So I'm biased because I've been trying to make modern eldrazi a deck since BFZ started, but I think Corrupted cross-roads could be really good. It just depends on how many more playable devoid cards we get. Right now the only devoid cards we have that I think can MAYBE make it in modern if they are given the right shell are Wasteland Strangler and Ulamog's Nullifier. But Kozilek's return looks decent, and if we get a few more then Corrupted Crossroads could potentially become a vital part of a new largely-colorless deck.
So Ulamog corrupts body and everything physical it seems. Kozilek corrupts mind, soul, and all that jazz. What does good, ol', Emrakul corrupt?
I'm don't think they've ever stated it, but I was under the impression Emrakul corrupts nonliving concepts, such as gravity
In the PW guide to BFZ it's stated that Emrakul actually only affects living things. Lifeless things like water or stone are unaffected, but anything living (plants, animals) becomes corrupted (we don't really know how bit it kind of sounds like she mutates stuff) This would seem to contradict cards like Gravitational Shift, but I actually don't think it does. The corruption of living matter is what Emrakul does, the twisting of reality, gravity, and time is just the affect that Emrakul's presence has on planes
I also think an evil organization is long overdue, maybe a new consortium under the control of Vraska?
Also, idk how he would get interplanar but I think Heliod would make a really good religious-zealot villain (which I guess we kind of have in Phyrexia?, but they are also plague? and evil organization? they kind of quintupple dipped the Phyrexia chip...). He certainly has a grudge with planeswalkers. My only idea for how he could up his scale though is that, since Gods can travel anywhere there is Nyx, if there were a PW who could create/summon patches of Nyx on other worlds that PW could sort of act as a prophet/herald.
Deranged/chaotic villain could be Tybalt if he gets a power up
Last, a racist "I am superior because of what I am" villain are the sort you hate and can't wait to see go down. Maybe a Tarkiri Naga?
As others have said, Zendikar is a very profitable piece of intellectual property for WOTC. I am not expecting them to sacrifice it for the sake of story as they are first and foremost a business. That said, I do think it would make an incredible story if Zendikar WERE destroyed. The loss of a well-liked world and characters would up the ante of the titans, and I think the character development and direction that the PW (particularly Gideon and Nissa)could go in after such an event would be very interesting to see and read about. I will be a bit surprised if WOTC goes this route, and I'd be sad to lose Zendikar, Jori En, etc., but if this is the direction they choose to go with the story I think it would set a clear example that WOTC was being honest when they said they wanted story to play a bigger part in the game, and, again, I would read the hell out of it.
All I know is that today's article makes me very sad about the likely future for my favorite legend in the game and my most beloved Commander, Drana. If she goes down, please let her go out in style. Or you know, do that whole eat an Eldrazi, spark up and bounce deal? Something cool? No? She's gonna die, most likely? Dang. I'll just go grab my edh deck and sit in the corner all depressed.
This is exactly my reason for why I'm hoping OGW goes the way I said above. I like Zendikar as a world, Drana is awesome, Noyan Dar was a home run and even Munda, Tazri, and Jori en are cool (they are just a little less developed not having been the sole focus of a UR).
If the titans destroy an entire beloved world along with a bunch of characters that I think most of us genuinely like, and would've liked to see more of? Holy crap, these guys don't play. That would be emotional impact on storytelling on a scale that we don't always get in mtg. As I said, I like Zendikar, and I really like a lot of the Zendikari characters, so I'd be fine with a plot that ultimately saves it, even if it is a deus ex machina moment, but I think following our cast of characters as they lose their allies one by one and are forced to slowly recognize that there is nothing they can do would be one hell of a story.
I don't really see how Zendikar gets out of this one, Ulamog may have been slow but he and his spawn were doing a thorough job scouring Zendikar, and now his big brother has come up to help. I don't know if this is what WOTC will choose, but I think a cool direction OGW's story could go would be the last legs of Zendikar, seeing the PW try to rally and save the last of the Zendikari as one by one they lose allies and characters we've grown attached too. Noyan Dar killed covering the escape from Sea Gate, Munda driven mad by Kozilek, and Drana being dominated by the eldrazi. Finally, Tazri convinces the PW to leave right before the titans destroy the plane, making them promise to never let another world suffer the same fate (hence the oath). That story would be utterly chilling, would establish the titans as the threat they are, and I would read the hell out it.
*Disclaimer* bad or good I always look forward to UR so in all honesty regardless of plot I'm going to read the hell out it
So yeah holy crap guys this story kind of blew our heads off. This one was really really good, awesome story, cool callbacks to original Zendikar characters, and Kozilek was both interesting and terrifying. And poor Lorthos, it's not often you see a Mortal Kombat level fatality performed on a giant octopus.
