Magic the gathering

Magic: the Gathering - Kaladesh Renegades

Fellow Vorthos associate Wil Blanks shared on Twitter (with permission) the Aether Revolt poster and banners received by his LGS.

Magic: the Gathering - Thanksgiving Recipes

A very Happy Thanksgiving !  Some very witty and Planeswalker appropriate Thanksgiving recipes posted over on Wizards of the Coast Magic: the Gathering Twitter account.

https://twitter.com/wizards_magic

Turn 3 modern combo kill!

A friend told me about seeing this on Reddit.

How does it work?

Turn 1 - Altar of the Brood

Turn 2 - Liquimetal Coating

Turn 3 - Saheeli Rai, tap coating to make her an artifact, -2 to copy herself, legend rule the original one and keep -2'ing the copies to mill them out.

Magic: the Gathering - True Colors

White puts value in the group, the community, and its civilization as a whole. White’s ultimate goal is peace, harmony, and perfection — a world where everyone gets along and no one seeks to disturb the safety and unity that White had worked so long to forge. To govern and protect its community, White makes use of and puts value in a number of broad concepts; morality (ethics, religion), order (law, discipline), uniformity (conformity), and structure (government, planning).

Blue’s philosophy, like that of each color, is determined by its world view. To Blue, the world is opportunity. Within it, hide wonders and possibilities most fantastic: the stuff of dreams. Blue is characterized by the desire to know the world’s secrets and to make those possibilities real. The belief that dream can be reality - to which Blue holds fast - is belief in tabula rasa, the blank slate.

Black looks on the world and sees just a plain reality: Power controls. Power says who rules, and who dies. And whether the weak can see it or not, they are no more than slaves for the powerful. The essence of Black is to see one’s own ego as so supremely invaluable, that this prospect of enslavement, of subordinating that ego to another, is utterly inadmissible. So, to be in accord with its perceptions and beliefs, Black simply must discard all obligations but to acquire power for itself. It can be no less than the one supreme being who is subordinate to no other, the possessor of all power in the universe - it must become omnipotent.

Red looks on the world and sees adventure. Life is a chance to experience something - many things - and for Red, there is no more worthwhile endeavor than to enjoy life by the adventure it offers. Experiences are what life is about, and to appreciate the full range of life’s experiences, Red lives by emotion. What makes one laugh, what makes one cry, what one hates and what one loves, these make up what a person is. A person can look only to these, believes Red, to find one’s wishes and desires in life. Deny these, and life is meaningless.

You save someone’s life and, in return for your good deed, the universe grants you a unique reward. You must choose a number, and you will live exactly that many more years.

The number can be anything - whether one or one billion - and you will not die before that time. You can still experience pain. Your body will not age further than it currently is right now.

What number do you choose?

cards: sleeved

life pad: ready

Last week was the official announcement of The Art of Magic: The Gathering – Amonkhet, Viz Media’s fourth installment into their series of Multiversal art books. If you’re a Vorthos that’s interested in Magic art, lore, and world building, these books are must-have items for your collection. The incredible full-page art is supplemented by Creative team member James Wyatt’s stunningly detailed descriptions of the planes and their inhabitants.

Viz Media was even nice enough to give us a free wallpaper of the book’s cover, illustrated by Titus Lunter (@tituslunter):

Wowza! There is a lot to see here, so today’s article is going to unpack everything in this image, from big-picture concepts to gritty details.

Here Comes the Sun

Let’s start with the obvious: Amonkhet is ruled by Nicol Bolas. The same one who killed Ajani’s brother; enslaved Sarkhan Vol and Tezzeret; manipulated Liliana, Jace, and Chandra; orchestrated the release of the Eldrazi; (almost) killed Ugin; and loved every moment of every dark dead.

Bolas rules Amonkhet as God-Pharaoh, though apparently he hasn’t been around lately. The people of the plane participate in trials to five gods, preparing for their leader’s return. When will the Elder Dragon grace them with his presence again? The announcement holds a clue:

“[T]he Second Sun creeps across the sky, growing ever closer to the horns of the God-Pharaoh.”

Not a second sun. The “Second Sun,” which is clearly important. Confused? Me too. But check out the cover art again:

There are most certainly two suns in the sky. One is, in fact, very close to the big Bolas horns. This makes sense, as it’s a clear reference to the Gem of Becoming that normally floats there:

Gem of Becoming by Jack Wang

What will happen when the Second Sun aligns with that monument? I have no clue. Is it simply the signal of Bolas’s return, or is it the event that leads into the ominous second set of the block, Hour of Devastation?

