MTG Salvation

This is kinda out there, but I've been experimenting with Enduring Renewal combos in the Soul Sisters shell. The following is a very rough draft of my idea:


The combo here is Walking Ballista/Hangarback Walker + Enduring Renewal. With Renewal in play, you can cast one of these creatures for 0 mana, it'll enter as a 0/0 and immediately die, then Renewal will return it to your hand. This means infinite cast/ETB/death triggers.

• Sister + Renewal + 0-drop = infinite life. Note you can do this with a Ballista already in play
• Monument + Renewal + 0-drop = infinite tokens
• Sister + Monument + Renewal + 0-drop = infinite life AND tokens
• Monument + Whitemane = 1/1 and 2 life per mana
• Ranger of Eos can tutor both the 0-drops and the Sisters, meaning you can assemble a Renewal combo easily or just grind out a longer game
• Whitemane can save Sisters from removal while comboing, or return a Hangarback to hand to go off with Renewal
• Pridemate gives the deck the normal angle of attack as well
• Windbrisk Heights is amazing with several combos to assemble, especially as it circumvents Renewal's drawback

I'm not advocating that this is by any means better than the established builds (I presume it isn't), but it does give the deck another angle of attack, and it helps to have an infinite combo to fall back on in difficult matchups. You can still easily grind out games, and Hangarback/Ballista help with that. You have 7 bombs in Renewal/Monument, your creatures that make these work are redundant and tutorable, and you can play a normal game without relying on these bombs. However, I didn't find room for any anthem effects, which may be an issue.

Any thoughts?

Quote from benjameenbear »

This is a pretty complicated stack interaction, but ultimately it works. You cast the queller, it has an etb ability to exile the spell. In response, with the target of that spell being chosen by its etb ability, you blink it. It's ltb trigger goes into the stack above the etb trigger, which already has a target chosen. The queller blinks, and the ltb ability resolves. But since the first etb still hasn't resolved, there is no spell for the queller to return casting. It comes back as a new object with no memory of its first etb trigger, since it's a new object, and the spell is permanently exiled. For additional rulings, check out flickerwisp and some of the nightmare creatures from torment. Does that make sense? Some of the details might be off in my explanation so if someone has a more in depth explanation, go for it.

But when the Queller re-enters the battlefield, it triggers again and exiles the spell. The previous two triggers then both resolve and do nothing (unless there are multiple spells on the stack).

At GP Montreal I passed my turn with no cards in hand, and at 5 or less life. I had a morph in play and nothing else. My opponent shows me Sarkhan's Rage on my end step (he's tapped out so he's just insinuating that he's killing me next turn), but my morph was Stratus Dancer.

It was an awkward spot because I can't just counter it as he hasnt/can't actually cast it, but if I tell him that it's not actually game over then he can deduce that he should do something other than casting the Rage.

I don't think it's necessarily poor etiquette, but I think it's poor practice in general. Just have a little patience.

My issue with this UR was that it crammed way too much into one article, which felt especially awkward because of the slow pacing we've been used to.

The concept of "failure -> receive advice -> succeed" didn't have an impact on me because it went by so quickly. And I agree with those who said Gideon shouldn't have been so stupid; he had just spent a considerable amount of time gathering forces for this attack, so I doubt he would think "Alright, I think that's everyone, let's charge now!". Also, I agree with the issue of the story being too Gideon-centric. I was hoping it would be a more epic battle with full-scale preparation, and more interactions between Noyan, Kiora, Drana etc. rather than turning it into Gideon's personal mini-arc.

I did enjoy the two previous URs of Ugin and Noyan Dar though, as the characters came across well with unique personalities. The interaction between Jace and Ugin was cool to see and Noyan Dar was a nice dose of comic relief.

Quote from Vorthospike »

Quote from OrzhovPlaneswalker »

Besides the feather, what is falling in the background? Snow or more feathers?

Snow. The feather lands on snow.

Snow permanents confirmed!!!!!

Man, I hate speculation season.

Quote from Pollaski »

The entire Weatherlight Saga was awesome- except for Commodore Guff. And that chapter in Apocalypse written from Yawgmoth's POV. That was... no.

As far as current storytelling, I kind of miss the books, and the ability to get the entire main plot all at once, and maybe online stories for various offshoots, since most sets contain a world that expands just beyond the main plot. That said, I'm really enjoying the Battle for Zendikar stories. And yes, there's spoilers, but at the same time, how many movies do we go into knowing what's going to happen? Sometimes its watching it all play out that's the fun part, and I really enjoyed reading Nissa's fight with Ob Nixilis today.

