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Magic: the Gathering - Battle for Zendikar |OT| Lands matter (but nothing else does)
- Thread starter SigmasonicX
- Start date
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Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
Yeah, they were always easy to find at walmart or target in the past. I have no need for these lands but it's not expensive for one fat pack.
Cool, I'm assuming this is the first for this set? I haven't been following at all.
Sweet first post, Sigma.
I'm still not sure if I like new Gideon. I mean, he's basically Elspeth with the ability to punch face.
http://www.houseofsixten.com/stealth/alara/cobra9.jpgI can just feel the ehehe coming off the page in panel three.
I'm still not sure if I like new Gideon. I mean, he's basically Elspeth with the ability to punch face.
rip in peace, 'speth
http://www.houseofsixten.com/stealth/alara/cobra9.jpgI can just feel the ehehe coming off the page in panel three.
SigmasonicX
Member
First set of the block, yes.
Boogalogist
Member
Yeah, I participated in the Community one at one point of time. Haven't been there in a while. Good time to get back into the thread.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
The second set has been announced as OATH OF THE GATEWATCH
It's basically Zendikari Power Rangers.
I'm already betting that one of the four will die
and it'll probably be Gideon
Close to the paper equivalent of hearthstone.
Boogalogist
Member
Why no Liliana in the pic? 
Showing up in the next block. (Very good chance it's Fairy Tale World.)Why no Liliana in the pic?
edit: You know, if it is, I bet that's why they've hinted the male/female Demon/Angel thing may be relaxed, you can do a Malificent stand-in for one of Liliana's masters.
Infinite Stars
Member
In for the new Thread, heres hoping BFZ doesn't suck Allywise. It might just get me to go back to WGR like I had been planning before Archangel of Communion hit.
My dumb bet for Oath that's tied to BFZ Somewhat: There will be a Cycle of either Rare or Uncommons ala the Sieges that are "Oath of X", with possibly some stupid style Mazes End card that says "If you control all 5 Oaths, Exile all Eldrazi in play" or something that's big on the whole Story push.
Nah, Gideon's not toast yet. I highly doubt they'd can him just after Origins, though He's still not the best White NeoWalker, though he's the only mono-based one they can use(Elspeth's "dead" and Ajani's busy being Theros' version of Richard Dawkins.)
Ajani>Elspeth>Sorin>Venser>Gideon.
My dumb bet for Oath that's tied to BFZ Somewhat: There will be a Cycle of either Rare or Uncommons ala the Sieges that are "Oath of X", with possibly some stupid style Mazes End card that says "If you control all 5 Oaths, Exile all Eldrazi in play" or something that's big on the whole Story push.
Nah, Gideon's not toast yet. I highly doubt they'd can him just after Origins, though He's still not the best White NeoWalker, though he's the only mono-based one they can use(Elspeth's "dead" and Ajani's busy being Theros' version of Richard Dawkins.)
Ajani>Elspeth>Sorin>Venser>Gideon.
When did they hint this? Either way, I never understood why Magic split these creatures types along these genders. Female Demons and Male Angels are all over every type of fantasy setting from like every corner of the world. Magic is the only place I know of where this strict gender dichotomy exists.
Ah, ok.
It was originally done because of male Angels being in the bible and Succubuses being omnipresent, but the issue is that doing it 100% that way then feeds straight into the "Girls are pure and virtuous/Boys are uncontrollable hellspawn" trope.
It's just a style choice. The same way they differentiate the appearance of drakes and dragons (dragons have arms in addition to their wings, drakes don't).
"God's Beard!"
Member
But Nissa is like the most short-sighted planeswalker in the group. Sorin's personality is like a baby version of Ugin. Very dispassionate long-term thinking and knowledge-focused. If anything he'd get along with Narset but it's doubtful they'd ever meet. He's definitely the sort of person to cockblock hobo Sarkhan, though.
Besides everybody knows he's got/had a thing for Nahiri.
Etrian Oddity
Member
Also, drakes are beasts whereas dragons are sentient, no?
Repping Temur (RUG) colors here, hoping we can survive. Elvish Mystic rotating out will force Temur to beef up into midrange aggro to survive.
SigmasonicX
Member
They just killed a white Planeswalker, I don't think they'll make the next death white too. None of the four are likely to die, but if I had to choose one, I'd actually go with Jace--the latest Uncharted Realms had him constantly imagining himself dying.
There is a good chance that Liliana will die, though. I feel like the direction they're going with her story is that after Liliana kills the last demon she made a contract with, she is free, but then Garruk becomes fully corrupted by the Chain Veil curse that she passed on to him, thus becoming immune to the Chain Veil's attacks, and they both kill each other.
Why no Liliana in the pic?
In story, Jace asked her to come along and help, but she couldn't give less of a crap about helping others for no personal gain, and went off to track down one of her demon masters to kill him. Her absence from this block, despite her focus in Magic Origins, leads many to believe that she will be the focus of the next block.
I'm rebuilding the Eldrazi deck from Zendikar vs Eldrazi as a casual green/white deck (for acceleration and early-game tokens), and I just realized that Tragic Arrogance and It That Betrays work hilariously together.
I don't even have anything to add, I'm just smug.
@sigma: interesting points. I'm mainly saying I expect Gid to die because he's one of my favorites (as was Elspeth) but I'm less bothered about Jace.
He is growing on me a little tho.
Still, more space for Tamiyo if he gets rekt I guess.
I don't even have anything to add, I'm just smug.
