Regardless, these aren't being developed by professional MtG players. So I think the chance of brokenness is less likely. If it is...well, it might be one of those by accident situations, like Tolarian Academy.
They each got only one card. So no, there won't be a zombie for him too. MaRo said as much on his tumblr.
A majority of them are MtG players, and game designers in their own right, and the card is monitored by WotC developers, so no, we won't be getting broken stuff either.
In the Teeth of Akoum novel, the history of the Zendikar vampires is brought up by numerous members of that particular group, and simply put, all those little black things sticking out of the vampires are collars. The Eldrazi hooked various limbs or whatever into them, and used them like puppets.
I said it's a touchy subject because in the novel, the few times it's brought up lead to a near-death experience.
It can also be seen as such on Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief.
Ended up with five packs, and gave two to my last opponent for the good games. Opened Extinguish All Hope, and two others rares I can't remember at the moment.
My prerelease today I went Blue-Black, because I had a ton of bounce and removal. Went 0-3-Drop.
Turns out, arriving and having to build a deck 5 minutes before the match starts does not bode well for a tourney.
And while It That Betrays is weird on the whole "Sac and return" thing they are very much a controlling species. The Vampires of Zendikar have those weird bits jutting out of them as a result of Eldrazi Conscription. It's a touchy subject.
Well yeah. Of course the myths people were most familiar with showed up on common cards. It makes the as-fan high. And of course, there's always the fact that we don't know what got cut from design. Only so much makes it in, try as they might otherwise.
I think the problem is, at this point, Bolas has made enough of what he considers gnats that once his full power IS back, he'll want to crush them, and everything they've ever touched.
And it's possible that he's a threat to the Multiverse. We don't know what he wants to do after he gets his full power back, but given his last stint as God-King initiated some of the Time Rifts, it's likely not going to be pleasant for the Multiverse.
And after all the hard work he's put in, he'll probably want a larger territory than last time.
But we don't know. That's what makes him interesting. The Phyrexians want to compleat everything. The Eldrazi want to eat. Bolas is a mystery, and even if he's not against the protagonists, they're generally against him and what he wants. Sarkhan is horribly conflicted, Tezzeret wants to kill him, Ajani is considered his enemy, Jace doesn't enjoy being toyed around with, and Liliana hates that she ever had to make a deal with him. There's plenty that he wants dead or vice-versa.
He's not the main antagonist though. There really isn't one.
On a different note, the Pandora analogy isn't a great one. Pandora doesn't benefit from the box opening. Bolas does benefit from the power he gets back.
I don't know if a comparison to SoM Block and artifacts is fair, as Mirrodin was ground-up "Artifact World" and Theros is not ground-up "Enchantment World." I know it's been said like a thousand times, but it is an important point. MaRo's statement about "Tapping into the potential" is notable in that it's just "Tapping," not "guaranteeing," or "embody." Also, it's unfortunate, but just because it's a goal doesn't mean it's considered a success. They can theorize all they want about it, but ultimately, they can't KNOW if they were successful until after the fact, and they see all the data.
And as for that general question: "What is the purpose of the global enchantment anymore? With Wizards' increase in artifact's slice of the card type pie, what role do non-aura enchantments serve in Magic?"
Well, they are what artifacts can't be.
Artifacts are only colored in very certain scenarios. It's not something they want to do all the time because it largely breaks the point of artifacts: that they can be played in ANY deck.
Enchantments on the other hand are for specific colors. They're to do what only a few colors can, and often work on a scale much larger than other spells. Artifacts get used up. They have physical limits. Magic? Enchantments? They don't.
Not in theory anyway. In practice, obviously they do, but I mean, there's only so much mechanics can match with flavor-wise.
The Phyrexians: The big bad used-to-be-colorless but now can and does manipulate all colors on New Phyrexia.
Associated with Black originally, not colorless. Yes, there were Phyrexian artifacts, but Black was their thing.
(c'mon, Venser's planeswalking technology is just going to disappear on New Phyrexia?)
