With all the scifi/fantasy revival - nerds are cool now stuff that has been going around over the last decade it is fascinating how WotC manages to hire so awful and talentless writers to promote its franchise cast.
If the writing quality was top notch most of us would have a lesser beef with lame gatewatch
If you want to discuss the storyline and the gatewatch, we have the storyline forum for that. This is the place to talk about the actual new product.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Can we have some planeswalkers other than the Gatewatch? I know the bunch is heading to their death against Bolas, but that doesn't make them important.
With new Planeswalker paradigm, we will probably only get few native Amonkhet planewsalkers who will never planeswalk from their plane.
Perhaps a first view on Bolas' personal elite PWs faring against the Gatewatch. Cliche, I know, but Bolas surely has more than a few PW under his sway.
Consider Tezz and Sarkhan gets black after meeting Bolas, perhaps his other minion PWs in Amonkhet will also have some black in them.
I'm dissapointed that the planeswalker deck are again two member of the Gatewatch. I hope to see Bolas in the deck for Hour of devastation, like they did with Ajani/Tezz in Aether revolt.
About the gatewatch itself, I'm fine with having them in the center of the story and do like the Weatherlight story (Even if this story was not very good to me)
but I'm sad that other planeswalker will have less and less card because Wotc print the five gatewatch member again and again.
They can print a new one for each of the gatewatch in each set if they want, but they should not take the place of normal planeswalker card (usually 2 or 3 in each extension)
Or they should create a counterpart, like an evil gatewatch.. At least we would more interesting character..
At least we will get FOUR Archenemy decks with Bolas in them. He is a big guy, after all.
As long as this set delivers Egypt World as its priority above everything else, I'm cool with it. Looks like it so far. If Bolas or the Gatewatch crowd out Egypt World the way Eldrazi ruined Zendikar's Adventure World tropes, then I'll have major issues. Egypt World has been heavily requested for ages, the bar is set high.
I've been looking for a new liliana that doesn't cost me my wallet.
Also makes me wonder what the colors of their decks will be. I could see Liliana's being Black/Green (maybe ties in with some sort of Graveyard mechanic in the set) and Gideon could be White/Blue and have some auras or something that tie into the set. Pretty hard to tell at this point though.
It's too bad WotC blanked out the PW's. It would have been a great spoiler a month and a half ahead of time, just to wet out whistle. Well, at least we know Liliana and Gideon are part of the story.
My bet, as we have figured out from previous artwork, Nicol Bolas is on this plane, and I am guessing he's the big antagonist of this story... but I am sure there is a lot more than the Big Bad Dragon in this story.
Irony= complaining that some characters (the gatewatch) have 'plot armor' because they managed to defeat characters that were the epitome of 'plot armor' (eldrazi titans)...so what WotC has ACTUALLY done, is undeniably prove that 'plot armor' doesn't exist, as even their poster children for unkillable were killed; which makes everyone potentially expendable.......also, is 'plot armor' the hot phrase of the thread or what.
on to the actual posts topic now, this sets artwork looks very flavorful, and I will be interested to see what new walkers will be in the set. As wizards has proven since the gatewatch formed, that each block will have just as many non gatewatch walkers as they have GW walkers (go ahead and look it up, the math is even), and we definitely know that Bolas, Lili, and Gideon are in. That leaves the URG slots open for some new walkers or old ones we haven't seen in a while. I could see Ashiok for the U spot, and I would like to see Tibalt for the R spot, but the G spot intrigues me...it seems perfectly set up for a new G walker, maybe one that focuses more on the regrowth aspect of green, since we have a big beast and a lands matter walker.
gatewatch cringe aside, I think getting a new lili and gideon for Amonkhet block is kinda awkward. I mean how good have those two new ones have to be when you've got a gideon, ally of zendikar and liliana, the last hope legal at the same time? How in the world could this have been avoided... oh right, how about diversifying your cast of characters for a new block?
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 for one am quite tired of seeing the same characters every set on every plane. The characterization is becoming stagnate. What's worse is that many of the new walkers they do introduce are so forgettable or are never really seen again. I get that many of the Gatewatch are fan favorites, but as long as Wizards keeps on these same characters each set, I'm afraid the new sets will never feel as fresh as they should.
