And from James Wyatt the Minotaur culture was made cause they wanted to have more variety of minotaur designs since last block had them as a tribe and you can only have "murdouse monster" so many times. And from him, humans don't know about them, the minotaur city keeps its self hidden with that maze land we saw.
I think this is a common issue with Magic worlds. Too often their races and cultures feel too one-notey. Ironically Theros is one of the stronger oens as the poleis feel like functioning city states rather than paper-board cutouts, but many other worlds suffer from this a lot.
In conclusion, I wish they'd add more variety (even if it's just hinted at for future revisits) to each culture and race rather than just making a stereotype seen on four-six cards and call it a day.
This whole thing really highlights how great MtG is at worldbuilding, while the novels repeatedly show that they're mediocre at telling a story at best.
It's a shame we don't see a lot of the world nowadays while the story (and marketing) dictate most of the game's narrative and creative display.
Also what's up with all that art of ships; leonin and minotaurs fighting together with humans? Are those historic scenes or did something change on Theors after the events of Xenagos' rise and fall?
I doubt Ashiok is going to be closely affiliated with Phyrexia. At best Ashiok might become some sort of satellite. Their two themes just clash. Ashiok is all about dreams and nightmares while phyrexia is the most material faction in all of magic. They have no spirits, no elementals, nothing that is incorporeal or anything, it's just very consistently metal and sinews. (Which is probably the main reason why they have such trouble grasping the idea of sparks.)
There’s more too it to why we know we’re going back to new phyrexia
In the forsaken lore Karn, Tenerife and Ajani are all going there for karns plan
And it’s once again boosted chances because ashiok wants to learn about phyrexians what better than going to either new phyrexia or dominaria for information
I never said we will not go back to New Phyrexia and I never said Ashiok will not go there, but the point is that there is nothing on New Phyrexia that Ashiok wants, apart from learning more about the Phyrexians. The Phyrexians have nothing to give to Ashiok and Ashiok cannot torment the Phyrexians, which means there is no real interaction between the two. If there are any surviving mirrans left, tormenting those makes no narrative sense, because New Phyrexia is a much bigger threat and produces much more real nightmares than Ashiok could. I could see Ashiok accidentally (or carelessly) serving as a plot vehicle, allowing the Phyrexians to escape or do something else that requires the superheroes to take care of them. In this way Ashiok would be the kickoff point for the next Phyrexia arc, but not part of the main conflict.
Or maybe Ashiok fights on the side of the Mirrans (kinda), because if they go extinct there is nobody they can torment anymore.
Why didn't Kruphix stop the gods from carrying out their fight against each other? He did so in Godsend with much less incentive (as far as I can remember)? On that note he is barely in the set, being mentioned once and being in an illustration once, without any card dedicated to him, which I'm quite disappointed by.
That is a very good point. Maybe he didn't want to step in since last time that was part of Xenagos plan? Or maybe he knew the outcome already and decided to let it happen?
If I recall correctly, in original Theros block, Kruphix prevented the gods from battling each other directly, being forced to opt into proxy wars through nyxborn, which is why so many appeared at the time. This time around, the conflict started with Heliod creating a demigod to secure his power, which prompted the other gods to create demigods themselves. This time it was a proxy war from the start, which made an intervention by Kruphix unnecessary.
Well, I hope they adress the Calix issue in time, because if the reason he can planeswalk is "it's his destiny" (aka "Klothys' magic did it"), then between this and Kaya's buddy-walking, this sets a dangerous precedent. Planeswalking was restricted for a reason and now we get two exceptions in short time for no reason at all. Why not simply say Calix is Klothys' demigod and he was actually a planeswalker who never sparked in life? Bam, problem solved, but no, we gotta dilute the _one_ hard rule in magic, because reasons. [/rant]
Also Phenax was mortal once too, idk if they will expand on that but as Kruphix said maybe Phenax himself might have forgot this fact himself.
To take it a step further, the way myths and Nyx influence each other on Theros, Phenax may have become a mortal prior to his ascension retroactively, which is really weird if you think about it, but it makes sense when considering how Theros works.
I doubt Ashiok is going to be closely affiliated with Phyrexia. At best Ashiok might become some sort of satellite. Their two themes just clash. Ashiok is all about dreams and nightmares while phyrexia is the most material faction in all of magic. They have no spirits, no elementals, nothing that is incorporeal or anything, it's just very consistently metal and sinews. (Which is probably the main reason why they have such trouble grasping the idea of sparks.)
So, Calix sets an interesting precedent that some created beings can harbor a natural spark. Does this open up possibilities of a future angel planeswalker?
