Okay, am I really gonna be the first one here, 8 pages into this thread, who is actually happy that we have a black character (and a female one at that) finally taking center stage in the main story? Seriously? Yall think it's boring?
I certainly don't consider her to be interesting because she's black. Especially when this character was made quite recently; her card art and flavor has much more going for it than two cards and numerous stories gave Samut.
For what its worth, I like Samut better than any member of the Gatewatch. But still means that I like her about a tenth as much as I liked Djeru. The reason being the Djeru was written as a product of the culture he's from- like real people. Samut is written like most members of the Gatewatch- her values are generally our values. They weren't afraid to have Djeru drown his own cropmate despite it being abhorrent from our sensibilities- because it perfectly matched everything that he was taught his whole life. Luckily our resident heroic planeswalker happens to disagree with everything we would see as wrong with this world while conveniently absorbing all the diligence and drive its harsher values were designed to nurture.
Its the same thing they did with Nissa. A reforming xenophobe forced by calamity sweeping across her homeworld to accept the differences, assistance, and even friendship of people unlike her, while clinging desperately to the old ways of the tribe which she bears the legacy of alone would have made for a far better character than the friend of trees we got, but we have to 'like' Nissa and people typically don't racists- even recovering ones. The only proper way to treat racism is to pretend it doesn't exist- so that whole angle got retconned out. And in the process she lost all the 'humanity' that would have made her a good character in exchange for being a good person.
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I find the human angle boring and overplayed. A whole multiverse out there and humans seem to trigger their spark far more often than any other race of beings. How about an Aven, Jackal, Sphinx or Naga walker from this block? Pumping out human walker after human walker in the same combination of colors as before is predictability plain and simple. A Fantasy world should be that, Fantastic not routine.
While The Gatewatch has caused an overabundance of human walker reprints, when it comes to newly designed walkers, the real problem is that almost all of the females are human. Counting from Theros onward (which seems to be the point when diversity started being taken seriously), Samut, Saheeli, Kaya, Arlinn, and Narset are all human. Only Kiora and Nahiri are not, and both of these are actually characters designed earlier than this point (Kiora was spoiled years before she got cardboard; Nahiri was shrouded in mystery but conceptually existed since Zendikar did.) On the other hand, Dovin, Nixilis, Ugin, Daretti, and Xenagos are all non-human males. (Keeping in mind that Nixilis can't return to human form unlike Arlinn who switches between furry and flesh at will). Meanwhile only Dack is human. Ashiok is genderless and also non-human.
Should have been Blue. All the best Blue cards these days aren't even Blue. Upsetting.
Like blue would need to risk losing the game to do this. Red has had a long history of doing blue things badly ever since Wheel of Fortune was almost but not quite Timetwister. Rummaging instead of looting, temporary theft instead of permanent, only being able to use those effects at sorcery speed vs instant, counters that only counter counters, even some things that aren't fundamentally blue like creaturelords.
"There's three ways to do things. The right way, the wrong way, and the R way!"
"Isn't that the wrong way?"
"Yeah, but faster!"
Though this is a great card and I want all the copies, I'm waiting the card that does this to permanents with enter the battlefield triggers. Shut down that crazy cat lady and every combo deck like it.
If they were going to go with planeswalkers forming an alliance, I'd rather have seen Sorin, Ral Zarek, Kiora, Garruk, and possibly Ashiok together. Why? Because can you imagine the absolute hell the multiverse would have to be in to get those guys to actually team up? We're talking total Guardians of the galaxy level madness here. Especially Garruk considering he sees every other walker as prey.
Actually, they really should try to find a way to get Garruk into the Gatewatch. I'd love to see how they manage it given he's a walking death machine.
I concur. The Gatewatch can use a green guy to be the Incredible Hulk.
Corny and generic characters a la Liliana, Gideon, Chandra, in trite fantasy plots aren't going anywhere fast. Fighting an evil dragon in pseudo-egypt where everyone is happy to die for the god pharaoh... If my eyes could roll any further to the back of my head they'd make a complete circle.