His Planeswalking technology never GOT to New Phyrexia. He was kidnapped by Koth before he was even done with the stuff.
As for when, I think we can expect a gigantic multi-planar war involving some or all of the major protagonists coming after the Lock
5 Planewalkers a block. That's it. If you want a gigantic multi-planar war, with many tri-color protagonists, it would involve multiple multi-color sets. Not a thing Wizards wants to do. Also they're generally of the opinion that the sets should have a self-contained story, if possible, with some loose ends they can use later if need be.
Ashiok - Possibly Esper if some of the speculative Kamigawa connections are accurate.
What connections with Kamigawa? Also, there doesn't seem to be any White about him. What makes you think otherwise?
Chandra Nalaar - Red Wild Card, possibly WBR?
Chandra's so red it hurts. Her stories exhibit little in the way of Black, and while she has had connections with White Planeswalkers, she's also enjoyed some serious crap at the hands of White Mages. She pretty much hates everything about white. It's unlikely she'll get into that. She's the Jaya Ballard of the new-walkers. She ain't adding colors anytime soon.
Elspeth Tirel - If she survives/escapes Theros, I see her going Bant all the way.
This part is obviously speculation, but I'm pretty sure the most popular white Planeswalker will get out of Theros. Jace certainly wasn't stopped by what happened in Ravnica. Additionally, while I can dream of Bant Elspeth, I don't think it fits her. She's not really Blue or Green, and nothing that's happened so far would suggest spreading into those colors, even beating Xenagos. If anything, that'd make her Whiter.
Garruk Wildspeaker - WBG; I think he'll see the light eventually.
Garruk is crazy green. He's also crazy, but that's just the Veil-Curse, which is why he's black. The only order he likes is the natural one, and he openly despises necromancers, which is not all of black, but certainly a significant part of it.
Gideon Jura - White Wild Card; WBR, if Chandra doesn't make it.
Gideon is also pretty white, though if the back-story is to be believed, he was once even more white than he is now. Given the events of his creation, and his stint on Ravnica, I could see him dipping into Red, but Black is so far out of his league it's playing another sport.
Jace Beleren - Esper colors.
Jace could dip into White. There's some potential for it given the events on Ravnica, and some of his allies there. He's also done some things that could be considered Black, such as the stuff with the Infinite Consortium. But given that this is Jace "Poster Child of Magic" we're talking about, it's super unlikely WotC will let him be changed that much.
Kiora - BRG; I just see her as super impulsive.
Safe to assume you meant URG, but that one's iffy. From what we've been told, she's a pretty mean Planeswalker, and impulsivity is not a trait limited to Red. To put it in perspective, the other Planeswalker we've been told in simple terms is horrible is Lilliana, Queen of the Monoblack.
Nissa Revane - Green Wild Card; WBG or BRG; based solely on interactions with Sorin.
Nissa's been sort of confirmed for BG, but Red or White seem off. She does not seem like a Jund sort of Planeswalker, and White, while befitting a potential "Let's save the Zendikar/The Multiverse from the Eldrazi" COULD be a possibility, it's worth noting that her "interaction with Sorin" at this stage was when he was all Black.
Tibalt - Who really cares?
I care. It's not important, but felt like saying it. He's a cool character. I could give two craps about the card.
Tezzeret - Esper; I see him also turning some kind of leaf in the future.
Tezzy seems stuck in a sort of limbo. Black only suited him following his reconstruction. His whole schtick is proving himself to the universe, and his whole back-story could be described as navy: mostly Blue, with some Black thrown in to make it dark. His only interest in others is using them as tools, which is not a White mentality.
Tamiyo - Blue Wild Card; I could see her in Bant colors, eventually.
Don't think there's really enough information to say for certain, but she seems pretty solid Blue. She has no interest in helping others, or doing anything for power. She just wants to learn.
Ajani Vengeant, Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas and Sorin to name a couple others. Again, thank you for adding to the point, Bolas.
