she isn't another BW walker. We already have 3. BR has 1 and it sux. Same with BG. BU has 2 but they are both fairly niche to Artifacts and Mill. Hell I would be extatic if she was a decent 4cmc mono black walker. Every other colour has a playable 4cmc walker but black which just has this trash.
“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"
I hope she isn't another BW walker. We already have 3. BR has 1 and it sux. Same with BG. BU has 2 but they are both fairly niche to Artifacts and Mill. Hell I would be extatic if she was a decent 4cmc mono black walker. Every other colour has a playable 4cmc walker but black which just has this trash.
White tends to have a lot of spirits, maybe the most. Since she hates em so much that gives me hope she isn't white.
I find your perspective a little skewed. There are 2 Golgari walkers. The 3 Orzhov walkers you mention are all the same character - time for a fresh face.
Black doesn't need a good 4 CMC walker when it literally just got a powerful 3 CMC one.
To be honest - I find her more white than black. She doesn't kill people (although she doesn't care about them either). If she's not WB then she's pure U - Black on it's own doesn't have incorporability as one of it's mechanics. (and it's marginal on white depending on how exactly it's implemented)
Weather she hates or likes spirits is besides the question - her powers make her most like a ghost, which puts her squarely in WB. Now that I think about it - I wouldn't be surprised if she turned into an unblockable spirit similar to Gideon.
Guessing BW or Esper. Dealing with spirits and her morality she has a very White aspect. The end of the story and what she did seemed very BW to me. White deals with blinking and becoming incorporeal momentarily more than Blue does. She does everything for a price, which is very much in Black's realm.
Is it just me or does she look way too generic and bland? Pose, clothing, simply everything doesn't scream planeswalker to me. Like, at all.
Given the story and her character, it makes sense that she's not flamboyant and that her appearance allows her to fit in anywhere. She's a rogue, not one of the blowhard Gatewatch Planeswalkers.
Is exorcism / ghost-hunting a part of Black's means & methods though? PWs are majority of the time colored based on what they do.
Black likes to kill creatures, she just happens to be a specialist. She is an assassin. Spirits aren't nessissarily evil and their isn't really anything virtuous about killing them is their?
Anyway, I'm not saying she isn't black white. Just that I don't want her to be.
Edit: My bad earlier. I forgot about the Garruks. BR is certainly due but I doubt she's red.
Is exorcism / ghost-hunting a part of Black's means & methods though? PWs are majority of the time colored based on what they do.
Black likes to kill creatures, she just happens to be a specualist. She is an assassin. Spirits aren't nessissarily evil and their isn't really anything virtuous about killing them is their?
Anyway, I'm not saying she isn't black white. Just that I don't want her to be.
Edit: My bad earlier. I forgot about the Garruks.
I hear you. But I'd argue Black isn't just about killing in general, they kill the living. Whereas Kaya kills spirits who are typically harmful to the living and otherwise. Which isn't super nonblack of course, but it could very easily fall into White.
I personally think she'd make a great Mono black PW if it weren't for her M.O.
Is it just me or does she look way too generic and bland? Pose, clothing, simply everything doesn't scream planeswalker to me. Like, at all.
You mean like with her boobs hanging out, dressed in some band-aid sized armor and polishing a sword?
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
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Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
I hear you. But I'd argue Black isn't just about killing in general, they kill the living. Whereas Kaya kills spirits who are typically harmful to the living and otherwise. Which isn't super nonblack of course, but it could very easily fall into White.
I personally think she'd make a great Mono black PW if it weren't for her M.O.
Exactly. If she killed the living I would be on board with UB - in fact that was my first thought when I saw she was an assassin (I figured she was called the 'Ghost Assassin' because she moved like a ghost). However, since she's an assassin OF ghosts, she's clearly WB. Or possibly Esper if they are doing tri-colour walkers.
Unrelated but cool - I just stumbled across this;
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She definitely gives me some major U vibes. Her roguish demeanor, her cautious planning and studying before assaulting the manor, her ghostly powers... There's nothing that better shows a U character's cunning and adaptable behaviour quite like the phrase "Always have a plan... never rely on it". To me, U seems like a no-brainer.
Which leaves us to her secondary color. I'd agree that either B or W seems like the most likely. If she was WU, it would make the second canon WU Planeswalker (alive, that is. Venser and Vronos are dead). Her attitude near towards the end is also pretty White - with a focus on religion, duty and doing what's right. However, UB seems very likely as well - she's pretty much a mercenary, after all, and her main deal is dealing with the dead. That would also make her the second UB 'walker, and the first heroic one (or at least not outright villaionous, like Ashiok).
