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[Angry Grimace]

I dunno, it sounds like the Planeswalkers are forming the Fairy Tail guild.

 

[Angry Grimace]

That or we're going back to Weatherlight Saga storytelling except now it means we get Jace 100% of the time

 

[charlequin]

It's Emrakul.

The set name is a Lovecraft reference.

The art book also references the Planeswalkers of the Gatewatch (i.e. Chandra Jace Nissa and Gideon) going there, which they wouldn't do if it wasn't the eldrazi. With the teaser and the art book info, it seems pretty clear that the storyline involves Avacyn becoming corrupted (probably by Emrakul in some way) which leads to both classical and Lovecraftian monsters running around.

It's a little tough after BFZ but I'm still excited at the prospect of that. Getting more Lovecraftian stuff into the mix in Innistrad is very appealing to me.

Wasnt BFZ originally designed as a 3-block set? Did SoI design start after they knew BFZ would only be two blocks?

Yes, Rosewater said they went into SOI knowing it was a 2-set block. BFZ itself started design under the expectations of 3 sets so presumably they had a block plan for three sets but they changed it before OGW even started design.

What I'm really curious about now (and it'll be a long time until we get an answer) is why SOI moved up in the 7-year plan. It wasn't there in the first iteration, which started with ISD; this would be Year 6 of that plan, and we know getting even one Innistrad made was a fight for Rosewater so he wouldn't have pre-planned the sequel at that point. We do know though that Theros was a last-minute substitution for a different block idea and that the 7-year plan was apparently much "rockier" than the first 6-year one, so it's possible they replaced something totally different, or just that this was penciled in as "return to something" and ISD was the best option.

Stocking Tiger is still my favorite of the Happy Holidays cards (although the snow globe does give it a run for the money).

Snow Mercy has the cleverest gimmick IMO but Mishra's Toy Factory is the one I like the most as an actual card.

 

[The Adder]

That's fine. I just think now is the perfect time to do silly stuff like make stupid planeswalkers and lists of favorite land arts and what not. No reason to let the thread just die.

Silly stuff:

I hope Emrakul is ultimately defeated by trapping it in Nyx in a return to Theros set. Since we know it can't be Planeswalked into or out of.

Then a few sets later we get a Lovecraftian Horror setting. Then it turns out we're in Theros again, but the Gods have been devoured so the people dream of twisted Horrors that Nyx makes real.

 

[Angry Grimace]

I don't like the idea of Eldrazi being in everything at all.

 

[kirblar]

I don't like the idea of Eldrazi being in everything at all.

They won't be. But it works as a bridge when swapping to the new interconnected structure.

If you are doing "Emrakul comes to town" you need a world for it to screw up. It's an out for them leaving Innistrad "fixed" at the end of the original block, which is likely why it got moved up.

 

[Ashodin]

I agree with Kirblar here. Mtg needs to leave planes with an out to be under fire again for returns.

 

[The Technomancer]

What I'm really curious about now (and it'll be a long time until we get an answer) is why SOI moved up in the 7-year plan. It wasn't there in the first iteration, which started with ISD; this would be Year 6 of that plan, and we know getting even one Innistrad made was a fight for Rosewater so he wouldn't have pre-planned the sequel at that point. We do know though that Theros was a last-minute substitution for a different block idea and that the 7-year plan was apparently much "rockier" than the first 6-year one, so it's possible they replaced something totally different, or just that this was penciled in as "return to something" and ISD was the best option.

I would not be surprised if ISD's slot in the seven year plan was marked as "return to one of the new blocks that turns out popular". Although...assuming RTR was also in the plan that would only have left room for it being either Innistrad or Theros and Theros would have been too soon and...okay yeah now I'm really curious what it was originally now

 

[shrapnelmagnet]

I don't like the idea of Eldrazi being in everything at all.

Ideally, Shadows over 'Strad puts it to rest for a while, though, right? Isn't that what we're sorta expecting?

EDIT: Whoops, didn't refresh...

 

[kirblar]

Ideally, Shadows over 'Strad puts it to rest for a while, though, right? Isn't that what we're sorta expecting?