Regardless of the outcome of the story, Bolas’s presence is clearly felt. He reigns as the God-Pharaoh of Amonkhet, and the people here clearly love him for it. Check out this fancy boat carved in his image:

First, this boat is hugeee. Like, big enough for a Dragon huge. Check out the tiny scale boats to the left of it. Then notice that there’s a whole building in the middle. This is likely a reference to the mythical solar barge the Egyptians believed the god Ra sailed on through the sky.

The Bolas horns also form a visual motif all through this art. Below, we can see them built into the sides of buildings, shaped on the headpiece of a staff, lined up in a decorative row on another building, and imbued into a patio wall:

In case you didn’t think that was enough, there’s another stealthy hint at Bolas’s supreme power. You know how the gem between his horns just hovers there? Look at the tops of the pyramids and buildings:

Look at the obelisks:

Notice anything weird? They’re defying gravity too. It’s a subtle nod to Bolas, but a nod nonetheless. Visually, it’s also a neat way of making Amonkhet feel magical and unique, not just a transplanted Ancient Egypt.

In his typical fashion, Bolas has completely infiltrated the culture of Amonkhet. He reigns as God-Pharaoh over the people, who toil away waiting for his return. But who are these people? What are they like? We get some clues about that too.

A Head Start

Other than humans, this piece of art shows four-to-five different humanoid species from Amonkhet. While anthropomorphizing animals isn’t new or unique in Magic, these beings have some traits that differ from previous humanoid races. Here’s what I noticed first:

This ibis-like aven has non-avian arms. They have no feathers. They have no talons. Those are otherwise normal human arms. It’s a clear shout-out to Ancient Egyptians gods, who were often depicted as normal humans with the head of an animal (In this case, wings too.) If you want to make an Ancient Egypt plane, it’s smart to pull from the thing people probably know most about the culture. In Ancient Egyptian culture, ibises were associated with the god of knowledge, Thoth. This being likely represents our Blue race.

But here’s the thing. Not all the humanoids in this piece are seemingly part human like this. Check out Mr. Anubis here:

We have the standard god theme of animal head on a human body. But notice how dark the arms are. Those are black arms, like the jackal head, not like a human skin tone. Why does the aven have regular human arms, but the ainok has arms more like its animal head? It might just be an aesthetic choice; it might have some diegetic meaning.

Also somewhat confusing is the relationship to Anubis, a god associated with death. When we saw the ainok on Tarkir, there were in Red, Green, and White. While it’s not impossible for them to be the Black race on Amonkhet, it feels a little bit weird. If true, I’ll be interested to see how they’re different than the previous incarnation of the race.

Not everyone in this image is a returning race, however. It looks like we have a newbie here:

WAKE UP, SHEEPLE. It’s a ram-headed person. And ram-armed. I don’t know why these arms are all different, but that’s obviously not as important as a new humanoid race. We’ve had an antelope-esque Minotaur before, but this is the first time we’ve ever seen sheepfolk in Magic.

It might seem weird to debut sheepfolk in Amonkhet, but the ram was the symbol of Amun, king of the gods. Amun is one of the most-worshipped Ancient Egyptian deities, making his governance over the divine a good fit for White. Sheep are also herd animals, already appearing in White in Magic. I think we’re looking at a new White-aligned race in sheepfolk.

OK, fine, I’ll talk about this person:

The crocodile head is clearly a reference to Sobek, god of the Nile, but size is the real detail here. This person is huge! And they have a fancy neck thing. And they have a fancy staff with the sun and Bolas horns. Is this one of the Gods of Amonkhet? Is this merely Amonkhet’s version of a Giant? And why are the arms and body just regular human again!?

I do like the styling on the crocodile head. It’s smooth and has flat colors, much like a hieroglyphic or papyrus painting. It’s a neat aesthetic effect that reflects an aspect of the source culture.

If you look closely, there’s one more mysterious figure in this painting:

From left to right we have a human, a jackal person, and something else. Is this another sheepfolk? The horns seem too wide for that though. Maybe just a person in a fancy hat? Maybe something else entirely? So many questions raised, but so few answers!

Walk Like an Amonkhetian

Our first real look at the Ancient Egyptian inspired world of Amonkhet is layered with beauty and intrigue. The fertile river delta will house a great city-state of Nicol Bolas, but what his plans are for the plane are unknown. We’ve seen some of the inhabitants, but what do they represent? How do they relate to the five Gods? Questions, questions, questions.

