Liliana and Ajani do have portraits in the main D12 game, in some of the Archenemy puzzles. Liliana's portrait is the "throne" picture and Ajani's is the Vengeant version.
Just for note, it looks like Ral Zarek will only be in Duels of the Planeswalker 2012 and not an actual card
As of that printing, yes he is exclusive to duels 2012,
but so is Kiora.
And so was Nissa in the first duels.
Characters getting introduced in duels is but one of the tools of the product,
giving new players some continuity, and exclusive "history".
"Oh Ral, I remember playing against him, he's awesome,
Wait you don't and you've been playing for how long?
guess I don't feel bad about not knowing who urza is anymore"
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Nissa was a preview in the original Duels, but it was heavily advertised that she was a preview of a character in the Zendikar block. These new D12 planeswalkers have been given no such connection, and it has even been explicitly stated that they may not appear in card form for a long time. They can just make new characters for deck types that they want to put in the game, and keep them on file for if they need to include a new character at a future date. They may already have plans for when and where to use Kiora and/or Ral but they can just as easily have no intention of using them in the near future.
That said, Ral being from Ravnica he'll almost certainly be involved in the next block if that rumor is as accurate as we believe it to be. Kiora, not so much. Her status could go either way very easily.
Nissa was a preview in the original Duels, but it was heavily advertised that she was a preview of a character in the Zendikar block. These new D12 planeswalkers have been given no such connection, and it has even been explicitly stated that they may not appear in card form for a long time. They can just make new characters for deck types that they want to put in the game, and keep them on file for if they need to include a new character at a future date. They may already have plans for when and where to use Kiora and/or Ral but they can just as easily have no intention of using them in the near future.
That said, Ral being from Ravnica he'll almost certainly be involved in the next block if that rumor is as accurate as we believe it to be. Kiora, not so much. Her status could go either way very easily.
I think Kiora has a pretty good chance of being integrated into the actual game. I mean, they bothered to include her on the Planeswalkers poster with all of the other Planeswalkers.
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I expect with this [Transform] mechanic that everyone playing a Werewolf tribal deck will say "Autobots, rollout!" whenever the majority of their army transforms.
I think Kiora has a pretty good chance of being integrated into the actual game. I mean, they bothered to include her on the Planeswalkers poster with all of the other Planeswalkers.
See there is the part where I feel your argument falls apart.
There are only 2 planeswalkers missing from that poster.
Venser who's dead, and Bolas who is marketed as your big bad opponent for the game. When you "gather your allies" you grab everyone. To use the Justice League as an example you still call Star Girl, Green Arrow, Aqua Man even though they are really lame. That poster has ALL of the active planeswalkers who could fight against Bolas (Tez and Sarkkan are unlikely but they could).
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There's no proof she's being chased
by ninja squirrels either. - Dr. Wilson
See there is the part where I feel your argument falls apart.
There are only 2 planeswalkers missing from that poster.
Venser who's dead, and Bolas who is marketed as your big bad opponent for the game. When you "gather your allies" you grab everyone. To use the Justice League as an example you still call Star Girl, Green Arrow, Aqua Man even though they are really lame. That poster has ALL of the active planeswalkers who could fight against Bolas (Tez and Sarkkan are unlikely but they could).
The point is everyone else on that poster has been on a card but her. It therefore makes some sense for her to get a card as well.
The point is everyone else on that poster has been on a card but her. It therefore makes some sense for her to get a card as well.
Yes but everyone else on that poster existed before the game was released. She is a new character who may have been created simply for the game to fill the UG slot which didn't have a walker. None of the G walkers would make sense with U in their decks and the opposite is also true Why would Jace start summoning bears instead of drakes.
Back when we first heard about Nissa, she was also described as exclusive (even if it was qualified with "at the moment"), and the reveal that she'd be in Zendikar came later. So, that doesn't mean much.
Yes Nissa was quantified with "at the moment" meaning they were being cute about her showing up on Zendikar. With Kiora we have recieved the statement that she was made for duels and that we may or may not ever see her in a paper form. That to me means that there are no plans right now but they don't want to say never so they can use her if she fits a future block.
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There's no proof she's being chased
by ninja squirrels either. - Dr. Wilson
Yes but everyone else on that poster existed before the game was released. She is a new character who may have been created simply for the game to fill the UG slot which didn't have a walker. None of the G walkers would make sense with U in their decks and the opposite is also true Why would Jace start summoning bears instead of drakes.
Are all the other color combinations filled in the game?
See there is the part where I feel your argument falls apart.
