Seems kinda meh. Maybe late game you can grab something good, but people have been saying Delerium is actually really hard to enable.
With sinister concoction, you can get two or three different types into your graveyard at once, one of them being an enchantment and another whatever you choose, and there will be other enablers... Doesn't seem that much out of reach to me.
Innistrad's silver moon is a manifestation of Emrakul and always has been. The Titans are interplanar beings, so she could have been manifest in several planes at once, and perhaps she was largely inactive/in stasis because of the hedron prison on Zendikar. The moon silver that Avacyn's spear is made of is a piece of Emrakul herself, which explains why it twists when Avacyn goes mad, and why other people can hear the buzzing as Avacyn gets close to them. MAYBE the angels on Zendikar were affected the same way, and that's how Em became the angelic avatar of Emrakul. Remember, Emrakul can induce madness and affect gravity, which is what this moon has been doing in this plane from the beginning. Now that Emrakul is active again, maybe it's gotten stronger, more difficult to predict.
Emrakul, the Titan of Corruption, as far as I can see, is there in some way. I bet Jace's mind begins to unravel as he delves deeper into the secrets of Innistrad and as he gets closer to the truth, we will be left wondering if he has reached or if he's approaching a point of no return.
This theory has one flaw: Sorin would know. Innistrad was his plane long before the binding of the Eldrazi, so even if Emrakul disguised as the moon somehow slipped his attention, he would certainly know the effect of the binding and would put it together.
Sorin will be happy that Ulamog and Kozilek were destroyed and tell Jace that Ugin can screw himself, and join up with the Oath of the Gatewatch to hunt down Emrakul.
Oh please, I would love to see this UR, and have Ugin's sanctimonious ego knocked down a peg. Also, Sorin seems like a bro, if a somewhat moody one. I can totally see him being all "Ugin was such a pretentious ass, way to go dudes". The angst is strong in that one.
Sorin will not join the Gatewatch, he will at most cooperate for a while. Why would a millenia old badass vampire need a bunch of newbies around him? The destruction of the Eldrazi was bossible only because it took place specifically on Zendikar, other than that, Sorin is way out of their league.
Well, the art shows what is possibly Nephalian coast, with shipwrecks and all. Literally Nephalia Drownyard.
Is there any lore connected to the drownyard? It seems to be an important location now.
On the other hand, the Toad is probably not the thing being summoned, as it lives in a lake (according to the new story teaser) and the drownyard is at the sea coast. It seems that every time things look like they might clear up a bit, they get more complicated instead...
So, today's story did not provide any support for any of the theories: neither Eldrazi, nor Marit Lage. No Phyrexians and, surprise surprise, no slivers. It did point to Nicol Bolas, but not in a "see that? that's our villain" kind of way (so it's still not time for my told-you-so speech).
We still can't rule out any possibility, but I think that the Epiphany at the Drownyard portal/ring of stones/thing is the direction further speculations should go in. So, it's pretty clearly made of cryptoliths, right? That makes Nahiri responsible. Is she really summoning Emrakul, or is she trying to awaken Cthulhu? Pulling down the moon? It's in Nephalia, so is Hypnotoad involved?
Thoughts?
Do we have any direct proof that the epiphany actually take place in Nephalia, aside from assuming that the drakes there are Nephalia Moondrakes? Also, having a toad as the big bad seems a bit underwhelming the Toad is the best villain ever! All glory to the Gitrog Toad!
Pretty sure at this point it is neither Emrakul nor Marit Lage. It seems from reading card texts that what is coming is something from the oceans. My guess is Nahiri and Sorin a long time ago dealt with a big bad from the ocean and now after feeling betrayed by him and making her world suffer, she is going to release the big bad from his world's ocean they locked away a long time ago and make his world suffer. Therefore it can not be Emrakul at the very least. I doubt it could still be Marit Lage either.
Does anybody have an idea of how long ago the vampires started worshipping the sea god? It might as well be actually Emrakul revealed by Nahiri as a part of her revenge (How do you like your people worshipping Eldrazi, Sorin?), the first Eldrazi outbreak occured thousands years ago...
Silverwolf: The issue is that Nahiri summoning something big is great. It doesn't confirm Emrakul unless you already believe Emrakul's showing up.
We know that there is a big dark mysterious force out there manipulating/aggravating everything (IMO, Nahiri included). Why should it be Emrakul?
Also, since I think most people agree Nahiri has shown no ability to work with madness before, and if Nahiri is currently summoning Emrakul and therefore she is 'not there yet'... what's causing the madness? The 'bleed' from Emrakul?