Magic: the Gathering - Deck Boxes

Some very cool deck boxes available from artifaxmod on Etsy.

When has being dead stopped him? When the powerstones left his body and merged with the Legacy Weapon. Without the stones he was just a decapitated planeswalker, one of the very few ways to actually kill an Old `Walker. Those eyes made him significantly more powerful than many other planeswalkers. But they were the final piece in destroying Yawgmoth. Since the Legacy actually fired, and Yawgmoth is dead, Urza sacrificed himself.

Not only that, his Spark was transferred into Karn as the sacrifice was made. Karn then became a planeswalker. But he lost the spark eventually. Probably fixing one of Teferi’s time/space holes on Dominaria that threatened to destroy the multi-verse. We know for certain that the spark was destroyed because Karn was being corrupted by the Glistening Oil. Which, if recent reveals by Wizards is to be believed, sparks can’t be corrupted.

Urza is dead. His powerstones are merged once again. His spark is gone.

You might argue that Ugin “survived”. But there was a difference. Ugin set up spells that would allow him to promote a thin connection to return. He and Bolas set up entire foundations of spells in front of one another as part of the Old `Walker Duel code. Ugin set up for it and was powerful enough to set down lasting time-travel enchantments. Urza did no such thing. He wanted to die. Besides. He actually couldn’t cast spells in his decapitated state anyways.

The Raven Man is not Urza. I’m not saying that the two aren’t distantly related. I’ve got theories on that stuff coming up soon. But that’s neither here nor there.

@chelsea-beleren-vess and I came up with the connection between Urza and the Raven Man to begin with. As far as I know, she and I were the first. I put up a post comparing the two images of Raven Man and Urza. Chelsea built the upon that comparison. Chelsea and I talked about this shortly after that, about how and what happened to Urza made the theory essentially impossible, but fun to think about. 

AGAIN. I’m NOT saying that Urza and the Raven Man aren’t connected. I’m certain something tenuous is there, but it’s not him. He is long dead. (And for the good of the multi-verse, he’d better stay dead. The man was a menace.)

Why am I so adamant about this? I’ve read the stories. Twice now. You do not want Urza to be alive or to return in any way. The man is dangerous in a way you really can’t understand until you’ve read all the books on him. I would venture to say he was as bad as Bolas is today. Except Urza would do things with the fanatical belief that he’s justified in it. Bolas knows he’s just being power hungry.

Urza is no hero. He did what he had to in order to save the multi-verse and we should be grateful. He made a lot of mistakes and paid for many of them. But second only the Phyrexians, no one else made the multi-verse suffer nearly as much as he did (except the Eldrazi) He deserves no awards or monuments. Maybe he should remain as memory to be grateful for, but not a hero.

There is a reason Urza’s name is a curse word on Dominaria.

If I sound angry, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to. Let me explain why I’m so adamant.

 1) Unrealistic expectations can hurt the way people interact with a new revelation. That’s why MaRo explicitly told us in plain words that there are no contraptions on Kaladesh.

2) You don’t want Urza back. At all. Period.

3) Very few people know anything about Urza anymore. If he’s going to enter the mainstream community again, we need to make sure the information we share about him to those that don’t know him is accurate.

4) Wizards would be making an awful mistake if they brought him back. He is done. He had far too many years of Magic dedicated to him and the Original Phyrexians. There is a difference between throwback and cheesy replays.

5) This theory, while cute, has no foundation. A lot of misinformation is going to be spread around to a lot of people are simply don’t know about it. The longer this issue goes unaddressed, the more people will be left confused and without the actual answer.

The closest Wizards has ever come to a “Back-from-the-dead” is Tezzeret. Jace tore off his arm, emptied his mind, and the nezumi took Tezzeret away for either torture of death, we don’t know. Even then, Bolas reconstituted Tezzeret’s mind from the echoes Jace had yet to learn to erase, and magically reunited Tezzeret’s arm to his body, and… I guess healed whatever damage the nezumi did?

And I agree. The important part about Tezzeret’s ‘death’ was that it was off-screen, so to speak. They mention later he died and was resurrected, but we don’t actually see it. Implied deaths are fair game, but Wizards tends to be careful not to kill off characters they want to re-use.

Magic: the Gathering - Commander 2016 Decklists

The full Commander 2016 set and individual decklists have now been posted over on the mothersite (linked here).  Nous allons dire à nouveau - a galerie des cartes Commander 2016 officiellement révélées est actualisée par ici.

http://mtg-realm.blogspot.ca/2016/10/commander-2016-full-spoiler.html