OK, so Ral's known to still be a planeswalker, meaning Jace sruvived, but presumably lost his spark.
Edit: Oh, it's a showcase alternate thing, never mind.
Note how for Ral it has a name that doesn't exist yet, while the name for the Jace artwork wasn't revealed. I think Ral shows up in Bloomburrow, but Jace doesn't. Whether or not Ral is still a planeswalker remains to be seen. Omenpaths are a thing now, remember.
the collector booster box art looked to have kellan and oko about to do the Iconic quickdraw dual
The question for that is kellan aware that’s his father? or did he learn he’s a bad guy and just taking him on?
Given that Kellan worked as a detective on Ravnica, it could be that he gets hired by a local sheriff to help out with a criminal that's been making the rounds. Eventually he finds Oko, confronts him and then during their duel it turns out that Kellan is Oko's son, much to the surprise of both.
That's basically what I assumed until a Wizards employee outright said he's dead. Unfortunately I didn't bother keeping the source. Might have been a miscommunication either internally (not everyone will be kept updated on story plans) or by the employee at the time, but it wasn't a phrasing of the "looks like he's dead" kind.
As a "never found the body" situation the scene is far less awful, but as a final send-off it was severely lacking since Tibalt didn't even got to be a particular prominent Phyrexian 'walker throughout the rest of the final.
If he shows up here that will resolve one of the twenty things wrong with the MOM story.
Wizards employee writing Karlov Manor didn't know the existance of Amalia. I guess it's not to far fetched to think that miscommunication happened again and the guys making Thunder Junction didn't know Tibalt was dead.
Amalia was mentioned, but it was said she was busy elsewhere. Why they decided to have her tag along just to then not show up again (and it doesn't look like she'll be part of the gang in Thunder Junction either) is anyone's guess.
Honestly, the whole omenpath idea is such a mess. The idea of having characters show up on different planes would be absolutely radical if it wasn't for the fact that we already had planeswalkers?
It also doesn't help that Kellan's involvement in Ixalan and Ravnica was completely irrelevant. If only he was at least an interesting character.
So Wizards really is trying to make Ravnica into the hub of the Multiverse huh?
On the one hand it makes sense to have the metropolitan plane into a hub, but on the other hand... What happens to the guilds? If Ravnica's identity is "cosmopolitan hub" then there really isn't going to be much space for the ten guilds which already kinda have barely any room in the modern one-set-per-world paradigm.
I do wonder if the Omenpaths are going to stay with MtG permanently, or if they are just a thing for the Omenpath arc.
Maybe spoiler it in case someone want's to do these on their own, and this isn't really story related so it's not expected to find that here if you don't want to get spoiled on the quiz.
Other cards aren't such a great match. I guess there's Case of the Gorgon's Kiss and Undercity Eliminator but that's not a great fit beyond the latter simply being a gorgon. Like the mark on the (orc?) victim is missing on the centaur and vice versa with the flower darts.
Also Sudden Setback takes place inside of the Case of the Gateway Express, but that's an odd association, if intended. Sudden Setback is neither the culprit nor the victim/stolen object. It feels kind of random.
Has anyone else noticed any visual connections between cases and other cards? I wonder if there's like a pattern.
A vanilla 3/2 with unblockable isn't gonna take over games, even if you can get another one at sorcery speed and get to attack in two turns.
I feel like we go through this every other set with some splashy blue card that makes drakes or something. It's just not going to work as well as you think it might, especially if you go all in on a blue creature strategy around putting one of these out there and leaving yourself otherwise wide open.
A 3/2 unblockable is TOTALLY gonna take over games in limited if both players are evenly matched.
I mean, this card is good at a lot of things: you get 3 unblockable damage per turn or you have a semi-unkillable 3/2 blocker. And you even get to sift through your library for your good creatures. Remember, if you manifest one of your big guys, you can still turn it up. Sure, it won't find your good sorceries and enchantments, but most of your bombs are likely going to be creatures anyway.
Also it's not just a 3/2 unblockable creature. It's a 3/2 unblockable creature that says "3UU: Create a tapped 2/2 creature. Untap this." If my cloaked creature doesn't die and I don't have anything better to do with my mana, I can grow my board.
And the drake-card comparison doesn't make any sense, as SecretInfiltrator pointed out, as those drake generators usually require you to commit to a specific archetype. This card can be splashed into any deck.
