Two words: Wurmcoil Engine.
This card has been considered Black/Green aligned, but that would make it impossible to be aligned to either faction.
I guess the closest separation would be Bx vs Xb, where X is nonblack.
Look at Ravnica block for ideas of how to split cards among factions. A monowhite card could be one of four guilds, based on the mechanics or off-color activations of the card.
I find this unlikely, really. The only other block in recent memory that had an 'us vs. them' theme (Kamigawa) more or less evenly split the cards between the kami and the mortals.
I should think, therefore, that the colors will each express both sides. I think 'Phyrexia is Black' is a very dated view of the ethics associated with the color wheel. (Note: I prefer the historical view, but I do not think it is being used.)
Just to give a little check for "all colors can traitor"
B/R = Shivan Zombie
B/U = Vodalian Zombie and Metathran Zombie
B/U/W = Ertai, the Corrupted
B/W = Is wierd in its Persecute Urza's saga edition to Selenia, Dark Angel which betrayed Crovax.
B/G = Can only find Cursed Flesh from Invasion which features an Elf Zombie in art (Metal mouth is key)
Now I know there mostly zombies but basically Black can really 'corrupt' anyone they want to join them.
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I could not decide if it was Phyrexian because it lack any metal "improvments" but basically I wanted to show is that if Phyrexia wants you not even death can save you.
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I think there will be Mirrans in any color (the Ish Sah thing indicates that there will be "pure" Mirrans in Black) including one third of the artifacts
This, plus the tentative confirmation that the cycle of mana myr is being reprinted, suggests that Mirrans will be all 5 colors.
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This, plus the tentative confirmation that the cycle of mana myr is being reprinted, suggests that Mirrans will be all 5 colors.
Also Invasion had a Black Zombie corp from Dominaria that were also fighting the Phyrexians, I would not put it past Geth to go Zombie Wild on them because he wants the swamps for himself.
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I just want to note that, while those cards are on the ball with belonging to Phyrexia, they aren't actually traitors in that they switched sides for personal gain, Endoka. They were mostly corpses that were re-used by Phyrexia as cannon fodder. As for Ertai, he chose to turn because he had no hope of surviving as the only Coalition aligned being on Rath. I'm not sure that fits "betrayal" either.
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I know there Zombie's, I said that myself but when it come to 'betrayal' black will do anything for trops and does not really care if your dead, alive or what have you its just given that they want there 'glorious vision' and if Magic's history has anything to say(which I hope you can double check cause you seem to be apart of the Wiki contributors) is that no matter how crazy the deal black just loves to use people.
(I mean no disrespect)
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I know there Zombie's, I said that myself but when it come to 'betrayal' black will do anything for trops and does not really care if your dead, alive or what have you its just given that they want there 'glorious vision' and if Magic's history has anything to say(which I hope you can double check cause you seem to be apart of the Wiki contributors) is that no matter how crazy the deal black just loves to use people.
(I mean no disrespect)
You're completely right.
Black does whatever it can to gain troops and thus win. On that topic, I hope we see another Endless Whispers. That card just exploded with flavour.
Anyway, I think our point was that not everything black has to be aligned with Phyrexia on this one, right? I forgot. *is clipping plastic from sprues*
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You're completely right.
Black does whatever it can to gain troops and thus win. On that topic, I hope we see another Endless Whispers. That card just exploded with flavour.
Anyway, I think our point was that not everything black has to be aligned with Phyrexia on this one, right? I forgot. *is clipping plastic from sprues*
Yes, I'm happy we can agree thought I still wander if there will be the Phyrexian symbol on none black cards, its something I hope wizards clears up on monday of the preview its this annoying thing at the back of my mind you know what I mean.:-/
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One thing nobody seems to have thought about yet is the quite likely return of the sunburst mechanic for the Mirran side. If that's indeed the case, then they'll more or less have to be at least a little bit black. Probably not as focused upon as on the other colors. Also Liliana which is said to return in the block (memoricide, anyone?) although not being the nicest person ever, I cannot see as a Phyrexian ally. But then again that's just my impression.
Also, on the other hand it's quite likely that the Nim are allied with Phyrexia, as the Fatpack artwork depicts Koth and Elspeth fighting them.
You are perhaps correct, Revan. But a bit more flavourful explanation might be that the Nim simply attack whatever gets in their path. I personally would like a seperate black group more than automatically grouping the Nim with the Phyrexians by grace of both of them being black...
Then again, I believe that ALL cards have watermarks so that they're either Mirran Coalition or New Phyrexian. (MC or NP). And there's no way that Elspeth would fight alongside the Phyrexians. Two and two. Dammit, I just proved my own fluffy explanation wrong. UUUURGH.
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You're completely right.
