The big thing i see causing problems here is that "never been done before" hasn't seem to have been defined. Do they mean "never been a theme of a set before" or that they have "never had this in a set before"?
One of the odd things i thought of, with the recent poll, they did something stupid with planeswalkers. This is the first block where we actually have planeswalker cards that oppose eachother and the big story has them duking it out, I worry they actually made a set based on planeswalkers by printing cards that interact with them (remove x counters from target pw, protection from pw,), though this is VERY unlikely cause it would make lots of people sad
I personally would like to see wedges just cause i like GUR, but i think this is unlikely since it doesn't convey "death of five birth of one", makes it look more like "death of five birth of five more". "Mono-color only" would not seem right either since it seperates the colors still, "multicolor only" seems to allow mixing and mingling of all the shards properly. My broad guess is that it is color or domain based.
Of the ones listed i like the manipulation of the loyalty counters the best, using magic to make one planeswalker hate another whether its with illusions or whatnot.
Did anyone else notice Apocalypse Hydra ended up being a Mythic Rare? It doesn't seem like it's worth making mythic.
EDIT: NVM. Just read up a few pages and noticed someone else brought it up already.
Mythics aren't supposed to be the best tourny cards, they are supposed to be the big, splashy, planeswalker, and legendary cards, like Progenitus here.
Awwwww, that makes me sad now because that is where the enemy color orb hits are coming from, activated abilities, i was hoping for a new GU and UR card.
As with everything, the Golgothan Sylex started the sundering of the plane that was once Alara. The plane shattered and became five pieces of a whole, each with their own culture and magic.
Having access to the planar portal underneath his castle, Baron Sengir goes to check it out and finds a plane full of despicable lifeforms that are not vampires. The baron bites Sarkhan, turns him into his thrall and continues to kill everything on Alara.
As an encore, Chandra 'walks in and wins a pageant show, Karn saves Tezzeret before he dies after losing his powers somehow and to top things off, Yawgmoth is not dead but hasn't been rebuilding Phyrexia either. He has just been sitting on a beach sipping sangria and watching the flamingos fight in an arena of pink feathers.
The Conflux breakdown, you saw it here first folks!.....?
How much space for a mana cost will there be after they put Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker in the title spot? He, most likely, can't cost the same as his creature version, i could also see him costing 1UBR. Maybe bring him over to all colored, UBBR, I don't know though.
I'll admit that Bolas isn't just in the set for nostalgia now, but him being a major storyline presence still doesn't necessarily mean he'll be the Grixis 'Walker. I think my official prediction is that Malfegor is the Grixis entry in the "Shard Planeswalker" cycle (either mono-B, UB, RB, or UBR) and Bolas will be the first ever WUBRG planeswalker, seperate from the cycle and major villain of the block.
I don't think they will print a 5 color walker for a while, its possible but the abilities for that kind of card are not really defined well... they are defined as everything actually.... hard to narrow that down for one card.
How many cards does each shard get? Including the cycles it looks like esper (easiest to count cause they are all artifacts) has about 38-40 cards? Math says, without basic lands, there are 214 cards in the set, about 42 per shard. Some are obvious cycles: panarama, cipt triple lands, obelisks. Makes it about 39 cards which will include the planeswalker, legend, 4uurg mythic, battlemage, ultimatum, the enemy color (ally color here) uncommons, then two commons of the ally colors (enemy here UR and GU, this one is odd though cause bant and jund got like 3 and naya didnt get any that fit), tricolor common and uncommon, ally color uncommon (this requires coordination with the other shards cause each alara shard got one making a cycle: thoughtcutter agent for esper, kiss of the amesha for bant, blood cultist for grixis, qasali ambusher for naya, and sangrite surge for jund). That is all if this is really modeled after Alara, cycles and all, doesn't need to be.
That is a lot of cycles, like 10 more making it like 29 cards that are not in cycles, and i am positive that i missed many of the cycles. There is also a cycle of mini cycles like jund's algae gharial cycle. BAH! the heralds too.... im gonna stop right there and see if anyone can answer my original question, how many cards are in each shard?
an excerpt from "A Planeswalker's Guide to Alara" :
"Malfegor
Said to be born from an unthinkable union, Malfegor is a demonic dragon -- a dragon with a demonic soul. With scales like shiy black plates, a powerful, eight-limbed body, and enormous, batlike wings, Malfegor is the essence of both power and fury. However, though he is loath to take orders, it is said that Malfegor answers to one other. Malfegor's master may lurk somewhere on Grixis, or outside the plane entirely."
