Interesting how when I asked MaRo about Slivers and Shocklands being in standard for at least a small window, he wanted me to clarify my question. If Shocklands are in the Unfinity set, maybe we are getting Slivers in Standard with Dominaria United.
I wonder how they're going to justify the lore we've already seen from current day Kamigawa. Because we know that there are sections that aren't all cyberpunked from the stories about Tamiyo and her children.
Could Tamiyo be the Emperor?
Tamiyo the observer being Empress seems quite out of character to me.
The Sisters of Flesh and Spirit somehow figuring out how to planeswalk would be spicy, but part of me dreads Nicol Bolas finally tracking the Umezawas back to where they came from, escaping his Prison Realm, and becoming Emperor. (Honestly, Bolas not getting killed off still smells like Wizards left open the opportunity for him to come back, and him coming back might only be a matter of time.)
Someone else mentioned Oko as a possibility; IMO, the only way Oko is on the Emperor's throne is if he usurped it. While the flavour behind Oko definitely sounds like the faerie(/Yosei?) faction he came from espouses Asiatic philosophies of harmony, I suspect Wizards left his home plane open instead of fixing it on Kamigawa.
Bolas already went to Kamigawa around 65 years ago, just after his resurrection. He went on a rampage through the Myojin of Night's Reach's holdings, destroying all her shrines and turning her followers against her, as she was the one who originally brought the Umezawa bloodline to Dominaria. She fled Kamigawa, and Bolas chased her across the Multiverse before finally cornering and defeating her somewhere offscreen.
Night's Reach still lives, and she's out there somewhere in the Multiverse, but she's just a shadow of her former self (as it were).
I wonder how they're going to justify the lore we've already seen from current day Kamigawa. Because we know that there are sections that aren't all cyberpunked from the stories about Tamiyo and her children.
Could Tamiyo be the Emperor?
Tamiyo the observer being Empress seems quite out of character to me.
The Sisters of Flesh and Spirit somehow figuring out how to planeswalk would be spicy, but part of me dreads Nicol Bolas finally tracking the Umezawas back to where they came from, escaping his Prison Realm, and becoming Emperor. (Honestly, Bolas not getting killed off still smells like Wizards left open the opportunity for him to come back, and him coming back might only be a matter of time.)
Someone else mentioned Oko as a possibility; IMO, the only way Oko is on the Emperor's throne is if he usurped it. While the flavour behind Oko definitely sounds like the faerie(/Yosei?) faction he came from espouses Asiatic philosophies of harmony, I suspect Wizards left his home plane open instead of fixing it on Kamigawa.
I would like to offer another possibility:
Kamigawa has clearly went through an increase in technology. Who do we know who loves technology, craves power, has a history of infiltrating other planes, and recently lost the only boss who could keep his plans in check?
Bolas already went to Kamigawa around 65 years ago, just after his resurrection. He went on a rampage through the Myojin of Night's Reach's holdings, destroying all her shrines and turning her followers against her, as she was the one who originally brought the Umezawa bloodline to Dominaria. She fled Kamigawa, and Bolas chased her across the Multiverse before finally cornering and defeating her somewhere offscreen.
Night's Reach still lives, and she's out there somewhere in the Multiverse, but she's just a shadow of her former self (as it were).
Perhaps we'll see her again.
Night's Reach is definitely among my favorite characters.
So, Announcement Day.
The Good: Kamigawa. The concept art by Chris O. definitely indicates that this approach to a modern Kamigawa is promising. I sense they'll have a Tokyo/Kyoto contrast of developed vs. traditional settings, and manage to hit the best of both new and old elements that I very much feel is the correct approach to a reboot of this highly desired plane. It's Kamigawa's time at long last, and I am more than all for it, I am supporting it.
The bad: A lot of crossover IPs infiltrating Magic next year. I am not feeling the other sets, although I do wonder if the new plane could be interesting. It gives me a 1920's noir Gotham City vibe, and I could see that being rather good.
