The only place on a card I can imagine for the 25 yr symbol would probably be for replacing the holofoil stamp at the bottom...?
Its most likely going to be used on whatever they come up with for the 25th Anniversary "celebration". Cards, sleeves, playmats, or whatever else they can think of.
With Ixalan being the fall 2017 set, Rivals of Ixalan (RIX, I'm guessing) will be the January 2018 release. With 2018 being the year of Magic's 25th anniversary, perhaps the Ixalan block becomes the first three set block in a return to the "One three-set-block a year" format that was tried and true for so long, and "Magic 25" is a return to Core Sets in the summer. It's no secret that the unpopularity of Standard has coincided with the change to the "Two Two-set blocks per year" paradigm that was introduced a couple years ago. Perhaps WotC has realized this and is reverting back to what made Standard extremely popular, especially from Zendikar through RTR-Innistrad seasons.
First thing "Rivals of Ixalan" brings to mind are a rival team of Planeswalkers, matched against Gatewatch. Maybe including Kiora, Nahiri, and Vraska?
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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.
First thing "Rivals of Ixalan" brings to mind are a rival team of Planeswalkers, matched against Gatewatch. Maybe including Kiora, Nahiri, and Vraska?
Nahiri is an idea.Though I've skipped so much of the second half of SOI-block's story that I don't know whether she even had contact with any Gatewatch member. I feel after the current block the Gatewatch will have quiet a few individually unfriendly acquaintances.
I got the impression Kiora is a relatively friendly acquaintance that just is not in enough agreement with the Gatewatch to be a founding member.
Nahiri never met any member of the Gatewatch. Kiora didn't get the whole friendship speech that formed the gatewatch then she didn't trust their judgement and tried to ruin everything they were doing on Zendikar(maybe by killing them, Jace stopped her). Probably not antagonistic but definitely not on good terms.
Nahiri never met any member of the Gatewatch. Kiora didn't get the whole friendship speech that formed the gatewatch then she didn't trust their judgement and tried to ruin everything they were doing on Zendikar(maybe by killing them, Jace stopped her). Probably not antagonistic but definitely not on good terms.
Yeah, Kiora's kind of a wild card right now. I can definitely see her swinging to an antagonist, for her own reasons.
With Ixalan being the fall 2017 set, Rivals of Ixalan (RIX, I'm guessing) will be the January 2018 release. With 2018 being the year of Magic's 25th anniversary, perhaps the Ixalan block becomes the first three set block in a return to the "One three-set-block a year" format that was tried and true for so long, and "Magic 25" is a return to Core Sets in the summer. It's no secret that the unpopularity of Standard has coincided with the change to the "Two Two-set blocks per year" paradigm that was introduced a couple years ago. Perhaps WotC has realized this and is reverting back to what made Standard extremely popular, especially from Zendikar through RTR-Innistrad seasons.
i hope you are right, i miss core set so much! with only 2 blocks i feel like they dont really have enough time to push a mechanic to its fulllest potential.
i would have loved a third set with delirium so they could have made a wannabe tarmogoyf, okay grim flayer is close enough but still, i would have love to see some more revolt, escalate, emerge, 3 merge cards? common and at least one pushed surge card.
i feel like all those mechanics mentioned above were wasted because of the lack of a third set to expand those abilities on other cards. i guess we might see them in a return set but i dont hold my breath on that....
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Something to keep in mind about Ixalan is that MaRo stated in his recent article (and in past articles) that the Monarch mechanic from Conspiracy 2 trod very closely on Ixalan's original main mechanic. As such, it sounds like Ixalan is very likely to create a 'race narrative'. Therefore, Rivals of Ixalan would be Gatewatch vs. another group.
An anti-Gatewatch seems likely. I would like to point out that it's less likely to be a Rogue's Gallery of 'evil PWs' and more likely to be a group of PWs with a similar end to the Gatewatch but a different means. 'Rivals' are not generally 'enemies' because they share an end over which they contend.