There are only 2 planeswalkers missing from that poster.
Venser who's dead, and Bolas who is marketed as your big bad opponent for the game. When you "gather your allies" you grab everyone. To use the Justice League as an example you still call Star Girl, Green Arrow, Aqua Man even though they are really lame. That poster has ALL of the active planeswalkers who could fight against Bolas (Tez and Sarkkan are unlikely but they could).
...It wasnt really an argument, I was more just pointing it out than anything.
And I think Ral Zarek was left out of the picture because he hadnt officially been announced yet, and maybe he hadnt even been conceptualized yet when that poster had been commissioned.
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Quote from Ninja Caterpie »
I expect with this [Transform] mechanic that everyone playing a Werewolf tribal deck will say "Autobots, rollout!" whenever the majority of their army transforms.
They may already have plans for when and where to use Kiora and/or Ral but they can just as easily have no intention of using them in the near future.
No way. I'm quite confident they're both 100% locked down. There's absolutely no marketing synergy (or, really, any benefit whatsoever) to wasting slots in DotP on characters that are meaningless elsewhere.
I mean, think about it this way. Over the next two years (ISD block, M13, and Hook block) we are guaranteed to see 3-4 brand new planeswalker characters. Furthermore, 100% of those PWs who will appear in ISD block, and possibly those who will appear in Hook block, will be "ready for showtime" -- concepted, illustrated, and given a story background that'll come into play when they're introduced. So: why on Earth would you create a new character for Duels when these characters are sitting around, waiting to be used? The only purpose of Duels is to promote paper Magic, and any effort spent on it that doesn't assist in that process is wasted.
Well, it could be argued that the appeal of having some planeswalkers be exclusive would be to encourage you t obuy the game and see what they're all about~
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Currently Getting Back into the swing of MTGS. Bear with me folks~
I mean, think about it this way. Over the next two years (ISD block, M13, and Hook block) we are guaranteed to see 3-4 brand new planeswalker characters. Furthermore, 100% of those PWs who will appear in ISD block, and possibly those who will appear in Hook block, will be "ready for showtime" -- concepted, illustrated, and given a story background that'll come into play when they're introduced. So: why on Earth would you create a new character for Duels when these characters are sitting around, waiting to be used? The only purpose of Duels is to promote paper Magic, and any effort spent on it that doesn't assist in that process is wasted.
They could if none of the planned planeswalkers for the near future fit into the gameplay of the expansion. Repeating one of the planeswalkers already in the game is a lame option this early in (so no Garruk or Sorin). Liliana is a must to tie in to the upcoming block, and Ajani is also high-profile but still missing from the game. That takes up two of the three slots for opponents/new decks. If the remaining new characters for the next year or so don't fit into that remaining slot (too much overlap with an existing deck, too much overlap with the colors of the two other decks in the expansion) then why not create a new character who fits perfectly into that niche? A character who can be integrated into a future story when a space appears, rather than trying to shoehorn an already planned character into a game slot where they don't fit. Any new planeswalker characters made for Duels games will inevitably appear in the paper game, but it doesn't necessarily have to follow that the circumstances of their future appearance is set in stone at the time of their creation. They can add to the portfolio of possible characters to draw upon, fill holes in the video game as needed, and keep the audience buzzing with discussion and speculation about when so-and-so will appear (which is working quite well, obviously).
Yes but everyone else on that poster existed before the game was released. She is a new character who may have been created simply for the game to fill the UG slot which didn't have a walker. None of the G walkers would make sense with U in their decks and the opposite is also true Why would Jace start summoning bears instead of drakes.
Okay, then the statement below would most likely be false then, since they would have made new walkers to fit the missing spots as well.
Not false but simply maybe misunderstood
Guy 1: Hey I have an awesome UG deck for Duels 2
Guy 2: But we don't have a UG planeswalker to pilot it.
Guy 1: Should we use a legend again ?
Guy 2: Nah we can make a planeswalker and just work them into the story of the paper game later.
I'm guessing there was a need for a UG walker so one was created or taken from the gallery of walkers that are in the upcoming sets. The same could be said about Ral and the UR slot but if the return to Ravnica rumor is true then he is probably hinting at that. The deck could have come first and Kiora second.
Just because they have no real plan to use her for now doesn't mean we will never see her. It just may not be in the next year or two unless there is a hole in one of those sets that she can fill.
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There's no proof she's being chased
by ninja squirrels either. - Dr. Wilson
Not false but simply maybe misunderstood
Guy 1: Hey I have an awesome UG deck for Duels 2
Guy 2: But we don't have a UG planeswalker to pilot it.