I've thought for a while that part of the reason I feel Ulamog hasn't had the sense of menace I feel he deserves is because he is the smallest and weakest of the three titans, as well as the one most focused on "the physical" and I think this UR further confirms that for me. Ulamog is the big indestructible beatstick of the trio while his brother the mage and sister the badass play around with mindgames and corruption, in truth very appropriate for the titan of consumption. I still think he could have been written as a little more intimidating but I am ok with him being a giant mana-draining mouth with thousands and thousands of little mana-draining mouths as long as those characteristics are not applied to the other two titans. I guess I'm just glad that his big-monster-smash persona is because of WOTC wanting the titans to be unique rather than them retconning all of the titans into something less interesting. Every team should have a tank, and for the eldrazi that's Ulamog.
I tried out UW processor control and esper processor control based on this interaction. Generally RIP is awesome for the one instance where it hoses someone and it wins against gy decks. But a deck built around it isn't super powerful because the loss of tempo from playing rip against decks that aren't hosed by it is pretty brutal. I think if processors can be a deck it is probably w/ relic. At least for now. I hope a rip based deck can be built evrntually though.
I don't think anyone has a problem with Kiora saying she beat Thassa, that's just her personality and it makes her a fun character. I think the issue some people have is Wizards saying Kiora beat Thassa, as that's not what was shown in the UR and diminishes how seriously we can take the gods. As for your first point, all true, planeswalkers can access spells and mana that planebound beings (no matter how powerful) cannot. But I personally think (and I am not saying this is the case because we don't know for certain either way)that a god-like being on its home turf should be able to laugh off most neowalkers except under special circumstances. Otherwise those beings lose their credibility as supposedly "extremely powerful." Take the eldrazi for example, we know Ulamog and his kids are extremely powerful and dangerous, and they are hyped up as such, but neowalkers tear through spawn like wrapping paper and Gideon can physically push Ula back (even though he likely couldn't have for long) and yet Gideon can get stabbed by Krenko in "Limits"?. If planeswalkers can take down the highest of the high on their then how can we take it seriously when they face mundane dangers (armies, dragons etc.)? If part of the point of the mending was to make PW less godlike and all-powerful then there should be god-like beings that are more powerful then PW.
That's just my opinion though, and I'm pretty sure I'll keep on enjoying UR even if Wizards chooses another route /end rant.
"Worry is Phenax's creation, a great paralytic to rival Pharika's most virulent poison, except worry affects the mind, not the muscles." The satyr flexed his arm as he let out a long trail of smoke. "You want to know something? When you worry, you're actually worshipping Phenax. Worry gives him great pleasure, did you know that?"
Sorry just got back on, but yeah that was the one I meant, thanks Istreddified. (and yeah awesome UR) it's things like that that make me think the gods can still wield a lot of power without devotion, because people don't need to be praying specifically to them to worship them.
I agree with Jenrik on this, the whole point of the mending was so that planeswalkers wouldn't be unstoppable godlike beings anymore, and as such I think some beings (Avacyn, the Theran Gods, Progenitus, the Dragonlords) should be hands-down more powerful than any non-Bolas Planeswalker, I'm fine w/ Thassa and Heliod being given pause by curiosity or surprise at unfamiliar magic, but if a single planeswalker ever downright beats a god (or god-like being) I think it will really diminish both how powerful those beings are supposed to be and the credibility of planeswalkers ever being in any real danger. However, a planeswalker team up to take on a more powerful being (such as an eldrazi)is not only fine but awesomely epic in my opinion.
A last point, I know it's been said that the power of the gods is based on people's belief in them, but I feel like they would be powerful even without that. One, I'm pretty sure it's been stated that the current gods believe in each other, which gives them a constant source of devotion and prevents them from being forgotten like the nameless R/G god. Also, I'm pretty sure that while they get power from devotion, they also get power from abstract ideas and people's emotions. Kruphix was formed from people being curious, and the UR about the Satyr talking to the warrior outright stated that people are worshipping Phenax indirectly whenever they stress or worry.
I loved reading the new UR.
"Promises to Keep" was well-written in my opinion. I loved how Chandra was written. The impulsivness we'd except from a red planeswalker - the way she just goes "Just a little peek" and instantly walks there, the rage, the intensity, some more fire monks lore. It was really nice.
Its a bit of a shame the story was so predictable with Kozilek coming in. What I find interesting is how fast Kozilek seems to have moved. I doubt Kozilek was bound under Sea Gate, as in the art piece with Nahiri, Ugin, and Sorin standing watching the trapped Eldrazi, they're all trapped together, and Ulamog had to travel quite a bit to get to Sea Gate. That means Kozilek is significantly faster than Ulamog, seems like he tunnels underground at great speeds? That or perhaps he was moving in the same direction as Ulamog, but underground, and he rose up when Ob Nixilis called him.
