Here's most of the new art compiled: http://imgur.com/a/9cxp1
Look at all those tentacle shapes. Even in the sky. I think it's Emrakul again.
(But seriously that's just super pretty.)
This time it's definitely Marit Lage.
Here's most of the new art compiled: http://imgur.com/a/9cxp1
Look at all those tentacle shapes. Even in the sky. I think it's Emrakul again.
(But seriously that's just super pretty.)
It's getting embarrassing at this point.You guys are doing a good job making me want to read a Magic Story article for the first time. Considering the popularity of stuff like Force of Will and Weiss Schwartz, it appears that gamers actually LIKE trashy LN stuff!
Zendikar is amazing. I'm drafting it online as part of the flashback week and I already opened two Scalding Tarn, a Misty, two Arid Mesa and a foil Catacombs. Best feelgood set ever.Am I allowed to say that they half-assed three of their "return to" sets, even though Innistrad, Zendikar and Ravnica are pretty much my favorite sets. Scars wasn't too hot either since they created Infect, which is personally one of my most disliked mechanics. I hope they don't go overboard with all these return blocks, or else they might burn out on them pretty quickly.
The last couple of U/R cards were creatures that grow when you play spells, a crappy remand and a howling mine.Im ready for my standard izzet overlords.
Are they hoping if they just ignore the fallout on Innistrad we'll forget the plane is up a creek without a paddle?
This is the closest to a non blue vedalken, I'd say it's not completely out of the realm of possibilities.
And perfection should really not be attributed to blue.
Am I allowed to say that they half-assed three of their "return to" sets, even though Innistrad, Zendikar and Ravnica are pretty much my favorite sets.
What race do we think he is? A new race? It looks like he's made of aether and just has prosthetic skin. Elemental?
Dumb decision, when a creature type can bleed into another colour it can be that colour entirely on rare occassions.They've only bled creatures out of their tribe's primary color completely when they're spreading them out to support a tribal theme, which we won't have here. And they're more conservative on this for PWs than for creatures, almost certainly.
That's meaningless, every colour seeks perfection in their own form. Even if that is imperfection.Literally the entire deal with blue is it's the color that seeks perfection.
The State of Design article mentioned that Zendikar Expeditions was a big hit. I wonder if they got that news soon enough for them to do something similar in Kaladesh. Perhaps super rare reprints of artifacts, called Hall of Inventions or something.
What are some expensive artifacts they could reprint that aren't on the Reserved List?
Dwarves?
Dumb decision, when a creature type can bleed into another colour it can be that colour entirely on rare occassions.
Radha for instance could have been a mono red elf as a card going by the story.
That's meaningless, every colour seeks perfection in their own form. Even if that is imperfection.
Dumb decision, when a creature type can bleed into another colour it can be that colour entirely on rare occassions.
That's meaningless, every colour seeks perfection in their own form.
This is going to lead to someone posting Mayuri's rant on Perfection from Bleach at some point (one of the few high points after the initial few arcs.)
What conflict? Radha clearly considers herself Kheldon and only struggles in the sense of trying to be accepted as such by others. Literally the first thing Radha does is randomly stab Teferi.(Also, Radha really has to be red-green because that's what demonstrates her internal conflict between her Elvish and Keldon sides.)
Here let me respond for being called out on cop out answers by giving cop out answers. I really have little respect for what MaRo considers blue to be.http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/making-magic/true-blue-revisited-2015-07-20
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/120298696653/perfection-has-always-seemed-like-a-strange-word
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/124386750613/blue-desires-perfection-through-knowledge-but
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/106334918328/blues-ultimate-goal-of-perfection-bugs-me-its
etc.
As described Dovin fits precisely with this quality: he's interested in iteratively improving on things to make them work better and better over time, which is very much a goal that is exclusive to blue in the color pie.
What conflict?
He basically says Blue seeks improvement through outside means but colours it as them seeking perfection.
The way he describes is more in tune with black if anything since it's greed to strive and strive never content with the results.
Completely blanking on that right now. But reading up quickly on mtg salvation it even mentions her green mana being reignited or something and how that changes her.It's not like the Time Spiral story is approximately any good, but she specifically gets a character arc about abandoning her bloodthirsty ways to unite elves and humans into a community that works towards constructive ends.
Green is into perfection it seeks perfection through natural selection and evolution. When blue becomes involved it seeks perfection through artificial mutation.Which is... exactly what that is? Green isn't into perfection, it embodies the "warts and all" philosophy with its take-nature-as-it-comes thing. Red isn't into perfection, it's about embracing chaos and the whims of the moment even when they're destructive. Blue specifically thinks you can take anything and improve it; both ideas (that anything can be improved, and that iterative improvement is fundamentally a good thing) are unique to blue in MTG's color pie, and that's what's being captured in the word "perfection" here.