Black does whatever it can to gain troops and thus win. On that topic, I hope we see another Endless Whispers. That card just exploded with flavour.
Anyway, I think our point was that not everything black has to be aligned with Phyrexia on this one, right? I forgot. *is clipping plastic from sprues*
You are perhaps correct, Revan. But a bit more flavourful explanation might be that the Nim simply attack whatever gets in their path. I personally would like a seperate black group more than automatically grouping the Nim with the Phyrexians by grace of both of them being black...
Then again, I believe that ALL cards have watermarks so that they're either Mirran Coalition or New Phyrexian. (MC or NP). And there's no way that Elspeth would fight alongside the Phyrexians. Two and two. Dammit, I just proved my own fluffy explanation wrong. UUUURGH.
Well I doubt they'd be unaligned, but considering they are, as far as I know, not incredibly intelligent, it could be that they just attacked Elspeth because she's planeswalked there and they didn't know what else to do with her. After all the picture has been shown ages ago and they probably didn't want to spoil anything Phyrexian at that point, so it may be they just put the Nim there so they're fighting against something.
I thought the flavor of odyssey block (with torment having an overabundance of black cards, then Judgment fixing the numbers again) was cool. But the idea of having 4 colors unify against black seems unfeasible.
If they were to make 4 colors vs. monoblack they would have to make mono-black terribly overpowered (which I wouldn't mind). I,personally, think that they are going to be mainly grixis affiliated with artifacts.
The flavor article today over at the main site had some hints dropped that lead me to believe that "Mirrodin Pure" or whatever the Mirrodin faction is called is Red, Green, White, and Blue, but not black...
No mention of the Zombies and Vampires that once inhabited Mirrodin, no mention of any creatures at the black lacuna.
Maybe it stands to reason that the Mirrodin faction is R/G/W/U?
Interesting theory, but I think there's an equally simple one:
They neglect to mention Zombies and Vampires as a "native" species of Mirrodin as they are not actually living things. Any of the actual living races can be zombified or vampirized and end up as a Zombie or Vampire on Mirrodin. Also, zombies are just bodies and vampires traditionally have no souls, so there'd be nothing to release from the soul traps and thus no real reason to mention.
I suppose it remains to be seen. But considering that Tez is likely aligned with the Phyrexian side and he's at the very least part blue, I can't really see Phyrexia being pure black, nor can I see Mirrodin being pure not-black. Remember, it does still have five suns pumping out energy and the corresponding five locuses or whatever (the original artifact lands). And the black one of those is mentioned in this tidbit, so why would Mirrodin be suddenly devoid of black mana?
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I don't really believe that they'll off balance the colour distribution again in any of the Scars of Mirrodin sets like they did with Torment and Judgment. What we could see is a heavy emphasis on black's capabilities through some mechanical and/or power distribution (mechanics designed specifically for black-based factions; Infect seems to be a good example of this). Like the whole Us vs. Them mentality. But I doubt we'll see a set saturated in black like we did with Torment.
This whole theory though does prove my prediction correct in a sense: hold on to your Grave Titans and any other decent black cards. I think MBC may just have its second day in the sun, no pun intended, if this is indeed true.
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I think that, while it's true that Mirran will be R/G/W/U, Phyrexia will be B/G/R/U. And both will probably have a small amount of their opposing color.
Don't forget, Phyrexians in this set are all about infecting and corrupting the locals. While the big bad Phyrexians themselves might all be black, they're going to have a lot of minions in the other colors.
Edit: As far as little black for the mirrans goes, it seems like that would be the easiest color for the Phyrexians to infiltrate, both because it's their color, and because the Mirrans don't exactly keep close ties with the Black creatures of Mirroden. They're going to be all alone against the Phyrexians, while the rest of the Mirrans are at least ostensibly working together.
I think it makes the most sense to have the B cards be Nim/Vampires/Zombies/etc and to have Phyrexia to be more of a philosophical resurgance with the efforts of Nicol Bolas, Tezzeret, and a little Phyrexian Oil.
This would allow Phyrexians to access all 5 colors of mana. Who knows, perhaps the real Phyrexians could use other mana but only had access to black mana.
I think that, while it's true that Mirran will be R/G/W/U, Phyrexia will be B/G/R/U. And both will probably have a small amount of their opposing color.
I'd really prefer Phyrexia getting white and losing green. Using the Alaran shards as examples, I think its a toss up whether Phyrexians would be happier on Esper or Grixis (They'd be cool with Grixis, but Esperites share their goals of replacing flesh with metal). Bant and Jund are both sort of neutral. But Naya? It's so... natural. I'd love to see Green as Phyrexia's main enemy. I think it's more philosophically opposed to them than White.
