Since ranting about Nissa is okay here I'll throw my two cents in as well.
I am rather frustrated that they chose to remove Nissa's elf supremacy angle rather than owning and using it. So much of what Nissa is now would have more going on if it had the angle of her internal conflict. The recognition that she, even as an elf, was fallable with the whole releasing of the Eldrazi, the connection to the world through Ashaya and realizing the interconnectivity of all life and thus the elves were no more or less important than the human or the kor, etc, all of it could have lead to a strong arc with her fighting off her elf supremacist tendencies. It could have been very interesting for her to struggle with wrong headed ideas and have to learn fight against them. Heck, we know Wizards believes in torturing their characters and that would lead to some great moments of "who I am hates who I've been." It would have meant that you'd have to make her the sole province of teh most competent, experienced writers they had but it really feels like they tossed away a wonderful opportunity out of fear. I really don't like to think about what that fear was.
Nissa aside, I agree with what was stated on the first page. We're in the beginnings of a whole new paradigm and they're going to make creative misteps. Wizards of the Coast has demonstrated they're more than capable of learning what works and what doesn't so I know that once they get their feet under them they'll start swinging for the fences more and more.
For the people who say you can get these at Walmart... not always. I went to my local walmart recently on a whim (I don't normally do it because I don't particularly care for Walmart) and they stopped stocking Magic. I think they decided it was more trouble than it was worth because people kept coming in and stealing them. A lot of the Walgreens I know in my town have stopped stocking MTG boosters as well and they never stocked the big products like these. That leaves Kmarts and Targets.
Great to get the lists spoiled today. I actually like these in many ways for what they are but I find myself a bit torn.
I don't want all of them thankfully for my wallet. Daxos and Meren are the only ones seriously tickling my fancy and that surprises nobody more than me since I usually want EVERY blue deck that comes out.
The Daxos deck has some Enchantment stuff I've been anxious to try out or a bit now with a special project and it's got a few things I hadn't even thought about. Then there's the Meren which I kind of want for its specialty cards but I'm not going to lie... I've basically built her deck before(I've had Savra, Jarad and Ghave all as generals before). I could probably just buy the specific cards I want from her and be fine. I'm not sure she has anything specifically that's new I desperately want badly enough to get her deck.
Meanwhile, the other one I'd consider is Kalemne but she is so frustrating! I want to like her. I think Giant Tribal is actually kind of clever. I have more than a few of the cards that would make her better and yet I'm just not that into her. I'm in the market for a new R/W deck and it's just frustrating that I can't get anywhere near as excited about her as I'd like.
Beautiful in that it was well-written and the characterization well done.
Eh, the prose was a bit flowery. I liked the story, but there were several places where other (simpler) words could have been used, and there were places where words could have been cut.
MORE FLOWERS!!! More imagery and metaphor, more interesting diction. MORE!!! lol
Maybe that's just me...
Nah, it's not just you. I too enjoy a bit of flowery prose from time to time. Good wordsmithing, in my opinion, is working the balance between making sure the language is high enough to get the tone and the message across and communicate interestingly, without being so high that you pass out from lack of oxygen.
I read this and it set off ALL the Johnny alarm bells. So many ways to abuse this thing. My head is spinning. It could be good, could not be. I don't know and I don't really care. I'm just curious about it.
To all the people who thought that Gideon would have a plan, I agree he should have... but it kind of makes sense he didn't.
This has been one of Gideon's problems from jump. He doesn't think large scale because he doesn't have to. His response to his friends all dying because he pissed off Erebos wasn't to get smarter as a tactician and be mindful of his hubris, it was to ensure nobody else got hurt by not letting anyone else help him. Gideon's been soloing this campaign for a good long while and he it's in character for him to have flubbed here. People said he should have learned something of strategy and tactics with the Boros but when would he have? He was protecting people in the gang war but he wasn't leading anyone. He wasn't planning any formations. He was a one man army the Boros let do what he wanted because it suited them. I will agree though that this was a missed opportunity to get some great character interactions with Tazri, Munda and Noyan Dar all together. I also was sad the roil mages didn't get direct and clear descriptions for their work in the battle. And seconded on the unnecessary Bechdel test fail
I'll agree the Tazri stuff MIGHT be a bit awkward about large scale battle stuff but I think it's explainable because she's extrapolating the army to being like an especially large adventuring party. Everyone has a role and a job to do and that's how they function. Also, the Eldrazi have been loose for a while. She's bound to have helped organize some of the smaller scale fighting against them before and seen what works.
