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  • 3

    posted a message on Translating Phyrexian Scriptures
    The artist for the newly spoiled Phyrexian Scriptures, Joseph Meehan, has posted the art in high resolution. I know that there have been a variety of efforts, some here, to translate the script, which is known to be a complete, professionally developed conlang.

    Update: This thread makes a strong argument for the text being the flavor text for the Urza's Saga Dark Ritual, which attributes its quote to the Scriptures.

    Update: This transcription probably gets several diacritics? wrong, but it's enough to pick out some recognizable words using the older transcriptions:

    Top row
    Z'QMxZxL
    ???

    First column
    ~XvGD^N*X*ENxOZ"N*| N"V"OFN*FVV |MvOZ*NxZ^FMvMv
    Perfect world ??? ??????

    Second and third column
    MxNxLZ'Nx | V^J'Z"Z_HZ'Nx | V^JJZ'Z"THZ'GNx | V^T^_L_~Z*_ET | N^FD^QN*ET
    Grand/Great ??? (Father of machines? See fragment 19) ??? ???

    Fourth column
    N*V"HZxMv | MxNxLZ'NxZ^FMvMv | Z'FFN*ZxNvQZ'EZx
    ??? Grand/Great(something) ???

    Original tweet: https://twitter.com/JosephMeehanArt/status/973278822559830017/photo/1

    Transcription key as of post 145 of the previously linked thread (possibly outdated, newer reference post broken):


    The following transcriptions reference a compiled image that no longer exists, but at least some sources can be inferred from context (e.g. the promo Elesh Norn).
    (1)
    'ZE_^Mx| T^HD^T^ MxNxL'ZNx A`KT^HZXx.
    Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

    (2)
    N^LV^Z" 'X:E'ZN* X:N*LV^XxD^.
    Legendary Creature - Praetor

    (3)
    N"VFXvT^D^QX:T.
    Vigilance

    (4)
    N*E| M:L_^_^| X^O| X^N*Q'X:Q_^N*| EN*O'X:EE'ZN* +2/+2 N^FXxLXvEX^.
    (present tense) Other our controlled creatures +2/+2 receive.
    Other creatures you control get +2/+2.

    (5)
    N*E| X^O| ON*T^JJX^Ax| X^N*Q'XvE_^| N*E'X:EE'ZN* -2/-2 N^FXxLXvEX^.
    (present tense) Our opponents controlled creatures +2/+2 receive.
    Creatures your opponents control get -2/-2.

    (6)
    N*E| X:HD^Z"ON*Xx| Z^FGXxN*| M:L_^_^X:ENxOOZ^N` N^F'ZFA`E'ZEXx.
    (present tense) Gitaxians [among themselves] other worlds whisper.
    The Gitaxians whisper among themselves of other worlds.

    (7)
    ZL| Z^FFXxN*| X:OT^LT^ 'X:L'X:L| 'NL| ~X:GD^N*X:ENxOZ^N` 'ZEMxNxL'ZNx T^LX:GXx.
    If they exist, [we must/will] Perfect world's magnificence bring
    If they exist, we must bring Phyrexia's magnificence to them.

    (8)
    ~XvGD^N* YJ'ZN".
    Perfect language
    Phyrexian (language)

    (9)
    N*E| X^O| 'ZOX:GD^N*T^L~X:GT| N*E| V^T^E~X:HT
    (present tense) Our perfect work(now?) [flesh/is flesh/made flesh]
    We are perfection made flesh

    (10)
    N*E| N*QXxMxLN|X^O| 'ZQC`FAx| N*E| X:OT^'ZGZ"| N*EN*O| 'N'X:EE'ZN*| MxOX:~NxLFEX:
    (present tense) (?) Our voice (to) (now) lost broken creatures [calls out]
    Our voice calls out to the lost and broken (creatures)

    (11)
    N*E| NxQX^N*| N*VFN*GAx| Z^_^FX:| N"VFON*'XxENxQX^N*| 'ZQZ"'ZONxV
    (present tense) Death [they fear] even as immortality [we offer]
    They fear death even as we offer immortality

    (12)
    'X:L'X:L| Z^OX:ENxOZ^N`| ZGXxX:Xx N*GMx| N"JM^LZ^
    (We must/will) this world's false skin flay
    We
    will
    flay the false skin of this world

    (13)
    N*E
    'ZQT| MxHX:D^LX:~X:GD^N"X:ENxGZ^N`| T^LXx_^GAx| X:D^EX:GZ^
    (to now/in future) new Perfect world face reveal
    to reveal the face of a new Phyrexia

    (14)
    'ZQ| MxNxL'ZNxT^L'X:T| 'ZFFN*XxNvQ'ZE&
    (perfect tense) Great Work [has begun]
    The Great Work has begun

    (15)
    'ZQ|MxHX:D^ X:Xx ~X:GD^N" X:ENxOZ^N` MxNxL'ZNxT^'X:FT| 'Xv_^ T^L~X:ET
    (perfect tense) Great New Perfect world Work [was made?]
    The Great Work of New Phyrexia is complete

