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Quote from Flisch »So we use different templating now for UB cards?
Man, UB sounds better and better as time moves on.
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Talion – The leader of the High Fae. Talion is curious, supremely powerful, and otherworldly. They regard themselves as the protector of Eldraine.
Obyra – Talion's daughter and the greatest duelist in Eldraine. She's currently trapped under the effects of the Wicked Slumber, but her finely tuned sword-fighting instincts can't be suppressed—Obyra roams Eldraine, seeking other duelists even while asleep.
The High Fae, led by Talion, are a rowdy bunch that enjoy causing mischief. They all returned from a jaunt to the edge of the plane to find the Phyrexians invading. Striking a deal with the three witch sisters, Agatha, Hylda, and Eriette, a massive sleeping spell, known as the Wicked Slumber, spread throughout Eldraine and turned the tides of the invasion.
After the Phyrexians were defeated, the Wicked Slumber remained and grew in power. It attracted creatures that feed upon dreams and nightmares. Eventually, it took hold in Tuinvale, where the High Fae have taken up residence. Obyra, Talion's daughter, has fallen asleep and is causing havoc as she sleep-duels her way across the plane.
Talion calls on Kellan, a boy from the Boundary Lands, to go retrieve the three gifts they gave to the witch sisters (the soul cauldron, the winter crown, and the tempting apple) to break the spell. Meanwhile, Obyra's attendants, Beauty, Song, and Blessing, try to keep her out of trouble with whatever means necessary.
Ruby – A tough, street-smart young woman who would do anything for her family. She is cunning and resourceful.
Agatha – One of the three witch sisters. Her kind and motherly appearance disguises her bestial nature.
The Wolf – Ruby's brother and a fearsome warrior. He is enthralled by Agatha and forced to fight his sister.
The witch Agatha was gifted a magical cauldron by Talion for her role in creating the Wicked Slumber. The cauldron has the power to boil down living creatures into their magical essence. She sets up nearby Edgewall, hoping to trick some poor fools into becoming her next meal.
Meanwhile, Ruby's brother has suddenly gone missing. Unbeknownst to Ruby, her brother was taken and ensorcelled by Agatha to be her muscle. Ruby meets Kellan in the streets of Edgewall, who was sent there to retrieve the cauldron and other artifacts for Talion. She agrees to help him find the local witch, hoping that it might lead her to her brother.
After plenty of dangerous encounters in the forests of the Boundary Lands, Ruby and Kellan reach Agatha's hut. After a fierce battle, Kellan pushes Agatha into her own cauldron, boiling her alive. Finished with his first quest, Kellan journeys onward with Ruby.
Troyan – A vedalken from Ravnica who journeyed here through the Omenpaths.
Beluna Grandsquall – A giantess noble and the leader of the Stormkeld giants. Also coincidentally a kleptomaniac.
Ruby and Kellan – This duo from our main story journey up the beanstalk to find the mirror of Vantress, hoping to ask where the ice witch Hylda is located.
Ruby and Kellan seek the three gifts that Talion gave to the witch sisters to break the Wicked Slumber. They enlist the help of Troyan, a strange explorer from a distant land, to lead them to the fabled magic mirror Indrelon, the treasure of Castle Vantress, which has been stolen. They journey up the beanstalk and arrive in the Stormkeld, home to the storm giants. They sneak past many dangers, finding themselves in the parlor of the storm giants—on Beluna's birthday.
Beluna is slow to trust them. After all, outsiders might be here to steal her many precious treasures (never mind that she stole them all first). At the insistence of Yorvo, former ruler of Garenbrig, Beluna lets them into her vault to consult the mirror. They discover that the witch queen has built a fortress over Loch Larent and head there immediately.
Hylda – One of the three witch sisters. She is as aloof and cold as the blizzards she commands.
Sharae – Leader of the merfolk of Loch Larent, who Hylda trapped under the surface of the lake when she formed her icy castle.
As a gift for helping create the Wicked Slumber, Hylda receives a crown of wintery power from Talion capable of conjuring blizzards, snow, and ice.She creates a kingdom of ice in the farthest reaches of Dunbarrow, above Loch Larent. Her ice powers cause problems for the residents of the land and freeze over the local lake, trapping the merfolk in and beneath the ice.
ellan and Ruby, who are seeking out the gifts that Talion bestowed, come to Hylda's frozen kingdom searching for the icy crown. He battles with the ice elemental guardians. At a critical moment, he discovers his ability to manifest weapons made from ethereal light.
Forming a glowing blade, he strikes an elemental down. Kellan collapses before he can reach Hylda. Ruby carries him nearly to the castle gates. In a moment of kindness, Hylda kisses Kellan's forehead. With her blessing, Kellan and Ruby are protected from the cold.