I'd really prefer Phyrexia getting white and losing green. Using the Alaran shards as examples, I think its a toss up whether Phyrexians would be happier on Esper or Grixis (They'd be cool with Grixis, but Esperites share their goals of replacing flesh with metal). Bant and Jund are both sort of neutral. But Naya? It's so... natural. I'd love to see Green as Phyrexia's main enemy. I think it's more philosophically opposed to them than White.
I think it would be easier as Grixis, since really, niether white nor green agrees with the Phyrexians(and white is supposedly most incorruptible, so white has a more resistance in these conditions) at all. So I'm putting my lot in as heavy black, moderate red and blue, and trace white and green. As for the Miran's, appropriately I think they would be heavy white and green, moderate red a blue, and trace black.
With those thoughts in mind, the Mirran Coalition seems like it would have slightly more cards, but I suppose Phyrexians will by comparison get the lion's share of artifacts.
I love the title Mirran Coalition by the way. It's so very accurate in this conflict, since the act as a slightly more artifact infused coalition.
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I'd really prefer Phyrexia getting white and losing green. Using the Alaran shards as examples, I think its a toss up whether Phyrexians would be happier on Esper or Grixis (They'd be cool with Grixis, but Esperites share their goals of replacing flesh with metal). Bant and Jund are both sort of neutral. But Naya? It's so... natural. I'd love to see Green as Phyrexia's main enemy. I think it's more philosophically opposed to them than White.
That's actually probably true. In fact, given that we know Sword of Body and Mind is mirran, it's possible green and blue will be the main opponents.
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So I'm putting my lot in as heavy black, moderate red and blue, and trace white and green. As for the Miran's, appropriately I think they would be heavy white and green, moderate red a blue, and trace black.
The past couple of blocks have drawn some interesting and/or obvious comparisons, such as Lorwyn/Onslaught, Alara/Ravnica, and Zendikar/Masques (I'm not sure how correct the comparison between Zen and Masques is, but I've heard it from quite a few older players).
With that in mind, maybe SoM will be the "second coming" of Torment/Judgment.
Interesting theory, but I think there's an equally simple one:
They neglect to mention Zombies and Vampires as a "native" species of Mirrodin as they are not actually living things. Any of the actual living races can be zombified or vampirized and end up as a Zombie or Vampire on Mirrodin. Also, zombies are just bodies and vampires traditionally have no souls, so there'd be nothing to release from the soul traps and thus no real reason to mention.
Excellent point, I didn't think about that... would also explain the Nim in the Elspeth/Koth pic we've seen...
I suppose it remains to be seen. But considering that Tez is likely aligned with the Phyrexian side and he's at the very least part blue, I can't really see Phyrexia being pure black, nor can I see Mirrodin being pure not-black. Remember, it does still have five suns pumping out energy and the corresponding five locuses or whatever (the original artifact lands). And the black one of those is mentioned in this tidbit, so why would Mirrodin be suddenly devoid of black mana?
Maybe that's where the Phyrexians are entering Mirrodin through? Nothing seems like a better place to open a planar portal than somewhere just gushing black mana...
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This card has been considered Black/Green aligned, but that would make it impossible to be aligned to either faction.
I guess the closest separation would be Bx vs Xb, where X is nonblack.
Look at Ravnica block for ideas of how to split cards among factions. A monowhite card could be one of four guilds, based on the mechanics or off-color activations of the card.
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I should think, therefore, that the colors will each express both sides. I think 'Phyrexia is Black' is a very dated view of the ethics associated with the color wheel. (Note: I prefer the historical view, but I do not think it is being used.)
B/R = Shivan Zombie
B/U = Vodalian Zombie and Metathran Zombie
B/U/W = Ertai, the Corrupted
B/W = Is wierd in its Persecute Urza's saga edition to Selenia, Dark Angel which betrayed Crovax.
B/G = Can only find Cursed Flesh from Invasion which features an Elf Zombie in art (Metal mouth is key)
Now I know there mostly zombies but basically Black can really 'corrupt' anyone they want to join them.
Thanks to PurpleD from Left Play Designs for the banner:D
I could not decide if it was Phyrexian because it lack any metal "improvments" but basically I wanted to show is that if Phyrexia wants you not even death can save you.
Thanks to PurpleD from Left Play Designs for the banner:D
This, plus the tentative confirmation that the cycle of mana myr is being reprinted, suggests that Mirrans will be all 5 colors.
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Also Invasion had a Black Zombie corp from Dominaria that were also fighting the Phyrexians, I would not put it past Geth to go Zombie Wild on them because he wants the swamps for himself.
Thanks to PurpleD from Left Play Designs for the banner:D
(I mean no disrespect)
Thanks to PurpleD from Left Play Designs for the banner:D
You're completely right.