The downright ugly: Commander Legends. I've really been anticipating another. But not as much as I yearned to put the DND standard set behind me and into MTG's oblivious past, as a mistake. And here we are, with WOTC corrupting one of the most beloved supplemental products with DND, enslaving it to yet another exterior franchise, and depriving the set of the past characters from MTG lore players anticipate, perhaps most, in these sets. With plane-locked Commander pre-cons, and outsourced-IP locked Commander Legends sets, it begs whether WOTC took a look at its most popular products and wondered "how do I outright compromise this?" And then succeeded.
Oh, my. I am really happy with the outcome of this years announcement day. All premier sets are looking good so far. Excited to see the new plain, too. Even more commander products? Sign me up :D. Really happy about the D&D Commander Legend set. I didn't thought that they would do it this soon again.
I will pass on the Un-Set, Commander Collection, Fortnite, Street Fighter thing and maybe Double Masters too but that's okay. I am not a Warhammer fan and I don't really like the style but if I can get some juicy commander support for White or Angels i am in.
I will handle next year like I handle every year. I will buy those cards I am interested to have and I will draft the sets I like.
Kamigawa seems interesting, i love the Japanese aesthetic, and wished i played magic for the original run (love me some kitsune, so hope they have a big showing), not sure about the future-ish setting (again hope there is rural influences as people have mentioned).
Streets of New Caprica, eh I mean Streets of Golden Axe, wait thats still not right... err Streets of New Capenna, looks a bit meh, with Kamigawa now having a rather modern look to it, it seems they are maybe making places look a bit like ravnica... (Ravnica everywhere... as per Buzz). Tri colour gangs... not sure on this one. Guess we will wait and see. Though as it seems to have a kind of fantasy 1920's vibe, whats the chances they bring Eldrazi (someone had to say it at some point) there in the future to more fit a Call of Cthulu look and feel, as well as the idea of many colours vs none.
Dominara and Brothers war seem like they could be fun? Again a bit of a wait for that.
Iam not to bothered about anything else really, and tbh i only f2p arena at the moment, as i stopped buying anything physical after Stixhaven, though i have to say that one image of the LOTR with Gandalf in the Shire does not spark interest for me, I love LOTR, but that art, although very nicely done, does not say LOTR/Gandalf & Hobbits to me (also there is only 1 hobbit looking at the fireworks while everyone else is either looking in another direction or no interest at all). There is just too much stuff on each person/character and why is Gandalf in a full Leather getup? IDK that art is just not my cup of tea for LOTR.
A LotR set and a Brothers' War set in the same year? Yeeeeesss.
The Kamigawa set looks pretty cool too; I've been wanting them to go back to it for a while, and have been wondering what they'd do to make it new and exciting. Neon-cyberpunk is a great way to do it! Lots of opportunities for cool cards with that, and with the new Dominaria set as well.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Cheeseburger, french fries, chocolate shake, somebody's mind I's about to take!
So, that's ELEVEN fully fleshed-out sets (Midnight Hunt, Crimson Vow, Kamigawa 2, Capenna, Dominaria 2, Brothers War, Unfinity, Double Masters 2, Commander Legends 2, the LotR set) between now and the end of 2022? Eleven sets in 16 months, plus Commander decks and Jumpstart 2. Plus as many Secret Lair drops as they feel like making but haven't announced (Spoiler: It's probably more than a few).
How do they actually expect people to keep up with a release schedule like that without fatigue?
I wonder how they're going to justify the lore we've already seen from current day Kamigawa. Because we know that there are sections that aren't all cyberpunked from the stories about Tamiyo and her children.
Could Tamiyo be the Emperor?
Tamiyo the observer being Empress seems quite out of character to me.