Overall, okay story not great. Kiora showing up was really my favorite part.
WAY more excited for the new Commander stuff than I ought to be though.
Does anyone know of any people who do good streaming or prerecorded drafts to follow? Specifically at the moment battle for Zendikar. I'm already following Morgan and Numot on "Gathering Magic" and I know about MTGO academy but some of the other folks I've found I'm not crazy about their voices/sound work etc and am looking for new stuff.
It is interesting how much less there is for us to discuss when the stories are good than when they are bad.
My impression is that Jace is thinking of weaponizing the hedrons in the long run and that they are setting up for plot elements after Gatewatch.
I heard a theory that Sorin transformed Nahiri into Avacyn. Innistrad would be the first place that Nahiri would have gone for help. Avacyn's creation has always been on the vague side, and this theory would certainly explain his guilt. This would also create an avenue by which Nahiri could still be alive so long after her normal lifespan. Other more circumstantial similarities involve physical appearance (white hair, pale skin, dark eyes) and they both use indestructible mechanically.
That theory's been floating around the forums for a while and I've got to admit, I've never much cared for it. There's not a ton of evidence for it beyond the barest of circumstantial bones that you stated and I always felt there was an implication that Sorin had Avacyn in place long before he met Nahiri. There's no real evidence for that exactly either but in the story where we see Ugin, Sorin and Nahiri seal the Eldrazi Ugin tells Sorin he should already know something about balance. I always inferred that Ugin knew Sorin had already created Avacyn to preserve balance on his homeworld and shouldn't be opposed to it elsewhere. Also, Sorin was surprised back in the day not to find Nahiri and Ugin on Zendikar when we first went there. It wouldn't make sense for him to be surprised Nahiri wasn't there if he already knew he'd turned her into Avacyn. I think the Creative Team would have a better excuse for where she went than that all things considered.
I agree with most of your points Kruphix. Though perhaps Diggs shouldn't write all of them. We don't want the man to get burn out and everyone can have some bad days. Perhaps alternating between him and Jenna more often though.
Thoroughly enjoyed this UR like most folks and watching Ugin school Jace and school him hard was definitely enjoyable (and I like Jace). As for Jace perhaps not seeming as smart as he probably could or should... yeah I can definitely agree that on some level it's the problem of writing characters who are smarter than the author (I sometimes fear this myself when I'm casually writing). I see the same thing on that show Scorpion almost all the time.
It can be done and relatively believably (Tavi from the Codex of Alera and Lelouch from Code Geass are the first two characters that jump to my mind) but I think Jace is falling a little bit to what I call Ms. Kaoru syndrome. In the Rurouni Kenshin comics Kaoru was supposed to be a national champion level swordsman. She's good but she was constantly surrounded by characters bordering on superhuman (didn't stop her student from showing her up constantly which was always the flaw in this argument to me but you get the point.)
Here, Jace, who'd usually be protrayed as very smart seems less so next to a character who has intellect to dwarf his. Now, I personally would have had Jace grasp the cell or organs metaphor more quickly (I.E. remembering some random observation he pulled from someone like Jori-En's mind and grasping the significance of it based on Ugin's metaphor). Something like
"Suppose the man reaches his other hand into the pond," said Ugin. "Does the fish face one monster, or two?"
Jace's patience for this method of imparting information was minimal, but he tried to give the dragon's question-answers due consideration.
"The fish sees two beings," he said, after a moment. "But they're part of one whole."
