I'm happy we haven't done this one before, just so I get to type Oros, the Avenger. Of the hit and they do something dragons, I think this one suffers least or close to least from the "no, don't die from commander damage, I want to keep hitting you!" effect.
I've been thinking about doing a Commander deck for him for a long time. Mostly just for Nostalgia's sake.
I used to have just a jank kitchen table deck based around him, where all my creatures were multi-/hybrid- with white, so his ability was always one-sided (unless one of my friends was playing white).
I also always tend to find myself gravitating towards Mardu/Boros/Monowhite anyway, even though I know red and white aren't in a great place in the format.
Anyone remember the days when a 4/3 flying, vigilance, pseudo-hexproof for 4 mana wasn't ridiculed for being too weak/plain/boring/underpowered? At uncommon, even.
Got my art and have been skimming through still but I figured I'd put the plot point the books spills. I will say a bunch of us figured out several things what happened. For the Bolas plot is groups it by the walkers;
<snip>
Thanks for sharing your art book contents 5colors.
Niv trying to power himself up. He knows a threat is coming. Can a powered up Niv-Mizzet fight Bolas 1 vs 1?
Also thinking it would be an swesome sight if Bolas arrives with his army of Eternals.
Why is Jace missing? He did not come home to Ravnica after the Ixalan adventure?
Dovin making spy thopters for the Azorious. The police would surely be glad to have robot drones in their arsenal.
Kaya freeing people and ghosts from the loan sharks. She is a good person in the story?
The timline is a bit wonky, really. This part of the Ravnica story is supposed to overlap with Ixalan, so Jace isn't there because he's marooned off-plane. All of Kaya's, Domri's, Dovin's, Niv-Mizzet's and Ral's actions primarily take place while Jace is missing, and Vraska becomes the new Golgari guildmaster when she gets back.
The pacing is odd, because we know from the Golgari short story that Vraska's been back for weeks now, but there's been no mention of Jace, so either Creative is just really bad at timelines, or he got back, quickly saw how bad things are, and went into hiding, only letting key people know that he had returned.
I'm mildly annoyed that they didn't kill Borborygmos. His fall has already been foreshadowed, and yet they still can't seem to bring themselves to kill off a popular legend.
Then again, the body count in the next set will probably be insane, so they could just be pacing themselves.
I'm still a little confused as to what Bolas' plans are for taking over the guilds. No word yet at all on what he expects Ral to do? Or what he wants Vraska to do? Or Domri, or Kaya? What is he trying to achieve with these takeovers?
Indeed, everything in the art book indicates that Ral is actively working against Bolas, and yet we know that he's under Bolas' influence. Unless he's very deep cover...
But then... if Ral's deep cover for Bolas, why would Dovin have to sabotage the empowerment device? Why wouldn't Dovin/Ral/Bolas have just flipped it to empower Bolas even further, instead of Niv?
I have so many unanswered questions... and knowing that we're probably going to have to wait for that stupid book to be released before we get any answers is really annoying me.
Thinking about it, this might be a way to make main-phasing Emergency Powers seem less risky. You're likely to get enough treasure tokens out of it to still have mana for a response if needed (in a multiplayer game you might even get enough to play out your hand, and still hold up a counter).
Ok, Judith looks awesome, even though I normally hate the Rakdos aesthetic (horns and spikes and chains and skulls AND HORNED SKULLS ON SPIKED CHAINS!!!!11RAWR).
It's also possible that the new Simic leader isn't part of the "Bolas aligned" faction, rather that Zegana is.
There's no reason to assume that the pro-Bolas factions KNOW that they're advancing Bolas' agenda, and it's possible that Zegana's more passive, non-interventionist/confrontational ways suit Bolas just fine. The other Simic faction seems to think that a battle is coming and want to prepare for that, where as Zegana isn't a proponent for the effectual "arms race" meaning that her faction could in fact be the one that benefits Bolas the most, given that Simic isn't a Bolas aligned Guild.
