Technically all of Magic is High Fantasy. I think I'll drop that line because I guess people have very different interpretations of what it means.
I heard 'Archeology World' just now, and I kind of like it. Dominaria (especially Terisiare) was defined a lot by Archeology. There are enough buried civilizations and power on the plane that it would be a great way to connect all the history while having a single cohesive theme. The only other plane that was like that was Zendikar, and that's over for Zendikar anyway.
Also, I wouldn't say that Zendikar's days of being an Indiana Jones plane are over. Infact, I'd say with the destruction done by the Eldrazi and some potential lingering effects of their influence, I'd say they could continue with the "dangerous exploration" angle on Zendikar.
I think Dominaria could become some sort of "Keepers of Knowledge" world, where all the past cataclysms as well as information on famous planeswalkers and other interdimensional entities are archived. Then again, could also be too narrow. Mmh.
I agree with MaRo's take in principle, and I think they have the right people in place to do it right. If I were on the Creative team, I would consider Dominaria's wild diversity of places and cultures to be its defining feature, as well as the complexity of its history. It's not *just* traditional fantasy; it's also African folklore in Jamuraa, environmental fable (in Sarpadia, Yavimaya, etc.), sword and sorcery adventure, sci fi invasion tropes, crazy mutant pitfighters, and empires ruled by cat dragons. You'll find angels, pegasi, unicorns, catfolk, dragon spirits, mystical healers, djinns, giants, and basic guys with javelins -- and that's all in just one color.
While it's true that this was the result of a design quirk of the time (yes, for a story about "planeswalkers," there was a remarkably small number of planes, and not much walking between them), I think that breadth of variety and depth of heritage has become the plane's defining feature. I would love for there to be direct nods to that baroque complexity in the story (imagine a character trying to figure out exactly which of the many world-threatening villains Ajani was talking about - Yawgmoth? No. Karona? No. Tevesh Szat? No. Nicol Bolas? Oh, yeah, that guy...remind me what his deal is again?).
Mechanics could reflect this as well, for example by encouraging the use of lots of different creature types or lots of different colors, or by pulling together a bunch of different past mechanics and discovering new ways for them to interact with each other.
This is, honestly, exactly what the Time Spiral block did, and it's probably my favorite block of all time. I don't know if they can hit that height again, especially in only one set, or if they even want to be that ambitious. But I think that in principle, that's the best way for them to reflect Dominaria's unique identity.
I think Dominaria could become some sort of "Keepers of Knowledge" world, where all the past cataclysms as well as information on famous planeswalkers and other interdimensional entities are archived.
When you phrase it like this, it almost sounds like Dominaria is on the way of becoming the next Equilor. I think the planes is still a few eons away from achieving the status of a "plane that's just done with everything", but it is intriguing thinking about how many cycles of cataclysm and rebirth would eventually lead to such a world.
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Mechanics could reflect this as well, for example by encouraging the use of lots of different creature types or lots of different colors, or by pulling together a bunch of different past mechanics and discovering new ways for them to interact with each other.
There'll probably never be another set as mechanically diverse as the Time Spiral block. It's kinda sad, to be honest. There was so much variety, but apparently it was too much for many players. Maybe they'll pull off the next best (= most possible) impression, but judging by what Maro has said so far, I won't excpect too much heterogenity when it comes to mechanics. It's more likely that the variety will be shown in the flavor and art.
I find Maro's argument of mashing up planes pretty disingenuous, especially as his chosen examples are ones no one would choose to put on the same plane.
I also think it's possible to visit a plane without limiting oneself to one distinct area. For instance, Mercadia had a bunch of very different regions, with very different cultures. The book, at least to me, did a good job at fleshing out the different areas. If Mercadia was a modern block, I could see Wizards focusing only on the city itself, with some vague information on the other regions and motivations.
Also, Tarkir had a sense of scale, and developed and revealed not just five distinct regions and cultures, but ten (after the dragons take over again), and maybe fifteen, if you count the past khans.
Alara too had different regional and culture approaches, but that may have been more due to the shards than anything else. If there had been no shards, would Alara have been like a Dominaria in its variety?