It should be noted that in Ajani's case, he bled OUT of Red, as Vengeant is his youngest incarnation. I agree that he could become Naya, but he's not a good example in this case. It should also be noted that in the case of...well, all the 'walkers, we have equal or more of one version. Ajani has more mono-white versions than RW, or GW, Garruk's currently got more G than BG, and Tezzy and Sorin are equal for the most part.
The walker I want to see as a tri colored in the future is Xenagos ( If he doesn't actually die to Elspeth Frown )
I totally agree that some planeswalkers are pushed more than others (we can see Dack Fayden is a great example) and others still are there for story (or balance) only (Kiora, Ral, I'm looking at you, kids).
Kiora was put in Theros block due to WotC's understanding that people wanted a GU 'walker, and this set fit perfectly. Story-wise, she's not that important. Ral Zarek was in a similar case, but had a more definitive zone of entry what with the RTR business. And Dack? Well, Dack is his own story. He's only pushed because he's in a product that's only Legacy/Vintage Legal, and WotC really wants him to not be fodder.
I guess my real point is that in order for one of the protagonists to hope match the power of even one of the Big Three Baddies they need to move beyond simple cooperation (though this will also be key) and increase power, which translates into wider color access.
So far, Ajani's managed to chase Nicolbee out of Alara using his own magic against him, Jace has proven smart enough to at least get around Rolly Boly, and Shiv managed to completely best Nickel Bro-las at one point (sort of, on a very specific plane, that may or may not be canon anyway.) Also, increased power does not mean increased access to colors or vice-versa. For comparison, any of Garruk's mono-Green versions versus Garruk, The Veil-Cursed.
Mechanically, from two colors, we can jump to three if the mana base (Mana Confluence, if you will?) is there.
Not really, on two counts. "If the Mana Base is there" would imply crazy high amounts of multi-colored, which as previously mentioned, they try to limit. Secondly, mechanics have very little to do with Planeswalkers. They are controlled largely by the Creative team. If Design so much as thinks about a Planeswalker even looking weird at another source of mana, they have to have a long and serious discussion with Creative about the Planeswalkers Guide to the Multiverse, and why the fans will have a fit if a Planeswalker ends up as off-putting and weird as Liliana of the Dark Realms in comparison to the other forms.
What is needed to defeat the scheming of Nicol Bolas; the raw destructive force of the Eldrazi; and/or the assimilating power of Phyrexia?
I'll take "Magic the Gathering to end and tie off all the plot-lines at once" for 2000 Alex.
Bolas is not really a "bad guy".
He's a bad dragon. Seriously though, he is, by most definitions of story-telling, a bad guy. Our antagonist. He is concerned only with himself, making sure he's the strongest being in the Multi-verse, and getting back to ruling over a large section of it with an iron claw, like a Dictator. His plans so far have consisted of "Destroy a Plane to get my power back, Trick a bunch of idiots into opening the seal on the most powerful Mana-Eaters ever conceived by the Planeswalking Version of H. P. Lovecraft, and send his personal artificer Starscream to a plane made of artifacts, knowing full well he'd attempt to take it over."
There is a reason I use "good guys" and "bad guys" in quotations that I thought was clear to everybody.
You did not use them in regards to the big three, directly referring to them as Bad Guys following antagonist. You referred to the Phyrexians as the "Original Big Bad." It's understandable what you mean by good guys and bad guys however. We're not dealing with Kamigawa level switch-ups here.
Anyway, I think I remember somewhere saying that Nissa (or some other planeswalker) will eventually have to make a choice between saving one plane (Zendikar?) or several.
I see MANY 'walkers having to make these choices in the near future, much like Elspeth.
They already make and have made these choices. Ajani left Alara for multiple reasons, Jace has come to Ravnica and back multiple times, and Gideon did that between Zendikar and Gatecrash.
She desperately wants to stop fighting but is needed everywhere she goes. Depending on how the story ends, she may have found her solace in service and death. Or, she may become enthralled to Erebos like every other Sun's Champion before her.
If Heliod can't do anything to Elspeth, I don't think that Erebos will fare much better. And as previously stated, not likely to kill the most popular White Walker.
I don't know why two people on this forum are so bent out of shape about that idea.
