Ya know, given the reaction to the CLB release, I doubt we'll be returning to a D&D setting any time soon.
The Professor opened three or four boxes and got abysmal EV from it. His final box getting only $35~ from it. His last pack got him Ink-Eyes, which made up majority of the value attained. For most of it he was sitting at just over US$7.
If WOTC bases a set's success by the sales, then I think this Baldur's Gate set will foretell (!) no return to the D&D setting any time soon.
'buster
WotC made a 100 million+ dollars USD on every single major set this year up the Q2. That includes Kamigawa, New Capenna, and yes CLB, each made 100 million+ each. Did some LGSs & Dustributers over buy CLB and get burned? Yep. Does CEO Chris Cox who was able to tell investors that CLB made over a 100 million dollars give two *****s that selling an absolutely huge amount of CLB to Distributors based on misleading marketing left some other businesses holding the bag for WotC's giant profits? Not a chance, no more then they are care their huge profits make their excuses for increasingly over charging for product sound like complete BS.
Well no new planes in 2023 at all, likely I expect because it's MtG's 30th and they want to focus on their big Phyrexia arc and beloved planes for the 30th, although March & Aftermath might preview some up coming Planes like the Wild West.
My predictions are, Realmbreaker survives, that realmbreaker reaches beyond the blind eternities and forms a connection to the Forgotten Realms, that New Phyrexia survives, but changed, that when they use the new Sylex something unexpected happens, that Phyrexians interact with the metaphysics of Theros in strange ways (maybe a Phyrexian God arises, maybe confused Phyrexian dead end up in the Underworld because Theros decides having no soul is no excuse for skipping the afterlife, that they try and compleat Purphoros, but he instead gains control of their technology instead, that Nyxborn are immune to compleation, that Phyrexia tries to invade the Nyx, that Therosan religion spreads beyond Theros, that Heliod is released from the Underworld to lead Therosan forces against Phyrexia).
Were could also get Planes lands, like a Theros Land, a Ravnica Land, Zendikar Land, Dominaria Land etc...
"Today's stream said something about the multiverse changing following the March of the Machines. Will this change be something on a similar scale to the Mending?"
MaRo@blogatog:
"We'll have to wait and see."
Beware! Spoilers for New Phyrexia: All Will be One follow!
My speculation:
"Invasion Tree Realmbreaker" (see Discover: New Phyrexia ) will break through the Blind Eternities and create
permanent pathways between planes. This will mean that the creative restriction of only using planeswalkers on multiple planes will be lifted and we'll get to see legendary creatures moving to different planes if it serves the story.
---
It took me a while to realize, that this is a nifty interpretation of "All Will Be One": All Planes Will Be One.
Elesh Norn's vision to stitch all creatures together into one being extended to all worlds is actually a clever twist.
I had expected that Realmbreaker was the key to rebuilding interconnection between planes, or possibly a subset of them (there could be future or even current planes outside of Realmbreaker's reach.
).
But I didn't make the connection between the Phyrexia sets title and the function of Realmbreaker. Very clever.
So Phryrexia will be where Realmbreaker connects that planes, March of the Machines will be where it's used as transportation/infrastructure in the Phyrexian War, and Aftermath will be the consquences of Realmbreaker undoing parts of the Mending and the Phyrexian War. Cool.
Really out there possibility, but they may also use Realmbreaker to connect the Blind Eterntites to the 5e D&D Great Wheel universe. They have said that if they could find a cool way to merging the two multiverses they would. Realmbreaker could do it without radically changing either setting (beyond what they already want Realmbreaker to change in MtG I mean).
All of this background D&D lore stuff is wayyyy beyond me. I enjoy reading about it
I wish there was as much depth in MTG's lore as there is for D&D...
'buster
D&D itself doesn't really have lore, but some specific places/settings do like Baldur's Gate, Dragonlance, and more.
I'm more familiar with the Dragonlance setting than Baldur's Gate. I can thank the countless bus rides between my house and college reading the Dragons of Autumn Twilight series for that wealth of flavourful knowledge
'buster
The collective lore of all MtG settings combined is a kiddy pool compared to the Forgotten Reams.