What supports Emrakul is the fact that Nahiri already knows her way around Eldrazi. If nothing else is at play and she only wants to get back at Sorin by wrecking his plane, it is the most logical choice. Also, the timing is suspicious. Last time we heard from her was thousands of years ago, when she repaired Zendikari hedrons and discovered vampires there. And now, when the Eldrazi are free again, she shows up with the intention of screwing up Innistrad.
Of course, that is just one theory and it expects no other forces involved.
One big argument against it is that abandoning Zendikar and trying to seriously damage Innistrad only for revenge seems a bit over the top, so something (or someone) probably pushed her in that direction and uses her anger. That would require a truly sentient being, so no Eldrazi. It still might be Bolas, further pushing his Eldrazi-related agenda, but that is pure guesswork...
Another explanation for the timing (I don't believe in that being a coincidence) is that she considers Zendikar doomed now and it made her snap. In that case, she may be summoning literally anything now. Also, someone is going to be very surprised when Jace starts talking...
Yeah, it might as well be something like Lhurgoyf, which was named like that because it "sounds scandinavian". From Wizards, we can expect anything ranging from elaborate clues to total randomness...
Could "Vizag Atum" be an anagram, just like "Marit Lage" is "A grim tale"? If it is, it shouldn't be hard to guess with such weird letters, but nothing strikes me so far...
Edit: online anagram solver didn't find anything, but it doesn't contain MTG-specific words.
I would expect a "traditional" planeswalker, not creatue/walker flip like in Origins. There is really no reason for that.
The only transforming walker here will be probably Arlinn, with either walker(human)/walker(wolf) or walker(human)/creature(wolf).
Everything that ever happens in the multiverse is a plot by Bolas...
With sinister concoction, you can get two or three different types into your graveyard at once, one of them being an enchantment and another whatever you choose, and there will be other enablers... Doesn't seem that much out of reach to me.
This theory has one flaw: Sorin would know. Innistrad was his plane long before the binding of the Eldrazi, so even if Emrakul disguised as the moon somehow slipped his attention, he would certainly know the effect of the binding and would put it together.
Sorin will not join the Gatewatch, he will at most cooperate for a while. Why would a millenia old badass vampire need a bunch of newbies around him? The destruction of the Eldrazi was bossible only because it took place specifically on Zendikar, other than that, Sorin is way out of their league.
Is there any lore connected to the drownyard? It seems to be an important location now.
On the other hand, the Toad is probably not the thing being summoned, as it lives in a lake (according to the new story teaser) and the drownyard is at the sea coast. It seems that every time things look like they might clear up a bit, they get more complicated instead...
Do we have any direct proof that the epiphany actually take place in Nephalia, aside from assuming that the drakes there are Nephalia Moondrakes? Also,
having a toad as the big bad seems a bit underwhelmingthe Toad is the best villain ever! All glory to the Gitrog Toad!How exactly does it point to them? The only reference I see is just Jace explaining to Lili what happend and why is he looking for Sorin.
Does anybody have an idea of how long ago the vampires started worshipping the sea god? It might as well be actually Emrakul revealed by Nahiri as a part of her revenge (How do you like your people worshipping Eldrazi, Sorin?), the first Eldrazi outbreak occured thousands years ago...
What supports Emrakul is the fact that Nahiri already knows her way around Eldrazi. If nothing else is at play and she only wants to get back at Sorin by wrecking his plane, it is the most logical choice. Also, the timing is suspicious. Last time we heard from her was thousands of years ago, when she repaired Zendikari hedrons and discovered vampires there. And now, when the Eldrazi are free again, she shows up with the intention of screwing up Innistrad.
Of course, that is just one theory and it expects no other forces involved.
One big argument against it is that abandoning Zendikar and trying to seriously damage Innistrad only for revenge seems a bit over the top, so something (or someone) probably pushed her in that direction and uses her anger. That would require a truly sentient being, so no Eldrazi. It still might be Bolas, further pushing his Eldrazi-related agenda, but that is pure guesswork...
Another explanation for the timing (I don't believe in that being a coincidence) is that she considers Zendikar doomed now and it made her snap. In that case, she may be summoning literally anything now. Also, someone is going to be very surprised when Jace starts talking...
Edit: online anagram solver didn't find anything, but it doesn't contain MTG-specific words.
Well, Sorin seemed reluctant to find her when he met with Ugin, so there probably is some yet untold history between the two...
The only transforming walker here will be probably Arlinn, with either walker(human)/walker(wolf) or walker(human)/creature(wolf).