Unless you just paid 15 bucks for a pack and pulled it.
The intention was to whack a pack, but it's simply happenstance it was Vortex.
Intention - $15
Expectation - About half, $7 at worst
Actualization - $0.50
Buyer's remorse.
Yep, I've said it before and I'll say it again. You may as well go whole hog and buy a booster box to try to mitigate any losses with low-price bulk similar to this. Plays right into Wizards strategy of course. I feel for the young kid making an impulse buy on a pack or two of these and pulling 2 50 cent jank rares and vowing never again. (And doing just that)
I really don't understand that reasoning. Could any of the people constantly critisizing "junk rares" in the set with the argument that the booster costs 10$ (or more, don't know the prize of the top of my head) explain to me what the alternative would be? No one seems to have an answer to the counter-argument: If all boosters would contain cards in a high price range (even if it would be slightly less than the booster itself) every sales clerk would sell it for an even higher price. And then everyone would moan about there being not enough card in the boosters which cost more than that and so on and so on. There has to be a certain amount of "junk" to make sure that the boosters don't sell for ten times their intended prices. If you don't like that, buy singles, boosters are always small lotteries. Please, if anyone has a rebuttal for that, I would love to hear it.
Why do you feel Emrakul is the "most obvious" thing? Because this is the crux of your argument for it not being Emrakul I wonder when did you decided that Emrakul was "obvious"? Was it the moment previews started? When we deciphered the clues? When it was said Avacyn was stopping an extraplanar entity from 'landing' on Innistrad? Because unless it was the first one then it is not the "Most Obvious" it is only obvious after all the clues have been gathered. which is the way these mysteries work. The vast majority of players haven't been exposed to all of the clues and context to see Emrakul as the "most obvious" so it will suprise them.
Because the first thing everyone I have seen said upon "Nahiri is doing something to destroy Innistrad" immediately jumped to "Emrakul"
There were a LOT of competing theories, We didn't jump to an Emrakul consensus. We only lined up behind Emrakul after Wizards basically beat us down with Emrakul hints.
Which ones? Marit? Phyrexia? Name one Theory that existed past "Nahiri is manipulating mana on the plane to destroy Innistrad and get Revenge on Sorin" that was actually plausible? Sorry Emerakul was by far the single most obvious answer to the mystery, and if that is the answer WOTC completely wasted ALL Of our time with this clue Bullcrap because a mystery that drops the singular most obvious answer as it's solution is a terrible mystery.
If Emmy does show up, I seriously hope they kill off the last Titan at the end so that the Eldrazi stop showing up to utterly ruin sets.
Ok, so first of all, calm down a little. Don't make general statements so hastily, I really don't feel like Wizards wasted my time with this for example, and I thought it was Emrakul pretty much from day one. I can only repeat what I and others have said about this:
- For us Emrakul might have been obvious, but that is certainly not so for non-enfranchised players who don't follow the clues etc. as rigorously.
- A good mystery doesn't have to be unpredictable. It just has to be plausible and well crafted in the end, with red herrings and foreshadowing strewn throughout. And Wizards certainly did that right with SOI in my opinion.
- A huge number of people were disappointed with Eldrazi as just huge Galactus-like monsters in BFZ when they were first introduced as eldritch, lovecraftian horrors. Now they finally do it right with Emrakul on the plane where it makes the most flavorful sense (gothic horror does match up quite nicely with Lovecraft in my opinion).
- You are dismissing theories like Marit Lage and Phyrexia (and I might add "random sea god worshipped by the Stormkirk") as if no one had ever seriously brought them up, which is just not the case, just look at this very forum over the past couple of months. A mystery which leads to so much wild mass guessing must be doing something right, especially when it is leading to a relatively predictable outcome.
- And I have said it before, I really don't think Eldritch Moon will be Battle for Innistrad even if it is Emrakul, nothing seems to lead in this direction. SOI has set up this story really well and I believe this time the resolution will deliver as well. Looking at (and this is my last point):
- Nahiris motivation. I really don't think the mystery is solved with "It's Emrakul" alone, Nahiris role in this is much more mysterious. I mean we have seen her getting mad at Sorin, but we don't know why she is doing all of this. What is her motivation for bringing Emrakul to Innistrad? It can't be simply for revenge, I think it will be a little bit more complicated than that. Maro did hint at more to all of this when he said that the white in her color identity would make more sense later on.