Whatever colors she is, I just hope she's as pushed as Dack Fayden was. My primary concern is cube these days, so I hope like hell she isn't Esper or some other uncastable combination.
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I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
I still don't see how killing spirits is white. From what I understand Brago was a fairly righteous king and their was nothing good about killing him. Spirits aren't really bad guys. Brago, St Traft, Dearly Departed, Sovereigns of Lost Alara etc. If she was going around Slaying Dragons, Demons, Zombies, or other infamously evil creature types I would agree but not spirits.
Idk much about the conspiracy storyline. Was Brago a bad guy?
I still don't see how killing spirits is white. From what I understand Brago was a fairly righteous king and their was nothing good about killing him. Spirits aren't really bad guys. Brago, St Traft, Dearly Departed, Sovereigns of Lost Alara etc. If she was going around Slaying Dragons, Demons, Zombies, or other infamously evil creature types I would agree but not spirits.
Idk much about the conspiracy storyline. Was Brago a bad guy?
Semi-joking aside she is not killing spirits, she is killing ghosts. Not the protective spirits you mentioned but Howling Banshee and Hollowhenge Spirit.
As I said before her scene of mortality is what makes her white.
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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"
Brago isn't evil, but from what we know of Kaya so far, she took the job bc of her "life is for the living" attitude. In her eyes, Brago should have stayed dead. Granted, she may not know that he was unintentionally brought back, but I doubt that would matter much. The dead should not linger to interact with the living.
Is it just me or does she look way too generic and bland? Pose, clothing, simply everything doesn't scream planeswalker to me. Like, at all.
You mean like with her boobs hanging out, dressed in some band-aid sized armor and polishing a sword?
At least that would stand out among all the 'strong' female characters we've gotten lately, heck it's almost a sin to show some female allure and skin in magic now. It seems you misinterpreted my post a bit, so I attached a picture to reinforce my train of thought.
I'm SO SICK of the "too strong for Standard" argument. It's the new "Dies to removal". We can have a two mana 4/4 with a zillion abilities, but we can't just have Accumulated Knowledge. Makes sense.
I still don't see how killing spirits is white. From what I understand Brago was a fairly righteous king and their was nothing good about killing him. Spirits aren't really bad guys. Brago, St Traft, Dearly Departed, Sovereigns of Lost Alara etc. If she was going around Slaying Dragons, Demons, Zombies, or other infamously evil creature types I would agree but not spirits.
Idk much about the conspiracy storyline. Was Brago a bad guy?
Semi-joking aside she is not killing spirits, she is killing ghosts. Not the protective spirits you mentioned but Howling Banshee and Hollowhenge Spirit.
As I said before her scene of mortality is what makes her white.
Except she actually is killing Brago... But I see your point. Urgent Exorcism is a good argument towards her being white.
Idk much about the conspiracy storyline. Was Brago a bad guy?
He was a pretty righteous king in life, but amassed a ton of power and absolute power corrupts absolutely. He was diagnosed with an incurable disease and the Custodi did what they could to keep him alive. When he died - some of the spells they had used to keep him alive made him rise as a spirit (this was an accident).
He was considerably less just and more power hungry as a spirit - I wouldn't say 'bad' per se (still WU) However this defeats the natural order and the normal process of succession. If you had a ruler who could never die who would remain ruler forever that would be a very bad thing. It would be very easy to see him descend into dictatorship. Thus, his death 'rights the balance' in many, many ways.
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But from a mechanics standpoint, her incorporeality is historically very U.
I dunno, are they trying to make 3-color planeswalkers for each shard and wedge?
The big thing that makes me personally think she is white is that she does seem to have mortality. Instead of just killing the Dear Mother, she forces the noble to confront what he did to his mother as well as giving up the half of the money he said he'd pay her, since she was defaulting on the job. I'd think, personally, a UB would just expose the noble, using the knowledge of the murder against them. She also seems to hate kin-killers.
Honesty as long as the characters are well written* wizards can throw out the representation and grab at a new demographics as much as they want. Plus maybe it is a hint to whatever style her home plane is.
*As well written as creative can get since they can be hit or miss on some
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
"Earth in 2016"... you mean the medieval leather jacket and spiked metal bracers?
And it's not like Black doesn't get evasion mechanics. They're usually conditional (only Tormented Soul has gotten straight-up unblockability in recent years), but it wouldn't be that much of a color pie bend if Kaya's card could grant unconditional evasion.
