So what do you think this means? The other shards will gang up on Grixis?
a) The probability that Nicol Bolas would be killed just went up.. or
b) He might get banished again.
I'm leaning more on (a) i think they would enforce the Meandering as factors if he indeed gets defeated. But hopefully it would jut be my paranoia getting haywire. It's always nice to be proven wrong.
Anyway, seeing that other preview that's on the Rumor Mill it seems that the Esper Sphinxes are onto Grixis, dunno if the other shards are too. I'm more interested on how the other Shards will interact to each other really... although the art was a nice revelation (of Bolas).
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Serra Stan - Angel Enthusiast - Garruk and Tyvar thirsty follower - Flavor and Art Enthusiast
Still don't like his new look. The Legends card wasn't great, but he looked intelligent and malevolent. Now he just looks like a random dragon ... with a scarf.
Still: w00t! Hopefully Bolas will be beating the living **** out of some bradywalkers and eating their pancreases. That would make a good book.
Also, it looks like contrary to popular opinion (including my own), Sarkhan Vol is not going to be a Bolas supporter.
Crocodile, to an Ape then a Gremlin, thanks to luminum_can (the one who pointed it out) whenever i look at the vs. the 4 neowalker wallpaper i get the visual. >_<
But then again, somebody is still downplaying this as Nicol and theorizing that this might be Malfegor. : / I think the one who posted the single art already said that it's from an official source. So this might just be THE Nicol Bolas now.
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Serra Stan - Angel Enthusiast - Garruk and Tyvar thirsty follower - Flavor and Art Enthusiast
I am okay with Bolas's form. Based on the actions taken by Bolas in the novels, I do not feel the Legends illustration suits him. I would have prefered to see a beefier body rather than the lean approach, but I am okay with his face. Interestingly, the "gremlin" face looks more humanoid than other dragons. There is something sinister about the blending of his look. I think the imposing dragon figure (would have been more of his imposing style if his body was larger rather than sleek) is creepily complimented by his expressive, non-draconic face.
And, as others have stated, he can still shapeshift it would seem, so whatever he feels like doing, all the more power to him!
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Dominian Scholar of the Old Guard, specializing in pre-revisionist (Armada comics) and revisionist (Brothers' War through Apocalypse)history
I think the role of Bolas will disappoint people regardless.
If he dies, some will be upset.
If he lives, this would make the third time he made a run for it. And then he becomes a Yawgmoth, always hiding in the shadows for his potential return or potentially pulling strings from behind.
So, he may make a mammoth return, only be to killed. Honestly, I would say it's all in how the plot is handled. If he has to die, then so be it. If he lives, his "escape" again better be something worth reading.
So . . . we'll see. Honestly, I plan to pick up the newer books. I haven't read leisurely for some time, and haven't read a Magic book since the first Kamigawa novel. Now seems as good as any to start. I'll pick up Agents of Artifice and Alara Unbroken, and see how it goes. Fantasy as escapism. I could use that!
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Dominian Scholar of the Old Guard, specializing in pre-revisionist (Armada comics) and revisionist (Brothers' War through Apocalypse)history
I think Bolas looks a bit silly, but then again, Bolas cards have a history of looking a bit silly
Agreed
Also, it looks like contrary to popular opinion (including my own), Sarkhan Vol is not going to be a Bolas supporter.
I smell a double cross, hands up if you think Vol is going to turn on the other 'walkers.:smileup:......sorry all they had was thumbs up:swear:
Also could that crystal floating there have anything to do with the Sphinx. Maybe he has attack and destroyed them? Has taken their power. The sphinx can't shape change can they?
Also the vedalken have ascribed oracular import to wind currents and the notations on Bolas' scarf thing(forget what they call it) has similar markings.
I am going to mention what I mentioned in the Rumor mill here....
on the art that was leaked for the new card... the reason Nicol Bolas' arms look like a gorilla's, is because he is wearing a form of armor called a Vambrace. Additionally he is also wearing armor on his legs, it appears he is also wearing armor on his tail. And he is also wearing what appears to be a set of Horn Caps (like what they put on Bulls in Bull Fights to make the horns look bigger than they really are)...
Now the real question is.... is his Armor part of his Planeswalker form... or is it armor that was made for him while he was the Emperor of Madara?
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"As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero." -- Varsuvius, Order of the Stick
Part of him? You think anyone's clothes can be a part of his body (well, except for the etherium armor of the esperites ;))? Maybe it could be possible in the pre-Mending storyline, but now when planeswalkers are no longer able to change their for at will, I guess it's just an armor, just like the ones Elspeth or Tezz are wearing. Btw. why do we talk about it? Is his armor important to the storyline in any way?
where does Wizards confirm this myth that Planeswalkers aren't able to change their form at will anymore (or more or less at will)???? I must have missed that detail....
