there is also a good bit of nostalgia and people looking back at mtg storylines of the past with rose-tinted glasses. much as it is when long time players are evaluating old formats. its something you see it all the time with franchises of games or books spanning a long enough time, and mtg has been around longer than pretty much all of them.
not that there isnt any truth to the writing/story going downhill, but i definitely think its exaggerated. those moments of joy and wonder when experiencing stuff early on (in many cases that means well over a decade ago) cant be recreated no matter how much we want.
as for gideon and his ending. i think it was fitting. to me he had sort of a one track development path. the arrogance and self-righteousness of youth gets tempered by tragedy and the reality that right and wrong isnt so black and white. this allows him to see the good in liliana despite everything.
what i do wanna see is how this plays into liliana's development. i imagine there will some amount of denial going on, which may give her reason to tag along with ajani to theros.
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Modern: UWGSnow-Bant Control BURGrixis Death's Shadow GWBCoCo Elves WCDeath and Taxes (sold)
TBH I think it felt rushed. Part of me says they could have spread the actual war over two sets rather than one. Create the build up in the first and the second with the climatic conclusion. That way you build momentum, intrigue and suspense. It's a lot of a story finale to cram into one set of 249 cards.
But by now people are so sick of the Gatewatch that anything more would've come close to turning off a lot of people. It's a change we all need and the outcome is a much better arrangement than their previous long-term arc. And to be fair we don't know whether this is the complete end of the arc as we don't know if the next set might feature the aftermath given the title of the proposed book by the same author coming out in November. The crux of the conflict might be over...we still may have other things to finish off before we say toodles for good.
Oh well. It is what it is. Let's move on people.
'buster
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'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset. Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
Changing out of nowhere conveniently to a plane where there is a heaven the last minute you know you are going to die seems to me the most horrible way to force a happy ending to me.
Urza, Venser, Gerrard....they are in no heaven. They have no consciousness, they are truly lost forever into an eternal nothingness.
Not so. Dominaria has an afterlife, and we've glimpsed it.
We saw Jeska reuniting with Kamahl in the afterlife at the end of Future Sight, after she sacrificed herself to heal the Multiverse and begin The Mending.
In Gerrard's last moments, as he incinerates in the final blast that kills himself, Urza, and Yawgmoth, Hanna's spirit receives and welcomes him, taking his hand and leading him away.
So we have at least two prior examples of heroes who sacrifice themselves reuniting with loved ones.
there is also a good bit of nostalgia and people looking back at mtg storylines of the past with rose-tinted glasses. much as it is when long time players are evaluating old formats. its something you see it all the time with franchises of games or books spanning a long enough time, and mtg has been around longer than pretty much all of them.
This. Just like with the Gatewatch, many people back in the day were sick of and felt overexposed to the Weatherlight Crew. Fans might look at him differently now, but Gerrard Capashen was something like the Gideon/Jace of his era.
If you are going to call it a War, have there be stakes - have their be casualties. Don't sell it as something that has high stakes if it doesn't have actual stakes.
That is why people are upset. They bought into an idea and were sold something else.
I said it in another theread, if they made a generic walker card with lots of unknown walkers and during the set made those faced walkers dying in cards, that would have been nice.
Just waiting to tell ppl: no there was more planeswalkers that bited the dust, but we only got 36 walkers cards( and only 2 of those died ) (and one other apparently died was known but dind’t got a card)( god I wish the pull some shenanigans for dack)
TBH I think it felt rushed. Part of me says they could have spread the actual war over two sets rather than one. Create the build up in the first and the second with the climatic conclusion. That way you build momentum, intrigue and suspense. It's a lot of a story finale to cram into one set of 249 cards.
But by now people are so sick of the Gatewatch that anything more would've come close to turning off a lot of people. It's a change we all need and the outcome is a much better arrangement than their previous long-term arc. And to be fair we don't know whether this is the complete end of the arc as we don't know if the next set might feature the aftermath given the title of the proposed book by the same author coming out in November. The crux of the conflict might be over...we still may have other things to finish off before we say toodles for good.
Oh well. It is what it is. Let's move on people.
'buster
Have you considered picking up the phone? Because you called it. War of the Spark was originally two sets.
Source was an image that was floating around from one of the main writers for MTG who put it on twitter, then a couple hours later took it down because it was technically spoilers. This image basically showed a road map of how the story went from Kaladesh to War of the Spark. It had a few other neat tidbits like how Nicol Bolas's homeplane was actually Amonkhet before it got changed.
If you are going to call it a War, have there be stakes - have their be casualties. Don't sell it as something that has high stakes if it doesn't have actual stakes.
That is why people are upset. They bought into an idea and were sold something else.