The Sisters of Flesh and Spirit somehow figuring out how to planeswalk would be spicy, but part of me dreads Nicol Bolas finally tracking the Umezawas back to where they came from, escaping his Prison Realm, and becoming Emperor. (Honestly, Bolas not getting killed off still smells like Wizards left open the opportunity for him to come back, and him coming back might only be a matter of time.)
Someone else mentioned Oko as a possibility; IMO, the only way Oko is on the Emperor's throne is if he usurped it. While the flavour behind Oko definitely sounds like the faerie(/Yosei?) faction he came from espouses Asiatic philosophies of harmony, I suspect Wizards left his home plane open instead of fixing it on Kamigawa.
Oko's home plane is ruled by fascist faeries, so he's not from Kamigawa. I intended to suggest he has gained it through some means other than legitimate succession, possibly involving turning the previous emperor into an elk.
So, that's ELEVEN fully fleshed-out sets (Midnight Hunt, Crimson Vow, Kamigawa 2, Capenna, Dominaria 2, Brothers War, Unfinity, Double Masters 2, Commander Legends 2, the LotR set) between now and the end of 2022? Eleven sets in 16 months, plus Commander decks and Jumpstart 2. Plus as many Secret Lair drops as they feel like making but haven't announced (Spoiler: It's probably more than a few).
How do they actually expect people to keep up with a release schedule like that without fatigue?
Whales and "collectors" that treat the game like a stock market. Magic has introduced in the last 2 years what the AAA video game industry has been doing for the last decade.
Secret Lairs = time limited skin + microtransactions
Functional Unique cards = time limited sales + crossover IP train
Upping the product releases = weekly banners for gachas
It's all the same stuff. Gachas and Fortnite and the like rely on whales to survive and that is what Magic has begun to rely on recently.
If they can do a Gangster setting then a Western set is more possible. It will show us how they will creatively work around the guns aspect of a genre that predominantly features guns.
With Neon Dynasty looking the way it does, a western themed set certainly won't be too high tech or "futuristic" for Magic. It looks like they're pushing REALLY hard to expand Magic from only being fantasy style stuff. I'm definitely not a fan of it moving in that direction and like I said earlier in the thread, that's coming from somebody who prefers sci fi stuff.
If they can do a Gangster setting then a Western set is more possible. It will show us how they will creatively work around the guns aspect of a genre that predominantly features guns.
With Neon Dynasty looking the way it does, a western themed set certainly won't be too high tech or "futuristic" for Magic. It looks like they're pushing REALLY hard to expand Magic from only being fantasy style stuff. I'm definitely not a fan of it moving in that direction and like I said earlier in the thread, that's coming from somebody who prefers sci fi stuff.
Sometimes I feel the need to recall that the story of Invasion block involved an airship, an army of genetically modified clones and people in mech suits fighting off an alien invasion.
I wonder how they're going to justify the lore we've already seen from current day Kamigawa. Because we know that there are sections that aren't all cyberpunked from the stories about Tamiyo and her children.
Could Tamiyo be the Emperor?
Tamiyo the observer being Empress seems quite out of character to me.
The Sisters of Flesh and Spirit somehow figuring out how to planeswalk would be spicy, but part of me dreads Nicol Bolas finally tracking the Umezawas back to where they came from, escaping his Prison Realm, and becoming Emperor. (Honestly, Bolas not getting killed off still smells like Wizards left open the opportunity for him to come back, and him coming back might only be a matter of time.)
Someone else mentioned Oko as a possibility; IMO, the only way Oko is on the Emperor's throne is if he usurped it. While the flavour behind Oko definitely sounds like the faerie(/Yosei?) faction he came from espouses Asiatic philosophies of harmony, I suspect Wizards left his home plane open instead of fixing it on Kamigawa.
I would like to offer another possibility:
Kamigawa has clearly went through an increase in technology. Who do we know who loves technology, craves power, has a history of infiltrating other planes, and recently lost the only boss who could keep his plans in check?
That's right, Tezzeret.