I agree with people's dislike of the gatewatch. I like how it makes for a cool story, but I hate how so many cool cards that could have had awesome and unique art are just used to represent a member of the gatewatch doing something.
Judging by the name ''hour of devastation'' and by how badass Bolas looks in his armor, i'm guessing the time of the gatewatch is finally over (really hope for that). I think that they will be disbanded or stripped off their powers, rather than killed. It's time for a villain to take over the mtg world until someone new, fresh and equally strong has the ability to stop him.
Judging by the name ''hour of devastation'' and by how badass Bolas looks in his armor, i'm guessing the time of the gatewatch is finally over (really hope for that). I think that they will be disbanded or stripped off their powers, rather than killed. It's time for a villain to take over the mtg world until someone new, fresh and equally strong has the ability to stop him.
Not a chance. Right now the best we can hope for is that the league gets distracted by goings ons elsewhere so we can see some other characters take the stage. They basically set up a super hero team to go around the blind eternities with and act as a means to streamline the story, so they aren't going to remove the gatewatch that easily.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Irony= complaining that some characters (the gatewatch) have 'plot armor' because they managed to defeat characters that were the epitome of 'plot armor' (eldrazi titans)...so what WotC has ACTUALLY done, is undeniably prove that 'plot armor' doesn't exist, as even their poster children for unkillable were killed; which makes everyone potentially expendable.......also, is 'plot armor' the hot phrase of the thread or what.
Hold up. For one thing, getting rid of a couple of "plot armored" characters by creating several more really isn't "disproving plot armor" at all. In fact, the Gatewatch are much more prominently featured (way too much, imo) than the Eldrazi titans ever were, so it's much more of an issue now than ever, hence the many (quite valid) complaints.
And ancient, extremely powerful, incomprehensible, Lovecraftian elder gods actually SHOULD have plot armor, and that's how the titans were introduced to us. Neowalkers, who are "no more powerful than regular mages," clearly shouldn't be invincible. And yet, they are, and it's a problem. That is why desperately need a death or at the very least a real defeat for the Gatewatch.
A block without the Gatewatch, I can guarantee, will be much celebrated...
Hopefully this block will have a different vibe. A villain winning is not too bad once in a while. I hope Wizards doesn't treat their product like Disney, aka fairytale ending. That's Disney's trademark.
I like the Croc-dragon... Although I don't have much hopes of it being good, after we saw the Tiger-dragon Freejam in Kaladesh. I also don't have high hopes of it having a decent name.
I`m probably just a bit jaded and grown-up, but that trial card made me chuckle.
"... rise among the Worthy!""The Trial of Strength" *puts on sunglasses and breaks out machete* ... ... "Play in a Standard event at your local game store" oh
Honestly though, I like that they do challenges like that, checking stuff off a list and collecting achievements is always a good feeling. Good stuff, I`d try to complete it if I had the time.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
gatewatch cringe aside, I think getting a new lili and gideon for Amonkhet block is kinda awkward. I mean how good have those two new ones have to be when you've got a gideon, ally of zendikar and liliana, the last hope legal at the same time? How in the world could this have been avoided... oh right, how about diversifying your cast of characters for a new block?
gatewatch cringe aside, I think getting a new lili and gideon for Amonkhet block is kinda awkward. I mean how good have those two new ones have to be when you've got a gideon, ally of zendikar and liliana, the last hope legal at the same time? How in the world could this have been avoided... oh right, how about diversifying your cast of characters for a new block?
I think it's nice to have a choice between different versions of walkers, but only when they appeal to different decks and strategies. What I meant was that it's problematic with the current lili and gideon in terms of sheer power and flexibility. bfz gideon is just absurdly good in everything he does, which means unless new gideon does at least one particular thing better than ally of zendikar, no one will care. Lili isn't as brain-dead as gideon, but even she works in basically any deck, which is a high bar for the new one right from the start. Powerful cards are certainly fun... for a while, which is my main gripe with the new 'old' rotation.
It's interesting that you bring up baby jace vs mind sculptor, because this is precisely what I mean: a degenerate version of a walker completeley outclassing a more balanced one. And even though everyone played the better jace, little jace had his uses because of the old legend rule.