@sigma: interesting points. I'm mainly saying I expect Gid to die because he's one of my favorites (as was Elspeth) but I'm less bothered about Jace.
He is growing on me a little tho.
Still, more space for Tamiyo if he gets rekt I guess.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
I'm fine with Jace dying. Give us literally any other mono-U character who's more interesting
Giant Panda
Member
I'm not much of a fan of most of the cards spoiled so far. I need some sweet new G/W efficient creatures for my G/W morph and value deck. I am going to miss Fleecemane and Ajani!
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
If anyone in OT missed it the last block was basically just Sarkhan Vol doing random shit on his home plane (with timey-wimey hijinks for bonus) for no reason that happened to result in Ugin the Spirit Dragon getting revived, who has a role in Zendikar since the Eldrazi were sealed at the Eye of Ugin. Ugin doesn't have a card in Battle for Zendikar, but he's a legal card.
Yeah, I missed out on the original Zendikar blocks as well so I'm looking forward to seeing Eldrazi in action.
It's really nice to see all the new faces in the thread so far. We'll be moving back to Community a little while after the set releases so make sure to subscribe to the thread.
Why no Liliana in the pic?
Liliana's story has her going elsewhere but we don't know where just yet. Two of the more recent Uncharted Realms articles go into the recent storyline developments involving Liliana.
Catching Up
Unkindness of Ravens
Haha, fucking dying. Nissa's redesign is nice, I hated the one used for the first Duels game. I preferred Jace with a hood, but a friend told me its been that way for a while now (and was pure anime hair for a while what.)
Yeah, I subbed for the card spoilers since I love the Zendikar lore (tribal vampires + elder god esque bullshit oh my.) My gf has also been watching that G&S series and wants to get into ccgs and tabletop but $$$
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
That's what stuff like drafting and casual formats like Commander are for. I've played Magic for ten years now and never bothered spending all of the money for a "competitive" deck
Per MaRo, zero chance of that happening.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Jace is the Face of Magic
I just feel its artificially limiting is all
Not all Dragons in Magic are sentient but I don't think any Drakes are.
What time it it? Tamiyo time!
Their other recent Gideon attempt(s?) haven't gone well, they wanted him pushed and pushed hard.I haven't played MTG in about 10 years so there might have been a massive power creep since then, but this seems horribly overpowered holy shit:
Gid/Chandra getting mediocre cards in Origins likely means they'll be getting nutty stuff in this block.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
He's going to be very good, but he's not going to break the format or anything
There has been creep over the last decade to get creatures up to the same level as spells used to be, but its evened out for a few years now and they've got a pretty good handle on things
Look up Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
Then ask yourself how on earth it saw print.
Then ask yourself how on earth it saw print.
This is something to be aware of- while long term prices for singles will be abnormally low, short term shortages and price spikes could very well happen due to people buying up product because of the ultra-rares
Free Brainstorm every turn, seems balanced.
A Serious Man
Member
#TeamHungry
I'm thinking Jace will "die" for a few blocks (perhaps returning once we get to the Vryn block).
List of PW by # of main sets:
Jace: 10 (6 unique cards)
Chandra: 9 (5)
Ajani: 8 (5)
Garruk: 8 (5)
Liliana: 8 (4)
Gideon: 5 (4)
Sarkhan: 4 (4)
Sorin: 4 (3)
Elspeth: 3 (3)
Nissa: 3 (3)
Tezzeret: 2 (2)
Bolas: 2 (1)
All other playable PW have one appearance.
List of PW by # of main sets:
Jace: 10 (6 unique cards)
Chandra: 9 (5)
Ajani: 8 (5)
Garruk: 8 (5)
Liliana: 8 (4)
Gideon: 5 (4)
Sarkhan: 4 (4)
Sorin: 4 (3)
Elspeth: 3 (3)
Nissa: 3 (3)
Tezzeret: 2 (2)
Bolas: 2 (1)
All other playable PW have one appearance.
charlequin
Banned
They just explained to us that every one of the Origins planeswalkers would be involved heavily in the plotline for multiple years to come, so... no.
What all have we worked out as likely upcoming blocks? Fairy tale world, New New Phyrexia, Kaladesh, Muraganda... Really curious how much of a streak we can get going.
It's been long enough that the endless shortages of Zendikar are a distant memory now. It'll probably take a couple months to have completely open supply.
No. MaRo's said they'll just do a different Japanese world if they go back to that type of setting. (I'd rather see them fast-forward it into the future, but apparently they don't want to piss off people who expect stuff returning from the OG block.)
I assume this means something much more Anime than before (in themes, not art style.) Hi, Shinigami!
Ah, that's a shame. I remember loving everything about Kamigawa (except the actual cards
) The snake people, the moonfolk, the turtle goblins, the onis, the fox people and the hundred or so legends in each set. I do remember a weapon that was OP as shit though, Usomething Jitte.The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
I have some complaints about the art style in recent years, but when it comes to the actual content Magic has some of the best fantasy art conceptually period. Did you see any of the New Phyrexia stuff? They did straight up Giger body horror for that set
There's tons of design space for a more pop-culture influenced Japanese plane, so I could definitely see it not feeling like a do-over. Mecha, kaiju, etc.
Origins was so noticeably and horribly off because of how good and consistent they have gotten in general.
What real hints have there been that Muraganda is on the table and coming anytime soon?
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
I feel like I remember there being some very strong indication they were interested in revisiting Shandalar besides just as a video game setting, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.
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