Hey guys... this has been bothering my roommate and me so dang much we just had to mention it. It would delight us if you all could please read the text on the card Cerebral Vortex. In no way whatsoever can this card be used to kill anyone (unless you of course redirect damage or something outside the system). It damages the player that it is targeting. Arjun only makes you draw a boatload of cards.
TL;DR: Exactly.
Sorry for the....months late response. I have been on hiatus from mtg after the tragic loss of some of my decks.
the reason Cerebral Vortex is useful is because this deck has a bunch of all-player wheels. It is likely other players have been drawing a boatload of cards aswell.
I feel like the whole Eldrazi storyline entered a slippery, zig-zaggy descent with Oath of the Gatewatch. The Eldrazi were..... well. Unfathomable. They were black holes. They bent reality, they were massive, and thier only purpose seemed to be to consume. They were, as people stated, entropy. A force that, while appearing evil and senseless, you somehow know had a role to play. A vital job. This all ended when Oath stories begun.
Suddenly Kozi can laugh? Has the will to punish his enemies? Has apparnt sadism? These are not traits of an unfathomable force of nature. They are..... human traits, pretty much. That was in the fourth story if memory serves. Then suddenly, fast forward to the second to last story, and now Kozi is being described as incomprehensible again. " Not a trickster - a trick". Not a sentient being..... an occurance of nature.
My point is it seems there is confusion amongst the storywriters about what the Eldrazi are. Sentient badguys with familiar traits, or unfathomable forces of nature.
I am very happy with the representation of Kozilek in the recent UR.
I've completly lost the feeling of fear and awe that Ulamog had during the original Zendikar, after the whole Gideon vs Ulamog nonesense, but Kozilek, now THAT is good storytelling! He is described so WELL, completly impossible, unfathomable, and insanely structured. Well done, Kelly!
Kiora's revelation is fantastic, I'm glad to see this character finally wisening up, and I have to say I really don't mind her surviving or not, as even if she survives, I think she'll go through a change.
All in all, I enjoyed reading it, though I hoped it would go beyond just Kiora Vs. Kozilek. Oh well.
Back to the UR : It seems Chandra had quite a bit of trouble fighting off even three small eldrazi that Ulamog made "insignificant" in comparison..... It annoys me that Gideon can just hold back Ulamog while other walkers clearly have issues with Eldrazi. What makes him so special, I mean come on.
Are we missing something in his story? Some anti-Eldrazi pill he takes daily?
Well, Kiora isn't exactly acting like a conventional part of the team. She stormed off to do things her own independent way. With Zendikar saved I doubt she'll care about other planes, Emrakrul or whatever else. We don't know what promises the oath of the gatewatch itself will entail. Perhaps to protect Zendikar, or go Eldrazi hunting for Emrakrul, or whatever. These could be things Kiora has no interest in pursuing.
That said, Kiora's storyline does come to a dead halt if Zendikar is saved. There could be ways to expand on her, as she is rebellious against Emeria as well, or she could simply be the ocean version of Garuuk and seek more sea monsters, or what not. Who knows what they'll make of her. I do see her dying a possibility but I'm not entirely certain. Personally she annoys me because she didn't win against Thassa but is pompous enough to believe she did. And creative is so pro-planeswalker and treating Neowalkers basically like Oldwalkers these days that I cringed when the Fat Pack insert goes: "Planeswalker and god fought to a standstill"
Uh. Kiora was deluded into thinking she was winning, then Arixmethes decimates her army, spares Thassa's krakens, rejects Kiora's plea for a date, Thassa drags her fishy ass all over the muddy ocean floor and pins her down in a choke-hold all because Thassa likes playing with her sea food. So Kiora flopped off her plate. Slow clap.
The theft of the Bident was still cute and all, but I have to say - Elspeth fending off Heliod was worse. Where in Greek Mythology do mortals have the power to show up gods? Gods are the most powerful beings. Sure they can be trolled, like Kiora trolling Thassa, but their will should be final.
The Theros Gods are not the greek Gods. Theyre inspired by them.
The Theros Gods are the athiest's version of Gods. They were created by mortals, by their faith.
The general idea is - Mortal emotion + Mana = God on Theros.
As such? Their gods are not omnipotent nor are they omni anything.
Take for example the Theros God of love. Where is it? Its gone. Because mortals stopped believing..... there was a Red Green God before Xenagos, dont you think?
This was all explained in the UR about Kruphix's prophet.
I'm excited about the next UR from Kiora's perspective. I wonder what she'll do next being in the same ocean as the freed Ulamog. I can't imagine what it'll be like from her perspective in the same sea as the titan.