Tezzeret is a possibility but a) we already had "Tezzeret infiltrates a plane by climbing on top of the social ladder and instigating its natives to develop new tech for nefarious purposes" in Kaladesh and this would just feel like a rehash; and b) we already have one new Planeswalker confirmed for Kamigawa and he's a cyber-ninja, a combo that definitely feels at least partially UB which would conflict with Tezz's color identity.
I assume Tamiyo is a given for Kamigawa so if we get a third PW in Kamigawa I'd assume it would be at least partially R. I mentioned it before but Lukka seems like a good fit since he's from the kaiju plane and he could be a bridge between Kamigawa and kaiju tropes often associated with Japan... but that said, Lukka doesn't feels emperor material to me.
EDIT: Also forgot to mention but this "Kamigawa emperor" might be intentionally misleading. Anyone familiar with Japanese folklore will know the tale of Tamamo-no-Mae so this "emperor" being a scapegoat for a more nefarious villainess is a very real possibility.
I really wish I could be excited for things. All of the crossover stuff is just a no. So that crosses out a good chunk of things on the list. Secret Lairs aren't my thing either, and they're just reprints anyways, so at most sometimes there is art to look at. Commander Legends is DnD (we just had it), zero interest in more of it especially with such a tight turn around (and it's still a crossover). I don't really know what Double Masters is for, but looking at the old one I don't exactly see a ton of interest. Which then leaves the planes. Two Dominaria, neither of which interest me (I get that it's for the 30th anniversary but still), especially as the latter is Artifacts. Kamigawa, except that they likely lost the entirety of why I liked about it given what it looks like and is called. And New Capenna which... isn't to my liking either (mildly miffed too that they're giving demons their own plane while angels still haven't had one). So it's really... blah.
If they can do a Gangster setting then a Western set is more possible. It will show us how they will creatively work around the guns aspect of a genre that predominantly features guns.
With Neon Dynasty looking the way it does, a western themed set certainly won't be too high tech or "futuristic" for Magic. It looks like they're pushing REALLY hard to expand Magic from only being fantasy style stuff. I'm definitely not a fan of it moving in that direction and like I said earlier in the thread, that's coming from somebody who prefers sci fi stuff.
Sometimes I feel the need to recall that the story of Invasion block involved an airship, an army of genetically modified clones and people in mech suits fighting off an alien invasion.
That's true, but the overall aesthetic of everything was still very not sci fi looking.
For KND they could always approach it like how FF8 did with Squall's sword-gun thing. I mean it's totally possible to have a firearm of some sort especially after that many years of societal development.
'buster
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'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset. Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
This means that they will likely be male (else they'd have said Empress) and it is unlikely to be anyone from the past Kamigawa. How a Planeswalker got to be Emperor though ... now that would be a tale. I'm hoping there will be Sagas in the set that will refer back to the past and that the city is the high tech neon part of Kamigawa but that the countryside outside will be more of all style rural Kamigawa and temples, creating a kind of conflict between the old and the new.
This means that they will likely be male (else they'd have said Empress) and it is unlikely to be anyone from the past Kamigawa. How a Planeswalker got to be Emperor though ... now that would be a tale. I'm hoping there will be Sagas in the set that will refer back to the past and that the city is the high tech neon part of Kamigawa but that the countryside outside will be more of all style rural Kamigawa and temples, creating a kind of conflict between the old and the new.
Can a God/Spirit ignite a planeswalker spark? Because we already know of somebody able to travel between the planes....
I know, I am totally crazy, but one can always dreams, right?
Tezzeret is a possibility but a) we already had "Tezzeret infiltrates a plane by climbing on top of the social ladder and instigating its natives to develop new tech for nefarious purposes" in Kaladesh and this would just feel like a rehash; and b) we already have one new Planeswalker confirmed for Kamigawa and he's a cyber-ninja, a combo that definitely feels at least partially UB which would conflict with Tezz's color identity.