Gameplay: Because "number of different color pairs among permanents you control that are exactly two colors" is easy to define while setting a range of X between 0-10. Imagine the confusion and arguments if it said "number of different color pairs among permanents you control" - does this mean a white permanent and a red one count for Boros? Does a WBR card just count for just one pair or all three that can be formed with those colors? (WB/BR/WR) Specificity is our friend.
So, wait, does having a and a card mean I have three color pairs? And & would be 6?
That's kinda unintuitive both flavour and gameplay wise.
In mystery stories red herrings can lead to hasty decisions and have to be dealt with or ignored before the narrative goes on. Seems like a flavor win.
It's a 2/2 creature with no threatening abilities. If being able to attack for 2 damage is something that "must be dealt with or ignored" then literally 99% of all creature cards are 'red herrings'.
Oh, possible. I don't remember, haha.
Buffing your creatures, like a real hardened criminal.
Not entirely sure what to make of the mechanic. Targeting stuff is so common it feels like any deck built around crime will just... be a deck.
Note how for Ral it has a name that doesn't exist yet, while the name for the Jace artwork wasn't revealed. I think Ral shows up in Bloomburrow, but Jace doesn't. Whether or not Ral is still a planeswalker remains to be seen. Omenpaths are a thing now, remember.
Given that Kellan worked as a detective on Ravnica, it could be that he gets hired by a local sheriff to help out with a criminal that's been making the rounds. Eventually he finds Oko, confronts him and then during their duel it turns out that Kellan is Oko's son, much to the surprise of both.
Amalia was mentioned, but it was said she was busy elsewhere. Why they decided to have her tag along just to then not show up again (and it doesn't look like she'll be part of the gang in Thunder Junction either) is anyone's guess.
Honestly, the whole omenpath idea is such a mess. The idea of having characters show up on different planes would be absolutely radical if it wasn't for the fact that we already had planeswalkers?
It also doesn't help that Kellan's involvement in Ixalan and Ravnica was completely irrelevant. If only he was at least an interesting character.
I'm done ranting. [/grump] (For now)
On the one hand it makes sense to have the metropolitan plane into a hub, but on the other hand... What happens to the guilds? If Ravnica's identity is "cosmopolitan hub" then there really isn't going to be much space for the ten guilds which already kinda have barely any room in the modern one-set-per-world paradigm.
I do wonder if the Omenpaths are going to stay with MtG permanently, or if they are just a thing for the Omenpath arc.
Having that said:
On another note, I noticed that two cases appear to have their culprits as cards: First, Case of the Burning Masks and Pyrotechnic Performer; and second, Case of the Crimson Pulse and Fugitive Codebreaker (check the regular art).
Other cards aren't such a great match. I guess there's Case of the Gorgon's Kiss and Undercity Eliminator but that's not a great fit beyond the latter simply being a gorgon. Like the mark on the (orc?) victim is missing on the centaur and vice versa with the flower darts.
However, I did notice the Candlesticks in both the Case of the Filched Falcon and Coveted Falcon which implies the falcon is actually the stolen one from the case. Lead Pipe also shows up in the Case of the Stashed Skeleton, but I couldn't find the other three cluedo equipments in card arts.
Also Sudden Setback takes place inside of the Case of the Gateway Express, but that's an odd association, if intended. Sudden Setback is neither the culprit nor the victim/stolen object. It feels kind of random.
Has anyone else noticed any visual connections between cases and other cards? I wonder if there's like a pattern.
A 3/2 unblockable is TOTALLY gonna take over games in limited if both players are evenly matched.
I mean, this card is good at a lot of things: you get 3 unblockable damage per turn or you have a semi-unkillable 3/2 blocker. And you even get to sift through your library for your good creatures. Remember, if you manifest one of your big guys, you can still turn it up. Sure, it won't find your good sorceries and enchantments, but most of your bombs are likely going to be creatures anyway.
Also it's not just a 3/2 unblockable creature. It's a 3/2 unblockable creature that says "3UU: Create a tapped 2/2 creature. Untap this." If my cloaked creature doesn't die and I don't have anything better to do with my mana, I can grow my board.
And the drake-card comparison doesn't make any sense, as SecretInfiltrator pointed out, as those drake generators usually require you to commit to a specific archetype. This card can be splashed into any deck.
So, wait, does having a and a card mean I have three color pairs? And & would be 6?
That's kinda unintuitive both flavour and gameplay wise.
It's a 2/2 creature with no threatening abilities. If being able to attack for 2 damage is something that "must be dealt with or ignored" then literally 99% of all creature cards are 'red herrings'.