Nah, black is selfish which is a very different thing. A mono-black character might strive to be the most powerful or most dominant (like, say, Ob Nixilis), but that has nothing to do with perfection -- it's just about power and personal convenience. You do see a type of calculated ambition that involves dominance through absolute skill or capability -- in Dimir, where the black ambition and the blue perfection come together in one place, and to a lesser degree in Sultai and Grixis.
I'm glad they're not afraid to use Vedalken and stuff more, but I wish they wouldn't be as conservative about introducing new races. Do we really need Elves in our fantasy India when a new more setting appropriate race might fit?
Kaladesh HYPE jesus, so pretty.
I'm glad I'm waiting on Conspiracy 2, Recruiter is down to $22, Show and Tell $25, Daretti $12, I think I'll buy them next week. Birds dropped to $4!
Also why can zombies be blue but elves not red?
Green is into perfection it seeks perfection through natural selection and evolution.
It's the colour that seeks improvement through artificial means.
That can be perfection for Black, phyrexians were black centric, they sought perfection.
My point was that seeking perfection through improvement and upon reaching perfection trying to improve further, as MaRo described, is greed which is generally a black attribute.
I'm glad they're not afraid to use Vedalken and stuff more, but I wish they wouldn't be as conservative about introducing new races. Do we really need Elves in our fantasy India when a new more setting appropriate race might fit?
The Consulate, and Ghirapur in general, sounds almost exactly like my pitch for a WUR wedge society back when I was brainstorming wedge cultures. Highly organized, deeply curious, and boundlessly creative
Okay we can meeting halfway on something at least. The only thing left is to argue whether Planeswalkers ascribe to the same rules as tribal creatures in that aspect.Elves can be red just fine in a block with a ton of elves that explicitly sets up a red/green elf tribe. They could do that on a return to Dominaria specifically with Radha's tribe of Keldon elves and have mono-red elves in there. Just not as a single one-shot character when making her red/green multicolor conveys the character and story more effectively.
Green specifically, explicitly isn't into things becoming perfect; it's into the natural process. Evolution can make living things better over time, but it's destructive and has dead ends and it produces beings that work well in their environment rather than ones that are perfect on their own -- a super-predator that can't be killed and hunts everything else to extinction isn't green at all.
No, through any means. Blue is the only color that cares about improving things in general. White is in favor of order, which means it prefers stasis to disruptive improvements; black doesn't care about anything but its own whims; green goes with the flow when it's good and when it's bad; red changes its mind frequently and doesn't believe in "perfection" because what's good for its current preferences changes alongside.
Hence I said black centric.Classic Phyrexians are written as a blue/black villain even though the cards don't reflect that.
Disagree with all of that except the open sourcing. That isn't at all reflective of blue at all.No, not at all. Blue wants everyone and everything to improve. Blue will improve the stuff it personally interacts with (like its environment and body) because it wants that environment to be in harmony with its philosophy, but it'll improve other stuff too. Open-source software is definitively blue, for example -- something where you improve something via iteration, develop collective knowledge, and then share your discoveries with anyone who wants them.
They just did naga last year and I don't blame them for not jumping on the idea of ape-people.
Yeah, Ghirapur is what a WUR wedge society looks like when you don't have to artificially exclude artifacts.
Place with a Caste system issue has Dwarves?
From Soul Eater to Dragon Age.
Ah, that's the next best thing to a return of the only true Phyrexia, the Hell of Artifice where demons and gremlins treat the artifacts they kidnapped as sinners to be tortured. All the later retcons, the Giger and Brom knock-offs are nothing but shams!Also, he curbed a Gremlin infestation (are we getting gremlins in Kaldesh?!)
Calling it now. A new Sword of __blank__ and __blank__ is coming
Maybe when we get back to New Phyrexia.Calling it now. A new Sword of __blank__ and __blank__ is coming
Wait this Kaladesh stu-
I just really love Equipment you guys
No it's because Stoneforge + Batterskull is gross and unfun. Would be nice to get new good equipment though.Yeah, I thought the reason Stoneforge stayed banned in Modern was so that we could get some new cool equipment, but there essentially hasn't been anything good since Scars block. Really hope we get something good in Kaladesh, but recent experiences make me doubtful.
Dwarves confirmed for Kaladesh per Maro's tumblor
Okay we can meeting halfway on something at least. The only thing left is to argue whether Planeswalkers ascribe to the same rules as tribal creatures in that aspect.
Different means, same goal.
Blue is just as destructive (self mutilation with artifacts, stitchers, etc.) and dead ends aren't anything special.
See that I can't agree with at all. Blue is seeking improvement through exclusively outside means.
They don't seek it though evolution/adaption nor through self reflection/asceticism/enlightenment.
Improving things in general is way too broad a description. You don't see blue mages cleaning the street. You don't see blue mages healing the sick. You don't see blue mages painting murals.
Disagree with all of that except the open sourcing. That isn't at all reflective of blue at all.