I said it in another theread, if they made a generic walker card with lots of unknown walkers and during the set made those faced walkers dying in cards, that would have been nice.
Apparently that's exactly what we see on The Elder Spell.
Regarding deaths, the information we have so far is just what's in the novel. Apparently there is supposed to be online fiction for War as well (seriously, Wizards, why the delay?)
It could very well be that we'll see more character deaths in the online fiction. The novel can only show so much.
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"I'd rather die speaking the truth than live a lie." --Gix, to Yawgmoth (pre-Phyrexia)
I love the artwork, the sentiment, and the card. Howard Lyon is very talented.
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Embrace the dark you call a home,
Gaze upon an empty, white throne
A legacy of lies,
A familiar disguise
Sing with me a song of conquest and fate
The black pillar cracks beneath its weight
Night breaks through the day, hard as a stone
Lost in thoughts all alone
If you are going to call it a War, have there be stakes - have their be casualties. Don't sell it as something that has high stakes if it doesn't have actual stakes.
That is why people are upset. They bought into an idea and were sold something else.
I have to say, many people were hyped about the War because they expected many walkers dying. Numerous unnamed walkers died offscreen, and three named characters died on screen, also four new walkers were introduced, and now we have more walkers than we had before the War.
Another small thing that doesn't make sense for Gideon's afterlife: why is he in Theros's verion of Elysium?
He and his clique tried to kill the God of the underworld, the least I expected was having them locked up in the darkest parts of the Yu Gi Oh shadow realm like Elspeth.
Why are people so surprised when we had spirits and dead other creature keep returning back while this one is a planeswalker at a situation with many planeswalker that willing to combine forces at this time.
Gideon is not a ordinary creature his a planewalker unlike the other dragons, gods and etc. Planeswalker are the highest beings in MTG.
This actually bums me out :,(
Kytheon was my first duel commander deck, it feels like I saw him grow and witnessed him passing away.
He was not a complex character but he was a good guy.
Good night sweet prince.
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French Commander : Yisan Liliana Kytheon Kari Zev Grenzo Karlov Tajic Gitrog Prossh Turboramp Najeela Modern : Solemnity Prison Martyr Proc Devotion to Green 8 Whacks Eldrazi Processor Bogles Landfall Aggro Legacy : Goblins
So, Gideon didn't actually sacrifice anything then. I bet the two (two!) other named planeswalkers who "died" in this "devastating war" aren't really dead either, but rather, catching up with old friends and chillaxing in heaven. Great storytelling, Wizards.
Pfft. Go write a better one?
What an idiotic statement. It's not my job to write for Wizards (though I'm sure I could actually do better). But even if I somehow couldn't, if you think that you're not allowed to criticise something unless you can do it better, then the next time your flight gets delayed, you're not allowed to complain, because you don't know how to fly a plane. The next time you don't like a dish in a restaurant, you're not allowed to complain, because you're not a professional chef.
If you are going to call it a War, have there be stakes - have their be casualties. Don't sell it as something that has high stakes if it doesn't have actual stakes.
That is why people are upset. They bought into an idea and were sold something else.
Wouldn’t be the first war that didn’t have major stakes for the primary heroes in literature. As pointed out LotR and Star Wars don’t kill off the main cast. Even Gandalf who has a major moment comes back. With this you get one of the main four dying.
Art is great. I believe Howard Lyon is with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
On the story/lore, I was expecting Gideon to become one of the Ravnica spirits, just like how Elspeth became a resident of the Therosian underworld. Perhaps someone planeswalked with him as he was dying to Theros? Maybe the Therosian gods call their true heroes home, like Disney's Hercules?
As for the card itself, I can't imagine how this would be useful in standard, except for possibly flushing a hand that's land-swamped or that's been revealed to an opponent? Not very many white/red graveyard strategies I think.
not that there isnt any truth to the writing/story going downhill, but i definitely think its exaggerated. those moments of joy and wonder when experiencing stuff early on (in many cases that means well over a decade ago) cant be recreated no matter how much we want.
as for gideon and his ending. i think it was fitting. to me he had sort of a one track development path. the arrogance and self-righteousness of youth gets tempered by tragedy and the reality that right and wrong isnt so black and white. this allows him to see the good in liliana despite everything.
what i do wanna see is how this plays into liliana's development. i imagine there will some amount of denial going on, which may give her reason to tag along with ajani to theros.
UWGSnow-Bant Control
BURGrixis Death's Shadow
GWBCoCo Elves
WCDeath and Taxes(sold)But by now people are so sick of the Gatewatch that anything more would've come close to turning off a lot of people. It's a change we all need and the outcome is a much better arrangement than their previous long-term arc. And to be fair we don't know whether this is the complete end of the arc as we don't know if the next set might feature the aftermath given the title of the proposed book by the same author coming out in November. The crux of the conflict might be over...we still may have other things to finish off before we say toodles for good.
