Man did I pick a good couple of days to drop off the forums and build a fence. I have not (yet) encountered any spoilers other than the cards themselves (thanks Mods).
Magic has a notoriously bad history in terms of story, and frankly I never expected the WAR storyline to deviate from that drastically. I have been excited about the story but have intentionally kept my expectations low, that way whenever the plot looks good I am pleasantly surprised.
Looks like jace’s triumph may have officially revealed bolas lost
It’s saids he out smarted him
We may have gotten a hint on how bolas looses too
“Understand that why ultimate power is self defeating”
That sounds like how kai got defeated in Kung fu panda 3 from having too much chi
And oogway even warned him about this In That movie
“When will you realize? The more you take, the less you’ll have.”
Oh and niv did infact get killed by bolas (that was infact nissas vison on a dragon will fall)
However it failed to catch part that niv will resurrect also niv also anticipated he could get killed by bolas so he had a trick to reusrrect
My suspicion is that Jace figured out a plot element that has been intentionally hidden from us the viewers. I think when Jace read Bolas' mind during the Amonkhet battle he learned more than he let on (after getting his memories back in Ixalan)
My only issue with the Eternals being a threat is one of logistics. The whole Amonkhet scheme has been going on for 50 years, and the trials are implied to take several weeks/months to complete so realistically there should be a very limited number of trials per year.
The upper estimates at most would mean an army of around 1000.
Ravnica has a lot more than just that.
Well, for one, Bolas didn't create the trials from whole cloth. He merely corrupted and twisted them to his ends. Meaning that this system of training and becoming worthy already existed. Bolas simply sped the process up. So when the Hours finally came the necropolis was likely full of people who had passed the trials before Bolas came. And as was said, earlier in the thread, the eternals aren't only comprised of the single victor of each Trial of Zeal. Anyone who made it to the trial was sent to become an eternal. Add in the various non-humanoid creatures that were eternalized and you've got a serious army. Had they gone to any other plane they may have been a threat. But on Ravnica it's just Tuesday.
Woah, wait a second. I'm not sure if you're implying this or I'm realizing it. But if the trials existed before Bolas came and the "worthy" were being embalmed for literally thousands of years, couldn't this explain the numbers discrepancy? In other words, what if the em embalmed dead from long before Bolas' arrival were retroactively eternalized?
If Bolas' objective is to acquire sparks, then war is just a means to that end. Not unlike the Maelstrom on Alara.
I'm curious about are the holes in Bolas' plans. Specifically what events he can and cannot anticipate.
Ral and Vraska betraying him shouldn't be too much of a surprise after they see what he is doing to their home. (Regardless of Jace restoring Vraska's memories).
Liliana's betrayal might be slightly more surprising, simply because she has so much at stake. I wonder if she gets some advice from Ob Nixilis on using the chain veil.
Tezzeret will turn as soon as the tide of war does.
I think Bolas' biggest blindspots is Ugin not being dead. But did someone mention something about Bolas being suspicious about Ugin's death?
Where are the base numbers for these estimates of the populations of Amonkhet and Ravnica coming from? I have a hard time believing that any meaningful predictions can be made due to the rather large margins of error.
But in the end it doesn't even matter. Since the purpose of the Eternals is capturing sparks, I doubt Bolas is even that concerned if he gets Ravnica. Conquering Ravnica seems to me like a misdirect, a reason for planeswalkers to flock there.
Remember we all said Garry wasn’t invited due to the similar goal of bolas killing walkers and making it harder for him to get a godspark back right?
Which means bolas chooses who to invite right?
So how did ugin get here? Wouldn’t bolas assume he’s dead thus wouldn’t get a invitation
It's unlikely that Bolas can stop a Planeswalker from coming to Ravnica. And Ugin is probably on the ball enough to know that Bolas is up to something and just goes there to stop him.
One other aspect of this story I'm curious about is the large number of ancient/powerful artifacts being brought to Ravnica. The list so far I believe is (and let me know if I've missed any); The Immortal Sun, Blackblade, Golgothian Cylex, The Planar Bridge, Bident of Thassa, The Chain Veil, and the Arkbow.
About Nissa's Vision: remember, first of all, that Mizzet is not the only important dragon on Ravnica (Ugin and Bolas are ones too) and that it does not say "a blue and red dragon" just "a dragon". Secondly, the fact Mizzet is reborn is (very likely) because of that strange experiment we saw in Firemind's Research. But he could really die, yes: then the grieve could be for him too.
