I don't know how any one can make out who's on those stained glass windows other than the Gatewatch. "Oh yeah, this blob here? That's Arlinn. This red blob? That's Jaya, cuz fire."
Because almost all of the windows are using previous card art, making them easier to recognize even when blurry.
The blackblade was colorless in dominaria so I see no reason for Gideon to be bw.i understand that it was welded by a black character but unless it enabled some dark magic all it does is be stronk.
Shield mage could be Colorless... But maybe that is asking for too much.
It drinks souls. Dakkon quenched the Blackblade during the forging process by killing a new slave with it each time he heated it. It is a colorless artifact, but the magic it was made with was pretty damn evil. Wielding it long term could have crazy effects on people. Or even being ok with using a weapon that inherently evil could justify an alignment shift.
Now that the trailer and promotional material has begun it looks like at least the first half of my theory is correct.
Bolas has summoned his eternal army to Ravnica via the planar portal with Lili at its command. Lightning Bug has been used to draw in planeswalkers to Ravinca. I have a feeling that Ral/Niv did so at Jace’s command when the army showed up, not knowing they were on Bolas’s side
One by the their sparks are being removed until a single large spark remains (the final candle in the trailer) and Bolas is attempting to absorb it. The only thing that is unclear is exactly how he will. I assumed it would be via something akin to Memnarchs spark harvester, but apparently Teferi was able to respark with the powerstone that contained his without explanation as to how, so who knows.
The Demon Core
~ comes into play you gain a poison counter.
Whenever ~ becomes tapped double the amount of poison counter on each player. : Add X mana of any one color to your mana pool where X is twice the amount of poison counter on you.
That will produce 2, 4, 8, 16, dead progression would use poison counter and work with already established mechanics.
But I am just brainstorming.
It could, but like I said I was shooting for more than a single Radioactive card, so that would have to be the stand alone ability of Demon Core and remove the radioactive keyword
That being said. I like radioactive... Have you thought about simply adding poison counter to an interacting player? Also the ability could count the poison counter on the player instead of charge counter on itself. This way you would also have the lose the game stuff tied in.
I did think about poison, but this isnt the only radioactive permanent i've been working on, so if it gave poison you would kill yourself using them far faster than you would kill your opponent.
The Demon Core
Legendary Artifact (R)
Radioactive (Players that target, tap, or activate abilities of radioactive permanents lose 1 life. Creatures dealt damage by radioactive sources get a -1/-1 counter)
The Demon Core comes into play with 2 charge counters on it. : Add X mana of any one color to your mana pool and X charge counters to The Demon Core, where X is the number of charge counters on The Demon Core. If The Demon Core has 20 or more charge counters on it, you lose the game.
Edited: Forgot "where X is the number of charge counters on The Demon Core"
Core Crab
Creature - Crab (U)
Fissile 2 (If the number of fissile permanents you control is equal or greater than 2, sacrifice this permanent and create two tokens that are copies of it. They lose fissile.)
When Core Crab enters the battlefield target opponent puts the top three cards of their library into their graveyard
1/3
Glowing Goblin
Creature - Goblin (C)
Haste, Radioactive (Players that target, tap, or activate abilities of radioactive permanents lose 1 life. Creatures dealt damage by radioactive sources get a -1/-1 counter)
1/1
These are a sample of what I'm thinking the two main mechanics would be. I have also posted them to reddit/imgur...if I am allowed to link the imgur album here I will.
Seems to me this will shape up to be our modern-day Time Spiral II. TBH I agree with you on the Bolas part. I never was fond of him as a villain and felt it was lazy to suggest a big, brooding, dragon archlord hell-bent on consuming every fricken thing he comes across for pan-ultimate abilities was clunky and predictable. As for Manite, I warmed up to Jace following his incredible character development in Ixalan; personally, it's too soon to off him as we haven't had much exposure to him since that point in Rivals, so I don't think the Jaters will win. This time anyway
Just give me a more humanist story that's somewhat relatable to people. The strongly-suggested Weatherlight II story seems like a more suitable stage in our continuum.
