I liked Annie's story. Not sure why this isn't a main story, but whatever. Maybe what is considered a side and main story is dependent on the quality, huh.
One thing I find really really weird is... You have an entire plane populated by people coming from elsewhere. There was literally JUST an invasion of unthinkable scale, one that saw entire lands, entire planes, devastated.
And yet it's never mentioned and it never comes up in the backstory of ANY character, not even the one-of randos that are not important. Huh?!
I don't know what the writers will go with, most of the time my headcanons and fanfiction end up being more interesting than the actual story (goes for a lot of us) but it was a thought I had when I first learned about planeswalkers back in 2010. Omenpaths are a thing now, but most people are still limited in the planes they can go to, right? Rakdos can't just go to any plane he wants. Maybe there is some resource, a metal, an element that is rare or non-existent on Ravnica, but Ashiok as a Planeswalker has access to a world where it is plentiful. A lot of people would be very interested in dark steel, or cosmium, or aether, or Halo, you know? and those are just examples to come up since the creation of the Gatewatch.
But you're definitely right about it not being gold or something traditional like that.
The problem isn't people being on Thunder Junction. Especially in the wake of the Phyrexian Invasion, I can totally see countless of people who lost near everything want to escape the ghosts of their past or the ruins of their homes to start a life elsewhere.
The problem is that these specific characters have no reason to be involved in this specific situation. As was said, Satoru is a crime boss. He has his own gang. What can Ashiok offer him that he cannot get on Kamigawa. Money?! What.
And Kaervec has gone broke after his prisonbreak? What, is he gonna buy himself a new invasion force to take over Zhalfir a random piece of land, through employment???
Since when does Gisa care about money? What needs does she have for money? She's literally surrounded by zombies all the time.
And Eriette can simply charm people and take their wallet, without Ashiok.
And a minor nitpick that makes me laugh a little, but: Where does Rakdos bougth Rakdos-sized vest, bandanna anda bandolier? And who made Kaervek's hat-crown?
I mean, there's going to be a haunted mansion plane somewhat soonish. Is a mega-mall plane really such an unthinkable idea?
If I try to have an open mind and tell myself that this is trying to emulate the typical dime stories, that used to be cheesy, it is borderline acceptable.
It just seems they took a handful of villains across the planes and get them together. No motivations, no reference to previous lives, etc. Just for the cool. Looks to me like the Secret Wars from animated Spider-Man series, when the Beyonder just pulled several villains to his dimension and let them fight Spidey and his friends (to prepare Spidey and co. for their multiverse-saving task).
It really feels like a half-baked fanfic "what would happen if you took the biggest baddies and get them work together". Why the heck would Satoru Umezawa, a pragmatic crime lord, want to leave his world for this? What is the ****ing motivation of these characters to even work together?
It seems to me that they are now using established characters (Vraska, Kaervek) and tossing them around for "cool" short, shallow stories.
The shallowness is, in fact, what bothers me the most here. The previous stories (Eldraine, Ixalan, Karlov Manor) had at least some clear reason and motivations present. This is just "yee haw, boys, let's make Ocean's Eleven in Magic. Wild West time!"
This, basically. Calling it a half-baked fan-fic is pretty much on point. There is no rhyme or reason to these characters being here. It's just a senseless mashup.
Man, I wasn't sold at all on the whole omenpath thing since the beginning. Yet somehow they managed to disappoint me, still.
And the funniest slash saddest thing is that Annie is stealing everyone's show because she actually acts like a real character and has a reason to be here.
Huh, interesting. I mean, we already got told they used space-ship looking like ships to invade Ixalan, so I guess we'll see the Fomori as the big baddies in the space opera set.
Yeeeaaaah, we're getting into the territory where the story kind of falls apart. I can buy some of the characters being here, but some are just very forced. Why is Rakdos here? Eriette? Satoru? Gisa and Geralf? Even Breeches and Malcolm are such random inclusions.
Kaervec only works until you realize that he probably wouldn't join such a "small time crime" team given his power and ambition before he was imprisoned. It's like putting Bolas here, or Baron Sengir. I do have to say I actually enjoy the idea that he uses archaic speech, but that's just a little gimmick.
As always, it could be made to work, to give each character a reason to be here, but Magic stories never have the scope for that so I think this story would have been served better to have most of the characters be new ones. Eh, whatever.
thats Actually a power suit from the fomori this is revealed from unused concept art of caverns of ixalan so they was three cards that were gonna mention the formori in Caverns of Ixalan.
and for the gunfight now we know its after they figure it out so the most logical and obvious guess is kellan comes to his sense's and comes back to team good and stops his own father.
I mean... Oko literally ended this chapter with saying having a son is useful, which... doesn't really bode well for their relationship. I assume at some point Kellan will realize that his father only uses him and becomes disillusioned with him (pun intended).
it's nice to see a trans character come up in a decent way, where it's just one part of what he has going on. too many franchises think that just being a trans character is enough, instead of being a good, interesting character who is also trans. Yuma should be very popular!
