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  • posted a message on Amonkhet General Discussion
    Quote from user_938036 »
    Quote from RaltheMad »
    Quote from user_938036 »
    Quote from OathboundOne »

    We know that he hates being subservient to Niv, and can reasonably assume he'd find Bolas even worse.
    Where are you getting this idea? You've floated it at least twice in this thread and its gone either unchallenged or unnoticed, but my understanding has been that Ral basically worships Niv and more fears disappointing him then hates being subservient. If you could point to what makes you think this it would really help.



    It has been shown on the Secretist (return to Ravnica novella) and both stories Ral has appeared in. Ral worships the ideals of the Izzet but sees Niv as a nuisance that is holding him back and ignores his genious. Also he is afraid that if Niv discovers the existence of planeswalkers he will be the first specimen strapped in the dragons table to be cut open in order to find out what makes them planeswalk.
    I've read those and they gave me the exact opposite understanding of Ral's opinion of Niv. The main reason he gives for not outing walkers is the damage it would do to Niv's ego, which implies he is trying to protect Niv first and then is concerned that he 'might' end up on a table.

    So any quotes that specifically call this out would be much appreciated, because until Oathboundone mentioned it I had never considered Ral to be upset serving dragons. And obviously they are not the only one who views Ral's relationship this way; with you jumping in here.


    I haven't read The Secretist, so my impressions of Ral are entirely from his wiki page, anything I've read about him from other forum commenters, and the two story articles about him.

    The wiki page says:
    Indeed, Ral has never looked to the ancient dragon as a role model or mentor, but as a nuisance at best and a likely adversary at worst.

    So that's the lens through which I've read Ral's character through.

    With that in mind, Ral's concern with Niv Mizzet discovering planeswalkers would have nothing to do with not wanting the dragon's ego damaged, and everything to do with what that dragon would do to him(and any other planeswalker Niv could get his hands on, but mostly him) if that happened.
    From Project Lightning Bug:
    Besides, he knew the range of horrid things Niv-Mizzet would do in possession of that truth. Would he eagerly dissect all the Planeswalkers he could find in the spirit of curiosity, or simply eat them all to assert dominance and quell his existential jealousy? Would he track the comings and goings of every Planeswalker, and ruin all the work Ral had done to scrape his way through the ranks and achieve a position of respect among the Izzet?

    But you don't know Niv-Mizzet. It would crack him. It would turn him inside-out. And then he would turn us inside-out...

    Reading from the perspective given by the wiki, Ral didn't give a damn about Niv, he was worried about himself.

    When it comes to not wanting to disappoint the Firemind, it's because Niv tends to eat those who disappoint him.
    Posted in: Magic Storyline
  • posted a message on Amonkhet General Discussion
    Quote from scottjhebert »

    C) Ral Zarek is an agent of NB.
    I think Jay said everything appropriate here, but I might point out that there is some discussion that Ral may have become an agent of Bolas because of Jace becoming the Guildpact or something similar. The opposite may be much more compelling: Ral was trying to become the Guildpact as a way to get out of being an agent of Bolas. Tezzeret and Liliana both make clear that working for Bolas royally sucks. Ral might have been searching for a way out of that tyranny. He tried to kill Jace in the Maze because Jace was going to win.
    Also realize that if Ral is an agent of Bolas, maybe his report of Vraska PWing to 'nowhere' was simply a lie. We have only his word for it. Alternately, a very long plan of NB would be for him to say that to Jace so that when Jace fled on Amonkhet his mind would take him to the first plane it attached to... being Ral's reference to nowhere. IOW, some form of (nonmagical) hypnotic suggestion.


    Quote from Etherium Sage »


    It wouldn't be anything entirely new. The original Guildpact kept planeswalkers out of Ravnica, so a protective shroud keeping intruders from finding Ixalan would be interesting and entirely plausible. That said, if this is the case, it's now basically useless since Jace, Vraska, Ajani (if the "Conquest of Power" mock-up boosters were any indication) and maybe even Bolas (based on the fuzzy flavour text of River's Rebuke, one of the leaked Ixalan cards) are now aware of the place.


    To further the thinking with regard to Ral Zarek, lets combine the two trains of thought.

    We know that Ral really only cares about Ravnica, he's shown little to no interest in really exploring beyond the confines of "His" world.
    We know that he hates being subservient to Niv, and can reasonably assume he'd find Bolas even worse.
    We know that the original Guildpact locked planeswalkers out of the plane.

    It's possible then, that Ral had intended to use the position of Guildpact to somehow restore the lock and isolate Ravnica from the multiverse again, thus protecting his plane, and himself, from Bolas.
    Posted in: Magic Storyline
  • posted a message on Amonkhet General Discussion
    I kinda feel like Ral is more likely to be an unwilling agent for Bolas.

    We already know how much he chafes being subordinate to one arrogant, millennia old, self absorbed dragon. I find it hard to believe he'd willingly subjugate himself to another even worse dragon.

    I think he's got a Bontu situation going. He chose survival.
    Posted in: Magic Storyline
  • posted a message on Commander 2017 announcement -- Only 4 decks, based on popular tribes, not color wheel!
    Ah, yes. In the art, no. Even zooming in on the fine details of his art I don't see any Dimir emblems or crests or anything.


    They also printed Karlov of the Ghost Council in the same Commander set as Mazirek the bug dude.
    Posted in: The Rumor Mill
  • posted a message on Commander 2017 announcement -- Only 4 decks, based on popular tribes, not color wheel!
    Lazav has the Dimir watermark, just like all the other guild affiliated cards have their own...
    Posted in: The Rumor Mill
  • posted a message on Amonkhet General Discussion
    Another way they could do it is to only include cards for the Gods that are actively involved in the set's storyline. So, none of the complete cycles would be guaranteed (unless they each make an appearance).

