“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"
-Of not this is the first set to be made fully under Covid
-Talking on how generally magic sets are made 2 or even 3 years in advance.
-This set wasn't gonna be Kamigawa originally they later decided this world should be a return to Kamigawa. It started out as them wanting to do a futuristic Japanes inpsired set and the Kamigawa fans in wizards fought to show this could be a return to Kamigawa.
-Its noted that magic has done more sci-fi stuff like Kaladesh and Mirrodin and for this set they really wanted to push up on what magic could have in it
-They said to prepare for the return they read all 3 novels as well as the 21 short stories they had during the set as well as looking at the community to see what they would from a possible return.
-They talk on what a cultural consultant does with a set. They help make sure that diverse worlds are shown off in a respectful away and many will also join in the world building to help develop the cultures of world to be rounded and deep as the real world. For Kamiagawa a lot of also included fixing up some of the problematic elements of the first set while still keeping it a magic set and figuring out how to evolve the world 1200 years
-Confirms Ninjutsu is in and Bushido is out
-Some example they give was working on the weapon, such as making sure they all are Japanese in origin instead of other Asian weapons, more diversity than just swords/katanas and staying away from Okinawan weapons due to the messy history of Japan and Okinawa.
-Another was making sure Kimonos where worn right as folding them a certain way is meant to worn on someone who dead.
-Neo Kamigawa is more intermix, the different species and kami live and work together a lot more than old Kamigawa where they where more divided. Part of this was to show in Shinto and Japanes mythology humans and kami/yokai do live together and not in separate worlds.
-Orges in Neo Kamigawa are more diverse to mimic real world oni stories and thus not all are evil.
-Orochi kept the many arms but lost their feet now having lower snake bodies (the art looks like their legs just evolved into the tail)
-Living historians use art and music to keep the history of Kamigawa alive in the present
-There are 4 main cities that will run the range of technology: Eiganjo, Otawara, Towashi and Sokenzan-Shi which seem to be W, U, B and R respectfully.
-Western pop culture perception of ninjas mostly come from the waring state period and historically ninjas ran a lot of roles as such as battlefield special forces or woodland scouts and we will be seeing ninjas branch out like this in Neo Kamigawa. They noted Samurai are also similar in how they are viewed and how Neo Kamigawa will branch them out to reflect real world samurai
-Kaito was made to be the ninja walker, his abilities are made to work well with the ninja tribal deck and why he is UB.
-This was the third version of Kaito they have made, he is a mix of the two older version they made: one version was a white counterintelligence agent and the other was a blue cyber hacker.
-Not talked on much but they did show some art of the goblins
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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"
Short recap of the Kami war with some very saga looking art.
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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"
- Like the decision on the weapons. While the decision to cut on Okinawan weapons might come across as heavy handed, I am a sucker for more obscure weapons so I'm excited.
- The Orochi and Kitsune have essentially been revamped aesthetically. Some might not like it, but I don't mind it. Genetic engineering is always a possibility at any rate.
- Like that the o-bakemono (which I'm assuming are the ogres since oni are the demons) are now not just evil
Small quibble with the recap: Konda was not killed. He was turned to stone and smashed to shards, but he is still alive, immortal, and growing over with moss in the depths of Jukai Forest. It was a truly horrific fate.
The bit on avoiding Okinawan references is ridiculous. Okinawa is Japan. Many cultural / historical developments viewed as quintessentially Japanese come from Okinawa (the shamisen, the sai, karate etc.) Any messy politics between Okinawa and the rest of Japan largely revolve around the unwanted presence of the U.S. Military base (which takes up a large portion of the main island) and the way the Imperial Japanese government treated Okinawans like cannon fodder and sacrifices at the end of WW2, in large part due to this very tendency to see Okinawans as "separate" from the rest of Japan.
WOTC's exclusion of Okinawan cultural contributions only plays into the poisonous notion that Okinawa is not really Japan. Japan and Japanese culture owe a lot to Okinawa.