I'm comfortable blaming every storyline issue and/or complaint on Commodore Guff. Every single one, past or future.

Quote from Gutterstorm »

Although I too am pretty confused about this "power" they kept mentioning that she was repressing.

Right. Somebody mentioned the "show don't tell" thing, and it's absolutely true. People who are newer to the story are not going to know what the author is referring to, and because of the retcons it's nearly impossible to know what is canon and what isn't; this makes actually finding out about this past very difficult.

Nissa's character is confusing, yet bland at the same time.

Perhaps, but because she outsmarted him I'm not convinced that she wouldn't do so in any other circumstances.

Again, disappointed to see that Nissa is 'more powerful' than Ob, even when she's not feeling her connection to Zendikar. They even explicitly stated it, but I was hoping that was just unfounded arrogance on Nissa's behalf. Oh well.

Are those statistics dissimilar to those from other forum sections?

I personally started commenting to join the complaints.

Hey everyone! I've decided to revamp this thread from "Archive Trap: A Vorthos Guide to MTG" to just "A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story", because I'm no longer publishing on MTGS with regularity (you can find me biweekly on Gathering Magic now). I still wanted to keep a good listing of story summaries around, however, so this thread will include, in roughly chronological order, summaries of Magic's Story from over the years. Check out the Magic Storyline Resources thread if you want sources instead of summaries. These are not all my articles, we've got some guest articles on the Weatherlight Saga here, and I link to official story summaries wherever appropriate. Please check out Multiverse in Review for in-depth summaries of a lot of early Magic lore.

Summaries in Chronological Order
Pre-Mending

• The Brothers' War Part I
• The Brothers' War Part II
• Arabian Nights (Multiverse in Review)
• The Ice Age I: Fallen Empires and the Dark
• The Ice Age II: The Shard and the World Spell
• The Ice Age III: Alliances and Coldsnap
• The World of Shandalar
• Artifacts I: Stones of Power and Heart
• Artifacts II: Lines of Time and Blood
• Homelands (Multiverse in Review)
• The World of Kamigawa
• A Reckoning on Kamigawa
• Elders of Dominaria (Gathering Magic)
• The Story of the Battlemage Ravidel (Official Summary of most of the old comics from Acclaim)
• The Story of Jamuraa, Visions: the Backstory (Official Summary)
• The Weatherlight Saga (Video)
• Remember the Weatherlight Part 1: Come Sail Away (Guest Article)
• Remember the Weatherlight Part 2: Darkness Within (Guest Article)
• Remember the Weatherlight Part 3: One Man's Fury (Guest Article)
• Remember the Weatherlight Part 4: Downward Spiral (Guest Article)
• Remember the Weatherlight Part 5a: Imperfect Parts (Guest Article)
• Remember the Weatherlight Part 5b: Imperfect Parts (Guest Article)
• Remember the Weatherlight Part 5c: Imperfect Parts (Guest Article)
• Odyssey, Chainer's Torment, Judgment, Onslaught, Legions, Scourge (Multiverse in Review)
• The World of Mirrodin I: Moons of Mirrodin
• The World of Mirrodin II: Darksteel and the Fifth Dawn
• Ravnica: The Broken Guildpact
• Time Spiral and the Mending
• Magic Story: Elder Dragons to the Mending (Summary Article, Gathering Magic)

Post-Mending

• Jace, Tezzeret, and the Infinite Consortium
• Chandra, Gideon, and the Purifying Fire
• Planeswalker Spotlight: Dack Fayden Part I
• Planeswalker Spotlight: Dack Fayden Part II
• The World of Alara Part I: The Five Shards
• The World of Alara Part II: Legends of the Sundered Plane
• The World of Alara Part III: The Conflux
• The World of Alara Part IV: Alara Reborn
• The World of Zendikar, Part I
• The World of Zendikar, Part II
• The World of Zendikar, Part III
• Liliana, Garruk, and the Veil
• The Fall of Mirrodin
• The Rise of New Phyrexia
• The World of Innistrad
• Fiora, the World of Conspiracy
• Ravnica: The Living Guildpact
• The World of Theros
• Theros: Elspeth's Tragedy
• The World of Tarkir (Official Summary)
• The World of Zendikar Part IV: Return to Zendikar
• The World of Zendikar Part V: Battle for Zendikar
• The World of Zendikar Part IV: Oath of the Gatewatch
• The World of Innistrad Part II: Eldritch Shadows
• The World of Innistrad Part III: Moon Madness
• Fiora, the World of Conspiracy Part II
• The World of Kaladesh Part I: The Inventor's Fair
• The World of Kaladesh Part II: Aether Revolt
• The World of Amonkhet
• Magic Story: Alara to Amonkhet (Summary Article)
• Recapping Ixalan (Gathering Magic)
• Recapping Rivals of Ixalan (Gathering Magic)
• The Story of Return to Dominaria (Gathering Magic)
• The Chronicle of Bolas (Core 2019 Story) (Gathering Magic)