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.
One way to keep the Gatewatch fresh would be to show some rotation in the ranks.
If the numbers stayed around 5 and different members cycled in and out, it would always give you a fresh group dynamic.
Like imagine if now, we'd gotten Ajani and Tamiyo in while Jace and Nissa went elsewhere. We'd have a new group and that at least would be interesting.
They could explore stories, for example, when the specific group was too heavy on one color or missing one color and it demonstrates why it's good to have a balance.
Think the Avengers. By the end of Avengers 2, we have a new roster with Cap + Black Widow the same but 4 newcomers: Vision, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, and War Machine. Feels enough the same to still be the Avengers but has enough new guys to have a fresh dynamic. Something like that could be a better model than the same 5 every time.
It's a reason to hope Bolas wins in this block and disrupts the status quo.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
On MTGO as Protoman.
On 7/14/10, broke 1900 mark! <3 ROE.
I don't want to ask "does anyone actually like seeing the Gatewatch every set?" because I'm sure some percentage of the fanbase does.
My question is, are you telling me there's really a majority of players that prefer seeing the same cast every set? Because if not, then having them constantly present is a questionable decision.
I expect them to be in every set from now until players shout their displeasure. Hopefully they at least don't have EVERY member of the watch involved in every set.
gatewatch cringe aside, I think getting a new lili and gideon for Amonkhet block is kinda awkward. I mean how good have those two new ones have to be when you've got a gideon, ally of zendikar and liliana, the last hope legal at the same time? How in the world could this have been avoided... oh right, how about diversifying your cast of characters for a new block?
I think it's nice to have a choice between different versions of walkers, but only when they appeal to different decks and strategies. What I meant was that it's problematic with the current lili and gideon in terms of sheer power and flexibility. bfz gideon is just absurdly good in everything he does, which means unless new gideon does at least one particular thing better than ally of zendikar, no one will care. Lili isn't as brain-dead as gideon, but even she works in basically any deck, which is a high bar for the new one right from the start. Powerful cards are certainly fun... for a while, which is my main gripe with the new 'old' rotation.
It's interesting that you bring up baby jace vs mind sculptor, because this is precisely what I mean: a degenerate version of a walker completeley outclassing a more balanced one. And even though everyone played the better jace, little jace had his uses because of the old legend rule.
Sure, but you're always going to have cards completely outclassing other cards with similar/identical functions. It's the unavoidable reality that some cards are going to be considerably better than others. Planeswalkers included.
Irony= complaining that some characters (the gatewatch) have 'plot armor' because they managed to defeat characters that were the epitome of 'plot armor' (eldrazi titans)...so what WotC has ACTUALLY done, is undeniably prove that 'plot armor' doesn't exist, as even their poster children for unkillable were killed; which makes everyone potentially expendable.......also, is 'plot armor' the hot phrase of the thread or what.
Hold up. For one thing, getting rid of a couple of "plot armored" characters by creating several more really isn't "disproving plot armor" at all. In fact, the Gatewatch are much more prominently featured (way too much, imo) than the Eldrazi titans ever were, so it's much more of an issue now than ever, hence the many (quite valid) complaints.
And ancient, extremely powerful, incomprehensible, Lovecraftian elder gods actually SHOULD have plot armor, and that's how the titans were introduced to us. Neowalkers, who are "no more powerful than regular mages," clearly shouldn't be invincible. And yet, they are, and it's a problem. That is why desperately need a death or at the very least a real defeat for the Gatewatch.
