A farce would have focused more on Vraska's band of motley misfits.
A farce would had The Pirates in control at the end, with Vona's head impaled on a chandelier complaining and uselessly throwing out threats as the Pirates Partied
A farce would have had Emperor Generic Pants get stepped on by ZACAMA! just after he announced his intentions re-taking the city from the evil pirate scum without Huatli realizing it.
I wouldn't have minded that ending! Sounds hilarious, and it would've been very satisfying to see Emperor Strawman III get dispatched so unceremoniously. Would've been a better ending than what we got, honestly.
The Jace/Vraska scenes and Angrath were really the only parts of the story that I enjoyed, aside from the setting itself. I did like all of the factions conceptually, but I didn't care for how they were portrayed in the stories; the Sun Empire was too unambiguously good, the Legion of Dusk was too stereotypically villainous, the River Heralds were too bland and generic, and the pirates of the Brazen Coalition were portrayed as silly and mostly harmless comic relief (which is especially strange, since the cards portrayed them as being the most brutal and violent of the factions). And it's really a shame that they botched the actual battle for Orazca so badly.
Okay, I was just going over the interview again to find the face thing to quote for some other people who hadn't seen it and I came across something that may have been even more ridiculous
Angrath is the furious and tone-deaf patriarch,
Didn't Angrath come home to see his two FEMALE DAUGTHERS working the Forge, the Job that he does as a MAN..and doesn't seem to think one moment about it? Did he ever show one hint of caring about Gender in the entire time we saw him on screen? He seemed to treat Hualti with the same respect he would treat anyone else on the plane..which was zero because he hated the plane for very good reason.
Anyone have a clue how long Jace was on Ixalan? I seem to recall he spent a few weeks( at least two) on Useless Island and a few days at ses before Vraska stumbled upon him. And few weeks from then to find the Sun. So my count is somewhere between one and a half to three months.
Okay, I was just going over the interview again to find the face thing to quote for some other people who hadn't seen it and I came across something that may have been even more ridiculous
Didn't Angrath come home to see his two FEMALE DAUGTHERS working the Forge, the Job that he does as a MAN..and doesn't seem to think one moment about it? Did he ever show one hint of caring about Gender in the entire time we saw him on screen? He seemed to treat Hualti with the same respect he would treat anyone else on the plane..which was zero because he hated the plane for very good reason.
Anyone have a clue how long Jace was on Ixalan? I seem to recall he spent a few weeks( at least two) on Useless Island and a few days at ses before Vraska stumbled upon him. And few weeks from then to find the Sun. So my count is somewhere between one and a half to three months.
It was a couple of months, I believe. He spent at least a month alone on Useless Island, and then we don't know how long on the Belligerent with Vraska et al (but likely at least several more weeks, given that sailing isn't exactly the most expeditious method of travel, and they made a stop at High-and-Dry, which the official map places a good distance away from Orazca).
Haha, a farce. I knew it. I said earlier that the story reminded me a Disney and Vona was a buffoon. But the creatives should've said that from the beginning...
What I take away from both their farce statement and how the story was built-up/written is that the Jace/Vraska subplot was supposed to be dead serious, but everything around it was supposed to be comedy.
That's basically how I see it too. The plot about the Planeswalkers (Jace, Vraska, Azor, Ugin, Bolas, etc.) is a drama, and a particularly dark one at that. The plot about all the different factions squabbling over territory and wealth is a farce. And I don't even object to that in principle. A story with two plots that each have very different tones could be interesting, if it was done very well, but that kind of challenge isn't something I would expect the amateur writers on the Magic Story team to be skilled enough to pull off. Also, the nature of the story should've been made clear from the start.
It doesn't help that the cards portrayed the faction conflict as incredibly brutal and deadly for everyone involved. The vampires and the pirates had some downright gruesome depictions on the cards, and even the Sun Empire had its violent moments. Yet none of that seemed to carry over into the online stories, in which the conflict was portrayed as both much smaller in scope and much cleaner.
I think it was the worst story since a long time (for reference, Tarkir bloc was the peak quality and I enjoyed Amonkhet a lot.)
The story of Ixalan and Rivals seemed so removed from the cards.