2 things:
Either, you might not wish you had....
or
That....might be awhile.
I hate to break it to you but I did not see a little planeswalker-scouts-honor picture of Kiora like we did of the Origins 5 (minus Lili).
This doesn't mean Kiora won't be part of this planeswalker Oath nor does it mean she won't have a Role in OGW but I feel a sense of foreboding regarding Kiora's fate. I'm sorry. I really am. I hope I'm wrong.
Kiora has a pretty good chance to die. She doesn't seem critical to any story, nor does she have a major fan base.
To be honest, she has it coming. She's being really hotheaded and it seems like she's going to go 1v1 Ulamog..... A shame, I like her.
Would be the only Planeswalker death since Venser died years ago, if I'm right.
I wonder how big Zen is, being able to house a free-running Titan underground.
Where Void Winnower is, is it underground as well? If it is, it's mega huge...
Reckon Zen to be Jupiter-size or something.
Zendikar does have to be very big, note, though, that we do not know how Zendikar is made up. Perhaps it is a plain made out of mostly land? I mean, the earth's crust is just a small part of it. Perhaps Zendikar's crust is just a very significant part of Zendikar, thus, it can house huge beings. I'd remind you, the Eldrazi aren't THAT big, they're as big as skyscrapers, yes, but there are MILES of ground beneath you. Just the Earth's crust is 21 miles or 35 Kilometers deep. You could have 50 Kozileks stacked up beneath you right now!
Edit : It seems the size of the Eldrazi Titans is incosistant. Some make them out to be as tall as mountains while some make them sky-scrapers. Its hard to tell, and the stories aren't exactly accurate. At any rate, the Earth's crust is thicker.
I loved reading the new UR.
"Promises to Keep" was well-written in my opinion. I loved how Chandra was written. The impulsivness we'd except from a red planeswalker - the way she just goes "Just a little peek" and instantly walks there, the rage, the intensity, some more fire monks lore. It was really nice.
Its a bit of a shame the story was so predictable with Kozilek coming in. What I find interesting is how fast Kozilek seems to have moved. I doubt Kozilek was bound under Sea Gate, as in the art piece with Nahiri, Ugin, and Sorin standing watching the trapped Eldrazi, they're all trapped together, and Ulamog had to travel quite a bit to get to Sea Gate. That means Kozilek is significantly faster than Ulamog, seems like he tunnels underground at great speeds? That or perhaps he was moving in the same direction as Ulamog, but underground, and he rose up when Ob Nixilis called him.
A very tight cliffhanger. The greatest concentration of life on Zendikar, trapped between two Eldrazi Titans that they are completly unprepared to fight, also, I believe we left the story just as Chandra was being flung into the air by the force of Kozilek's eruption out of the ground? That can't be good. Fortunatly, Gideon is there to be overpowered and save everyone.
Is it just me or do most Zendikar stories seem to be filler? Don't get me wrong I enjoy reading them but they're basically retelling the same story from different perspectives for almost a month now, adding just one paragraph of new happening each week.
I'm excited about the next UR from Kiora's perspective. I wonder what she'll do next being in the same ocean as the freed Ulamog. I can't imagine what it'll be like from her perspective in the same sea as the titan.
^
At this point, I'd like to refer to the old Theros UR about Kiora vs Thassa. In that, Kiora is looking to find a specific kraken that is the biggest on Theros, when she sees him, she comments "He's as big as Kozilek". Seems a bit of a coincidence she found a kraken as big as Kozilek, when her UR is coming just as Kozilek joins the fight?
If the card is real, I think its a powerhouse and a half.
Lets say you're playing this in some eternal format.
Getting out early and uncounterable, not too hard. Then? Its impossible to do anything about it, because you counter everything they do.
A dream scenario of using a bunch of T1 ramp to cast it, then draw 7-6 cards because you usedd your entire hand to cast it, then just winning by countering every single spell, is not that far-fetched.
I'm sure many of us who can identify with the poor depiction of Gideon vs Ulamog, have played games whereby shields/aura are used. The fact that we know said shields/aura cannot last forever, or require an intense amount of mana to maintain is real.
Take a tank, or a bunker for instance. How much T&T or gunpowder can they withstand? There has to be a threshold. There has to be what I call "realism in fantasy" that makes a reader/viewer a believer. That the size of Ulamog, his single tentacle (almost kraken-size), cannot force Gideon into the air, or even backwards is pure gibberish.
I honestly think Gideon's suvival is a spit in all that is Eldrazi storyline. They spend YEARS mega-hyping them, then, this set, they get hyped even more as Ulamog is described as this moving sentient black hole that just sucks all the mana around him and turns everything, that includes people, land, spells, and WORDS, to meaningless dust.