EDIT: Whoops, didn't refresh...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadows_Over_Innsmouth

 

[charlequin]

I don't like the idea of Eldrazi being in everything at all.

They switched from telling four stories in parallel to telling stories serially. That means if we look at one of the universe's major threats we're going to follow the implications of that out a bit. It's got upsides and downsides, but it does fix some really silly shit like the Gideon RTR storyline.

I don't think Eldrazi are going to be a major element of SOI the way they are in BFZ. Possibly even there'll be second-hand Lovecraftian horrors in SOI proper and then some revelation of Emrakul in Fears. (It's hilarious to me

I agree with Kirblar here. Mtg needs to leave planes with an out to be under fire again for returns.

Originally they saw planes as disposable so they completely fucked them up in the end of the novels (turned Mirrodin into an empty world, completely dissolved the guilds) and that forced a bunch of hamfisted retconning later since anyone who didn't read the novels wouldn't even know what happened.

The next stage of that was doing worlds that got screwed up but we saw it clearly in the sets, like Alara merging together, New Phyrexia existing, Innistrad getting purified, Khans timeline getting erased, etc. Now they're learning a second lesson that showing people the ending isn't good enough if you leave the plane in a state where you can't return to the parts people liked, which is presumably why DTK was so full of setup for the idea that the Clans could reappear.

I would not be surprised if ISD's slot in the seven year plan was marked as "return to one of the new blocks that turns out popular". Although...assuming RTR was also in the plan that would only have left room for it being either Innistrad or Theros and Theros would have been too soon and...okay yeah now I'm really curious what it was originally now

Yeah. To recap the first plan, which stuck pretty closely:

1 - A gold block that isn't like Invasion (RAV)
2 - A time-themed block set on Dominaria (TSP)
3 - Tribal with a better setting (LOR)
4 - Third type of gold set coming back faster than expected (ALA)
5 - Experimental land set (ZEN)
6 - Phyrexia (SOM)

And what we know of the second one so far, which has deviated more:

1 - Experimental Gothic horror set (ISD)
2 - Return To Ravnica
3 - Multi-Era World (switched completely to Theros)
4 - Weird Draft (eventually got massaged into KTK)
5 - Return to Zendikar

That leaves two blocks. We can assume the plan originally ended with something that seemed explosive just since Rosewater's got a flair for the dramatic, and that year 6 originally would have been something a bit weirder, since 5 was a sure thing. So mysterious!

 

[Angry Grimace]

Having decent luck with this pile. I miss Hero's Downfall.

Deck: Esper Dragons

//Creatures
4 Dragonlord Ojutai
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 Hangarback Walker

//Planeswalkers
4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

//Sorcery
1 Crux of Fate
3 Duress

//Instant
3 Foul-Tongue Invocation
1 Utter End
1 Secure the Wastes
2 Dig Through Time

//Enchantment
4 Silkwrap

//Land
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
4 Shambling Vent
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Windswept Heath
2 Prairie Stream
2 Sunken Hollow
2 Plains
2 Island
1 Swamp

//Sideboard
2 Surge of Righteousness
2 Arashin Cleric
2 Silumgar's Scorn
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
2 Ob Nixilis Reignited
1 Utter End
1 Crux of Fate

Display deck statistics

 

[Angry Grimace]

They switched from telling four stories in parallel to telling stories serially. That means if we look at one of the universe's major threats we're going to follow the implications of that out a bit. It's got upsides and downsides, but it does fix some really silly shit like the Gideon RTR storyline.

I don't think Eldrazi are going to be a major element of SOI the way they are in BFZ. Possibly even there'll be second-hand Lovecraftian horrors in SOI proper and then some revelation of Emrakul in Fears. (It's hilarious to me



Originally they saw planes as disposable so they completely fucked them up in the end of the novels (turned Mirrodin into an empty world, completely dissolved the guilds) and that forced a bunch of hamfisted retconning later since anyone who didn't read the novels wouldn't even know what happened.

The next stage of that was doing worlds that got screwed up but we saw it clearly in the sets, like Alara merging together, New Phyrexia existing, Innistrad getting purified, Khans timeline getting erased, etc. Now they're learning a second lesson that showing people the ending isn't good enough if you leave the plane in a state where you can't return to the parts people liked, which is presumably why DTK was so full of setup for the idea that the Clans could reappear.