Oh well. It is what it is. Let's move on people.
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
Not so. Dominaria has an afterlife, and we've glimpsed it.
We saw Jeska reuniting with Kamahl in the afterlife at the end of Future Sight, after she sacrificed herself to heal the Multiverse and begin The Mending.
In Gerrard's last moments, as he incinerates in the final blast that kills himself, Urza, and Yawgmoth, Hanna's spirit receives and welcomes him, taking his hand and leading him away.
So we have at least two prior examples of heroes who sacrifice themselves reuniting with loved ones.
This. Just like with the Gatewatch, many people back in the day were sick of and felt overexposed to the Weatherlight Crew. Fans might look at him differently now, but Gerrard Capashen was something like the Gideon/Jace of his era.
I said it in another theread, if they made a generic walker card with lots of unknown walkers and during the set made those faced walkers dying in cards, that would have been nice.
Just waiting to tell ppl: no there was more planeswalkers that bited the dust, but we only got 36 walkers cards( and only 2 of those died ) (and one other apparently died was known but dind’t got a card)( god I wish the pull some shenanigans for dack)
Source was an image that was floating around from one of the main writers for MTG who put it on twitter, then a couple hours later took it down because it was technically spoilers. This image basically showed a road map of how the story went from Kaladesh to War of the Spark. It had a few other neat tidbits like how Nicol Bolas's homeplane was actually Amonkhet before it got changed.
Apparently that's exactly what we see on The Elder Spell.
Regarding deaths, the information we have so far is just what's in the novel. Apparently there is supposed to be online fiction for War as well (seriously, Wizards, why the delay?)
It could very well be that we'll see more character deaths in the online fiction. The novel can only show so much.
Gaze upon an empty, white throne
A legacy of lies,
A familiar disguise
Sing with me a song of conquest and fate
The black pillar cracks beneath its weight
Night breaks through the day, hard as a stone
Lost in thoughts all alone
Go The Distance
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
I guess Gids finally found where he belongs.
----------------------------
Club Flamingo Wins: 10
----------------------------
EDH Decks
BG Vicious Varolz | RW Jor Kadeen, the Mean Machine | RG Atarka: Muh_Dragons.dec (WIP) | WU Brago, Blink Eternal (WIP)
----------------------------
I have to say, many people were hyped about the War because they expected many walkers dying. Numerous unnamed walkers died offscreen, and three named characters died on screen, also four new walkers were introduced, and now we have more walkers than we had before the War.
Along with the villains or supperior being just kept trap in something especially with villains as a "recurring and redundant cliches" in MTG.
He and his clique tried to kill the God of the underworld, the least I expected was having them locked up in the darkest parts of the Yu Gi Oh shadow realm like Elspeth.
Gideon is not a ordinary creature his a planewalker unlike the other dragons, gods and etc. Planeswalker are the highest beings in MTG.
Kytheon was my first duel commander deck, it feels like I saw him grow and witnessed him passing away.
He was not a complex character but he was a good guy.
Good night sweet prince.
Modern : Solemnity Prison Martyr Proc Devotion to Green 8 Whacks Eldrazi Processor Bogles Landfall Aggro
Legacy : Goblins
Reality is but a perception of your being --
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For, put them side by side,
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With ease, and you beside."
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881
Oooh Dicey:
[dice=1]100[/dice]
What an idiotic statement. It's not my job to write for Wizards (though I'm sure I could actually do better). But even if I somehow couldn't, if you think that you're not allowed to criticise something unless you can do it better, then the next time your flight gets delayed, you're not allowed to complain, because you don't know how to fly a plane. The next time you don't like a dish in a restaurant, you're not allowed to complain, because you're not a professional chef.
Seriously, next time think before you post.
-- The Gatewatch
Wouldn’t be the first war that didn’t have major stakes for the primary heroes in literature. As pointed out LotR and Star Wars don’t kill off the main cast. Even Gandalf who has a major moment comes back. With this you get one of the main four dying.
Modern : Solemnity Prison Martyr Proc Devotion to Green 8 Whacks Eldrazi Processor Bogles Landfall Aggro
Legacy : Goblins
On the story/lore, I was expecting Gideon to become one of the Ravnica spirits, just like how Elspeth became a resident of the Therosian underworld. Perhaps someone planeswalked with him as he was dying to Theros? Maybe the Therosian gods call their true heroes home, like Disney's Hercules?
As for the card itself, I can't imagine how this would be useful in standard, except for possibly flushing a hand that's land-swamped or that's been revealed to an opponent? Not very many white/red graveyard strategies I think.
Also feels like a very Red/emotional kind of thing, not just White. It's freeing.