Ok thanks for the clarification
I just wasn’t sure if the vision just said dragon or whatever
Well probably learn the origin of the “reborn” niv latter
Teyo
Rat
Kaya
Jace
Vraska (yay Jace x vraska is happening)
Ral Zarek (by the way he was never a bolas agent he got tricked just like Kaya)
And..........
Liliana
She’s gonna get out of the default without dying
Redemption story gonna happen hope she doesn’t get a huge cold shoulder from the gatewatch
And Gideon is not on the list so yea it’s getting more and more likely by the minute he’s not gonna make it.
Nissa is missing too could it be who chandra is guilty on not saving according to the comic
I had wondered about the ambiguity of the trailer and Liliana's death. One; #walkingdead if you don't actually see a character die then almost by default they are not dead. Two; I think somewhere Bolas said Liliana would die of rapid decay, not fire. Three; aren't her tattoos supposed to glow when she uses the chain veil? This would indicate that the trailer is actually only representing her rebellion against Bolas, not her death.
Jaya fans should be salty though she has got dead written all over her and WOTC wont let her get a good card cause it upstage Chandra.
As a Jaya fan, I can say I love her PW card. The power is there. She's great. The problem is the Standard environment she exists in. Big Red hasn't been a great archetype in many, many years. I mean last time I really had fun with it in Standard (and it was able to hold its own against T1 decks) was when I ran a playset of Arc-Slogger. Jaya's ability to triple rummage is great. Her ult is game-winning. I often use her mana ability for Fight with Fire or Electrodominance (which is like playing two spells for the price of one, even on my turn). I do well with her, despite the environment being bad for her. I think she's fun and very Jaya-ish. I'm a fan.
I think Autumntwilight was referring to Jaya's upcoming card in War of the Spark, not her current card. And I would have to agree. For a very long time both mechanically and thematically Chandra has been set up as the successor to Jaya. By giving Jaya a card superior to Chandra's in War of the Spark would thoroughly undermine this endeavor.
I'm also wondering if there is a middle path in terms of characters dying. It definitely looks like Dak dies, but more from being stabbed with a spear than from losing his spark. Could the story conclude with one or more PW losing their sparks but surviving, trapped on Ravnica? (The irony for Teferi would be interesting).
Magic has a notoriously bad history in terms of story, and frankly I never expected the WAR storyline to deviate from that drastically. I have been excited about the story but have intentionally kept my expectations low, that way whenever the plot looks good I am pleasantly surprised.
My suspicion is that Jace figured out a plot element that has been intentionally hidden from us the viewers. I think when Jace read Bolas' mind during the Amonkhet battle he learned more than he let on (after getting his memories back in Ixalan)
Woah, wait a second. I'm not sure if you're implying this or I'm realizing it. But if the trials existed before Bolas came and the "worthy" were being embalmed for literally thousands of years, couldn't this explain the numbers discrepancy? In other words, what if the em embalmed dead from long before Bolas' arrival were retroactively eternalized?
I'm curious about are the holes in Bolas' plans. Specifically what events he can and cannot anticipate.
Ral and Vraska betraying him shouldn't be too much of a surprise after they see what he is doing to their home. (Regardless of Jace restoring Vraska's memories).
Liliana's betrayal might be slightly more surprising, simply because she has so much at stake. I wonder if she gets some advice from Ob Nixilis on using the chain veil.
Tezzeret will turn as soon as the tide of war does.
I think Bolas' biggest blindspots is Ugin not being dead. But did someone mention something about Bolas being suspicious about Ugin's death?
But in the end it doesn't even matter. Since the purpose of the Eternals is capturing sparks, I doubt Bolas is even that concerned if he gets Ravnica. Conquering Ravnica seems to me like a misdirect, a reason for planeswalkers to flock there.
It's unlikely that Bolas can stop a Planeswalker from coming to Ravnica. And Ugin is probably on the ball enough to know that Bolas is up to something and just goes there to stop him.
I had wondered about the ambiguity of the trailer and Liliana's death. One; #walkingdead if you don't actually see a character die then almost by default they are not dead. Two; I think somewhere Bolas said Liliana would die of rapid decay, not fire. Three; aren't her tattoos supposed to glow when she uses the chain veil? This would indicate that the trailer is actually only representing her rebellion against Bolas, not her death.
I think Autumntwilight was referring to Jaya's upcoming card in War of the Spark, not her current card. And I would have to agree. For a very long time both mechanically and thematically Chandra has been set up as the successor to Jaya. By giving Jaya a card superior to Chandra's in War of the Spark would thoroughly undermine this endeavor.