now reading the stories the puzzle is completed on how each got compleated
1. nahiri a tiny little scratch from fighting a phyrexian on the first lair. ps looks like she may have sacrificed herself to destroy the arena and a opening to sphere number 7 the Fair Basilica
2. Lukka pretty much being beyond stupid and got a little to bonded with a phyrexian beast (it was slowly compleating him and he didn't know it.)
3. vraska ended up in the phyrexian arena and one phyrexian got her so compleation was started and she knew it.
4. jace was being a moron as well and refusing to leave vraska when she begged him to since she knew the compleation was radiating in her but still refused to leave then the compleation finished and she did a scorpion like sting in his hand before he fled.
5. not quite known yet but probably the same thing as nahiri since it said she got a scratch from a phyrexian as well (either lukkas beast or vorinclex.)
I definitely know how it goes horribly wrong now we know jace is done since he was stung he got the sylux back so the sleeper agent was ready to jump at any time (and the photo is likely him presenting to a praetor leader.)
Talking to a friend and they pointed this out; Jace always made really bad choice when it comes to his partners. He bent over backwards letting Liliana (ab)use him and that was him and Liliana being toxic **** buddies vs him and Vraska who seemed to really love and care for each other. So with that I can see why Jace was holding onto the idiot ball here, its always been a weakness of his.
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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"
Wait, so Sheoldred is throwing in her lot with Urabrask's rebellion? Wasn't she only just recently doing Norn's bidding on Dominaria?
...Why did Elesh Norn leave those two alive, again?
It seems exceedingly foolhardy for Norn to be moving to take on the entire multiverse when she doesn't even have Phyrexia under her thumb. Only three out of five factions seem to be under her control. For all the talk about her being the Mother of Machines and the leader of New Phyrexia, her position seems awfully tenuous.
She's the Big Bad of Magic right now, so I wish the story would make her feel like more of a threat. Instead, she just seems really... vulnerable.
Yeah, I don't get how she allows Sheoldred to live. Urabrask had the excuse of managing to seal his layer which is still useful for the phyrexian whole since it provides metal, but Sheoldred and the other thanes should logically be dead. They contribute nothing, even Atraxa admited they're more trouble than they are worth.
Wait, so Sheoldred is throwing in her lot with Urabrask's rebellion? Wasn't she only just recently doing Norn's bidding on Dominaria?
...Why did Elesh Norn leave those two alive, again?
I dunno if there's contradicting things in the lore, but maybe Sheoldred after being defeated once is now feigning allegiance to her whilst working with Urabrask's faction.
It seems exceedingly foolhardy for Norn to be moving to take on the entire multiverse when she doesn't even have Phyrexia under her thumb. Only three out of five factions seem to be under her control. For all the talk about her being the Mother of Machines and the leader of New Phyrexia, her position seems awfully tenuous.
She's the Big Bad of Magic right now, so I wish the story would make her feel like more of a threat. Instead, she just seems really... vulnerable.
I don't even think she has Jin under completely... I think Vorinclex is the only possible one who she's fully reigned in amongst the other praetors.
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To be honest, this whole mission seems Impossible.
The fact that a scratch in a fight or even on a piece of "tree" "debris" or anything else will lead to completion, the fact that just breathing in the dross pits can lead to completion and the fact that New Phyrexia knew they were coming, makes it just ridiculous that anyone would survive.
The way they set up New Phyrexia now is just way way to OP.
I guess the Wanderer blinking in and out, that Kaya can phase, and Kaito's super agility can give them a chance. Tyvar being a brawler and always fighting hand to hand combat should make it near impossible, even with halo and glimmer coating.
How can they win?
Plus the setting of the sylex, which may not even work, is a suicide mission.
Maybe they don't win at all and it's going to take some Teferi time shenanigan hand waiving for an actual "defeat" of New Phyrexia. Becuase otherwise I just don't see it.
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Been on this forum for 10++ years
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Wait, so Sheoldred is throwing in her lot with Urabrask's rebellion? Wasn't she only just recently doing Norn's bidding on Dominaria?
...Why did Elesh Norn leave those two alive, again?
I dunno if there's contradicting things in the lore, but maybe Sheoldred after being defeated once is now feigning allegiance to her whilst working with Urabrask's faction.