If anyone's bent out of shape it's because, and I'm saying this because I appreciate the conversation, the certainty you claim to have and the defensiveness of your responses are obnoxious, just as I'm sure my wall of opinions is.
Ashiok: Ashiok wont budge. Far to selfish for white or green and to calculating for blue.
I think you mean Red, but it happens.
The Eldrazi are very much stuck on Zendikar.
The Eldrazi very much were stuck on Zendikar. They're free to go now, but they want to finish their meal first. Leaving a half-empty plane would just be rude.
I suppose we will have to wait until we return to Theros to see what Ashiok has done with the place.
IDW can tell you what Ashiok's doing right now. I don't think a return to Theros is all that likely.
I'm hoping to return to either New Phyrexia...
MaRo confirmed one Return to...block in an episode of his podcast, I believe. Mentioned in the seven year plan. I believe it's supposed to be the last block of that plan. New Phyrexia is unlikely, as that was only three (four for the block) years ago. The first Return had a gap of seven.
It kinda depends on their skill level and card collection to be honest. If they're starting completely fresh, then the fall set, but if they're familiar with the cards and have some already, then they could probably hop in with a core set. No sense getting them into core set standard if they need to buy RTR block cards that rotate out real quick.
And on the other hand, if you really really want to buy a set, figure out what kind of draft format you like, fast, slow, etc., ask around the forums which sets are like that, get some friends together and draft out. You don't even have to pay for the whole box, just split the price between you.
It's been long enough that I'm not absolutely certain, but I'm fairly confident they were the seeded packs. I got back to my table late due to a communications error, and feel like I saw them open those before I ripped into my own packs. Unfortunately, I have no direct evidence. I didn't open a god in any of mine, and I purchased all five colors.
I'll admit that it's entirely possibly that I'm wrong, and a complete raving loon. Wouldn't be the first time I've made a mistake. Either way, I apologize for being snitty in my previous comments.
Share your stories about opponents who were just cool people!
Though, those cards aren't exactly broken, just really really really really really really really really really....
really really good.
Regardless, these aren't being developed by professional MtG players. So I think the chance of brokenness is less likely. If it is...well, it might be one of those by accident situations, like Tolarian Academy.
A majority of them are MtG players, and game designers in their own right, and the card is monitored by WotC developers, so no, we won't be getting broken stuff either.
I just...I have no words.
I considered it, but that really does feel more Gideon based to me.
I said it's a touchy subject because in the novel, the few times it's brought up lead to a near-death experience.
It can also be seen as such on Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief.
Ended up with five packs, and gave two to my last opponent for the good games. Opened Extinguish All Hope, and two others rares I can't remember at the moment.
My prerelease today I went Blue-Black, because I had a ton of bounce and removal. Went 0-3-Drop.
Turns out, arriving and having to build a deck 5 minutes before the match starts does not bode well for a tourney.
And while It That Betrays is weird on the whole "Sac and return" thing they are very much a controlling species. The Vampires of Zendikar have those weird bits jutting out of them as a result of Eldrazi Conscription. It's a touchy subject.
And it's possible that he's a threat to the Multiverse. We don't know what he wants to do after he gets his full power back, but given his last stint as God-King initiated some of the Time Rifts, it's likely not going to be pleasant for the Multiverse.
And after all the hard work he's put in, he'll probably want a larger territory than last time.
But we don't know. That's what makes him interesting. The Phyrexians want to compleat everything. The Eldrazi want to eat. Bolas is a mystery, and even if he's not against the protagonists, they're generally against him and what he wants. Sarkhan is horribly conflicted, Tezzeret wants to kill him, Ajani is considered his enemy, Jace doesn't enjoy being toyed around with, and Liliana hates that she ever had to make a deal with him. There's plenty that he wants dead or vice-versa.
He's not the main antagonist though. There really isn't one.
On a different note, the Pandora analogy isn't a great one. Pandora doesn't benefit from the box opening. Bolas does benefit from the power he gets back.
