One thing I will say about Kiora is, while her confidence is admirable, she's delusional. When she looked down at the bident and thought about how she won and defeated a god, I scoffed. Honey, you got royally wrecked by someone who spent the whole battle toying with you in front of her followers. Kiora survived by doing something every planeswalker can do, and only because she distracted Thassa with the idea of there being other worlds and oceans. Thassa was curious (Blue always is) and that bought her a few precious seconds before suffocation to flee.
I wonder how Kiora will buy herself a few extra crucial seconds against Ulamog? He's not going to care how many worlds she's seen or how many oceans are out there. Kiora is exiling two permanents and the top 20 cards of her deck and 10/10 is mowing down her 8/8s point blank. Then Thassa will have the last laugh on Theros.
Still love Kiora but let's be real here. Sweetheart wouldn't dare go back to Theros and see the end of that battle for a reason.
Unfortunately Kiora heading to Ulamog with her bident still counts as smart move, compared to what planeswalkers regularly do. She even tested the thing! Examples when 'walkers are planning ahead are rare, and I can't remember who and when had a thought out backup plan.
I don't know why everyone seems to hate the Nissa stories so much. Is it because you don't connect with her character? I do, and I found the stories to be very rich and having of a fair amount of plot significance. No less then the UR when Gideon moves a Hedron and becomes commander of a tiny army.
It's not Nissa, Nissa's character or her stories (or Gideon and his for that matter) that I loathe. It's the trivial pace of the story. It's either filler that drags on forever, and the moments we wait for are glanced over or rushed by. This Kiora story may not have expanded enough on Kiora training with the Bident and learning its capabilities as much as I'd had liked (although it did do a respectable job regardless, and left some mystery component, so hardly a drawback. In fact it may even be favorable and better writing this way now that I think about it), but it at least hit base with a few things that needed to be addressed as well as giving insight into her character and setting her up as a protagonist in the story. All in one UR. For the last seven weeks none of the stories have accomplished a fraction of what this one UR managed to do.
Maybe we have different opinions on what counts as filler, but this is still plot and world's better then the filler stories from khan's block, save for Aleshas. Even if the plot is slow moving, I don't think that's inherently a bad thing, and I wouldn't call it filler. If it weren't for the week break in between chapters, I don't think you all would feel the plot is moving as slow. When they inevitably make this an E-boom collection, I'm going to read it all at once and see how it compares to the urzas saga books, which I'm currently reading now.
Maybe we have different opinions on what counts as filler, but this is still plot and world's better then the filler stories from khan's block, save for Aleshas. Even if the plot is slow moving, I don't think that's inherently a bad thing, and I wouldn't call it filler. If it weren't for the week break in between chapters, I don't think you all would feel the plot is moving as slow. When they inevitably make this an E-boom collection, I'm going to read it all at once and see how it compares to the urzas saga books, which I'm currently reading now.
I, for example, liked Khans' stories more. Maybe because of different PoVs, maybe because each story had its end in which something was achieved. Now it feels like we're cycling through Gideon, who is protecting some survivors and going to retake Sea Gate, Nissa, who feels connection to Zendikar and is heading to Khalni Heart, and some random people most of whom don't achieve anything either.
No, I wouldn't complain as much if the stories weren't weekly but were, say, daily. But right now such plot-light stories do nothing while taking that little slots which are there. That's not what I hoped for when Wizards talked about intensification of storyline; I thought "Cool, now we don't have to wait years to hear news about Tamiyo, Tibalt, Vraska, Domri and the likes".
Hope the delay in plot development is there because the previous set was the last core set and we won't have such lags in future but will have the proper endings of previous storylines in transition periods. Otherwise, if revealing major plot points about incoming sets is not allowed before the release, why not dedicating space to another characters or planes?
One thing I will say about Kiora is, while her confidence is admirable, she's delusional. When she looked down at the bident and thought about how she won and defeated a god, I scoffed. Honey, you got royally wrecked by someone who spent the whole battle toying with you in front of her followers.
I take it you're the kind of person who doesn't tell the stories about Cosi.