A very tight cliffhanger. The greatest concentration of life on Zendikar, trapped between two Eldrazi Titans that they are completly unprepared to fight, also, I believe we left the story just as Chandra was being flung into the air by the force of Kozilek's eruption out of the ground? That can't be good. Fortunatly, Gideon is there to be overpowered and save everyone.
Is it just me or do most Zendikar stories seem to be filler? Don't get me wrong I enjoy reading them but they're basically retelling the same story from different perspectives for almost a month now, adding just one paragraph of new happening each week.
I'm excited about the next UR from Kiora's perspective. I wonder what she'll do next being in the same ocean as the freed Ulamog. I can't imagine what it'll be like from her perspective in the same sea as the titan.
^
At this point, I'd like to refer to the old Theros UR about Kiora vs Thassa. In that, Kiora is looking to find a specific kraken that is the biggest on Theros, when she sees him, she comments "He's as big as Kozilek". Seems a bit of a coincidence she found a kraken as big as Kozilek, when her UR is coming just as Kozilek joins the fight?
She did, but didn't she also fail to establish a mana bond w/ Arixmethes? If im remembering correctly that means she can't summon him, so I think the most that will come of that is she'll reference how she wishes she had the kraken when Kozilek appears.
So I liked this one a lot. Chandra's characterization was great and I feel this story finally gave Ulamog the sense of foreboding menace I think he deserved. (BTW Jay13x I REALLY like your spark theory, that's kind of genius and makes a lot of sense)I also thought the skyrider callback was cool, that was a level of foreshadowing and connectivity that I hope to see more of in future UR.
Lastly, and most importantly, Kozilek hype all DAY! While it may not have been the subtle mind games I expect out of him later, that shatter all hope, distort the land, erupt from below emergence was everything I wanted from Kozilek's introduction to the story. Awesome job to Wizards for leaving hints in art and flavor text throughout BFZ that he was going to show up.
I also think more zubera would be cool, my stab at a common cycle, and a uncommon blue and red to correspond to the orginals:
Grave-Rune Zubera1B
Creature- Zubera Spirit
1/2
When Grave-Rune Zubera dies, return target creature with toughness x or less from your graveyard to your hand, where x is the number of Zubera that died this turn.
Forge-Rune Zubera1R
Creature- Zubera Spirit
2/1
When Forge-Rune Zubera dies, destroy target artifact with converted mana cost x or less, where x is the number of Zubera that died this turn.
Shrine-Rune Zubera1W
Creature- Zubera Spirit
2/1
When Shrine-Rune Zubera dies, exile target enchantment with converted mana cost x or less, where x is the number of Zubera that died this turn.
Ebb-Rune Zubera2U
Creature- Zubera Spirit
1/1
When Ebb-Rune Zubera dies, each opponent puts the top x cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard, where x is the number of Zubera that died this turn.
Petal-Rune Zubera2G
Creature- Zubera Spirit
1/1
When Petal-Rune Zubera dies, add x mana in any combination of colors to your mana pool, where x is the number of Zubera that died this turn.
Higher Rarity:
Altered Fate ZuberaUU
Creature- Zubera Spirit
0/1
When Altered Fate Zubera dies, counter target spell unless its controller pays x, where x is the number of Zubera that died this turn.
Reckless Fate Zubera1R
Creature- Zubera Spirit
2/1
When Reckless Fate Zubera dies, exile the top x cards of your library where x is the number of Zubera that died this turn. Until end of turn, you may cast cards exiled this way as though they were in your hand.
In the PW guide to BFZ it's stated that Emrakul actually only affects living things. Lifeless things like water or stone are unaffected, but anything living (plants, animals) becomes corrupted (we don't really know how bit it kind of sounds like she mutates stuff) This would seem to contradict cards like Gravitational Shift, but I actually don't think it does. The corruption of living matter is what Emrakul does, the twisting of reality, gravity, and time is just the affect that Emrakul's presence has on planes
Also, idk how he would get interplanar but I think Heliod would make a really good religious-zealot villain (which I guess we kind of have in Phyrexia?, but they are also plague? and evil organization? they kind of quintupple dipped the Phyrexia chip...). He certainly has a grudge with planeswalkers. My only idea for how he could up his scale though is that, since Gods can travel anywhere there is Nyx, if there were a PW who could create/summon patches of Nyx on other worlds that PW could sort of act as a prophet/herald.
Deranged/chaotic villain could be Tybalt if he gets a power up
Last, a racist "I am superior because of what I am" villain are the sort you hate and can't wait to see go down. Maybe a Tarkiri Naga?