The vilains (Vona, Kumena, AZor) where just pathetic, almost comic relief. We had pirates from Disney cartoon.
The cards depicted each factions fighting ea h other for the control in the city.
It did not feel like that at all in the story. Following The Race, it was more about 5-6 persons who keep stumbling into each other, almost by accident.
I enjoyed the long ark (Azor plot and Bolas), but these plot element were clearly decided a long time ago. The Ixalan dressing around this "Bolas vs Ugin plot spanning centuries", made the whole thing feel weak and of poor quality.
In a couple of year, Ixalan story will be mostly forgotten and looked like a low point.
Okay, I was just going over the interview again to find the face thing to quote for some other people who hadn't seen it and I came across something that may have been even more ridiculous
Angrath is the furious and tone-deaf patriarch,
Didn't Angrath come home to see his two FEMALE DAUGTHERS working the Forge, the Job that he does as a MAN..and doesn't seem to think one moment about it? Did he ever show one hint of caring about Gender in the entire time we saw him on screen? He seemed to treat Hualti with the same respect he would treat anyone else on the plane..which was zero because he hated the plane for very good reason.
I wouldn't have minded that ending! Sounds hilarious, and it would've been very satisfying to see Emperor Strawman III get dispatched so unceremoniously. Would've been a better ending than what we got, honestly.
The Jace/Vraska scenes and Angrath were really the only parts of the story that I enjoyed, aside from the setting itself. I did like all of the factions conceptually, but I didn't care for how they were portrayed in the stories; the Sun Empire was too unambiguously good, the Legion of Dusk was too stereotypically villainous, the River Heralds were too bland and generic, and the pirates of the Brazen Coalition were portrayed as silly and mostly harmless comic relief (which is especially strange, since the cards portrayed them as being the most brutal and violent of the factions). And it's really a shame that they botched the actual battle for Orazca so badly.
Didn't Angrath come home to see his two FEMALE DAUGTHERS working the Forge, the Job that he does as a MAN..and doesn't seem to think one moment about it? Did he ever show one hint of caring about Gender in the entire time we saw him on screen? He seemed to treat Hualti with the same respect he would treat anyone else on the plane..which was zero because he hated the plane for very good reason.
Edit : For even more lulz
Angrath's Marauders
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
So?
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
furious extremely angry.
tone-deaf unable to perceive subtle differences in atmosphere
patriarch the male head of a family or tribe.
What directly contradicts what we see in the story?
It was a couple of months, I believe. He spent at least a month alone on Useless Island, and then we don't know how long on the Belligerent with Vraska et al (but likely at least several more weeks, given that sailing isn't exactly the most expeditious method of travel, and they made a stop at High-and-Dry, which the official map places a good distance away from Orazca).
What I take away from both their farce statement and how the story was built-up/written is that the Jace/Vraska subplot was supposed to be dead serious, but everything around it was supposed to be comedy.
It doesn't help that the cards portrayed the faction conflict as incredibly brutal and deadly for everyone involved. The vampires and the pirates had some downright gruesome depictions on the cards, and even the Sun Empire had its violent moments. Yet none of that seemed to carry over into the online stories, in which the conflict was portrayed as both much smaller in scope and much cleaner.
The story of Ixalan and Rivals seemed so removed from the cards.
The vilains (Vona, Kumena, AZor) where just pathetic, almost comic relief. We had pirates from Disney cartoon.
The cards depicted each factions fighting ea h other for the control in the city.
It did not feel like that at all in the story. Following The Race, it was more about 5-6 persons who keep stumbling into each other, almost by accident.
I enjoyed the long ark (Azor plot and Bolas), but these plot element were clearly decided a long time ago. The Ixalan dressing around this "Bolas vs Ugin plot spanning centuries", made the whole thing feel weak and of poor quality.
In a couple of year, Ixalan story will be mostly forgotten and looked like a low point.
Patriarch doesn’t mean sexist.
JundBGR
RW Blood MoonRW
Pauper
Delver U
Elves G
Control B
Commander
Edgar Markov BRW
Captain Sisay GW
Niv-Mizzet, Parun UR
Tymna and Ravos WB