So ummmm... Anyone got an actual reference for WotC deciding not to reference the biblical plagues? Cause yeeeeaaahhhhh...... That was definitely the first plague. I mean I'm cool with it but there was stuff going around about them not doing exodus to avoid pissing people off.
So ummmm... Anyone got an actual reference for WotC deciding not to reference the biblical plagues? Cause yeeeeaaahhhhh...... That was definitely the first plague. I mean I'm cool with it but there was stuff going around about them not doing exodus to avoid pissing people off.
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
The tricky thing about that is a huge chunk of what mainstream culture knows about Ancient Egypt comes from the book of Exodus. So it's hard not to reference that.
And also, HOD is the Bolas-centered set. it's built around The bad Guy. and unleashing a bunch of really nasty plagues seems like something a bad guy would do.
The tricky thing about that is a huge chunk of what mainstream culture knows about Ancient Egypt comes from the book of Exodus. So it's hard not to reference that.
And also, HOD is the Bolas-centered set. it's built around The bad Guy. and unleashing a bunch of really nasty plagues seems like something a bad guy would do.
Yeah I understand. The plagues are iconic. I'd rather they use the material than not. I just thoughy they said they weren't gonna use them.
Can we just have Ms. Luhrs do all the stories from now on? Because damn.
Even after all of the amazingly executed stuff regarding Bolas and the gate opening, the ending is what really blew me away. See, it takes the story of the plagues from the Old Testament and flips it on its head. In the original, Moses is unable to convince the pharaoh to have faith in God, and as such God turns the Nile river to blood as a show of omnipotence, punishing his insolence. In The Hour of Revelation, everybody already has faith in the God-Pharaoh, but then a demon shows up and pulls the wool from their eyes by doing the exact same thing to the Luxa. It works so well as a parallel, I'm practically squee-ing right now.
I remember reading a theory that the mending is what allowed Eight and a Half Tail's ritual to succeed and permitted Konda to steal That Which Was Taken. But if the mending was only decades ago, then I suspect this is not the case.
It wasn't the mending, it was the ringing of the apocalypse chime. At least that's how I heard the theory,
Lots of stuff is supposed to be a direct or indirect result of that, something about one of the first fractures of the multiverse.(mostly theory, very little confirmed, and all subject to potential retcon)
So what are the odds of Amonkhet actually surviving this? It seems like a waste to have an Egypt plane and then just turn into a horror version of Tatooine or Bolas slurpie.
So what are the odds of Amonkhet actually surviving this? It seems like a waste to have an Egypt plane and then just turn into a horror version of Tatooine or Bolas slurpie.
Seems to be the usual pattern: Create a cool setting, wreck it in the final act of the block. Then when you return, find a way to undo the wrecking and say "Turns out wasn't really completely wrecked...". See Zendikar (Eldrazi's everywhere!... ok, not _everywhere_, yet...), Ravnica (the Guildpact is broken! ... ok, there's a new one now), and Innistrad (Avacyn makes the horror not horrifying anymore! ... ok, but now she's crazy!). They'll have to do the same for the inevitable return to Tarkir (..ok, some fragments of the clans survived), or the less likely returns to Alara (..ok, the conflux wasn't permanent) or Lorwyn (... ok, the Aurora's somehow continue without Oona)
Same with a return to Amonkhet. If they wreck it, they'll find a way to undo it for the return.
Can we just have Ms. Luhrs do all the stories from now on? Because damn.
Semi-agreed, out of the 9 stories she has written nearly all of them been great and none I think been too bad received (last weeks story, Yahenni stories, the Teysa story and the SoI Gisa and Geralf).
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“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Can we just have Ms. Luhrs do all the stories from now on? Because damn.
Semi-agreed, out of the 9 stories she has written nearly all of them been great and none I think been too bad received (last weeks story, Yahenni stories, the Teysa story and the SoI Gisa and Geralf).
On the other hand, if she does too many of them, she risks having her quality decrease.
Boy this was good. As others have said, the Gatewatch seems to heading towards a horrible loss this block.