It seems exceedingly foolhardy for Norn to be moving to take on the entire multiverse when she doesn't even have Phyrexia under her thumb. Only three out of five factions seem to be under her control. For all the talk about her being the Mother of Machines and the leader of New Phyrexia, her position seems awfully tenuous.
She's the Big Bad of Magic right now, so I wish the story would make her feel like more of a threat. Instead, she just seems really... vulnerable.
I don't even think she has Jin under completely... I think Vorinclex is the only possible one who she's fully reigned in amongst the other praetors.
the visual guide mention if elesh prevents him from doing his experiments/research he would be in Urabrask rebellion but as long as he can do his experiments/research he’s fine with elesh as leader.
But I am constantly reminded of why MtG story is -and never will be- great. It's almost as if whoever is in charge of the thing doesn't even care about the quality. It starts with the absolute basics of worldbuilding (what the hell do the mirrans even eat?!) continues with flaws in broad story strokes (Why exactly are they trying to destroy specifically the realmbreaker and not, you know, New Phyrexia as a whole) and winds its way all the way to individual passages in the text. Like Jace just said he's infected and Kaya hands him the sylex. Like... Uhm... What.
And we haven't even gone into the whole thing of the flavour of the cards rarely (if ever) matching what actually happens in the story. Vraska didn't need only a moment. Jace was reluctant to leave her after she insisted multiple times! Or the retcons which, Maro said, are Good Actually[tm] because and I quote "Superhero comics do it too".
Just... the whole thing is a mess and I can't help but think that it's in large parts, if not exclusively, because there are too many people pulling it in too many directions and time schedules preventing things from properly syncing with the different media.
It's telling that the side stories are often much much better than the main episodes.
RE: Lukka and Jace being idiots. I kinda don't think either is a fundamental structural problem. The issue with Lukka is that I feel the whole train of thought wasn't explored very well. Would have made more sense if Lukka dismissed the thought at first but then found that some traces of "organic" mind remains inside the phyrexian beasts which leads Lukka down the path that maybe he can control it. It was hinted at but not explored in depth, probably in large parts because of the word limit of these stories.
Jace's misstep would have been much better with actual dialog. The section where he went for Vraska were so... unconvincing, hollow. It's just a writer putting down words but not actual meaning and emotion. Characters do not need to be smart and rational all the time, but have them have something to say, especially in arguments. Arguments (and other verbal fights) are literally the most important moments in dialog where you need to have the character say something. It's become a trope at this point that characters arguing in fiction is usually just people shouting empty platitudes devoid of meaning at each other, because the writer just wants them to fight for a plot reason and nothing else.
Wait, so Sheoldred is throwing in her lot with Urabrask's rebellion? Wasn't she only just recently doing Norn's bidding on Dominaria?
...Why did Elesh Norn leave those two alive, again?
It seems exceedingly foolhardy for Norn to be moving to take on the entire multiverse when she doesn't even have Phyrexia under her thumb. Only three out of five factions seem to be under her control. For all the talk about her being the Mother of Machines and the leader of New Phyrexia, her position seems awfully tenuous.
She's the Big Bad of Magic right now, so I wish the story would make her feel like more of a threat. Instead, she just seems really... vulnerable.
Norn has a theme of "facade" where she presents differently to the outside than it really is. The entire aesthetic of covering bleeding-red sinewy bodies with pristine white porcellain, the name of the outmost layer being called a "facade". Even her artworks where she is often represented in some ceremonial theatrics. Norn is all about show. It's totally within her theme to act as if she has a full grasp on Phyrexia when her leadership is much more tenuous than it really is.
Also, let's not forget that Phyrexia is a viral force. Even if New Phyrexia is destroyed in the wake of this war, if the realmbreaker infects other worlds, even medium sized phyrexian forces can deal a lot of damage as every infected world acts as a vector for more infected worlds. A small congingent of phyrexians can wreak massive havoc on a world like Kaladesh, due to its artifice, Ikoria, due to the way everything mutates there with the help of crystals, and Lorwyn, due to it not being militarized very well and as such having no useful defense, not to mention its three greatest "military" forces, the elves, the kithkin and the fae are prime targets for phyrexian infection.
So yeah, it kind of makes sense for Norn to pursue this goal, even despite all the infighting on New Phyrexia. As a viral force, Phyrexia needs to spread. The more contained it is the more vulnerable it is. If Norn waits and the planeswalkers manage to destroy Mirrodin with the sylex, then all of New Phyrexia is gone. If they spread to even just a dozen worlds with the realmbreaker, it is much harder to track them down.