Then Gideon just stands infront of him and tanks him? The excuse of him being invulnerable is stupid and to be honest ruined all of my immersion. Ulamog isn't this big "Out of this world".... Its just a giant tentacle monster.
as for Void Winnower, I think he is part of Kozilek's brood. His powers seem to be more leaning towards the "Warp reality" thing, and that makes an Ob quote make sense.
I doubt Ob was reffering to Omnath, I think Omnath was only in BFZ because he was such a fan favorite from the first. It think he was reffering to Kozilek.
The only clue we have? Its from the south.... But I don't really have any grasp on Zendikar's geography.
I'd like to refer to this quote directly from the Uncharted Realms in question (At Any Cost) : "Deep beneath the surface, it was already beginning to stir. I whispered to it, heedless of distance. I dared not focus my mind too directly on it—reality recoiled and splintered merely from my thoughts approaching."
So, first of all "Deep beneath the surface" - This is already going in the direction of Kozilek, since Kozi is supposed to be underground.
"Reality recoiled and splintered" - This is in my opinion the proof that it IS Kozilek, since, hey, he's the Eldrazi Titan of Distortion. Reality splintering seems to only be able to mean one thing, and I doubt it's 5/5 elementals, or infinite green mana.
As for Zendikar? It is SO doomed. I mean, really. Ob Nixilis, before awakening what I assume is Kozilek, directly attacked the Zendikari forces, and, even though its not stated, I believe he continued to attack and does not immidietly planeswalker away after the story ends, I mean, after all, so much life energy to take, it would be tempting.
and on top of all that? Kozilek is coming. The only thing we don't know yet is what is Ugin, the Spirit Dragon doing in all of this. Last we heard of him he was chilling in the Eye of Ugin alligning some ley-lines, who knows what he has in his pocket. I assume this is the point in the story where Kiora joins the fray too, since she made her intention of battling Ulamog clear and has yet to have shown.
Anyhow, this is just terrible odds. Literally every thing wrong is wrong. I guess there is still hope though, since, well. Sorin and Ugin are still in buisness, and with Gideon, Jace, Chandra, Nissa, AND Kiora? There is a force here that is capable of great acts.
Lastly, "Oath of the Gatewatch". I feel like they ARE going to trap Kozi and Ulamog and the oath is that Chandra/Gideon/Jace/Nissa will return to seaGATE (Gatewatch) incase they get free.
The new Mizzix of the Izmagnus has amazing burn potential. Just stack your deck with Fireball effects (Effects that convert mana to damage) and if you really want to push it, some ritual effects (Like Pyretic Ritual.
I know she's U but I just have to point her out: Uyo, Silent Prophet (Huge potential, very rare to see)
As for completly different colors.... that is a difficult task. As you've already stated, UR ARE the instant/sorc colors. This makes it tough because most creatures that care about or synergise with instants/sorcs, are Blue or Red.
You can go to Gatherer, type into the search fields "Legendary" "Creature" and "NOT red" "NOT Blue", and it will give you a whole list. If you want to take it a whole step further, you can add the word "Instant" or "Sorcery" in the 'rules text' catagory, to show only ones that mention the word. (I just tried this, and putting in ALL the above conditions, you get 0 results. Sorry /: . There are however, generals that synergise in more subtle ways than just doing stuff whenever you cast an instant or sorcery)
This new mana is Parasitic, though. In fact, it is as Parasitic as a mechanic could possibly get in any way shape or form.
Parasitic, in mtg terms, means (roughly) a mechanic that, in an absolute vaccum(where only the basic rules of magic exist), makes no sense, and is specifically part of a set or block.
For example, Devotion is not parasitic. It can fit in almost every mtg set.
The Snow Mana mechanic is parasitic. If Theros had a card that cost a snow mana, it would be unplayable.
I doubt Wizards will return to Snow Mana. As such, I think this mana will not be identical to the way Snow Mana works. Maybe it would be something like "either 1 new mana or 2 colorless." It would make sense, since this is a 12/12.
If anything, by the way, I think you can assume Nahiri helped build Avacyn. I mean, no one ever wondered how Sorin "Created" Avacyn? Did he just go "Kapoosh white mana"?
Avacyn being a product of Lithomancy used on the Silver of Innistrad does not seem too unlikely.
As for the Helvault, if Nahiri was involved with Innistrad in any way, she probably made it.
Sorry for the....months late response. I have been on hiatus from mtg after the tragic loss of some of my decks.
the reason Cerebral Vortex is useful is because this deck has a bunch of all-player wheels. It is likely other players have been drawing a boatload of cards aswell.
