Me too. I just wish Bolas wasn't painted as such a hand-wringingly "evil" character. Or at least, seemingly so, I can't read the actual stories because they are so poorly written (yes, I am a literary snob).Originally Posted by Cire
Moral certainty is a pestilence.
"The Ancients teach us that if we can but last, we shall prevail."
—Kaysa, Elder Druid of the Juniper Order
You know, I thought exactly the same thing when I saw the card. And, of course, the next thought is that no one plays Needle Specter, so...That would make great Needle Specter #5 or more.
But, honestly, I like the idea of a 2B creature with this ability way more than I like it on a 1BB. Flying is better evasion, but the casting cost is universes different. At 1BB you're not disrupting quickly enough without a Dark Ritual. At 2B you very well might be able to deploy it on turn 2 with some acceleration, and in a deck that only has to splash black.
I'm not optimistic about this card, but I can see reasons why he might actually get there when Needler never did.
I mean, I don't see how you portray a character whose modius operendi has recently been "Find a Universe to Eat" as being sympathetic. Does he have a clutch of baby bolas's somewhere?
Well, I mean, that's the point, you can't. The story is devised to evoke moral certainty. That is why the story holds zero interest to me.
"The Ancients teach us that if we can but last, we shall prevail."
—Kaysa, Elder Druid of the Juniper Order
I don't really care about the moral certainty - but I was/am bitter that all three Eldrazi Titans were so easy to defeat. The other big threats (Bolas and Phyrexia) should at least make them work for it.
They should pull an Aeris and just kill one pw of the guildpact off. Then 6 years later use a revive.
Chandra, Infernal Climax
RRR
-1: Burn
+1: Burn
-10: Sacrifice Chandra, rip it to shreds, destroy target PLAYER!
Look, Needle Specter has been running rampant in legacy for yearsThat would make great Needle Specter #5 or more.
[good to know that he's worse than I thought]
My hope is that the next guildwatch cards aregoing to be wildly different than their other cards because of their defeat. . . Jace is apparently a castaway in Ixian doing illusion magic; maybe Gideon will no longer turn into an indestructible fighter; maybe Chandra's fire has gone out; etc.
It is, but don't neglect the fact that the new dork is 2B. I think that's got upside specifically because this kind of effect is so much better when it happens earlier in the game. If you could consistently resolve this effect on turn 1 with pump, that's game.Look, Needle Specter has been running rampant in legacy for years
[good to know that he's worse than I thought]
Does it have enough upside to make this new one playable...? Probably not, honestly, but it's something.
That's fine, I'm not condemning people for reading it really. But for me that is the least interesting sort of story to tell.
Good guys that are good, just because.
Bad guys that are bad, just because.
I want stories that question and lead me to question. Anything else really isn't worth my time. I want complexity. That's why I play Magic and not checkers.
"The Ancients teach us that if we can but last, we shall prevail."
—Kaysa, Elder Druid of the Juniper Order
To be fair, WotC isn't trying to cater to you H.
They are putting story content on the web for free. And you're getting what you paid for.
I cannot read that garbage either...
You know, I think WotC's storytelling is pretty much high fantasy schlock, but let's give them a LITTLE credit. The characters do have some motivation. It's not "just because."
Good Guys:
Gideon is a Lawful Good paladin, so, well, he's just always going try to do the good thing. He's the only 1-dimensional character of the bunch, and even so WotC tries to give him a bit of an arc with respect to his relationships with Gods and his concern about his ultimate destiny. I think they're going for "tragic hero" here, and he's going to refuse to change even as he needs to, getting himself killed in the process.
Jace, Chandra, and Nissa all really came together because the Eldrazi made them pee their pants and they really want to work together against threats of that magnitude. This works for them, I think, at least in the short term.
Liliana has a very detailed motivation for working with the others, since as Black, she has least reason to do it. Help killing her demons, basically. I'm interested to see where they take her once she accomplishes that goal, but for now its fine.
Bad Guys:
Phyrexians: An experimental AI gone wrong, basically. They were an arm of Yawgmoth being used to reshape the universe in his idea of perfection, but when he died, his system just ran amok. Think "grey goo." I'm not a fan of the "oil" being the way it spreads, but beyond that, they're fine.
Bolas: He wants his Old Walker power back -- who can blame him -- and all that WotC has come up with as far as a way he can do this is eating planes. (Alara, Amonkhet, etc). Contrived, maybe, but at least it's consistent - Eldrazi fuel their nightmare tummies by eating them, so there's some kind of energy there to be had. And, sure, he has a sadistic streak, but even that kind of makes sense. He was a lord of Dominara back in the old days -- I imagine like the brutal early human cultures like Assyria -- and since then he's been in a constant fight with people who want to banish his spirit from his body or make him a not-God or whatever.