Tezzeret can show up in mono-blue and leave Kyto UB, similar how it looks like Alrinn will be RG in this Innistrad set while Wrenn is in mono-green.
We also likely will get a new Tamiyo so Kamigawa just might be blue walker focused.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“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"
Tezzeret is a possibility but a) we already had "Tezzeret infiltrates a plane by climbing on top of the social ladder and instigating its natives to develop new tech for nefarious purposes" in Kaladesh and this would just feel like a rehash; and b) we already have one new Planeswalker confirmed for Kamigawa and he's a cyber-ninja, a combo that definitely feels at least partially UB which would conflict with Tezz's color identity.
Tezzeret can show up in mono-blue and leave Kyto UB, similar how it looks like Alrinn will be RG in this Innistrad set while Wrenn is in mono-green.
We also likely will get a new Tamiyo so Kamigawa just might be blue walker focused.
Tamiyo the observer being Empress seems quite out of character to me.
The Sisters of Flesh and Spirit somehow figuring out how to planeswalk would be spicy, but part of me dreads Nicol Bolas finally tracking the Umezawas back to where they came from, escaping his Prison Realm, and becoming Emperor. (Honestly, Bolas not getting killed off still smells like Wizards left open the opportunity for him to come back, and him coming back might only be a matter of time.)
Someone else mentioned Oko as a possibility; IMO, the only way Oko is on the Emperor's throne is if he usurped it. While the flavour behind Oko definitely sounds like the faerie(/Yosei?) faction he came from espouses Asiatic philosophies of harmony, I suspect Wizards left his home plane open instead of fixing it on Kamigawa.
Night's Reach still lives, and she's out there somewhere in the Multiverse, but she's just a shadow of her former self (as it were).
Perhaps we'll see her again.
I would like to offer another possibility:
Kamigawa has clearly went through an increase in technology. Who do we know who loves technology, craves power, has a history of infiltrating other planes, and recently lost the only boss who could keep his plans in check?
That's right, Tezzeret.
So, Announcement Day.
The Good: Kamigawa. The concept art by Chris O. definitely indicates that this approach to a modern Kamigawa is promising. I sense they'll have a Tokyo/Kyoto contrast of developed vs. traditional settings, and manage to hit the best of both new and old elements that I very much feel is the correct approach to a reboot of this highly desired plane. It's Kamigawa's time at long last, and I am more than all for it, I am supporting it.
The bad: A lot of crossover IPs infiltrating Magic next year. I am not feeling the other sets, although I do wonder if the new plane could be interesting. It gives me a 1920's noir Gotham City vibe, and I could see that being rather good.
The downright ugly: Commander Legends. I've really been anticipating another. But not as much as I yearned to put the DND standard set behind me and into MTG's oblivious past, as a mistake. And here we are, with WOTC corrupting one of the most beloved supplemental products with DND, enslaving it to yet another exterior franchise, and depriving the set of the past characters from MTG lore players anticipate, perhaps most, in these sets. With plane-locked Commander pre-cons, and outsourced-IP locked Commander Legends sets, it begs whether WOTC took a look at its most popular products and wondered "how do I outright compromise this?" And then succeeded.
|| 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 ||
I will pass on the Un-Set, Commander Collection, Fortnite, Street Fighter thing and maybe Double Masters too but that's okay. I am not a Warhammer fan and I don't really like the style but if I can get some juicy commander support for White or Angels i am in.
I will handle next year like I handle every year. I will buy those cards I am interested to have and I will draft the sets I like.
Kamigawa seems interesting, i love the Japanese aesthetic, and wished i played magic for the original run (love me some kitsune, so hope they have a big showing), not sure about the future-ish setting (again hope there is rural influences as people have mentioned).