'buster
I get that, but Jace has been on the scene for a long, long time taking up the main character slot. To put it in perspective Urza was the hero throughout junior high for me (6-8th year for you Europeans). I started part time in college while working full time in 2006. In 2017 I finished my long overdue B.S., and at the end of May this year I will finish my M.S. Jace has been on cards since 2007 and in the story since 2009, making him as old as my entire extended college education. It is time for something new.
And as much as I would love a Weatherlight 2.0, I kinda don't want them to use Karn to rehash Urza's saga. As sad as it sounds I wish in the Scars block they had compleated him, or even made him the first Phyrexian walker. Even though he is Urza's Legacy he doesn't deserve to be shoehorned into that same storyline.
I was interested in the theory until the obvious Jace hate reared its ugly head. The planeswalker trap, I can believe. Bolas trying to kill Jace, I can believe. But I sincerely doubt Jace is going to die anytime soon in the story, and it royally irritates me every time someone says "I hope Jace dies", to the point I hope he doesn't die simply out of spite towards the Jaters (he's not even my favorite character, his haters are simply that irritating). At the very least I want him to go back to Vryn, to look for his parents if they're still alive, to try and bring actual peace between the Ampryn and Trovians, and of course to face the repurcussions of his duel with Alhammarret. All it will take is Bolas or Tezzeret attempting to harness the energy of the Mage-Rings to give Jace a justifiable reason to go to Vryn.
So please, kindly leave the Jace hate out of an otherwise reasonable theory. Bolas will likely try to trap planeswalkers. He will likely try to kill Jace. I doubt he will succeed, and I'll be downright pissed off if he in fact does because then not only will I have to put up with Jaters celebrating obnoxiously but also the fact it was Bolas, a character I personally dislike, who did it.
Seriously, Jaters can piss off.
Well this was awkward... seeing as I was talking about Bolas when I said I hope they kill him.
I don’t hate Jace, I dislike a rehashed story. How many times will we watch the Gatewatch crash against Bolas with no avail. Even if they don’t kill Jace, maybe it’s time to let him be off screen for the sake of other characters
It’s either he retreats and thinks of something in several years or he wins and gets his spark back and starts plotting the next attack
I don't know. Novel wise Phyrexia and Urza were introduced in 1998 with The Brothers War. Yawgmoth came in '99 in the Thran as the true big bad behind Phyrexia. Apocalypse (2001) permanently killed Yawgmoth and Urza off as characters (Urza is officially a 9 on the Venser Scale) and creative has said multiple, multiple times that Yawgmoth is never coming back. Thats 3 years before they killed off what many people consider to be their most popular character. Nichol Bolas was introduced in card form in 1994 in the Legends set, story wise he has been scheming since Time Spiral (2006-2007). That's 13 years of this ominous dragon scheming around the edges of nearly every single story since. One could really argue that Magic has become the saga of Nichol and Ugin, since the spirit dragon was also revived for the eldrazi storylines.
It's time for a major change, and the stage is set for an all or nothing battle. Everyone who is set against Bolas knows that if he survives he will never, ever stop plotting to gain as much power as possible. He either has to be successful, at that point the rest of magic would be "What Bolas allows to happen", or utterly destroyed. Anything in between will feel like nothing of note really ever matters and the stories they use to hype these sets will stop working. The big bad always gets away. The fan favorite 'walkers have indestructible plot armor (looking at you Jace). They will bring back old walkers for a nostalgia boost for a while. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I think it's too convenient that they "reintroduced" the Weatherlight after all these years, especially with the climax about to occur with the existing story arc. It makes perfect sense that something drastic is going ti happen to the present Gatewatch crew to the point where someone important is about to die off (or disappear) while a secondary story line kind of takes over.
Personally I think it's time they went back to a more "human" approach of heroe(ine)s who are not as powerful as our perennial planeswalkers to take the reins of the next chapter(s) and still allow some dabbling in PW interactions but not be the focal point.
The Weatherlight I arc lasted for a good three/four years before people grew tired of it. We seem to be getting that way with the Gatewatch.
'buster
P.S: I just want more Jhoira in all honesty.