Setting up the realmbreaker has another interesting side effect on the whole conflict: It forces the planeswalkers to act quickly, because they do not have time to waste. In Magic terms, Norn is having the tempo advantage.
I personally don't think Norn is doing a strategic mistake here. It seems like a pretty sensible course of action. It makes much less sense that the planeswalkers make it sound as if destroyed the realmbreaker ends the phyrexian threat. There is little stopping the phyrexians from building another realmbreaker (depending on how it works they might even have multiple seedlings as backup). Not to mention that the phyrexians have been able to travel to other worlds even without the realmbreaker. There is no reason to believe this technology cannot be refined over time until they build their own planar bridge.
To be honest, this whole mission seems Impossible.
The fact that a scratch in a fight or even on a piece of "tree" "debris" or anything else will lead to completion, the fact that just breathing in the dross pits can lead to completion and the fact that New Phyrexia knew they were coming, makes it just ridiculous that anyone would survive.
The way they set up New Phyrexia now is just way way to OP.
I guess the Wanderer blinking in and out, that Kaya can phase, and Kaito's super agility can give them a chance. Tyvar being a brawler and always fighting hand to hand combat should make it near impossible, even with halo and glimmer coating.
How can they win?
Plus the setting of the sylex, which may not even work, is a suicide mission.
Maybe they don't win at all and it's going to take some Teferi time shenanigan hand waiving for an actual "defeat" of New Phyrexia. Becuase otherwise I just don't see it.
I mean, spoiler ahead
We already KNOW that this mission will not succeed. Because we have artwork of the realmbreaker invading Zendikar, Theros and Kamigawa.
Totally agreed on the OP phyrexia thing. Whenever there's a fight with (glistening oil era) phyrexia I'm always like "how do they want to win, unless they are magically protected by Halo or whatever". It's also odd when you consider cards like Bite Down. I mean... If Phyrexia wanted to invade a plane, literally all they need to do is spray glistening oil over everything using carriers and/or just let their own forces be eaten by the local wildlife and wait.
It feels a bit like Phyrexia is (ab)using the "rule of narrative need" the most out of all things in MtG. Like, apparently Phyrexia can be repelled by dinosaurs literally eating phyrexians, and other times a single scratch can induce phyresis in a matter of hours(?!).
Another reason why MtG story will never be "great". It's just too internally inconsistent.
Norn has a theme of "facade" where she presents differently to the outside than it really is. The entire aesthetic of covering bleeding-red sinewy bodies with pristine white porcellain, the name of the outmost layer being called a "facade". Even her artworks where she is often represented in some ceremonial theatrics. Norn is all about show. It's totally within her theme to act as if she has a full grasp on Phyrexia when her leadership is much more tenuous than it really is.
To be fair there's a method to her madness. According to the Tezzeret story in BW she has such control over the Hunter's Maze and Surgical Bays that they have to concede to her mission of unity instead of focusing on social darwinism or science respectively.
It's with the thanes that just puzzles me. She overwhelmed Sheoldred's forces, yet Sheoldred is still a rival so she has to be distracted. Atraxa admits the Dross Pits are basically useless, yet they're allowed to exist within this otherwise Bant faction.
Kaladesh, Kaldheim, Arcavios/strixhaven, Ravnica, and Innistrad are also getting invaded
we have a pictures of legends from each of those plans
baral, Esika (I thought Vorinclex compleated/killed her.), Dina and Quintorius, Borborygmos, and thalia.
I was specifically talking about the artwork showing the actual realmbreaker tendrils. It is not confirmed, but pretty much obvious, that those other planes (if not all planes) will also be invaded.
Norn has a theme of "facade" where she presents differently to the outside than it really is. The entire aesthetic of covering bleeding-red sinewy bodies with pristine white porcellain, the name of the outmost layer being called a "facade". Even her artworks where she is often represented in some ceremonial theatrics. Norn is all about show. It's totally within her theme to act as if she has a full grasp on Phyrexia when her leadership is much more tenuous than it really is.
To be fair there's a method to her madness. According to the Tezzeret story in BW she has such control over the Hunter's Maze and Surgical Bays that they have to concede to her mission of unity instead of focusing on social darwinism or science respectively.
