I hope from a storytelling standpoint, if Liliana is at all in focus during Dominaria, that we get to see a snark-fight between Jaya and Lili. Because really, if Liliana thinks she can win a verbal sparring match against one of the most-acerbic tongues of the multiverse, she is going to be sorely mistaken.
That would be cool to have Azor return. Would explain the symbol in the binding looking like Azorius. So many hints at close to another return to Ravnica.
Honestly, if Rivals of Ixalan ends up being the return of arguably the most important Ravnica parun (in addition to the other Ravnica story elements already in play), you'd think at this point that Ravnica was more important than Dominaria.
I have to agree on this point. If the Sphinx box art is indeed art for a Rivals of Ixalan planeswalker, and that is Azor, then the 'Fall 2018 Set' after the 'Magic 2019' Core Set would practically need to be set in Ravnica. They would just have too many plot threads left dangling (Teysa, Mazirek, Ral Zarek....) and lose interest/attention of newer players coming in.
Or, it's possible that with the return of core sets, they'll use them similar to an anthology where we do quick hops to different planes we already know. That method would justify reprints in a flavorful manner, keep narrative velocity going, and could expand upon some fan loved characters.
Reading back through posts, a both and idea sprouted up to me.
Binding Magic is indeed Ugin's specialty, and as many have pointed out, plus borrowing a "narrative conservation of detail" concept, Ugin would make a lot of sense to be involved in Ixalan.
Azor was also a walker, who founded the Azorius Senate and believed in using binding magic to keep order and rule of law.
We know Azor to be around 10,000+ Ravnican years old at least.
We know Ugin is so old he has transcended the concept of magic as a color.
My conjecture is, what if Ugin trained Azor in binding magic, and Azor under Ugin's suggestion/direction intervened on Ixalan with the Immortal Sun, only to end up trapping himself in Orazca?
Don't get me wrong. I can see he's a violent minotaur and might have committed plenty of murders out of frustration of being trapped in Ixalan. However, his latest interaction with Huatli gives me the impression that he's just an immature brat who discovered his planeswalking gift too early in his life (I would be absolutely delighted if he were revealed to be just a teen), and his rampage in Ixalan is like a superpowered teenager who's lashing out at being grounded. And since he gives off the vibe of an immature brat, I'm suspecting that he has been traveling a lot as a planeswalker, and thus extremely unhappy when Ixalan stops him from traversing anywhere further.
I've been thinking a similar thing, to me Angrath doesn't seem like "evil" but like you said throwing a temper tantrum. I don't see him joining the gatewatch but I can see him being a chaotic force that can be a friend or foe depending on how much you're getting in their way.
Building off this idea: What if Angrath isn't his name at all? If we like the idea of him being a petulant teenager who's been 'grounded' by the plane he's on, perhaps he took the name 'Angrath' because he thought it would make him sound more dangerous? That is the kind of thing a teenager would do.
“Spectacular, she thought to herself, the murder monster wants to be my friend.”
And
Jace put a hand to his chin in thought. "It might also just be a hunk of rock. And not do anything. Maybe Lord Nicolas is a rock collector?"
"I honestly wouldn't put it past him," Vraska shrugged. "He strikes me as a man with weird hobbies."
I’m mentally imagining Nicol Bolas nesting around a display table with lots of rare rocks and fossils
“Nice rocks, Prretty rocks!”
Lol
Just think of what other random bits of knowledge he might have stored in his head from nerding out over different topics for millennia. I honestly wouldn't put it past Bolas to be a massive musical theatre fan with an encyclopedic knowledge of multi-planar musicals.
They don't paint the vampires as monsters or anything villainous
Vona straight up slaughtered (and presumably fed upon) ordinary innocent people who were her subjects and she clearly enjoyed it. She made a game of it. That's both pretty monstrous and villainous.
Also, any vampire that goes on a blood fast ends up a superhuman killing machine that attacks anything that moves. I'd say that is pretty monstrous too.
I'd contend that the "WHY" behind taking a blood fast is just as important and that it demonstrates the dichotomy between Mavren's white alignment and Vona's White-Black alignment. Mavren is a crazed homicidal beast while he is fasting yes. And, look at why he chose to take that fast. It wasn't for his own personal interest or ambition, it was for the greater good of his collective. He chose this 'curse' because he wished to walk the path of Saint Elenda. Is this path one filled with violence and potential to harm innocents? Yes, it is, and I am guessing Mavren would be the first to admit he can, and has, made mistakes.
Now, Vona. Vona is, as many pointed out, a monster. She may have decided to join a cause larger than herself, (that would be the white side of her alignment) only she doesn't care about the greater good/betterment of her group. She said so herself when thinking about her time as an administrator after the Apostasine Wars. She got bored when her responsibilities were no longer concerning her own needs and wants. She got bored, and in that boredom decided to hunt. That sort of naked selfishness would fall squarely into black's philosophy. I agree that she is certainly far more weighted to the black end of the White-Black design space and perhaps could have been reflected better in a 2WBB mana cost.
Still, I like having that divergence of characters in the Legion of Dusk. It shows what you'd find in any culture/organized religion/community, a divergence of motives that guide people under the same affiliation.