Well seeing as how plot armor doesn't exist, creating several more makes no sense. Just because you, and several other people don't like that the Gatewatch haven't lost yet, doesn't mean they have plot armor. Having the eldrazi be the Jason Voorhees of the MTG world makes them just as bland and boring as him. Why have characters that are so powerful that they can't be beaten? I get that this is exactly your point, but you fail to realize that if they can be defeated, then everyone can be defeated. Your really just upset because you haven't seen it yet; but I would argue that it would be terrible writing for them to have lost so early into their creation. It would be a colossal waste of time, and story building, to have them lose outright to the first or second foes they faced. and so far its just been the eldrazi, and tezzeret. And frankly, they didn't beat emrakul. emrakul and a non gatewatch member beat emrakul. and two of the gatewatch would have died in the next story if not for another non gatewatch walker. and even with 7 walkers, and an entire rebellion, it still took Chandra kamakazeeing herself into the planar portal just for them to defeat 2 walkers and a blue mage. If any characters have 'plot armor' it would be the villains, and just Chandra out of the gatewatch if any. But I'm still not sold that the gatewatch have plot armor, when comparing them to the villains all over the mtg multiverse like: the eldrazi before BFZ block, Bolas, the phyrexians, tezzeret, the new elder dragons, etc.....its pretty obvious all this complaining about plot armor is nothing but hyperbole from people who were sick of the gatewatch characters before BFZ block was even announced
I for one am quite tired of seeing the same characters every set on every plane. The characterization is becoming stagnate. What's worse is that many of the new walkers they do introduce are so forgettable or are never really seen again. I get that many of the Gatewatch are fan favorites, but as long as Wizards keeps on these same characters each set, I'm afraid the new sets will never feel as fresh as they should.
Oh, you mean like how Chandra just recently learned her mother is still alive, and vice versa? Or how Liliana is hunting down her demons one by one? Or that Jace is going to have to deal with Vraska when we return to Ravnica? That Gideon at some point will have to return to Theros and face some personal demons of his own? Or that Ajani just recently joined and is now gathering allies, many of which will likely join the Gatewatch themselves, thus expanding the roster of protagonists and helping diversify the stories?
And if these new characters were seen again with regularity, certain fans would complain that they're stale. Those fans should learn that there's a difference between "stale" and "central/recurring character". "Stale" is doing the exact same thing every time. Using leylines to destroy the bad guys every time would be stale. Central characters are designed to drive the story and to grow and change while maintaining some degree of consistency and continuity.
Changing the focus every block is what they've done for years, and that got old, not to mention following the story became quite difficult for anyone not keeping a chronological archive. That's why they introduced the Gatewatch in the first place; following a story is easier when it can be summed up as "character A did thing B, then did thing C, then did thing D" as opposed to "Character A did thing B, then character C did thing D, then character E did thing F, then character A did thing G". I found myself enjoying the story more when I knew the next block was going to answer some of the questions raised by the current block, as opposed to having to wait five years to see what a particular character did next.
And restricting the appearances of some characters helps create demand and thus hype for their next appearance, hence why we're all making a deal out of Bolas playing an active role in the story for the first time since Shards of Alara block back in 2009.
Judging by the name ''hour of devastation'' and by how badass Bolas looks in his armor, i'm guessing the time of the gatewatch is finally over (really hope for that). I think that they will be disbanded or stripped off their powers, rather than killed. It's time for a villain to take over the mtg world until someone new, fresh and equally strong has the ability to stop him.
Oh, so you think Wizards will undo a change they just made to their brand so a bad guy can run the show unchallenged, like had been happening ever since Zendikar save for Innistrad and RTR up until BFZ? And then ask for someone as over-the-top as Bolas to come along and defeat him, thereby putting focus on a Mary Sue with none of the interesting vulnerabilities, backstory, or relationships that our current protagonists already have, while also putting more focus on isolated self-sufficiency as opposed to promoting the value of teamwork and the appreciation of companions?
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
If the writing quality was top notch most of us would have a lesser beef with lame gatewatch
Marath, Will of the Wild
Friendly Kess Twin Combo
Tatyova - Sir Bounce A Lot
Gonti's Luxury Pie
Prime (Eldrazi) Speaker Zegana (Retired)
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Perhaps a first view on Bolas' personal elite PWs faring against the Gatewatch. Cliche, I know, but Bolas surely has more than a few PW under his sway.
Consider Tezz and Sarkhan gets black after meeting Bolas, perhaps his other minion PWs in Amonkhet will also have some black in them.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
At least we will get FOUR Archenemy decks with Bolas in them. He is a big guy, after all.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
I've been looking for a new liliana that doesn't cost me my wallet.
