All I care is I can finally have Jeska PW!!!!
I wonder Jeska would be in Jeskai color hmmm
I doubt it. She's gonna be either monored or BR. The latter would be better IMO 'cause Jeska retained the decaying powers she'd had as Phage the Untouchable after her ascension, and it was stated in the Future Sight novel that she considered both Jeska and Phage as parts of herself (but not Karona).
My sentiment exactly. The new art is not bad, but I really preferred the original this time (unlike Serra the Benevolent, whose reimagined look is just supreme).
My all-time favorite depiction of Jeska has to be this fan art by fellow MTGS user merkymerx though:
I wish I could get a Jeska card with that artwork...
I'm really not feeling it this year. The most exciting thing for me was the exceptional quality of Gerrard's new art, which I do admire. Ideally he will be mono-white.
Yep, Gerrard was the only interesting reveal of the panel for me as well. I wouldn't count on him being monowhite though. MaRo clearly stated on several platforms that Gerrard was in need of a new card because the old one was a poor representation of the character, and his main argument was that Gerrard was RW.
Decks based on mechanics was never going to intrigue me as a Vorthos, and if they did, the mechanics would have had to be something like Landfall, Constellation, Devotion, Monstrosity, or something more appealing, at least to me personally. Let's just say the four selected here are not.
It's nice at least seeing a requested character like Anje Faulkenrath receive a card. Although I don't care for this character, I know the thrill of getting a sought after card, because Arixmethes will forever be my fondest memory and card in the game. But I don't suspect this year's product is going to have anything remotely as interesting for me. My attentions are focused more on Thanasis, Pavios and the remaining Kamigawa novel characters. So really, the past character cards are for others now that I have Arixmethes.
I'm just not really into the new cards, the mechanics, or more three-color Commanders. Here's to some good reprints, hopefully. At least that. The set crest this year looks remarkably like last year's, not that I mind. I like both.
I know exactly how you feel. Honestly, this year's themes don't do it for me either. But that doesn't mean we don't get some totally unexpected goodies in those decks. Last year's themes and face cards were not particularly interesting for me so I felt somewhat disappointed… and then they dropped Xantcha, Sleeper Agent and Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle completely out of the blue!
How would you like the missing God of Love (mentioned by Kruphix in Kruphix's Insight) in RG or RGW? Fingers crossed!
Whoa, I can't believe they did it. And it only took them 26 years…
Seriously though, this card is a BLAST! A powerhouse for Spike, a combo card for Johnny, and a flavor win for Vorthos. My only small complaint (as a commander player) is that the card being monoblue doesn't let me play many cool Urza-themed cards such as Urza's Rage or Urza's Ruinous Blast. I wish he were URW, to mirror Mishra, Artificer Prodigy's mana cost.
Also, as Caranthir has already pointed out, the card's artwork clearly shows Invasion-era Urza and not his preplaneswalker self, but I'm okay with that. At least it's a look I recognize.
This thing about the power level is bull*****, and was the same exact argument of when people said since forever that oldwalkers in general could never had a planeswalker card because that would never cover all the allmighty omnipowers an oldwalker got.
This! I'm so tired of people who say Urza was too powerful to be represented on a card. People who say so have clearly never read the novels because if they had, they would know the guy wasn't actually that powerful. He was versatile, yes, but nowhere near Nicol Bolas or Ugin level in terms of power. In fact, he was beaten be nonplaneswalker beings a couple of times in the story (Radiant, Gix, Kerrick, to name a few).
Cool, definitely the best Mythic Edition so far! Many sought-after cards and they've significantly improved the art quality since RNA. Only Sarkhan Unbroken is kinda ugly, and moustache Tezzeret looks almost funny.
I didn't expect the next Signature Spellbook to focus on Gideon (I was hoping for Liliana or Nicol Bolas), but I guess it makes sense since he bites it in the story...
The choice of cards is spot on, and yes, that alt art Rest in Peace hits hard. And that comes from someone who doesn't even like Gideon.