Eldrazi: They eat worlds to sustain themselves, apparently. I say apparently because they seem to be very bad and slow at this so far. I wish Shadows had resolved with Emrakul having dinner (showing what they can actually do) and then wandering off into the Blind Eternities. Nevertheless, the motivation seems clear: food.
Comes and goes. The prior stories were pretty bad, but the Amonkhet one actually is not terrible.To be fair, WotC isn't trying to cater to you H.
They are putting story content on the web for free. And you're getting what you paid for.
I cannot read that garbage either...
I think the new frames are classy. Legacy though, so I don't actually care.
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."
"Politicians are like diapers. They should be changed often and for the same reason."
"Governing is too important to be left to people as silly as politicians."
"Politicians were mostly people who'd had too little morals and ethics to stay lawyers."
You should all be glad about that,To be fair, WotC isn't trying to cater to you H.
Oh, no doubt about that, although technically we are all paying for it by buying product,
Alright, I mean, as I said, there is no way I would ever have read through enough of it to find all that out, so I appreciate your condensing it.
I mean, I actually like the Phyrexians and their motivations, I even read those books, all that time ago. But the rest of the "bad guys" are pretty one dimensional. It's not specifically bad, in the overt sense, but it sure isn't good to me in any way.
But worse are "good" guys who are just good because the other guys are bad. I mean, obviously devouring worlds is bad, so obviously we must stop them, so obviously we are the good guys. I mean, sure, that makes sense, but there is nothing there that compels me. There is nothing there at has me curious, or interested. It's just a case of "how will the good guys pull it off this time!"
I am old and I've read tons of that in my time, I am through with it. I can read LotR for that and the writing quality is, conservatively estimated, a zillion times better than what Wizards would ever make. Reading a story that isn't very interesting, isn't compelling and isn't even well written is pretty much not anything I'm interested in devoting my limited free time to.
"The Ancients teach us that if we can but last, we shall prevail."
—Kaysa, Elder Druid of the Juniper Order
Comparing literally anything in the fantasy genre to Lord of the Rings is just asking for trouble. ;)
There are things that can compare, depending on what you are looking for. A Song of Ice and Fire (before Martin just lost his way) and The Price of Nothing (and Aspect Emperor) do a pretty good job painting rich worlds that are moralistically more complex than LotR. Of course that's the point though, you aren't really going to outdo Tolkien at his own game, best to set up shop in the next town over.
I get that part of the role of fantasy is the allure of the fantastic moral certainty, I'm just saying that simplistic things like that don't really appeal to me in my old age.
I get it, I just don't really like it.
Of course, a "darker," more "realistic" (i.e. moralistically complex) story line would not appeal to the vast majority of Magic players though, so it's not as if I can really fault them for the contrived, slap-stick plots and so the relatively poor quality of writing.
"The Ancients teach us that if we can but last, we shall prevail."
—Kaysa, Elder Druid of the Juniper Order
Malazan is also supposed to be pretty good; though I hear the first book is a slog.
Now THIS is a sweet card. Dark Depths anyone?
Yeah, I was going to mention that too, but damned if I could ever get through that thing, even though I tried many times.
EDIT:
Wow.
Not sure that is actually good, but it sure is interesting...
"The Ancients teach us that if we can but last, we shall prevail."
—Kaysa, Elder Druid of the Juniper Order
Certainly interesting. Very obvious interaction with dark depths. In RG Lands you can copy Mox Diamond (hah), but more seriously can copy Exploration for the land drop, then copy Maze of Ith to hold off attacks. Or copy opposing creatures (goyf, DRS, Delver, Knight Reliquary) to trade/get utility (mother of runes your Marit Lage past defenders), or just copy a creature, block, then revert to a land.
Can copy a Show and Tell card, and as long as its not Omniscience you can likely swing next turn.
And uh, what happens when Thespian's Stage copies the Mirror copying a land?
Very mana intensive and plays with Dark Depths. Sounds like a Lands card.
Of note is that it can only be activated once per turn.
Edit: You could use it along with Culling Scales. When you've wiped the rest of the board, target the mirror with Scales, then response copy a land. Ability fizzles.
"Until end of turn" kills a lot of its use.
It is better to ask and look stupid then keep your mouth shut and remain so.
I hope your afterlife is filled with eternal torment.
Fuck. Which one of my quotes do I drop for this?
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