Well yeah, D&D's been around a lot longer than MTG, and MTG got its inspiration from D&D. Not sure what the point here is...
'buster
You'd be surprised at how many folks don't realize that, like I've folks when CLB was first announced be like how are they going to find enough major characters for this set and I'm just laughing my ass off because you could make 50 Commander Legend Forgotten Realms sets and barely scratch the surface.
Interestingly enough the Forgotten Realms is older then D&D in the sense that Ed Green would started building the setting and maps abd stuff back in the 60-70s's (this might be why there is so many naked Goddesses and sex in FR) and then TSR bought the setting off of Ed back in the 80's for dirt cheap.
And made it a shared world setting and hafit devour a few other settings so the lore just grows and growa.
All of this background D&D lore stuff is wayyyy beyond me. I enjoy reading about it
I wish there was as much depth in MTG's lore as there is for D&D...
'buster
D&D itself doesn't really have lore, but some specific places/settings do like Baldur's Gate, Dragonlance, and more.
I'm more familiar with the Dragonlance setting than Baldur's Gate. I can thank the countless bus rides between my house and college reading the Dragons of Autumn Twilight series for that wealth of flavourful knowledge
'buster
The collective lore of all MtG settings combined is a kiddy pool compared to the Forgotten Reams.
some of these have been spoiled for days now, and there has been almost no interest in them in any community i've seen.
i can't ******* stand how some of the cards are just wildly and completely different from their paper counterparts. its needless. its not the same card. you designed something completely different. name it and art it as such so less people are confused on what the **** is actually going on here.
most of them are suuuuuuuuper pushed with ridiculous mechanics or word soups, but that seems to be par for the course with alchemy. design something broken, get them to blow all their wildcards, then "fix" it.
why the **** does wilson have trample and can't be blocked? take the resources from this failed format and dedicate them to not falling asleep at the wheel with card design.
its also essentially a rotating format, that has its own internal rotation as cards can be changed on a whim after you spent resources. anything to just suck your wallet dry these days am i right?
if you like this format great good for you, but you're in the minority. i'm not sure why you like it, so please explain it to me so i might understand the appeal of this... ******* trainwreck.
some of these have been spoiled for days now, and there has been almost no interest in them in any community i've seen.
i can't ******* stand how some of the cards are just wildly and completely different from their paper counterparts. its needless. its not the same card. you designed something completely different. name it and art it as such so less people are confused on what the **** is actually going on here.
most of them are suuuuuuuuper pushed with ridiculous mechanics or word soups, but that seems to be par for the course with alchemy. design something broken, get them to blow all their wildcards, then "fix" it.
why the **** does wilson have trample and can't be blocked? take the resources from this failed format and dedicate them to not falling asleep at the wheel with card design.
its also essentially a rotating format, that has its own internal rotation as cards can be changed on a whim after you spent resources. anything to just suck your wallet dry these days am i right?
if you like this format great good for you, but you're in the minority. i'm not sure why you like it, so please explain it to me so i might understand the appeal of this... ******* trainwreck.
Some cards like Minsc & Boo Timeless Heroes card if a card has trample or not, so it's not as redundant as it seems.
My issue is they have a bunch of none FR legendaries like Tasha (Greyhawk & Domains of Delight), Hourglass Coven (Domains of Delight), Vladmir and Godfrey (Ravenloft), but no Elminster WTF?
The minsc youre referencing doesnt exist in the same space as the version of wilson im referencing, and they never will unless wilson is printed this way in paper or minsc from cl2 is added to arena exactly as printed in paper...
So... no
Dont justify ***** design.