Inaction on the part of the Simic benefits Bolas, in that they're not prepared to oppose him.
From the Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica:
The Holdfast encourages the Simic to promote nature; the Upwelling urges them to perfect nature. The end result is the same: a hastened system of evolution that brings out the best in every creature's nature. But different factions within the Simic Combine interpret these
principles in their own ways.
The leadership of the Simic Combine represents the traditional philosophy of the Utopians. Their vision is of an ideal world in which nature and civilization exist in balance, in which natural life adapts to life in the midst of modern civilization and the civilized world adapts
to accommodate these creatures. Utopians generally interpret the Holdfast principle as being about staying rooted in nature, and the Upwelling as concerned with slow, predictable, cyclical improvement. So they remain hidden in their subaquatic laboratories, pursuing their research while isolated from the volatile interrelationships among the other guilds. Prime Speaker Zegana encourages that isolationist attitude.
At the same time, a growing faction within the Simic believes that an a ll-out war among the guilds is inevitable, given the growing unrest in the city. These members, the Adaptationists, believe that the guilds exist in a fragile ecosystem in which the slightest imbalance can have cascading effects. With an absent Living Guildpact failing to maintain the balance, only catastrophe can result. The Simic must change in order to survive, and slow, small steps in pursuit of an ideal vision aren't enough. The future of the guild is in imminent danger,
and the Simic need to focus on survival. Adaptationists tend to interpret the Holdfast as being about defensa and security, and the Upwelling as a call for sudden, disruptive
growth.
As befits members of a guild of scientists, the Adaptationists' preparations for war include the creation of soldiers that are magically and biologically adapted.
The Guardian Project has yielded hybrids that combine human, elf, or vedalken stock with the characteristics of crabs, fish, jellyfish, and a variety of other creatures to give them natural armor and weapons, gills, venomous stings, and other combat-focused adaptations.
Kaya, there's simply no room for one of them to be a red herring.
Given that the Ozbedat aren't exactly good guys and there was already a plan in the works to overthrow them, Kaya being a Bolas Agent could be a false assumption, not expecting it but it wouldn't kill WOTC to subvert our expectations once in a blue moon.
But that would mean only 2 Bolas planeswalkers.
We've specifically been told that there are three Bolas aligned Guilds. That each of those Guilds is lead by a planeswalker that matches the Guild's colors, and that RNA will have three planeswalkers.
The only way that Kaya, Domri, or Dovin could be a red herring is if WotC has been outright lying to us. Not being vague. Not obfuscating. Out and out lying.
*cough cough the Simic have a new leader too cough cough*
Which isn't a planeswalker. Because that would mean RNA had FOUR, not three*. And since she's not a planeswalker, that means that she doesn't fit the requirements for Simic being a Bolas aligned Guild.
*Because we have no reason to believe that one of Dovin, Domri or Kaya doesn't have a card in RNA.
Kaya, there's simply no room for one of them to be a red herring.
Given that the Ozbedat aren't exactly good guys and there was already a plan in the works to overthrow them, Kaya being a Bolas Agent could be a false assumption, not expecting it but it wouldn't kill WOTC to subvert our expectations once in a blue moon.
But that would mean only 2 Bolas planeswalkers.
We've specifically been told that there are three Bolas aligned Guilds. That each of those Guilds is lead by a planeswalker that matches the Guild's colors, and that RNA will have three planeswalkers.
The only way that Kaya, Domri, or Dovin could be a red herring is if WotC has been outright lying to us. Not being vague. Not obfuscating. Out and out lying.
yawn. The elf looks so boring. Was expecting some kind of a crazy looking mutant, like the elf in the traielr with crab arms. Instead we got a boring humanoid looking character like the all so memorable new characters like Izoni and Etrata.