I was on Magic hiatus after Scourge until Alara, but my impression is that Mirrodin was 'limited', and Ravnica was focused on the city. (I'm still unclear on whether the whole plane is a city, because the books for the first block described areas outside the city). I have no idea of the regional and cultural scope of Kamigawa. It's one of the planes I know almost nothing about. Same with Lorwyn.
Anyway, the point is that it's possible for Wizards to go to a plane and explore its inherent variety instead of focusing on a specific limited area, which is the impression I got from Mirrodin, Ravnica, Innistrad, Kaladesh, and Amonkhet. These are my feelings and opinions, and you don't have to share them.
When I look at Dominaria, I see how one plane can be used to provide a plethora of different stories, much like our planet is capable of providing unknowable variety. We go into the past, to the Thran, the Brother's War, the Ice Age, Urza's story, the Weatherlight crew, the war for Dominaria, the survivors and the gladiators of Otaria, the warping of time and space because of Dominaria's long history.
Dominaria isn't just some haphazard collection of continents that should have been separate planes. From the time of the Brother's War, Dominaria has had a long, believable, and pretty direct arrow of cohesive story. Mirage, Visions, and Prophecy also have their place.
Contrast this with planes with set themes. They won't have any variety apart from that theme. And so, at least to me, that limits their possibilities, which grander planes don't encounter.
So when Maro writes the way he does about Dominaria, I maintain that he is being somewhat disingenuous. Dominaria made and makes sense. And personally, as someone who likes depth, breadth, and scope, the 'single serving' planes like Innistrad and Mirrodin aren't as appealing as others.
I agree with MaRo's take in principle, and I think they have the right people in place to do it right. If I were on the Creative team, I would consider Dominaria's wild diversity of places and cultures to be its defining feature, as well as the complexity of its history.
Haven't they said Donimaria is like a nexus for the multiverse as well? They could lean into that for the story and the plane's identity.
(In b4 they split off some of Donimaria's more exotic locations into their own planes because "the mending")
There'll probably never be another set as mechanically diverse as the Time Spiral block. It's kinda sad, to be honest.
The "masters" sets are these, to some degree. It's honestly the only place you'll see as many disparate mechanics in a single place. Which is probably fine. They don't need 40 named mechanics to make a good set.
Gven that only about 60 years has pasted since the Mending, how restored can Dominaria be. And forgive me if I'm wrong, but the only post Mending thing we've seen so far is a bit of Urborg in the lead up to Scars of Mirrodin, right?
Technically all of Magic is High Fantasy. I think I'll drop that line because I guess people have very different interpretations of what it means.
I heard 'Archeology World' just now, and I kind of like it. Dominaria (especially Terisiare) was defined a lot by Archeology. There are enough buried civilizations and power on the plane that it would be a great way to connect all the history while having a single cohesive theme. The only other plane that was like that was Zendikar, and that's over for Zendikar anyway.
"Archaeology World" would be a nice touch considering how Dominaria's original story began...
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Gven that only about 60 years has pasted since the Mending, how restored can Dominaria be. And forgive me if I'm wrong, but the only post Mending thing we've seen so far is a bit of Urborg in the lead up to Scars of Mirrodin, right?
A lot can happen in 60 years, but the reality is we haven't seen a lot of places on the plane for 360 years or more. You're right that all we've seen is a bit of Urborg.
Technically all of Magic is High Fantasy. I think I'll drop that line because I guess people have very different interpretations of what it means.
I heard 'Archeology World' just now, and I kind of like it. Dominaria (especially Terisiare) was defined a lot by Archeology. There are enough buried civilizations and power on the plane that it would be a great way to connect all the history while having a single cohesive theme. The only other plane that was like that was Zendikar, and that's over for Zendikar anyway.
I really like this idea, especially since it's a great link back to the Artifacts War, the Phyrexians, the Legacy Weapon, etc.
Dominaria might end up being the Planeswalkers Block though, although I really hope not.
Technically all of Magic is High Fantasy. I think I'll drop that line because I guess people have very different interpretations of what it means.