It's with the thanes that just puzzles me. She overwhelmed Sheoldred's forces, yet Sheoldred is still a rival so she has to be distracted. Atraxa admits the Dross Pits are basically useless, yet they're allowed to exist within this otherwise Bant faction.
I mean, Vorinclex and Jin are probably ok following Norn's lead if she lets them do their thing. And it doesn't appear as if they are truly loyal (not really sure that's a thing among praetors). I would fully expect especially Vorinclex to rip her insides out at the first sign of weakness.
But black is all about ambition, so it makes sense that any truce with a black praetor is as paperthin as it gets.
To be honest, this whole mission seems Impossible.
The fact that a scratch in a fight or even on a piece of "tree" "debris" or anything else will lead to completion, the fact that just breathing in the dross pits can lead to completion and the fact that New Phyrexia knew they were coming, makes it just ridiculous that anyone would survive.
The way they set up New Phyrexia now is just way way to OP.
I guess the Wanderer blinking in and out, that Kaya can phase, and Kaito's super agility can give them a chance. Tyvar being a brawler and always fighting hand to hand combat should make it near impossible, even with halo and glimmer coating.
How can they win?
Plus the setting of the sylex, which may not even work, is a suicide mission.
Maybe they don't win at all and it's going to take some Teferi time shenanigan hand waiving for an actual "defeat" of New Phyrexia. Becuase otherwise I just don't see it.
I mean, spoiler ahead
We already KNOW that this mission will not succeed. Because we have artwork of the realmbreaker invading Zendikar, Theros and Kamigawa.
Totally agreed on the OP phyrexia thing. Whenever there's a fight with (glistening oil era) phyrexia I'm always like "how do they want to win, unless they are magically protected by Halo or whatever". It's also odd when you consider cards like Bite Down. I mean... If Phyrexia wanted to invade a plane, literally all they need to do is spray glistening oil over everything using carriers and/or just let their own forces be eaten by the local wildlife and wait.
It feels a bit like Phyrexia is (ab)using the "rule of narrative need" the most out of all things in MtG. Like, apparently Phyrexia can be repelled by dinosaurs literally eating phyrexians, and other times a single scratch can induce phyresis in a matter of hours(?!).
Another reason why MtG story will never be "great". It's just too internally inconsistent.
Sorry the phrasing wasn't quite right on my post. I am aware that the other planes get relmbreakered. The context I was trying to say is after that. Exactly, these planes get bridged. By what the have set NP to be, those planes are GONE. Nothing can be done to stop that basically. And there is basically nothing to stop further breaches and phyrexianization of everywhere and everything unless there is going to be some serious hand waiving (either time shenanigans to stop NP from even coming into existence, or a cure to the oil (which basically takes only one drop on a world and can be aerosolized as well.
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Been on this forum for 10++ years
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Kaladesh, Kaldheim, Arcavios/strixhaven, Ravnica, and Innistrad are also getting invaded
we have a pictures of legends from each of those plans
baral, Esika (I thought Vorinclex compleated/killed her.), Dina and Quintorius, Borborygmos, and thalia.
I was specifically talking about the artwork showing the actual realmbreaker tendrils. It is not confirmed, but pretty much obvious, that those other planes (if not all planes) will also be invaded.
Norn has a theme of "facade" where she presents differently to the outside than it really is. The entire aesthetic of covering bleeding-red sinewy bodies with pristine white porcellain, the name of the outmost layer being called a "facade". Even her artworks where she is often represented in some ceremonial theatrics. Norn is all about show. It's totally within her theme to act as if she has a full grasp on Phyrexia when her leadership is much more tenuous than it really is.
To be fair there's a method to her madness. According to the Tezzeret story in BW she has such control over the Hunter's Maze and Surgical Bays that they have to concede to her mission of unity instead of focusing on social darwinism or science respectively.
It's with the thanes that just puzzles me. She overwhelmed Sheoldred's forces, yet Sheoldred is still a rival so she has to be distracted. Atraxa admits the Dross Pits are basically useless, yet they're allowed to exist within this otherwise Bant faction.
I mean, Vorinclex and Jin are probably ok following Norn's lead if she lets them do their thing. And it doesn't appear as if they are truly loyal (not really sure that's a thing among praetors). I would fully expect especially Vorinclex to rip her insides out at the first sign of weakness.