This also demonstrates the inherent problem with the concept of alchemy
A-side from can be your Commander, Minsc IS the same in digital as he is in paper, and I don't he's only card that targets cards with trample.
some of these have been spoiled for days now, and there has been almost no interest in them in any community i've seen.
i can't ******* stand how some of the cards are just wildly and completely different from their paper counterparts. its needless. its not the same card. you designed something completely different. name it and art it as such so less people are confused on what the **** is actually going on here.
most of them are suuuuuuuuper pushed with ridiculous mechanics or word soups, but that seems to be par for the course with alchemy. design something broken, get them to blow all their wildcards, then "fix" it.
why the **** does wilson have trample and can't be blocked? take the resources from this failed format and dedicate them to not falling asleep at the wheel with card design.
its also essentially a rotating format, that has its own internal rotation as cards can be changed on a whim after you spent resources. anything to just suck your wallet dry these days am i right?
if you like this format great good for you, but you're in the minority. i'm not sure why you like it, so please explain it to me so i might understand the appeal of this... ******* trainwreck.
some of these have been spoiled for days now, and there has been almost no interest in them in any community i've seen.
i can't ******* stand how some of the cards are just wildly and completely different from their paper counterparts. its needless. its not the same card. you designed something completely different. name it and art it as such so less people are confused on what the **** is actually going on here.
most of them are suuuuuuuuper pushed with ridiculous mechanics or word soups, but that seems to be par for the course with alchemy. design something broken, get them to blow all their wildcards, then "fix" it.
why the **** does wilson have trample and can't be blocked? take the resources from this failed format and dedicate them to not falling asleep at the wheel with card design.
its also essentially a rotating format, that has its own internal rotation as cards can be changed on a whim after you spent resources. anything to just suck your wallet dry these days am i right?
if you like this format great good for you, but you're in the minority. i'm not sure why you like it, so please explain it to me so i might understand the appeal of this... ******* trainwreck.
Some cards like Minsc & Boo Timeless Heroes card if a card has trample or not, so it's not as redundant as it seems.
My issue is they have a bunch of none FR legendaries like Tasha (Greyhawk & Domains of Delight), Hourglass Coven (Domains of Delight), Vladmir and Godfrey (Ravenloft), but no Elminster WTF?
Specialize - a digital-only twist on transformation. Pay the cost, discard a card, transform the card into one of its other versions, dependent on what color or basic land type the discarded card was
Now this is funny, because is basically the Eevolutions system of pokemon portrayed as Magic cards mechanic. Pretty lame some cards have their own unique artwork for each color, while others have the same artwork but with different color backgrould but I suppose budget reasons
Lae'zel notably has unique art on the back for only the blue version.
At this point, I suspect that the unique art is related to how strongly featured that character is in the Baldur's Gate games; I've read that Lae'zel was implanted with Mind Flayer tadpoles in the games, which explains only the blue version getting unique art (and the Horror creature type).
I do like how Klement looks so darn happy, though, including post-Specialize!
Just to make things clear....ALL of the companions from BG3(and the main character) were implanted by illithid tadpoles, as well as the player's character. Lae'zel, Wyll, Gale, Astarion, Shadowheart. It is kind of the central topic of the game, as well as the Cult of the Absolute (also referred to in one background). Gut and Minthara are also "True Souls", cultists of the Absolute, also implanted.
But I appreciate Lae'zel getting the sole different art, because she is special by the fact that the githyanki are arch-enemies of the illithid, and basically this is a huge blow, like Glissa or Tamiyo being compleated.
Specialize - a digital-only twist on transformation. Pay the cost, discard a card, transform the card into one of its other versions, dependent on what color or basic land type the discarded card was
Now this is funny, because is basically the Eevolutions system of pokemon portrayed as Magic cards mechanic. Pretty lame some cards have their own unique artwork for each color, while others have the same artwork but with different color backgrould but I suppose budget reasons
Lae'zel notably has unique art on the back for only the blue version.
At this point, I suspect that the unique art is related to how strongly featured that character is in the Baldur's Gate games; I've read that Lae'zel was implanted with Mind Flayer tadpoles in the games, which explains only the blue version getting unique art (and the Horror creature type).
I do like how Klement looks so darn happy, though, including post-Specialize!
