MTG was about 15 at the time of the old article. So, Xth Edition or so. I can't believe we are actually in post-20th Anniversary land.....
The timeline of the writing of the articles is MUCH easier to trace than the timeline of the actual frikkin story, so that's what I'm clarifying instead.
The Eldrazi are Kinda like Galactus, but so far they only seem to provide a little balance and some kind of symmetry in the Multiverse, but I don't think they're ultimately super crucial to the fundamental existence of reality as they are. In other words, there is room for the Eldrazi's situation to be changed, for Ugin to study and learn about them, perhaps impose new and different natures on them, so that they are less of a threat. If Ugin can Tame the Eldrazi to be more productive to the Multiverse, they might even be marshaled against Phyrexia.
I hope we see a story about Ugin and Urza. I find it next to impossible to believe they were unaware of each other. They are both the kind of Ancient Multiverse Wandering Academic Busy Bodies that care about the Old and Powerful....they just would have run across each other before. They just would have. Even if Liliana, Ob Nixilis, Nahiri, Sorin, and Karn never met Ugin nor Urza in their centuries/millenia of existence, Ugin and Urza totally would have met each other because they looked at things on the Stupidly Maximally Grand Scale that can be used to justify just about anything.
Ugin would absolutely be 5-colored if he were colored at all, just like Urza, with most probably a leaning toward G/U/R, the colors I associate more with the Blind Eternities. (whereas Urza was more Team America)
Ugin being saved on Tarkir might well cause retconning to the history we think we know. We currently aren't sure that Ugin won't actually be there in Zendikar Block to help Sorin.
There is the little issue of the Time Paradox he might cause, where actions of his on Zendikar may prevent Sarkhan from revisiting Tarkir to save him in the first place.....for one as Powerful as Ugin, (I rate him above Bolas and With Karn-- Bolas simply specializes in Destroying his Enemies whereas Ugin is more Dalai Llama. The reason he lost to Bolas is the same reason Yoda lost to Palpatine), such a concern that makes us wonder urgently, is of little consequence to him. He can solve any discrepancy. If that's the direction WOTC decides they want to go.
Nothing preventing Ugin from being a massive Deus Ex Machina to just outright FIX everything we've ever heard about Zendikar Block.
Reason why that probably won't be what they choose to do: Karn, Liberated didn't outright FIX New Phyrexia. Far from it. These writers prefer as much horror and desolation as possible,
instead of happy endings of any kind in the remotest sense.
On Nahiri:
She doesn't HAVE to be alive, because Ugin learned Lithomancy, and because her appearance in Commander 2014 is Weak Evidence that
she's considered to be "a cool character from the overall Magic Story that we aren't going to get to see anywhere else."
She COULD be alive, because there's a lot of things we don't know about what exactly the effects on the Overall Timeline Tarkir Block will have,
and among many things, Ugin and Sorin could seek her out and are motivated to do so.
Everything about Nahiri is up for grabs. She could just as easily come back as not come back, and both would be easy to logically explain.
If you are a cynic, you believe that WOTC has lost its touch on the Vorthos side of things, because it can manage to advertise Blocks and Pre-Releases OK,
but it's really waning on being able to tell the Block Story through anything *other* than the Pre-Release, the Web Comics are Gone, the Planeswalker Novels are Gone,
the Block Novels have been gone forever and the Zendikar one really sucked even compared to other sucky ones because Nissa was just so clip. Therefore, Nahiri being such
a cool character with so much promise and power and elegance and being generally awesome......is going to be underused in an epic fail kind of way.
If you have Faith that Magic can still be Awesome, then Nahiri's 2.0 Card is Confirmed for Zendikar 2.0 Block.
On Ob Nixilis:
He's a Bad Guy. He's like Tevesh Szat. Any attempt to get Ugin and Sorin to work with him will turn out as well as the Null Moon Summit.
Ugin may be frustratingly neutral when it comes to some kinds of moral judgments, and I could see Ugin allowing the destruction of Zendikar or
the destruction of the Eldrazi (I say ALLOWING, in the most passive way possible, probably not totally Approving, but Choosing Not To Interfere).
But, even if Ugin is willing to be so-detached-he-seems-crazy, Sorin just ain't.