So far it has been assumed the compass will only point to the Immortal Sun.
We have also made the possible leaps that the Immortal Sun is something not native to this world.
What if, rather than the compass being tuned solely to the Immortal Sun, it is simply attuned to ANYTHING that is not native to the world Ixalan inhabits?
That opening section before we reach Shipwreck sea has a lot to take in and think about.
First, there's the fact that Bolas can slip invitations to his Meditation Realm to people who likely don't want to be found. Now this isn't a surprise per se, this is Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker after all. More that with the knowledge of Ral Zarek being a Bolas flunky, I'm guessing he would have been the one to do it. (And as a total aside, the continued fleshing out of Vraska's personality has me totally becoming smitten with her. Curl up by a fireplace with a history book? If this is cliched pandering I am guilty of falling for it.)
Second, for whatever reason, Bolas is happy to dangle guild leadership in front of Vraska. I'm going to guess that's also what he did with Ral Zarek. And it is nice to see Bolas using his mind magic to do more than just rip memories away from people. I'd love to see that represented mechanically where Bolas can download information to someone in a debilitating manner.
Third, and big one, Bolas gave Vraska a one-shot interplanar summoning spell. That's important, since the question becomes "Summon who?" Ral? Tezzeret? Sarkhan? Does Bolas even know that Sarkhan has been on his time travel shenanigans and is playing for Ugin now? With the speculation that Ugin is involved in Ixalan, having the spell summon Sarkhan only to deliver a massive "NOT AS PLANNED" to Bolas could be quite interesting. It could also be the first step to showing Bolas does have his limitations/has to deal with Ugin counter playing him.
Where are you guys getting this "The Sun Empire is nonviolent" idea from? All the last fiction said was that Huatli and her warriors managed to triumph in their last battle without any lives lost on either side. Engagements like this have happened in real life.
Just because they won a bloodless victory doesn't mean they don't fight bloody battles as well. They're an expansionist empire, after all, who command dinosaurs with names like "Carnage Tyrant."
Agreed. All but the most bloodthirsty regimes generally recognize a bloodless victory as a noteworthy accomplishment by a warrior. "Not the most bloodthirsty" is a rather backhanded compliment. If anything, the second story set up Huatli as a hero, not the Sun Empire generally.
Agreed. Anyone else feeling a little suspicious about our good 'ole friend, the Sun Emperor?
I mean, as much as Hautli annoyed me at times, I still can't help but think she's being used by this guy.
She's definitely being used by him. He's using the Warrior-Poet title as an incentive for her to find Orazca, a title he was basically refusing to give her before (at least that's how I see it), which is a pretty sketchy move IMO. He may genuinely like her, but she's still a means to an end in this situation.
He did say that he thought it was a fools' errand for an entire nation to go searching for a legend, not one person. I'm in agreement that he's got plans. If he really is quite expansionist, we could be seeing a "Lord Konda" sort of set up where he wants to make the Sun Empire unquestioned with a lost city he thinks will be the ultimate WMD/First Elspeth Emblem
Kess doesn't want it but she might if it could play lands.
I don't think so, I'm sure any Izzet deck can flip this accidentally, and then you've got a land that throws out lightning bolts, yes it's for 3 mana, but that's not a bad price to pay to keep dishing out lightning bolts. I know burn doesn't typically scale well in EDH, but 3 damage is enough to knock out most of the more popular utility dorks that often populate the board, as well as constantly beating down any Planeswalkers.
It's a lot of setup to get Ghostfire on a land, which is nothing to scoff at, but not worth jumping through hoops for. You need pay 4 mana for a worse Outpost Siege, which is a decent card, but a card most streamlined Izzet lists shouldn't be playing. Then you have to play 3 spells in one turn.
Then what about other color combinations besides Izzet?
Mono Red would be happy to have a repeatable source of damage that for the most part can't be interacted with.
Rakdos hellbent style decks would enjoy something onboard that can let them keep their hand empty. I hear Sire of Insanity and Mindslicer do work.
Boros would like any kind of late game staying power it can get.
And, lest we forget, sometimes people don't have access to something like Outpost Siege. This gives players one more comparative version of an effect, that's always appreciative.
Angrath being from Dominaria would be wonderful for inter-block story synergy. And considering that his accent was mentioned as sounding odd and off to Huatli, it's possible that Angrath isn't his actual name either. It might be a Kytheon/Gideon situation where the locals just heard his name wrong.
My own personal hope is, if Creative was being really sly, Angrath could even be some kind of title that is passed along. Just like a certain other "Dread Pirate _______" that is well know in pop culture.
I suppose, except that burning supplies isn't how you make it expensive. Killing personnel is, and burning ships. If you have no intention of collaborating or trading with the invaders, and if they show no particular mercy toward your people (Raiders' Wake), then the best strategy is to kill them. So I suspect that the story beats here aren't to show that the Sun Empire is being realistically tactical, but that they're being (unrealistically) "good" by minimizing casualties.
Mm, I see your point. It's possible it was supposed to be a little of Column A and a little from Column B, and just haven't done a good job describing it, now leaving it looking a bit too 1980's 'A-Team Firing'.