I heard 'Archeology World' just now, and I kind of like it. Dominaria (especially Terisiare) was defined a lot by Archeology. There are enough buried civilizations and power on the plane that it would be a great way to connect all the history while having a single cohesive theme. The only other plane that was like that was Zendikar, and that's over for Zendikar anyway.
I really like this idea, especially since it's a great link back to the Artifacts War, the Phyrexians, the Legacy Weapon, etc.
Fallen Empires, the Ice Age on Terisiare, The Cabal on Otaria. Basically every past storyline in magic could be covered in one way or another with this theme.
I like the Archaeology World idea. It seems like a great way to tie together the Brothers' War, the Sarpadian empires, the Tolarian Academy, etc. in a way that's respectful of Dominaria's rich past and could absolutely drip nostalgia.
However, although I like it, that's not really the key question here. We want to know what Wizards is doing. Archaeology World Dominaria, along with Zendikar and the direction Ixalan looks to be going, would give us three settings playing around in the "Adventure World" space. Would Wizards do it? I'm not sure, they may very well whiff on this opportunity. We'll see...
I would simply like if we could follow a legend when we are on Dominaria for a change. More nods to the past as well as a hero's journey. Although I might be hoping for too much with how the story seems to be focusing on planeswalkers. Which if Squee has become a planeswalker and had a happy reunion with Karn that would just be dandy in my book.
I think the only way to make Dominaria more cohesive is to play into the time rift theme. Like, the multiverse is ok now thanks to the mending, but the plane itself could still be "chronologically unstable" and have some "chronological anomalies" going for it that you could base the set on. That way, they can take cards from different settings and stories and have them appear on Dominaria while also making them cohesive overall. For example, say they make the white creatures part of some knightly order. Then the cards of the creatures themselves could be knights but:
One of them is a Zendikari Kor with an equipment related ability.
One of them is a Human Knight from Benalia with flash.
One of them is a Innistradi Cathar protection from Demons, Vampires and Werewolves.
Etc.
The tribe can still be cohesive while being flavorfully distinct. It can kind of be a core setting based of of magic's history and none of the requirements for noobs (Whereas the real coreset tries to adhere more to generic fantasy and simpler cards).
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Looking at it from Wizards' perspective, I'm less convinced they'd go the time rift angle than the archaeology angle. For the newer (at the time) players, Time Spiral block was an incomprehensible mess of references they didn't get. For older players, it was fun to see all that wonderful old stuff come back, but we were brought on board by those returns themselves, not the justification for them. Wizards probably knows they wouldn't be pleasing many by going that route.
They can still do the time angle. As stated by Armored Cancrix, time anomalies still happen. It just wouldn't be overarching theme like with Mirage or with Time Spiral.
I'm surprised no one had mention this yet, but this set would be the perfect place to reprint Oriss, Samite Guardian and the rest of the grandeur cycle. As such, they might be involved in the story, even just as bit parts. Who knows, maybe one of them might have their spark ignite and end up recruited by Ajani. I'd argue we need another black-aligned character, especially if Liliana ends up getting kicked out of the Gatewatch for duping them into demon hunting, but I don't think zombies like Korlash can have sparks.
Well, Zhalfir and Shiv both survived the Invasion and were last seen being overlaid back onto Dominaria by Teferi. I could see them doing 2 Sets next year one in each place.
I don't see Dominiria as High Fantasy either, post-apocalyptic with area's unaffected/less impacted is more what it feels like. Having that with "found treasures of the past" trope along with "Recovering World" trope would fit well with where we left off and where the world will go. I see Lilliana being one of the reasons we go back, but seeing her world destoryed pushes her further away from the "Hero's Path"
Well, Zhalfir and Shiv both survived the Invasion and were last seen being overlaid back onto Dominaria by Teferi. I could see them doing 2 Sets next year one in each place.
I don't see Dominiria as High Fantasy either, post-apocalyptic with area's unaffected/less impacted is more what it feels like. Having that with "found treasures of the past" trope along with "Recovering World" trope would fit well with where we left off and where the world will go. I see Lilliana being one of the reasons we go back, but seeing her world destoryed pushes her further away from the "Hero's Path"
Wasn't Zhalfir stuck phased out forever? I know the storyline of Time Spiral began with Shiv phasing in, but Teferi lost his spark before he could bring Zhalfir back.