And yes, I would wager that when it took an army of men to make the armor... it is going to have an impact or might have an impact on the storyline... or at least it should have....
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"As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero." -- Varsuvius, Order of the Stick
Part of him? You think anyone's clothes can be a part of his body ?
Hobbit feet-shoes FTW! I love the new art, but he looks incredibly massive seeing how he seems to be surrounded by other dragons.
Also, all of Bolas's new art seem to have this lime green/golden aura about him. It's really hard to tell in which of Alara's planes he's standing (possibly a ruined Bant??)
By the looks of the spire he is standing on and his colors, I'd say he's in Grixis. The color of the sky can be the fact that the sub-planes are colliding with each other and so Bant and Jund are smashing into Grixis or something.
Also, I can't for the life of me understand how an Etherium graft would give an edge to Tezzeret against a giant dragon planeswalker. If memory serves, I remember reading somewhere on MTG.com that his Etherium arm was purely aesthetic.
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Common sense isn't so common... Thanks to PotN at Solar Flare Studios for the awesome sig!
The informations you've missed were in one of the articles on the Planeswalkers minisite:
And I don't think it would take an army to myke an armor for Bolas. He's not that big IMO. Looking at the wallpaper where he battles Tezz&co, I guess he's max. 30 meters long. The creatures flying around him on his card artwork cannot be dragons. They're possibly some bat-like creatures from Alara or some very little dragon whelps...
Fair enough, I did miss that... Still, it is possible that the Armor is part of his form, from when he was still able to change form.
In any case, I still think those things flying around him on the card art are Dragons, just farther afield than anyone is willing to give them credit for being. They look like they are several hundred, or even thousand feet away from Nicol Bolas.
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"As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero." -- Varsuvius, Order of the Stick
1. + 2. It's just a speculation, but the two informations above, when combined, seem to indicate that unlike the other planeswalkers Tezzeret is still connected to the Blind Eternities , not by his Spark but by the etherium in his body. If so, wouldn't that fix the handicap the new 'walkers are having?
If that is true, Nicol Bolas would be doing everything in his power to seek to get Etherium grafted into his body as well... so as to reestablish himself as the true most powerful entity in the multiverse. Because if your speculation is true, it is very possible that Tezz is stronger at the moment than Nicol Bolas....
There's one of those creatures partially in front of the elder dragon's left wing, so no, they're not "miles behind him" ;).
Uh huh... you are aware that the closer to the edge of the wing on a Reptilian, the thinner the wing membrane is, and as such the more translucent the wing is... as such, the creature is probably still behind the wing, we can just see it, because it stands out against the wing membrane, which is not solid enough at that location to truely hide the object.
So no, I don't buy that the creature is truely in front of the wing.
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"As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero." -- Varsuvius, Order of the Stick
2. The new planeswalkers are (according to the article on the PW minisite) weaker than the old ones just because the nature of their Spark is different - it's no longer able to draw aether so the new 'walkers must draw mana from the land like any mage.
So all Bolas would have to do is trap them in the Blind Eternities then wallop them with his dragony mightiness?
I'll give my theory on Sarkhan being on the planeswalkers confronting Bolas:
Given Sarkhan's affinity for dragons, suppose his dragon-god decided to carry out genocide against the other dragons to prevent the ascension and rise to power of any other dragon 'walkers? That way Bolas could stay at the top of the food chain and not have to worry about the possibility of more planeswalker Elder Dragons. In fact, Bolas may well have been using Sarkhan to carry out his genocide. Bolas can use magic, which is good at casting illusions.
Imagine the power of an illusion spell cast by an Elder Dragon planewalker. Perhaps Bolas cast some sort of massive illusion, like a world-enchantment, which made dragons throughout the multiverse appear as if they were some other creature, like an okk or something. He's had Sarkhan going around doing his dirty work by killing dragons. Sarkhan discovers Bolas has been mind****ing him. Sarkhan wants to see Bolas dead for the blood of the dragons he's stained Sarkhan's hands with.
I would assume that bringing the Shards together would cause a mana backlash of some kind? If so, perhaps Bolas wants to unite the shards in order to replenish the mana he spent on his hypothetical world-enchantment illusion.