Yeah. To recap the first plan, which stuck pretty closely:

1 - A gold block that isn't like Invasion (RAV)
2 - A time-themed block set on Dominaria (TSP)
3 - Tribal with a better setting (LOR)
4 - Third type of gold set coming back faster than expected (ALA)
5 - Experimental land set (ZEN)
6 - Phyrexia (SOM)

And what we know of the second one so far, which has deviated more:

1 - Experimental Gothic horror set (ISD)
2 - Return To Ravnica
3 - Multi-Era World (switched completely to Theros)
4 - Weird Draft (eventually got massaged into KTK)
5 - Return to Zendikar

That leaves two blocks. We can assume the plan originally ended with something that seemed explosive just since Rosewater's got a flair for the dramatic, and that year 6 originally would have been something a bit weirder, since 5 was a sure thing. So mysterious!

I feel like they left Tarkir open to timey-wimey shit that would bring Clan Tarkir in conflict with Dragon Tarkir. For the record, I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn that the reason we're going to Innistrad is because someone in creative couldn't resist the chance to name a block "Shadows Over Innistrad" as a Lovecraft homage.

 

[Ashodin]

Multi-Era world? any more info on that?

 

[Angry Grimace]

Multi-Era world? any more info on that?

Isn't that basically what Khans of Tarkir block is

 

[Etrian Oddity]

If Return to Theros doesn't feature Ashiok as the ultimate villain manifesting living nightmares and horrors, I'll be disappointed.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Multi-Era world? any more info on that?

The first set would have depicted a prehistoric world, then the next would have been stone age, and the final would have been bronze age. This is like a world proposed in the Great Designer Search 2. The problem with it was that it would have required world building for three eras, and the most interesting one was the first. Coincidentally, this was the problem with Khans of Tarkir block.

 

[kirblar]

DTK also sets them up to "fix" the central color in the clans.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Hopefully they'll make more mono colored commanders with multicolour colour identities.

Tasigur is the most playable one but I'd love to make a Temur EDH deck with Yesova + Bazaar Trader.

 

[Joe Molotov]

If Return to Theros doesn't feature Ashiok as the ultimate villain manifesting living nightmares and horrors, I'll be disappointed.

The Doom that Came to Theros

 

[Santiako]

Oath Legend:

Go go power rangers:

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Now that's an Orzhov commander I wanna build around. Dat coincidental flash obscuring the name and no mention on the card itself.




I wonder would Mirrorpool be too good if colorless mana were errata'd to <> mana?

 

[OnPoint]

That cleric is cool.

So, do they just not need black mana then?

 

[Wulfric]

So it begins... with a two drop legend! The sacrifice and lifegain is quite flavorful for B/W. It's perfect.

Are there really only four walkers taking the oath against the Eldrazi? I figured we would have seen the set's black planeswalker in some promo art by now.

 

[OnPoint]

So it begins... with a two drop legend! The sacrifice and lifegain is quite flavorful for B/W. It's perfect.

Are there really only four walkers taking the oath against the Eldrazi? I figured we would have seen the set's black planeswalker in some promo art by now.

Who said there will be one? Figure there will be about 5 'walkers per block at this point.

We had Black with Ob and White with Gideon, blue/green covered by Kiora. That leaves Red (Chandra) and blue or green covered by 'whoknows'. I'd be surprised if they did another mono-black 'walker in Oath.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

We already saw the art for the new Nissa so it's gonna be Chandra and Nissa

 

[aidan]

This is so totally Avatar: The Last Airbender.

 

[kirblar]

We already saw the art for the new Nissa so it's gonna be Chandra and Nissa

I think it's Jace/Chandra combined and Nissa.

That 2HG thing is too much of a red flag.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Oath Legend:

WB: Turn all lands you control into Diamond Valley

And as mentioned, dat convenient glare.

 

[kirblar]

Oh, wait. She's in OATH? I assumed this was a commander legend.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

It's just a rare even and not an ally for some reason. Well all allies supposedly fought at the sea gate and as a named character she would have appeared in a Flavour or Uncharted Realms already probably.