Neva – A young noble who was sealed in a glass casket when the Wicked Slumber took her.
Eriette – One of the three witch sisters. She is vain and controlling.
As the Wicked Slumber sweeps over the land, Neva succumbs to the spell and is placed in a glass casket to protect her while the wizards of Vantress study the slumber's effects. Meanwhile, the witch sister Eriette uses the charmed apple that Talion gifted her to maintain the curse of the Wicked Slumber long after the invasion was repelled.
Neva is stalked in the dream realm by nightmares, some resembling Phyrexians that hunted her in the real world. Eriette meanwhile takes over the ruins of Castle Ardenvale and ensorcells any knights that come to defeat her, using her magic to manipulate those under the Wicked Slumber's curse like puppets.
Neva is only able to fend off the nightmares due to the influence of a mysterious spectral visitor who saves her life. Eriette convinces Rowan to join her as an apprentice. When Kellan and Ruby show up at Castle Ardenvale to get the tempting apple, it's Rowan they face.
One witch would be a tough enough opponent—but the pair must also face down the Planeswalker Ashiok. With some help from Will Kenrith, the unlikely heroes manage to save the day. Kellan learns that his real father may be hiding not just somewhere in the far reaches of Eldraine, but on another plane entirely—and sets off to find him.
Totentanz – A struggling artist trying to make ends meet. His desperation leads him to evil. He's creepy and vindictive.
Lord Skitter – A demonic rat who lives beneath Edgewall. He is cruel and cunning.
Totentanz was a struggling musician who could barely make ends meet. While staying out on the streets of Edgewall, he fell into the sewers beneath and was led by the rats to Lord Skitter. Lord Skitter granted Totentanz powers, specifically the ability to enthrall listeners in a way that his music never could. In exchange, Totentanz must lure victims into the sewer so that Skitter and his brood can feast on them. Totentanz leads droves of hapless Edgewall citizens into the undercity with his music. Lord Skitter and his brood grow in power, and eventually rats swarm the city.
At first, the people of Edgewall are outwitted by Lord Skitter. The townsfolk do the best they can to deal with the rats, but eventually, they band together, steal Totentanz's pipe, and storm the sewers, twisting its wicked magic back onto Lord Skitter and Totentanz, causing them to be devoured by their own rat horde. Without a leader, the rats of Edgewall return to their ordinary ways, though no one knows if Lord Skitter is truly gone for good.
Lady Armont – An Ardenvale knight captain renown for her kindness and beauty. She cannot ignore injustice.
Yenna – The leader of the werefox elves. She is distrustful and proud.
Lady Armont, looking for a way to heal the realm after the Phyrexian invasion, journeys deep into the wilds with her band of loyal knights. In the forest, by sheer coincidence, she stumbles upon Redtooth Keep where the ancient bloodline of elves live. The elves are cursed to transform into werefoxes at night.
Lady Armont commits herself to solving this mystery and breaking the curse. Some of her knights, concerned with their own survival, battle against the werefoxes despite Armont's wishes. Yanna, leader of the werefoxes, warms up to Armont's kindness and tells her of the enchanted rose that will break the spell. It is guarded by an archon in a glade nearby. Armont and Yanna venture to the glade in search of the rose.
Johann – A foolish apprentice who unleashes havoc after his master leaves the tower.
Gadwick – Johann's master, unseen in the story, but a character with a card in Throne of Eldraine. He is powerful and mysterious.
After Gadwick leaves Caervelin on mysterious wizard business, Johann tries to maintain the complex mechanisms that rule the wizard's domain. He fails and winds up unleashing a massive number of elementals throughout the tower. Even worse, the fire and water elementals begin quarrelling! Johann tries many things, including bottling the elements, researching how to defeat them, and even animating the furniture to fight back. All his methods fail. He is forced to flee the tower out a window as it explodes in a spectacular battle between water and fire.
Greta – A vicious witch hunter who lost her brother to the horrors of Sweettooth Village.
When she was young, Greta and her brother were lured to Sweettooth Village. There, they uncovered a slew of vicious creatures made out of sweets. The encounter was horrible. Greta escaped, but her brother unfortunately did not. Now, she's back for revenge.
Greta storms the village with axe in hand and smooshes candy monsters left and right, looking to take out the witch behind the whole operation.Back for Seconds. While fighting, she discovers a young boy stuck in the village. She rescues him, escaping with her new charge and able to save someone who was trapped like she once was.
Ash – An Embereth refugee who lives at the Delverhaugh. Her adoptive parents are blacksmiths.
Goddric – A handsome, elegant man who is really a dragon in disguise.