Guy 1: Should we use a legend again ?
Guy 2: Nah we can make a planeswalker and just work them into the story of the paper game later.
I'm guessing there was a need for a UG walker so one was created or taken from the gallery of walkers that are in the upcoming sets. The same could be said about Ral and the UR slot but if the return to Ravnica rumor is true then he is probably hinting at that. The deck could have come first and Kiora second.
Just because they have no real plan to use her for now doesn't mean we will never see her. It just may not be in the next year or two unless there is a hole in one of those sets that she can fill.
I hope they make her a real card at some point! So far I've loved the non-Jace Blue walkers and a :symu::symg: walker/deck highly intrigues me.
Whether or not innistrad is a new plane or a revisit to Ravnica is irrelivant, Ral is a Planeswalker, and if any were to visit otherer city planes, it would be an Izzet. UB has been done, RU is the next logical choice for a dual color walker. BRU has been done with bolas, tezzeret was an agent, so i doubt Ral will be another Agent, Lil and Sorin, if He indeed appears again will be the only B walker(s), so by the looks of the artwork, lightning foremost, and the red sash secondly, would signify Red, and the clearly machanical storage device he is wearing as part of his garb is obviously an artifact of seemingly important power. That and the Blue also prevelant in his atire i feel strongly points to Blue. His overall apperance AND hair screams Izzet. But as with everything, call it wishful thinking. Hope im right, I need another reason to build an awesome UR deck. Pretty much I am busting waiting for every little shred of spoiler on Innestrad. Am I alone on any of this!!!
Whether or not innistrad is a new plane or a revisit to Ravnica is irrelivant, Ral is a Planeswalker, and if any were to visit otherer city planes, it would be an Izzet. UB has been done, RU is the next logical choice for a dual color walker. BRU has been done with bolas, tezzeret was an agent, so i doubt Ral will be another Agent, Lil and Sorin, if He indeed appears again will be the only B walker(s), so by the looks of the artwork, lightning foremost, and the red sash secondly, would signify Red, and the clearly machanical storage device he is wearing as part of his garb is obviously an artifact of seemingly important power. That and the Blue also prevelant in his atire i feel strongly points to Blue. His overall apperance AND hair screams Izzet. But as with everything, call it wishful thinking. Hope im right, I need another reason to build an awesome UR deck. Pretty much I am busting waiting for every little shred of spoiler on Innestrad. Am I alone on any of this!!!
Historically B/U has never been good unless it was combo. Counter burn just dosn't have enough cards to win. Perhaps he will be designed to change that axiom.
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Arrest this man he talks in math
The Tea Party is the working class fighting against the man fighting for the working class.
It's called EDH kids, there is no such thing as commander.
It is interesting to see the genesis of planeswalkers. We have the core developed for the paper card game.
We got Nissa through Duels, and now Ral and Kiora--pending these latter two released into the paper card game sometime, maybe.
Then we get an author-created character like Gideon, who WotC then decided to turn into a paper card planeswalker.
Then we have a character like Baltrice, who first appeared in Agents and then again in Test, but has not appeared in Duels or paper.
With the jumping of planes option Magic has taken, it is very likely we'll be seeing all of these planeswalkers in one fashion of the card game or storyline eventually...
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Dominian Scholar of the Old Guard, specializing in pre-revisionist (Armada comics) and revisionist (Brothers' War through Apocalypse)history
I hope they make her a real card at some point! So far I've loved the non-Jace Blue walkers and a :symu::symg: walker/deck highly intrigues me.
Oh same here, I love the idea of covering each of the different combination at some point, but I'm not in any rush. She's also a non-human walker which I think we really need more of. Ajani, Bolas, and maybe Sorrin and Nissa but they look so human it's hard to count them as non-human.
I played a UG multiplayer deck at one point that worked around Seedborn Muse and Arcanis the Omnipotent to drop a crazy number of spells each turn thanks to some early mana acceleration and my now huge hand. I don't know if Kiora would work with that deck, but i would gladly rebuild it if she did.
People seem to expect that just because we have been shown a planeswalker that means we are getting that person soon. This might be a learning chance for those people.
This member has been found guilty of ripping, and as a result he has been banned on this site. The MTGSalvation Staff wants to strongly encourage you NOT to trade with this member ever again in whatever situation might come up.
Spread the word.
At first I thought that this was stupid, but then I realized it might actually make sense. Maybe some of the Spirits didn't want to "pass on" in Ravnica, and wouldn't it be awesome if that was the storyline? Which could also lead into a return to Kamigawa.