Though I agree 100% with the first part (with the caveat being that Nissa's exclusion is only as a result of not having enough character to be corny) I'm totally down with the whole society being ready to die for the God-Pharaoh who is secretly an evil tyrant. People with the wits to actually rule the world don't typically lurk in their evil necropolis brooding up ways to be nasty. They deceive the people into wanting to be ruled and devise systems that make their slaves love their chains. I personally am glad to see that the Nicol Bolas is actually smart enough to not carry his villain card everywhere he goes.
I know that there's weaknesses involved with this ability being attached to a 4/1 body, but I'm still amazed that they would allow this at 3 when getting this effect on its own typically costs at least 5.
So anyone hoping that Attrition, Divert, Aggravated Assault, Entomb, or that one blue instant everyone likes would make their Modern debut can put that dream to bed.
I was hoping Containment Priest would make its Standard debut, but that's just me.
Drowned in a sea of blue permission. They never managed to resolve in the set. Also, why reprint Counterspell and Diabolic Intent, when Mana Drain and Demonic Tutor exist?
I stand by my previous statement. White cares about others, Tezzeret cares only about Tezzeret.
Sorin is white and he doesn't care about others. He cared about perserving order and balance in his pet project Innistrad; every life on it and any other plane other than his own was competely inconsequential to him- with the possible exception of Ugin. And he only cared about Ugin because he needed Ugin.
Nahiri is white and her appearance after the Helavault showed her not caring about others either. She wanted justice (revenge) for what was done to her and to hell with everything else. She says so herself in the story where she got her piece of him. Can't help but notice that after she broke out and revisited Zendikar, she didn't stay to help her homeworld. Destroying Sorin's was more important.
You know what would make this card a little better in the function department, and a lot better flavor-wise? Removing the words 'If you do.' She's supposed to be off her rocker, and insanity is represented by having a an empty hand (like with Hellbent, Sarkhan Dragonspeaker's ultimate and Nicol Bolas making his opponent discard everything.) Since you must discard the card if you have one that would make this card function as card advantage if you're hyper aggressive to the point that you have no hand- but bad looting otherwise. I'm hoping that they at least tried it that way and had to nerf it into this...
Considering that Angel in gold armor has shorter hair, no coat sleeves or tails (or remnants of them), her sash with the symbol of Avacyn is missing, only has one sword instead of two, and the sword does not have the collar of Avacyn at its hilt (which would have been warped in the transformation just like Buruna's staff and Avacyn's spear); if that's supposed to be Gisela, they messed up bad. I'm voting for fourth Powerpuff; art this awesome can't be this wrong.
This theory may be baseless, but I think the reason why her art wasn't spoiled yet is because she makes the most sense as the one who joins but defects, given her status as Avacyn's closest- and perhaps only friend. This is the person who usually sees the madness first when following a leader who's strayed from the right path.
Also, while there are no planeswalkers that really deal with enchantments, the one that plays closest to that general design space is also male. He even had an identity crisis- though of a different sort than I assume you're hinting at.
Since Sorrin is going to kill/absorb Avacyn maybe he won't have his white this block, I mean he has to get pretty dark to kill his own creation right? Also since the whole vamps are all merged with stone pillars thing he may not make vampires either. I want to see a new cheaper mono black Sorrin that can do some life drain maybe destroy a creature or something new for black. Last ability could just be damnation as a way to allow us to have it in some way. He could cost 3BB and come into play with 5 loyalty with the final costing 5 loyalty so we could use him as a field clear or as a walker. But maybe the utility would be too good.
For all the coolness we like behind Sorin, we need to remember that he is not the good guy at all. He was initially a black walker, he is the second oldest walker who is known to be alive, and he is selfish and has a huge evil touch.
I hope they dont wash him to the white purifier.