In EITHER the world where Nahiri is shown again or the one where she's left in the attic, Ob Nixilis gets his Planeswalker Spark.
Zendikar is going down no matter what. It's been doomed for a long time. It was particularly doomed when Nissa let the Eldrazi out. There's not going to
be any Saving Zendikar, and I don't know what's going to happen to the Eldrazi.
Because when you get right down to it-- you can't save the Multiverse the Same Way Twice without Consequences. Even if Sorin, Nahiri, and Ugin stood in the Eye of Ugin,
this particularly genie isn't going back into that particular bottle. The Eye was Broken. The Hedrons have been co-opted by the Eldrazi. We still NEED the 'Walkers that trapped
'em in the first place, but they need to think of another trap, or do outright battle.
On Nissa, Kiora, and any future Zendikar-born Walker we meet:
These people can generally suck it. Any one of these might rise to Jace/Chandra/Garruk levels of Prominence
and Encore, and any one of them may eclipse Nahiri's or Ob Nixilis' importance.
But what I've seen of them so far, makes me Hope Wizards doesn't do it. And yet, some part of me
is already resigned to somebody like this taking Nahiri's place.
I like Nahiri. Probably specifically because
she is a character who has evolved from the Broken Ass concept of White Tinker. I like White Tinker. It's Stupid
Busted Powerful and really makes me think of the Good Old Days in the Brothers' War when obscenely powerful Planeswalkers
pulled Massive BS on the Multiverse, and all the Mortals around them kept getting Fed Up. (Jodah in particular was awesome) I would love to build a Fanfiction-y
Duel Deck pair where Nahiri gives the Swords of X and Y to the Primordial Dragons to kick some Yawgmoth Tail way back in old Dominaria.
Also, Nahiri's character quality is impeccable, and truly reminds me of what makes the Broken Godly Planeswalkers so awesome. You can't tell whether a particular one of them
is more like Batman, or more like Superman, but you know they're GOING to WIN, no matter the cost to the Universe or to Their Friends or to Themselves. They may wreck the laws of physics and the geologic balance of Life On Earth As We Know It, but they don't mess around. Good Ol' Days Planeswalkers, Heroes and Villains alike, were always Winning Massive Battles against either Innocent Civilians or against the Worst Monsters Ever. They didn't care about measly things like Development or the B&R List of Spells. It's that kind of "Go Badass or Go Home" Attitude that Nahiri reminds me of, and Wizards is doing everything they can to move as far away from that as possible, which makes it harder to take their heroes and their villains seriously.
The Eldrazi are Broken Villains. They need to be stopped by Broken Heroes. Wizards just isn't going to willingly and on purpose print the kind of Amazing Epic BS, either in Comics or in Cards, that they used to. Karn, Liberated isn't going to save against New Phyrexia, and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon isn't going to save us against the Eldrazi, and everyone else is useless against Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker.
None of the Intended and Designed characters by Wizards, not Kiora, not Nissa, and not even Ob Nixilis, are going to be as deliciously awesome Broken as Fork
as Stoneforge Mystic was, because Stoneforge Mystic was an accident. And thanks to Stoneforge Mystic, we have Nahiri.
Nahiri, having such a Broken Heritage, DESERVES to get to fight the only Designed-to-Be-Stupid-Broken cards, the Eldrazi, specifically Emrakul.
But it will probably be someone else. And probably Zendikar 2.0 Block will happen in such a way that Ob Nixilis gets his Spark back, so there's going to be no winning.
If they do anything on Purpose, they're going to Balance the Crap out of it remove all the Awesome. So I'm just waiting for the next Big Huge Mistake to be made.
Innistrad Block, Tarkir Block, Return to Ravnica Block, and Theros Block have all been quite tame in comparison to almost any given Dominaria Block.
Zendikar Block and Scars of Mirrodin Block have given us hope that Truly Epic Things might still happen in Magic, but I'm just not getting my hopes up.
What Ugin and Karn TRULY need is to talk to EACH OTHER, and REALLY bring in some Big Ass Guns to the fights where they're needed. Ugin against New Phyrexians. Karn against Eldrazi because he still has the Legacy, and that's still the Biggest Gun There Is. But Wizards is going to be Stubborn and say that Karn and Ugin can't be friends because it would be too broken to have them both in the same story. Too Epic.