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Well, Zhalfir and Shiv both survived the Invasion and were last seen being overlaid back onto Dominaria by Teferi. I could see them doing 2 Sets next year one in each place.
I don't see Dominiria as High Fantasy either, post-apocalyptic with area's unaffected/less impacted is more what it feels like. Having that with "found treasures of the past" trope along with "Recovering World" trope would fit well with where we left off and where the world will go. I see Lilliana being one of the reasons we go back, but seeing her world destoryed pushes her further away from the "Hero's Path"
Wasn't Zhalfir stuck phased out forever? I know the storyline of Time Spiral began with Shiv phasing in, but Teferi lost his spark before he could bring Zhalfir back.
It had nothing to do with Teferi losing his spark, it was Jeska being stubborn, and rash. She didn't listen to anyone and just slammed the rift shut trapping Zhalfir away, had she not been impatient they should have been able to save Zhalfir.
On the Origins Five: Much of Origins was left unresolved for a reason besides "We're telling five stories across ten planes in one set." Gideon's trying to find gods who care (and Oketra does, too bad she and the other gods are brainwashed), but I have little doubt Heliod's first act upon meeting Gideon again would be to kill him. Jace...there were a few loose ends in Vryn, but does he remember Vryn at all? We've visited Kaladesh and Zendikar. So that leaves Dominaria.
On creature type "diversity matters", no. Just no. That works well with something like Tarmogoyf (max 8) or Tribal Golem (tribes are listed) or domain (max 5) because there's a limited set, but if you say
Silly ExampleWW
Creature—Human Soldier
Coalition—Silly Example gets +1/+1 for each creature type among the creatures you control. 0/0
Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
Anyone uh... got a list possibly of still-living (should be, barring off-screen death) relevant characters we may see in new card form come Dominaria 2k18?
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I heard 'Archeology World' just now, and I kind of like it. Dominaria (especially Terisiare) was defined a lot by Archeology. There are enough buried civilizations and power on the plane that it would be a great way to connect all the history while having a single cohesive theme. The only other plane that was like that was Zendikar, and that's over for Zendikar anyway.
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Oh yeah? What about the un-sets? *narrows eyes*
Also, I wouldn't say that Zendikar's days of being an Indiana Jones plane are over. Infact, I'd say with the destruction done by the Eldrazi and some potential lingering effects of their influence, I'd say they could continue with the "dangerous exploration" angle on Zendikar.
I think Dominaria could become some sort of "Keepers of Knowledge" world, where all the past cataclysms as well as information on famous planeswalkers and other interdimensional entities are archived. Then again, could also be too narrow. Mmh.
While it's true that this was the result of a design quirk of the time (yes, for a story about "planeswalkers," there was a remarkably small number of planes, and not much walking between them), I think that breadth of variety and depth of heritage has become the plane's defining feature. I would love for there to be direct nods to that baroque complexity in the story (imagine a character trying to figure out exactly which of the many world-threatening villains Ajani was talking about - Yawgmoth? No. Karona? No. Tevesh Szat? No. Nicol Bolas? Oh, yeah, that guy...remind me what his deal is again?).
Mechanics could reflect this as well, for example by encouraging the use of lots of different creature types or lots of different colors, or by pulling together a bunch of different past mechanics and discovering new ways for them to interact with each other.
This is, honestly, exactly what the Time Spiral block did, and it's probably my favorite block of all time. I don't know if they can hit that height again, especially in only one set, or if they even want to be that ambitious. But I think that in principle, that's the best way for them to reflect Dominaria's unique identity.
When you phrase it like this, it almost sounds like Dominaria is on the way of becoming the next Equilor. I think the planes is still a few eons away from achieving the status of a "plane that's just done with everything", but it is intriguing thinking about how many cycles of cataclysm and rebirth would eventually lead to such a world.
There'll probably never be another set as mechanically diverse as the Time Spiral block. It's kinda sad, to be honest. There was so much variety, but apparently it was too much for many players. Maybe they'll pull off the next best (= most possible) impression, but judging by what Maro has said so far, I won't excpect too much heterogenity when it comes to mechanics. It's more likely that the variety will be shown in the flavor and art.