Sorin was 'washed white' since the last Innistrad, and given the card art of him dispatching Avacyn shows his left hand glowing white with black smoke all around it, I doubt they're backing down here of all places. Nor should they because Sorin as written is not a mono B character; he may be a Vampire, and he does kill everyone who gets in his way, but he violates both of the core tenets behind black color philosophy; personal ambition and self-centeredness.
Even the first time we saw Sorin (when he was a mono B card) why was he on Zendikar? To keep his end of a pact with two other planeswalkers to protect a plane he had no personal interest in and nothing to gain from. And despite the fact that neither of the other parties held up their end of the bargain (including the one with an actual connection to the place who is now throwing a huge violent fit because of his desertion) he stuck it out with an incorrigible upstart (Nissa- somebody who truly was whitewashed) who ended up sabotaging his efforts. Sure Eldrazi are a threat to everyone which means that Eldrazi are a threat to Sorin, but that's not the reason given why he's willing inconvenience himself. He does it because they're a threat to Innistrad.
So what does he have to gain there? He was born human, but every human hates him inherently because he's a Vampire. All the vampires hate him because he's a traitor who protects humans- while also protecting Vampires from themselves. He did it in part by creating a manifestation of white mana (Avacyn as intended). And now that she's malfunctioned so to speak, he doesn't leave the ingrates to their own devices, he takes responsibility to deal with her- despite the fact that feels nothing for these people and they have nothing he wants. After all, who knows what Sorin actually wants other than to protect Innistrad. Whatever it is, he spends little time pursuing it, despite all the liaisons he's made over the millenia, and his supposed hedonism we never see played out. He's just constantly dealing with other people's problems.
Magic may need a mono black planeswalker who isn't a complete monster, but Sorin isn't the man- at least not today. When they make a a storyline where Sorin is actually doing things for Sorin's own sake, perhaps then.
I certainly don't consider her to be interesting because she's black. Especially when this character was made quite recently; her card art and flavor has much more going for it than two cards and numerous stories gave Samut.
For what its worth, I like Samut better than any member of the Gatewatch. But still means that I like her about a tenth as much as I liked Djeru. The reason being the Djeru was written as a product of the culture he's from- like real people. Samut is written like most members of the Gatewatch- her values are generally our values. They weren't afraid to have Djeru drown his own cropmate despite it being abhorrent from our sensibilities- because it perfectly matched everything that he was taught his whole life. Luckily our resident heroic planeswalker happens to disagree with everything we would see as wrong with this world while conveniently absorbing all the diligence and drive its harsher values were designed to nurture.
Its the same thing they did with Nissa. A reforming xenophobe forced by calamity sweeping across her homeworld to accept the differences, assistance, and even friendship of people unlike her, while clinging desperately to the old ways of the tribe which she bears the legacy of alone would have made for a far better character than the friend of trees we got, but we have to 'like' Nissa and people typically don't racists- even recovering ones. The only proper way to treat racism is to pretend it doesn't exist- so that whole angle got retconned out. And in the process she lost all the 'humanity' that would have made her a good character in exchange for being a good person.
While The Gatewatch has caused an overabundance of human walker reprints, when it comes to newly designed walkers, the real problem is that almost all of the females are human. Counting from Theros onward (which seems to be the point when diversity started being taken seriously), Samut, Saheeli, Kaya, Arlinn, and Narset are all human. Only Kiora and Nahiri are not, and both of these are actually characters designed earlier than this point (Kiora was spoiled years before she got cardboard; Nahiri was shrouded in mystery but conceptually existed since Zendikar did.) On the other hand, Dovin, Nixilis, Ugin, Daretti, and Xenagos are all non-human males. (Keeping in mind that Nixilis can't return to human form unlike Arlinn who switches between furry and flesh at will). Meanwhile only Dack is human. Ashiok is genderless and also non-human.
My signature box is more than full already; go for it!
Actually, it was Homer and Bart. You'd think it'd be Lisa given her snarky blue nature.