"Suppose the man has a hundred hands," said Ugin. "Or a million."
Understanding dawned. A wave of nausea overtook him.
Another flash of insight overtook him; a revelation dawning both slowly and instantaneously at once. Scraps of information he'd pulled from the minds of Jori-En and other Zendikari since arriving. Strange moments of cannibalism among the otherworldly menace that hadn't made sense to him or anyone else but were suddenly becoming clear.
"Not appendages," Jace said. "Now it makes sense. Appendages don't tear eachother apart. They're more like cells aren't they? They're absorbing the energy of the plane. It's like a organism collecting the nutrients from the food. If that's the case, then the larger ones must be akin organs, they absorb the nutrition the cells collect and metabolize it for... whatever it is the Eldrazi do with it."
Ugin nodded almost imperceptibly. "Not bad for a novice. A close enough analogy for our purposes, yes. Sub-lives but all replaceable..."
Or something in that realm. It shows Jace isn't as clever as Ugin but gives him a chance to demonstrate his own reasoning abilities combined with his ability to gather large amounts of information he may not immediately understand through his telepathy. Overall though it could be significantly worse and that interaction was satisfying. I was actually surprised. It seems spending that much time with Gideon and Chandra rubbed off on Jace a little. That was a surprisingly emotional little fit he had there for a blue mage.
Vryn without a doubt. I want it to be a lost technology world so bad it hurts!
Regatha: If it's got detailed stuff going on it was before my time in the game but it seems like it's a world that spawns interesting sects around the five colors. You have the Fire Monestary started inadvertendly by Jaya and the Order of Heliud/Heliod if I recall correctly so I wonder if other planeswalkers show up on this world and accidentally inspire various semi-religious sects.
Kaladesh: For many of the same rasons others have stated.
and
Fiora: I know it's the setting for Conspiracy but I find it about as interesting as Ravnica and it feels like a great plane for someone like me who loves stories with loads of intrigue and manipulation.
Ok non-dragons are second class citizens at best and pets or food at worst.
So what?
I don't get why everyone freaks out about it. What did everyone thought would happen? That humanoids would be buddies with the dragons and ride on their backs?
Well... honestly... I think on some level that's what Sarkhan HOPED might happen. He'll take the dragons just being back but I think on some level Sarkhan would be happiest in the How to Train your Dragon movie universe. People who think original Tarkir wasn't that bad I think are failing to look at it from Sarkhan's skewed perspective. That's understandable but for Sarkhan, the clan struggle was petty, pointless and leading the clans to extinction. Sarkhan doesn't care much about what's going on with the broader picture in the new Tarkir because there are Dragons everywhere, he found his friend Narset and he doesn't have to live within the clan system exactly. Remember, Sarkhan is, at his core, Red. Shortsighted, emotional not entirely rational red. The fact that this world is better TO SARKHAN and not to anyone with a halfway functional brain I thought was kind of the point.
Every time I read a Nissa story I can't help but feel like everything that happens with her would have more weight for me if she still had the elf supremacy in her past. I might actually feel bad for her if they did something like without the world soul she felt the same kind of hollowness and shallowness that she now recognized was a big part of the problem of who she was before and she kind of hates the feeling now. Kind of a "who I am hates who I've been" kind of deal.
Oh well. I knew going in that some of these stories wouldn't be to my liking. It was bound to happen. They can't please everyone 100% of the time. Let's see how well they handle Kiora next time. I am looking forward to that.
"Chalky white stuff" would be okay if they did it like it was in the alt All is Dust, where you always see the death toll and lightning cascading off the surface. It's a scene of complete annihilation (see wut i did thar?), instead of just "oh, pretty white structures."
As for "what's not there" I was thinking you look at any random card from BFZ with the white stuff, then replace that white stuff with the Nyx starfield, but remove all the pretty colors from it. That's visually striking and weird, because you'd see these dark blotches of nothing intermingling with actual landscapes and such. That would mean the Eldrazi literally spread void—nothingness.