Just found that art on the wpn page, the face betrayed
I almost don't want to post this, but does anyone else look at her collar and notice that it looks like its giving her horns? That, combined with the fact that she's supplanted Zegana as Parun, is making me wonder if the Simic might actually be one of the Bolas'd guilds, with either the Gruul or Orzhov being a fake out (like, either Domri or Kaya don't succeed). We know that three guilds will be Bolas'd and two won't be, and Azorius is confirmed with Dovin taking over, so if the Simic got taken over then either the Gruul or Orzhov would have to remain free from Bolas. The two signs that a guild has been taken over is that the guild master has been replaced, and the new guildmaster is a planes walker. The Boros, Selesnya, and Dimir, who remained free from Bolas, all kept their guild masters, but we don't know if the guilds that remain free from Bolas in Ravnica Allegiance will, so its possible that Zegana getting replaced by this elf is itself a red herring. Even so, its still half of the equation, a new guildmaster, and we won't know what that means until we know if she's a planeswalker or not (or if we get confirmation on the other two Bolas'd guilds besides Azorius). I had thought that the Simic wouldn't be ripe for corruption by Bolas as they seemed more aloof to Ravnican politics, but new information about their inner workings (specifically their Parun serving at the whim of a council) reveals that they were especially vulnerable to it (all Bolas would need to do is corrupt a faction and use that as his vehicle, as he did with the Golgari).
I have to say that I'm not confident anymore about which guilds will fall to Bolas. I was in the camp that it would be Azorius/Gruul/Orzhov, but now I just don't know.
MaRo has already confirmed that there's 3 planeswalker in RNA, so since we already know we're getting Dovin, Domri and Kaya, there's simply no room for one of them to be a red herring.
Kaya and Domri both show up on RNA Booster art, so I don't think there's any reason to believe they WON'T have an actual card in RNA(not the PW deck), and Dovin's already confirmed as a Bolas Agent for Azorius.
Obviously Dovin simply filled out the proper paperwork (in triplicate) and filed it with the proper people and thus became grand arbiter. Hoesntly it seems the easiest of the bunch to usurp as you don't have to be strong or intelligent, just be told what to do by Bolas.
Joking aside I feel this may actually be almost exactly what happened. Kind of like the south park episode where people keep coming in going "who's in charge here...not any more you're not." And by rules of the azorious if you speak the proper phrase at the proper time to the proper people everything works out as you want.
Given that they are Vogon Style Lawful Neutral it is entirely possible that Dovin just needed a week with all the laws and found "Obscure Rule number 454184088904980948094 that allows him to be Grand Arbiter."
On that note, let's not forget that Dovin's innate ability is to see the flaws inherent in a system/object. Outlandish as it may be, it could well really be possible.
Boros really would want a simple, old school gold designed general like that. Something like:
1RW
Creatures you control have vigilance and haste
3/3
Simple, blunt, and more effective at supporting the sort of aggro that Boros is about. Maybe use lifeline or flying instead of vigilance, fiddle with the cost, whatever, but same idea.
Yeah, Boros really feels like it needs some form of readily accessible haste enabler. It's one of the colors most reliant on flooding the board with creatures, but also one of the most vulnerable to mass removal (since it has a hard time refilling its hand so that it can redeploy). Letting you get at least one swing in before your opponents can use their non-instant speed removal seems like it would really help.
This would even fit into RnD's/Maro's guidelines of legendary vs nonlegendary lords/anthems. (Specifically, that stackable effects -- such as "get +1/+1" -- naturally want to be on nonlegendary creatures so that you can have multiple in formats that support that; where non-stacking effects -- such as keyword abilities, or granted abilities -- are good for legendary creatures, because having multiple doesn't DO anything so it doesn't feel like a downside that you can only have one in those formats.)
I've been thinking about doing a Commander deck for him for a long time. Mostly just for Nostalgia's sake.
I used to have just a jank kitchen table deck based around him, where all my creatures were multi-/hybrid- with white, so his ability was always one-sided (unless one of my friends was playing white).