So I've been thinking about the eldrazi titans and how Wizards seems to be trying to distinguish them from one another. We know from cards like Transgress the Mind that Ulamog lineage can cause psychological trauma and take over minds (Turn Against as well) but maybe this is a relatively rare thing among Ulamog brood. Ulamog is the titan of ceaseless hunger, the one who will eat any and all physical matter and is basically a big-tentacled-steamroller that goes around eating and smashing. As such, it makes sense that all his brood does is go around eating and smashing. Maybe psychic or magical trauma is a trait more common of Kozilek brood (Butcher of Truth/trickster god and all). I may be making something out of nothing, but it would make me feel better about how the eldrazi have been portrayed in recent UR. The brood currently most prominent on zendikar are just big aggressive tentacle monsters because the titan they spawned from is just a big aggressive tentacle monster. Ulamog is the weakest of the three, maybe he (for the most part) leaves the mental damage and reality distortion that we expect from Lovecraft-inspired beings to Koz and Em. I obviously don't mean by intentional preference because we don't know if the eldrazi even have that sort of thing, but just by standard method of feeding and reacting to threats.
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My Decks:
UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin" RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!" BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
Those are hedrons. Kozilek and his lineage's floating plates are flat, but those clearly have thick shadowed sides, indicating pyramidal shapes instead of triangular.
On the subject of "Turn Against", there's something I've been wondering about. In original Zendikar we saw the hedrons being used and manipulated exclusively (as far as I know) by eldrazi. That has since seemed to be kind of retconned with the hedrons being a method of imprisoning eldrazi, and the Zendakari using them as weapons, lanterns, and wards. The lone exception to this is "Turn Against" which shows a Zendakari being mind-controlled while tiny hedrons float around his head. This is presumably the work of an eldrazi (it's a devoid spell) so what does this mean for the hedrons? Are some of the eldrazi still utilizing them the way we saw way back in "Rise of the Eldrazi"? and if so how does this stack with everything we're being told about the hedrons, their purpose, and how the Zendakari are using them? I sort of like the idea that during their imprisonment the eldrazi may have learned how to manipulate the hedrons that were imprisoning them, but this is pure conjecture.
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My Decks:
UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin" RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!" BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
So I just opened my fatpack, and the booklet contains a brief rundown of the story for the whole of BfZ, up to and including an "ending" and a "to be continued in Oath of the Gatewatch"... Kinda pointless reading the UR's now.
The shards in Turn Against are not hedrons. They are too flat, too smooth and the colour seems more in line with the black obsidian shards of the Kozilek lineage.
Just looked at a bigger picture of the art for "Turn Against" and yeah those definitely aren't hedrons, but they do look a lot like Koz's obsidian plates. Maybe my theory of "messing with minds is Kozilek's shtick" is less out there than I thought.
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My Decks:
UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin" RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!" BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
Those are hedrons. Kozilek and his lineage's floating plates are flat, but those clearly have thick shadowed sides, indicating pyramidal shapes instead of triangular.
Actually, Kruphix7's theory is dead on. In the BFZ Fat Pack brochure this is said:
Kozilek is the Titan of Distortion. He changes the perception of the reality, making impossible to discern the truth. He twists loyalties, muddies thoughts, transforms emotions, induces despair and panic. His brood is said to have retreated to remote corners of the world, and it is generally believed that he left the plane.
These are indeed Kozilek-shards. A clear visual representation of his might, just like the white lattice and dust represent Ulamog's effects.
So I just opened my fatpack, and the booklet contains a brief rundown of the story for the whole of BfZ, up to and including an "ending" and a "to be continued in Oath of the Gatewatch"... Kinda pointless reading the UR's now.
Yeah. They really should have put SPOILERS AHEAD there.
I made a quick rundown of the info in this new thread:
I'm seriously thinking about stopping reading the URs. Why bother? They just show the whole thing in a fat pack. I can't believe, I honestly can't believe, how bad Magic is at storytelling.
