I personally don't find Heliod to be a villain either. Just an idea, if Ajani, who is now a GW member, may wish to continue a crusade against Heliod. Where did it say Gideon dislikes the Theros gods? Erebos I can understand, but did he really feel that way? Either way, the prophecy by Hazoret has interesting implications.
Its from episode 2 of Amonkhet:
"If I could feel such devotion again . . . He shook his head. How could I trust a god again?
The mission Heliod had set before him had led to the death of Gideon's closest friends, his Irregulars. The god of death, Erebos, had destroyed them with a flick of the wrist, punishing Gideon's hubris. The idea of putting his trust in such a divine being ever again felt like a betrayal of their memory."
Again, it makes no sense to me. Gideon tried to take on Erbeos alone, got his friends killed and somehow that means everyone in the pantheon somehow are unworthy of his trust and devotion just by being divine beings? Thats extremely shortsighted.
Yeah, I'm not sure about those sentiments either. Gideon destroyed his friends, not Erebos. Although to be fair, Gideon's entire mission was inspired by Erebos's actions with his titan - though even that can be justified by having to keep the natural order of the plane intact. In that, the dead belong in the underworld. So really, it's not adding up.
It would be sick if Gideon returns to Theros, hears of Elspeth and overthrows his father the way Zeus did and Chronos did before him. A common trope in Greek mythology.
Why would he want to overthrow Heliod? He doesnt even know Elspeth and so far Gideon hasn't shown any hatred towards Heliod. Ajani hates him obviously but Gideon is not a man to let personal grievances get in the way of what he perceives to be the greater good. The only reason he got involved in Kaladesh was because of Tezzeret. The one time he saw him and Heliod together, he became his champion and years later he was working for an interplanar organisation that bears a suspiciouly similar name ( I like to think that its common for Therans to have their names mispronounced by people in other planes XD)
Which is one of the reasons I found it strange when they suddenly threw in the fact that apparently Gideon is not a big fan of the Theros gods in general in the beginning of Amonkhet. It doesnt make much sense to me considering he has never met any of the pantheon except Heliod and Erebos. He has no real reason to hate the first (in fact if memory serves he was filled with awe and pride) and only some cause to hate the second (specifically for the circunstances that led to the attack on Akros. The blood of the irregulars is on Gideon's hands and no one else's.)
I personally don't find Heliod to be a villain either. Just an idea, if Ajani, who is now a GW member, may wish to continue a crusade against Heliod. Where did it say Gideon dislikes the Theros gods? Erebos I can understand, but did he really feel that way? Either way, the prophecy by Hazoret has interesting implications.
I actually think this may be in the current 7 year plan.
1. In the article "Tell me what you want" by MaRo, he states Return to Kamigawa is heavily requested, and at the end of the article states some of the listed requests are in the 7 year plan (which ones, we don't know).
2. From that list, we've seen Egypt World, Dinosaur World, Taigam, return to Dominaria and several other requests already get done.
3. Blogatog is bombarded with Kamigawa questions.
4. Kamigawa is a 7 on the Rabiah scale.
5. The shift to a block being as little as one large set at times is… intriguing. If they did Kamigawa for one large set, it minimizes the risk if it is a failure (unlikely if done right).
6. Chroma was re-done as Devotion and was a success - granted entire planes are more complicated.
7. MaRo asked what players would want to see if returning to Kamigawa - the results were evidently mixed, but still.
8. Kamigawa followed up the most broken set in MTG which was unfair to it. Innistrad-level strength and the right focus easily redeems it.
9. Tamiyo's popularity as a Planeswalker is difficult to dispute. She's probably among the most popular.
Agree regarding the Eternals being a major threat and how falling victim to god weapons of all things is hardly a shame, but reasonable and expected.
Gideon - I don't know though. This is the guy who whipped surral back and forth to hold off Ulamog the Infinite Gyre. Because you know, Annihilator be a pushover for Planeswalkers. How is Bolas the one to pierce his indestructibility and not Ulamog? Oh well, at least someone did. This will make some interesting story potential on Theros, where Gideon can begin to ponder just what he is. Not a god, as Hazoret both pointed out and demonstrated, and not quite a mortal, as his experiences with many encounters have shown. I suspect demigod as the son of the Sun, Heliod. Can't wait for that arc to be explored! And Gideon still thinks Kiora defeated Thassa :\ Some fishy propaganda right there.