Also makes me wonder what the colors of their decks will be. I could see Liliana's being Black/Green (maybe ties in with some sort of Graveyard mechanic in the set) and Gideon could be White/Blue and have some auras or something that tie into the set. Pretty hard to tell at this point though.
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
My bet, as we have figured out from previous artwork, Nicol Bolas is on this plane, and I am guessing he's the big antagonist of this story... but I am sure there is a lot more than the Big Bad Dragon in this story.
on to the actual posts topic now, this sets artwork looks very flavorful, and I will be interested to see what new walkers will be in the set. As wizards has proven since the gatewatch formed, that each block will have just as many non gatewatch walkers as they have GW walkers (go ahead and look it up, the math is even), and we definitely know that Bolas, Lili, and Gideon are in. That leaves the URG slots open for some new walkers or old ones we haven't seen in a while. I could see Ashiok for the U spot, and I would like to see Tibalt for the R spot, but the G spot intrigues me...it seems perfectly set up for a new G walker, maybe one that focuses more on the regrowth aspect of green, since we have a big beast and a lands matter walker.
UW Azorius Control
Modern
UW Azorius Control
Not a chance. Right now the best we can hope for is that the league gets distracted by goings ons elsewhere so we can see some other characters take the stage. They basically set up a super hero team to go around the blind eternities with and act as a means to streamline the story, so they aren't going to remove the gatewatch that easily.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Hold up. For one thing, getting rid of a couple of "plot armored" characters by creating several more really isn't "disproving plot armor" at all. In fact, the Gatewatch are much more prominently featured (way too much, imo) than the Eldrazi titans ever were, so it's much more of an issue now than ever, hence the many (quite valid) complaints.
And ancient, extremely powerful, incomprehensible, Lovecraftian elder gods actually SHOULD have plot armor, and that's how the titans were introduced to us. Neowalkers, who are "no more powerful than regular mages," clearly shouldn't be invincible. And yet, they are, and it's a problem. That is why desperately need a death or at the very least a real defeat for the Gatewatch.
I'm excited for Amonkhet. Oh Spoiler Gods, give me a legendary creature soon.
Hopefully this block will have a different vibe. A villain winning is not too bad once in a while. I hope Wizards doesn't treat their product like Disney, aka fairytale ending. That's Disney's trademark.
I like the Croc-dragon... Although I don't have much hopes of it being good, after we saw the Tiger-dragon Freejam in Kaladesh. I also don't have high hopes of it having a decent name.
After Freejam, I'm expecting Croc-quette.
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
"... rise among the Worthy!" "The Trial of Strength" *puts on sunglasses and breaks out machete* ... ... "Play in a Standard event at your local game store" oh
Honestly though, I like that they do challenges like that, checking stuff off a list and collecting achievements is always a good feeling. Good stuff, I`d try to complete it if I had the time.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
It's no more awkward than that time Jace, the Mind Sculptor was standard legal alongside Jace Beleren, or when Garruk, Primal Hunter and Garruk Relentless were printed in back-to-back sets, or when Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker and Sarkhan Unbroken were printed in the same block. Or how about every single standard season since planeswalkers were introduced?
I think it's nice to have a choice between different versions of walkers, but only when they appeal to different decks and strategies. What I meant was that it's problematic with the current lili and gideon in terms of sheer power and flexibility. bfz gideon is just absurdly good in everything he does, which means unless new gideon does at least one particular thing better than ally of zendikar, no one will care. Lili isn't as brain-dead as gideon, but even she works in basically any deck, which is a high bar for the new one right from the start. Powerful cards are certainly fun... for a while, which is my main gripe with the new 'old' rotation.
It's interesting that you bring up baby jace vs mind sculptor, because this is precisely what I mean: a degenerate version of a walker completeley outclassing a more balanced one. And even though everyone played the better jace, little jace had his uses because of the old legend rule.
If the numbers stayed around 5 and different members cycled in and out, it would always give you a fresh group dynamic.
Like imagine if now, we'd gotten Ajani and Tamiyo in while Jace and Nissa went elsewhere. We'd have a new group and that at least would be interesting.
They could explore stories, for example, when the specific group was too heavy on one color or missing one color and it demonstrates why it's good to have a balance.