But black is all about ambition, so it makes sense that any truce with a black praetor is as paperthin as it gets.
what are you talking about?
its all confirmed Kaladesh, Kaldheim, Arcavios/strixhaven ravnica, and innistrad are hit along with kamigawa, theros and zendikar,
if there was unconfirmed thats a safe bet its probably Domnaria, Tarkir and new Capenna
Kaladesh, Kaldheim, Arcavios/strixhaven, Ravnica, and Innistrad are also getting invaded
we have a pictures of legends from each of those plans
baral, Esika (I thought Vorinclex compleated/killed her.), Dina and Quintorius, Borborygmos, and thalia.
I was specifically talking about the artwork showing the actual realmbreaker tendrils. It is not confirmed, but pretty much obvious, that those other planes (if not all planes) will also be invaded.
what are you talking about?
its all confirmed Kaladesh, Kaldheim, Arcavios/strixhaven ravnica, and innistrad are hit along with kamigawa, theros and zendikar,
if there was unconfirmed thats a safe bet its probably Domnaria, Tarkir and new Capenna
It's a technicality. I specifically said in my original post we have artwork of the realmbreaker invading Theros, Kamigawa and Zendikar. We don't have that artwork for Arcavios, Innistrad and Ravnica. We only have the legendaries from those worlds show up in artwork, which heavily implies that those planes get breached too, but we don't have actual confirmation in terms of artwork literally showing these planes and tendrils invading them. Technically speaking there could be other reasons how they joined the fight. Non-planeswalkers crossing the blind eternities isn't unprecedented, even in recent Magic. But that would be stupid and anathema to the plot. So it's a 99.99% safe bet. It's all but confirmed.
Also, I didn't say it was only those three planes that would get breached. I simply used them as an example, because we have literal in-the-moment artwork of them getting breached.
Sheoldred was being useful in Dominaria United, leading the invasion and seeking out Karn/the Sylex. That story gave the distinct impression that she was acting on Norn's orders at the time. In the very end, she even announces "I've acquired the targets. I am ready to return" as she requests Tezzeret's portal back to Phyrexia, indicating that yes, this whole invasion of hers was part of Phyrexia's (and therefore Norn's) larger goals. She brings Karn to Phyrexia and we next see him in Norn's clutches, suggesting that Sheoldred handed him over.
So I had the distinct impression that Sheoldred had been reined in by Norn, even if grudgingly.
So that's why this open rebellion perplexes me now. I get that Sheoldred has no love for Norn and would love to replace her as Mother of Machines one day. But the seeming transition from being Norn's vassal to becoming an open traitor is a significant development and needs to be explored further.
Sheoldred was being useful in Dominaria United, leading the invasion and seeking out Karn/the Sylex. That story gave the distinct impression that she was acting on Norn's orders at the time. In the very end, she even announces "I've acquired the targets. I am ready to return" as she requests Tezzeret's portal back to Phyrexia, indicating that yes, this whole invasion of hers was part of Phyrexia's (and therefore Norn's) larger goals. She brings Karn to Phyrexia and we next see him in Norn's clutches, suggesting that Sheoldred handed him over.
So I had the distinct impression that Sheoldred had been reined in by Norn, even if grudgingly.
So that's why this open rebellion perplexes me now. I get that Sheoldred has no love for Norn and would love to replace her as Mother of Machines one day. But the seeming transition from being Norn's vassal to becoming an open traitor is a significant development and needs to be explored further.
and along with 3 other thanes Roxith, geth (aka Vishgraz), and Vraan
“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"
This ****ing mess of a "darker than the darkest hour" cannot be undone by other way than a ****ing Teferi-facilitated time travel and ensuring it **** ING never happened.
If anything, this joke of a "resolution" of Elspeth's arc does not allow for something else.
Like, I am sure she is not dead...but this is really a joke.
Though I must admit, the "we cannot blow the sylex up because we would blow up the Multiverse" was something I did not expect.
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Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
This ****ing mess of a "darker than the darkest hour" cannot be undone by other way than a ****ing Teferi-facilitated time travel and ensuring it **** ING never happened.
If anything, this joke of a "resolution" of Elspeth's arc does not allow for something else.
Like, I am sure she is not dead...but this is really a joke.
Though I must admit, the "we cannot blow the sylex up because we would blow up the Multiverse" was something I did not expect.
My guess is a Legacy Weapon 2.0 with the Sylex and Halo "healing" the mutiverse/phyrexia.