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Jace was an awesome character and the neo-walkers seem like they will be a good concept given what I read in Agents of Artifice.
the problem with the world enchantment theory, is I am 90% sure that world enchantments are no longer possible as of the end of the mending... unless they decide to bring a traditionally powered Planeswalker back in the form of Karn, or some other Planeswalker that found a way to evade the Mending.
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"As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero." -- Varsuvius, Order of the Stick
1. Etherium is said to be connected to the Blind Eternities, that's why members of the ethersworn sect speaks about themselves being "touched by the Aether."
The sphinx Crucius was a seminal but controversial figure in Esper history. Esperites now revile the genius who brought etherium to the plane, thinking him to have disappeared or died years ago. But our researchers' evidence suggests that he may have been a planeswalker, and furthermore may have understood—and attempted to correct—Esper's plight.
Decades ago, Crucius devised the magical alloy etherium and began a grand project to infuse living things on Esper with it, which he called The Noble Work. Records show that he proposed the Noble Work as a means to overcome the frailties and limitations of the mortal flesh, but Crucius may have in fact perceived Esper's disconnection from two crucial elements, red and green mana. Indeed, the æther inside etherium, once spread across enough of the plane, may have been intended to enable a spell that would reunify Esper with the other planar fragments.
So Crucius, a Sphinx and possible planeswalker, may indeed have tricked the plane of Esper into infusing their entire society with Etherium. The true purpose of which may have been to help re-unify the Shards of Alara. Hmmm....Spidey sense, tingling?
Is it possible that in fact Crucius = Bolas? Could this be what he was referring to at the end of Time Spiral when he mentioned that he had "prepared" a place to go after the mending?
Is it possible that in fact Crucius = Bolas? Could this be what he was referring to at the end of Time Spiral when he mentioned that he had "prepared" a place to go after the mending?
That would be actually interesting, with Bolas having sum Blue mana with him (i read this idea somewhere too on the RUmor Mill IIRC) he could've had casted an illusion over him that made him look like a Sphinx to the Esper populace while studying connections to the Blind Eternities.
Nice one indeed.
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Serra Stan - Angel Enthusiast - Garruk and Tyvar thirsty follower - Flavor and Art Enthusiast
Bolas would never take on a form of the Sphinx - he was incredibly proud to be a Dragon. And he wasn't an artificer, I really doubt he would be able to invent anything.
He's also not stupid though. I find it difficult to believe that he would be so proud of being a dragon that he would completely dismiss the idea of using deceit and disguise to accomplish his goals.
Either way, we'll know more when we find out more of the story of Conflux. Perhaps Bolas is the one who wants Alara to stay shattered and Crucius was working against that. We shall see.
Yes, we shall see. But seriously, Bolas wasn't stupid, but he was normally smart, not geek-y smart like Urza or Niv-Mizzet. And yes, I think he was incredibly proud. In fact he was probably the most egocentric MtG character ever (with the possible exception for Niv-Mizzet again), his methods aren't disguises and illusions, but direct confrontations and brute force...
Regading the bolded part: although he is not geeky-smart to levels of Mizzet and Urza, don't forget that he is incredibly cunning, malicious and insidious, almost to the levels of Yawgmoth. And he operated through his minions before (Madara), hiding his true form from them until he saw it fit to reveal himself (to show Ramses Overdark that he has no chance in plotting to overthrow him by treachery). I can easily imagine him coming back to old methods, especially now when he is not THE Nicol Bolas, PLANESWALKER anymore.
That said, I agree with you that I can hardly imagine him posing as Crucius, but I felt compelled to disagree that his method is direct, brute force.
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Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
In fact [Bolas] was probably the most egocentric MtG character ever (with the possible exception for Niv-Mizzet again), his methods aren't disguises and illusions, but direct confrontations and brute force...
I like how a defining characteristic to dragons is their ego, yet Jund has no sentient dragons. [/off topic thoughts]
I think Bolas' treachery and cunning could come into play, as well. Even in the end of the Future Sight, he used it against both Radha ("I'm not a malevolent being, and will not use you as a lense for gathering mana") and Leshrac ("Oh I'm falling apart, come chase me to my end so that you can die!").
On a side note, I think this planeswalker's duel with Bolas and this little band of nobodies is likely to spell the end for Nicol Bolas, as much as I hate that. I reread the Future Sight novel (well, the parts that mattered), and it seemed awefully like WotC is trying to kill off not only Bolas in this last hoorah, but also Dominaria (which really saddens me, also :().
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[Imagine scantily-clad women in a leud embrace,
one stretched out and victim to a chokehold of the other,
both with big stupid grins spreading across their faces.]