Enough of that rambling. Stupid comment is stupid.
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"If you don't wear your seatbelt, the police will shoot you in the head."
- To my youngest sister when she was 6.
Everyone knows that good luck and good game are such insincere terms that any man who does not connect his right hook with the offender's jaw on the very utterance of such a phrase is no man I would consider as such.
They could if none of the planned planeswalkers for the near future fit into the gameplay of the expansion.
DotP and its expansions are effectively just big advertisements. There's no gameplay there except what they put in to promote the products they're selling in paper form. The decks in the first DotP are put together to match the flavor of the PW characters they're attached to, not vice versa, and I'm confident the decks in DotP12 are similar.
I'm seriously just deeply skeptical that any character would show up here that isn't already in the pipeline. This isn't like Gideon (who was a happy accident as a result of a novelist inspiring a new card); I'm very doubtful that there's specific Creative team work put into this game for two completely throwaway characters that might not ever show up elsewhere when there's no serious Creative team work anywhere else in the game.
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R Citizen Cane (Feldon of the Third Path)
I am a student game developer; Check out my stuff
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/other/081711a
--Jed
L5R or MTG, if it's got Samurai, Knights or Soldiers, it's all good as far as I'm concerned.
As of that printing, yes he is exclusive to duels 2012,
but so is Kiora.
And so was Nissa in the first duels.
Characters getting introduced in duels is but one of the tools of the product,
giving new players some continuity, and exclusive "history".
"Oh Ral, I remember playing against him, he's awesome,
Wait you don't and you've been playing for how long?
guess I don't feel bad about not knowing who urza is anymore"
Avid teacher of Magic to new players.
Flavor enthusiast, Storyteller, and Illustrator
Red Blue aligned Mage
I play limited, casual modern, and keep several standard decks on hand.
In process of writing articles about MTG as a subculture delving into it from a sociological standpoint. If you know of a mtg site looking for a column like that, please private message me. Thanks
That said, Ral being from Ravnica he'll almost certainly be involved in the next block if that rumor is as accurate as we believe it to be. Kiora, not so much. Her status could go either way very easily.
R Citizen Cane (Feldon of the Third Path)
I think Kiora has a pretty good chance of being integrated into the actual game. I mean, they bothered to include her on the Planeswalkers poster with all of the other Planeswalkers.
Amazing banners made by Brofaux.
See there is the part where I feel your argument falls apart.
There are only 2 planeswalkers missing from that poster.
Venser who's dead, and Bolas who is marketed as your big bad opponent for the game. When you "gather your allies" you grab everyone. To use the Justice League as an example you still call Star Girl, Green Arrow, Aqua Man even though they are really lame. That poster has ALL of the active planeswalkers who could fight against Bolas (Tez and Sarkkan are unlikely but they could).
There's no proof she's being chased
by ninja squirrels either. - Dr. Wilson
The point is everyone else on that poster has been on a card but her. It therefore makes some sense for her to get a card as well.
U/B Control
Yes but everyone else on that poster existed before the game was released. She is a new character who may have been created simply for the game to fill the UG slot which didn't have a walker. None of the G walkers would make sense with U in their decks and the opposite is also true Why would Jace start summoning bears instead of drakes.
Yes Nissa was quantified with "at the moment" meaning they were being cute about her showing up on Zendikar. With Kiora we have recieved the statement that she was made for duels and that we may or may not ever see her in a paper form. That to me means that there are no plans right now but they don't want to say never so they can use her if she fits a future block.
There's no proof she's being chased
by ninja squirrels either. - Dr. Wilson
Are all the other color combinations filled in the game?
...It wasnt really an argument, I was more just pointing it out than anything.
And I think Ral Zarek was left out of the picture because he hadnt officially been announced yet, and maybe he hadnt even been conceptualized yet when that poster had been commissioned.
Amazing banners made by Brofaux.
No way. I'm quite confident they're both 100% locked down. There's absolutely no marketing synergy (or, really, any benefit whatsoever) to wasting slots in DotP on characters that are meaningless elsewhere.
I mean, think about it this way. Over the next two years (ISD block, M13, and Hook block) we are guaranteed to see 3-4 brand new planeswalker characters. Furthermore, 100% of those PWs who will appear in ISD block, and possibly those who will appear in Hook block, will be "ready for showtime" -- concepted, illustrated, and given a story background that'll come into play when they're introduced. So: why on Earth would you create a new character for Duels when these characters are sitting around, waiting to be used? The only purpose of Duels is to promote paper Magic, and any effort spent on it that doesn't assist in that process is wasted.
