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[blindrocket]

Channel Fireball has the four upcoming Commander decks as a preorder sale of $109.

I'm tempted but I think I really am only going to want the Dragon and Vampire decks (my son and daughter expressed interested in those two).

I wonder what crazy chase cards may show up in them to make it worth preordering... They are a pretty good value regardless, assuming they are like the last crop.

 

[Wulfric]

Uhh, did something happen that I don't know about? No clue what could've caused such a dramatic drop.

Or maybe Crystal Commerce is just acting weird.

 

[StrategyFan]

This set is a ton of fun to draft. It's not ridiculously complex but most of the games feel fair and everyone has the tools to beat the opposition. I managed to win through a turn 4 sifter wurm with the Desert Cerodon and Ahn-Crop Crasher on my side. I still groan every time I see a God.

i am liking it so far, but there might be too many board wipes

 

[alternade]

Channel Fireball has the four upcoming Commander decks as a preorder sale of $109.

I'm tempted but I think I really am only going to want the Dragon and Vampire decks (my son and daughter expressed interested in those two).

I wonder what crazy chase cards may show up in them to make it worth preordering... They are a pretty good value regardless, assuming they are like the last crop.

I always preorder the full set once it's available. Bought 3 sets of the last Commander decks and now I'm sitting on 2 unopened Atraxa decks that have gone up to $100+

 

[Justin]

Some A+++ writing in todays story

Nicol Bolas flew toward the heroes, eager to kill someone today.

Either he would have deaths, screams, and blood, or he would, perhaps, have something better.

He did not expect to have both. One could not have everything. Not even Nicol Bolas. He was not greedy. Greed implies wanting something you didn't deserve.

Everything Nicol Bolas wanted was entirely deserved.

Over the long years, Nicol Bolas knew it served him poorly to be too much the dragon. But it was no fun to be the dragon too little.

http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/hour-devastation-2017-07-26

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

So Bolas is a simpleton?

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

Some A+++ writing in todays story





http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/hour-devastation-2017-07-26

Trash.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Some A+++ writing in todays story





http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/hour-devastation-2017-07-26

This is the sort of thing I write in a first draft and go back to a paragraph later and delete everything because holy shit it's so awful.

 

[OnPoint]

Wow.

That's some of the worst we have ever seen.

 

[Joe Molotov]

A plan, charitably, could consist of kill the dragon. Or, you burn it, you zombie it, you elemental it, you illusion it, you block it.

Gideon, champion of blocking things to death.

 

[shockthrill]

The creator is coming back!!!

 

[Daedardus]

Some A+++ writing in todays story





http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/hour-devastation-2017-07-26

Nicol Bolas is that one gaffer who couldn't understand nepotism since he 'deserved' the job his aunt gave him.

 

[Zocano]

Gideon, champion of blocking things to death.

Wait is that seriously a line in there? What the fuck.

 

[Justin]

Wait is that seriously a line in there? What the fuck.

yes... yes it is.

Oh, they probably had a plan. A plan, charitably, could consist of kill the dragon. Or, you burn it, you zombie it, you elemental it, you illusion it, you block it. These were all, given enough leeway, plans. And plans of similar competence had served them well enough in their recent escapades. Nicol Bolas could appreciate efficiency. Why bother being smart when the Multiverse so conveniently conspired to keep your idiocy alive?

I think it is supposed to be tongue and cheek about how one dimensional the Gatewatch are but it is just bad.

I can only assume the person tasked with writing these also has like 100 other things on their plate but I really have no idea.

 

[SigmasonicX]

I'm only a third in, but I like the story so far. You guys are too harsh, let Bolas enjoy his fight.

 

[Violet_0]

the writers probably just work under the assumption that everyone who values competent writing has abandoned the story articles long ago

 

[Zocano]

Like I thought last week's story article was actually fairly alright and well written but this is just reading like a farce.

 

[Santiako]

I thought it was alright, I enjoyed their defeats, and I enjoyed Bolas being very theatrical, it fits him.

That bomb at the end though,

Spoiler

Ral Zarek is a Bolas Agent

.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Didn't he clash with Niv Mizzet? RTRTR showdown between the 2 over guild control.

 

[Violet_0]

Niv Mizzet eats

Spoiler

Ral Zarek

, becomes a planeswalker and joins the Gatewatch

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

There's a thread on reddit about a DQ at GP toronto and I'm once again baffled how judges defend both the no tolerance policy by Wotc but also the concession begging.
It doesn't dawn on them that the initiation is just as harmful as incorrectly trying to carry it through.

 

[red13th]

Ral Zarek?? Really? I hate WotC.

 

[DrArchon]

OK, this doesn't answer my biggest question though.

What does Bolas need an army for?

Bolas has one goal that we know of: Get back to being an old-walker. What place could he possibly invade would allow him to achieve that? And come to think of that, what place couldn't Bolas invade on his own? Even when he's not an old-walker, he's still Bolas and could probably do some serious damage to a plane if he wanted to.

Cool bombshell that

Spoiler

Ral Zarek is working for Bolas

. Hope it lead to the inevitable

Spoiler

Bolas vs Niv-Mizzet

showdown at some point.

 

[HK-47]

Truly the standards for magic's writing are as pathetic as ever

 

[OnPoint]

The story would have been so much better if they left all that Bolas stuff in the beginning out. It's pretty much the heaviest anchor ever and it just weighs the rest of the story down so hard.