Streets of New Caprica, eh I mean Streets of Golden Axe, wait thats still not right... err Streets of New Capenna, looks a bit meh, with Kamigawa now having a rather modern look to it, it seems they are maybe making places look a bit like ravnica... (Ravnica everywhere... as per Buzz). Tri colour gangs... not sure on this one. Guess we will wait and see. Though as it seems to have a kind of fantasy 1920's vibe, whats the chances they bring Eldrazi (someone had to say it at some point) there in the future to more fit a Call of Cthulu look and feel, as well as the idea of many colours vs none.
Dominara and Brothers war seem like they could be fun? Again a bit of a wait for that.
Iam not to bothered about anything else really, and tbh i only f2p arena at the moment, as i stopped buying anything physical after Stixhaven, though i have to say that one image of the LOTR with Gandalf in the Shire does not spark interest for me, I love LOTR, but that art, although very nicely done, does not say LOTR/Gandalf & Hobbits to me (also there is only 1 hobbit looking at the fireworks while everyone else is either looking in another direction or no interest at all). There is just too much stuff on each person/character and why is Gandalf in a full Leather getup? IDK that art is just not my cup of tea for LOTR.
~Funk Pirate
The Kamigawa set looks pretty cool too; I've been wanting them to go back to it for a while, and have been wondering what they'd do to make it new and exciting. Neon-cyberpunk is a great way to do it! Lots of opportunities for cool cards with that, and with the new Dominaria set as well.
How do they actually expect people to keep up with a release schedule like that without fatigue?
Oko's home plane is ruled by fascist faeries, so he's not from Kamigawa. I intended to suggest he has gained it through some means other than legitimate succession, possibly involving turning the previous emperor into an elk.
Whales and "collectors" that treat the game like a stock market. Magic has introduced in the last 2 years what the AAA video game industry has been doing for the last decade.
Secret Lairs = time limited skin + microtransactions
Functional Unique cards = time limited sales + crossover IP train
Upping the product releases = weekly banners for gachas
It's all the same stuff. Gachas and Fortnite and the like rely on whales to survive and that is what Magic has begun to rely on recently.
With Neon Dynasty looking the way it does, a western themed set certainly won't be too high tech or "futuristic" for Magic. It looks like they're pushing REALLY hard to expand Magic from only being fantasy style stuff. I'm definitely not a fan of it moving in that direction and like I said earlier in the thread, that's coming from somebody who prefers sci fi stuff.
Sometimes I feel the need to recall that the story of Invasion block involved an airship, an army of genetically modified clones and people in mech suits fighting off an alien invasion.
I assume Tamiyo is a given for Kamigawa so if we get a third PW in Kamigawa I'd assume it would be at least partially R. I mentioned it before but Lukka seems like a good fit since he's from the kaiju plane and he could be a bridge between Kamigawa and kaiju tropes often associated with Japan... but that said, Lukka doesn't feels emperor material to me.
EDIT: Also forgot to mention but this "Kamigawa emperor" might be intentionally misleading. Anyone familiar with Japanese folklore will know the tale of Tamamo-no-Mae so this "emperor" being a scapegoat for a more nefarious villainess is a very real possibility.
That's true, but the overall aesthetic of everything was still very not sci fi looking.
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
Are they cutting down then next year
a) We know them
b) That it was an Emperor
This means that they will likely be male (else they'd have said Empress) and it is unlikely to be anyone from the past Kamigawa. How a Planeswalker got to be Emperor though ... now that would be a tale. I'm hoping there will be Sagas in the set that will refer back to the past and that the city is the high tech neon part of Kamigawa but that the countryside outside will be more of all style rural Kamigawa and temples, creating a kind of conflict between the old and the new.
Can a God/Spirit ignite a planeswalker spark? Because we already know of somebody able to travel between the planes....
I know, I am totally crazy, but one can always dreams, right?
Tezzeret can show up in mono-blue and leave Kyto UB, similar how it looks like Alrinn will be RG in this Innistrad set while Wrenn is in mono-green.
We also likely will get a new Tamiyo so Kamigawa just might be blue walker focused.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
|| 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 ||