Black does whatever it can to gain troops and thus win. On that topic, I hope we see another Endless Whispers. That card just exploded with flavour.
Anyway, I think our point was that not everything black has to be aligned with Phyrexia on this one, right? I forgot. *is clipping plastic from sprues*
Yes, I'm happy we can agree thought I still wander if there will be the Phyrexian symbol on none black cards, its something I hope wizards clears up on monday of the preview its this annoying thing at the back of my mind you know what I mean.:-/
Thanks to PurpleD from Left Play Designs for the banner:D
Also, on the other hand it's quite likely that the Nim are allied with Phyrexia, as the Fatpack artwork depicts Koth and Elspeth fighting them.
Then again, I believe that ALL cards have watermarks so that they're either Mirran Coalition or New Phyrexian. (MC or NP). And there's no way that Elspeth would fight alongside the Phyrexians. Two and two. Dammit, I just proved my own fluffy explanation wrong. UUUURGH.
Actually, I'd prefer Damnation and Living Death to be reprinted.
Well I doubt they'd be unaligned, but considering they are, as far as I know, not incredibly intelligent, it could be that they just attacked Elspeth because she's planeswalked there and they didn't know what else to do with her. After all the picture has been shown ages ago and they probably didn't want to spoil anything Phyrexian at that point, so it may be they just put the Nim there so they're fighting against something.
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Interesting theory, but I think there's an equally simple one:
They neglect to mention Zombies and Vampires as a "native" species of Mirrodin as they are not actually living things. Any of the actual living races can be zombified or vampirized and end up as a Zombie or Vampire on Mirrodin. Also, zombies are just bodies and vampires traditionally have no souls, so there'd be nothing to release from the soul traps and thus no real reason to mention.
I suppose it remains to be seen. But considering that Tez is likely aligned with the Phyrexian side and he's at the very least part blue, I can't really see Phyrexia being pure black, nor can I see Mirrodin being pure not-black. Remember, it does still have five suns pumping out energy and the corresponding five locuses or whatever (the original artifact lands). And the black one of those is mentioned in this tidbit, so why would Mirrodin be suddenly devoid of black mana?
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This whole theory though does prove my prediction correct in a sense: hold on to your Grave Titans and any other decent black cards. I think MBC may just have its second day in the sun, no pun intended, if this is indeed true.
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Don't forget, Phyrexians in this set are all about infecting and corrupting the locals. While the big bad Phyrexians themselves might all be black, they're going to have a lot of minions in the other colors.
Edit: As far as little black for the mirrans goes, it seems like that would be the easiest color for the Phyrexians to infiltrate, both because it's their color, and because the Mirrans don't exactly keep close ties with the Black creatures of Mirroden. They're going to be all alone against the Phyrexians, while the rest of the Mirrans are at least ostensibly working together.
This would allow Phyrexians to access all 5 colors of mana. Who knows, perhaps the real Phyrexians could use other mana but only had access to black mana.
I'd really prefer Phyrexia getting white and losing green. Using the Alaran shards as examples, I think its a toss up whether Phyrexians would be happier on Esper or Grixis (They'd be cool with Grixis, but Esperites share their goals of replacing flesh with metal). Bant and Jund are both sort of neutral. But Naya? It's so... natural. I'd love to see Green as Phyrexia's main enemy. I think it's more philosophically opposed to them than White.
I think it would be easier as Grixis, since really, niether white nor green agrees with the Phyrexians(and white is supposedly most incorruptible, so white has a more resistance in these conditions) at all. So I'm putting my lot in as heavy black, moderate red and blue, and trace white and green. As for the Miran's, appropriately I think they would be heavy white and green, moderate red a blue, and trace black.
With those thoughts in mind, the Mirran Coalition seems like it would have slightly more cards, but I suppose Phyrexians will by comparison get the lion's share of artifacts.
I love the title Mirran Coalition by the way. It's so very accurate in this conflict, since the act as a slightly more artifact infused coalition.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
That's actually probably true. In fact, given that we know Sword of Body and Mind is mirran, it's possible green and blue will be the main opponents.
The past couple of blocks have drawn some interesting and/or obvious comparisons, such as Lorwyn/Onslaught, Alara/Ravnica, and Zendikar/Masques (I'm not sure how correct the comparison between Zen and Masques is, but I've heard it from quite a few older players).
With that in mind, maybe SoM will be the "second coming" of Torment/Judgment.
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Excellent point, I didn't think about that... would also explain the Nim in the Elspeth/Koth pic we've seen...
Maybe that's where the Phyrexians are entering Mirrodin through? Nothing seems like a better place to open a planar portal than somewhere just gushing black mana...