 

[Zocano]

The story would have been so much better if they left all that Bolas stuff in the beginning out. It's pretty much the heaviest anchor ever and it just weighs the rest of the story down so hard.

Yah honestly the rest isn't that bad but that opening few paragraphs... woof.

 

[traveler]

I'm struggling to think of a Magic story with worse writing. You guys weren't kidding, wow.

 

[Justin]

Don't they write these months in advance?

 

[OnPoint]

Don't they write these months in advance?

I believe so.

Feels like they are done so without editing from a composition standpoint. Either that, or this is the "good" version. I'd hate to see the first draft if that's the case.

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

OK, this doesn't answer my biggest question though.

What does Bolas need an army for?

Bolas has one goal that we know of: Get back to being an old-walker. What place could he possibly invade would allow him to achieve that? And come to think of that, what place couldn't Bolas invade on his own? Even when he's not an old-walker, he's still Bolas and could probably do some serious damage to a plane if he wanted to.

Cool bombshell that

Spoiler

Ral Zarek is working for Bolas

. Hope it lead to the inevitable

Spoiler

Bolas vs Niv-Mizzet

showdown at some point.

Dominaria.

 

[Imperfected]

Eh, Wizards, you need some help?

I won't respect any of your lore if I don't like it, I won't push any of your products if they don't interest me, and I don't work well with designers who fancy themselves narrative creators. I can, however, form complete, coherent sentences and write a dragon in a way that doesn't make it look like his internal thoughts are instagrams.

Hit me up.

 

[Poppy]

wtf why ral zarek he was cool

 

[kirblar]

I believe so.

Feels like they are done so without editing from a composition standpoint. Either that, or this is the "good" version. I'd hate to see the first draft if that's the case.

They definitely have good writers and bad writers. Digges has been one of the good ones.

 

[Bandini]

Eh, the story wasn't too bad. A few cheesy lines for sure but it was nice seeing the Gatewatch get destroyed.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Chandra is dumb for being upset that Liliana left. She didn't have any other option because they were all too stupid to listen to Ajani.

Like there was no rational reason any of them didn't bounce as soon as they figured out Bolas was clearly like 30 levels higher than them.

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

Eh, the story wasn't too bad. A few cheesy lines for sure but it was nice seeing the Gatewatch get destroyed.

Humbled, sure. Destroyed? Not even close. Also, I guess Bolas' touch no longer causes madness.

 

[Joe Molotov]

Well, it's not like Ajani is a member of the Gatewatch. Why would they listen to someone that's clearly not in the Gatewatch?

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Well, it's not like Ajani is a member of the Gatewatch. Why would they listen to someone that's clearly not in the Gatewatch?

Sarcasm?

 

[DrArchon]

Dominaria.

I can see Dominaria being the mcguffin plane. Either that or Ravnica.

Oh God, what if his plan is to steal the magic of the Guildpact and use it to become more powerful?

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

I can see Dominaria being the mcguffin plane. Either that or Ravnica.

Oh God, what if his plan is to steal the magic of the Guildpact and use it to become more powerful?

You'd think he wouldn't let the Guildpact escape his clutches then.

 

[DrArchon]

You'd think he wouldn't let the Guildpact escape his clutches then.

Oh yeah, forgot about Jace.

Scratch that then. WotC's not as dumb as I feared they could be.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

jace only is the guildpact on ravnica. Whole story is fucking dumb btw and fun that his most powerful incarnation in the story made for one of his worst iterations in the game.

 

[DashReindeer]

One of my coworkers was kind enough to pick this up for me at Comic Con and ship the whole thing in a giant-ass box.

Now, I just have to go back and get last year's and I will maintain my complete collection.

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

jace only is the guildpact on ravnica. Whole story is fucking dumb btw and fun that his most powerful incarnation in the story made for one of his worst iterations in the game.

He's still the Guildpact wherever he is though and presumably could act as an access point to that power from wherever.

 

[Santiako]

A reminder that the pro tour is in two days, so pick up any cards you want for standard before then, since the prices usually rise.

 

[FreedomFrisbee]

Dominaria.

Only thing is, what in Dominaria is stopping an invasion? When we go back there will it have been built up again? The apocalypse and mending are still fairly recent. And would they really invade Dominaria a second time? The only reason this stands out as a prime candidate is because the only other one is Ravnica, and thats too popular to drastically change with an invasion storyline.

 

[Justin]

A reminder that the pro tour is in two days, so pick up any cards you want for standard before then, since the prices usually rise.

Anything stand out as undercosted at the moment?

I see Abrade is up over a dollar since when I bought a playset last week and if the RDW deck is popular Earthshaker Kenra could go up some. Maybe God-Pharaoh's Gift?

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Hour of Devastation if UR is the breakout deck.

Only thing is, what in Dominaria is stopping an invasion? When we go back there will it have been built up again? The apocalypse and mending are still fairly recent. And would they really invade Dominaria a second time? The only reason this stands out as a prime candidate is because the only other one is Ravnica, and thats too popular to drastically change with an invasion storyline.

was't dominaria pretty solid back after the medning?

 

[Tunoku]

I would have said Champion of Wits but that already spiked in value.

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

Only thing is, what in Dominaria is stopping an invasion? When we go back there will it have been built up again? The apocalypse and mending are still fairly recent. And would they really invade Dominaria a second time? The only reason this stands out as a prime candidate is because the only other one is Ravnica, and thats too popular to drastically change with an invasion storyline.

Burza, Urza's identical grandson. He's a Planeswalker AND a Phyrexian.

Spoiler

And totally green.