I never anticipated waking up this morning to THIS!!!!???

MY ARIXMETHES ARRIVING AT LONG LAST!!!!! HELL YES IT'S A SLUMBERING ISLE, THIS DAMN THING SLUMBERED ALL THE WAY THROUGH THEROS BLOCK AND THE LAST FOUR YEARS OF MY MTG LIFE

But the slumber counters have been removed! I HAVE CAST MY 5TH SPELL AT LAST AND HE HAS APPEARED!

The moment I saw this, I was so stunned, I could have sworn this was a prank. LITERALLY TREMBLING AS I TYPE THIS!

omgomgogmgomgomgomg

omThassa

This literally happened. I'm so stunned but it literally finally did at long freaking last. I don't even know how to react!

I destroyed these forums, Blogatog, Reddit, Youtube comments, emails, survey comments, all of it in my path to get here. I would have interrupted Trump and Kim Jong Un to demand this card. I have been on a MISSION AND TODAY... TODAY GENTLEMEN! WE DINE IN ARIXMETHES!!!!

YES this is the Theros Atlantis from the novels. And the Lost City itself, all in one. It's one of my absolute favorite MTG Legends. I thought we would have to return to Theros to get this card, but HERE HE IS!!! I really do believe Ken Nagle and Gavin really did look online for what we wanted. This approach has been amazing and if you notice, it has yielded some of the most impressive, unique and Vorthos-friendly cards in these products that have been celebrated the most!

Thassa'lmighty I'm having palpitations. Not only did I open this thread to the ACTUAL CARD. Like not only did this ACTUALLY HAPPEN, But the design is AMAZING! It's really unique, and truly captures the lore of this mighty and elusive creature. I love the art too - it's exactly as I had imagined it (although perhaps more so at sunset, but I love getting bright, balmy Greek beach sunshine art all the same!) with the whole visible isle but Arixmethes partly visible beneath the sea surface. And who doesn't admire scale boats! The island itself even reminds me of Santorini, the real-world island that was once Atlantis. My only gripe is the city itself should have been larger and more prominent (see the new Temple of the False God) but honestly, the art captures so much perfectly that this is only minor.

I was surprised a bit to see him Simic, but part of me anticipated he may be. While it's awkward he gives more devotion to Kruphix than Thassa, the character always kinda did feel Simic, being a sea monster land. THEY EVEN GOT THE STATS CORRECT!!!! And it is so funny and cool that he is a bit similar to Thing In the Ice and the enchantment lands from Ixalan, but in a different and unique way. Trample or Hexproof would have been ideal, but I imagine Trample is awkward on something that immediately becomes a Land. Plus who needs trample when I WHELMING WAVE and smash with this. I'd have given him Hexproof, but frankly, they've gotten so much right with this card, I have nothing to do but to celebrate and finally put my crusade to rest and enjoy all the commanders games I am going to have with ARIXMETHES!

So this finally solidifies my Sea Monster deck as Simic and I am not complaining at all. I will use Time of Need to tutor Thassa and have them both on the field. JUST THAT IS VICTORY ENOUGH FOR ME.

We have Polukranos

We have Arixmethes

Thraxes left and we will have ALL THE PETS OF THE GODS WOTC I forgive all of your transgressions! -Thassa

I'll behave and be positive now.

In before Tiro wets himself.

Quote from Loxiloxus »

the message will be clear,they are a business and story will be dictated as such.

Yeah! That's why I only read books not written for profit like... uh... erotic fanfiction?

Quote from Rockon101000, of Artanes CS »

You people are ALWAYS so cynical when it comes to these stories. This was good. Really good. It was fun to read, all the characters were handled well (except for Noyan Dar) everything made sense for the most part, and even then, if you have to suspend your disbelief for a little bit because that makes it more entertaining to read, that's intentional. The story was suspenceful, exciting, and a good read. I can't find any problems with this one, and it's probably my second favorite or favorite UR.

