Honestly, we could probably come up with an equation that predicts the likely number of planeswalkers to have their spark ignite within a set time period on a given plane. Something like:
W = (P/1,000,000)*E*T
Where W is the number of planeswalkers, P is the plane's population of sentient beings, E is the frequency of people being emotionally traumatized on the plane, and T is the timespan being tested. This one even works in reverse. For instance, the one variable here hardest to figure out is E, so a fun side project would be calculating which plane is the worst place to live. My money's on Innistrad.
How has nobody addressed the best part of today's story yet? And by that, I mean Shadowblayde. She's a quirky, female version of every unnecessarily edgy comic book character from the '80s, complete with ridiculous name and an excessive number of pouches on her outfit. If she doesn't have a card in Aether Revolt, I will be extremely disappointed.
Since we're casting it off of Scepter anyway, we don't even need to run blue at all. We can just run a bunch of mana dorks and have a base green deck with a red splash for Grapeshot. That way, we can just run stuff like Wurmcoil Engine to buy time or act as alternate win conditions.
My OCD is aggravated by the fact that they don't have the full Sword cycle. I would have cut Champion's Helm and Static Orb for them. The former makes no flavor sense on Kaladesh, and the latter is just annoying as hell.
Homesick is probably the single best piece of MTG fiction they've put out since the Theros block novellas, or possibly Khanfall. The characters are all extremely well defined when compared to many of their previous portrayals, especially Nissa, now that she has to deal with her agoraphobia as well as her emotional and magical scars that formed during Eldritch Moon. Dovin Baan, our first planeswalking Vedalken, is a great new addition, and the definition of a mono-blue character. His unique magic, appearance, personality, and mannerisms are all reminiscent of Admiral Thrawn of the Star Wars expanded universe. And that's a very good thing, since the trio of novels that share his name are regarded as superb for a reason. As for the plot, it was paced almost perfectly, with bits of levity sprinkled throughout breaking up the emotionally tense scenes. I, for one, eagerly await any further work Chris L'Etoile does for Magic.
Yeah, he's great. Also has the right idea, in that he's laying low until everyone else kills eachother to pick up the pieces. He's probably the second smartest guy on the plane, behind only Daretti.
I wish I had seen this thread before I left for college, since I have the Myths one, and read it over the summer. I'll just summarize what I remember as best I can.
One story is about an island of pompous glassmakers somewhere on Dominaria that gets visited by a powerful sorceress, narrated by a poor vagrant who was once a glassmaker's assistant. The sorceress commissions the most skilled of them to make a carnelian in a specific, magical shape so she can get her skyship airworthy again. These carnelians, imbued with magic, have the power to levitate, and obey instructions from their owners. Consumed by laziness, the island's people start to use the artifacts to perform all manner of menial tasks. The vagrant impresses the sorceress in some manner I can't recall and leaves as a crewmember on her ship. Eventually, the island has so many of the carnelians on it that the whole thing is ripped out of the sea and into the heavens. Its denizens would die if they turned them off and let it drop, so they stayed up there. This island eventually becomes known as the Null Moon by the rest of Dominaria, though the story may not be true.
Another tale is about a vicious pirate captain known as Samal the Razor who is chased by either other pirates or some nation's navy into cursed waters. The island nation of Tyree was taken advantage of by those from the mainland who stole their people and recourses, so a witch who lived there keeps all ships away with illusions. He and some of his crew, one of whom is a former native, manage to thwart the traps to get there. Of course, Samal tries to kill the witch so he can pillage as he pleases. I can't remember if his scheme works, but it was well-thought out, and he manages to escape the island at the expense of his crewmates.
Then there's the phyrexian origin one, which is actually told to us in the form of memories implanted into a librarian they had captured and were compleating to serve as a keeper of knowledge. In the end, the librarian's own phyrexian assistant/lover betrays him in the same vein as Yawgmoth's wife.
Next is an origin story, which may or may not be true, for Dominaria, told to us by a snarky crab. Written in a biblical style, apparently all sentient life grew and warred inside the original Leviathan before land existed. Merfolk evolved first, they had multiple factions one of which was addicted to magic weed or something.
I don't remember much about the one with the badass Keldon Warlord, except that he was badass and had to pass a bunch of trials.
The other creation myth is about Gaea and the mountain god having a daughter, making the animals, elves, dwarves, etc. The kid has to hibernate or something to heal after fighting a grueling war against the goblins none of the gods created, along with Balthor, and the dwarven tribes go pay their respects to her stone cocoon every once in a while and protect the whole mountain range. The story was told by an old dwarf to his granddaughter, who thought she had better things to do than go to church.