Ash has always wanted to attend the Grand Ball at the Delverhaugh, but most humans aren't allowed. She crafts a plan: she'll disguise herself in armor and sneak in to have a grand time. The mice help her acquire the armor. As she arrives at the party, she is greeted by the handsome Goddric, who asks her to dance. Suddenly, redcaps and ogres attack! The dwarves, and others, rush to fight back with everything from skewers to pies! In a valiant display of heroism, she defends Goddric from a redcap attack. Prompting Goddric to reveal his power and expel the unwanted guests with a flourish of draconic magic! At midnight, Ash must leave but accidentally forgets her helmet, which clatters to the floor in her haste. Perhaps the handsome stranger will use it to track her down …
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Quote from LucidVision »artifacts, legends and enchantments is such a wide range of permanent types [...]
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Every bit of 'traditional wisdom' about this game's value goes completely out the door if our economy finally just crashes. Absolutetly none of it will be worth anything to anyone if half the country is unemployed. This and a whole lot of stuff would just...not matter at all anymore. Guys like Rudy will take the biggest fall. I already feel silly and I probably have 1/100th their collections. Why? Because frankly, I can't possibly move it all even if I wanted to (and belive me, I really do). USPS is the least reliable it has ever been--awesome.
I can't think of a worse possible place to sink that money. I advise people financially for a living. Want my honest advice? If you don't need it to pay rent or buy groceries? Take that money and retire some debt with it (credit card is almost always the best kind--it's outrageously expensive over time) and then *do not run it back up again*. I would advise you in the strongest possible terms not to invest in MtG as a longterm 'investment shelter' of any kind anymore. My two cents.
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But this ^^ is completely silly. There's maybe twenty people using this site anymore, offended or not. Lighten up, Francis none of this matters at all. He's only offending the people who seem to disagree with his p.o.v. Maybe you ought to stop trying shut down a perfectly reasonable conversation just because your points and arguments aren't effectively shutting it down like you expected.
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These cards were considered objectionable and they were banned. If you don't understand the context behind a specific card's inclusion on the list, well here you go.
If you are here to strike up a conversation about the merits of such a move, well I'm afraid that will probably go nowhere positive. It is their game. Ship has sailed. Cards are banned. Let it go.
Honestly, besides being objectionable, at the end of the day 100% of these cards are all pretty ******* terrible anyway and shouldn't really be missed in the first place. They weren't playable (not even Crusade) if you were playing anywhere other than your kitchen table. Not sure why they would be missed at all.
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2) No one goes to the mothersite anymore. Of the number that might wander there, even fewer go there to read storyline content.
3) Now, given #2, why in the hell would anyone in charge of budgets want to keep funding this content? It is literally money down the tubes with zero return-on-investment. I mean..how much $ would you expect to make writing Magic Fan Fiction? How big an audience would you reasonably expect?)
4) Now ask those exact same question but replace 'Fan Faction' with 'Slick CGI Animated series hosted on Netflix'? I think you'd have some different answers in that case. So did they. That's why this is happening.
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Also Magic Players: "Man, I just can't wait to buy all of these fancy foil cards that I already own regular copies of."
And on and on it goes...
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Well, it's a simple fact that the Un-sets have been some of the worst-selling sets of all time..
Like a few things in Mtg, they more beloved by MaRo than anyone else. Don't get me wrong--I have played Magic since 2000 and I do appreciate the Un-sets for what they are, a goofy diversion from regular 'serious' Magic to create unorthodox, goofy, or normally-impossible experience for Magic fans.
And yes, the full art lands are definitely the biggest reason the packs always sell. The lands. The foils. The most valuable cards from every Un set? Yep. You guessed it: Foil Lands.
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I personally think a major mechanical theme of this set is Zendikar itself rising up in some fashion so that makes me expect tons of lands matter and manland-based combat going on. Fortifications? Who knows..
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Tribal is something they will do in every set. We will never be rid of it. Why?
1) It's Limited "Glue". Dfrat environments are better when you have as many different archetypes for drafters to go after. Inserting tribal synergies in the card pool just gives drafters more flexibiilty. It's a very good thing they do it. It does have the intended effect.
2) It's 'known territory'--they've done it so many times now, it's too risky NOT to do it in every set
3) It's 'safe'. Magic players have always wanted to build tribal decks. It's a natural tendnecy so they don't risk offending many people with it.
Boil them all down...it's easy for them to do it. They've firmly convinced themselves they pull off a set without it. Hasbro tells them not to **** around with a formula that works (and one that consistently delivers the best profit margins of any division within Hasbro.) People like making money and having jobs. The rest takes care of itself..
For better or worse, Tribal will play a significant role in every (drafted) Magic set until the end of time. (Sometimes it is a even central role, rest of the time, it's merely involved.)
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