Sadface
Mod Note: Removed inappropriate language.
Broadly Tribal-- There is exactly one Tribe on Tarkir that counts. And that is Dragons. Every set in the game
always has more than one humanoid creature type, but not every set in the game lends itself to making a Tribal deck
based on your favorite. You can't make a Loxodon Deck in Standard, ever, and in Modern it would be weak. You won't be able to make
an Ainok Deck with Khans of Tarkir. In Alara Block you couldn't make a Leonin Deck (although they've changed how significant a tribe Leonin are.
They also took away our Core Sets so probably once again bye-bye Leonin Decks)
Shards-- It's too obvious and anyway Shards is something they'd want to keep back if they ever go back to Alara. Yeah Alara had some 5 color-ness going on,
but that doesn't matter. The story in between Ravnica and Return to Ravnica indicated the Guilds were gone. What does Return to Ravnica do? Brings the Guilds back.
They would try to pretend they're being original story-wise, but mechanically, that's exactly how Return to Alara would go down: Shards in at least one set or the whole block.
Wedges-- Khans of Tarkir was the Wedge Set. It has been implied that the Block is not Wedges.
So that leaves:
Hints in Fate Reforged:
They've very cleverly brought back the Old-Fashioned (Invasion Block and 6-X Core Sets) style of doing Mono colored (technically) cards that support Gold Decks.
It was a needed innovation to make 2 color decks buildable, but something that has been nearly forgotten by the wayside in Modern Magic because many other approaches
to building decks with synergy are now accessible. The only thing different is they didn't have hybrid mana costs before Ravnica, so now they can use those. Betcha we will
see something like this done with Shards in a future Block (it's practically the only Color Space Alara didn't explore. Return to Alara is totally going to jump on it.)
Wizards of the Coast Official Magic is slightly different from Commander Fan Magic. In the Commander Rules, the definition of Color Identity
means that Fate Reforged is totally another Wedge Set. But technically, the Color Identity of something is only the Mana Cost in the Corner in Normal Magic. (PS: I wonder if certain cards
that care about the color of a source actually work differently on these kinds of cards in Commander as opposed to Normal Magic. Like can you Blue Elemental Blast a Bosh, Iron Golem or Red Elemental Blast a Memnarch in Commander? Because IMO you actually should be allowed to. That should be another discussion.) The Khans are Mono Colored though, and the Clans are Mono Colored too. They're just a bit Cheatyface about it.
Colorless Magic is prominent and important and as much a part of the Set and Block as Rise of the Eldrazi. Well, not exactly as much, but sort of in-between more and less important. There's a bunch of Morph and Manifest, but so far Morph and Manifest is all you can do besides cast Ugin, the Sprit Dragon.
So here's what I think Dragons of Tarkir is going to have:
1. The same "Mono Colored Fake Wedges with Hybrid" as Fate Reforged, Centered on Different Colors, and with Gold instead of Hybrid, using the Color Pairs
of the Dragons.
2. More Colorless Magic. We've seen Morph. And we've Proto-Morph. Now we're going to get something more like Planar Chaos Morph. It will probably require a third kind
of Colorless 2/2 Creature token. The sad thing is Wizards is probably not going to give us any more Manifest cards ever, and it's a kind of fun mechanic. The cool thing is
that we may actually get to see Planar Chaos-Morph in another Block.
3. Return to Tarkir Block. Call me crazy, but since we're seen a lot more change and time and stuff on Tarkir than our average Block, and Blocks are going to be Two-Set deals instead of Three from now on, Tarkir goes on the list with Dominaria as "Places I doubt we'll ever freaking see again." Dragons of Tarkir is it, folks. *I* know that Tarkir is fun and can totally be played with more; *You* know that Tarkir is fun and can totally be played with more, but *Wizards* has to keep Standard stupid and safe and crap, and Design for Limited. Tarkir has tons of Budget Constructed Non-Comp space to explore, in that better-than-Limited Worse-than-Standard space that most players actually call home. It doesn't have much more Space to go in directions other than Same Things, More Powah!, without tripping over Other Planes' Color Alignment Real Estate. (Ravnica- Guilds. Zendikar- Eldrazi. Alara- Shards.)
