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Welcome back to Archive Trap, the unofficial guide to Magic: the Gathering. Today we will dive in to Alara's story... and it amazes even me that it took more than 5,000 words to get here! Alara's lore is really dense, so in Part I we took a look at the world building of each plane. In Part II we talked about the characters and the backstory of the plane itself. Today we will dive into the story of a Nacatl pariah you might know: Ajani Goldmane. The Ajani we meet in Alara Unbroken is not the same figure we know and love. Alara actually takes place before his first planeswalker card, before he was considered the wise mentor he is commonly thought of as today. This Ajani is angry, he is ostracized by his tribe and even hunted by humans because of the color of his fur. When his world is turned upside down one fateful night, he goes on a quest for vengeance and leaves several bodies in his wake.
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The World of Alara Part II: Legends of The Sundered Plane
Welcome back to Archive Trap, the unofficial guide to Magic: the Gathering. Today we are going to talk about Alara, a plane most of you know and fondly remember as the home of the Shards - both the sundered pieces of an ancient plane and the name for their respective tri-color combinations. In Part I, we talked about the nature of each Shard. It is quite a lot to get through! The Shards are so well defined they could each be an article unto themselves. Today we will talk about the characters of Alara (of which there are many) and the basic backstory of the plane.
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The World of Alara Part I: The Five Shards
The Vorthos Guide to Magic: The Gathering
Follow Archive Trap on Twitter and Tumblr Welcome back to Archive Trap, the unofficial guide to Magic: the Gathering. Today we are going to talk about Alara, a plane most of you know and fondly remember as the home of the shards - both the sundered planes and the name for their respective tri-color combinations. Alara was a very popular destination as a multi-color plane, and one of the few planes we haven’t had a true ‘return’ to yet. Outside of Shards of Alara, new Alara cards have popped up in multiple commander products, Magic 2013 (which brought back the Exalted mechanic) and Magic Origins. -
Pack #44: Shards of Alara, featuring Thoughtcutter Agent
(Chaos Pack #4 opened for June 28 to July 3, 2015)
(Continued from here)
The players around me during my stint at a Chaos Sealed event were pulling out powerhouses like Emrakul and Aether Vials. I, on the other hand, had to content myself with cards like this.
Still, I just love the flavor on this card. It's a rogue that inflicts a (slightly painful) mark on its targets (causing them to lose 1 point of life) to let them know that "their secrets are secrets no more" (by making them reveal the cards in their hand). I can almost imagine it climbing up to the highest tower in an Arcane Sanctum and shouting at a microphone: "I am now broadcasting to everybody that you are holding nothing but three Islands in your hand in light of an upcoming combo victory. You, yes, you: the one I have branded with a filigree rose at back of your left hand. Suffer for the embarrassment!"
It's a rather haughty method of information-gathering with nothing of the subtlety that one usually expects in spies, but I guess that's what happens when you add a bit of black in summoning your rogues: sadistic finesse.
Magic Origins is just around the corner as I write this and I can't help but compare this agent's home plane (Esper) with Chandra's (Kaladesh), since both seem to be so heavy with artifice. I wonder how undercover agents would operate in an industry-heavy world that's patrolled by thousands of thopter spies?
(To be continued)