- Like that the o-bakemono (which I'm assuming are the ogres since oni are the demons) are now not just evil
I always took it as o-bakemono and oni (kamigawa) are both Oni (mythology) but o-bakemono are more of the yokai/non-worshipped ones while oni (kamigawa) are the divine kami (mythology) based one.
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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"
I'm guessing we are gonna these mini-stories/recaps for each of the sagas in the set, art at the end points to another saga. Also if all the sagas turn into creatures this a clever way to have the old character return in the set who have died since the last set.
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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"
I wonder if Jukai and Okina will be the G aligned Kyoto analog.
I love how they're revisiting the original Kamigawa lore. These recap stories are wonderful and I am pleased to know that creative has revisited the source material to ensure a harmony between what is established and where Kamigawa is now. Love these callbacks.
Can't wait to see what has become of Night's Reach. She's among my favorite characters and I imagine her power has grown considerably.
"Perhaps some familiar faces still reside on the Plane, remembering him after all this time . . . or even carrying on his family name."
That means Satoru may simply be someone who borrowed Umezawa's name to reform the Hyozan Reckoners, consider Toshiro's true heir is on Dominaria.
I think it's more likely that Satoru is a descendant of one of Toshiro's relatives.
While plausible, it's too much of a convenient writing to suddenly have a Umezawa relative in the story. It's more convincing if someone simply borrowed his name as a rally banner. You know, like some Skywalker we know.
"Perhaps some familiar faces still reside on the Plane, remembering him after all this time . . . or even carrying on his family name."
That means Satoru may simply be someone who borrowed Umezawa's name to reform the Hyozan Reckoners, consider Toshiro's true heir is on Dominaria.
I think it's more likely that Satoru is a descendant of one of Toshiro's relatives.
While plausible, it's too much of a convenient writing to suddenly have a Umezawa relative in the story. It's more convincing if someone simply borrowed his name as a rally banner. You know, like some Skywalker we know.
Also, excluding Okinawan is really equestionable.
I consider convenient relatives who share last names to be really plausible given that one of my uncles (by marriage) and Jackie Chan share the same last name (at least in English). My uncle and Jackie Chan being (incredibly distant) relatives seems plausible.
I also don't think Toshiro was the only black-aligned scoundrel in the family. Satoru seems like he continues that greater family line...or profession.
I do realize that Toshiro was a co-founder of the Hyozan Reckoners, but I do find it likely that a sibling, father, or cousin of Toshiro caught wind of Toshiro founding a new gang, or merely that many people want to join the Hyozan Reckoners every year and young Satoru, already leaning towards a life of crime, signed up one fateful day...and pushed himself all the way to the top.
As people pointed out Kiku and Toshiro apparently had a one night stand so its likely she might have also gotten pregnant.
But really it doesn't matter, he might have had relative to carry on the name or someone/group adopted it since Toshiro and clan Umezawa are now remembered as heroically and such. Tons of ways for some way the name to live on and it makes a nice call back on a card which kinda the point.
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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"
I don't remember - was it ever stated that Toshiro was the "last of his line" or something? Otherwise, I don't really get why people are being all surprised at the fact that there are more Umezawas...
I'm fine with most of the changes. It always felt weird to me that the old Kitsune didn't really look like actual foxes, and Orochi getting snake tails is fine I guess. I wonder if they'll be turned into Naga - the creature type doesn't fit the Japanese theme, but at this point it would be best to just to do anything about the snake-naga tribal divide.
I like ogres in other colours. The art of the meditating ogre in front of the temple is one of my favourite pieces spoiled so far, looking forward to seeing more.
The bit on avoiding Okinawan references is ridiculous.
Yeah, that part made me roll my eyes. It almost makes it seem like there's some sort of Taiwan-Mainland China-type conflict between Okinawa and the rest of Japan, which simply isn't the case. Even if they included the references, you could've probably counted the people who cared on two hands. They mightve as well said that they didn't include any Ainu references, or pictures of toasted bread.