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Would you like to read Commander stories? Check my latest stories, coming from Lorwyn and Innistrad: Ghoulcaller Gisa and Doran, The Siege Tower! If you like my writing, ask me to write something for your commander as well!
I'm seriously thinking about stopping reading the URs. Why bother? They just show the whole thing in a fat pack. I can't believe, I honestly can't believe, how bad Magic is at storytelling.
Why so serious?
So they spoiled it. Big deal. There is still half the story left to be told, and I, for one, am curious HOW it is going to be told. They just gave us the gist of it. They are testing new ways of storytelling, and there will be hits and misses. I honestly can't believe why you are such a sourpuss about that.
I'm seriously thinking about stopping reading the URs. Why bother? They just show the whole thing in a fat pack. I can't believe, I honestly can't believe, how bad Magic is at storytelling.
Why so serious?
So they spoiled it. Big deal. There is still half the story left to be told, and I, for one, am curious HOW it is going to be told. They just gave us the gist of it. They are testing new ways of storytelling, and there will be hits and misses. I honestly can't believe why you are such a sourpuss about that.
I follow a bunch of serialized media (tv series, comic books, manga, animes, etc. etc. etc.). People just don't spoil things like that man, this is amateur hour. To give a sinopsis of an upcoming episode is fine, everyone does that, but spoiling the major plot points in text form? That is horrendously bad. Honestly, how do you expect to read anything important in the URs from now on? You already know everything that will happen, with just one or two 'surprises' left (for instance, how nissa is gonna beat Ob Nixilis, but that is terrible because we already know now that she WILL beat him). I can't see how anyone would take this lightly, this is a grave mistake in my opinion, much worse than spoiling plot points in cards.
EDIT: just so you can understand it better, knowing that Nissa will beat Ob Nixilis removes any and whatever tension you could expect from their conflict. Maybe in the fight you could see a point where Ob was clearly winning and beating Nissa to the ground, but you will not worry or care because you know she will somehow come back from that and win. We already now that she won't be killed since she is Origins 5, but knowing that she won't be defeated ruins the story much more, can't you see? Honestly I can't understand how that is not a problem to you.
Would you like to read Commander stories? Check my latest stories, coming from Lorwyn and Innistrad: Ghoulcaller Gisa and Doran, The Siege Tower! If you like my writing, ask me to write something for your commander as well!
I don't know, the summary is there for the people who want to read it, and the people who want to be surprised each week can just ignore it. It's also a way for the people who may not be as deeply invested in the story, but still interested in it, to find out the overarching plot. Im still interested in finding out the details of everything. I do fully understand Ashiok's frustration, nothing is more annoying than following a TV show all season only for halfway through one of your friends to say "I like that show, kind of sucked how everybody died at the end" but, that's not really what this is. The plots of Tv shows are often put up on wikipedia and posted around the internet, if you want to find out the overarching plot you can, or you can just be surprised by the the new episode every week. The fatpack summary is, I feel, more or less the same. As a last point, Ant Man I thought it was a great movie, I think we can all agree it was at least good? We all knew he was going to get powers and become a superhero, we all what the villain's endgame was, and we all knew Ant Man was going to win in the end. Yet, the movie was still very enjoyable. I haven't loved every UR that's come out but let's give them a chance.
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My Decks:
UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin" RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!" BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
I'm seriously thinking about stopping reading the URs. Why bother? They just show the whole thing in a fat pack. I can't believe, I honestly can't believe, how bad Magic is at storytelling.
Why so serious?
So they spoiled it. Big deal. There is still half the story left to be told, and I, for one, am curious HOW it is going to be told. They just gave us the gist of it. They are testing new ways of storytelling, and there will be hits and misses. I honestly can't believe why you are such a sourpuss about that.
I follow a bunch of serialized media (tv series, comic books, manga, animes, etc. etc. etc.). People just don't spoil things like that man, this is amateur hour. To give a sinopsis of an upcoming episode is fine, everyone does that, but spoiling the major plot points in text form? That is horrendously bad. Honestly, how do you expect to read anything important in the URs from now on? You already know everything that will happen, with just one or two 'surprises' left (for instance, how nissa is gonna beat Ob Nixilis, but that is terrible because we already know now that she WILL beat him). I can't see how anyone would take this lightly, this is a grave mistake in my opinion, much worse than spoiling plot points in cards.