(Also, as has probably already been said, "Ghost Assassin" is possibly the best title for a PW card ever.)
That was my first thought too - but after reading the story I'm less certain. White deals a lot with blinking - especially when it comes to spirits/ghosts. Ghostway, for example, is flavoured as the creature escaping through the space between reality that the ghosts use - which is exactly what she does.
You have to remember, she's a planeswalker, not a creature. She herself probably won't be going incorporeal to attack (unless she becomes a creature the way Gideon does - but I don't expect wizards to do that on another planeswalker since that's kind of his signature thing). She'll probably have abilities that 'blink' others.
Her flavour and story distinctly say 'Orzhov' to me. And I'm not just talking about WB in general, but specifically the Orzhov Guild from Ravnica.
White tends to have a lot of spirits, maybe the most. Since she hates em so much that gives me hope she isn't white.
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
BG has two walkers with Gaurruk and Vraska, three if you count Garruk, the Veil-Cursed.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I find your perspective a little skewed. There are 2 Golgari walkers. The 3 Orzhov walkers you mention are all the same character - time for a fresh face.
Black doesn't need a good 4 CMC walker when it literally just got a powerful 3 CMC one.
To be honest - I find her more white than black. She doesn't kill people (although she doesn't care about them either). If she's not WB then she's pure U - Black on it's own doesn't have incorporability as one of it's mechanics. (and it's marginal on white depending on how exactly it's implemented)
Weather she hates or likes spirits is besides the question - her powers make her most like a ghost, which puts her squarely in WB. Now that I think about it - I wouldn't be surprised if she turned into an unblockable spirit similar to Gideon.
Given the story and her character, it makes sense that she's not flamboyant and that her appearance allows her to fit in anywhere. She's a rogue, not one of the blowhard Gatewatch Planeswalkers.
(Also known as Xenphire)
Anyway, I'm not saying she isn't black white. Just that I don't want her to be.
Edit: My bad earlier. I forgot about the Garruks. BR is certainly due but I doubt she's red.
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
I hear you. But I'd argue Black isn't just about killing in general, they kill the living. Whereas Kaya kills spirits who are typically harmful to the living and otherwise. Which isn't super nonblack of course, but it could very easily fall into White.
I personally think she'd make a great Mono black PW if it weren't for her M.O.
You mean like with her boobs hanging out, dressed in some band-aid sized armor and polishing a sword?
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Exactly. If she killed the living I would be on board with UB - in fact that was my first thought when I saw she was an assassin (I figured she was called the 'Ghost Assassin' because she moved like a ghost). However, since she's an assassin OF ghosts, she's clearly WB. Or possibly Esper if they are doing tri-colour walkers.
Unrelated but cool - I just stumbled across this;
Which leaves us to her secondary color. I'd agree that either B or W seems like the most likely. If she was WU, it would make the second canon WU Planeswalker (alive, that is. Venser and Vronos are dead). Her attitude near towards the end is also pretty White - with a focus on religion, duty and doing what's right. However, UB seems very likely as well - she's pretty much a mercenary, after all, and her main deal is dealing with the dead. That would also make her the second UB 'walker, and the first heroic one (or at least not outright villaionous, like Ashiok).
She is a rouge which screams UB. She interacts with spirits and has principle and standards about who she kills which is very W.
If she is esper, I hope she doesn't cost too much, it'd be really cool if she just was WUB or 1WUB.
She's definitely not G! I couldn't even begin to spin that.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Idk much about the conspiracy storyline. Was Brago a bad guy?
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
Urgent Exorcism
Semi-joking aside she is not killing spirits, she is killing ghosts. Not the protective spirits you mentioned but Howling Banshee and Hollowhenge Spirit.
As I said before her scene of mortality is what makes her white.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
At least that would stand out among all the 'strong' female characters we've gotten lately, heck it's almost a sin to show some female allure and skin in magic now. It seems you misinterpreted my post a bit, so I attached a picture to reinforce my train of thought.
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
He was a pretty righteous king in life, but amassed a ton of power and absolute power corrupts absolutely. He was diagnosed with an incurable disease and the Custodi did what they could to keep him alive. When he died - some of the spells they had used to keep him alive made him rise as a spirit (this was an accident).
He was considerably less just and more power hungry as a spirit - I wouldn't say 'bad' per se (still WU) However this defeats the natural order and the normal process of succession. If you had a ruler who could never die who would remain ruler forever that would be a very bad thing. It would be very easy to see him descend into dictatorship. Thus, his death 'rights the balance' in many, many ways.