UNLESS Creative is throwing us a curveball and Calix actually houses Xenagos' spark (A calyx is a husk or pod). But how likely is that. I am also curious if they keep the nightsky effect on Calix when appearing out of Theros, considering it was established that the nightsky is a Theros phenomenon and the effect vanishes off world as shown with Thassa's Bident on Zendikar. Then again, it is a key component to Calix's character design and we know how fast and loose Wizards plays with established canon these days. :T
Also in other news, male nymphs. Male angels next, pretty please?
I am not really sure I understand the measuring of story in word count. Is that an actual criteria? Like, does a set have more story if the marketing team wrote more surface level (and often contradictory) summaries than another set with weekly online stories?
Thanks! I totally skipped those mechanics videos, because they are usually just boringly explaining mechanics to me I already understand. And now the sneakily put in new art in there. Those tricksters of the coast.
The whole underworld leaking concept is unnecessary and overstated for the purpose of justifying a mechanic, which I find silly. It’s always been a theme to “escape from the underworld” or have thing play or cheat death in Greek myth.
I dunno, the underworld leaking could be a plot point. Personally it would neatly tie into why Elspeth is able to escape now. (Too often stories have no cause-effect dynamics, so I welcome when it does.) If it explains why both the pantheon is now filled with a "new" god and why Elspeth escapes, it's actually kind of elegant. If they make Ashiok (partially) responsible for the leak, even better.
I think this is a common issue with Magic worlds. Too often their races and cultures feel too one-notey. Ironically Theros is one of the stronger oens as the poleis feel like functioning city states rather than paper-board cutouts, but many other worlds suffer from this a lot.
In conclusion, I wish they'd add more variety (even if it's just hinted at for future revisits) to each culture and race rather than just making a stereotype seen on four-six cards and call it a day.
It's a shame we don't see a lot of the world nowadays while the story (and marketing) dictate most of the game's narrative and creative display.
Also what's up with all that art of ships; leonin and minotaurs fighting together with humans? Are those historic scenes or did something change on Theors after the events of Xenagos' rise and fall?
I never said we will not go back to New Phyrexia and I never said Ashiok will not go there, but the point is that there is nothing on New Phyrexia that Ashiok wants, apart from learning more about the Phyrexians. The Phyrexians have nothing to give to Ashiok and Ashiok cannot torment the Phyrexians, which means there is no real interaction between the two. If there are any surviving mirrans left, tormenting those makes no narrative sense, because New Phyrexia is a much bigger threat and produces much more real nightmares than Ashiok could. I could see Ashiok accidentally (or carelessly) serving as a plot vehicle, allowing the Phyrexians to escape or do something else that requires the superheroes to take care of them. In this way Ashiok would be the kickoff point for the next Phyrexia arc, but not part of the main conflict.
Or maybe Ashiok fights on the side of the Mirrans (kinda), because if they go extinct there is nobody they can torment anymore.If I recall correctly, in original Theros block, Kruphix prevented the gods from battling each other directly, being forced to opt into proxy wars through nyxborn, which is why so many appeared at the time. This time around, the conflict started with Heliod creating a demigod to secure his power, which prompted the other gods to create demigods themselves. This time it was a proxy war from the start, which made an intervention by Kruphix unnecessary.
To take it a step further, the way myths and Nyx influence each other on Theros, Phenax may have become a mortal prior to his ascension retroactively, which is really weird if you think about it, but it makes sense when considering how Theros works.
I doubt Ashiok is going to be closely affiliated with Phyrexia. At best Ashiok might become some sort of satellite. Their two themes just clash. Ashiok is all about dreams and nightmares while phyrexia is the most material faction in all of magic. They have no spirits, no elementals, nothing that is incorporeal or anything, it's just very consistently metal and sinews. (Which is probably the main reason why they have such trouble grasping the idea of sparks.)
UNLESS Creative is throwing us a curveball and Calix actually houses Xenagos' spark (A calyx is a husk or pod). But how likely is that. I am also curious if they keep the nightsky effect on Calix when appearing out of Theros, considering it was established that the nightsky is a Theros phenomenon and the effect vanishes off world as shown with Thassa's Bident on Zendikar. Then again, it is a key component to Calix's character design and we know how fast and loose Wizards plays with established canon these days. :T
Also in other news, male nymphs. Male angels next, pretty please?
I don't get it.
Thanks! I totally skipped those mechanics videos, because they are usually just boringly explaining mechanics to me I already understand. And now the sneakily put in new art in there. Those tricksters of the coast.
I dunno, the underworld leaking could be a plot point. Personally it would neatly tie into why Elspeth is able to escape now. (Too often stories have no cause-effect dynamics, so I welcome when it does.) If it explains why both the pantheon is now filled with a "new" god and why Elspeth escapes, it's actually kind of elegant. If they make Ashiok (partially) responsible for the leak, even better.
Why do we not have like a central place for all leaks/previews, cards and images?