Nope. There's no white/green, black/white, or green/black walker.
Done by Rivenor of Miraculous Recovery signatures!
They could if none of the planned planeswalkers for the near future fit into the gameplay of the expansion. Repeating one of the planeswalkers already in the game is a lame option this early in (so no Garruk or Sorin). Liliana is a must to tie in to the upcoming block, and Ajani is also high-profile but still missing from the game. That takes up two of the three slots for opponents/new decks. If the remaining new characters for the next year or so don't fit into that remaining slot (too much overlap with an existing deck, too much overlap with the colors of the two other decks in the expansion) then why not create a new character who fits perfectly into that niche? A character who can be integrated into a future story when a space appears, rather than trying to shoehorn an already planned character into a game slot where they don't fit. Any new planeswalker characters made for Duels games will inevitably appear in the paper game, but it doesn't necessarily have to follow that the circumstances of their future appearance is set in stone at the time of their creation. They can add to the portfolio of possible characters to draw upon, fill holes in the video game as needed, and keep the audience buzzing with discussion and speculation about when so-and-so will appear (which is working quite well, obviously).
R Citizen Cane (Feldon of the Third Path)
Okay, then the statement below would most likely be false then, since they would have made new walkers to fit the missing spots as well.
Not false but simply maybe misunderstood
Guy 1: Hey I have an awesome UG deck for Duels 2
Guy 2: But we don't have a UG planeswalker to pilot it.
Guy 1: Should we use a legend again ?
Guy 2: Nah we can make a planeswalker and just work them into the story of the paper game later.
I'm guessing there was a need for a UG walker so one was created or taken from the gallery of walkers that are in the upcoming sets. The same could be said about Ral and the UR slot but if the return to Ravnica rumor is true then he is probably hinting at that. The deck could have come first and Kiora second.
Just because they have no real plan to use her for now doesn't mean we will never see her. It just may not be in the next year or two unless there is a hole in one of those sets that she can fill.
There's no proof she's being chased
by ninja squirrels either. - Dr. Wilson
Ahhh, that's makes sense.
I hope they make her a real card at some point! So far I've loved the non-Jace Blue walkers and a :symu::symg: walker/deck highly intrigues me.
Historically B/U has never been good unless it was combo. Counter burn just dosn't have enough cards to win. Perhaps he will be designed to change that axiom.
We got Nissa through Duels, and now Ral and Kiora--pending these latter two released into the paper card game sometime, maybe.
Then we get an author-created character like Gideon, who WotC then decided to turn into a paper card planeswalker.
Then we have a character like Baltrice, who first appeared in Agents and then again in Test, but has not appeared in Duels or paper.
With the jumping of planes option Magic has taken, it is very likely we'll be seeing all of these planeswalkers in one fashion of the card game or storyline eventually...
Oh same here, I love the idea of covering each of the different combination at some point, but I'm not in any rush. She's also a non-human walker which I think we really need more of. Ajani, Bolas, and maybe Sorrin and Nissa but they look so human it's hard to count them as non-human.
I played a UG multiplayer deck at one point that worked around Seedborn Muse and Arcanis the Omnipotent to drop a crazy number of spells each turn thanks to some early mana acceleration and my now huge hand. I don't know if Kiora would work with that deck, but i would gladly rebuild it if she did.
People seem to expect that just because we have been shown a planeswalker that means we are getting that person soon. This might be a learning chance for those people.
There's no proof she's being chased
by ninja squirrels either. - Dr. Wilson
Spread the word.
At first I thought that this was stupid, but then I realized it might actually make sense. Maybe some of the Spirits didn't want to "pass on" in Ravnica, and wouldn't it be awesome if that was the storyline? Which could also lead into a return to Kamigawa.
Enough of that rambling. Stupid comment is stupid.
- To my youngest sister when she was 6.
DotP and its expansions are effectively just big advertisements. There's no gameplay there except what they put in to promote the products they're selling in paper form. The decks in the first DotP are put together to match the flavor of the PW characters they're attached to, not vice versa, and I'm confident the decks in DotP12 are similar.
I'm seriously just deeply skeptical that any character would show up here that isn't already in the pipeline. This isn't like Gideon (who was a happy accident as a result of a novelist inspiring a new card); I'm very doubtful that there's specific Creative team work put into this game for two completely throwaway characters that might not ever show up elsewhere when there's no serious Creative team work anywhere else in the game.