Bolas just reminded us that although he prefers to exert his influence through machinations he is more than able to back up his claim as one of the biggest, baddest and most powerful beings in the multiverse. Granted he is shown before he lost his power but still I dont think any of them, including Lili who should be somewhat familiar as to what he is capable of, have any idea what they've gotten themselves into. It really feels like he's gonna wipe the floor with them.
About Naktamun being the last safe haven on the plane, I think that was probably Bolas too. He was known to them after all and the hieroglyps called him the Tresspasser. There is no way they were carved after the flashback sequence because he killed anyone who was not an infant and mindwiped the gods. There is literaly none left.
Yeah, I agree with this. I think it was his 2nd (or more) visit, and the plane was mostly destroyed by Bolas. I think the plane itself told Nissa that Bolas did everything.
I saw some questions in previous posts about who destroyed most of Amonkhet before Bolas.
Am I crazy for reading the opening as it being him that destroyed the rest of the world before taking on the gods?
Regardless, it's great to get one last glimpse of pre-Mending Bolas. Dude was a bad ass.
And I really, really love the plot to regain his pre-Mending powers.
If there's ever a better motivation for a megavillain in the Magic universe, I'd love to see it.
Yeah, I agree with this. I think it was his 2nd (or more) visit, and the plane was mostly destroyed by Bolas. I think the plane itself told Nissa that Bolas did everything.
Amonkhet did say that Bolas tried to kill it; on the other hand, I'm not discounting the possibility that Bolas just took advantage of a situation that was already there.
Also, am I the only one wondering about all these worlds Bolas said he created? Liliana thought he created Amonkhet, which turned out to be completely false, but I think it'd be interesting to see some worlds he did actually forge.
Is this the first time we've ever seen Bolas just show up and start whipping everyone's ass?
This wasn't evil chessmaster Nicol Bolas like we've seen in every other instance. This is straight up "I'm going to brutally exterminate all of you and enjoy it." Its the Nicol Bolas we've always knew existed, but finally got to see it first hand.
Even the violence is carefully calculated. Destruction is not a decision he makes lightly and he prefers to plot and scheme, but when you decide your options are limited and destruction will serve you best, then he goes all-in without hesitation or any messing around. He didn't expect to lose his god-like power, he doesn't see many ways to get it back, and he only has 3 days. There's no time for century-long plots.
The fact that he's also needlessly cruel when he doesn't think it'll hurt his plan is just a personality quirk. His cruelty may even be one of his weaknesses, if he experiences a downfall someday I could see it coming from being cruel to someone when it wasn't necessary or even when flattery and being generous would have been better. He doesn't see them as a threat, so why not be cruel, and the victim then zealously devotes the rest of their life to bringing down Bolas.
I remember reading a theory that the mending is what allowed Eight and a Half Tail's ritual to succeed and permitted Konda to steal That Which Was Taken. But if the mending was only decades ago, then I suspect this is not the case.
Not the Mending. The cataclysms of Dominaria that reverberated through close planes, including Kamigawa. The Kami War and the Kamigawa block happened some 800 years before Mending.
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Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
I remember reading a theory that the mending is what allowed Eight and a Half Tail's ritual to succeed and permitted Konda to steal That Which Was Taken. But if the mending was only decades ago, then I suspect this is not the case.
Not the Mending. The cataclysms of Dominaria. The Kami War and the Kamigawa block happened some 800 years before Mending.
Could you be a bit more specific? Dominaria has a cataclysm every other week.
I saw some questions in previous posts about who destroyed most of Amonkhet before Bolas.
Am I crazy for reading the opening as it being him that destroyed the rest of the world before taking on the gods?
Regardless, it's great to get one last glimpse of pre-Mending Bolas. Dude was a bad ass.
And I really, really love the plot to regain his pre-Mending powers.
If there's ever a better motivation for a megavillain in the Magic universe, I'd love to see it.
I predict that Bolas's plan will partially, but not fully succeed. If his plan was successful and he just straight-up became an oldwalker, well then things just get ridiculous. As the only oldwalker he would just own the whole multiverse. I think something will interrupt or interfere with his plan and he becomes super-powerful to the point where only a large group of planeswalkers can oppose him, but he doesn't actually become an oldwalker.
So what are the odds of Amonkhet actually surviving this? It seems like a waste to have an Egypt plane and then just turn into a horror version of Tatooine or Bolas slurpie.