Honestly, yeah. He's a more interesting character than Kellan.
But... It feels more like setting up the character for later use. We learn about his history but... that's it. But being a side story I assume we'll only get one story of him, so... a bit of a waste really. I feel like the story wanted to be something different if that's the only time (in the foreseeable future) where we see Yuma.
One detail I found interesting is Yuma saying that Thunder Junction is a new plane. I wonder if it was meant literally.
Looks like we got our answer why Oko and Kellan will duel. Kellan is part of Ral's security and Oko's team might get in the way of the Sterling company at some point. (Or the other way around, whichever way you wanna look at it.)
Oko's son, Kellan, has at last tracked down his wayward father, but his schemes threaten to sweep Kellan into the role of a villain.
And given that he's gonna be called "Kellan, the Kid"....
Oh yeah, Kellan is definitely going to end up on Oko's team.
I'm thinking more like, Oko will run into the sterling company and/or Ral, Kellan will prepare to duel the intruder, he finds out that it is Oko and then however it goes from there. I doubt they will actually duel. It'll just be a high tension moment before Kellan goes like "Dad?!" and then Oko will be like "Uhh, which one are you again?" and then Ral is all like "Well, this is awkward."
Looks like we got our answer why Oko and Kellan will duel. Kellan is part of Ral's security and Oko's team might get in the way of the Sterling company at some point. (Or the other way around, whichever way you wanna look at it.)
Aaaaaand they forgot what's-her-face-vampire-map-girl exists, lol.
Malcolm will bring the Mycotyrant there with him. At the last paragraph of Ixalan story, "someone" has been infected, but only visible symptoms were eyes, hidden behind googles...
A new body stood on the deck of a ship—such useful things, ships—and watched as it approached High and Dry. This one retained its original form in most ways, except for its eyes, covered by dark lenses. Better to hide, and plan, and spread.
I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be Malcolm and instead just some random pirate. Just a potential setup for the future that might or might not lead anywhere, like always.
So the Eldrazi commander will likely have all six mana types in its casting cost. My money would have been on Slivers for mtg’s first such card.
It could also be that it costs colorless mana and has a WUBRG activation cost. The big spawn tend to be truly colorless with the lesser spawn making use of devoid.
But we'll see.
Maybe we'll even see hybrid costs with colorless and colored halves. Then it could still be playable entirely in a colorless deck.
Another "oddly fitting for " creature type came up: Wolverines. There's one in MoM and at least one more coming in Thunder Junction. In some way it could be another strike in favour of the "multiple creature types" theory I posted earlier, but... why seed earlier sets with creature types that are not going to be tribally relevant themselves?
Maybe the real reason we see so many obscure creature types like mole and wolverine coming back now is because working on Bloomburrow has opened the creature department to the various furry critters MtG hadn't done in a while. Who knows.
Also another squirrel in Thunder Junction but it's white? That doesn't even fit the Squirrel tribe in Bloomburrow. Urgh.
It's probably very unlikely but what if DFCs and cases come back in Thunder Junction, front is the case and when it's solved you transform it into the culprit behind the crime. Kinda like those recruitment montages in gangster movies, when they assemble their team. You're not a detective solving a crime, you're trying to be faster than the sheriffs, so you can recruit the guy before they can arrest him.
I assumed it did, to be honest. He had practically nothing to do in Ixalan and Ravnica. Two sets out of three he was just dragged along only to justify the omenpaths existing. How much more can they stretch out his non-involvement in the story? At least Thunder Junction is the resolution to his arc.
I'm increasingly convinced raccoons are the tribe. The cards we have in standard match the colours and I doubt the character on the commander box is not native to the plane. We have a raccoon character on the basic land art and there is a raccoon in the magic con splash artwork. (The one that shows all four products)
Question is where the badger character fits. Badgers are historically green and the only badger in standard has a green-black identity, but that spot is very likely squirrels.
Funnily enough there's quite a few moles in standard right now, with the most conspicuous being Tunnel Tipster. Could have a "multiple creature types matter" theme? Maybe Bloomburrow has a twist on party where each creature can contribute one unique creature type to the party. Bloomburrow seems to emphasize adventurer parties. And then Red-Green is the limited archetype for that, with raccoons as the main type but also having badgers and moles to help with the mechanic?
… you did remmeber supplament sets especially modern horizon sets can do any time line right?
Ulamog and kozilek are dead and yet they are here in the set
so clearly that art is before MOM
Then the flavour text doesn't make sense. It's clearly referring to the events of MOM. Polluted Delta and Flooded Strand do too. The other two are more neutral as they don't refer to the invasion at all.
One thing I find really really weird is... You have an entire plane populated by people coming from elsewhere. There was literally JUST an invasion of unthinkable scale, one that saw entire lands, entire planes, devastated.