4. Dragons, Dragons Matter, Dragon Tribal. Hopefully they include lots of non-keyworded mechanical support for building Dragon decks (all the keywords have been taken). If they don't I will hate them. Also-- Hopefully-- a New Legendary Cycle of Dragons that isn't disappointing. If Wizards has any idea how to make Blocks or Sets any more, we need a Mythic Cycle of Dragons, AND that Mythic Cycle of Dragons should key us into exactly everything that's going on. They'll each have their own Mechanic.
5. Clans, Not Khans. The Sultai, Mardu, Temur, Abzan, and Jeskai are all going to be sticking around.
They will all become like Sarkhan Vol. Their Dragons are their Khans. They will worship the Dragons and live in Competitive Harmony with them. They won't be struggling to survive and at war with the Dragons. Between Ugin and Sarkhan, the Clans will be saved and be prosperous like never before. AS WILL the Dragons. The Khans are going to be wiped out. The Clans will not. If I remember the strange lore of the Temur correctly, it is possible for the Khan and the Dragonclaw to be different figures, and the two Dragonclaws we've seen are the only Dragonclaws in history to also be Khans. Dragons of Tarkir will have a Temur called Dragonclaw who is not Khan, if the other Clans also get some kind of non-Khan Legendary creature.
6. Sarkhan is totally going to pull a Jace and become King of the World. Whether he's only officially the Wise Savior or actually gets some governmental authority is up for Grabs, maybe Ugin will be the Lord of Dragons and Clans, and Sarkhan will just be his Best Buddy Ever who intermediates. But Sarkhan's name means "Khan of Khans"; "High Khan"; and "I'm the Goddamn Bat-Khan" in Tarkish. I hope he gets a new card. We've only had 3 PW's so far in Block and we need at least 1 per set. I'm actually willing to bet on New Sarkhan And New Sorin. (Jace and Garruk had a ton of freaking cards, so Sorin and Sarkhan would just be playing catchup to them honestly.)
All the predictions about Colors are going to hinge on what the Dragons of Tarkir's Colors are. Since they used Classic Old Magic Allied Color Pairs in Fate Reforged, they can go in any Freaking Direction that Magic: the Gathering has gone, although I think Mono Colored with some extra colors in the Text Box would be the coolest, and Enemy Pairs instead of Allied Pairs would be the most likely. (Following the pattern of Born of the Gods and Journey into Nyx).
I don't buy that Bolas is stronger than Ugin in an absolute sense. I think they share a relationship similar to Old Ben Kenobi and Darth Vader.
It just so happens that Ben forfeited on the Death Star. I don't think Ugin forfeited on Tarkir in the same way, but I think he is very very close to Bolas' equal just
the same, and in some ways is his superior.
2. Ugin is clearly Vodo-Siosk Baas, Yoda, and the Whills wrapped up in one.
3. Urza is Nick Fury. Kinda. And Obi-Wan Kenobi. Mishra is a much less powerful Anakin Skywalker.
4. The way I see it, there are ultimately Three Threats to the Multiverse: The Eldrazi (Almost the Most Powerful Threat I've ever heard of in fiction. Thanos with the Infinity
Gauntlet might not want to meet the Eldrazi, they're at least as Powerful as Celestials); Phyrexia//New Phyrexia-- Yawgmoth's Phyrexia was crazy powerful, New Phyrexia might be less so but the heroes are less powerful in that future too. And Nicol Bolas. Who, as I Said, is effectively the Sith Emperor of MTG.
I have written frequent letters to Wizards saying that plane-hopping and having a bunch of plane-centric stories (Lorwyn, Ravnica, Kamigawa, Alara, Innistrad) is all well and good, but every once in a while they add a new Multiverse-level Threat to the Everything.
So far, only Old Phyrexia has been Beaten. By Urza's Avengers/Coalition/Legacy.
It is clear to me that they have some plan to reunite Ugin and Sorin at some future point, and that Karn, Liberated is at least going to try to do whatever he can to repeat the feat of his Creator.
That leaves Nicol Bolas as the only person against whom, up until Fate Reforged Spoilers, I didn't think there was any hope against.