Suddenly Kozi can laugh? Has the will to punish his enemies? Has apparnt sadism? These are not traits of an unfathomable force of nature. They are..... human traits, pretty much. That was in the fourth story if memory serves. Then suddenly, fast forward to the second to last story, and now Kozi is being described as incomprehensible again. " Not a trickster - a trick". Not a sentient being..... an occurance of nature.
My point is it seems there is confusion amongst the storywriters about what the Eldrazi are. Sentient badguys with familiar traits, or unfathomable forces of nature.
I've completly lost the feeling of fear and awe that Ulamog had during the original Zendikar, after the whole Gideon vs Ulamog nonesense, but Kozilek, now THAT is good storytelling! He is described so WELL, completly impossible, unfathomable, and insanely structured. Well done, Kelly!
Kiora's revelation is fantastic, I'm glad to see this character finally wisening up, and I have to say I really don't mind her surviving or not, as even if she survives, I think she'll go through a change.
All in all, I enjoyed reading it, though I hoped it would go beyond just Kiora Vs. Kozilek. Oh well.
Back to the UR : It seems Chandra had quite a bit of trouble fighting off even three small eldrazi that Ulamog made "insignificant" in comparison..... It annoys me that Gideon can just hold back Ulamog while other walkers clearly have issues with Eldrazi. What makes him so special, I mean come on.
Are we missing something in his story? Some anti-Eldrazi pill he takes daily?
The Theros Gods are not the greek Gods. Theyre inspired by them.
The Theros Gods are the athiest's version of Gods. They were created by mortals, by their faith.
The general idea is - Mortal emotion + Mana = God on Theros.
As such? Their gods are not omnipotent nor are they omni anything.
Take for example the Theros God of love. Where is it? Its gone. Because mortals stopped believing..... there was a Red Green God before Xenagos, dont you think?
This was all explained in the UR about Kruphix's prophet.
Kiora has a pretty good chance to die. She doesn't seem critical to any story, nor does she have a major fan base.
To be honest, she has it coming. She's being really hotheaded and it seems like she's going to go 1v1 Ulamog..... A shame, I like her.
Would be the only Planeswalker death since Venser died years ago, if I'm right.
Zendikar does have to be very big, note, though, that we do not know how Zendikar is made up. Perhaps it is a plain made out of mostly land? I mean, the earth's crust is just a small part of it. Perhaps Zendikar's crust is just a very significant part of Zendikar, thus, it can house huge beings. I'd remind you, the Eldrazi aren't THAT big, they're as big as skyscrapers, yes, but there are MILES of ground beneath you. Just the Earth's crust is 21 miles or 35 Kilometers deep. You could have 50 Kozileks stacked up beneath you right now!
Edit : It seems the size of the Eldrazi Titans is incosistant. Some make them out to be as tall as mountains while some make them sky-scrapers. Its hard to tell, and the stories aren't exactly accurate. At any rate, the Earth's crust is thicker.
"Promises to Keep" was well-written in my opinion. I loved how Chandra was written. The impulsivness we'd except from a red planeswalker - the way she just goes "Just a little peek" and instantly walks there, the rage, the intensity, some more fire monks lore. It was really nice.
Its a bit of a shame the story was so predictable with Kozilek coming in. What I find interesting is how fast Kozilek seems to have moved. I doubt Kozilek was bound under Sea Gate, as in the art piece with Nahiri, Ugin, and Sorin standing watching the trapped Eldrazi, they're all trapped together, and Ulamog had to travel quite a bit to get to Sea Gate. That means Kozilek is significantly faster than Ulamog, seems like he tunnels underground at great speeds? That or perhaps he was moving in the same direction as Ulamog, but underground, and he rose up when Ob Nixilis called him.
A very tight cliffhanger. The greatest concentration of life on Zendikar, trapped between two Eldrazi Titans that they are completly unprepared to fight, also, I believe we left the story just as Chandra was being flung into the air by the force of Kozilek's eruption out of the ground? That can't be good. Fortunatly, Gideon is there to be overpowered and save everyone.
Is it just me or do most Zendikar stories seem to be filler? Don't get me wrong I enjoy reading them but they're basically retelling the same story from different perspectives for almost a month now, adding just one paragraph of new happening each week.
^
At this point, I'd like to refer to the old Theros UR about Kiora vs Thassa. In that, Kiora is looking to find a specific kraken that is the biggest on Theros, when she sees him, she comments "He's as big as Kozilek". Seems a bit of a coincidence she found a kraken as big as Kozilek, when her UR is coming just as Kozilek joins the fight?