I respectfully disagree. Nobody cares about nameless masses, killing them just won't yield the right emotional response. To give the feeling that victory only came at a high price, you just have to kill off a bunch of popular protagonists. I hate to be one of those guys who keep comparing Magic's storyline to MCU, but look at Infinity War and tell me: would the movie impact the viewers nearly as much if Thanos's snap still occurred but all the heroes were among the "lucky" half of the universe?
Have to? I will respectfully disagree. Look at Lord of the Rings. Exactly two big characters died. Two. Boromir in the second act, and Theoden in the third. Exactly no other major heroes died. Not a one. The entire Fellowship save Boromir survived from start to finish. Yet, the stakes remained high. Why? Because so many people who were in the background perished. Not the protagonists. Those the protagonists were trying to help/save. Even the BBEG didn't die. Sauron simply had his power stripped from him, and was doomed to live out the rest of his days as the shattered echo of his former self. Sauron LIVED at the end of LotR.
Star Wars, same thing. Exactly one hero died in the original trilogy, and then only in the first act as a noble sacrifice. One. Obi-Wan. That's it. Then, at the very end, Vader died redeeming himself as Anakin. Thaaaaaat's it. Every single other protagonist lived. All of them. Every other death that increased the stakes were of background characters.
Same with quite a large number of stories, including war-time narratives.
It seems like so many now feel that without The Walking Dead or A Game of Thrones levels of death, the stakes simply aren't high enough. When that is demonstrably not the norm for successful and nuanced narratives delivering great material throughout history; note I'm not giving my opinion about the quality of the Magic narrative at all here. It's ok, not great, not terrible. Pretty run of the mill, really, in many ways.
But killing off a bunch of protagonists on-screen?
Nah. Not necessary in the least to tell a high-stakes story.
Large numbers of background characters perishing consistently makes a story feel high stakes, historically speaking. A single major face character perishing as a noble sacrifice is very often the only death needed to make a story feel high stakes, in addition to the casualties of non-protagonists all around the cast of protagonists.
And the MCU? Yes, the snap felt high-stakes. Although many comic fans will certainly tell you, it's extremely unlikely they remain dusted. Additionally, the MCU storyline is an extreme outlier. It's rather rare that many of the protagonists of an extended narrative perish all of a sudden in a final battle like that.
So yeah. I must simply agree to disagree, here. The sheer number of evocative, high stakes narratives where hardly any protagonists perish is stunning, and they're not lesser stories because they didn't "have to kill off a bunch of popular protagonists" to make their story feel high stakes.
I' m not sure about Lord of the Rings. I only saw the movies once many years ago and since I really didn't like them, I haven't re-watched any of them since. I guess you're right about the original Star Wars trilogy, although I could argue that those are old films and expectations of viewers change from generation to generation, which is why Revenge of the Sith was something else entirely. Still, I see your point.
It's not like all of the nearly forty planeswalkers in War of the Spark are the story's main characters though, is it? Maybe six to eight of them are the focal figures, the rest are the Uncle Owens and Ben Kenobis of this story. I simply expected many more planeswalkers to bite it, especially since many of them seem to have had their story fully told. On the other hand, more planeswalker deaths would increase the risk of the narrative killing more of those planeswalkers I like and want to see again, so perhaps I should be happy that didn't happen.
I feel the same way. What kind of War is this if only three planeswalkers bite the dust, and even the villain survives? I really expected many more planeswalkers to die (Ugin, Jaya, Nissa or Vivien, Dovin, Ral etc.)
MaRo 100% confirmed that the eternals stripping a spark kills a planeswalker.
So most of the 37 planeswalkers on the stained glass are simply the survivors of this war. That's it. They're the ones who, like in most fictional stories, we see navigate a war, most making it through but seeing many others around them perish.
The dozen to dozens of sparks flying in the air to Bolas in the art and in the trailer? Each and every one represents a dead, dead, dead, dead, dead planeswalker.
