This set is a Vorthos's dream come true. The sheer number of references to Magic's past are insane. There's even some really obscure stuff in here. Jodah finally has a card, there's a new Umezawa, a reference to Kolo Meha. And that's not even mentioning the subset of enchantments that are specifically designed to represent events from the novels and stories of Magic's past. I don't know if I've ever been more excited for a set.
As much as I loved the development of the heroes in this story, I found a few bits about the villains to be particularly interesting as well. Specifically, some of Baan's observations about Tezzeret and the way that Tezzeret basically "turns off" his anger at a moment's notice seems to imply that his outbursts are a little more calculated the what they appear. It was also great how Baan commented that Tezzeret didn't actually seem menacing during the outburst, but appeared much more devious and cunning once he'd "calmed down."
Also, as much as I dislike Baral, I loved his line after his defeat about all makes being monsters. It's almost like he sees the "monstrous" parts of himself in other mages, which makes him want to take them down even more (or at least that was my interpretation of it). It actually made me feel for him a little bit.
I remember mentioning the idea of pre-mending versions of the main planeswalkers in a thread for a Core set a few years ago and was scoffed at. I'm glad Wizards is finally giving me some justice. I am so hyped!
Anyway, I feel like this is a pretty nice sendoff for the Core sets. They've been telling us little stories about the main planeswalkers in the more recent ones, and having the last one be focused entirely on them seems really fitting to me.
Alright, with today's Uncharted Realms story, I am going to make the educated guess that the Black Walker will be Ob Nixilis. Many people have pointed out that not every walker for Commander 2014 will be old Walkers, but will at least be ones that we haven't seen before. While Leshrac makes more sense, in order to appeal to a wider group, it seems likely that they will have 3-4 be old walkers, and 1-2 be walkers that are more "current" to the plot, or something new entirely. The only thing we know for "certain" is that they will be characters not already given a planeswalker card, from everything that has been cited so far. So I would revise my former guess to be:
White: Serra
Green:Freyalise
Black: Ob Nixilis
Red: Jeska (because she doesn't have a card like Jaya does, the proto-walker card. Yes, they both have creature cards, but Jaya was Chandra's teacher/created the school she went to, and Chandra is basically a reworked Jaya anyway, let's be honest) or maybe even some odd version of Ugin (based on Breath of Ugin being "red")
I really enjoyed this story a lot. When they said we'd be getting an Uncharted Realms about him at some point, I didn't imagine that it would go this far in-depth about his past and personality. I'm thoroughly pleased.
The mention of this "Nahiri" is certainly interesting. If she was indeed the lithomancer, I can't say that I expected her to be a Kor (I don't know why, but my mental image of her was always of a human).
I thought it was an amusing story. It's a nice break when they thrown in a more humorous story every so often (a la Comin' Through!, Fblthp, etc.).
I have to agree, though, that Goblins do get the really, really short end of the stick when it comes to intelligence. We need more characters like Krenko.
Why can Teferi be a Commander when Elspeth, Bolas and Jace cannot? Is it because he is an old-walker?
Then why can't Garruk, Liliana and Nicol Bolas not? Because they are portrayed as how they look after the mending and Teferi is not?
Then why is Teferi not way more powerful? Pre mending walkers should be so powerful that they should never be printed.
(Garruk isn't a pre-mending planeswalker.)
As far as I see it, there really isn't a flavor justification for the commander clause in these planeswalkers; it's just another example of the separation of flavor and mechanics (much like some of the "command zone matters" cards from the previous Commander decks). The reason for including the ability on only these five planeswalkers has been discussed at length throughout this thread, so I don't feel like I need to summarize right now.
I so want Yawgmoth represented on a card. Didn't have basically have the powers of a planeswalker while on Phyrexia, he just wasn't ever actually one?
He was actually probably more powerful than a pre-mending walker, considering that his death cloud form was able to effortlessly kill Bo Levar and Commodore Guff. The only thing he couldn't do was planeswalk, as he had to use a portal to do so.
Also, as much as I dislike Baral, I loved his line after his defeat about all makes being monsters. It's almost like he sees the "monstrous" parts of himself in other mages, which makes him want to take them down even more (or at least that was my interpretation of it). It actually made me feel for him a little bit.
Also, it seems strange to me that only three of the main planeswalkers received legendary artifacts related to their stories.
Anyway, I feel like this is a pretty nice sendoff for the Core sets. They've been telling us little stories about the main planeswalkers in the more recent ones, and having the last one be focused entirely on them seems really fitting to me.
Also, as pointed out before, Mikaeus had been stabbed with a letter opener, whereas the man in the Loft had been strangled.
Something tells me that they'll save the Ob Nixilis planeswalker card for when we return to Zendikar. But hey, who really knows at this point?
The mention of this "Nahiri" is certainly interesting. If she was indeed the lithomancer, I can't say that I expected her to be a Kor (I don't know why, but my mental image of her was always of a human).
I have to agree, though, that Goblins do get the really, really short end of the stick when it comes to intelligence. We need more characters like Krenko.
(Garruk isn't a pre-mending planeswalker.)
As far as I see it, there really isn't a flavor justification for the commander clause in these planeswalkers; it's just another example of the separation of flavor and mechanics (much like some of the "command zone matters" cards from the previous Commander decks). The reason for including the ability on only these five planeswalkers has been discussed at length throughout this thread, so I don't feel like I need to summarize right now.
He was actually probably more powerful than a pre-mending walker, considering that his death cloud form was able to effortlessly kill Bo Levar and Commodore Guff. The only thing he couldn't do was planeswalk, as he had to use a portal to do so.