MTG Salvation

New Story is up:

http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/lilianas-indignation-2016-04-20

Jace v. Liliana; def not a bad one this week.

Quote from Lithuasil »

So I proxied the list up, and tested a couple games with it:

First of all, this list is amazingly fun. Very good job on that. It does feel quite strong as well.


Couple of thoughts:

1) Sarkhan is not worth it. I have yet to come in a situation where I would not prefer new Jace over him. His -2 just gives them a target for their removal they don't feel bad about, and his +1 ramp never mattered. New Jace on the other hand does more for this deck (expecially since Ob occasionally comes at a point where plusing him puts you in burn range.)

2) Mana seems very solid - even with 1-2 blue walkers in, I never had any trouble casting the walkers.

3) The only card that I was frequently unhappy to see was Transgress the Mind. It whiffed occasionally, and very rarely hit anything I cared about. I can see why it'd be important in the ramp matchup, but it feels as though it should be more of a SB card. On the other hand, oath of chandra and decleration in stone do enough to warrant more then one MD imho.

Would you mind posting any changes you made to accommodate the blue 'walkers? I'm also thinking about using Jace if the mana supports him. Thanks!

Quote from Pollaski »

The hilsrious (or not) irony about this all is that in that regardless of where Nahiri's been the last millenia, she's been wrapped up inside her own anger and quest for revenge that she wasn't there to help her plane either when it absolutely needed her the most- and Sorin actually TRIED to stop it all (until Nissa screwed it all up). So basically, she not only committed the exact same crime Sorin did in not helping Zendikar, she's compounding it by wrecking Innistrad careless of all the innocent lives she's hurting.

I agree with your synopsis for the most part, but I think you are giving Sorin too much credit when you say he 'actually TRIED.' Nahiri spent approx 5K years bound to Zen, telling herself she can't leave for the sake of Zen. Sorin pops in for check ups for a short period after the titans are contained. Then he stops visiting all together after maybe a couple centuries. So for at least 4K years, it's just Nahiri. Sorin is off doing Sorin things, never bothering to come back. And when he does come back for RoE, does he actually help? Nope; we know he could have stopped Nissa, but he didn't and 'walks out.

And it would only be ironic if Nahiri couldn't save Zen due to her own actions, deliberately intending to stay off Zen after she left in Stirring from Slumber. However, we know she just wanted to make a quick trip to get Sorin and head back immediately. So it's more tragic that Zen gets decimated while she's gone b/c the story is leaning toward's outside forces keeping her away. I don't say Sorin specifically b/c the story is still unfolding, but it's looking like he's at leas indirectly involved.

My theory regarding the Daring Sleuth and walking lanterns is that the red weed is actually Em's 'wastes.' Instead of chalky residue or bismuth, Em would have a living blight that breaks down matter and/or helps warp living things. I can imagine Creative saying that Em can affect living things down to microbes to show just how powerful Em is. This would be terrifying as a suped-up, flesh-eating bacteria that also breaks down other matter.

There also reference to mites that live on Em, so it could be that the red weed also facilitates the mites and they can interact with non-living things on behalf of Em.

These cover what Em's 'wastes' could be and how Em can skirt around the 'non-living matter' issue.

She doesn't leave because of the looming threat of a breakout. She definitely had a zeal for life and living, but being confined to one plane exhausted her experiences and of course she'd lose interest, except that she kept her end of the deal. But the story goes on to state her passion for living was reignited during and after this Eldrazi outbreak.

After rereading Stirring from Slumber, one thing I haven't seen on here is that Nahiri spent considerable time battling Eldrazi and fixing the Hedron network. We aren't given exact measurements, but it's implied that good portions of time pass during the story, like when Nahiri waits after sending the initial call for help and when she's creating a new hedron. The other thing the story brings up is that while Sorin may have visited from time to time shortly after the Titans were sealed, his visits quickly become decades to centuries inbetween until he stops all together. That's a few thousand years without so much as a 'Hi, how are you?' from her mentor.

I feel this gives Nahiri a little more credence to being angry as her out look is 'I've been cooped up on Zendikar and cannot leave while you gallivant across the Multiverse.' And even if she was understanding why Sorin missed the distress call, she'd still be angry that he never visited enough to think 'Gee, I've been so busy setting up protections here, let me check up on Zen.' Seems like enough time went by between Nahiri waking up to her leaving for Sorin to pop in if he had felt like it.

I'm not reiterating the whole 'Blame Sorin b/c he's a D**K,' just saying that yeah, Nahiri's right to be angry and has some pent up aggression that's just barely contained at this point. From the story:
--Perhaps she had been cocooned long enough and she was ready to emerge into a new life, like a fully grown geopede. Perhaps the taste of bitter memory—of wistful longing, and especially of passionate rage—had awakened her from her centuries-long slumber and sparked her into a new wakefulness. In any event, she wanted to finish this so she could set out on her life's next step, whatever it might be.--

Quote from mamaster0246 »

A few things:


3) This story reveals a lot we didn't know about Avacyn. The initial storyline pushed avacyn as Sorin's means to protect humanity. But now we know she was meant to combat extra-planar threats as well. We also know Sorin 'laid protections' on the plane to keep it safe. These protections were strong enough to block out the 'call' to when the edrazi rose.