So it could be Nicol Bolas and crew, and the rivalry is poorly-worded. Or it might be the 'story circle' PWs of Tamiyo, Narset, and possibly Ugin. Essentially, those that are noninterventionists in cross-planar pursuits. (This makes more sense given that the Gatewatch has been increasingly interventionist in their zeal to 'make the Multiverse right'.) It could even be those who aren't evil per se, but are less idealistic than the Gatewatch. People like Nahiri, Kiora, and Ob Nixilis (less so).
Roughly, those are the four main delineations of PWs currently in the game. I guess a 5th would be 'completely neutral', but in a story about conflict, they are not very important.
Nahiri never met any member of the Gatewatch. Kiora didn't get the whole friendship speech that formed the gatewatch then she didn't trust their judgement and tried to ruin everything they were doing on Zendikar(maybe by killing them, Jace stopped her). Probably not antagonistic but definitely not on good terms.
Oh, it's not that she's met them yet, it's that she's bound to learn of their involvement with the Eldrazi; that Jace, Chandra, and Nissa all had a hand in releasing the Titans (along with Sarkhan, which is likely to put him in her crosshairs as well), and that they all played a part in helping seal Emrakul on Innistrad. She might feel inclined to cut them a little slack for at least helping destroy two of the Titans (she should certainly be impressed by that), but even then the fact that she deliberately brought Emrakul to Innistrad in the first place will put her high on the Gatewatch's threat list (Liliana may be a selfish necromancer, but she certainly never intentionally tried to cause plane-ending disasters...that we know of).
Kiora, I don't quite know what to make. Ulamog and Kozilek are dead, so mission accomplished there, but she certainly didn't appreciate Jace countering her "drop the Halimar sea on Nissa" spell, and in the aftermath of the Titans' destruction, she refused to help Chandra up, instead preferring to walk away, and not stop walking for a long time. She may remain a wild card, capable of either helping or hindering the Gatewatch but never comitting one way or another.
Something to keep in mind about Ixalan is that MaRo stated in his recent article (and in past articles) that the Monarch mechanic from Conspiracy 2 trod very closely on Ixalan's original main mechanic. As such, it sounds like Ixalan is very likely to create a 'race narrative'. Therefore, Rivals of Ixalan would be Gatewatch vs. another group.
An anti-Gatewatch seems likely. I would like to point out that it's less likely to be a Rogue's Gallery of 'evil PWs' and more likely to be a group of PWs with a similar end to the Gatewatch but a different means. 'Rivals' are not generally 'enemies' because they share an end over which they contend.
So it could be Nicol Bolas and crew, and the rivalry is poorly-worded. Or it might be the 'story circle' PWs of Tamiyo, Narset, and possibly Ugin. Essentially, those that are noninterventionists in cross-planar pursuits. (This makes more sense given that the Gatewatch has been increasingly interventionist in their zeal to 'make the Multiverse right'.) It could even be those who aren't evil per se, but are less idealistic than the Gatewatch. People like Nahiri, Kiora, and Ob Nixilis (less so).
Roughly, those are the four main delineations of PWs currently in the game. I guess a 5th would be 'completely neutral', but in a story about conflict, they are not very important.
Tibalt, Ashiok, Vraska, and Nixilis I could see joining forces with Bolas (though Nixilis in particular would undoubtedly plot against him as Tezzeret does). Nahiri and Nixilis aren't likely going to join forces barring a situation of desperate mutual necessity (Nixilis hates Nahiri for sealing his spark in the first place, and Nahiri likely isn't fond of Nixilis either).
Once upon a time I could have seen Ral electing to oppose the Gatewatch due to his rivalry with Jace, but then he and Jace had their buddy moment, so now Ral's status on the Jace situation has gone from "threatening to electrocute" to "nagging about responsibilities" (ironic, seeing as Ral is the redder of the two). Much like Kiora, he'd probably rather not get involved in the first place. But if push comes to shove, he'll help the Gatewatch if it means he doesn't have to bow down to another self-important dragon.
At any rate, I'd be interested in seeing several PW groups form in coming years, perhaps one for each color, maybe to represent that color at its most antagonistic? Like a white-centric PW group that goes a little too far in their goal to bring peace and order to the Multiverse.
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.