I also always tend to find myself gravitating towards Mardu/Boros/Monowhite anyway, even though I know red and white aren't in a great place in the format.
There are six cards previously to reference monocolored:
Awe for the Guilds
Defiler of Souls
Govern the Guildless
Guardian of the Guildpact
Sultai Charm
and
Ultimate Price
No kidding, right? I legit teared up reading the flavor text. We don't deserve dogs.
The timline is a bit wonky, really. This part of the Ravnica story is supposed to overlap with Ixalan, so Jace isn't there because he's marooned off-plane. All of Kaya's, Domri's, Dovin's, Niv-Mizzet's and Ral's actions primarily take place while Jace is missing, and Vraska becomes the new Golgari guildmaster when she gets back.
The pacing is odd, because we know from the Golgari short story that Vraska's been back for weeks now, but there's been no mention of Jace, so either Creative is just really bad at timelines, or he got back, quickly saw how bad things are, and went into hiding, only letting key people know that he had returned.
Indeed, everything in the art book indicates that Ral is actively working against Bolas, and yet we know that he's under Bolas' influence. Unless he's very deep cover...
But then... if Ral's deep cover for Bolas, why would Dovin have to sabotage the empowerment device? Why wouldn't Dovin/Ral/Bolas have just flipped it to empower Bolas even further, instead of Niv?
I have so many unanswered questions... and knowing that we're probably going to have to wait for that stupid book to be released before we get any answers is really annoying me.
Certainly interesting for white.
Bankrupt in Blood makes me think it'll be this set's Exsanguinate/Debt to the Deathless variant.
There's no reason to assume that the pro-Bolas factions KNOW that they're advancing Bolas' agenda, and it's possible that Zegana's more passive, non-interventionist/confrontational ways suit Bolas just fine. The other Simic faction seems to think that a battle is coming and want to prepare for that, where as Zegana isn't a proponent for the effectual "arms race" meaning that her faction could in fact be the one that benefits Bolas the most, given that Simic isn't a Bolas aligned Guild.
Inaction on the part of the Simic benefits Bolas, in that they're not prepared to oppose him.
From the Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica:
Which isn't a planeswalker. Because that would mean RNA had FOUR, not three*. And since she's not a planeswalker, that means that she doesn't fit the requirements for Simic being a Bolas aligned Guild.
*Because we have no reason to believe that one of Dovin, Domri or Kaya doesn't have a card in RNA.
We've specifically been told that there are three Bolas aligned Guilds. That each of those Guilds is lead by a planeswalker that matches the Guild's colors, and that RNA will have three planeswalkers.
The only way that Kaya, Domri, or Dovin could be a red herring is if WotC has been outright lying to us. Not being vague. Not obfuscating. Out and out lying.
MaRo has already confirmed that there's 3 planeswalker in RNA, so since we already know we're getting Dovin, Domri and Kaya, there's simply no room for one of them to be a red herring.
Kaya and Domri both show up on RNA Booster art, so I don't think there's any reason to believe they WON'T have an actual card in RNA(not the PW deck), and Dovin's already confirmed as a Bolas Agent for Azorius.
Yeah, Boros really feels like it needs some form of readily accessible haste enabler. It's one of the colors most reliant on flooding the board with creatures, but also one of the most vulnerable to mass removal (since it has a hard time refilling its hand so that it can redeploy). Letting you get at least one swing in before your opponents can use their non-instant speed removal seems like it would really help.
This would even fit into RnD's/Maro's guidelines of legendary vs nonlegendary lords/anthems. (Specifically, that stackable effects -- such as "get +1/+1" -- naturally want to be on nonlegendary creatures so that you can have multiple in formats that support that; where non-stacking effects -- such as keyword abilities, or granted abilities -- are good for legendary creatures, because having multiple doesn't DO anything so it doesn't feel like a downside that you can only have one in those formats.)