Well reasoned arguments but I have enough confidence in the Wizards team to work towards sustainable growth (realising that growth may come in product diversification Magic Duel, Modo, Commander realeases, etc) to not worry too much about a bubble. Having said that I'm a player and not a collector so don't really care about card values except when I have to reach deep into my wallet to build my latest concoction.
The point I think you miss mentioning though is that the original Zendikar had a similar promotion that they are deliberately trying to mimic with this promotion (to help meet player expectations). For those who don't remember, the original Zendikar had 'Treasures' included in extremely rare boosters (where treasures were old cards from alpha beta and unlimited that were highly desirable moxes, lotuses, etc).
The time-shifted cards from the Time Spiral set was another example of doing an adjunct print run to create something special.
Corporations will continue to do what they do, which is layer on shades of glamour to their product, to satisfy their customer base. And all indicators (product sales, tournament attendance, volume of associated up-stream down stream markets) show that Magic is doing quite well at the moment.
Hell, the Magic movie if done right, may be a real tipping point for non-computer gaming considering the fertile ground that the superhero movies created for bringing nerd/geek culture to the fore of popular culture.
-
- Tren3479
- Registered User
-
Member for 8 years, 9 months, and 22 days
Last active Sun, Aug, 27 2017 21:33:49
- 0 Followers
- 33 Total Posts
- 29 Thanks
I echo what some have said about Leylines being overused when mana would be better or more 'on-theme' for magic, but having said that Northjayhawk's breakdown on levels of magic above is a really good position that I endorse and think everyone should read (even if its a bit long).
What I wanted to add to the discussion was:
For those concerned that the Gatewatch will pull this one out of their A@#$ so they can do a 'Return to Amonkhet' block later down the line I do propose that Wizards could pull a very clever trick here... complete devastation of the plane would allow a return block to focus on the dusty tomb-raider tropes of Egyptian culture that they have largely avoided this time around.
...Loved the twist, Jace mocking himself, and the chess pieces taking over the board. Lilliana and Jace were well characterised (and we have more confirmation that the Raven Man is either possessing Lilli or a split personality).
The lead up to the oath was a low point, but I believe they were being overly sensitive as to why would a black-aligned character join the Gatewatch.
We won't get it, but it would be nice to have a story that sees the order of st traft and Sigarda form the nexus for a new force for good ... Have a verbal showdown between Olivia and Sorin (perhaps setting up what her post-avacyn ambitions will be) ... And something about what's next for Arlinn ("there are things beyond my understanding that threaten this world... I must go venture the worlds to learn more" would be a good opening to have her turn up somewhere when they want a character like her.
What they've done though is leave it all open so that they're not locked in when they want to revisit any of these characters or places, so I suppose it's justified if unsatisfying.
Olivia was well characterised
Nahiri and Sorin displayed old walker attitudes
Nahiri (cold vengeance prepared) and Sorin (disdainful raw emotional [after losing his friend, daughter and home]) were both dangerous ... and I genuinely wasn't sure who would win
Overall, the whole arc of Sorin and Nahiri from mentor/mentee to nemeses with the parallels in tortured worlds and imprisonment has been great to watch... And I don't think it's over. I was surprised that Nahiri didn't sacrifice herself for redemption but this opens up further stories. Just as I assume Sorin will be freed eventually (maybe not until Innistrad 3), I assume Nahiri will seek out Ugin... Not necessarily to fight (though she may be hot-headed), and no doubt he will be suitably unimpressed with her actions and will school her... the only question then is what story will WOTC create that can re-use this rivalry.
For those who complain about the writing... You're entitled to do so but I think you expect too much. These storylines, characterisations and overall writing depth are consistent with the comic books that they have acknowledged as their inspirational storytelling medium and there have been some true gems ('the blight we were born for' as well as lowlights 'Nissa's arc during BTZ; just as comics range from Watchmen through to Civil War).
I am surprised this story came so early in the block as it means that the Gatewatch will have a larger role in story than I'd hoped... But this is the new Jacetus League world we live in (that was promised since Origins) and so the expectation fault is my own.