And yeah that was a lose/lose there with the tree already connecting the planes and the sylex blast possible hitting them.
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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"
This ****ing mess of a "darker than the darkest hour" cannot be undone by other way than a ****ing Teferi-facilitated time travel and ensuring it **** ING never happened.
If anything, this joke of a "resolution" of Elspeth's arc does not allow for something else.
Like, I am sure she is not dead...but this is really a joke.
Though I must admit, the "we cannot blow the sylex up because we would blow up the Multiverse" was something I did not expect.
It was pretty clear from the moment we saw the announcements for MoM, that this whole arc was MtG's attempt as an Infinity War - Endgame kinda thing.
This ****ing mess of a "darker than the darkest hour" cannot be undone by other way than a ****ing Teferi-facilitated time travel and ensuring it **** ING never happened.
If anything, this joke of a "resolution" of Elspeth's arc does not allow for something else.
Like, I am sure she is not dead...but this is really a joke.
Though I must admit, the "we cannot blow the sylex up because we would blow up the Multiverse" was something I did not expect.
It was pretty clear from the moment we saw the announcements for MoM, that this whole arc was MtG's attempt as an Infinity War - Endgame kinda thing.
They DID try that out with War of the Spark, but kinda fell flat during some parts and mostly cuz some story elements were kinda iffy at times. I do hope they fix Elspeth's arc.
War of the Spark had little to do with Infinity War - Endgame.
The main trait of IW-E is the whole getting out of the lowest low spiel. WotS was just your standard "epic battle with stakes". WotS was closer to these mass-superhero battles than IW-E. Even the announcement artwork of MoM with Chandra and the legendaries evokes the fight at the end where all the different factions of the universe are summoned to battle Thanos' forces. It's really the MtG take on IW-E.
1. nahiri a tiny little scratch from fighting a phyrexian on the first lair. ps looks like she may have sacrificed herself to destroy the arena and a opening to sphere number 7 the Fair Basilica
2. Lukka pretty much being beyond stupid and got a little to bonded with a phyrexian beast (it was slowly compleating him and he didn't know it.)
3. vraska ended up in the phyrexian arena and one phyrexian got her so compleation was started and she knew it.
4. jace was being a moron as well and refusing to leave vraska when she begged him to since she knew the compleation was radiating in her but still refused to leave then the compleation finished and she did a scorpion like sting in his hand before he fled.
5. not quite known yet but probably the same thing as nahiri since it said she got a scratch from a phyrexian as well (either lukkas beast or vorinclex.)
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
...Why did Elesh Norn leave those two alive, again?
It seems exceedingly foolhardy for Norn to be moving to take on the entire multiverse when she doesn't even have Phyrexia under her thumb. Only three out of five factions seem to be under her control. For all the talk about her being the Mother of Machines and the leader of New Phyrexia, her position seems awfully tenuous.
She's the Big Bad of Magic right now, so I wish the story would make her feel like more of a threat. Instead, she just seems really... vulnerable.
I dunno if there's contradicting things in the lore, but maybe Sheoldred after being defeated once is now feigning allegiance to her whilst working with Urabrask's faction.
I don't even think she has Jin under completely... I think Vorinclex is the only possible one who she's fully reigned in amongst the other praetors.
The fact that a scratch in a fight or even on a piece of "tree" "debris" or anything else will lead to completion, the fact that just breathing in the dross pits can lead to completion and the fact that New Phyrexia knew they were coming, makes it just ridiculous that anyone would survive.
The way they set up New Phyrexia now is just way way to OP.
I guess the Wanderer blinking in and out, that Kaya can phase, and Kaito's super agility can give them a chance. Tyvar being a brawler and always fighting hand to hand combat should make it near impossible, even with halo and glimmer coating.
How can they win?
Plus the setting of the sylex, which may not even work, is a suicide mission.
Maybe they don't win at all and it's going to take some Teferi time shenanigan hand waiving for an actual "defeat" of New Phyrexia. Becuase otherwise I just don't see it.
Been on this forum for 10++ years
Playing since '94
the visual guide mention if elesh prevents him from doing his experiments/research he would be in Urabrask rebellion but as long as he can do his experiments/research he’s fine with elesh as leader.
In the immortal words of Project Pat...
"Don't save her. She don't wanna be saved."
Click the pic for more info.