The curious way that Ugin's Ultimate is almost a perfect Light-sided Mirror of Nicol Bolas', and his Converted Mana Cost is the same as Bolas', convinces me that a returned-from-the-dead Ugin just on his own might be exactly what the rest of the Planeswalkers need to fight Bolas. I don't know how, where, or when, but Ugin is probably going to Showdown with Nicol Bolas and win, and that will finish off Bolas for good.
Then Karn still needs to make a New Coalition against New Phyrexia, and Everyone needs to worry about the Eldrazi.
All of the small pictures on each individual plane will work themselves out. Alara Reborn may have a few more wars in its history to work out, but the Knights of New Alara will be there to win them. Innistrad may still have Demons on it, but Avacyn has Returned. All of those issues are as resolved as they're going to get.
But the Big Three, which I don't think will be joined a Fourth anytime soon, are Bolas, the Eldrazi, and Phyrexia. And Ugin's card is proof enough that scales are slowly, but heavily, tipping toward the Light. With Ugin and Karn both out there, people like Ajani and Jace and Nissa and Sorin and Kiora and Tezzeret and Sarkhan will have some serious powerhouses to center their efforts behind. Karn is The Hulk, Ugin is Thor, now we're just about ready to face the Universe.
Expect the end of Tarkir Block to look like Alara or Innistrad or worse-- the Clans and the Dragons are happier when they're killing things anyway.
that anything short of a "Only Planeswalkers Are Mythics" Rule is undermined by some example that ends up restarting the Lotus Cobra Wars.
Planeswalkers are totally completely frakking Mythic, and in comparison to other cards, there just isn't any. Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded just MIGHT be closer to
a Bad Rare, but the fact that he's totally got a Planeswalker Spark means he can plane-hop, improve his arts, and become a 4-ability Red Monster Pain Pirate at literally any time.
Even though it -Probably- won't happen, there is just that lingering possibility behind every Planeswalker, even the least of them. So Planeswalkers are absolutely Mythic.
As for the rest of the game.....uhh......screw Mythic Rarity?
Reason for 1 other: so far we have 6 out of 185, and all of these Legendaries are both 2-colored (not 3 colored-- which btw we were warned about not sticking to Khans, but they could have been Shard colored instead of Wedge Colored), and Rare, not Mythic Rare....and Dragon is a type that wants to be high profile and full of awesome.
Unless Theros' Gods and RTR's Guildmasters have just plain Upped the Bar for what a Mythic needs to be? But no. Nah I don't buy that.
As the Second Set of the Block though, not the third, I don't know but it might be that everything in Fate Reforged looks Archaic except for Ugin himself and a very few cards like Crux of Fate.
Calling it right now-- Dragons of Tarkir has enemy colored Legendary Dragons, bringing the total up to 10. They'll be Rare unfortunately, not Mythic, because it would be an insult to the Ally Dragons to make one cycle Rare and the other Mythic.
And maybe I've changed my mind and there will be Mythic Mono-colored Dragons...possibly Legendary, possibly not. No telling, actually.
The big question is whether Fate Reforged or Dragons of Tarkir will have more Dragons.
Also....I know this seems insane and greedy, but I want Ugin 2.0 in Dragons of Tarkir. But that is unlikely. 5-color Bolas Ascended didn't happen in Alara Reborn, so Ugin probably won't upgrade either. Even though it's a Time Travel Block.
By the way-- does anyone else wonder if they are about to actually freaking Kill Off Nicol Bolas in the Past? That would change......like.....everything.....No. No Way. Magic isn't like Avengers: Infinity War. It wishes it was, but it isn't. That would piss off way too many Vorthoses if it became a standing thing "Time Travel Blocks are where we pretend to Celebrate Vorthos Christmas but actually say F-U to Vorthos"
My concepts for the Elder Dragons were:
Nicol Bolas, the Eldest: 2UUBBRR
Legendary Creature- Elder Dragon
Flying, deathtouch
Upkeep UBR
Whenever Nicol Bolas the Eldest deals combat damage to an opponent,
that player discards seven cards.
7/7
Palladia, the Preserver 2RRGGWW
Legendary Creature- Elder Dragon
Flying, lifelink
Upkeep RGW
Whenever a land you control is tapped for mana,
it produces an additional one mana of any color to your mana pool.