Think the Avengers. By the end of Avengers 2, we have a new roster with Cap + Black Widow the same but 4 newcomers: Vision, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, and War Machine. Feels enough the same to still be the Avengers but has enough new guys to have a fresh dynamic. Something like that could be a better model than the same 5 every time.
It's a reason to hope Bolas wins in this block and disrupts the status quo.
On 7/14/10, broke 1900 mark! <3 ROE.
I expect them to be in every set from now until players shout their displeasure. Hopefully they at least don't have EVERY member of the watch involved in every set.
Club Flamingo Wins: 1!
Well seeing as how plot armor doesn't exist, creating several more makes no sense. Just because you, and several other people don't like that the Gatewatch haven't lost yet, doesn't mean they have plot armor. Having the eldrazi be the Jason Voorhees of the MTG world makes them just as bland and boring as him. Why have characters that are so powerful that they can't be beaten? I get that this is exactly your point, but you fail to realize that if they can be defeated, then everyone can be defeated. Your really just upset because you haven't seen it yet; but I would argue that it would be terrible writing for them to have lost so early into their creation. It would be a colossal waste of time, and story building, to have them lose outright to the first or second foes they faced. and so far its just been the eldrazi, and tezzeret. And frankly, they didn't beat emrakul. emrakul and a non gatewatch member beat emrakul. and two of the gatewatch would have died in the next story if not for another non gatewatch walker. and even with 7 walkers, and an entire rebellion, it still took Chandra kamakazeeing herself into the planar portal just for them to defeat 2 walkers and a blue mage. If any characters have 'plot armor' it would be the villains, and just Chandra out of the gatewatch if any. But I'm still not sold that the gatewatch have plot armor, when comparing them to the villains all over the mtg multiverse like: the eldrazi before BFZ block, Bolas, the phyrexians, tezzeret, the new elder dragons, etc.....its pretty obvious all this complaining about plot armor is nothing but hyperbole from people who were sick of the gatewatch characters before BFZ block was even announced
Oh, you mean like how Chandra just recently learned her mother is still alive, and vice versa? Or how Liliana is hunting down her demons one by one? Or that Jace is going to have to deal with Vraska when we return to Ravnica? That Gideon at some point will have to return to Theros and face some personal demons of his own? Or that Ajani just recently joined and is now gathering allies, many of which will likely join the Gatewatch themselves, thus expanding the roster of protagonists and helping diversify the stories?
Which new Walkers are forgettable, exactly? The beastmaster boy who will likely step in to fill Garruk's shoes at some point? The nightmare weaver? The curious martial artist? The Merfolk who stole an artifact from a god? The werewolf? The quicksmithing metal transmuter? The well-intentioned investigator?
And if these new characters were seen again with regularity, certain fans would complain that they're stale. Those fans should learn that there's a difference between "stale" and "central/recurring character". "Stale" is doing the exact same thing every time. Using leylines to destroy the bad guys every time would be stale. Central characters are designed to drive the story and to grow and change while maintaining some degree of consistency and continuity.
Changing the focus every block is what they've done for years, and that got old, not to mention following the story became quite difficult for anyone not keeping a chronological archive. That's why they introduced the Gatewatch in the first place; following a story is easier when it can be summed up as "character A did thing B, then did thing C, then did thing D" as opposed to "Character A did thing B, then character C did thing D, then character E did thing F, then character A did thing G". I found myself enjoying the story more when I knew the next block was going to answer some of the questions raised by the current block, as opposed to having to wait five years to see what a particular character did next.
And restricting the appearances of some characters helps create demand and thus hype for their next appearance, hence why we're all making a deal out of Bolas playing an active role in the story for the first time since Shards of Alara block back in 2009.
Oh, so you think Wizards will undo a change they just made to their brand so a bad guy can run the show unchallenged, like had been happening ever since Zendikar save for Innistrad and RTR up until BFZ? And then ask for someone as over-the-top as Bolas to come along and defeat him, thereby putting focus on a Mary Sue with none of the interesting vulnerabilities, backstory, or relationships that our current protagonists already have, while also putting more focus on isolated self-sufficiency as opposed to promoting the value of teamwork and the appreciation of companions?
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.