Well, I simply do not care. I do NOT know everything that will happen. There is still many details, names, references, subplots to be explored and told.
EDIT: just so you can understand it better, knowing that Nissa will beat Ob Nixilis removes any and whatever tension you could expect from their conflict. Maybe in the fight you could see a point where Ob was clearly winning and beating Nissa to the ground, but you will not worry or care because you know she will somehow come back from that and win. We already now that she won't be killed since she is Origins 5, but knowing that she won't be defeated ruins the story much more, can't you see? Honestly I can't understand how that is not a problem to you.
Again, I simply do not care that I know the end. Maybe I will not worry for Nissa, but I will care about the story itself. The journey is just as important as the final destination to me. I just enjoy the ride. ;-)
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100% Vorthos Spike and Storyline Expert
Former Fact Prospector of the Greek Alliance.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
I follow a bunch of serialized media (tv series, comic books, manga, animes, etc. etc. etc.). People just don't spoil things like that man, this is amateur hour. To give a sinopsis of an upcoming episode is fine, everyone does that, but spoiling the major plot points in text form? That is horrendously bad. Honestly, how do you expect to read anything important in the URs from now on?
Wizards doesn't care about about whether or not people read UR. Remember Magic is a game and the primary goal of the story is to keep people invested. They make their money selling cards not books. Having the narrative present in a variety of media targeted at different groups ensures that it gets out there to people who don't know or care about Uncharted Realms. Spoiling the story in the Fat Pack is a good business decision since the number of people who are highly invested in the story, hate spoilers, and will quit the game over it is quite small.
Honestly I can't understand how that is not a problem to you.
Some of us don't care about the big plot points at all, you know. I'd be fine with UR if there was no narrative at all and we just got vignettes about the setting. In a lot of ways I'd prefer it.
Very few stories have big dramatic beats with any real tension anyway. The heroes win in the end unless the author is trying to make a point in which case it will be obvious that the heroes could never win. There are lots of other things to enjoy about literature: artful prose (not common in Magic but it happens), characters, setting, adventure, and so on.
I follow a bunch of serialized media (tv series, comic books, manga, animes, etc. etc. etc.). People just don't spoil things like that man, this is amateur hour. To give a sinopsis of an upcoming episode is fine, everyone does that, but spoiling the major plot points in text form? That is horrendously bad. Honestly, how do you expect to read anything important in the URs from now on?
Wizards doesn't care about about whether or not people read UR. Remember Magic is a game and the primary goal of the story is to keep people invested. They make their money selling cards not books. Having the narrative present in a variety of media targeted at different groups ensures that it gets out there to people who don't know or care about Uncharted Realms. Spoiling the story in the Fat Pack is a good business decision since the number of people who are highly invested in the story, hate spoilers, and will quit the game over it is quite small.
Honestly I can't understand how that is not a problem to you.
Some of us don't care about the big plot points at all, you know. I'd be fine with UR if there was no narrative at all and we just got vignettes about the setting. In a lot of ways I'd prefer it.
Very few stories have big dramatic beats with any real tension anyway. The heroes win in the end unless the author is trying to make a point in which case it will be obvious that the heroes could never win. There are lots of other things to enjoy about literature: artful prose (not common in Magic but it happens), characters, setting, adventure, and so on.
That may be a corporative decision, but that goes against everything in the principle of 'now we are going to change our way of telling stories, we are gonna give the URs much more importance'. That is just dancing in the face of the URs. That is saying: "you, URs, you are useless".
Yes, in the end we know that in most stories the heroes win and bad guys lose. So what? First, magic is not like that, we have phyrexians beating the mirrans as one example of bad guys winning, so we are aware that magic is capable of giving the victory to the bad guys. Second there is a world of difference between knowing the biggest guidelines that a story follows (like knowing that at some point the planeswalkers would unite to fight the eldrazi) and just telling how everything is going to unfold. It is NOT the same thing. It sucks out the tension and it is bad for storytelling.