Thinking about that, I really believe it could work if the other 'walkers were foolish anough to follow him there and didn't run away soon enough (that's it again, possibly except for Tezz who may be able to draw aether from the Blind Eternities because of his right arm). Of course, Bolas would be also powerless there, but he's a Dragon - he could simply eat them :D.
I think Bolas can still draw power from the Blind Eternities due to his Elder Dragon nature... because weren't Elder Dragons also capable of planeswalking even before becoming Planeswalkers?
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"As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero." -- Varsuvius, Order of the Stick
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So what do you think this means? The other shards will gang up on Grixis?
Thanks to PotN at Solar Flare Studios for the awesome sig!
a) The probability that Nicol Bolas would be killed just went up.. or
b) He might get banished again.
I'm leaning more on (a) i think they would enforce the Meandering as factors if he indeed gets defeated. But hopefully it would jut be my paranoia getting haywire. It's always nice to be proven wrong.
Anyway, seeing that other preview that's on the Rumor Mill it seems that the Esper Sphinxes are onto Grixis, dunno if the other shards are too. I'm more interested on how the other Shards will interact to each other really... although the art was a nice revelation (of Bolas).
Serra Stan - Angel Enthusiast - Garruk and Tyvar thirsty follower - Flavor and Art Enthusiast
Still: w00t! Hopefully Bolas will be beating the living **** out of some bradywalkers and eating their pancreases. That would make a good book.
Also, it looks like contrary to popular opinion (including my own), Sarkhan Vol is not going to be a Bolas supporter.
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But then again, somebody is still downplaying this as Nicol and theorizing that this might be Malfegor. : / I think the one who posted the single art already said that it's from an official source. So this might just be THE Nicol Bolas now.
Serra Stan - Angel Enthusiast - Garruk and Tyvar thirsty follower - Flavor and Art Enthusiast
And, as others have stated, he can still shapeshift it would seem, so whatever he feels like doing, all the more power to him!
As has been said to me multiple times.. Malfegor has like 8 arms and legs... this image appears to only have 4....
If he dies, some will be upset.
If he lives, this would make the third time he made a run for it. And then he becomes a Yawgmoth, always hiding in the shadows for his potential return or potentially pulling strings from behind.
So, he may make a mammoth return, only be to killed. Honestly, I would say it's all in how the plot is handled. If he has to die, then so be it. If he lives, his "escape" again better be something worth reading.
So . . . we'll see. Honestly, I plan to pick up the newer books. I haven't read leisurely for some time, and haven't read a Magic book since the first Kamigawa novel. Now seems as good as any to start. I'll pick up Agents of Artifice and Alara Unbroken, and see how it goes. Fantasy as escapism. I could use that!
Thanks to PotN at Solar Flare Studios for the awesome sig!
Agreed
I smell a double cross, hands up if you think Vol is going to turn on the other 'walkers.:smileup:......sorry all they had was thumbs up:swear:
Also could that crystal floating there have anything to do with the Sphinx. Maybe he has attack and destroyed them? Has taken their power. The sphinx can't shape change can they?
Also the vedalken have ascribed oracular import to wind currents and the notations on Bolas' scarf thing(forget what they call it) has similar markings.
They hate us cause they ain't us.
on the art that was leaked for the new card... the reason Nicol Bolas' arms look like a gorilla's, is because he is wearing a form of armor called a Vambrace. Additionally he is also wearing armor on his legs, it appears he is also wearing armor on his tail. And he is also wearing what appears to be a set of Horn Caps (like what they put on Bulls in Bull Fights to make the horns look bigger than they really are)...
Now the real question is.... is his Armor part of his Planeswalker form... or is it armor that was made for him while he was the Emperor of Madara?
where does Wizards confirm this myth that Planeswalkers aren't able to change their form at will anymore (or more or less at will)???? I must have missed that detail....
And yes, I would wager that when it took an army of men to make the armor... it is going to have an impact or might have an impact on the storyline... or at least it should have....
Also, all of Bolas's new art seem to have this lime green/golden aura about him. It's really hard to tell in which of Alara's planes he's standing (possibly a ruined Bant??)
Also, I can't for the life of me understand how an Etherium graft would give an edge to Tezzeret against a giant dragon planeswalker. If memory serves, I remember reading somewhere on MTG.com that his Etherium arm was purely aesthetic.
Thanks to PotN at Solar Flare Studios for the awesome sig!
Fair enough, I did miss that... Still, it is possible that the Armor is part of his form, from when he was still able to change form.
In any case, I still think those things flying around him on the card art are Dragons, just farther afield than anyone is willing to give them credit for being. They look like they are several hundred, or even thousand feet away from Nicol Bolas.