Just like in many war stories, the simple fact that a small handful of known people die in the spotlight, but untold numbers die in the background, doesn't diminish the deaths occurring all around.
Many planeswalkers 100% for certain bite it in this War of the Spark. And just like the untolds thousands, tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands to millions of Ravnicans who die, is real tragedy. Them being faceless masses doesn't make it any less tragic. And they could easily write in later stories of the tragic deaths of planeswalkers whose sparks we see, of Ravnican citizens caught in the horrors of this invasion of their home. After all, this is an ecumenopolis; this is essentially the Coruscant or Trantor of the Magic multiverse. A planet-sized city that has had a continuous civilization for over 10,000 years. The death toll could be staggering indeed.
But with absolute certainty, many planeswalkers are DEAD in the aftermath of these events. Them being background characters doesn't diminish their deaths, or make them not dead. They're still dead as can be. Dack died on-screen. Domri died "on-screen". We'll see who else when this is all done. And at least a dozen, possibly many more, died off-screen.
I respectfully disagree. Nobody cares about nameless masses, killing them just won't yield the right emotional response. To give the feeling that victory only came at a high price, you just have to kill off a bunch of popular protagonists. I hate to be one of those guys who keep comparing Magic's storyline to MCU, but look at Infinity War and tell me: would the movie impact the viewers nearly as much if Thanos's snap still occurred but all the heroes were among the "lucky" half of the universe?
While this surely isn't how I expected Liliana's death to be averted (and it feels kinda cheap TBH), I'm just happy she makes it. I myself was surprised by how much the War of the Spark trailer which seemed to show her dying impacted me. Apparently to me she was that kind of girl you don't realize you love until the moment you're about to lose her.
Excuse me now, I suddenly feel like giving my foil Liliana of the Veil a mini-hug…
The thing about killing Bolas is that it just wouldn't be enough retribution. He has 25,000 years of atrocities to answer for, dozens of enslaved/destroyed worlds, and deaths on his hands numbering at least into the billions. Cutting him down with a sword and just ending him in a moment of righteous justice would feel good for a minute, but then ring hollow.
Bolas has to feel his defeat. He has to know he is beaten, pathetic, and impotent forevermore. His infinite atrocities merit an infinite punishment. Now his victims can begin to have justice.
I have to disagree. I was really looking forward to Nicol Bolas's demise. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't call it a happy end unless the villain dies. To me, it's THIS ending that doesn't feel like enough.
This is not a "fate worse than death". This is just Wizards refusing to kill a major villain so that they can use him again if need be. Prisons are made to be broken from, y'know? If at least they made him lose his Spark to give us a clear signal he'd never again be a threat to the Multiverse...
not many known planeswalker died, the main villain didnt die... what is this war ? it was supposed to be the endgame finale, i got really hyped for story but this... boring. not saying a 12 year old could have written a better story ... but, maybe a 12 year old could have written a better story.
sorry, but i just had to express some kind of disappointment. its also just towards the story, the set itself seems to be super strong.
I feel the same way. What kind of War is this if only three planeswalkers bite the dust, and even the villain survives? I really expected many more planeswalkers to die (Ugin, Jaya, Nissa or Vivien, Dovin, Ral etc.)
Couldn't disagree more. How many times have you watched the hero stand over the villain and make some holier than thou speech, giving the villain enough to time to elude their fate? Meanwhile the audience is screaming at the T.V. "What are you waiting for idiot! Just shoot the M*****F*****!" The only reason he has to survive is so WotC can dig up his story line when the well runs dry.
This, pretty much. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so.
The best part of this spell is Domri death. Oh god can't belive that brat took down old man Borborygmos and made hin a exile, and then when things are going bad he p*** out and go ask bolas to have mercy on hin if he fights the walkers and the rest of Ravnica. Thanks god this trash walker died, had some potential in Gatecrash but in Allegiances he was just all around trash.
Amen, brother.
Domri Rade was one of very few planeswalkers I actually wanted to die in the war. I don't know if it's the punk styling or what but something made me hate him from the very start.