Ye gods, Aunty Jaya is still kicking.
This. Is. Wonderful.
I hope from a storytelling standpoint, if Liliana is at all in focus during Dominaria, that we get to see a snark-fight between Jaya and Lili. Because really, if Liliana thinks she can win a verbal sparring match against one of the most-acerbic tongues of the multiverse, she is going to be sorely mistaken.
I have to agree on this point. If the Sphinx box art is indeed art for a Rivals of Ixalan planeswalker, and that is Azor, then the 'Fall 2018 Set' after the 'Magic 2019' Core Set would practically need to be set in Ravnica. They would just have too many plot threads left dangling (Teysa, Mazirek, Ral Zarek....) and lose interest/attention of newer players coming in.
Or, it's possible that with the return of core sets, they'll use them similar to an anthology where we do quick hops to different planes we already know. That method would justify reprints in a flavorful manner, keep narrative velocity going, and could expand upon some fan loved characters.
I'm talking of course about everyone's favorite golem.
Building off this idea: What if Angrath isn't his name at all? If we like the idea of him being a petulant teenager who's been 'grounded' by the plane he's on, perhaps he took the name 'Angrath' because he thought it would make him sound more dangerous? That is the kind of thing a teenager would do.
Just think of what other random bits of knowledge he might have stored in his head from nerding out over different topics for millennia. I honestly wouldn't put it past Bolas to be a massive musical theatre fan with an encyclopedic knowledge of multi-planar musicals.
I'd contend that the "WHY" behind taking a blood fast is just as important and that it demonstrates the dichotomy between Mavren's white alignment and Vona's White-Black alignment. Mavren is a crazed homicidal beast while he is fasting yes. And, look at why he chose to take that fast. It wasn't for his own personal interest or ambition, it was for the greater good of his collective. He chose this 'curse' because he wished to walk the path of Saint Elenda. Is this path one filled with violence and potential to harm innocents? Yes, it is, and I am guessing Mavren would be the first to admit he can, and has, made mistakes.
Now, Vona. Vona is, as many pointed out, a monster. She may have decided to join a cause larger than herself, (that would be the white side of her alignment) only she doesn't care about the greater good/betterment of her group. She said so herself when thinking about her time as an administrator after the Apostasine Wars. She got bored when her responsibilities were no longer concerning her own needs and wants. She got bored, and in that boredom decided to hunt. That sort of naked selfishness would fall squarely into black's philosophy. I agree that she is certainly far more weighted to the black end of the White-Black design space and perhaps could have been reflected better in a 2WBB mana cost.
Still, I like having that divergence of characters in the Legion of Dusk. It shows what you'd find in any culture/organized religion/community, a divergence of motives that guide people under the same affiliation.
While not 'OUR' Mirari, as in the one that was at the core of Memnarch, it could be A mirari, since they were probes Karn sent out.
...Actually, that could really flow well into Dominaria once we leave Ixalan, since I have a hunch that Karn will be appearing in the Dominaria set.
And I'm actually liking him now too.
First, there's the fact that Bolas can slip invitations to his Meditation Realm to people who likely don't want to be found. Now this isn't a surprise per se, this is Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker after all. More that with the knowledge of Ral Zarek being a Bolas flunky, I'm guessing he would have been the one to do it. (And as a total aside, the continued fleshing out of Vraska's personality has me totally becoming smitten with her. Curl up by a fireplace with a history book? If this is cliched pandering I am guilty of falling for it.)
Second, for whatever reason, Bolas is happy to dangle guild leadership in front of Vraska. I'm going to guess that's also what he did with Ral Zarek. And it is nice to see Bolas using his mind magic to do more than just rip memories away from people. I'd love to see that represented mechanically where Bolas can download information to someone in a debilitating manner.
Third, and big one, Bolas gave Vraska a one-shot interplanar summoning spell. That's important, since the question becomes "Summon who?" Ral? Tezzeret? Sarkhan? Does Bolas even know that Sarkhan has been on his time travel shenanigans and is playing for Ugin now? With the speculation that Ugin is involved in Ixalan, having the spell summon Sarkhan only to deliver a massive "NOT AS PLANNED" to Bolas could be quite interesting. It could also be the first step to showing Bolas does have his limitations/has to deal with Ugin counter playing him.
He did say that he thought it was a fools' errand for an entire nation to go searching for a legend, not one person. I'm in agreement that he's got plans. If he really is quite expansionist, we could be seeing a "Lord Konda" sort of set up where he wants to make the Sun Empire unquestioned with a lost city he thinks will be the ultimate WMD/First Elspeth Emblem
Then what about other color combinations besides Izzet?
And, lest we forget, sometimes people don't have access to something like Outpost Siege. This gives players one more comparative version of an effect, that's always appreciative.
My own personal hope is, if Creative was being really sly, Angrath could even be some kind of title that is passed along. Just like a certain other "Dread Pirate _______" that is well know in pop culture.
Mm, I see your point. It's possible it was supposed to be a little of Column A and a little from Column B, and just haven't done a good job describing it, now leaving it looking a bit too 1980's 'A-Team Firing'.