If that is true, Nicol Bolas would be doing everything in his power to seek to get Etherium grafted into his body as well... so as to reestablish himself as the true most powerful entity in the multiverse. Because if your speculation is true, it is very possible that Tezz is stronger at the moment than Nicol Bolas....
Uh huh... you are aware that the closer to the edge of the wing on a Reptilian, the thinner the wing membrane is, and as such the more translucent the wing is... as such, the creature is probably still behind the wing, we can just see it, because it stands out against the wing membrane, which is not solid enough at that location to truely hide the object.
So no, I don't buy that the creature is truely in front of the wing.
Planeswalkers are mortals now.
Thanks to PotN at Solar Flare Studios for the awesome sig!
So all Bolas would have to do is trap them in the Blind Eternities then wallop them with his dragony mightiness?
I'll give my theory on Sarkhan being on the planeswalkers confronting Bolas:
Given Sarkhan's affinity for dragons, suppose his dragon-god decided to carry out genocide against the other dragons to prevent the ascension and rise to power of any other dragon 'walkers? That way Bolas could stay at the top of the food chain and not have to worry about the possibility of more planeswalker Elder Dragons. In fact, Bolas may well have been using Sarkhan to carry out his genocide. Bolas can use magic, which is good at casting illusions.
Imagine the power of an illusion spell cast by an Elder Dragon planewalker. Perhaps Bolas cast some sort of massive illusion, like a world-enchantment, which made dragons throughout the multiverse appear as if they were some other creature, like an okk or something. He's had Sarkhan going around doing his dirty work by killing dragons. Sarkhan discovers Bolas has been mind****ing him. Sarkhan wants to see Bolas dead for the blood of the dragons he's stained Sarkhan's hands with.
I would assume that bringing the Shards together would cause a mana backlash of some kind? If so, perhaps Bolas wants to unite the shards in order to replenish the mana he spent on his hypothetical world-enchantment illusion.
From A Planeswalker's Guide to Alara:
quoted here: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/stf/13
So Crucius, a Sphinx and possible planeswalker, may indeed have tricked the plane of Esper into infusing their entire society with Etherium. The true purpose of which may have been to help re-unify the Shards of Alara. Hmmm....Spidey sense, tingling?
Is it possible that in fact Crucius = Bolas? Could this be what he was referring to at the end of Time Spiral when he mentioned that he had "prepared" a place to go after the mending?
That would be actually interesting, with Bolas having sum Blue mana with him (i read this idea somewhere too on the RUmor Mill IIRC) he could've had casted an illusion over him that made him look like a Sphinx to the Esper populace while studying connections to the Blind Eternities.
Nice one indeed.
Serra Stan - Angel Enthusiast - Garruk and Tyvar thirsty follower - Flavor and Art Enthusiast
He's also not stupid though. I find it difficult to believe that he would be so proud of being a dragon that he would completely dismiss the idea of using deceit and disguise to accomplish his goals.
Either way, we'll know more when we find out more of the story of Conflux. Perhaps Bolas is the one who wants Alara to stay shattered and Crucius was working against that. We shall see.
Regading the bolded part: although he is not geeky-smart to levels of Mizzet and Urza, don't forget that he is incredibly cunning, malicious and insidious, almost to the levels of Yawgmoth. And he operated through his minions before (Madara), hiding his true form from them until he saw it fit to reveal himself (to show Ramses Overdark that he has no chance in plotting to overthrow him by treachery). I can easily imagine him coming back to old methods, especially now when he is not THE Nicol Bolas, PLANESWALKER anymore.
That said, I agree with you that I can hardly imagine him posing as Crucius, but I felt compelled to disagree that his method is direct, brute force.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
I like how a defining characteristic to dragons is their ego, yet Jund has no sentient dragons. [/off topic thoughts]
I think Bolas' treachery and cunning could come into play, as well. Even in the end of the Future Sight, he used it against both Radha ("I'm not a malevolent being, and will not use you as a lense for gathering mana") and Leshrac ("Oh I'm falling apart, come chase me to my end so that you can die!").
On a side note, I think this planeswalker's duel with Bolas and this little band of nobodies is likely to spell the end for Nicol Bolas, as much as I hate that. I reread the Future Sight novel (well, the parts that mattered), and it seemed awefully like WotC is trying to kill off not only Bolas in this last hoorah, but also Dominaria (which really saddens me, also :().
I think Bolas can still draw power from the Blind Eternities due to his Elder Dragon nature... because weren't Elder Dragons also capable of planeswalking even before becoming Planeswalkers?