And for what it's worth, I really like Kreines writing. Every story she's written for BFZ has been an enjoyable read, am that's what I think is most important in a story like this.

There is a saying: "You can ask an audience to accept the impossible, but not the improbable", and that's where Suspension of Disbelief breaks down. I can accept that a world-eating giant monstrosity with no face exists, because that is impossible. What I cannot, however, accept, is that a tiny human mage can fight said monstrosity and not be immediately obliterated, beacuse that is extremely improbable. It defies the established orders of the world, and it interrupts my suspension of disbelief. I should never have to interrupt my immersion in a fantasy story to say "wait a minute, that makes no sense". A story can break the rules of mundane reality but it can never break it's own rules unless it is explicitly shown why. That's not me being cynical, that's me expecting a story to be internally consistent. It should never be 'intentional' on the part of a fantasy writer for a reader to have to take themselves out of the world you've created. That's just bad writing.

Now, to be fair, suspension of disbelief can be sort of a YMMV sort of thing. For some people, the fact that an action hero almost never reloads and never runs out of bullets is perfectly acceptable and for some people, it isn't. But I would argue that the defanging of a major threat in complete disregard of the cards and established canon isn't a minor blip, but an egregious transgression that really should have been caught. Antagonists are important, and making them weaker or jumping through ridiculous hoops to allow your heroes to achieve hollow victories is a disservice to both the story and to the story's audience.

I don't understand the attitude of being against criticism of something. You can be critical of something and still enjoy other things about it. My favorite fantasy series of all time is the Wheel of Time, but I have plenty to say about what I dislike about it (Crossroads of Twilight as a whole, for example). Criticism or saying what you don't like about something isn't a bad thing, as long as you back it up and don't just whine for the sake of whining.

Quote from Rockon101000, of Artanes CS »

You people are ALWAYS so cynical when it comes to these stories. This was good. Really good. It was fun to read, all the characters were handled well (except for Noyan Dar) everything made sense for the most part, and even then, if you have to suspend your disbelief for a little bit because that makes it more entertaining to read, that's intentional. The story was suspenceful, exciting, and a good read. I can't find any problems with this one, and it's probably my second favorite or favorite UR.

And for what it's worth, I really like Kreines writing. Every story she's written for BFZ has been an enjoyable read, am that's what I think is most important in a story like this.

Good for you. Meanwhile the cynics here will exercise critical thinking and evaluate the story as it should be evaluated: strong points and weak points. This story didn't read bad, there were some high notes such as Gideon rethinking about his own Origin to come to the conclusion that trusting in Thassa's Bident wouldn't be enough. That is a nice throwback, very well done. That said, it had a lot of internal inconsistencies, and no, 'supension of disbelief' is hardly ever good to a story, specially in this one where one of the inconsistencies was a battle mage almost going toe-to-toe with an unfathomable being with ridiculous amounts of power that oldwalkers were afraid to face or unsure they could even destroy.

You are so convinced that people here just want to talk bad about the story that even when it has clear plotholes you defend it. Sigh.

This story ended up...disappointing. It would have been a pretty good story, if not for the last fourth or so of the story.

As for what is actually happening, there was potential for this story to be something great, but so much of it was just handled poorly. There are a few things I liked--Kiora continues to be fun to read, Jace's illusionary simulations were a neat bit of magic, and Nissa wasn't the most annoying thing in the world for once. But on the whole, the writing at many times felt stilted and awkward, and certain parts felt kind of rushed. And my single biggest gripe is the final sequence, specifically Gideon vs. Ulamog. I'll put my incoming rant in spoiler tags.


I could rant further, but I've said most of what I need to say. The story up until Ulamog's entrance was pretty good, but everything after that completely ruined the story for me.

One thing Kiora had right: "Uh, sure, Zendikar. Great. Anyone else?"

Hum, I did not like this story very much. I didn't disliked it either, but I don't think it as good as everyone is saying it is. I'm gonna start first with the positive points:

- I think the idea of a first failed attempt to regain the city is great. It adds realism to the situation and shows that armies and people might fail, it was a good idea overall.

- Many different characters coming together to make a warplan feasible is also good. Exploring the capabilities of the elves, goblins, flying riders, vampires and whatever else you may have available is important. The other planeswalkers showing up and being meaningful to the fight is also interesting.