Well, that's some major foreshadowing we've got here (Not that we needed it, Hazoret explicitly told Gideon he was going to die fighting a god in one of the Amonkhet web stories).
After seeing these, I'm more sure than ever Gideon's going to die. No shame if you ask me, I never liked "beefslab" anyway. Hopefully Teyo or Elspeth or whoever else steps in to fill the empty chair in the Gatewatch will be more interesting.
In fact, I'm kinda happy because Gideon dying makes Liliana actually surviving the war (in spite of the trailer) a little bit more likely. Fingers crossed!
Even Tamiyo in the artwork looks surprised at her card being like this. Like, everything about this card seems so random including the fact that this is a Tamiyo card.
My sentiment exactly. The card isn't bad, but nothing about it really feels like Tamiyo. And she's not the only one in WAR, several other planeswalkers look as if the cards were designed first and then had random characters assigned to them.
I can't stand her art though. It looks like she gained 50lbs
So? Planeswalkers are people too. And Tamiyo in particular is a middle-aged mom according to the story. I agree with the folks who say she just looks realistic.
How exactly does saving an entire plane (and arguably the entire Multiverse) at the cost of a single life make you evil? Most people wouldn't hesitate.
I for one am glad Oldwalkers get to show off some after Teferi, Karn and Jaya embarrassed themselves on Dominaria.
While I agree all of them seriously underperformed in Dominaria, this is just too much. Once you give your characters the power to travel through time or just change what has already happened, nothing will ever matter anymore. People won't even be worried about their favorite characters' deaths, knowing they can always come back as needed. The creators of Magic stories have repeatedly assured us that in Magic, death is permanent. Now I know erasing someone from existence is not the same as resurrecting someone, but still I feel no character should have this kind of power over the past.
Anyone remembers Commodore Guff and his books or Test of Metal and "clockworking"? Both were prime examples of why this door should remain closed.
I doubt it. She's gonna be either monored or BR. The latter would be better IMO 'cause Jeska retained the decaying powers she'd had as Phage the Untouchable after her ascension, and it was stated in the Future Sight novel that she considered both Jeska and Phage as parts of herself (but not Karona).
My sentiment exactly. The new art is not bad, but I really preferred the original this time (unlike Serra the Benevolent, whose reimagined look is just supreme).
My all-time favorite depiction of Jeska has to be this fan art by fellow MTGS user merkymerx though:
I wish I could get a Jeska card with that artwork...
Yep, Gerrard was the only interesting reveal of the panel for me as well. I wouldn't count on him being monowhite though. MaRo clearly stated on several platforms that Gerrard was in need of a new card because the old one was a poor representation of the character, and his main argument was that Gerrard was RW.
I know exactly how you feel. Honestly, this year's themes don't do it for me either. But that doesn't mean we don't get some totally unexpected goodies in those decks. Last year's themes and face cards were not particularly interesting for me so I felt somewhat disappointed… and then they dropped Xantcha, Sleeper Agent and Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle completely out of the blue!
How would you like the missing God of Love (mentioned by Kruphix in Kruphix's Insight) in RG or RGW? Fingers crossed!
Seriously though, this card is a BLAST! A powerhouse for Spike, a combo card for Johnny, and a flavor win for Vorthos. My only small complaint (as a commander player) is that the card being monoblue doesn't let me play many cool Urza-themed cards such as Urza's Rage or Urza's Ruinous Blast. I wish he were URW, to mirror Mishra, Artificer Prodigy's mana cost.
Also, as Caranthir has already pointed out, the card's artwork clearly shows Invasion-era Urza and not his preplaneswalker self, but I'm okay with that. At least it's a look I recognize.
This! I'm so tired of people who say Urza was too powerful to be represented on a card. People who say so have clearly never read the novels because if they had, they would know the guy wasn't actually that powerful. He was versatile, yes, but nowhere near Nicol Bolas or Ugin level in terms of power. In fact, he was beaten be nonplaneswalker beings a couple of times in the story (Radiant, Gix, Kerrick, to name a few).