I don't know if a comparison to SoM Block and artifacts is fair, as Mirrodin was ground-up "Artifact World" and Theros is not ground-up "Enchantment World." I know it's been said like a thousand times, but it is an important point. MaRo's statement about "Tapping into the potential" is notable in that it's just "Tapping," not "guaranteeing," or "embody." Also, it's unfortunate, but just because it's a goal doesn't mean it's considered a success. They can theorize all they want about it, but ultimately, they can't KNOW if they were successful until after the fact, and they see all the data.
And as for that general question: "What is the purpose of the global enchantment anymore? With Wizards' increase in artifact's slice of the card type pie, what role do non-aura enchantments serve in Magic?"
Well, they are what artifacts can't be.
Artifacts are only colored in very certain scenarios. It's not something they want to do all the time because it largely breaks the point of artifacts: that they can be played in ANY deck.
Enchantments on the other hand are for specific colors. They're to do what only a few colors can, and often work on a scale much larger than other spells. Artifacts get used up. They have physical limits. Magic? Enchantments? They don't.
Not in theory anyway. In practice, obviously they do, but I mean, there's only so much mechanics can match with flavor-wise.
Associated with Black originally, not colorless. Yes, there were Phyrexian artifacts, but Black was their thing.
His Planeswalking technology never GOT to New Phyrexia. He was kidnapped by Koth before he was even done with the stuff.
5 Planewalkers a block. That's it. If you want a gigantic multi-planar war, with many tri-color protagonists, it would involve multiple multi-color sets. Not a thing Wizards wants to do. Also they're generally of the opinion that the sets should have a self-contained story, if possible, with some loose ends they can use later if need be.
What connections with Kamigawa? Also, there doesn't seem to be any White about him. What makes you think otherwise?
Chandra's so red it hurts. Her stories exhibit little in the way of Black, and while she has had connections with White Planeswalkers, she's also enjoyed some serious crap at the hands of White Mages. She pretty much hates everything about white. It's unlikely she'll get into that. She's the Jaya Ballard of the new-walkers. She ain't adding colors anytime soon.
This part is obviously speculation, but I'm pretty sure the most popular white Planeswalker will get out of Theros. Jace certainly wasn't stopped by what happened in Ravnica. Additionally, while I can dream of Bant Elspeth, I don't think it fits her. She's not really Blue or Green, and nothing that's happened so far would suggest spreading into those colors, even beating Xenagos. If anything, that'd make her Whiter.
Garruk is crazy green. He's also crazy, but that's just the Veil-Curse, which is why he's black. The only order he likes is the natural one, and he openly despises necromancers, which is not all of black, but certainly a significant part of it.
Gideon is also pretty white, though if the back-story is to be believed, he was once even more white than he is now. Given the events of his creation, and his stint on Ravnica, I could see him dipping into Red, but Black is so far out of his league it's playing another sport.
Jace could dip into White. There's some potential for it given the events on Ravnica, and some of his allies there. He's also done some things that could be considered Black, such as the stuff with the Infinite Consortium. But given that this is Jace "Poster Child of Magic" we're talking about, it's super unlikely WotC will let him be changed that much.
Safe to assume you meant URG, but that one's iffy. From what we've been told, she's a pretty mean Planeswalker, and impulsivity is not a trait limited to Red. To put it in perspective, the other Planeswalker we've been told in simple terms is horrible is Lilliana, Queen of the Monoblack.
Nissa's been sort of confirmed for BG, but Red or White seem off. She does not seem like a Jund sort of Planeswalker, and White, while befitting a potential "Let's save the Zendikar/The Multiverse from the Eldrazi" COULD be a possibility, it's worth noting that her "interaction with Sorin" at this stage was when he was all Black.
I care. It's not important, but felt like saying it. He's a cool character. I could give two craps about the card.
Tezzy seems stuck in a sort of limbo. Black only suited him following his reconstruction. His whole schtick is proving himself to the universe, and his whole back-story could be described as navy: mostly Blue, with some Black thrown in to make it dark. His only interest in others is using them as tools, which is not a White mentality.