- It is good to see the Gideon's perspective of the fight (it is a Gideon's UR after all) as someone that is quasi-indestructible, is good at fighting and can't save everyone. It creates an interesting tension that is better explored in a war.

Now to the negatives:

- I think it was too much content for a UR. This was supposed to be the biggest, baddest fight against the eldrazi, where the Zendikari show their might and union in fighting to reclaim Sea Gate. As a consequence, I want to see Zendikari mattering, and although the story tells me they do, I do not see that. I didn't see Drana, Noyan Dar, any elf leader or goblin chief. It was literally just Gideon narrating everything in a more-or-less episodic way. I think this war should have taken at the very least THREE URs, the first one showing how Gideon is assembling the army, organizing the battle plan (he could have organized things in a poor way, even ignoring some of the commander's suggestions to create even more tension). This way we could have more screentime for the legendary creatures and get hyped for the war. The second UR would be the failed attempt to reclaim the city, watching it from different points and perspectives and Gideon trying to recoup from the failure. This would be a great time for other planeswalkers (maybe Nissa or Kiora) to show up and help him get back on his feet (together with Tazri). The last UR could be the whole fighting taking place, it would be a little more episodic than the other two, but you would get a much better feeling of who is there and what they are fighting for. It would make you appreciate more the whole outcome of the stuff if Nissa is together with Gideon in the last UR after helping him overcome his failure rather than just making a cameo in the last scene of the fight (where it could have been literally just the elementals and no Nissa at all and it would keep the same impact).

- I don't think the writing was particularly good. This is a problem for the other topic, but Wyatt conveniently didn't mention things like what formation would they use or what exactly is everyone's role in the 'big battle plan'. Sure, elves have bows. Where are they positioned? Do the bows actually help or are some sort of distraction? Goblins disperse spawns. What do they do the rest of the time? What other particular function did the goblins served well? (I think it would be great if the goblins, for instance, helped creating traps on the field for the eldrazis to fall, since they are in general a tunneler race). Other thing is: how many died? How much of his army Gideon lost in the first failed attempt? How many more died afterwards? If you say that plenty of people died and the army regrouped to fight you have no sense of how much was lost and what could have been done to prevent it. Avoiding saying numbers just takes me away from the situation, because it is basically: "alright, some people died. No matter, we are still fighting". And that sucks the tension out of the situation.

- Finally I think Kiora was very misused in the UR and I believe many gaps in the story remain to be answered. For example: "Did Kiora master Thassa's bident already?" She seemed to be using it pretty well in the fight, differently from what people here were expecting. "Was it worth it to save the city?" I am not convinced the city actually had any strategical advantage, and is the city good enough to sustain thousands? Didn't the eldrazi consumed all the resources in there? (Since Gideon himself said they were going for 'greener pastures' I suppose there would be nothing good left). And finally, "How does the city still has survivors?". Correct me if I am wrong, but in my understanding it took weeks to assemble that army, and people survived weeks in a city full of eldrazi HIDING IN CELLARS? UNDER DEBRIS???? What? Too many plot holes for me.

Quote from Ashiok »

Hum, I did not like this story very much. I didn't disliked it either, but I don't think it as good as everyone is saying it is.

Surprisingly I am with you on this.

The entire first section of the story fell flat for me, and would have been better reserved for an earlier UR (say, the original fall of Sea Gate) in which Gideon was still trying to acclimate himself to the role of leader in Vorik's ragtag army. Same for the banter with Tazri. It's been what, weeks since UR #4, Survivors at Sky Rock? The time is long past for Gideon to be angsting and failing to appreciate that the capabilities of his army are different from his own. This is the climactic final battle and I expect all the characters to be bringing their A-game. You're seriously trying to tell me that Gideon lived on a floating rock, sent kitesailers and eel-riders to recruit Drana and Noyan Dar, and he still doesn't understand how to properly deploy air units?

The entire story felt way too Gideon-centric. Everyone should have had a part and the story should have been allotted the word count to properly do it. The fact that the battle lasted several days was a perfect device to structure that, too.

The one part of the story I really liked was Kiora just showing up and assuming she was the main character.

I also don't get why there are still so many Eldrazi here. Wasn't the entire point of attacking Sea Gate that the biggest, baddest Eldrazi would scour the area and leave, making it easy for the Zendikari to sweep in and clean up afterward?

Also: All but confirmed we are not seeing a hint of Omnath in this story arc. Rargh.