I thought this was a good detail to point out too. After his exposure to the Eldrazi, it makes since that Sorin, the most plane protective 'walker, would go to great lengths to cocoon Innistrad from outside threats. So he creates Avacyn, the Helvault and all manner of wards and magics tied to them to keep Innistrad safe. And this fits with the recent revelation that the destruction of Avacyn plays into Nahiri's plans: the Helvault is already destroyed, so removing Avacyn is the last straw that breaks Innistrad's protections. And once it's vulnerable, whatever Nahiri is Harbinging can fully impact the plane.

Def a good one this week. Decently written and finally addressing some missing details and framing a timeline.
I like that they kept Nahiri's mood the same from when we last saw her up until she actually speaks with Sorin.
Overall, looking forward to more story line progression and how everything plays out.

Quote from JDAEnzio »

Quote from TearingEons »

Yeah, I've noticed the buzzing drone before and am definitely curious to see it addressed. Is it something new, or will they reveal that Emrakul had intelligence all along.

I mean... Is there any reason to assume Eldrazi Titans are not capable of "intelligence"? We had the Blight We Were Born For for everyone to see, and the artbook describes the Eldrazi as choosing planes to devour based on some sort of "arcane, inscrutable intelligence".

I had a feeling this would come up; I meant more of an intelligence we can relate to, being mortals and 3-D beings and all. Emrakul actually speaking to, or through, living things would give us more insight into its mindset than 'Emrakul is doing this simply because it's Emrakul's wont to do so,' incomprehensibility that we've been given over and over. I would def like it if EM got more of what they did with Kozilek and we get glimpses every so often of what's going on in its mind.

Also, next story preview is up:

EPISODE 07: PROMISES OLD AND NEW
Sorin's past has returned to haunt him. Though shunned by his own kind, he hopes to gather the aid of the vampires to confront the threat that has come to Innistrad. His search has brought him to the remote estate of the powerful Olivia Voldaren.

Finally get to see Sorin!

Quote from orlouge82 »

Quote from Arcanus Dominus »

As for the reference to Liliana, that's someone's or something's mental influence attempting to deflect Jace from investigating the truth further:

"No, a dull, buzzing voice reverberated through his mind. Stop asking. Too many unanswered questions. You don't need the book and its bottomless well of mysteries. They'll drown you. Jace shoved the book away into his robes. You've come this far. You know the answer. Stop searching."

Kind of like the buzzing in Avacyn's head at the beginning of the storyline, no?

Quote from Lycodrake »

The buzzing sound and the general tone makes me think this is specifically the same being that messed with Avacyn doing the same to Jace - sending him after the red herring of Liliana.

Yeah, I've noticed the buzzing drone before and am definitely curious to see it addressed. Is it something new, or will they reveal that Emrakul had intelligence all along.

Really liked this week's story. As others pointed out, the werewolf autopsy, the Mad Prophet nod, and Jace's growing delusion were great.

I also like the imagery of the astral body, and the fact that Tamiyo calls it an Eldritch Moon. I've also been Team Emrakul since the beginning, so the gravity shift research notes made sense. I had fun picturing EM floating in both the mental prison-thing and above the Drownyard Temple, with angels flocking around like a perverse halo.

Hey guys, there's already a thread for the in depth discussion of Sin Prodder:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/the-rumor-mill/new-card-discussion/680127-sin-prodded
Please use the link as the discussion has derailed. I know I'm not a mod, but I'm tired of scrolling past the rules debates and whatnot.

On topic:
Skin Invasion // Skin Shredder seems good, had a lot of cool interactions at the Pre-Release.
Also thinking that From Under the Floorboards has potential

Decent story, hard to picture at some points, but overall not bad. I do like that Jace's head was messed with.

Quote from Caranthir »

Quote from JohnnyDegenerate »

Quote from Caranthir »

I am frankly surprised that many of you are not running here with "OMG EMRAKUL CONFIRMED!111!!!11!" after seeing the color scheme and style on Moldgraf Scavenger.

But it's a mushroom...

And what? Mushroom is not a living matter? People are grasping at such straws that this omission genuinely surprised me.

As for the lattice corruption, it is also seen in Might Beyond Reason and Broken Concentration.

When I first saw the Mushroom, I did see the Emrakul similarities. It fits with my theory that Em's blight would be organic in nature, using that as a means to breakdown in-organic, nonliving matter. This would show Em's influence and corruption also applies on small scale like fungi and bacteria.