Don't think there's really enough information to say for certain, but she seems pretty solid Blue. She has no interest in helping others, or doing anything for power. She just wants to learn.
It should be noted that in Ajani's case, he bled OUT of Red, as Vengeant is his youngest incarnation. I agree that he could become Naya, but he's not a good example in this case. It should also be noted that in the case of...well, all the 'walkers, we have equal or more of one version. Ajani has more mono-white versions than RW, or GW, Garruk's currently got more G than BG, and Tezzy and Sorin are equal for the most part.
I think it's pretty safe to say he's an ex-walker
Kiora was put in Theros block due to WotC's understanding that people wanted a GU 'walker, and this set fit perfectly. Story-wise, she's not that important. Ral Zarek was in a similar case, but had a more definitive zone of entry what with the RTR business. And Dack? Well, Dack is his own story. He's only pushed because he's in a product that's only Legacy/Vintage Legal, and WotC really wants him to not be fodder.
So far, Ajani's managed to chase Nicolbee out of Alara using his own magic against him, Jace has proven smart enough to at least get around Rolly Boly, and Shiv managed to completely best Nickel Bro-las at one point (sort of, on a very specific plane, that may or may not be canon anyway.) Also, increased power does not mean increased access to colors or vice-versa. For comparison, any of Garruk's mono-Green versions versus Garruk, The Veil-Cursed.
Not really, on two counts. "If the Mana Base is there" would imply crazy high amounts of multi-colored, which as previously mentioned, they try to limit. Secondly, mechanics have very little to do with Planeswalkers. They are controlled largely by the Creative team. If Design so much as thinks about a Planeswalker even looking weird at another source of mana, they have to have a long and serious discussion with Creative about the Planeswalkers Guide to the Multiverse, and why the fans will have a fit if a Planeswalker ends up as off-putting and weird as Liliana of the Dark Realms in comparison to the other forms.
I'll take "Magic the Gathering to end and tie off all the plot-lines at once" for 2000 Alex.
He's a bad dragon. Seriously though, he is, by most definitions of story-telling, a bad guy. Our antagonist. He is concerned only with himself, making sure he's the strongest being in the Multi-verse, and getting back to ruling over a large section of it with an iron claw, like a Dictator. His plans so far have consisted of "Destroy a Plane to get my power back, Trick a bunch of idiots into opening the seal on the most powerful Mana-Eaters ever conceived by the Planeswalking Version of H. P. Lovecraft, and send his personal artificer Starscream to a plane made of artifacts, knowing full well he'd attempt to take it over."
You did not use them in regards to the big three, directly referring to them as Bad Guys following antagonist. You referred to the Phyrexians as the "Original Big Bad." It's understandable what you mean by good guys and bad guys however. We're not dealing with Kamigawa level switch-ups here.
This post from Doug Beyer?
They already make and have made these choices. Ajani left Alara for multiple reasons, Jace has come to Ravnica and back multiple times, and Gideon did that between Zendikar and Gatecrash.
If Heliod can't do anything to Elspeth, I don't think that Erebos will fare much better. And as previously stated, not likely to kill the most popular White Walker.
If anyone's bent out of shape it's because, and I'm saying this because I appreciate the conversation, the certainty you claim to have and the defensiveness of your responses are obnoxious, just as I'm sure my wall of opinions is.
I think you mean Red, but it happens.
The Eldrazi very much were stuck on Zendikar. They're free to go now, but they want to finish their meal first. Leaving a half-empty plane would just be rude.
IDW can tell you what Ashiok's doing right now. I don't think a return to Theros is all that likely.
MaRo confirmed one Return to...block in an episode of his podcast, I believe. Mentioned in the seven year plan. I believe it's supposed to be the last block of that plan. New Phyrexia is unlikely, as that was only three (four for the block) years ago. The first Return had a gap of seven.
And thus ends my giant list of things.
I'll admit that it's entirely possibly that I'm wrong, and a complete raving loon. Wouldn't be the first time I've made a mistake. Either way, I apologize for being snitty in my previous comments.