Same thing with the "only Japanese weapons allowed" part - I really wonder where they drew the line, because you can trace back most cultural things in Japan back to the Korean peninsula or China. This is the type of modern-day cultural purism that I don't care for - as it hilariously amplifies nationalistic tendencies that are supposed to be quelled...
and on top of that she didn't want to be emperor and we already suspected the wanderer is…
edit: forgot to mention I would be on your guard because wizards are probably lying to us about michiko being dead because michiko and kyodai co-op many many years after the war (200 years before neon dynasty if I’m not mistaking) they told leshrac to “get out of kamigawa” at that time
it might also mean the wanderer and and michiko are not the same person
That’s why kyodai was alone on the leaked card the other half is dead.
"On the fan, she's depicted wearing clothes patterned with the Konda crest, which she wore throughout her life, signaling her refusal to shy away from her father's legacy or leave it hidden in the shadows."
Very fitting that the Truth Seeker would try to rule in honesty and not shy from the truth.
My thought is the role sister of flesh (in the sister of stone and flesh) are passed down with the role of emperor, which still lines up with why Tezzeret might have tried to attack the emperor and weaken Kamigawa so Phyrexia can invade.*
*Invade similar to what Vorinclex did on Kaldheim, be really odd to try and rework Kamigawa just to phyrexian it before they can tell if it ends up popular.
On that note, might be cool when we finally get to the gatewatch and allies vs Phyrexian war that instead of 95% of it being on one plane like War of the Spark was, it was spread out across all the planes we seen phyrexia ooze into recently. People have asked about a set/block taking place on multiple planes so we could see the phyrexia opening a bunch of gates and having multiple planes trying to fight against them. Could be a neat soft modern horizon like set where we have a mix of different mechanics working together kinda like we saw with War of the Spark (like no ninjutsu but cards that basically have it or work well with it or a few one off snow creatures from Kaldheim but not a huge snow theme).
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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"
and on top of that she didn't want to be emperor and we already suspected the wanderer is…
it might also mean the wanderer and and michiko are not the same person
That’s why kyodai was alone on the leaked card the other half is dead.
The article is a pile of utter crap. Contradicting what we knew about her. Or a very brazen retcon.
For Christ's sake... she was SEEN with Kyodai during the fight of Bolas and Leshrac in Future Sight, barring the way to the world.
Not so long ago, about 1000 years after the Kami War.
EDIT: Future Sight, page 242/243
That section is actually a lot more ambiguous about who is with Kyodai (or technically whether Kyodai is even among them):
Two fierce women appeared between him and the realm, armed with spears and long, powerful bows. They were almost twins, identical in nearly all ways beneath their resplendent armor. The one to his left had the aspect of a serpent, sharp and quick and deadly, while the other bore herself with the solemn dignity of a queen.
They crossed their spears between them and spoke in unison. "We are the guardians of this place. You are not welcome here. Begone."
Note the paragraphs not naming either woman at all, just letting them outline their occupations.
I recall the MTG Wiki being pretty definitive that Michiko became part spirit as a member of the Sisters of Flesh and Spirit - what are that article's other sources?
The image of Kyodai on the leaked card sure as heck looks like a dragon spirit and not a human, implying that Kyodai can shapeshift. ...Maybe, just maybe, Kyodai prefers shifting into the form of the current emperor?
and on top of that she didn't want to be emperor and we already suspected the wanderer is…
it might also mean the wanderer and and michiko are not the same person
That’s why kyodai was alone on the leaked card the other half is dead.
The article is a pile of utter crap. Contradicting what we knew about her. Or a very brazen retcon.
For Christ's sake... she was SEEN with Kyodai during the fight of Bolas and Leshrac in Future Sight, barring the way to the world.
Not so long ago, about 1000 years after the Kami War.