It would be sick if Gideon returns to Theros, hears of Elspeth and overthrows his father the way Zeus did and Chronos did before him. A common trope in Greek mythology.
By the beard of Keranos you people are insatiable.
"We hate the Gatewatch. We want fewer planeswalkers, more stories about the people of the plane."
WotC: "K. Here ya go."
"No we still want it to be plot relevant!"
"We want the deaths to matter. Make us feel damnit!"
WotC: "K. Here ya go."
"Noooo! That's just grimdark for grimdarks sake!"
WotC: *exasperated sigh*
Seriously. This story was excellent. All the heartache of the people(except that first chick. She cray). They were fighting loved ones, friends, brothers in arms, heroes. The heartbreak was palpable.
No.
Last I checked, everyone was praising Hapatra's story.
The last time we got a story like this, it was Shadows over Innistrad. And everyone loved it. Feel free to find my post praising Emrakul Eises. Which was written by Kimberly Krienes no less - who we all bemoaned in BFZ.
In Emrkaul Rises we checked in on the utter devastation Emrakul was wreaking over Innistrad. Hal and Elena and Elder Kolman attacking them, Gisela and Bruna, the cultist Edith, Emrkaul herself, etc. We saw the despair and havoc everywhere.
Then we saw Jace and Tamiyo's reactions to Emrakul's arrival, and we saw Jace depart to retrieve the remaining Gatewatch, with Tamiyo remaining behind. The plot advanced, and we saw examples of Innistrad's state from local Legends.
This story was uninspired interlude filler with nobody characters. It broke from the momentum of delivering solid stories week after week. Remove today's article and literally nothing is lost from the overall arc. That's a sign of how relevant it was.
Wizards with Patron Wizard, Riptide Laboratory and Long Term Plans reprints are welcome. I will always play Azami EDH for Wizards. Kydele and Thrasios are amazing, but not for Wizard Tribal IMO. Wizards don't need a new general so much as better things to do than draw go, or at least, a few more interesting win conditions.
I agree Oketra being embalmed and Bolas's reaction to the girl wielding Oketra's arrows were interesting details. But what a waste of a story this week. This wasn't like Hal and Elena or Hapatra where anyone cares. If the plot advanced I'd be more interested in what we saw this week, but it cheapened these stories to know it didn't go anywhere. Splice them into something that goes somewhere and the reader would get more attached. As it is, this was just an interlude about nobodies.
It'll be annoying if we get literally everything relevant detail jammed into the very last story too.
Boring action interlude that doesn't advance the plot. Was hoping this week the Gatewatch would challenge Bolas, or we'd see what they're planning or how they've reacted. Guess that'll be next week? And they'll be defeated the week after before this series closes out.
My issue is that Zendikar, Innistrad and Ravnica (regrettably) are the three most popular planes, and two were trashed. Innistrad without Avacyn yet +1 Emrakul is a nightmare world for sure, now. They're always Game of Thones'ing every non-Planeswalker. Even the heavily requested Egypt World ended up being not Egypt but Bolas World, and hardly a world at all now. I can see how it's more like modern Egypt with archaeology of a lost world and all, but frankly, we never quite saw the Egypt it once was. We arrived on Bolas World. Egypt had a lot more to offer than what was delivered.
WOTC has been trashing a lot of things players like lately, so at this point I've basically accepted that every world we visit will be trashed. Including Dominara.
Zendikar - Trashed
Innistrad - Trashed
Amonkhet - Trashed
Return to Theros - Gonna get trashed
Dominara - guess
I like how you both actively avoided Kaladesh and added a completely made up end to a hypothetical return in the future in your list, just in order to make a point.
Not to mention that we don't know the fate of Ixalan, another block before we go to Dominaria, which has nothing so far that indicates a planewide conflict.
I didn't like Kalasesh <3 AER had strong cards tho.
I used to use Master of Waves, Rite and Archetype before as well. They're fun, but this deck is designed to be as efficient and cutthroat as possible. I could drop some counters for more draw power like Rhystic or Blue Sun, which I might do - but I am attached to most of them so IDK what to drop. Regardless, the idea is to be very efficient. Small, powerful wizards, infinite turns which I've used to bomb Planeswalkers, throw around unblock able Thassa, Lab Maniac, or just overwhelm with advantage. I had Psychosis Crawler but it's 5 mana and Paradox Engine is more fun.