But I am constantly reminded of why MtG story is -and never will be- great. It's almost as if whoever is in charge of the thing doesn't even care about the quality. It starts with the absolute basics of worldbuilding (what the hell do the mirrans even eat?!) continues with flaws in broad story strokes (Why exactly are they trying to destroy specifically the realmbreaker and not, you know, New Phyrexia as a whole) and winds its way all the way to individual passages in the text. Like Jace just said he's infected and Kaya hands him the sylex. Like... Uhm... What.
And we haven't even gone into the whole thing of the flavour of the cards rarely (if ever) matching what actually happens in the story. Vraska didn't need only a moment. Jace was reluctant to leave her after she insisted multiple times! Or the retcons which, Maro said, are Good Actually[tm] because and I quote "Superhero comics do it too".
Just... the whole thing is a mess and I can't help but think that it's in large parts, if not exclusively, because there are too many people pulling it in too many directions and time schedules preventing things from properly syncing with the different media.
It's telling that the side stories are often much much better than the main episodes.
RE: Lukka and Jace being idiots. I kinda don't think either is a fundamental structural problem. The issue with Lukka is that I feel the whole train of thought wasn't explored very well. Would have made more sense if Lukka dismissed the thought at first but then found that some traces of "organic" mind remains inside the phyrexian beasts which leads Lukka down the path that maybe he can control it. It was hinted at but not explored in depth, probably in large parts because of the word limit of these stories.
Jace's misstep would have been much better with actual dialog. The section where he went for Vraska were so... unconvincing, hollow. It's just a writer putting down words but not actual meaning and emotion. Characters do not need to be smart and rational all the time, but have them have something to say, especially in arguments. Arguments (and other verbal fights) are literally the most important moments in dialog where you need to have the character say something. It's become a trope at this point that characters arguing in fiction is usually just people shouting empty platitudes devoid of meaning at each other, because the writer just wants them to fight for a plot reason and nothing else.
Norn has a theme of "facade" where she presents differently to the outside than it really is. The entire aesthetic of covering bleeding-red sinewy bodies with pristine white porcellain, the name of the outmost layer being called a "facade". Even her artworks where she is often represented in some ceremonial theatrics. Norn is all about show. It's totally within her theme to act as if she has a full grasp on Phyrexia when her leadership is much more tenuous than it really is.
Also, let's not forget that Phyrexia is a viral force. Even if New Phyrexia is destroyed in the wake of this war, if the realmbreaker infects other worlds, even medium sized phyrexian forces can deal a lot of damage as every infected world acts as a vector for more infected worlds. A small congingent of phyrexians can wreak massive havoc on a world like Kaladesh, due to its artifice, Ikoria, due to the way everything mutates there with the help of crystals, and Lorwyn, due to it not being militarized very well and as such having no useful defense, not to mention its three greatest "military" forces, the elves, the kithkin and the fae are prime targets for phyrexian infection.
So yeah, it kind of makes sense for Norn to pursue this goal, even despite all the infighting on New Phyrexia. As a viral force, Phyrexia needs to spread. The more contained it is the more vulnerable it is. If Norn waits and the planeswalkers manage to destroy Mirrodin with the sylex, then all of New Phyrexia is gone. If they spread to even just a dozen worlds with the realmbreaker, it is much harder to track them down.
Setting up the realmbreaker has another interesting side effect on the whole conflict: It forces the planeswalkers to act quickly, because they do not have time to waste. In Magic terms, Norn is having the tempo advantage.
I personally don't think Norn is doing a strategic mistake here. It seems like a pretty sensible course of action. It makes much less sense that the planeswalkers make it sound as if destroyed the realmbreaker ends the phyrexian threat. There is little stopping the phyrexians from building another realmbreaker (depending on how it works they might even have multiple seedlings as backup). Not to mention that the phyrexians have been able to travel to other worlds even without the realmbreaker. There is no reason to believe this technology cannot be refined over time until they build their own planar bridge.
I mean, spoiler ahead
Totally agreed on the OP phyrexia thing. Whenever there's a fight with (glistening oil era) phyrexia I'm always like "how do they want to win, unless they are magically protected by Halo or whatever". It's also odd when you consider cards like Bite Down. I mean... If Phyrexia wanted to invade a plane, literally all they need to do is spray glistening oil over everything using carriers and/or just let their own forces be eaten by the local wildlife and wait.