This is exactly my reason for why I'm hoping OGW goes the way I said above. I like Zendikar as a world, Drana is awesome, Noyan Dar was a home run and even Munda, Tazri, and Jori en are cool (they are just a little less developed not having been the sole focus of a UR).
If the titans destroy an entire beloved world along with a bunch of characters that I think most of us genuinely like, and would've liked to see more of? Holy crap, these guys don't play. That would be emotional impact on storytelling on a scale that we don't always get in mtg. As I said, I like Zendikar, and I really like a lot of the Zendikari characters, so I'd be fine with a plot that ultimately saves it, even if it is a deus ex machina moment, but I think following our cast of characters as they lose their allies one by one and are forced to slowly recognize that there is nothing they can do would be one hell of a story.
*Disclaimer* bad or good I always look forward to UR so in all honesty regardless of plot I'm going to read the hell out it
I've thought for a while that part of the reason I feel Ulamog hasn't had the sense of menace I feel he deserves is because he is the smallest and weakest of the three titans, as well as the one most focused on "the physical" and I think this UR further confirms that for me. Ulamog is the big indestructible beatstick of the trio while his brother the mage and sister the badass play around with mindgames and corruption, in truth very appropriate for the titan of consumption. I still think he could have been written as a little more intimidating but I am ok with him being a giant mana-draining mouth with thousands and thousands of little mana-draining mouths as long as those characteristics are not applied to the other two titans. I guess I'm just glad that his big-monster-smash persona is because of WOTC wanting the titans to be unique rather than them retconning all of the titans into something less interesting. Every team should have a tank, and for the eldrazi that's Ulamog.
That's just my opinion though, and I'm pretty sure I'll keep on enjoying UR even if Wizards chooses another route /end rant.
Sorry just got back on, but yeah that was the one I meant, thanks Istreddified. (and yeah awesome UR) it's things like that that make me think the gods can still wield a lot of power without devotion, because people don't need to be praying specifically to them to worship them.
A last point, I know it's been said that the power of the gods is based on people's belief in them, but I feel like they would be powerful even without that. One, I'm pretty sure it's been stated that the current gods believe in each other, which gives them a constant source of devotion and prevents them from being forgotten like the nameless R/G god. Also, I'm pretty sure that while they get power from devotion, they also get power from abstract ideas and people's emotions. Kruphix was formed from people being curious, and the UR about the Satyr talking to the warrior outright stated that people are worshipping Phenax indirectly whenever they stress or worry.
She did, but didn't she also fail to establish a mana bond w/ Arixmethes? If im remembering correctly that means she can't summon him, so I think the most that will come of that is she'll reference how she wishes she had the kraken when Kozilek appears.
Lastly, and most importantly, Kozilek hype all DAY! While it may not have been the subtle mind games I expect out of him later, that shatter all hope, distort the land, erupt from below emergence was everything I wanted from Kozilek's introduction to the story. Awesome job to Wizards for leaving hints in art and flavor text throughout BFZ that he was going to show up.
I also think more zubera would be cool, my stab at a common cycle, and a uncommon blue and red to correspond to the orginals:
Grave-Rune Zubera 1B
Creature- Zubera Spirit
1/2
When Grave-Rune Zubera dies, return target creature with toughness x or less from your graveyard to your hand, where x is the number of Zubera that died this turn.
Forge-Rune Zubera 1R
Creature- Zubera Spirit
2/1
When Forge-Rune Zubera dies, destroy target artifact with converted mana cost x or less, where x is the number of Zubera that died this turn.
Shrine-Rune Zubera 1W
Creature- Zubera Spirit
2/1
When Shrine-Rune Zubera dies, exile target enchantment with converted mana cost x or less, where x is the number of Zubera that died this turn.
Ebb-Rune Zubera 2U
Creature- Zubera Spirit
1/1
When Ebb-Rune Zubera dies, each opponent puts the top x cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard, where x is the number of Zubera that died this turn.
Petal-Rune Zubera 2G
Creature- Zubera Spirit
1/1
When Petal-Rune Zubera dies, add x mana in any combination of colors to your mana pool, where x is the number of Zubera that died this turn.
Higher Rarity:
Altered Fate Zubera UU
Creature- Zubera Spirit
0/1
When Altered Fate Zubera dies, counter target spell unless its controller pays x, where x is the number of Zubera that died this turn.
Reckless Fate Zubera 1R
Creature- Zubera Spirit
2/1
When Reckless Fate Zubera dies, exile the top x cards of your library where x is the number of Zubera that died this turn. Until end of turn, you may cast cards exiled this way as though they were in your hand.