This is where I feel like they are heading for at least a bit. Resurrecting the Weatherlight lets non-PW legendaries tag along to new planes. I am crossing my fingers for a Phyrexian invasion with all 5 colors present. I really would like to see Theros since thats where we left Elspeth, and the deity system there would allow a different avenue of conversion for Phyrexians. We've seen them take a plane where artifice was the dominant magic, how will they twist the enchantment magic and the pantheon. Ideally we would see the devotion to a new deity begin to rise and war with the other gods.
Jace is (hopefully) dead. Liliana, free of Bolas, begins to actively seek out the Raven Man. Ajani returns to Theros to find Elspeth. When he hears whispers of a new god entering the Pantheon, a dark god, a Father of Machines.
I'm in!
It's likely that Wizards will want to tie up the Bolas plotline and prepare for moving onward to other business, like the Chain Veil/Raven Man, Elsepth on Theros, etc. Killing off Jace would be an extreme move, but it also presents the best argument for a clean slate moving forward. Nissa has walked, Liliana has unfinished business, Gideon can pick up on plotlines elsewhere (but could also be a nominee for death), and Chandra needs to be around for the comic.
Some arguments against would be it would be better marketing to do Jace's Signature Spellbook the year of his death to put a finishing touch to his character. And he's easily the most popular planeswalker amount fans and you don't kill your golden goose.
Well Jace became popular not through his story really, but the fact that he was an incredibly powerful card for a very long time. His story is inextricably tied to Ravnica and Bolas now. Sure he's part of the Gatewatch, but I don't think hes invested in anything outside of the Bolas conflict. Teferi seems to be the one they are ramping up to take Jace's spot as lead PW for a while, but honestly I would rather they don't have a flagship PW for a while. What I think we need to see is each PW going their own way with maybe one or two cameos per set. Elpesth, Ajani, and Karn dealing with Phyrexian invasion on another plane, Teferi and Jhoira working on undoing the Zhalfir phasing and returning the Weatherlight to it's planeshifting glory, Gideon and Liliana delving into the Raven Man and growing their powers with the Chain Veil and Blackblade Reforged.
We have had enough Avengers Assemble moments for the last few sets. Wizards needs to grow their Walkers on their own for a bit and allow time for the next big bads (Emrakul and New Phyrexia) to gestate. Also, it's time for a Vikings set and some real non-human walkers to come around.
Because almost all of the windows are using previous card art, making them easier to recognize even when blurry.
It drinks souls. Dakkon quenched the Blackblade during the forging process by killing a new slave with it each time he heated it. It is a colorless artifact, but the magic it was made with was pretty damn evil. Wielding it long term could have crazy effects on people. Or even being ok with using a weapon that inherently evil could justify an alignment shift.
Bolas has summoned his eternal army to Ravnica via the planar portal with Lili at its command. Lightning Bug has been used to draw in planeswalkers to Ravinca. I have a feeling that Ral/Niv did so at Jace’s command when the army showed up, not knowing they were on Bolas’s side
One by the their sparks are being removed until a single large spark remains (the final candle in the trailer) and Bolas is attempting to absorb it. The only thing that is unclear is exactly how he will. I assumed it would be via something akin to Memnarchs spark harvester, but apparently Teferi was able to respark with the powerstone that contained his without explanation as to how, so who knows.
It could, but like I said I was shooting for more than a single Radioactive card, so that would have to be the stand alone ability of Demon Core and remove the radioactive keyword
Yes this. I've been thinking about changing the casting cost to
Well no....seeing as there is no power of 2 that yields 17.
2, 4, 8, 16, dead.
I did think about poison, but this isnt the only radioactive permanent i've been working on, so if it gave poison you would kill yourself using them far faster than you would kill your opponent.
Legendary Artifact (R)
Radioactive (Players that target, tap, or activate abilities of radioactive permanents lose 1 life. Creatures dealt damage by radioactive sources get a -1/-1 counter)
The Demon Core comes into play with 2 charge counters on it.
Edited: Forgot "where X is the number of charge counters on The Demon Core"
Creature - Crab (U)
Fissile 2 (If the number of fissile permanents you control is equal or greater than 2, sacrifice this permanent and create two tokens that are copies of it. They lose fissile.)