Lets say you're playing this in some eternal format.
Getting out early and uncounterable, not too hard. Then? Its impossible to do anything about it, because you counter everything they do.
A dream scenario of using a bunch of T1 ramp to cast it, then draw 7-6 cards because you usedd your entire hand to cast it, then just winning by countering every single spell, is not that far-fetched.
Come now, he was effected!
.... He was lightly nudged backwards.
Yha, you're right, its bad.
Then Gideon just stands infront of him and tanks him? The excuse of him being invulnerable is stupid and to be honest ruined all of my immersion. Ulamog isn't this big "Out of this world".... Its just a giant tentacle monster.
as for Void Winnower, I think he is part of Kozilek's brood. His powers seem to be more leaning towards the "Warp reality" thing, and that makes an Ob quote make sense.
The only clue we have? Its from the south.... But I don't really have any grasp on Zendikar's geography.
I'd like to refer to this quote directly from the Uncharted Realms in question (At Any Cost) : "Deep beneath the surface, it was already beginning to stir. I whispered to it, heedless of distance. I dared not focus my mind too directly on it—reality recoiled and splintered merely from my thoughts approaching."
So, first of all "Deep beneath the surface" - This is already going in the direction of Kozilek, since Kozi is supposed to be underground.
"Reality recoiled and splintered" - This is in my opinion the proof that it IS Kozilek, since, hey, he's the Eldrazi Titan of Distortion. Reality splintering seems to only be able to mean one thing, and I doubt it's 5/5 elementals, or infinite green mana.
As for Zendikar? It is SO doomed. I mean, really. Ob Nixilis, before awakening what I assume is Kozilek, directly attacked the Zendikari forces, and, even though its not stated, I believe he continued to attack and does not immidietly planeswalker away after the story ends, I mean, after all, so much life energy to take, it would be tempting.
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger is FREE again, and right above the greatest concentration of life in Zendikar.
and on top of all that? Kozilek is coming. The only thing we don't know yet is what is Ugin, the Spirit Dragon doing in all of this. Last we heard of him he was chilling in the Eye of Ugin alligning some ley-lines, who knows what he has in his pocket. I assume this is the point in the story where Kiora joins the fray too, since she made her intention of battling Ulamog clear and has yet to have shown.
Anyhow, this is just terrible odds. Literally every thing wrong is wrong. I guess there is still hope though, since, well. Sorin and Ugin are still in buisness, and with Gideon, Jace, Chandra, Nissa, AND Kiora? There is a force here that is capable of great acts.
Lastly, "Oath of the Gatewatch". I feel like they ARE going to trap Kozi and Ulamog and the oath is that Chandra/Gideon/Jace/Nissa will return to seaGATE (Gatewatch) incase they get free.
Marath, Will of the Wild has a fireball effect on him.
Ehm, those are my two cents for Commanders. As for spells....everything fireball.
Meteor Shower, Magmaquake, Earthquake.... Ehm, Sizzle, Banefire, and specifically Breath of Malfegor is a REALLY good one. Especially if you copy it.
I know she's U but I just have to point her out:
Uyo, Silent Prophet (Huge potential, very rare to see)
As for completly different colors.... that is a difficult task. As you've already stated, UR ARE the instant/sorc colors. This makes it tough because most creatures that care about or synergise with instants/sorcs, are Blue or Red.
You can go to Gatherer, type into the search fields "Legendary" "Creature" and "NOT red" "NOT Blue", and it will give you a whole list. If you want to take it a whole step further, you can add the word "Instant" or "Sorcery" in the 'rules text' catagory, to show only ones that mention the word. (I just tried this, and putting in ALL the above conditions, you get 0 results. Sorry /: . There are however, generals that synergise in more subtle ways than just doing stuff whenever you cast an instant or sorcery)
Ehm.... Anthousa, Setessan Hero? Does Heroic count?
Parasitic, in mtg terms, means (roughly) a mechanic that, in an absolute vaccum(where only the basic rules of magic exist), makes no sense, and is specifically part of a set or block.
For example, Devotion is not parasitic. It can fit in almost every mtg set.
The Snow Mana mechanic is parasitic. If Theros had a card that cost a snow mana, it would be unplayable.
I doubt Wizards will return to Snow Mana. As such, I think this mana will not be identical to the way Snow Mana works. Maybe it would be something like "either 1 new mana or 2 colorless." It would make sense, since this is a 12/12.
Avacyn being a product of Lithomancy used on the Silver of Innistrad does not seem too unlikely.
As for the Helvault, if Nahiri was involved with Innistrad in any way, she probably made it.