7/7
Vaevictus, the Destroyer 2BBRRGG
Legendary Creature- Elder Dragon
Flying, trample
Upkeep BRG
Whenever Vaevictus the Destroyer deals combat damage to an
opponent, destroy target permanent.
RBG: Vaevictus gets +3/+3 until end of turn.
7/7
Arcades, the Protector 2GGWWUU
Legendary Creature- Elder Dragon
Flying, Indestructible
Upkeep GWU
Damage that would be dealt to you or creatures you control
is dealt to Arcades instead.
7/7
Chromium Rhuell 2WWUUBB
Legendary Artifact Creature- Elder Dragon
Flying, vigilance
Upkeep WUB
Whenever a spell targets Chromium Rhuell, change the target
of that spell with a single target unless it's controller pays 3.
7/7
Slughorn's can be 1, B, and U
Dumbledore's are 1, B, and G
Snape's are 1, W, B
Trelawney's are 1, U, R
Names are:
Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts Headmaster*gives +1/+1 to Witches and Wizards
Filius Flitwick, Professor of Charms*gives +1/+1 to Witches and Wizards
Horace Slughorn, Professor of Potions*gives +1/+1 to Witches and Wizards
Severus Snape, Professor of Defense*gives +1/+1 to Witches and Wizards
Sybill Trelawney, Professor of Divination*does not
Aurora Sinistra, Professor of Astronomy 1UB
Legendary Creature- Witch
1: You may look at target player's hand.
U: Ponder or Preordain.
W: Exile target enchantment.
1/2
Septima Vector, Professor of Arithmancy 1BR
Legendary Creature- Witch
1: You may look at the top card of your library.
B: Add BBB to your mana pool.
U: Unsummon
2/1
Rubeus Hagrid, Professor of Monsters 3RG
Legendary Creature- Wizard Giant
1: Target creature fights target creature.
R: Draw a card, then discard a card.
B: Put a 2/2 black Monster creature with deathtouch onto the battlefield.
3/3
(McGonagall and Sprout should both be 2/2)
(incidentally, the transform side does not need a mana cost)
I am not sure what to think about Spellcraft. Avada Kedavra seems overpriced. You want the card to be played. That means it can't be more than three mana, and for three mana you should get the ability to destroy planeswalkers too. I think my having it be Uncounterable was also really important.
I don't think Transfiguration or Avada Kedavra needs a subtype. Subtypes are cool when they add to something, but it's possible to go overboard on subtypes. I admit my own cards might fail that test sometimes. It's tempting to put subtypes on cards because you think every card needs a subtype, but not every card needs a subtype.
Also, I don't think your transfiguration enchantment is good. Not to be mean, but I think the best execution of Harry Potter-flavored Transfiguration in MTG terms would be something like:
Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration Professor 2WU
Legendary Creature- Witch (one thing Harry Potter would definitely do is distinguish witches from wizards!)
Wizards and Witches you control get +1/+1
1: Target artifact becomes an X/X artifact creature with power and toughness each equal to its converted mana cost
U: (Turn to Frog)
G: Target land you control becomes a 3/3 Golem creature of a color of your choice it could produce mana of.
I think for the Professors of Hogwarts, it would make most sense to have there be 10 of them, 1 for each color pair, and have them each be secretly shard/wedge cards.
the mana cast should be of the colors AB and the powers of the colors colorless, B and C.
Where A and C are either two allied colors or two enemy colors of B.
McGonagall is Bant
Naya Example:
Pomona Sprout, Herbology Professor 2GW
Legendary Creature-- Witch
Witches and Wizards you control get +1/+1
1: Put a 1/1 green Saproling creature token into play.
G: Put a +1/+1 counter on target Plant you control.
R: Add RGW to your mana pool.
The other Professors would be RU Flitwick(Charms/WRU), BR Vector(Arithmancy/Grixis), WR Snape(Defense Professor/Mardu), GU Trelawney (Divination/Temur)
GB Slughorn(Potions/Sultai), BW Dumbledore (Headmaster/Abzan*), UB Sinistra (Astronomy/Esper), RG Hagrid (Monster Professor/Jund)