EDIT: Future Sight, page 242/243
That section is actually a lot more ambiguous about who is with Kyodai (or technically whether Kyodai is even among them):
Two fierce women appeared between him and the realm, armed with spears and long, powerful bows. They were almost twins, identical in nearly all ways beneath their resplendent armor. The one to his left had the aspect of a serpent, sharp and quick and deadly, while the other bore herself with the solemn dignity of a queen.
They crossed their spears between them and spoke in unison. "We are the guardians of this place. You are not welcome here. Begone."
Note the paragraphs not naming either woman at all, just letting them outline their occupations.
I recall the MTG Wiki being pretty definitive that Michiko became part spirit as a member of the Sisters of Flesh and Spirit - what are that article's other sources?
The image of Kyodai on the leaked card sure as heck looks like a dragon spirit and not a human, implying that Kyodai can shapeshift. ...Maybe, just maybe, Kyodai prefers shifting into the form of the current emperor?
Of course it is a reference to Michiko and Kyodai, FFS. One has aspects of snake (Kyodai), the other is regal (Michiko). It calls back to the end of Guardian, where they were described (post-ascension) in the very same way. Who else would it be?
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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)
Oh by the way about tezzert (unrelated to kamigawa)
Are several of you absolutely sure “elesh norn” became the “mother of machines”?
because I did a little research
Tezzeret moved against the other two, plotting to usurp Karn's throne. This resulted in direct combat with Glissa. The outcome of the fight is unknown.
Tezzeret was later present when the praetors assembled to crown another Father - or Mother - of Machines following Karn's liberation. The most likely candidate for it was Elesh Norn, who had taken control over the territories of Sheoldred and Urabask.[10]
With this could it be possible tezzert volunteered for the position of “father of machines”
I mean after all the sisters prevent leshrac from coming in tezzert probably snuck in and kidnapped the flesh part so spirit part is weakened so Jin gitaxias could get in and get what he’s looking for most likely he’s after himoto (there’s a walker spark in the kami and planeswalkers are not effected by the cons of entering a planar bridge)
oh do I even need to mention , is also the culprit for causing “the wanderer's” constant planeswalking and the wanderer knew tezzert eons before war of the spark, and she is really scared what tezzert could do now since he’s not working for bolas anymore.
Oh by the way about tezzert (unrelated to kamigawa)
Are several of you absolutely sure “elesh norn” became the “mother of machines”?
because I did a little research
Tezzeret moved against the other two, plotting to usurp Karn's throne. This resulted in direct combat with Glissa. The outcome of the fight is unknown.
Tezzeret was later present when the praetors assembled to crown another Father - or Mother - of Machines following Karn's liberation. The most likely candidate for it was Elesh Norn, who had taken control over the territories of Sheoldred and Urabask.[10]
With this could it be possible tezzert volunteered for the position of “father of machines”
I mean after all the sisters prevent leshrac from coming in tezzert probably snuck in and kidnapped the flesh part so spirit part is weakened so Jin gitaxias could get in and get what he’s looking for most likely he’s after himoto (there’s a walker spark in the kami and planeswalkers are not effected by the cons of entering a planar bridge)
oh do I even need to mention , is also the culprit for causing “the wanderer's” constant planeswalking and the wanderer knew tezzert eons before war of the spark, and she is really scared what tezzert could do now since he’s not working for bolas anymore.
For now we know that Norn is the dominant praetor; she destroyed Sheoldred's and Urbrask's forces and is stated to be in charge of Vorinclex. She may not have taken the title, but its clear that she's the ruling power in New Phyrexia.
Of course it is a reference to Michiko and Kyodai, FFS. One has aspects of snake (Kyodai), the other is regal (Michiko). It calls back to the end of Guardian, where they were described (post-ascension) in the very same way. Who else would it be?