Like blue would need to risk losing the game to do this. Red has had a long history of doing blue things badly ever since Wheel of Fortune was almost but not quite Timetwister. Rummaging instead of looting, temporary theft instead of permanent, only being able to use those effects at sorcery speed vs instant, counters that only counter counters, even some things that aren't fundamentally blue like creature lords.
"There's three ways to do things. The right way, the wrong way, and the R way!"
"Isn't that the wrong way?"
"Yeah, but faster!"
I concur. The Gatewatch can use a green guy to be the Incredible Hulk.
Though I agree 100% with the first part (with the caveat being that Nissa's exclusion is only as a result of not having enough character to be corny) I'm totally down with the whole society being ready to die for the God-Pharaoh who is secretly an evil tyrant. People with the wits to actually rule the world don't typically lurk in their evil necropolis brooding up ways to be nasty. They deceive the people into wanting to be ruled and devise systems that make their slaves love their chains. I personally am glad to see that the Nicol Bolas is actually smart enough to not carry his villain card everywhere he goes.
I was hoping Containment Priest would make its Standard debut, but that's just me.
Sorin is white and he doesn't care about others. He cared about perserving order and balance in his pet project Innistrad; every life on it and any other plane other than his own was competely inconsequential to him- with the possible exception of Ugin. And he only cared about Ugin because he needed Ugin.
Nahiri is white and her appearance after the Helavault showed her not caring about others either. She wanted justice (revenge) for what was done to her and to hell with everything else. She says so herself in the story where she got her piece of him. Can't help but notice that after she broke out and revisited Zendikar, she didn't stay to help her homeworld. Destroying Sorin's was more important.
Community isn't the only thing white cares about.
This theory may be baseless, but I think the reason why her art wasn't spoiled yet is because she makes the most sense as the one who joins but defects, given her status as Avacyn's closest- and perhaps only friend. This is the person who usually sees the madness first when following a leader who's strayed from the right path.
An enchanter? One exists, and he is legendary to boot. None of his sisters can boast that.
Also, while there are no planeswalkers that really deal with enchantments, the one that plays closest to that general design space is also male. He even had an identity crisis- though of a different sort than I assume you're hinting at.
Also, another male angel.
Sorin was 'washed white' since the last Innistrad, and given the card art of him dispatching Avacyn shows his left hand glowing white with black smoke all around it, I doubt they're backing down here of all places. Nor should they because Sorin as written is not a mono B character; he may be a Vampire, and he does kill everyone who gets in his way, but he violates both of the core tenets behind black color philosophy; personal ambition and self-centeredness.
Even the first time we saw Sorin (when he was a mono B card) why was he on Zendikar? To keep his end of a pact with two other planeswalkers to protect a plane he had no personal interest in and nothing to gain from. And despite the fact that neither of the other parties held up their end of the bargain (including the one with an actual connection to the place who is now throwing a huge violent fit because of his desertion) he stuck it out with an incorrigible upstart (Nissa- somebody who truly was whitewashed) who ended up sabotaging his efforts. Sure Eldrazi are a threat to everyone which means that Eldrazi are a threat to Sorin, but that's not the reason given why he's willing inconvenience himself. He does it because they're a threat to Innistrad.
So what does he have to gain there? He was born human, but every human hates him inherently because he's a Vampire. All the vampires hate him because he's a traitor who protects humans- while also protecting Vampires from themselves. He did it in part by creating a manifestation of white mana (Avacyn as intended). And now that she's malfunctioned so to speak, he doesn't leave the ingrates to their own devices, he takes responsibility to deal with her- despite the fact that feels nothing for these people and they have nothing he wants. After all, who knows what Sorin actually wants other than to protect Innistrad. Whatever it is, he spends little time pursuing it, despite all the liaisons he's made over the millenia, and his supposed hedonism we never see played out. He's just constantly dealing with other people's problems.
Magic may need a mono black planeswalker who isn't a complete monster, but Sorin isn't the man- at least not today. When they make a a storyline where Sorin is actually doing things for Sorin's own sake, perhaps then.