    (16)
    N*E| V^J'ZZ"'ZO'ZVZ"VOVV| TL'ZT^| MxHX:D^LX:Xx'ZT^T^EN*FN* N^F_^Q'ZENv
    (present tense) Machine Orthodoxy mana? new sources power
    New sources of mana power the Machine Orthodoxy

    (17)
    N*ETD^HZ^T^| 'ZOZO'ZGV| ~XvGD^N* Xv_^XxN*E N*GMx| OMxX^TT^GD^GN*
    (present tense?) Mirrodin heart Perfect race? skin [(beneath?) burns]
    Beneath the Phyrexian skin, the heart of Mirrodin burns

    (18)
    N*E| X:N*OT^T^T^| N"EX^FXx 'ZFA`EE'ZXx| XxOYFD^Xx N^FAxX:LT^'ZEZ"
    (present tense) Body whole is (but /present tense/) whispers mind splinter
    The body is whole, but whispers splinter the mind

    (19)
    V^JJ'ZZ"| TH'ZGNx| THAxEX^| 'X:L'X:L
    Machines Father come [will]
    The Father (of Machines) is coming

    (20)
    |T^L'X:TON*'Xv_^Z^FX^HMx
    Work unmaker (or 'Making undoer')
    Destroyer.
    Posted in: Magic Storyline
  • 1

    posted a message on Site Redesign Coming Soon!
    Seeing no better thread, I'll hop in here and offer some preemptive thoughts on the upcoming deck builder.

    Most importantly, the deck builder should incorporate new cards as soon as they're added to the spoilers here. Waiting until the next day or longer on other sites is intolerable. I want to brew when I'm excited by the new card - not next week.

    I hope it offers an efficient workflow for adding cards by name. Unless MTGS card search jumps to the efficiency of something like Scryfall or even Gatherer, I'll be searching for cards elsewhere. I want a deck builder that can take my selections and tally up the curve, color, and type distributions. It doesn't need robust search. Having dialogue boxes anywhere in the process is devastating. In other words, emulate Deckstats more than TappedOut.

    If the analysis can be performed in real time, excellent. If it refreshes the page at any point, the current page layout's massive header needs to be severely trimmed, at least on the deck builder's page.
    Posted in: Community Discussion
  • 2

    posted a message on
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  • 1

    posted a message on Seeking primary sources for Rabian lore
    Ah, Duelist. Thank you for that archive link, I wasn't sure where to start trying to find something like that!
    Posted in: Magic Storyline
  • 6

    posted a message on But where is it on the Storm Scale? New Reference Page!
    Hey folks! Since Maro started answering questions about it back in 2012, the Storm Scale has been a popular means of trying to second-guess upcoming set mechanics, and several persons have put together compilations of Storm Scale ratings. However, these projects are generally exhausting to compile, and rely on the effort of a single editor to maintain.

    I'm happy to unveil a new such compilation over on our Wiki. As a wiki page, with open source and editing permissions, this iteration on the concept should be easy to keep up to date. To further improve the ease of maintenance, this page uses a specialized template (documented here) that will automatically update the most recent Storm Scale values as new references are added.

    Enjoy!

    https://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Storm_Scale
    Posted in: Speculation
  • 4

    posted a message on PAX Kaladesh Spoilers - Saheeli Rai, vehicles, energy, other mechanics
    Quote from Vorthospike »
    Serious answer I once recieved to this question: How can there be black people in (FICTIONAL WORLD) when there isn't an Africa in (FICTIONAL WORLD)?


    Between the Kaladesh panel and the WoW:Legion launch, I thought nothing could bring this week down. I was wrong.
    Posted in: The Rumor Mill
  • 8

    posted a message on PAX Kaladesh Spoilers - Saheeli Rai, vehicles, energy, other mechanics
    Quote from NGW »
    Always has to be an "inclusive" question.

    And referencing Kaya, so she WAS done just to have a black female walker?


    Presumably, she was created because the story called for someone to assassinate Brago. She's black because... why not? Planeswalkers, thanks to their ability to teleport between worlds, rarely have a narrative requirement for any particular ethnicity. Why not use that freedom to represent players?
    Posted in: The Rumor Mill
  • 1

    posted a message on Official MTG Facebook (APAC) Preview - Providence
    Combos with Living Lore.

    I'd also hold open the possibility that Kaladesh could have a high-CMC theme to integrate with these last two blocks.
    Posted in: The Rumor Mill
  • 1

    posted a message on Maro's Monday Spoiler — Any Guesses?
    I don't think the problem is that they choose to have a set progression of previews. My problem is that they trickle them out so slowly, and showing us Emrakul a week before previews nominally started just exacerbated the pain.
    Posted in: Speculation
  • 2

    posted a message on Will the Waiting/Secrecy Payoff or Backfire?
    Quote from infernox10 »
    Let's start off by addressing the positives, ignoring the negatives. First, we have to give credit to Wizards for the mystery they gave us.


    I'll give them credit for creating cute puzzles. I won't give them credit for a non-existent "mystery".
    Posted in: New Card Discussion
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