I think you're right that it's WotC retconning, but given the ambiguity in the novel it could easily be what 5colors suggested above and that the Sister of Flesh role isn't static, but passed down with the role of emperor. So it would still be the Sisters of Flesh and Stone, just not Michiko. It may not be a hard retcon, because there is nothing from past lore being explicitly contradicted or changed, but I'd still consider it to be a bit of a retcon because I highly doubt that's what was intended when the novel was written.
"ice and frost, where trees grow in twisted spirals and strange beasts swim through the snow," unlike any place ever seen before. This has led to much speculation about whether she'd discovered a new place on Kamigawa or somewhere else altogether. Some even believe that she somehow managed to wander into the spirit realm itself and glimpse for herself what it looked like unfiltered through mortal perception. Attempts to find this last fabled land of Azusa's journeys have been unsuccessful.
can it be?....
at the same time thats a perfect description of Kaldheim.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoDigd9xl_c
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
-Talking on how generally magic sets are made 2 or even 3 years in advance.
-This set wasn't gonna be Kamigawa originally they later decided this world should be a return to Kamigawa. It started out as them wanting to do a futuristic Japanes inpsired set and the Kamigawa fans in wizards fought to show this could be a return to Kamigawa.
-Its noted that magic has done more sci-fi stuff like Kaladesh and Mirrodin and for this set they really wanted to push up on what magic could have in it
-They said to prepare for the return they read all 3 novels as well as the 21 short stories they had during the set as well as looking at the community to see what they would from a possible return.
-They talk on what a cultural consultant does with a set. They help make sure that diverse worlds are shown off in a respectful away and many will also join in the world building to help develop the cultures of world to be rounded and deep as the real world. For Kamiagawa a lot of also included fixing up some of the problematic elements of the first set while still keeping it a magic set and figuring out how to evolve the world 1200 years
-Confirms Ninjutsu is in and Bushido is out
-Some example they give was working on the weapon, such as making sure they all are Japanese in origin instead of other Asian weapons, more diversity than just swords/katanas and staying away from Okinawan weapons due to the messy history of Japan and Okinawa.
-Another was making sure Kimonos where worn right as folding them a certain way is meant to worn on someone who dead.
-Neo Kamigawa is more intermix, the different species and kami live and work together a lot more than old Kamigawa where they where more divided. Part of this was to show in Shinto and Japanes mythology humans and kami/yokai do live together and not in separate worlds.
-Orges in Neo Kamigawa are more diverse to mimic real world oni stories and thus not all are evil.
-Orochi kept the many arms but lost their feet now having lower snake bodies (the art looks like their legs just evolved into the tail)
-Living historians use art and music to keep the history of Kamigawa alive in the present
-There are 4 main cities that will run the range of technology: Eiganjo, Otawara, Towashi and Sokenzan-Shi which seem to be W, U, B and R respectfully.
-Western pop culture perception of ninjas mostly come from the waring state period and historically ninjas ran a lot of roles as such as battlefield special forces or woodland scouts and we will be seeing ninjas branch out like this in Neo Kamigawa. They noted Samurai are also similar in how they are viewed and how Neo Kamigawa will branch them out to reflect real world samurai
-Kaito was made to be the ninja walker, his abilities are made to work well with the ninja tribal deck and why he is UB.
-This was the third version of Kaito they have made, he is a mix of the two older version they made: one version was a white counterintelligence agent and the other was a blue cyber hacker.
-Not talked on much but they did show some art of the goblins
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Short recap of the Kami war with some very saga looking art.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
- The Orochi and Kitsune have essentially been revamped aesthetically. Some might not like it, but I don't mind it. Genetic engineering is always a possibility at any rate.
- Like that the o-bakemono (which I'm assuming are the ogres since oni are the demons) are now not just evil
- Hate the shibe.