All in all I think you are overreacting considerably. Let's wait for Eldritch Moon to see where all of this is really going
Damn, after losing again because of the second main phase timer bug and the Jace bug and then losing because the Timer didn't want to stop when I told it to... I have to admit I'm losing my patience too a little...
Emrakrul is the perfect kind of horror for Innistrad. I dont know if you're familiar with HP Lovecraft at all but the art, the flavor, and the stories remind me so much of HPL and I love it. His work is basically gothic horror + Eldritch horror. Everything with HPL is about singularities, macabre, the unknown, creeping terror, etc etc.
The Eldrazi were originally influenced by HP back in Rise of the Eldrazi, but WOTC ruined that in BFZ and instead of HPL we just got a Godzilla story. I am actually excited that they're getting it right this time around.
Cosmic (Lovecraftian) Horror is very different from Innistrad's Gothic Horror. Cosmic is about being overwhelmed by one's insignifigance, while gothic is about the world and the atmosphere. A monster in every dark patch, a beast behind every tree. The very world of Innistrad is set up to encourage Gothic Horror, so even now with Avacyn going mad along with everyone else, it still feels like Gothic Horror. If Emmy comes through and turns the setting into Cosmic Horror, it will feel like a completely different world.
I strongly prefer Gothic over Cosmic Horror, so I want Innistrad to be preserved.
Theros would be a much better plane for Emmy to ruin. Cosmic Horror's main attribute is the grand scale. What better way to show off how little the people are than corrupting the very gods they worship? Now that is Cosmic Horror.
Little side note, and I'm going to be a little blunt. Lovecraft is very well known among horror fans and throughout geek culture. Asking someone on this board if they are familiar is kind of pointless. You are better off assuming the person knows, and if they don't they can google it.
The madness feels very lovecraftian especially with it happening to Jace. The learned and scholarly going insane once they get touched with the cosmic horrors and realize their insignificance in the universe is a common trope in his stories. Also, this is lovecraftian flavor within the MTG universe so it will never be 100% like the original, there will be twists to the flavor because it has to work within this mtg paradigm.
I dont think you need gods to be corrupted to create that lovecraftian atmosphere. I dont recall HPL writing about Azathoth corrupting Jesus or Vishnu so I dont see how it would take the corruption of gods to make for a cosmic horror feel? Lovecrafitan is very much a blend of Cosmic and Gothic/macabre. Idk to each theirown of course, but personally I have gotten a Lovecraftian-vibe from a lot of SOI so far. Hell I think the story about the Gitrog monster could have easily been an HPL story. I dont know how you think any other plane could be better for HPL than Innistrad
Need? No. It would just be far more effective than having the mentally unhinged kid have a breakdown in gothic horror world. Madness doesn't carry the same weight on Innistrad, because it's normal there.
My argument against using Innistrad for Cosmic Horror is that Cosmic relies on less obvious horrors that slowly creep in, but Innistrad is a horror world. It's hard to feel insignifigant when you are already the food supply of ancient aristocratic evil, the dead that walk among the living, and hordes of howling beasts. It's hard to feel any smaller.
In my opinion that is not entirely true. Think about it: When you are constantly surrounded by so much horror you inevitably get used to it at least a little bit. In nearly all stories in which the people of Innistrad had a role (not that many I admit) they seemed to lead relatively normal lifes under the circumstances. The church, their close society and the angels gives them hope against the monsters and a way to cope with the situation. But this new horror isn't something familiar, it is slowly changing the environment through madness and mutations and takes away their coping mechanisms (or even turns them into horrors themselves, like the angels). I don't know, in my opinion that definitely sounds like a way to make them feel even more insignificant (until they become mad themselves of course). The underlying cosmic horror in this scenario strengthens the gothic horror in the foreground because of that and I think SOI showed that. I'm expecting and hoping that Eldritch Moon continues this trend.
Emrakrul is the perfect kind of horror for Innistrad. I dont know if you're familiar with HP Lovecraft at all but the art, the flavor, and the stories remind me so much of HPL and I love it. His work is basically gothic horror + Eldritch horror. Everything with HPL is about singularities, macabre, the unknown, creeping terror, etc etc.
The Eldrazi were originally influenced by HP back in Rise of the Eldrazi, but WOTC ruined that in BFZ and instead of HPL we just got a Godzilla story. I am actually excited that they're getting it right this time around.
Exactly my thought. I think their first mistake that ultimately led to so much disdain for BFZ was that they left the story at a strange place in Zendikar: The Eldrazi are free and Zendikar is doomed... but we want to make a sequel. And don't have a real story for it (Maro admitted that), so let's make it a battle. That just wasn't a very good idea. Since Shadows seems to be the first block (Origins excluded) created with the new focus on story in mind, they may have had the idea that at least for Emrakul they want to get back to the lovecraftian roots of the Eldrazi. And I agree, what better world to do that on than Innistrad? At least, if it really is Emrakul
I'll be on team "Anything but Emrakul" until, and after she is spoiled. Wizards works a little too far ahead of time to react to the feedback of fans on upcoming sets, but they have to have seen by now that the chatter is overwhelmingly negative. I don't think I have really seen anybody throughout this or the other related threads saying "I really hope it's Emrakul. She's awesome", and the chatter about BFZ block has likewise been very strongly negative (much more so than the average backlash that follows every set). That's not going to change whether or not they put her in the block. That much is already set. It should, however give them pause as to how it should be executed.
No amount of evidence will persuade me not to hope Emmy is a red herring.
Ok, if you want me to say it: I really hope it's Emrakul. She's awesome. There In my opinion people fear too much that Wizards will turn Eldritch Moon into "Battle for Innistrad" just because it is her, but that is obviously not the case. I didn't hate BFZ with as much vitriol as many others here, but I thought that in the end it damaged the eldrazi as characters. That's why I would love seeing Emrakul implemented as the cosmic, eldritch horror she was always meant to be here. And SOI does a very good job at it (if it really is Emrakul). And seriously? ANYTHING but Emrakul? I really hope you don't mean that literally. There are sooo much worse alternatives out there and I feel our flying spaghetti monster deserves its time to shine^^
I personally hope not, which of course means I'm biased. For one thing, I, like may others, am Eldrazi'd out after their poor showing in BFZ. As well as this, I think Emrakul being the cause to all this would be disappointing. I'm very happy about Shadows and it's story and marketing because it has actually crafted a good mystery. Between the questions raised by the weekly lore articles and the very smart cryptic clues in the ads and in physical product, Wizards has actually encouraged an investigation by the players and many a discussion about what could possibly be going on here. It would be more than a bit of a let down for the cause to be what everyone already thinks it is. It would be like watching a murder mystery when we already know a certain serial killer's MO, and all the recent murders match that killer's MO and then in the end the killer is revealed to be.... That very same serial killer. There's no real twist there. And good myserties have twists.
This entire, extremely obvious, hinting towards Emrakul being a bait and switch would be fantastic.
Also, I read somewhere(a source I'll have to find again to back this up) that Emrakul's presence warsl gravity and biology but leaves non-organic substances un-mutated. This would contradict this being Emrakul's doing as strange occurances such as the eyes in the curtains on Just the Wind and the lantern spiders on Bearer of Overwhelming Truths should not be there, among others. Still, I'll have to find that source again.
I understand that you have strong feelings against it being Emrakul because of BFZ (though I don't share that feeling), but I can't agree with you on the rest. First of all, we DON'T know whether it is Emrakul, as you have said yourself this whole story is overflowing with red herrings, which means that Emrakul is actually not the obvious solution but the one which makes the most sense. And in my opinion this is the most important part about a mystery, a solution that makes sense and leaves one satisfied. A random god/demon/eldritch horror never seen before summoned by Nahiri is not a satisfying conclusion and comes completely out of nowhere (and it makes no sense with Nahiris current story arc). Also there is no problem in having guessed the ending already if the way towards it is well crafted and in my opinion SOIs storyline has done a pretty good job so far. You also have to remember that Innistrad is a screwed up place anyway, so not every strange thing happening on the cards has to be the effect of Emrakul. The eldritch moon DOES warp gravity and the mutations all over Innistrad can't be denied. Hell, in my opinion the madness could even be Nahiris and not Emrakuls influence (I mean, the cryptoliths obviously have some kind of maddening effect and Avacyn saw hedrons before becoming mad, so...). If it is not Emrakul they better have a really good alternative at hand, but I seriously don't see it happening (and in my opinion, that is no problem at all).
That's...really? I saw the card name and was really hoping for something more akin to Nephalia Drownyard. This is just, it taps for 1 colorless mana, woohoo. Oh, and you can pay 3 to get it back into play (tapped) from the yard. Yeah, nothing to write home about.
Really??! A free ramp spell in non green colors is nothing??! Do you play Standard??
It´s a free card to loot with Jace and others similar effects...
No, Standard is a bad format. I don't evaluate cards based on it.
No Modern and Eternal are bad formats considering you're lucky if 5% of the cards from any new set can even make an impact on them.
Yeah, because for the most part new sets are super weak. I'm sorry, but standard is bad.
Well, only from the point of view of formats in which nearly every busted card of the modern era or even the whole of magic is present. If every set would be strong enough that most of the cards were playable in Modern or even Eternal, Magic wouldn't exist much longer as a game. The power creep would be extreme.
I find this card really interesting actually in my opinion. I bet that there will be quite a few land sac outlets in this set to enable Delirium for example^^
Actually, now I am curious, which legendary Angels did bite the dust during the long history of magic? There are 14 legendary angels which had any kind of effect on the story, of which (including Avacyn) 5 definitely died (Selenia, Razia, Radiant and Akroma). Radiant, Akroma and Selenia were villains (though apart from Akroma, who was more of a revenge fantasy made real via magic, they were all tragic ones) and Razia was more of a side character. The whereabouts of three other angels is not entirely clear (Iona, Jenara and Reya Dawnbringer) although Iona seems to be alive (Maro admitted that she was once in the file for the BFZ block, but had to be cut out) and Reya and Jenara could be alive or they could have died at any time since their respective blocks, we just don't know. The others (Bruna, Gisela, Sigarda, Feather, Linvala and Aurelia) seem to be alive and well, though a few of them are mad at the moment. That means that Avacyn is actually the only "main character" angel who was at least introduced as heroic which dies in the story. I don't really see a "curse" for legendary angels having to die
I see a desperate need for innovation in trading card games.
I would love to see a game that not only drafts well, but also has nearly all the cards to have a playable power level(So people can brew their own effective decks with themes they like). Above that, I would like to see games that are more interactive with more decision trees based on flavor of the cards they are using. But we can agree to disagree then.
Morally, however, I think people should have the right to make their own trading card games. Patenting the trading card game is something that is to general to be patented without being bad for everyone(Just imagine if Ford had the patent on cars still?). I think people should have the right to make their own trading card games(That respect MTG's copyrights ofcourse)
Game design is sadly often more tricky than that. If every card has to be "playable" in older formats power creep is inevitable. I do think that they often play it a little too safe (and then somehow still make quite a few broken cards), but all in all Magic is the most balanced of all card games I know, which is definitely one of the reasons for its long life. Just remember that the blocks which are often cited as near deaths for Magic are often very powerful ones like Urzas block or Mirrodin. "Restriction breeds innovation" is the key to a good game in my opinion. Just my two cents on this
I don't know about you, but I have seen many different trading card games in my day (YuGiOh, Pokemon, Star Wars etc.). Mind you, they weren't as popular as Magic, but still.
And I think it's MUCH too early to say that 90% of the cards are unplayable (in what kind of format anyway?).
Japanese have a different patent system, it's why we have seen things like Yugioh, Pokemon, ect ect. Star wars must of reached a deal with hasbro about it. But in America, we have next to no new American trading card games because of how Hasbro(Who owns Wizards of the Coast) used the MTG patent to be a patent on *every type* of trading card game. It's pretty ridiculous IMO, and it stifles innovation.
I think we've seen enough to see where this set is going, but I may be wrong, let us hope so.
I disagree that we have seen enough of the set and I also disagree with the hidden assumption that the cards we have seen so far are unplayable or bad. For me this hits everything I wanted to see in a return to Innistrad so far, flavorfully and actually powerwise too. Perhabs we just have to agree to disagree.
These cards are crap, I'm beyond sad they ruined Innistrad and Zendikar.
It's a shame Wizards of the Cost have a patient on the Trading card game,I'm sure most of us here could design a much better set. I just want a fun game to play with many constructed/themed options. Magic was that, but now it isn't =/
Wow...just wow... After reading your post, i'm incredibly glad wizards has the patent and keep making great sets like this instead of the crap you would probably make that would kill the game.
90%+ of cards unplayable = great? Right.. I dont think anyone can reasonably claim these sets are anything close to good.
And no, they don't just have the patent for MTG, they have it for all trading card games o.o
Ever wonder why you don't see that many of them? =X
I don't know about you, but I have seen many different trading card games in my day (YuGiOh, Pokemon, Star Wars etc.). Mind you, they weren't as popular as Magic, but still.
And I think it's MUCH too early to say that 90% of the cards are unplayable (in what kind of format anyway?).
And they killed off Avacyn, who joins the ranks of Iona, Akroma, Serra....and every other lead angel in MTG. /sigh
Really disappointed they decided to go in the exact same direction for the 1000th time. Would have been nice to see a redemption story for Avacyn.
RIP another favorite of mine.
Serra was a planeswalker though, not an angel, Akroma was some kind of construct (similar to Avacyn actually) created by a reality warper and Iona isn't dead as far as I know... and everything points towards Sigarda surviving and perhaps replacing Avacyn if her story part is anything to go by. I find it tragic that Avacyn has to die for the story (and I had hoped for a redemption arc too) but I actually like the gravitas they are giving to this, just read the flavor text of Anguished Unmaking.
I think it really fits the flavor of hopelessness that Innistrad has carried since its first block.
I have to say, I like most of these pictures too, especially Kozileks bismuthy corruption and his brood in general. Although I have to disagree with the opinion that the Ulamog brood was interchangeable (I seriously don't see how you could not differentiate Bane of Bala Ged or Sire of Stagnation from each other) I find Kozis brood much more aesthetically interesting because of their surreality (which Ulamogs brood sometimes lack in my opinion). The only piece of art I don't like of these is the one with the RW manland getting crushed by an Eldrazi, that one really doesn't look that good, especially the color composition rubs me the wrong way.
I really don't understand that reasoning. Could any of the people constantly critisizing "junk rares" in the set with the argument that the booster costs 10$ (or more, don't know the prize of the top of my head) explain to me what the alternative would be? No one seems to have an answer to the counter-argument: If all boosters would contain cards in a high price range (even if it would be slightly less than the booster itself) every sales clerk would sell it for an even higher price. And then everyone would moan about there being not enough card in the boosters which cost more than that and so on and so on. There has to be a certain amount of "junk" to make sure that the boosters don't sell for ten times their intended prices. If you don't like that, buy singles, boosters are always small lotteries. Please, if anyone has a rebuttal for that, I would love to hear it.
Ok, so first of all, calm down a little. Don't make general statements so hastily, I really don't feel like Wizards wasted my time with this for example, and I thought it was Emrakul pretty much from day one. I can only repeat what I and others have said about this:
- For us Emrakul might have been obvious, but that is certainly not so for non-enfranchised players who don't follow the clues etc. as rigorously.
- A good mystery doesn't have to be unpredictable. It just has to be plausible and well crafted in the end, with red herrings and foreshadowing strewn throughout. And Wizards certainly did that right with SOI in my opinion.
- A huge number of people were disappointed with Eldrazi as just huge Galactus-like monsters in BFZ when they were first introduced as eldritch, lovecraftian horrors. Now they finally do it right with Emrakul on the plane where it makes the most flavorful sense (gothic horror does match up quite nicely with Lovecraft in my opinion).
- You are dismissing theories like Marit Lage and Phyrexia (and I might add "random sea god worshipped by the Stormkirk") as if no one had ever seriously brought them up, which is just not the case, just look at this very forum over the past couple of months. A mystery which leads to so much wild mass guessing must be doing something right, especially when it is leading to a relatively predictable outcome.
- And I have said it before, I really don't think Eldritch Moon will be Battle for Innistrad even if it is Emrakul, nothing seems to lead in this direction. SOI has set up this story really well and I believe this time the resolution will deliver as well. Looking at (and this is my last point):
- Nahiris motivation. I really don't think the mystery is solved with "It's Emrakul" alone, Nahiris role in this is much more mysterious. I mean we have seen her getting mad at Sorin, but we don't know why she is doing all of this. What is her motivation for bringing Emrakul to Innistrad? It can't be simply for revenge, I think it will be a little bit more complicated than that. Maro did hint at more to all of this when he said that the white in her color identity would make more sense later on.