Kiora, I don't quite know what to make. Ulamog and Kozilek are dead, so mission accomplished there, but she certainly didn't appreciate Jace countering her "drop the Halimar sea on Nissa" spell, and in the aftermath of the Titans' destruction, she refused to help Chandra up, instead preferring to walk away, and not stop walking for a long time. She may remain a wild card, capable of either helping or hindering the Gatewatch but never comitting one way or another.
So in other words, she's Catwoman?
And I didn't think I could like Kiora more than I already did!
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Kiora, I don't quite know what to make. Ulamog and Kozilek are dead, so mission accomplished there, but she certainly didn't appreciate Jace countering her "drop the Halimar sea on Nissa" spell, and in the aftermath of the Titans' destruction, she refused to help Chandra up, instead preferring to walk away, and not stop walking for a long time. She may remain a wild card, capable of either helping or hindering the Gatewatch but never comitting one way or another.
So in other words, she's Catwoman?
And I didn't think I could like Kiora more than I already did!
I really hope Wizards plays her up as a wildcard in future stories, dropping her into a situation completely unexpectedly and to great effect
Ixalan sounds very Mayan/Aztec. I am going to wander a guess that it will be flavored around Central/South American mythology. So a whole plane that feels like Naya.
Wonder if there can be a tie in from Naya... any planeswalkers or characters of noteworthiness stand out? Can part of a plane be siphoned into another? Can part of a plane break off to become a new plane? Do any of the the past M:tG novels answer odd questions like this?
My only concern is that flavor from previous sets get to close, as in Mirage or Amonket being close to Ixalan as far as climate, creature-types, environmental factors.
Maybe: WR Human (the Aztec), WB Zombies, BG Dark Elves, UG Merfolks, UR Elementals. Or other tribals.
Man I would love some B dark elves with dark gray skin and white hair. That would be sick
Magic has always run parallel to D&D, but the two products have always been kept separate in terms of certain designs. I don't think we'll see Drow in Magic anytime soon.
Seriously, though, I really hope ROI isn't Wizards expanding on the Superhero schtick of the Gatewatch by introducing a team of bad guys.
Market research indicates that the Gatewatch is a smash hit! The 12-16 boys demographic just loves Jace and Gideon. 68% of participants react 'Favorably' or 'Very Favorably' to the idea of an opposing 'Anti-Gatewatch' team of iconic Planeswalker characters!
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* Rivals of Ixalan
* The planeswalker symbol combined with the number 25
They are kind of self explanatory
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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.
... maybe then we can get a return on investment...
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Two Words: Evil Gatewatch.
Without knowing more about Ixalan itself any guess will have to be based on previously established notions after all...
EDIT:
Nahiri is an idea.Though I've skipped so much of the second half of SOI-block's story that I don't know whether she even had contact with any Gatewatch member. I feel after the current block the Gatewatch will have quiet a few individually unfriendly acquaintances.
I got the impression Kiora is a relatively friendly acquaintance that just is not in enough agreement with the Gatewatch to be a founding member.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
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Yeah, Kiora's kind of a wild card right now. I can definitely see her swinging to an antagonist, for her own reasons.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
i hope you are right, i miss core set so much! with only 2 blocks i feel like they dont really have enough time to push a mechanic to its fulllest potential.
i would have loved a third set with delirium so they could have made a wannabe tarmogoyf, okay grim flayer is close enough but still, i would have love to see some more revolt, escalate, emerge, 3 merge cards? common and at least one pushed surge card.
i feel like all those mechanics mentioned above were wasted because of the lack of a third set to expand those abilities on other cards. i guess we might see them in a return set but i dont hold my breath on that....
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An anti-Gatewatch seems likely. I would like to point out that it's less likely to be a Rogue's Gallery of 'evil PWs' and more likely to be a group of PWs with a similar end to the Gatewatch but a different means. 'Rivals' are not generally 'enemies' because they share an end over which they contend.
So it could be Nicol Bolas and crew, and the rivalry is poorly-worded. Or it might be the 'story circle' PWs of Tamiyo, Narset, and possibly Ugin. Essentially, those that are noninterventionists in cross-planar pursuits. (This makes more sense given that the Gatewatch has been increasingly interventionist in their zeal to 'make the Multiverse right'.) It could even be those who aren't evil per se, but are less idealistic than the Gatewatch. People like Nahiri, Kiora, and Ob Nixilis (less so).