Seems to be the usual pattern: Create a cool setting, wreck it in the final act of the block. Then when you return, find a way to undo the wrecking and say "Turns out wasn't really completely wrecked...". See Zendikar (Eldrazi's everywhere!... ok, not _everywhere_, yet...), Ravnica (the Guildpact is broken! ... ok, there's a new one now), and Innistrad (Avacyn makes the horror not horrifying anymore! ... ok, but now she's crazy!). They'll have to do the same for the inevitable return to Tarkir (..ok, some fragments of the clans survived), or the less likely returns to Alara (..ok, the conflux wasn't permanent) or Lorwyn (... ok, the Aurora's somehow continue without Oona)
Same with a return to Amonkhet. If they wreck it, they'll find a way to undo it for the return.
Personally I hope they don't fix it, but still return. There are two sides to Egypt, it's ancient thriving past, and it's dead and buried present.
It would be cool if years down the line they did a set called something like Mysteries of Amonkhet, where a planeswalker discovers the plane and it's ancient ruins. Done with more of an archaeological take on the plane, it would be a good chance to have more traps/curses.
I saw some questions in previous posts about who destroyed most of Amonkhet before Bolas.
Am I crazy for reading the opening as it being him that destroyed the rest of the world before taking on the gods?
Regardless, it's great to get one last glimpse of pre-Mending Bolas. Dude was a bad ass.
And I really, really love the plot to regain his pre-Mending powers.
If there's ever a better motivation for a megavillain in the Magic universe, I'd love to see it.
I predict that Bolas's plan will partially, but not fully succeed. If his plan was successful and he just straight-up became an oldwalker, well then things just get ridiculous. As the only oldwalker he would just own the whole multiverse. I think something will interrupt or interfere with his plan and he becomes super-powerful to the point where only a large group of planeswalkers can oppose him, but he doesn't actually become an oldwalker.
I agree. It's hard to imagine him getting back all of his powers by himself. He'd be like Superman on earth - and without any source of Kryptonite.
So what are the odds of Amonkhet actually surviving this? It seems like a waste to have an Egypt plane and then just turn into a horror version of Tatooine or Bolas slurpie.
Seems to be the usual pattern: Create a cool setting, wreck it in the final act of the block. Then when you return, find a way to undo the wrecking and say "Turns out wasn't really completely wrecked...". See Zendikar (Eldrazi's everywhere!... ok, not _everywhere_, yet...), Ravnica (the Guildpact is broken! ... ok, there's a new one now), and Innistrad (Avacyn makes the horror not horrifying anymore! ... ok, but now she's crazy!). They'll have to do the same for the inevitable return to Tarkir (..ok, some fragments of the clans survived), or the less likely returns to Alara (..ok, the conflux wasn't permanent) or Lorwyn (... ok, the Aurora's somehow continue without Oona)
Same with a return to Amonkhet. If they wreck it, they'll find a way to undo it for the return.
Personally I hope they don't fix it, but still return. There are two sides to Egypt, it's ancient thriving past, and it's dead and buried present.
It would be cool if years down the line they did a set called something like Mysteries of Amonkhet, where a planeswalker discovers the plane and it's ancient ruins. Done with more of an archaeological take on the plane, it would be a good chance to have more traps/curses.
Wow, thats actually perfect. They had to get rid of concepts and cards that pointed to a dead egypt and focused on ancient egypt.
I think you nailed it. Amonkhet is probably going to be destroyed, maybe no one even survives at all, and a return will be more of an archeology feel where some planeswalker needs to search this dead civilization for some important artifact.
edit: it would be awkward to have a set where only undead creatures exist, but they could fix that with a story that takes place in multiple planes. There's no reason why they can't do a multi-plane set where the team split up and some go to Amonkhet to poke around the ruins (and thats where the black creature cards are), and the rest go to some other plane. Core sets were always multi-plane.
The tricky thing about that is a huge chunk of what mainstream culture knows about Ancient Egypt comes from the book of Exodus. So it's hard not to reference that.
And also, HOD is the Bolas-centered set. it's built around The bad Guy. and unleashing a bunch of really nasty plagues seems like something a bad guy would do.