I also think it's possible to visit a plane without limiting oneself to one distinct area. For instance, Mercadia had a bunch of very different regions, with very different cultures. The book, at least to me, did a good job at fleshing out the different areas. If Mercadia was a modern block, I could see Wizards focusing only on the city itself, with some vague information on the other regions and motivations.
Also, Tarkir had a sense of scale, and developed and revealed not just five distinct regions and cultures, but ten (after the dragons take over again), and maybe fifteen, if you count the past khans.
Alara too had different regional and culture approaches, but that may have been more due to the shards than anything else. If there had been no shards, would Alara have been like a Dominaria in its variety?
I was on Magic hiatus after Scourge until Alara, but my impression is that Mirrodin was 'limited', and Ravnica was focused on the city. (I'm still unclear on whether the whole plane is a city, because the books for the first block described areas outside the city). I have no idea of the regional and cultural scope of Kamigawa. It's one of the planes I know almost nothing about. Same with Lorwyn.
Anyway, the point is that it's possible for Wizards to go to a plane and explore its inherent variety instead of focusing on a specific limited area, which is the impression I got from Mirrodin, Ravnica, Innistrad, Kaladesh, and Amonkhet. These are my feelings and opinions, and you don't have to share them.
When I look at Dominaria, I see how one plane can be used to provide a plethora of different stories, much like our planet is capable of providing unknowable variety. We go into the past, to the Thran, the Brother's War, the Ice Age, Urza's story, the Weatherlight crew, the war for Dominaria, the survivors and the gladiators of Otaria, the warping of time and space because of Dominaria's long history.
Dominaria isn't just some haphazard collection of continents that should have been separate planes. From the time of the Brother's War, Dominaria has had a long, believable, and pretty direct arrow of cohesive story. Mirage, Visions, and Prophecy also have their place.
Contrast this with planes with set themes. They won't have any variety apart from that theme. And so, at least to me, that limits their possibilities, which grander planes don't encounter.
So when Maro writes the way he does about Dominaria, I maintain that he is being somewhat disingenuous. Dominaria made and makes sense. And personally, as someone who likes depth, breadth, and scope, the 'single serving' planes like Innistrad and Mirrodin aren't as appealing as others.
Haven't they said Donimaria is like a nexus for the multiverse as well? They could lean into that for the story and the plane's identity.
(In b4 they split off some of Donimaria's more exotic locations into their own planes because "the mending")
The "masters" sets are these, to some degree. It's honestly the only place you'll see as many disparate mechanics in a single place. Which is probably fine. They don't need 40 named mechanics to make a good set.
"Archaeology World" would be a nice touch considering how Dominaria's original story began...
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Dominaria might end up being the Planeswalkers Block though, although I really hope not.
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However, although I like it, that's not really the key question here. We want to know what Wizards is doing. Archaeology World Dominaria, along with Zendikar and the direction Ixalan looks to be going, would give us three settings playing around in the "Adventure World" space. Would Wizards do it? I'm not sure, they may very well whiff on this opportunity. We'll see...
RWU
GUB
WBR
URG
BGW
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RWU
GUB
WBR
URG
BGW
I don't see Dominiria as High Fantasy either, post-apocalyptic with area's unaffected/less impacted is more what it feels like. Having that with "found treasures of the past" trope along with "Recovering World" trope would fit well with where we left off and where the world will go. I see Lilliana being one of the reasons we go back, but seeing her world destoryed pushes her further away from the "Hero's Path"
Wasn't Zhalfir stuck phased out forever? I know the storyline of Time Spiral began with Shiv phasing in, but Teferi lost his spark before he could bring Zhalfir back.
On creature type "diversity matters", no. Just no. That works well with something like Tarmogoyf (max 8) or Tribal Golem (tribes are listed) or domain (max 5) because there's a limited set, but if you say
Silly Example WW
Creature—Human Soldier
Coalition—Silly Example gets +1/+1 for each creature type among the creatures you control. 0/0
That would be a disaster. It would get huge, fast. And in Modern or eternal, changelings lead to rules issues, like remembering how many items are on this list.
On phasing: