Frankly, I'm torn. I love white, but I also love black. As I see it, there are arguments for both colors to have access to mass creature removal, in reference of course to the motivation for using such tactics.
I would like to see them alternate these cards in the core sets. Videlicet, Damnation in 10th edition, Wrath of God in 11th, Damnation in 12th, and so forth. It mixes things up just enough that neither color has a record domination through successive standards.
I think the immediate effect of this will be to reduce the number of aggro decks... therefore increasing the number of control decks, making the use of 6+ wrath effects in a deck less useful. We'll probably see the excesses put into sideboards for the (now) rare occasion that one faces aggro. Which is fine by me; I hate aggro.
Selenia was brought back to life by Yawgmoth, which would explain why she looks different. Desolation Angel is like Lord of the Undead. The picture depicts a certain character but the card itself isn't named for that character. My original point was that there is no other card bearing Selenia's name and recognizable likeness and having one would be nice. I tend to associate this and this(see the Urza's Saga version) with Selenia rather than this and that.
Selenia as Desolation Angel doesn't make sense from a flavor or storyline perspective. Selenia is legendary and Desolation Angel is not. Crovax has been printed more than once and had been legendary each time. How can you go from being a legend to being ordinary?
Perhaps Desolation Angel describes a class or group of black-aligned angels which Selenia came to be numbered among, in which case she could both be an Angel of Desolation, and there could also be other Angels of Desolation which are not her, leading to the card not being legendary.
No, Akroma was an angel designed in Nivea's image. Nivea was Ixidor's human girlfriend.
I'm pretty sure it states Nivea was an angel, unless Ixidor was referring to her in that way metaphorically at the beginning of the Onslaught novel.
Edit: here's what I found Ixidor to say about Nivea: "He paused shuffling the disks and reached out to his partner. His hand settled on her knee and his eyes on her figure. She was more perfect than any art. Beautiful, brilliant, bold, garbed in white robes and bedecked in jewels--she was everything he was not. How Ixidor, a gawky artist with jutting jaw and unkempt hair, could be a companion to this gleaming angel, he would never know." (page 3 of the Onslaught novel).
Looking at that, it could indeed have been metaphorical.
Ixidor, Reality Master 4UW
Legendary Creature-Human Wizard
All face down Creatures get +1/+1 and Flying.
Tap two face down creatures: Return target card from your graveyard to your hand.
4/4
Because in the alternet time line he might of joined the Order and would of never went threw the trouble that lead to his death.
Also here is Nivea's card.
Nivea, Eleate Wizard 3UW
Legendary Creature- Human Wizard
Flash
Tap 2 creatures: Counter target spell.
1UW Tap: Return target two perments to its owner's hand.
3/2
Dropping his staff and doing his best to cover his face. Doesn't exactly sound like someone in control to me. As far as running away is concerned... well fireballs move pretty dang fast. A fireball shifting through time and appearing at point blank range in front of you isn't going to give you much time to react to anything.
For theories that this could be an anti-white/blue spell: Many cards that react negatively with your opponent's board/hand/library often depict an opposing colors forces. See Devouring Light, Sizzle, and Condemn for examples.
Hmm, that is possible; his head is slightly lowered, which would make sense if he were reflexively trying to cover his face, though the fact that the figure is so small, it's a little bit difficult for me to discern, and we don't have the benefit of facial expression, either.
My point exactly: This looks like a burn spell. If this were a "suspend target spell" spell or something like that, the art would be drawn with that in mind - i.e., it would not look so much like a burn spell; the fireball would not be as prominent, or would least show some sign of being affected by whatever the mage is doing to control it.
Yes, I realize it was your point. It was mine as well; at first glance it looks like a burn spell, which I believe is intentional, but at latter examination you see the other factors. It's subtlety.
The thing is, because burn spells in general are big and prominent, artwork that involves a burn spell but is not necessarily a burn spell as a consequence will display the burn part of the artwork prominently, otherwise it wouldn't be consistent.
More things could be added to the picture, but you said yourself that the mage looks so small in the picture. I suspect if anything more was added, like flashy energy shields or whatnot, it would make the artwork too busy. The pose of the mage itself is sufficient: I don't know about you, but if I saw a gigantic fireball coming towards me, my reaction would not be to plant my feet firmly and broadly where I stood and hold my palms outward--my reaction would be to run away from the fireball!
If that were the case, I'd expect the deflection/stoppage of the gigantic fireball to be more evident. If the main way to infer this is based on the mage's pose, then I'd expect the mage to be more prominent.
On my monitor, at 1024x768 resolution, the above image is slightly larger than the art of a physical card. The little dude's massive will is pretty lost on me at that scale. All I can see is the gigantic fireball.
.
How would the deflection of it be made more evident? The picture seems deliberately ambiguous, the interpretation you take could go in either direction, though of course the mechanics of the card is what seals one. Generally, in any depiction of a burn spell, the destructive effect is going to be larger and more prominent than that of its target. It's a play on perspective in the art; one might glance at it and think "Wow, suspended burn spell." The fact that the mage is so small in proportion adds depth to it. Of course the fireball is bigger than the mage, because fireballs are big. Nevertheless, what is the mage doing in response?
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the picture looks white or blue.
The scenery is the salt plains, and the figure shown looks to me like he's using his power to reverse the fireball by either sending it back through the rift or creating one, both of which could be blue or white, though the latter leans more towards blue. Judging from the style guide to the colors for white and blue, I'd say the figure's garb is more blue.
...Or, tt could be a red burn spell that somehow specifically hoses white and blue, in this case, the figure is desperately trying to stop his imminent death, so distracted in his panic that he's lost the staff (that's still in the process of falling?) that might ironically be able to aid him.
I would like to see them alternate these cards in the core sets. Videlicet, Damnation in 10th edition, Wrath of God in 11th, Damnation in 12th, and so forth. It mixes things up just enough that neither color has a record domination through successive standards.
I think the immediate effect of this will be to reduce the number of aggro decks... therefore increasing the number of control decks, making the use of 6+ wrath effects in a deck less useful. We'll probably see the excesses put into sideboards for the (now) rare occasion that one faces aggro. Which is fine by me; I hate aggro.
That's fair, but I do see an association from Whispers of the Muse to Last Caress to Desolation Angel. The idea that Desolation Angel is Selenia isn't official by any means, but if you follow the correlation, it is implicit. Certainly the artist(s) are implying the connection.
I do agree, though, being that white and black happen to be my favorite colors, a new take on Selenia would be welcome in my book.
It also depicts a Desolation Angel in Last Caress, and the guy doing the caressing looks like Crovax.
Perhaps Desolation Angel describes a class or group of black-aligned angels which Selenia came to be numbered among, in which case she could both be an Angel of Desolation, and there could also be other Angels of Desolation which are not her, leading to the card not being legendary.
I'm pretty sure it states Nivea was an angel, unless Ixidor was referring to her in that way metaphorically at the beginning of the Onslaught novel.
Edit: here's what I found Ixidor to say about Nivea: "He paused shuffling the disks and reached out to his partner. His hand settled on her knee and his eyes on her figure. She was more perfect than any art. Beautiful, brilliant, bold, garbed in white robes and bedecked in jewels--she was everything he was not. How Ixidor, a gawky artist with jutting jaw and unkempt hair, could be a companion to this gleaming angel, he would never know." (page 3 of the Onslaught novel).
Looking at that, it could indeed have been metaphorical.
Nivea was an angel, not a human.
Hmm, that is possible; his head is slightly lowered, which would make sense if he were reflexively trying to cover his face, though the fact that the figure is so small, it's a little bit difficult for me to discern, and we don't have the benefit of facial expression, either.
Yes, I realize it was your point. It was mine as well; at first glance it looks like a burn spell, which I believe is intentional, but at latter examination you see the other factors. It's subtlety.
The thing is, because burn spells in general are big and prominent, artwork that involves a burn spell but is not necessarily a burn spell as a consequence will display the burn part of the artwork prominently, otherwise it wouldn't be consistent.
More things could be added to the picture, but you said yourself that the mage looks so small in the picture. I suspect if anything more was added, like flashy energy shields or whatnot, it would make the artwork too busy. The pose of the mage itself is sufficient: I don't know about you, but if I saw a gigantic fireball coming towards me, my reaction would not be to plant my feet firmly and broadly where I stood and hold my palms outward--my reaction would be to run away from the fireball!
How would the deflection of it be made more evident? The picture seems deliberately ambiguous, the interpretation you take could go in either direction, though of course the mechanics of the card is what seals one. Generally, in any depiction of a burn spell, the destructive effect is going to be larger and more prominent than that of its target. It's a play on perspective in the art; one might glance at it and think "Wow, suspended burn spell." The fact that the mage is so small in proportion adds depth to it. Of course the fireball is bigger than the mage, because fireballs are big. Nevertheless, what is the mage doing in response?
The scenery is the salt plains, and the figure shown looks to me like he's using his power to reverse the fireball by either sending it back through the rift or creating one, both of which could be blue or white, though the latter leans more towards blue. Judging from the style guide to the colors for white and blue, I'd say the figure's garb is more blue.
...Or, tt could be a red burn spell that somehow specifically hoses white and blue, in this case, the figure is desperately trying to stop his imminent death, so distracted in his panic that he's lost the staff (that's still in the process of falling?) that might ironically be able to aid him.