Yeah I understand. The plagues are iconic. I'd rather they use the material than not. I just thoughy they said they weren't gonna use them.
I remember reading a theory that the mending is what allowed Eight and a Half Tail's ritual to succeed and permitted Konda to steal That Which Was Taken. But if the mending was only decades ago, then I suspect this is not the case.
Not the Mending. The cataclysms of Dominaria. The Kami War and the Kamigawa block happened some 800 years before Mending.
Could you be a bit more specific? Dominaria has a cataclysm every other week.
Sylex Blast, to some extent the Worldspell, Tolarian time machine explosion. All these huge events on Dominaria that happened before that time. The rifts existed since that, just they were not so apparent as in Time Spiral.
I saw some questions in previous posts about who destroyed most of Amonkhet before Bolas.
Am I crazy for reading the opening as it being him that destroyed the rest of the world before taking on the gods?
Regardless, it's great to get one last glimpse of pre-Mending Bolas. Dude was a bad ass.
And I really, really love the plot to regain his pre-Mending powers.
If there's ever a better motivation for a megavillain in the Magic universe, I'd love to see it.
I predict that Bolas's plan will partially, but not fully succeed. If his plan was successful and he just straight-up became an oldwalker, well then things just get ridiculous. As the only oldwalker he would just own the whole multiverse. I think something will interrupt or interfere with his plan and he becomes super-powerful to the point where only a large group of planeswalkers can oppose him, but he doesn't actually become an oldwalker.
We already saw one Bolas's "ingenious" plan to become oldwalker-powered again. Rejoin the shards of Alara, enter the Maelstrom and OM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM. For all we know, it worked. Because back then, he STARTED TO SPEAK IN CAPITALS AFTER THAT
They can reason that he had put this plan into motion and in the meantime, he found a way to exploit Alara...
Personally I hope they don't fix it, but still return. There are two sides to Egypt, it's ancient thriving past, and it's dead and buried present.
It would be cool if years down the line they did a set called something like Mysteries of Amonkhet, where a planeswalker discovers the plane and it's ancient ruins. Done with more of an archaeological take on the plane, it would be a good chance to have more traps/curses.
They'll also conveniently omit the Grim Striders, zombies, sandwurms and Horrors of the Broken Lands from the planeswalker tourist brochure.
Can we just have Ms. Luhrs do all the stories from now on? Because damn.
Semi-agreed, out of the 9 stories she has written nearly all of them been great and none I think been too bad received (last weeks story, Yahenni stories, the Teysa story and the SoI Gisa and Geralf).
On the other hand, if she does too many of them, she risks having her quality decrease.
Plus, Chris L'Etoile (where's he been anyways)
Just as long as James Wyatt never gets to wreck a climax again, I'm happy.
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Ethan Fleischer said in his design article;
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/card-preview/five-trials-2017-04-04
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
And also, HOD is the Bolas-centered set. it's built around The bad Guy. and unleashing a bunch of really nasty plagues seems like something a bad guy would do.
Click the pic for more info.
Yeah I understand. The plagues are iconic. I'd rather they use the material than not. I just thoughy they said they weren't gonna use them.
Even after all of the amazingly executed stuff regarding Bolas and the gate opening, the ending is what really blew me away. See, it takes the story of the plagues from the Old Testament and flips it on its head. In the original, Moses is unable to convince the pharaoh to have faith in God, and as such God turns the Nile river to blood as a show of omnipotence, punishing his insolence. In The Hour of Revelation, everybody already has faith in the God-Pharaoh, but then a demon shows up and pulls the wool from their eyes by doing the exact same thing to the Luxa. It works so well as a parallel, I'm practically squee-ing right now.
Lots of stuff is supposed to be a direct or indirect result of that, something about one of the first fractures of the multiverse.(mostly theory, very little confirmed, and all subject to potential retcon)
Same with a return to Amonkhet. If they wreck it, they'll find a way to undo it for the return.
Semi-agreed, out of the 9 stories she has written nearly all of them been great and none I think been too bad received (last weeks story, Yahenni stories, the Teysa story and the SoI Gisa and Geralf).