When Core Crab enters the battlefield target opponent puts the top three cards of their library into their graveyard
1/3
Glowing Goblin
Creature - Goblin (C)
Haste, Radioactive (Players that target, tap, or activate abilities of radioactive permanents lose 1 life. Creatures dealt damage by radioactive sources get a -1/-1 counter)
1/1
These are a sample of what I'm thinking the two main mechanics would be. I have also posted them to reddit/imgur...if I am allowed to link the imgur album here I will.
I get that, but Jace has been on the scene for a long, long time taking up the main character slot. To put it in perspective Urza was the hero throughout junior high for me (6-8th year for you Europeans). I started part time in college while working full time in 2006. In 2017 I finished my long overdue B.S., and at the end of May this year I will finish my M.S. Jace has been on cards since 2007 and in the story since 2009, making him as old as my entire extended college education. It is time for something new.
And as much as I would love a Weatherlight 2.0, I kinda don't want them to use Karn to rehash Urza's saga. As sad as it sounds I wish in the Scars block they had compleated him, or even made him the first Phyrexian walker. Even though he is Urza's Legacy he doesn't deserve to be shoehorned into that same storyline.
Well this was awkward... seeing as I was talking about Bolas when I said I hope they kill him.
I don’t hate Jace, I dislike a rehashed story. How many times will we watch the Gatewatch crash against Bolas with no avail. Even if they don’t kill Jace, maybe it’s time to let him be off screen for the sake of other characters
I don't know. Novel wise Phyrexia and Urza were introduced in 1998 with The Brothers War. Yawgmoth came in '99 in the Thran as the true big bad behind Phyrexia. Apocalypse (2001) permanently killed Yawgmoth and Urza off as characters (Urza is officially a 9 on the Venser Scale) and creative has said multiple, multiple times that Yawgmoth is never coming back. Thats 3 years before they killed off what many people consider to be their most popular character. Nichol Bolas was introduced in card form in 1994 in the Legends set, story wise he has been scheming since Time Spiral (2006-2007). That's 13 years of this ominous dragon scheming around the edges of nearly every single story since. One could really argue that Magic has become the saga of Nichol and Ugin, since the spirit dragon was also revived for the eldrazi storylines.
It's time for a major change, and the stage is set for an all or nothing battle. Everyone who is set against Bolas knows that if he survives he will never, ever stop plotting to gain as much power as possible. He either has to be successful, at that point the rest of magic would be "What Bolas allows to happen", or utterly destroyed. Anything in between will feel like nothing of note really ever matters and the stories they use to hype these sets will stop working. The big bad always gets away. The fan favorite 'walkers have indestructible plot armor (looking at you Jace). They will bring back old walkers for a nostalgia boost for a while. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I hope they kill him.
This is where I feel like they are heading for at least a bit. Resurrecting the Weatherlight lets non-PW legendaries tag along to new planes. I am crossing my fingers for a Phyrexian invasion with all 5 colors present. I really would like to see Theros since thats where we left Elspeth, and the deity system there would allow a different avenue of conversion for Phyrexians. We've seen them take a plane where artifice was the dominant magic, how will they twist the enchantment magic and the pantheon. Ideally we would see the devotion to a new deity begin to rise and war with the other gods.
Well Jace became popular not through his story really, but the fact that he was an incredibly powerful card for a very long time. His story is inextricably tied to Ravnica and Bolas now. Sure he's part of the Gatewatch, but I don't think hes invested in anything outside of the Bolas conflict. Teferi seems to be the one they are ramping up to take Jace's spot as lead PW for a while, but honestly I would rather they don't have a flagship PW for a while. What I think we need to see is each PW going their own way with maybe one or two cameos per set. Elpesth, Ajani, and Karn dealing with Phyrexian invasion on another plane, Teferi and Jhoira working on undoing the Zhalfir phasing and returning the Weatherlight to it's planeshifting glory, Gideon and Liliana delving into the Raven Man and growing their powers with the Chain Veil and Blackblade Reforged.
We have had enough Avengers Assemble moments for the last few sets. Wizards needs to grow their Walkers on their own for a bit and allow time for the next big bads (Emrakul and New Phyrexia) to gestate. Also, it's time for a Vikings set and some real non-human walkers to come around.