All in all I think you are overreacting considerably. Let's wait for Eldritch Moon to see where all of this is really going
In my opinion that is not entirely true. Think about it: When you are constantly surrounded by so much horror you inevitably get used to it at least a little bit. In nearly all stories in which the people of Innistrad had a role (not that many I admit) they seemed to lead relatively normal lifes under the circumstances. The church, their close society and the angels gives them hope against the monsters and a way to cope with the situation. But this new horror isn't something familiar, it is slowly changing the environment through madness and mutations and takes away their coping mechanisms (or even turns them into horrors themselves, like the angels). I don't know, in my opinion that definitely sounds like a way to make them feel even more insignificant (until they become mad themselves of course). The underlying cosmic horror in this scenario strengthens the gothic horror in the foreground because of that and I think SOI showed that. I'm expecting and hoping that Eldritch Moon continues this trend.
Exactly my thought. I think their first mistake that ultimately led to so much disdain for BFZ was that they left the story at a strange place in Zendikar: The Eldrazi are free and Zendikar is doomed... but we want to make a sequel. And don't have a real story for it (Maro admitted that), so let's make it a battle. That just wasn't a very good idea. Since Shadows seems to be the first block (Origins excluded) created with the new focus on story in mind, they may have had the idea that at least for Emrakul they want to get back to the lovecraftian roots of the Eldrazi. And I agree, what better world to do that on than Innistrad? At least, if it really is Emrakul
Ok, if you want me to say it: I really hope it's Emrakul. She's awesome. There
Not if Nahiri is actively summoning her towards Innistrad via the cryptoliths.
I understand that you have strong feelings against it being Emrakul because of BFZ (though I don't share that feeling), but I can't agree with you on the rest. First of all, we DON'T know whether it is Emrakul, as you have said yourself this whole story is overflowing with red herrings, which means that Emrakul is actually not the obvious solution but the one which makes the most sense. And in my opinion this is the most important part about a mystery, a solution that makes sense and leaves one satisfied. A random god/demon/eldritch horror never seen before summoned by Nahiri is not a satisfying conclusion and comes completely out of nowhere (and it makes no sense with Nahiris current story arc). Also there is no problem in having guessed the ending already if the way towards it is well crafted and in my opinion SOIs storyline has done a pretty good job so far. You also have to remember that Innistrad is a screwed up place anyway, so not every strange thing happening on the cards has to be the effect of Emrakul. The eldritch moon DOES warp gravity and the mutations all over Innistrad can't be denied. Hell, in my opinion the madness could even be Nahiris and not Emrakuls influence (I mean, the cryptoliths obviously have some kind of maddening effect and Avacyn saw hedrons before becoming mad, so...). If it is not Emrakul they better have a really good alternative at hand, but I seriously don't see it happening (and in my opinion, that is no problem at all).
Well, only from the point of view of formats in which nearly every busted card of the modern era or even the whole of magic is present. If every set would be strong enough that most of the cards were playable in Modern or even Eternal, Magic wouldn't exist much longer as a game. The power creep would be extreme.
I find this card really interesting actually in my opinion. I bet that there will be quite a few land sac outlets in this set to enable Delirium for example^^
Game design is sadly often more tricky than that. If every card has to be "playable" in older formats power creep is inevitable. I do think that they often play it a little too safe (and then somehow still make quite a few broken cards), but all in all Magic is the most balanced of all card games I know, which is definitely one of the reasons for its long life. Just remember that the blocks which are often cited as near deaths for Magic are often very powerful ones like Urzas block or Mirrodin. "Restriction breeds innovation" is the key to a good game in my opinion. Just my two cents on this
I disagree that we have seen enough of the set and I also disagree with the hidden assumption that the cards we have seen so far are unplayable or bad. For me this hits everything I wanted to see in a return to Innistrad so far, flavorfully and actually powerwise too. Perhabs we just have to agree to disagree.
I don't know about you, but I have seen many different trading card games in my day (YuGiOh, Pokemon, Star Wars etc.). Mind you, they weren't as popular as Magic, but still.
And I think it's MUCH too early to say that 90% of the cards are unplayable (in what kind of format anyway?).
Serra was a planeswalker though, not an angel, Akroma was some kind of construct (similar to Avacyn actually) created by a reality warper and Iona isn't dead as far as I know... and everything points towards Sigarda surviving and perhaps replacing Avacyn if her story part is anything to go by. I find it tragic that Avacyn has to die for the story (and I had hoped for a redemption arc too) but I actually like the gravitas they are giving to this, just read the flavor text of Anguished Unmaking.
I think it really fits the flavor of hopelessness that Innistrad has carried since its first block.