My favorite of the lot is about a city with five colored merchant guilds (not ravnica). A higher-up in the white one had had enough of the black guild's shenanigans, and gathers some mages to summon an avatar of justice to punish them. However, the avatar soon becomes out of control, roaming the city in search of all wrongdoers and meting out punishment as it sees fit. Even those who merely stole fruit when they were like seven get cursed with boils. Appalled by his superior's hubris, the white-guild mage protagonist pleads with the old witch who runs the black guild to help him banish the avatar. She begrudgingly agrees, and they manage to stop the avatar after a grueling battle. Having learned to work together, the guilds all get along better afterwards.
There were probably one or two more I can't recall, but Squirle Master up there is definitely wrong, in that the Mirari was not involved in Balthor's story.
W = (P/1,000,000)*E*T
Where W is the number of planeswalkers, P is the plane's population of sentient beings, E is the frequency of people being emotionally traumatized on the plane, and T is the timespan being tested. This one even works in reverse. For instance, the one variable here hardest to figure out is E, so a fun side project would be calculating which plane is the worst place to live. My money's on Innistrad.
As for me, how the hell is Silvos, Rogue Elemental not a Rogue?
Seriously, she might be exactly what that Modern deck needed to push it over the top.
This needs to happen.
One story is about an island of pompous glassmakers somewhere on Dominaria that gets visited by a powerful sorceress, narrated by a poor vagrant who was once a glassmaker's assistant. The sorceress commissions the most skilled of them to make a carnelian in a specific, magical shape so she can get her skyship airworthy again. These carnelians, imbued with magic, have the power to levitate, and obey instructions from their owners. Consumed by laziness, the island's people start to use the artifacts to perform all manner of menial tasks. The vagrant impresses the sorceress in some manner I can't recall and leaves as a crewmember on her ship. Eventually, the island has so many of the carnelians on it that the whole thing is ripped out of the sea and into the heavens. Its denizens would die if they turned them off and let it drop, so they stayed up there. This island eventually becomes known as the Null Moon by the rest of Dominaria, though the story may not be true.
Another tale is about a vicious pirate captain known as Samal the Razor who is chased by either other pirates or some nation's navy into cursed waters. The island nation of Tyree was taken advantage of by those from the mainland who stole their people and recourses, so a witch who lived there keeps all ships away with illusions. He and some of his crew, one of whom is a former native, manage to thwart the traps to get there. Of course, Samal tries to kill the witch so he can pillage as he pleases. I can't remember if his scheme works, but it was well-thought out, and he manages to escape the island at the expense of his crewmates.
Then there's the phyrexian origin one, which is actually told to us in the form of memories implanted into a librarian they had captured and were compleating to serve as a keeper of knowledge. In the end, the librarian's own phyrexian assistant/lover betrays him in the same vein as Yawgmoth's wife.
Next is an origin story, which may or may not be true, for Dominaria, told to us by a snarky crab. Written in a biblical style, apparently all sentient life grew and warred inside the original Leviathan before land existed. Merfolk evolved first, they had multiple factions one of which was addicted to magic weed or something.
I don't remember much about the one with the badass Keldon Warlord, except that he was badass and had to pass a bunch of trials.
The other creation myth is about Gaea and the mountain god having a daughter, making the animals, elves, dwarves, etc. The kid has to hibernate or something to heal after fighting a grueling war against the goblins none of the gods created, along with Balthor, and the dwarven tribes go pay their respects to her stone cocoon every once in a while and protect the whole mountain range. The story was told by an old dwarf to his granddaughter, who thought she had better things to do than go to church.
My favorite of the lot is about a city with five colored merchant guilds (not ravnica). A higher-up in the white one had had enough of the black guild's shenanigans, and gathers some mages to summon an avatar of justice to punish them. However, the avatar soon becomes out of control, roaming the city in search of all wrongdoers and meting out punishment as it sees fit. Even those who merely stole fruit when they were like seven get cursed with boils. Appalled by his superior's hubris, the white-guild mage protagonist pleads with the old witch who runs the black guild to help him banish the avatar. She begrudgingly agrees, and they manage to stop the avatar after a grueling battle. Having learned to work together, the guilds all get along better afterwards.
There were probably one or two more I can't recall, but Squirle Master up there is definitely wrong, in that the Mirari was not involved in Balthor's story.