Of course, I'm not the art director, and my suggestion might be complete crap for others. That's irrelevant. What is relevant is anything other than what they have now would probably be better.
I don't know. The thing is, on the art side, when it comes to reproduction, the freaky colors and variation in the Nyx starfield make the image pop and are easily visible on the reduced size of the cards. I'm not certain that black would have had the same effect. The kind of chalky desication thing is a strong visual signifyer of something being used up. Think about what happens when you suck the flavoring out of a slushy. I don't see those structures as pretty... I see it as being a very strong and clear signifyer of something that's been drained away.
I am rather frustrated that they chose to remove Nissa's elf supremacy angle rather than owning and using it. So much of what Nissa is now would have more going on if it had the angle of her internal conflict. The recognition that she, even as an elf, was fallable with the whole releasing of the Eldrazi, the connection to the world through Ashaya and realizing the interconnectivity of all life and thus the elves were no more or less important than the human or the kor, etc, all of it could have lead to a strong arc with her fighting off her elf supremacist tendencies. It could have been very interesting for her to struggle with wrong headed ideas and have to learn fight against them. Heck, we know Wizards believes in torturing their characters and that would lead to some great moments of "who I am hates who I've been." It would have meant that you'd have to make her the sole province of teh most competent, experienced writers they had but it really feels like they tossed away a wonderful opportunity out of fear. I really don't like to think about what that fear was.
Nissa aside, I agree with what was stated on the first page. We're in the beginnings of a whole new paradigm and they're going to make creative misteps. Wizards of the Coast has demonstrated they're more than capable of learning what works and what doesn't so I know that once they get their feet under them they'll start swinging for the fences more and more.
I don't want all of them thankfully for my wallet. Daxos and Meren are the only ones seriously tickling my fancy and that surprises nobody more than me since I usually want EVERY blue deck that comes out.
The Daxos deck has some Enchantment stuff I've been anxious to try out or a bit now with a special project and it's got a few things I hadn't even thought about. Then there's the Meren which I kind of want for its specialty cards but I'm not going to lie... I've basically built her deck before(I've had Savra, Jarad and Ghave all as generals before). I could probably just buy the specific cards I want from her and be fine. I'm not sure she has anything specifically that's new I desperately want badly enough to get her deck.
Meanwhile, the other one I'd consider is Kalemne but she is so frustrating! I want to like her. I think Giant Tribal is actually kind of clever. I have more than a few of the cards that would make her better and yet I'm just not that into her. I'm in the market for a new R/W deck and it's just frustrating that I can't get anywhere near as excited about her as I'd like.
Nah, it's not just you. I too enjoy a bit of flowery prose from time to time. Good wordsmithing, in my opinion, is working the balance between making sure the language is high enough to get the tone and the message across and communicate interestingly, without being so high that you pass out from lack of oxygen.
This has been one of Gideon's problems from jump. He doesn't think large scale because he doesn't have to. His response to his friends all dying because he pissed off Erebos wasn't to get smarter as a tactician and be mindful of his hubris, it was to ensure nobody else got hurt by not letting anyone else help him. Gideon's been soloing this campaign for a good long while and he it's in character for him to have flubbed here. People said he should have learned something of strategy and tactics with the Boros but when would he have? He was protecting people in the gang war but he wasn't leading anyone. He wasn't planning any formations. He was a one man army the Boros let do what he wanted because it suited them. I will agree though that this was a missed opportunity to get some great character interactions with Tazri, Munda and Noyan Dar all together. I also was sad the roil mages didn't get direct and clear descriptions for their work in the battle. And seconded on the unnecessary Bechdel test fail
I'll agree the Tazri stuff MIGHT be a bit awkward about large scale battle stuff but I think it's explainable because she's extrapolating the army to being like an especially large adventuring party. Everyone has a role and a job to do and that's how they function. Also, the Eldrazi have been loose for a while. She's bound to have helped organize some of the smaller scale fighting against them before and seen what works.
Overall, okay story not great. Kiora showing up was really my favorite part.