They brought Richard Garfield to help on Dominaria set, and they will be using the new Test group. They are clearlly giving it special treatment and care.
I don't see how having Richard Garfield on the team influences the creative aspect in any way. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think he is all that involved in world-building or story-telling.
Well, the last set Richard Garfield was involved in was the original Innistrad, and that went on to be one of the most popular sets in Magic history card-wise and story-wise. Seeing Richard Garfield's name on the design team gets a lot of people's hopes up.
I didn't know he was on original Innistrad.
At this rate he needs to be on every team tbh INN, DA, AVR was the absolute best standard I have ever seen. The light tribal (I played Delver Spirits) was phenomenal.
WOTC has been trashing a lot of things players like lately, so at this point I've basically accepted that every world we visit will be trashed. Including Dominara.
Zendikar - Trashed
Innistrad - Trashed
Amonkhet - Trashed
Return to Theros - Gonna get trashed
Actually, this article is the entire problem. Neo-Nazis? Really? Way to buy into propaganda. And the Trump reference about "locker room talk" - way to push your political agendas on a card game forum and assume your opinions are the status quo, and the only right way to think. That's why everyone is sick of liberals and SJWs. Arrogance and ignorance. No one gives a damn bro, we're here for card games. Get over yourselves and off your righteous soapbox.
1. In the article "Tell me what you want" by MaRo, he states Return to Kamigawa is heavily requested, and at the end of the article states some of the listed requests are in the 7 year plan (which ones, we don't know).
2. From that list, we've seen Egypt World, Dinosaur World, Taigam, return to Dominaria and several other requests already get done.
3. Blogatog is bombarded with Kamigawa questions.
4. Kamigawa is a 7 on the Rabiah scale.
5. The shift to a block being as little as one large set at times is… intriguing. If they did Kamigawa for one large set, it minimizes the risk if it is a failure (unlikely if done right).
6. Chroma was re-done as Devotion and was a success - granted entire planes are more complicated.
7. MaRo asked what players would want to see if returning to Kamigawa - the results were evidently mixed, but still.
8. Kamigawa followed up the most broken set in MTG which was unfair to it. Innistrad-level strength and the right focus easily redeems it.
9. Tamiyo's popularity as a Planeswalker is difficult to dispute. She's probably among the most popular.
Thoughts?
Gideon - I don't know though. This is the guy who whipped surral back and forth to hold off Ulamog the Infinite Gyre. Because you know, Annihilator be a pushover for Planeswalkers. How is Bolas the one to pierce his indestructibility and not Ulamog? Oh well, at least someone did. This will make some interesting story potential on Theros, where Gideon can begin to ponder just what he is. Not a god, as Hazoret both pointed out and demonstrated, and not quite a mortal, as his experiences with many encounters have shown. I suspect demigod as the son of the Sun, Heliod. Can't wait for that arc to be explored! And Gideon still thinks Kiora defeated Thassa :\ Some fishy propaganda right there.
It would be sick if Gideon returns to Theros, hears of Elspeth and overthrows his father the way Zeus did and Chronos did before him. A common trope in Greek mythology.
Last I checked, everyone was praising Hapatra's story.
The last time we got a story like this, it was Shadows over Innistrad. And everyone loved it. Feel free to find my post praising Emrakul Eises. Which was written by Kimberly Krienes no less - who we all bemoaned in BFZ.
In Emrkaul Rises we checked in on the utter devastation Emrakul was wreaking over Innistrad. Hal and Elena and Elder Kolman attacking them, Gisela and Bruna, the cultist Edith, Emrkaul herself, etc. We saw the despair and havoc everywhere.
Then we saw Jace and Tamiyo's reactions to Emrakul's arrival, and we saw Jace depart to retrieve the remaining Gatewatch, with Tamiyo remaining behind. The plot advanced, and we saw examples of Innistrad's state from local Legends.
This story was uninspired interlude filler with nobody characters. It broke from the momentum of delivering solid stories week after week. Remove today's article and literally nothing is lost from the overall arc. That's a sign of how relevant it was.
It'll be annoying if we get literally everything relevant detail jammed into the very last story too.
At this rate he needs to be on every team tbh INN, DA, AVR was the absolute best standard I have ever seen. The light tribal (I played Delver Spirits) was phenomenal.
Zendikar - Trashed
Innistrad - Trashed
Amonkhet - Trashed
Return to Theros - Gonna get trashed
Dominara - guess