And yet it's never mentioned and it never comes up in the backstory of ANY character, not even the one-of randos that are not important. Huh?!
The problem isn't people being on Thunder Junction. Especially in the wake of the Phyrexian Invasion, I can totally see countless of people who lost near everything want to escape the ghosts of their past or the ruins of their homes to start a life elsewhere.
The problem is that these specific characters have no reason to be involved in this specific situation. As was said, Satoru is a crime boss. He has his own gang. What can Ashiok offer him that he cannot get on Kamigawa. Money?! What.
And Kaervec has gone broke after his prisonbreak? What, is he gonna buy himself a new invasion force to take over
Zhalfira random piece of land, through employment???Since when does Gisa care about money? What needs does she have for money? She's literally surrounded by zombies all the time.
And Eriette can simply charm people and take their wallet, without Ashiok.
What is going on with these people???
I mean, there's going to be a haunted mansion plane somewhat soonish. Is a mega-mall plane really such an unthinkable idea?
This, basically. Calling it a half-baked fan-fic is pretty much on point. There is no rhyme or reason to these characters being here. It's just a senseless mashup.
Man, I wasn't sold at all on the whole omenpath thing since the beginning. Yet somehow they managed to disappoint me, still.
And the funniest slash saddest thing is that Annie is stealing everyone's show because she actually acts like a real character and has a reason to be here.
And she's the only one who's a new character.
Huh, interesting. I mean, we already got told they used space-ship looking like ships to invade Ixalan, so I guess we'll see the Fomori as the big baddies in the space opera set.
Kaervec only works until you realize that he probably wouldn't join such a "small time crime" team given his power and ambition before he was imprisoned. It's like putting Bolas here, or Baron Sengir. I do have to say I actually enjoy the idea that he uses archaic speech, but that's just a little gimmick.
As always, it could be made to work, to give each character a reason to be here, but Magic stories never have the scope for that so I think this story would have been served better to have most of the characters be new ones. Eh, whatever.
Huh. Got a link for that?
I mean... Oko literally ended this chapter with saying having a son is useful, which... doesn't really bode well for their relationship. I assume at some point Kellan will realize that his father only uses him and becomes disillusioned with him (pun intended).
Honestly, yeah. He's a more interesting character than Kellan.
What's a cokepoke?
But... It feels more like setting up the character for later use. We learn about his history but... that's it. But being a side story I assume we'll only get one story of him, so... a bit of a waste really. I feel like the story wanted to be something different if that's the only time (in the foreseeable future) where we see Yuma.
One detail I found interesting is Yuma saying that Thunder Junction is a new plane. I wonder if it was meant literally.
Oh yeah, Kellan is definitely going to end up on Oko's team.
I'm thinking more like, Oko will run into the sterling company and/or Ral, Kellan will prepare to duel the intruder, he finds out that it is Oko and then however it goes from there. I doubt they will actually duel. It'll just be a high tension moment before Kellan goes like "Dad?!" and then Oko will be like "Uhh, which one are you again?" and then Ral is all like "Well, this is awkward."
Aaaaaand they forgot what's-her-face-vampire-map-girl exists, lol.
I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be Malcolm and instead just some random pirate. Just a potential setup for the future that might or might not lead anywhere, like always.
It could also be that it costs colorless mana and has a WUBRG activation cost. The big spawn tend to be truly colorless with the lesser spawn making use of devoid.
But we'll see.
Maybe we'll even see hybrid costs with colorless and colored halves. Then it could still be playable entirely in a colorless deck.
Maybe the real reason we see so many obscure creature types like mole and wolverine coming back now is because working on Bloomburrow has opened the creature department to the various furry critters MtG hadn't done in a while. Who knows.
Also another squirrel in Thunder Junction but it's white? That doesn't even fit the Squirrel tribe in Bloomburrow. Urgh.
Question is where the badger character fits. Badgers are historically green and the only badger in standard has a green-black identity, but that spot is very likely squirrels.
Funnily enough there's quite a few moles in standard right now, with the most conspicuous being Tunnel Tipster. Could have a "multiple creature types matter" theme? Maybe Bloomburrow has a twist on party where each creature can contribute one unique creature type to the party. Bloomburrow seems to emphasize adventurer parties. And then Red-Green is the limited archetype for that, with raccoons as the main type but also having badgers and moles to help with the mechanic?
Then the flavour text doesn't make sense. It's clearly referring to the events of MOM. Polluted Delta and Flooded Strand do too. The other two are more neutral as they don't refer to the invasion at all.
Huh, true. There's a green sun/moon on the right too.
Thing is, the suns/moons of Mirrodin have been moved to Zhalfir when the two planes swapped and Zhalfir was never invaded during MOM...
It's not set anywhere as a whole. Individual cards are set across the entire history of the multiverse.