And I'm here invested in the story so I expect at least more consideration than "yup, we here from wizards couldn't care less, let's just spoil everything to "please" our broader audience". Let's be honest, broader audience doesn't give a shi* about the story, to them is just a fun gimmick that they would live just fine not knowing about. With that in min, the 'bigger audience' should not be an excuse for them to ruin the storyline for the invested players.
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Would you like to read Commander stories? Check my latest stories, coming from Lorwyn and Innistrad: Ghoulcaller Gisa and Doran, The Siege Tower! If you like my writing, ask me to write something for your commander as well!
And I'm here invested in the story so I expect at least more consideration than "yup, we here from wizards couldn't care less, let's just spoil everything to "please" our broader audience".
Yes, in the end we know that in most stories the heroes win and bad guys lose. So what? First, magic is not like that, we have phyrexians beating the mirrans as one example of bad guys winning, so we are aware that magic is capable of giving the victory to the bad guys.
In all fairness, the Phyrexians winning was hardly a surprise to anyone.
I wonder how Kiora will buy herself a few extra crucial seconds against Ulamog? He's not going to care how many worlds she's seen or how many oceans are out there. Kiora is exiling two permanents and the top 20 cards of her deck and 10/10 is mowing down her 8/8s point blank. Then Thassa will have the last laugh on Theros.
Still love Kiora but let's be real here. Sweetheart wouldn't dare go back to Theros and see the end of that battle for a reason.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
Maybe we have different opinions on what counts as filler, but this is still plot and world's better then the filler stories from khan's block, save for Aleshas. Even if the plot is slow moving, I don't think that's inherently a bad thing, and I wouldn't call it filler. If it weren't for the week break in between chapters, I don't think you all would feel the plot is moving as slow. When they inevitably make this an E-boom collection, I'm going to read it all at once and see how it compares to the urzas saga books, which I'm currently reading now.
No, I wouldn't complain as much if the stories weren't weekly but were, say, daily. But right now such plot-light stories do nothing while taking that little slots which are there. That's not what I hoped for when Wizards talked about intensification of storyline; I thought "Cool, now we don't have to wait years to hear news about Tamiyo, Tibalt, Vraska, Domri and the likes".
Hope the delay in plot development is there because the previous set was the last core set and we won't have such lags in future but will have the proper endings of previous storylines in transition periods. Otherwise, if revealing major plot points about incoming sets is not allowed before the release, why not dedicating space to another characters or planes?
I take it you're the kind of person who doesn't tell the stories about Cosi.
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
Your mods are terrified of me.
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
Actually, Kruphix7's theory is dead on. In the BFZ Fat Pack brochure this is said:
Kozilek is the Titan of Distortion. He changes the perception of the reality, making impossible to discern the truth. He twists loyalties, muddies thoughts, transforms emotions, induces despair and panic. His brood is said to have retreated to remote corners of the world, and it is generally believed that he left the plane.
These are indeed Kozilek-shards. A clear visual representation of his might, just like the white lattice and dust represent Ulamog's effects.
Yeah. They really should have put SPOILERS AHEAD there.
I made a quick rundown of the info in this new thread:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-storyline/637872-bfz-fat-pack-brochure-story-spoilers
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Your mods are terrified of me.
Read my other stories as well (some ongoing):
Reaper King (a horror story), Kaalia of the Vast (an origin story), Sequels for Innistrad (Alternative sequels for Inn), Grey Areas (Odric's fanfic), Royal Succession (goblins),The Tracker's Message (eldrazi on Innistrad) and Ugin and his Eye (the end of OGW).
Why so serious?
So they spoiled it. Big deal. There is still half the story left to be told, and I, for one, am curious HOW it is going to be told. They just gave us the gist of it. They are testing new ways of storytelling, and there will be hits and misses. I honestly can't believe why you are such a sourpuss about that.