It feels a bit like Phyrexia is (ab)using the "rule of narrative need" the most out of all things in MtG. Like, apparently Phyrexia can be repelled by dinosaurs literally eating phyrexians, and other times a single scratch can induce phyresis in a matter of hours(?!).
Another reason why MtG story will never be "great". It's just too internally inconsistent.
well it’s not just Zendikar, theros, and kamigawa
Kaladesh, Kaldheim, Arcavios/strixhaven, Ravnica, and Innistrad are also getting invaded
we have a pictures of legends from each of those plans
baral, Esika (I thought Vorinclex compleated/killed her.), Dina and Quintorius, Borborygmos, and thalia.
To be fair there's a method to her madness. According to the Tezzeret story in BW she has such control over the Hunter's Maze and Surgical Bays that they have to concede to her mission of unity instead of focusing on social darwinism or science respectively.
It's with the thanes that just puzzles me. She overwhelmed Sheoldred's forces, yet Sheoldred is still a rival so she has to be distracted. Atraxa admits the Dross Pits are basically useless, yet they're allowed to exist within this otherwise Bant faction.
I mean, Vorinclex and Jin are probably ok following Norn's lead if she lets them do their thing. And it doesn't appear as if they are truly loyal (not really sure that's a thing among praetors). I would fully expect especially Vorinclex to rip her insides out at the first sign of weakness.
But black is all about ambition, so it makes sense that any truce with a black praetor is as paperthin as it gets.
Sorry the phrasing wasn't quite right on my post. I am aware that the other planes get relmbreakered. The context I was trying to say is after that. Exactly, these planes get bridged. By what the have set NP to be, those planes are GONE. Nothing can be done to stop that basically. And there is basically nothing to stop further breaches and phyrexianization of everywhere and everything unless there is going to be some serious hand waiving (either time shenanigans to stop NP from even coming into existence, or a cure to the oil (which basically takes only one drop on a world and can be aerosolized as well.
Been on this forum for 10++ years
Playing since '94
what are you talking about?
its all confirmed Kaladesh, Kaldheim, Arcavios/strixhaven ravnica, and innistrad are hit along with kamigawa, theros and zendikar,
if there was unconfirmed thats a safe bet its probably Domnaria, Tarkir and new Capenna
Also, I didn't say it was only those three planes that would get breached. I simply used them as an example, because we have literal in-the-moment artwork of them getting breached.
So I had the distinct impression that Sheoldred had been reined in by Norn, even if grudgingly.
So that's why this open rebellion perplexes me now. I get that Sheoldred has no love for Norn and would love to replace her as Mother of Machines one day. But the seeming transition from being Norn's vassal to becoming an open traitor is a significant development and needs to be explored further.
and along with 3 other thanes Roxith, geth (aka Vishgraz), and Vraan
https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/assault-on-new-phyrexia-or-episode-4-impossible-odds?utm_campaign=MTG---ONE---All-Will-Be-One&utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=social&utm_content=8622582257
ASSAULT ON NEW PHYREXIA | EPISODE 5: INEVITABLE RESOLUTIONS by Seanan McGuire
https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/assault-on-new-phyrexia-or-episode-5-inevitable-resolutions?utm_campaign=MTG---ONE---All-Will-Be-One&utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=social&utm_content=8622582257
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
This ****ing mess of a "darker than the darkest hour" cannot be undone by other way than a ****ing Teferi-facilitated time travel and ensuring it **** ING never happened.
Like, I am sure she is not dead...but this is really a joke.
Though I must admit, the "we cannot blow the sylex up because we would blow up the Multiverse" was something I did not expect.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
And yeah that was a lose/lose there with the tree already connecting the planes and the sylex blast possible hitting them.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
It was pretty clear from the moment we saw the announcements for MoM, that this whole arc was MtG's attempt as an Infinity War - Endgame kinda thing.
They DID try that out with War of the Spark, but kinda fell flat during some parts and mostly cuz some story elements were kinda iffy at times. I do hope they fix Elspeth's arc.
The main trait of IW-E is the whole getting out of the lowest low spiel. WotS was just your standard "epic battle with stakes". WotS was closer to these mass-superhero battles than IW-E. Even the announcement artwork of MoM with Chandra and the legendaries evokes the fight at the end where all the different factions of the universe are summoned to battle Thanos' forces. It's really the MtG take on IW-E.