Specialize - a digital-only twist on transformation. Pay the cost, discard a card, transform the card into one of its other versions, dependent on what color or basic land type the discarded card was
Now this is funny, because is basically the Eevolutions system of pokemon portrayed as Magic cards mechanic. Pretty lame some cards have their own unique artwork for each color, while others have the same artwork but with different color backgrould but I suppose budget reasons
Lae'zel notably has unique art on the back for only the blue version.
At this point, I suspect that the unique art is related to how strongly featured that character is in the Baldur's Gate games; I've read that Lae'zel was implanted with Mind Flayer tadpoles in the games, which explains only the blue version getting unique art (and the Horror creature type).
I do like how Klement looks so darn happy, though, including post-Specialize!
All the BG3 playable characters are implanted with tadpoles, it's the commonality between them.
But as long as more of this gets opened, more cards enter the market, and prices go down for the rest of us. That's a good thing.
The real question though is how much is being bought by distributors and speculators and ends up sitting on a shelf. If players and collectors (the real end users) aren't buying single prices will not drop but continue to rise regardless of how much is printed.
I'll add hat as far as I can tell, this set will have a small print/allocation run from what I hear.
WotC made a 100 million+ dollars USD on every single major set this year up the Q2. That includes Kamigawa, New Capenna, and yes CLB, each made 100 million+ each. Did some LGSs & Dustributers over buy CLB and get burned? Yep. Does CEO Chris Cox who was able to tell investors that CLB made over a 100 million dollars give two *****s that selling an absolutely huge amount of CLB to Distributors based on misleading marketing left some other businesses holding the bag for WotC's giant profits? Not a chance, no more then they are care their huge profits make their excuses for increasingly over charging for product sound like complete BS.
Were could also get Planes lands, like a Theros Land, a Ravnica Land, Zendikar Land, Dominaria Land etc...
I had expected that Realmbreaker was the key to rebuilding interconnection between planes, or possibly a subset of them (there could be future or even current planes outside of Realmbreaker's reach.
).
But I didn't make the connection between the Phyrexia sets title and the function of Realmbreaker. Very clever.
So Phryrexia will be where Realmbreaker connects that planes, March of the Machines will be where it's used as transportation/infrastructure in the Phyrexian War, and Aftermath will be the consquences of Realmbreaker undoing parts of the Mending and the Phyrexian War. Cool.
Really out there possibility, but they may also use Realmbreaker to connect the Blind Eterntites to the 5e D&D Great Wheel universe. They have said that if they could find a cool way to merging the two multiverses they would. Realmbreaker could do it without radically changing either setting (beyond what they already want Realmbreaker to change in MtG I mean).
Remind me how do I search for this stuff?
You'd be surprised at how many folks don't realize that, like I've folks when CLB was first announced be like how are they going to find enough major characters for this set and I'm just laughing my ass off because you could make 50 Commander Legend Forgotten Realms sets and barely scratch the surface.
Interestingly enough the Forgotten Realms is older then D&D in the sense that Ed Green would started building the setting and maps abd stuff back in the 60-70s's (this might be why there is so many naked Goddesses and sex in FR) and then TSR bought the setting off of Ed back in the 80's for dirt cheap.
And made it a shared world setting and hafit devour a few other settings so the lore just grows and growa.
The collective lore of all MtG settings combined is a kiddy pool compared to the Forgotten Reams.
A-side from can be your Commander, Minsc IS the same in digital as he is in paper, and I don't he's only card that targets cards with trample.
Some cards like Minsc & Boo Timeless Heroes card if a card has trample or not, so it's not as redundant as it seems.
My issue is they have a bunch of none FR legendaries like Tasha (Greyhawk & Domains of Delight), Hourglass Coven (Domains of Delight), Vladmir and Godfrey (Ravenloft), but no Elminster WTF?
Is it just me or does Klement have a pot belly?
All the BG3 playable characters are implanted with tadpoles, it's the commonality between them.
I'll add hat as far as I can tell, this set will have a small print/allocation run from what I hear.