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
On the other hand, if she does too many of them, she risks having her quality decrease.
Yeah, I agree with this. I think it was his 2nd (or more) visit, and the plane was mostly destroyed by Bolas. I think the plane itself told Nissa that Bolas did everything.
Am I crazy for reading the opening as it being him that destroyed the rest of the world before taking on the gods?
Regardless, it's great to get one last glimpse of pre-Mending Bolas. Dude was a bad ass.
And I really, really love the plot to regain his pre-Mending powers.
If there's ever a better motivation for a megavillain in the Magic universe, I'd love to see it.
Amonkhet did say that Bolas tried to kill it; on the other hand, I'm not discounting the possibility that Bolas just took advantage of a situation that was already there.
Also, am I the only one wondering about all these worlds Bolas said he created? Liliana thought he created Amonkhet, which turned out to be completely false, but I think it'd be interesting to see some worlds he did actually forge.
Even the violence is carefully calculated. Destruction is not a decision he makes lightly and he prefers to plot and scheme, but when you decide your options are limited and destruction will serve you best, then he goes all-in without hesitation or any messing around. He didn't expect to lose his god-like power, he doesn't see many ways to get it back, and he only has 3 days. There's no time for century-long plots.
The fact that he's also needlessly cruel when he doesn't think it'll hurt his plan is just a personality quirk. His cruelty may even be one of his weaknesses, if he experiences a downfall someday I could see it coming from being cruel to someone when it wasn't necessary or even when flattery and being generous would have been better. He doesn't see them as a threat, so why not be cruel, and the victim then zealously devotes the rest of their life to bringing down Bolas.
Not the Mending. The cataclysms of Dominaria that reverberated through close planes, including Kamigawa. The Kami War and the Kamigawa block happened some 800 years before Mending.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Could you be a bit more specific? Dominaria has a cataclysm every other week.
I predict that Bolas's plan will partially, but not fully succeed. If his plan was successful and he just straight-up became an oldwalker, well then things just get ridiculous. As the only oldwalker he would just own the whole multiverse. I think something will interrupt or interfere with his plan and he becomes super-powerful to the point where only a large group of planeswalkers can oppose him, but he doesn't actually become an oldwalker.
Personally I hope they don't fix it, but still return. There are two sides to Egypt, it's ancient thriving past, and it's dead and buried present.
It would be cool if years down the line they did a set called something like Mysteries of Amonkhet, where a planeswalker discovers the plane and it's ancient ruins. Done with more of an archaeological take on the plane, it would be a good chance to have more traps/curses.
I agree. It's hard to imagine him getting back all of his powers by himself. He'd be like Superman on earth - and without any source of Kryptonite.
Wow, thats actually perfect. They had to get rid of concepts and cards that pointed to a dead egypt and focused on ancient egypt.
I think you nailed it. Amonkhet is probably going to be destroyed, maybe no one even survives at all, and a return will be more of an archeology feel where some planeswalker needs to search this dead civilization for some important artifact.
edit: it would be awkward to have a set where only undead creatures exist, but they could fix that with a story that takes place in multiple planes. There's no reason why they can't do a multi-plane set where the team split up and some go to Amonkhet to poke around the ruins (and thats where the black creature cards are), and the rest go to some other plane. Core sets were always multi-plane.
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/161549124468/didnt-you-say-you-were-specifically-avoiding
Sylex Blast, to some extent the Worldspell, Tolarian time machine explosion. All these huge events on Dominaria that happened before that time. The rifts existed since that, just they were not so apparent as in Time Spiral.
We already saw one Bolas's "ingenious" plan to become oldwalker-powered again. Rejoin the shards of Alara, enter the Maelstrom and OM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM. For all we know, it worked. Because back then, he STARTED TO SPEAK IN CAPITALS AFTER THAT
They can reason that he had put this plan into motion and in the meantime, he found a way to exploit Alara...
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
hahahah man if that isn't one of most Rosewater responses ever...
They'll also conveniently omit the Grim Striders, zombies, sandwurms and Horrors of the Broken Lands from the planeswalker tourist brochure.
Plus, Chris L'Etoile (where's he been anyways)
Just as long as James Wyatt never gets to wreck a climax again, I'm happy.