I think it's Jace/Chandra combined and Nissa.

That 2HG thing is too much of a red flag.

If they do that and I get it I might commission and alter that cuts him out.


Or just rip the card in half will depend on how much it's worth.

 

[Joe Molotov]

It's just a rare even and not an ally for some reason. Well all allies supposedly fought at the sea gate and as a named character she would have appeared in a Flavour or Uncharted Realms already probably.



If they do that and I get it I might commission and alter that cuts him out.


Or just rip the card in half will depend on how much it's worth.

Scratch out his face with a pen like a crazy stalker.

 

[Ashodin]

yesssssssssssss more spoilers pspspspspspspspsp *lipsmacking*

 

[OnPoint]

I think it's Jace/Chandra combined and Nissa.

That 2HG thing is too much of a red flag.

GIven the layout of that art above it could be Jace/Gideon and Nissa/Chandra. I wouldn't be shocked if it was any of the above combinations honestly.

 

[charlequin]

DTK also sets them up to "fix" the central color in the clans.

Yeah I kind of expect this to happen when they go back, especially because it scrapes out some design space that they skipped the first time.

Oath Legend:

That is a ridiculous commander, dear lord.

Dat coincidental flash obscuring the name and no mention on the card itself.

Probably Ayli, who appears on Eldrazi Monument and Hand of Emrakul. She shows up in an Uncharted Realms trying to sacrifice Jace to the Eldrazi.

GIven the layout of that art above it could be Jace/Gideon and Nissa/Chandra. I wouldn't be shocked if it was any of the above combinations honestly.

We've already seen the art for Nissa's PW card.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Probably Ayli, who appears on Eldrazi Monument and Hand of Emrakul. She shows up in an Uncharted Realms trying to sacrifice Jace to the Eldrazi.

Hah, I like her already.

 

[Ashodin]

ayyy that commander is ridiculous

 

[OnPoint]

Probably Ayli, who appears on Eldrazi Monument and Hand of Emrakul. She shows up in an Uncharted Realms trying to sacrifice Jace to the Eldrazi.

We've already seen the art for Nissa's PW card.

Would explain why she's not an "ally".

I know it's more than probable at this point Nissa gets a card.

 

[ultron87]

Nissa, Sage Animist already summons Ashaya so what the heck would another one do? Her main story trait for BFZ is already on a card.

 

[Toxi]

Wth

I fucking love this card.

 

[y2dvd]

Dang aggressively costed, gains life, deathtouch, sac outlet. That card does it all!

 

[The Technomancer]

Nissa, Sage Animist already summons Ashaya so what the heck would another one do? Her main story trait for BFZ is already on a card.

I don't expect us to get another Gideon TBH

 

[keeblerdrow]

Dang aggressively costed, gains life, deathtouch, sac outlet. That card does it all!

Needs hexproof or its unplayable.

 

[Ashodin]

Needs hexproof or its unplayable.

greaves it

 

[keeblerdrow]

greaves it

That's card disadvantage.


Shit, that reminds me, it also needs Kozilek's cast ability. Needs to be card advantage too. Then maybe it'll see play outside of pack wars.

 

[Ashodin]

greaves is one of the best edh cards son

that and whispersilk

also I ordered.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Does Tron even work in EDH?

I ordered a bunch of Angels for my Aurelia angels deck, only missing Land Tax, Sword of Fire and Ice, Enlightened Tutor, Armageddon and Wrath of God now. Those and the expensive Angels, Linvala and Avacyn

 

[Ashodin]

Karn EDH yeah.

Picked up Karn Liberated earlier today.

I'm super stoked to get a new Kozilek with the next set as well, and I'll pick up Emrakul at some point for completionist's sake

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

How much land tutors do you need? I assume Kozilek is the commander

 

[Ashodin]

How much land tutors do you need? I assume Kozilek is the commander

Nah Karn, Silver Golem is, deck has all the mana rocks and planar portal and lots of Eldrazi search (eye of ugin etc)

So it's like a mix of mana ramp and artifact combo shenanigans