Roughly, those are the four main delineations of PWs currently in the game. I guess a 5th would be 'completely neutral', but in a story about conflict, they are not very important.
So you have:
1) Idealistic Interventionists - The Gatewatch
2) Card-Carrying Villains - Nicol Bolas, Ob Nixilis, Tibalt(?)
3) Idealistic Noninterventionists - Ugin, Tamiyo
4) 'Wild Cards' - Nahiri, Kiora, Sarkhan
5) 'Meh' - Ral Zarek?
So... yeah. could be interesting.
I think this is what it will be.
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Oh, it's not that she's met them yet, it's that she's bound to learn of their involvement with the Eldrazi; that Jace, Chandra, and Nissa all had a hand in releasing the Titans (along with Sarkhan, which is likely to put him in her crosshairs as well), and that they all played a part in helping seal Emrakul on Innistrad. She might feel inclined to cut them a little slack for at least helping destroy two of the Titans (she should certainly be impressed by that), but even then the fact that she deliberately brought Emrakul to Innistrad in the first place will put her high on the Gatewatch's threat list (Liliana may be a selfish necromancer, but she certainly never intentionally tried to cause plane-ending disasters...that we know of).
Kiora, I don't quite know what to make. Ulamog and Kozilek are dead, so mission accomplished there, but she certainly didn't appreciate Jace countering her "drop the Halimar sea on Nissa" spell, and in the aftermath of the Titans' destruction, she refused to help Chandra up, instead preferring to walk away, and not stop walking for a long time. She may remain a wild card, capable of either helping or hindering the Gatewatch but never comitting one way or another.
Tibalt, Ashiok, Vraska, and Nixilis I could see joining forces with Bolas (though Nixilis in particular would undoubtedly plot against him as Tezzeret does). Nahiri and Nixilis aren't likely going to join forces barring a situation of desperate mutual necessity (Nixilis hates Nahiri for sealing his spark in the first place, and Nahiri likely isn't fond of Nixilis either).
Once upon a time I could have seen Ral electing to oppose the Gatewatch due to his rivalry with Jace, but then he and Jace had their buddy moment, so now Ral's status on the Jace situation has gone from "threatening to electrocute" to "nagging about responsibilities" (ironic, seeing as Ral is the redder of the two). Much like Kiora, he'd probably rather not get involved in the first place. But if push comes to shove, he'll help the Gatewatch if it means he doesn't have to bow down to another self-important dragon.
At any rate, I'd be interested in seeing several PW groups form in coming years, perhaps one for each color, maybe to represent that color at its most antagonistic? Like a white-centric PW group that goes a little too far in their goal to bring peace and order to the Multiverse.
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.
So in other words, she's Catwoman?
And I didn't think I could like Kiora more than I already did!
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Melek, Izzet Paragon
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
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Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sen Triplets
The Mimeoplasm
WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW
WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
I really hope Wizards plays her up as a wildcard in future stories, dropping her into a situation completely unexpectedly and to great effect
Wonder if there can be a tie in from Naya... any planeswalkers or characters of noteworthiness stand out? Can part of a plane be siphoned into another? Can part of a plane break off to become a new plane? Do any of the the past M:tG novels answer odd questions like this?
My only concern is that flavor from previous sets get to close, as in Mirage or Amonket being close to Ixalan as far as climate, creature-types, environmental factors.
Man I would love some B dark elves with dark gray skin and white hair. That would be sick
Magic has always run parallel to D&D, but the two products have always been kept separate in terms of certain designs. I don't think we'll see Drow in Magic anytime soon.
I think you meant 'WOO! RAL ZAREK!!'
Seriously, though, I really hope ROI isn't Wizards expanding on the Superhero schtick of the Gatewatch by introducing a team of bad guys.
Market research indicates that the Gatewatch is a smash hit! The 12-16 boys demographic just loves Jace and Gideon. 68% of participants react 'Favorably' or 'Very Favorably' to the idea of an opposing 'Anti-Gatewatch' team of iconic Planeswalker characters!