StoneForge's Ban is completely pointless, because equipment sees 0 play in Modern without her.
You guys think Mono W Humans are still viable in standard post-Eldritch Moon?
I see the point, I could nitpick 1 or 2, but you're right.Every non-human planeswalker printed to date includes their species color in every incarnation: Tamiyo is always blue, Arlinn is R/G, Nahiri is always white, Sorin is always black, Nissa is always green, Kiora is always blue, Ob is always black, Ajani is always white, Xenagos is R/G, Vraska is G/B, Bolas is red, Tibalt is red, Karn is colorless, Daretti is always red. It would be way weirder for a PW with a specified race to be printed in colors not associated with that race, especially because (unlike a creature) you can't rely on the type line to make that association for you.
Perfection does not necessitate artifacts nor does destroying them contradict seeking perfection.No, again, explicitly not. Green is all about stuff getting old, being prey, dying. Mulch, Irresistible Prey (and Sacred Prey), Death's Presence are all green spells. Green gets to destroy artifacts because they're an affront to the natural order and so it doesn't want them perfected, it wants them to break down and rust away back to a natural state. Hell, it literally has a destruction spell called Natural State.
Nothing in this paragraph negates seeking perfection.
Yes it is, green operates by stuff has to die for others to thrive and evolve. Blue operates by the flesh is weak and has to be culled as much as possible (for esper and mirrodin at least). Both cases you're destructing components to improve a lifeform.Neither of those things is destructive. Changing your body with artifacts is just cybernetics; blue does it because it can produce a better body. Stitchers take stuff that's dead and artfully construct it into new, functional forms, using knowledge and learning to improve their craft. Again: not destructive, iterative improvement.
No that's usage of the mind through their acquired knowledge.What about all the card drawing spells? The bog-standard blue card draw is named something like Concentrate, Foresight, Enhanced Awareness, Ponder -- improvement of the mind through purely internal effort.
Now you're taking a wedge design about monks to make a point when that's an outlier and stretching of the colour pie more than anything.Mystic Meditation, Thought Reflection, Monastery Loremaster (and a ton of other Jeskai blue cards), etc. It's true that asceticism is more green in MTG since it's about eschewing civilization for the life of the natural world.
All of those are still improvements to their current situation, hence the issue with drawing such a broad stroke for blue. It can be argued it's just a restoration.Cleaning the street is white because it's not making something better, it's maintaining order and cleanliness in something you already have. Ditto healing: it's white because it's taking a system that exists and repairing damage to it. Painting a mural for no reason is pretty much artistic expression for purely its own sake which isn't mono-blue but it does tend to fall into U/R.
When did I say wanting everyone and everything to improve is black?I mean you decided that this stuff that's explicitly black according to the actual color pie people is blue and therefore this other stuff can't be blue even though it's all a really straightforward fit with how blue is described. We're learning about Ghirapur right now and it's a hella blue society that's all about improving technology for everyone and letting inventions and discoveries be used by the whole populace.
Jesus christ that was bar-none the most painful MtG story article I've ever read.New story "Homesick"
tl;dr - The Gatewatch has made Jace's house in Ravnica their home base, Baan comes to ask for their help, they refuse, Chandra and Lili planeswalk away to Kaladesh, Nissa and Baan follow.
About half of the story is showing you how cute they all are, it's weird.
This too.Not going to lie, racist, cocky, dark queen Nissa >>>>> flower child Nissa
Blue operates by the flesh is weak and has to be culled as much as possible (for esper and mirrodin at least). Both cases you're destructing components to improve a lifeform.
Stitchers mutilate corpses, destructive, to create a new form they deem improved.
There's also tinker, reshape, fabricate,... type effects.
All of those are still improvements to their current situation
Some further examples. +1/+1 counters, White and equipments matter, black and immortality through various means,...
You guys think Mono W Humans are still viable in standard post-Eldritch Moon?
not all but most of it I brought this up and specifically mentioned esper because that is self mutilation. I didn't start with the destructive, you brought it up to argue against Green's perfection through evolution and mutation that has been my argument.Blue has never been the "all flesh must be purged" color outside Phyrexia; that's actually the big contrast between Mirran and Phyrexian blue in SOM block. Stitchers cut up corpses (aka garbage) to make things that are animate and useful. Once again I'm kind of at a loss for how to respond when your argument is stuff that you just invented out of nowhere.
MaRo's and your argument is Blue tries to improve everyone and everything, which would make all improvements at least partially blue. I must have missed when blue is the colour of perfection has been in any way very specific.Which is not what we're talking about. Perfection and improvement mean very specific things here. You might as well argue that because "every color wants to stay alive" that life isn't a green thing, or that because "every color wants to follow its own law" that law isn't a white thng.
but blue is the colour of perfection through improvement anyways, even if they don't ever intend to reach perfection because all that makes sense.Yes other colors aren't literally banned from ever improving anything in any context.