Yep, two more to go. Probably Karn Liberated and Liliana of the Veil.
The choice of cards is spot on, and yes, that alt art Rest in Peace hits hard. And that comes from someone who doesn't even like Gideon.
I' m not sure about Lord of the Rings. I only saw the movies once many years ago and since I really didn't like them, I haven't re-watched any of them since. I guess you're right about the original Star Wars trilogy, although I could argue that those are old films and expectations of viewers change from generation to generation, which is why Revenge of the Sith was something else entirely. Still, I see your point.
It's not like all of the nearly forty planeswalkers in War of the Spark are the story's main characters though, is it? Maybe six to eight of them are the focal figures, the rest are the Uncle Owens and Ben Kenobis of this story. I simply expected many more planeswalkers to bite it, especially since many of them seem to have had their story fully told. On the other hand, more planeswalker deaths would increase the risk of the narrative killing more of those planeswalkers I like and want to see again, so perhaps I should be happy that didn't happen.
I respectfully disagree. Nobody cares about nameless masses, killing them just won't yield the right emotional response. To give the feeling that victory only came at a high price, you just have to kill off a bunch of popular protagonists. I hate to be one of those guys who keep comparing Magic's storyline to MCU, but look at Infinity War and tell me: would the movie impact the viewers nearly as much if Thanos's snap still occurred but all the heroes were among the "lucky" half of the universe?
Excuse me now, I suddenly feel like giving my foil Liliana of the Veil a mini-hug…
I have to disagree. I was really looking forward to Nicol Bolas's demise. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't call it a happy end unless the villain dies. To me, it's THIS ending that doesn't feel like enough.
This is not a "fate worse than death". This is just Wizards refusing to kill a major villain so that they can use him again if need be. Prisons are made to be broken from, y'know? If at least they made him lose his Spark to give us a clear signal he'd never again be a threat to the Multiverse...
I feel the same way. What kind of War is this if only three planeswalkers bite the dust, and even the villain survives? I really expected many more planeswalkers to die (Ugin, Jaya, Nissa or Vivien, Dovin, Ral etc.)
This, pretty much. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so.
As many people have already said, Kaya isn't exactly a great fit for the Gatewatch. Her short-lived "reign" over the Orzhov Syndicate shows why.
Was he? That's not the way I remember it at all. To me, Brago seemed like a tyrant.
Off screen.
Amen, brother.
Domri Rade was one of very few planeswalkers I actually wanted to die in the war. I don't know if it's the punk styling or what but something made me hate him from the very start.
After seeing these, I'm more sure than ever Gideon's going to die. No shame if you ask me, I never liked "beefslab" anyway. Hopefully Teyo or Elspeth or whoever else steps in to fill the empty chair in the Gatewatch will be more interesting.
In fact, I'm kinda happy because Gideon dying makes Liliana actually surviving the war (in spite of the trailer) a little bit more likely. Fingers crossed!
My sentiment exactly. The card isn't bad, but nothing about it really feels like Tamiyo. And she's not the only one in WAR, several other planeswalkers look as if the cards were designed first and then had random characters assigned to them.
So? Planeswalkers are people too. And Tamiyo in particular is a middle-aged mom according to the story. I agree with the folks who say she just looks realistic.
How exactly does saving an entire plane (and arguably the entire Multiverse) at the cost of a single life make you evil? Most people wouldn't hesitate.
While I agree all of them seriously underperformed in Dominaria, this is just too much. Once you give your characters the power to travel through time or just change what has already happened, nothing will ever matter anymore. People won't even be worried about their favorite characters' deaths, knowing they can always come back as needed. The creators of Magic stories have repeatedly assured us that in Magic, death is permanent. Now I know erasing someone from existence is not the same as resurrecting someone, but still I feel no character should have this kind of power over the past.
Anyone remembers Commodore Guff and his books or Test of Metal and "clockworking"? Both were prime examples of why this door should remain closed.