This tells us that Cruel Ultimatum very well could be a reference to Nicol Bolas being the unnamed master. we know he survived the events of Time Spiral, because he used Leshrac's power and planeswalker spark to close off one of the temporal rifts, particularly the rift created when Nicol Bolas fought another planeswalker, a massive Leviathan, millenia before when the plane was still in it's infancy.
"will you donate your power to close this rift?" Teferi asked.
"Certainly not. I am power. Even without a planeswaker's spark, I am still a dragon-god. Still supreme. Besides," Bolas continued. "There is no need for me to make that sacrifice. Not when Leshrac has so graciously volunteered.
--from Future Sight set novel
This is more than enough to silence anyone who says Nicol Bolas is long gone. he's an Elder Dragon, immortal since his birth and only slightly more powerful now than he was before his planeswalker spark ignited. unless someone can best him in combat, he is unlikely to die.
I'll post another excerpt later that I believe hints at part of the storyline of the block novel.
Thanks for this stuff, I don't read many of the books, i learn what i can from online and from my friends that do read the books. I was pretty sure that Malfegor was not a planeswalker i just didn't have the guide to quote. All signs point towards Bolas, its not certain of course but is the most obvious answer to the lack of a Grixis walker.
Desert would really be nice, but we have already a list of cardnames, and additionally I don't see them printing a basic land for which name!=subtype.
greetings
Z
Yeah it sounded like a great idea until i started to type it out and realized that the only desert land we have was called Desert, which i knew, but it just didn't seem important at the time the light bulb went off.
I have not gone through the whole thread so i am just gonna ask this, did anyone here mention them using the desert type? Its an official land type and it seems barren enough to add colorless mana. Only problem is they would have to name the card something other than desert cause they already have that, just an idea.
It's all a lot of hype, i'm sure that will drop by the time the set is released, might go back up again after that though.
One of the odd things i thought of, with the recent poll, they did something stupid with planeswalkers. This is the first block where we actually have planeswalker cards that oppose eachother and the big story has them duking it out, I worry they actually made a set based on planeswalkers by printing cards that interact with them (remove x counters from target pw, protection from pw,), though this is VERY unlikely cause it would make lots of people sad
I personally would like to see wedges just cause i like GUR, but i think this is unlikely since it doesn't convey "death of five birth of one", makes it look more like "death of five birth of five more". "Mono-color only" would not seem right either since it seperates the colors still, "multicolor only" seems to allow mixing and mingling of all the shards properly. My broad guess is that it is color or domain based.
Mythics aren't supposed to be the best tourny cards, they are supposed to be the big, splashy, planeswalker, and legendary cards, like Progenitus here.
Sad Rafa
Memnarch was an epic fail and so Karn turned him back and had Glissa, Slobad, and Geth watch over it on Mirrodin.
Could you explain the point you are trying to make a little better please, cause i am not sure what you are trying to say? Thanks.
Rafa
The Conflux breakdown, you saw it here first folks!.....?
How much space for a mana cost will there be after they put Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker in the title spot? He, most likely, can't cost the same as his creature version, i could also see him costing 1UBR. Maybe bring him over to all colored, UBBR, I don't know though.
Rafa
Im sure someone would have mentioned it and the majority of us would have flamed him for it.
I don't think they will print a 5 color walker for a while, its possible but the abilities for that kind of card are not really defined well... they are defined as everything actually.... hard to narrow that down for one card.
Rafa
That is a lot of cycles, like 10 more making it like 29 cards that are not in cycles, and i am positive that i missed many of the cycles. There is also a cycle of mini cycles like jund's algae gharial cycle. BAH! the heralds too.... im gonna stop right there and see if anyone can answer my original question, how many cards are in each shard?
thanks
Rafa
Thanks for this stuff, I don't read many of the books, i learn what i can from online and from my friends that do read the books. I was pretty sure that Malfegor was not a planeswalker i just didn't have the guide to quote. All signs point towards Bolas, its not certain of course but is the most obvious answer to the lack of a Grixis walker.
Yeah it sounded like a great idea until i started to type it out and realized that the only desert land we have was called Desert, which i knew, but it just didn't seem important at the time the light bulb went off.
Rafa
Rafa