WAY more excited for the new Commander stuff than I ought to be though.
That theory's been floating around the forums for a while and I've got to admit, I've never much cared for it. There's not a ton of evidence for it beyond the barest of circumstantial bones that you stated and I always felt there was an implication that Sorin had Avacyn in place long before he met Nahiri. There's no real evidence for that exactly either but in the story where we see Ugin, Sorin and Nahiri seal the Eldrazi Ugin tells Sorin he should already know something about balance. I always inferred that Ugin knew Sorin had already created Avacyn to preserve balance on his homeworld and shouldn't be opposed to it elsewhere. Also, Sorin was surprised back in the day not to find Nahiri and Ugin on Zendikar when we first went there. It wouldn't make sense for him to be surprised Nahiri wasn't there if he already knew he'd turned her into Avacyn. I think the Creative Team would have a better excuse for where she went than that all things considered.
It can be done and relatively believably (Tavi from the Codex of Alera and Lelouch from Code Geass are the first two characters that jump to my mind) but I think Jace is falling a little bit to what I call Ms. Kaoru syndrome. In the Rurouni Kenshin comics Kaoru was supposed to be a national champion level swordsman. She's good but she was constantly surrounded by characters bordering on superhuman (didn't stop her student from showing her up constantly which was always the flaw in this argument to me but you get the point.)
Here, Jace, who'd usually be protrayed as very smart seems less so next to a character who has intellect to dwarf his. Now, I personally would have had Jace grasp the cell or organs metaphor more quickly (I.E. remembering some random observation he pulled from someone like Jori-En's mind and grasping the significance of it based on Ugin's metaphor). Something like
Or something in that realm. It shows Jace isn't as clever as Ugin but gives him a chance to demonstrate his own reasoning abilities combined with his ability to gather large amounts of information he may not immediately understand through his telepathy. Overall though it could be significantly worse and that interaction was satisfying. I was actually surprised. It seems spending that much time with Gideon and Chandra rubbed off on Jace a little. That was a surprisingly emotional little fit he had there for a blue mage.
Regatha: If it's got detailed stuff going on it was before my time in the game but it seems like it's a world that spawns interesting sects around the five colors. You have the Fire Monestary started inadvertendly by Jaya and the Order of Heliud/Heliod if I recall correctly so I wonder if other planeswalkers show up on this world and accidentally inspire various semi-religious sects.
Kaladesh: For many of the same rasons others have stated.
and
Fiora: I know it's the setting for Conspiracy but I find it about as interesting as Ravnica and it feels like a great plane for someone like me who loves stories with loads of intrigue and manipulation.
Well... honestly... I think on some level that's what Sarkhan HOPED might happen. He'll take the dragons just being back but I think on some level Sarkhan would be happiest in the How to Train your Dragon movie universe. People who think original Tarkir wasn't that bad I think are failing to look at it from Sarkhan's skewed perspective. That's understandable but for Sarkhan, the clan struggle was petty, pointless and leading the clans to extinction. Sarkhan doesn't care much about what's going on with the broader picture in the new Tarkir because there are Dragons everywhere, he found his friend Narset and he doesn't have to live within the clan system exactly. Remember, Sarkhan is, at his core, Red. Shortsighted, emotional not entirely rational red. The fact that this world is better TO SARKHAN and not to anyone with a halfway functional brain I thought was kind of the point.
Oh well. I knew going in that some of these stories wouldn't be to my liking. It was bound to happen. They can't please everyone 100% of the time. Let's see how well they handle Kiora next time. I am looking forward to that.
I don't know. The thing is, on the art side, when it comes to reproduction, the freaky colors and variation in the Nyx starfield make the image pop and are easily visible on the reduced size of the cards. I'm not certain that black would have had the same effect. The kind of chalky desication thing is a strong visual signifyer of something being used up. Think about what happens when you suck the flavoring out of a slushy. I don't see those structures as pretty... I see it as being a very strong and clear signifyer of something that's been drained away.