The bit on avoiding Okinawan references is ridiculous. Okinawa is Japan. Many cultural / historical developments viewed as quintessentially Japanese come from Okinawa (the shamisen, the sai, karate etc.) Any messy politics between Okinawa and the rest of Japan largely revolve around the unwanted presence of the U.S. Military base (which takes up a large portion of the main island) and the way the Imperial Japanese government treated Okinawans like cannon fodder and sacrifices at the end of WW2, in large part due to this very tendency to see Okinawans as "separate" from the rest of Japan.
WOTC's exclusion of Okinawan cultural contributions only plays into the poisonous notion that Okinawa is not really Japan. Japan and Japanese culture owe a lot to Okinawa.
I always took it as o-bakemono and oni (kamigawa) are both Oni (mythology) but o-bakemono are more of the yokai/non-worshipped ones while oni (kamigawa) are the divine kami (mythology) based one.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/life-toshiro-umezawa-2022-01-12
I'm guessing we are gonna these mini-stories/recaps for each of the sagas in the set, art at the end points to another saga. Also if all the sagas turn into creatures this a clever way to have the old character return in the set who have died since the last set.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I love how they're revisiting the original Kamigawa lore. These recap stories are wonderful and I am pleased to know that creative has revisited the source material to ensure a harmony between what is established and where Kamigawa is now. Love these callbacks.
Can't wait to see what has become of Night's Reach. She's among my favorite characters and I imagine her power has grown considerably.
|| 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 ||
That means Satoru may simply be someone who borrowed Umezawa's name to reform the Hyozan Reckoners, consider Toshiro's true heir is on Dominaria.
*cough* Ray Skywalker.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
I think it's more likely that Satoru is a descendant of one of Toshiro's relatives.
While plausible, it's too much of a convenient writing to suddenly have a Umezawa relative in the story. It's more convincing if someone simply borrowed his name as a rally banner. You know, like some Skywalker we know.
Also, excluding Okinawan is really equestionable.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
I consider convenient relatives who share last names to be really plausible given that one of my uncles (by marriage) and Jackie Chan share the same last name (at least in English). My uncle and Jackie Chan being (incredibly distant) relatives seems plausible.
I also don't think Toshiro was the only black-aligned scoundrel in the family. Satoru seems like he continues that greater family line...or profession.
I do realize that Toshiro was a co-founder of the Hyozan Reckoners, but I do find it likely that a sibling, father, or cousin of Toshiro caught wind of Toshiro founding a new gang, or merely that many people want to join the Hyozan Reckoners every year and young Satoru, already leaning towards a life of crime, signed up one fateful day...and pushed himself all the way to the top.
But really it doesn't matter, he might have had relative to carry on the name or someone/group adopted it since Toshiro and clan Umezawa are now remembered as heroically and such. Tons of ways for some way the name to live on and it makes a nice call back on a card which kinda the point.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I'm fine with most of the changes. It always felt weird to me that the old Kitsune didn't really look like actual foxes, and Orochi getting snake tails is fine I guess. I wonder if they'll be turned into Naga - the creature type doesn't fit the Japanese theme, but at this point it would be best to just to do anything about the snake-naga tribal divide.
I like ogres in other colours. The art of the meditating ogre in front of the temple is one of my favourite pieces spoiled so far, looking forward to seeing more.
Yeah, that part made me roll my eyes. It almost makes it seem like there's some sort of Taiwan-Mainland China-type conflict between Okinawa and the rest of Japan, which simply isn't the case. Even if they included the references, you could've probably counted the people who cared on two hands. They mightve as well said that they didn't include any Ainu references, or pictures of toasted bread.
Same thing with the "only Japanese weapons allowed" part - I really wonder where they drew the line, because you can trace back most cultural things in Japan back to the Korean peninsula or China. This is the type of modern-day cultural purism that I don't care for - as it hilariously amplifies nationalistic tendencies that are supposed to be quelled...