    That runs the risk of pissing people off if THEIR god didn't make the cut, though.
    Posted in: Magic Storyline
  • posted a message on Amonkhet General Discussion
    The question would be, besides the twins, how would you pair the remaining two-color gods (and what about the missing red/green god)?

    Are there any other pairs of gods that even share any sort of linked backgrounds, purposes or agendas?
    Posted in: Magic Storyline
  • posted a message on Ixalan and Rivals of Ixalan
    Quote from Empathogen »
    Quote from DracoDracul »


    And I'd personally argue that the new Tarkir is a lot less interesting than the old Tarkir.


    AMEN.
    I honestly don't understand that decision—
    they go through all the effort to finally give proper names and identities to the wedges,
    only to completely erase that by the end of the block?
    How is that productive?

    Now that I think about it, they more or less did the same thing with Alara.
    They're going to need to do some serious retconning with either plane
    for a return to be appealing for me.

    With Tarkir, they made the mistake of overvaluing how popular Dragons are*, and undervaluing how much people liked wedges.

    I don't think they need to retcon a return though, they did hint at dissent in the ranks of the dragonlords, and remnants of the old clans still existing, so I think a return would be open conflict between the dragonlords and a resurgence of the clans.

    Particularly if they specify that the dragonstorms only happen while Ugin is physically present on the plane, so if he's gone the storms stop, no more new Dragons, and the clans see the opportunity to strike.

    *That's absolutely not to say Dragons aren't popular. They're the most popular race(species) in Magic. But people also really seem to like wedges.
    Posted in: The Rumor Mill
  • posted a message on Amonkhet General Discussion
    Quote from Gutterstorm »
    I can't remember where it's said exactly, but I'm pretty sure it's confirmed that it can be easer for planeswalkers to planeswalk in times of life threatening danger. Example, when Elspeth planeswalked away from New Phyrexia she was in the middle of combat and barely escaped an explosion. Other examples could be Kiora getting away from Thassa (albeit she did distract Thassa for a few seconds beforehand), or almost any other walker's first planeswalk. I imagine almost getting crushed by Bolas falls under that category. Sure, it kind of just sounds like plot armor, but I think it at least sounds reasonable.


    I think this is just whatever is convenient for the writer as I remember points where it was said that walking takes focus and can't be done or is harder to do under duress.

    Yeah. The whole reason Sorin's not supposed to be able to just 'walk out of his stone prison is cause he's in too much pain to focus, so it's really at the mercy of plot convenience.
    Posted in: Magic Storyline
  • posted a message on Amonkhet General Discussion
    1. Planeswalkers can planeswalk away from danger, all of the gatewatch are very capable of escaping before they die.
    2. I believe WOTC still puts the stories on the articles section of the MTG site.

    1) Not all planeswalkers can, necessarily; Elspeth, for instance, was apparently not very good at it (I'm not referring to her getting ganked by Heliod, that was a surprise attack that any planeswalker might be vulnerable to, I'm referring to the story where she writes a letter to Ajani. She specifically calls out that it takes her a good deal of time/preparation to 'walk.)

    But yes, it seems all the Gatewatch are capable of it.

    2) yeah, that's where I always find them. You can get to them from the Magic story page, but I find it somewhat unintuitive.

    On mobile it's Story > Magic's Story > Learn More (under the first section) > click the current block > click the current article.

    That's a lot of unnecessary page loads IMO.
    Posted in: Magic Storyline
  • posted a message on Ixalan basics
    Indeed. Very Machu Picchu, I like it.
    Posted in: The Rumor Mill
  • posted a message on Amonkhet General Discussion
    I've seen a few people say that Bolas' arrival would expose everything for the like that it was, as a reason for his destruction of Amonkhet.

    The problem with this rational is that the only reason that's true is because Bolas set it up that way. He didn't HAVE to set up the hours the way he did, he just did it. He could easily have made prophecies that DIDN'T require such action. How hard would it have been for him to pop in, act all benevolent for a few days/weeks/whatever, then take his Eternals "to the great and wonder us afterlife that awaits them, and all who prove worthy" and leave, promising to come back for the next batch later?

    Nothing necessitates a grand reveal even be a part of the scheme. HE wrote the prophecies afterall. He just did it, cause reasons.
    Posted in: Magic Storyline
  • posted a message on The Best / Worse fate on a plane built to just hate life.
    I honestly think that Phyrexianization would be the worst. I wouldn't want my consciousness to continue on beyond my agency. That just means that whatever is left of you is stuck as a hapless passenger as your physical form carries out atrocity after atrocity that you're powerless to do anything about.

    If I'm not ME anymore then I just want to end.
    Posted in: Magic Storyline
  • posted a message on Most Hated MTG Villain?
    I don't know if there's anyone who's ever MET Ob that doesn't have a tense history with him.

    I'd find it hilarious if she caged him with another hedron again... But that would cut off one of the relatively few PW villains that we've got, so I wouldn't expect that outcome.
    Posted in: Magic Storyline
  • posted a message on Most Hated MTG Villain?
    I can agree with that. Nahiri was a great villain for Innistrad. She might even be a decent villain put up against Ugin (though being dead IS a pretty good excuse for missing the planar bat-phone).

    Beyond that there's the possibility of expanding her "retribution" to ANYONE involved with the Eldrazi's release (conveniently putting her in direct conflict with our protagonist group, seeing as half of them were in at least some way involved in their release) but that becomes tenuous at best.

    I kinda feel like after a showdown with Ugin (where he none-too-gently corrects her misconceptions) the best plotline for her would be a redemption arc (possibly against Bolas, who orchestrated the release in the first place).
    Posted in: Magic Storyline
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