Lastly, while we all suspect the outcome of Emrakul ... WE DONT KNOW ... So I am quietly hoping that it will be something satisfying. (My biggest fear is a card reveal later this week that shows tamiyo doing a moon entrapment or some such that will remo e the excitement of finding out the story 'as it happens')
Prediction: Arlinn, Odric and Thalia with their patron Sigarda fight the forces of Emrakul with the Gatewatch ... They get beaten back till Lilliana goes full veil psycho and fights zombies vs mutants. Nahiri comes to confront Liliana and Sorin steps in saying please may I have this dance. Vampire vs Rock ... Nothing beats rock... As Sorin gets incapacitated by Nahiri she screams 'For Zendikar' at which Nissa goes 'home gurl' and Jace mindshares Ulamog and kozileks defeat. Nahiri full of remorse reverses the polarity of the cryptoliths and pushes Emrakul into the heron moon then planeswalks away. Liliana claims Innistrad as her own... Emrakul continues to exert minor influence on Innistrad and maintains the horror plane. Chandra says I miss my mummy turns to Gideon and says hey hot-stuff wanna come back to my place... Jace says I'm up... Nissa screams "Road trip". SCENE
... The absolutely most ultra-spike take I've ever seen on multiplayer, but a really good read.
I have some friends who have played magic for a long time and despite enjoying the game and reading stories have never really got into the magic storyline. As such I wanted to give them a primer of the Top 5 online short stories. (Online for convenience)
So what are your top 5?
Some that standout to me are:
1. The blight we were born for - http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/blight-we-were-born-2016-01-13
2. Memories of blood - http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/memories-blood-2015-09-16
3. Monster - http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/ur/monster-2014-08-20
4. The first world is the hardest - http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/ur/first-world-hardest-2014-11-05
5. Retaliation of Ob Nixilis - http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/retaliation-ob-nixilis-2015-12-30
Honourable Mentions:
The Dragon's Errand - http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/uncharted-realms/dragons-errand-2015-05-06
Khan Fall - http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/khanfall-2015-02-18
The Truth of Names - http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/truth-names-2015-01-28
This is also a way for me to ensure I haven't missed any of the really good ones! (I don't think I read much of Theros, and I've only recently found the Kamigawa vignettes http://archive.wizards.com/Magic/tcg/article.aspx?x=magic/kamigawa/vignettes)
Emrakul looks like she is going to be short two right hand men shortly
What beings have essences of the blind eternities (a 'spark' if you will)? And could they be empowered to be her new lieutenants?
Without going too deep down the speculation rabbit hole... What if she transformed one of the Jace-tus league leading to the ultimate act of betrayal? Or gave Ob-Nixilus the world destroying power he always craved?
Creative still has a lot of options they can explore with the current story direction.
What I found interesting was the off-camera conversation that Jace and Nissa had to destroy Ulamog (ignoring Ugin's advice)... I wonder if they'll come back to that?
Highlights:
Chandra's doing things for her reasons and it not feeling forced (also demonstrations of red's emotions being positive)
Connection between URs... I look forward to more of this with the new creative direction
Kozileks entrance
Negatives: the first fight scene
Now that we're up to date ... Please no discussion of future fat pack spoilers in this forum.
Now can I please make a request of all who read this forum, WOTC has to tell this story through multiple mediums which has lead to the Fat Pack controversy of spoiling the story, also the explanation of the 5 key moments, etc etc
Can we all please agree to not discuss (even under a spoiler caption; as people often reply outside of spoiler caption) events that have not been described in a UR as we go into OGW.
Overall I did enjoy the BTZ story arch (there were high points (Ob) and low (Nissa)) but some of the punch was taken away by knowing the twists at the end.
Final observation, I like how in a non-forced way they've set up a mono-black villain with a mono-white and mono-green nemesis' (for their own and very different reasons).
My personal favorite for the colorless mana symbol would have been a circle or similar generic geometrical shape, but I suppose it needed to be something proprietary and hence had to be more dstinguished.
[/quote]
I think the symbol is quite clever... Coloured mana comes in circles... Colourless mana comes in an inverted circle
And put me in the camp that Sol Ring will now be printed T: Add <><> to your mana pool.
WOTC has come up with a very clever and elegant solution.
Positives:
- multiple viewpoints
- the meeting of zendikari's leaders
- alignment of hedrons, jace's illusion, and the Nissa/Jace team-up
- Gideon's pre-battle reflection
- good cliff-hanger ending
Negatives
- Ulamog did not feel epic, ther was no tension in whether they would succeed, or whether Ulamog would break the line before becoming trapped. This did not read like the final confrontation so much as backing a truck in (I swear I could here the beep beep beep tones in my head as I read) (Venufan's confrontation story idea above would have been much more powerful)
- similarly there was no urgency to the story as the battle of the army vs the spawn was given no attention
- Kiora was overdone, yes hubris is in her character, but it was dialled up to 11 in today's story
Separately, Kiora's inability to work with the others gives the creative good reason to not include her in the Jace-tus league... And her foolhardy wish to go toe-to-toe with Ulamog can fuel the rumours that she might be a casualty of Zendikar. (Though I doubt they'll do it after having so much fun setting her up with the trident)