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/michikos-reign-truth-2022-01-13
The short story on how michiko ended the war
It something is really really important
michiko……is dead
She was not immortal when bonded with kyodai.
and on top of that she didn't want to be emperor and we already suspected the wanderer is…
edit: forgot to mention I would be on your guard because wizards are probably lying to us about michiko being dead because michiko and kyodai co-op many many years after the war (200 years before neon dynasty if I’m not mistaking) they told leshrac to “get out of kamigawa” at that time
it might also mean the wanderer and and michiko are not the same person
That’s why kyodai was alone on the leaked card the other half is dead.
I can respect that.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
The article is a pile of utter crap. Contradicting what we knew about her. Or a very brazen retcon.
For Christ's sake... she was SEEN with Kyodai during the fight of Bolas and Leshrac in Future Sight, barring the way to the world.
Not so long ago, about 1000 years after the Kami War.
EDIT: Future Sight, page 242/243
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
My thought is the role sister of flesh (in the sister of stone and flesh) are passed down with the role of emperor, which still lines up with why Tezzeret might have tried to attack the emperor and weaken Kamigawa so Phyrexia can invade.*
*Invade similar to what Vorinclex did on Kaldheim, be really odd to try and rework Kamigawa just to phyrexian it before they can tell if it ends up popular.
On that note, might be cool when we finally get to the gatewatch and allies vs Phyrexian war that instead of 95% of it being on one plane like War of the Spark was, it was spread out across all the planes we seen phyrexia ooze into recently. People have asked about a set/block taking place on multiple planes so we could see the phyrexia opening a bunch of gates and having multiple planes trying to fight against them. Could be a neat soft modern horizon like set where we have a mix of different mechanics working together kinda like we saw with War of the Spark (like no ninjutsu but cards that basically have it or work well with it or a few one off snow creatures from Kaldheim but not a huge snow theme).
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
That section is actually a lot more ambiguous about who is with Kyodai (or technically whether Kyodai is even among them):
Note the paragraphs not naming either woman at all, just letting them outline their occupations.
I recall the MTG Wiki being pretty definitive that Michiko became part spirit as a member of the Sisters of Flesh and Spirit - what are that article's other sources?
The image of Kyodai on the leaked card sure as heck looks like a dragon spirit and not a human, implying that Kyodai can shapeshift. ...Maybe, just maybe, Kyodai prefers shifting into the form of the current emperor?
Of course it is a reference to Michiko and Kyodai, FFS. One has aspects of snake (Kyodai), the other is regal (Michiko). It calls back to the end of Guardian, where they were described (post-ascension) in the very same way. Who else would it be?
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Are several of you absolutely sure “elesh norn” became the “mother of machines”?
because I did a little research
https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Tezzeret#Agents_of_Artifice
With this could it be possible tezzert volunteered for the position of “father of machines”
I mean after all the sisters prevent leshrac from coming in tezzert probably snuck in and kidnapped the flesh part so spirit part is weakened so Jin gitaxias could get in and get what he’s looking for most likely he’s after himoto (there’s a walker spark in the kami and planeswalkers are not effected by the cons of entering a planar bridge)
oh do I even need to mention , is also the culprit for causing “the wanderer's” constant planeswalking and the wanderer knew tezzert eons before war of the spark, and she is really scared what tezzert could do now since he’s not working for bolas anymore.
For now we know that Norn is the dominant praetor; she destroyed Sheoldred's and Urbrask's forces and is stated to be in charge of Vorinclex. She may not have taken the title, but its clear that she's the ruling power in New Phyrexia.
I think you're right that it's WotC retconning, but given the ambiguity in the novel it could easily be what 5colors suggested above and that the Sister of Flesh role isn't static, but passed down with the role of emperor. So it would still be the Sisters of Flesh and Stone, just not Michiko. It may not be a hard retcon, because there is nothing from past lore being explicitly contradicted or changed, but I'd still consider it to be a bit of a retcon because I highly doubt that's what was intended when the novel was written.
Azusa's many journeys.
can it be?....
at the same time thats a perfect description of Kaldheim.
could Azusa be the identity of the wanderer?