Well... yes, they indeed are
What they definitely are not? Hedrons.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
I follow a bunch of serialized media (tv series, comic books, manga, animes, etc. etc. etc.). People just don't spoil things like that man, this is amateur hour. To give a sinopsis of an upcoming episode is fine, everyone does that, but spoiling the major plot points in text form? That is horrendously bad. Honestly, how do you expect to read anything important in the URs from now on? You already know everything that will happen, with just one or two 'surprises' left (for instance, how nissa is gonna beat Ob Nixilis, but that is terrible because we already know now that she WILL beat him). I can't see how anyone would take this lightly, this is a grave mistake in my opinion, much worse than spoiling plot points in cards.
EDIT: just so you can understand it better, knowing that Nissa will beat Ob Nixilis removes any and whatever tension you could expect from their conflict. Maybe in the fight you could see a point where Ob was clearly winning and beating Nissa to the ground, but you will not worry or care because you know she will somehow come back from that and win. We already now that she won't be killed since she is Origins 5, but knowing that she won't be defeated ruins the story much more, can't you see? Honestly I can't understand how that is not a problem to you.
Read my other stories as well (some ongoing):
Reaper King (a horror story), Kaalia of the Vast (an origin story), Sequels for Innistrad (Alternative sequels for Inn), Grey Areas (Odric's fanfic), Royal Succession (goblins),The Tracker's Message (eldrazi on Innistrad) and Ugin and his Eye (the end of OGW).
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
Well, I simply do not care. I do NOT know everything that will happen. There is still many details, names, references, subplots to be explored and told.
Again, I simply do not care that I know the end. Maybe I will not worry for Nissa, but I will care about the story itself. The journey is just as important as the final destination to me. I just enjoy the ride. ;-)
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Wizards doesn't care about about whether or not people read UR. Remember Magic is a game and the primary goal of the story is to keep people invested. They make their money selling cards not books. Having the narrative present in a variety of media targeted at different groups ensures that it gets out there to people who don't know or care about Uncharted Realms. Spoiling the story in the Fat Pack is a good business decision since the number of people who are highly invested in the story, hate spoilers, and will quit the game over it is quite small.
Some of us don't care about the big plot points at all, you know. I'd be fine with UR if there was no narrative at all and we just got vignettes about the setting. In a lot of ways I'd prefer it.
Very few stories have big dramatic beats with any real tension anyway. The heroes win in the end unless the author is trying to make a point in which case it will be obvious that the heroes could never win. There are lots of other things to enjoy about literature: artful prose (not common in Magic but it happens), characters, setting, adventure, and so on.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CQUs6VhWEAAP7BV.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CQUs6VgWgAAq9n6.jpg
Here are the actual images from the fat pack player's guide.
That may be a corporative decision, but that goes against everything in the principle of 'now we are going to change our way of telling stories, we are gonna give the URs much more importance'. That is just dancing in the face of the URs. That is saying: "you, URs, you are useless".
Yes, in the end we know that in most stories the heroes win and bad guys lose. So what? First, magic is not like that, we have phyrexians beating the mirrans as one example of bad guys winning, so we are aware that magic is capable of giving the victory to the bad guys. Second there is a world of difference between knowing the biggest guidelines that a story follows (like knowing that at some point the planeswalkers would unite to fight the eldrazi) and just telling how everything is going to unfold. It is NOT the same thing. It sucks out the tension and it is bad for storytelling.
And I'm here invested in the story so I expect at least more consideration than "yup, we here from wizards couldn't care less, let's just spoil everything to "please" our broader audience". Let's be honest, broader audience doesn't give a shi* about the story, to them is just a fun gimmick that they would live just fine not knowing about. With that in min, the 'bigger audience' should not be an excuse for them to ruin the storyline for the invested players.
Read my other stories as well (some ongoing):
Reaper King (a horror story), Kaalia of the Vast (an origin story), Sequels for Innistrad (Alternative sequels for Inn), Grey Areas (Odric's fanfic), Royal Succession (goblins),The Tracker's Message (eldrazi on Innistrad) and Ugin and his Eye (the end of OGW).
Why?
In all fairness, the Phyrexians winning was hardly a surprise to anyone.