Hah, spotted the Vigor. Wonder if the red-glowing bull on the left is also a cameo? The horns are reminescent of Ox of Agonas but nothing else matches.
So... did they spoiled on day 1 of spoilers that Oko beats Akul?
The story has already concluded that particular plot point. Wizards specifically publishes the stories a couple weeks before previews start specifically so that the cards don't spoil the story.
So how did Annie not see through Jace's original illusion? I guess she has to manually activate her sight? Still feels a bit weird that there's specifically a character on the team who can see through illusions and she doesn't. Like, huh? That seems like the reverse of a red herring, making the reader believe something can't be the case by specifically ruling it out only for it then be the case without explanation.
I just hope Jace and Vraska's plan doesn't unleash a new big baddie on the multiverse. The fomori don't seem like the chillest of guys. Imagine trying to fix stuff and accidentally making matters worse. Oops.
And wow amazing how waiting for the later chapters explained the motivations of the crew, who could have seen that coming.
Given the track record? Nobody. Have people already forgotten the writing of ONE and MOM? And honestly Caverns of Ixalan too?
Also they weren't explained for all characters. A tiny bit of faith restored (plus the fact they didn't completely forget about Amalia) but not much, to be honest.
So, Wizards specifically posts the stories before spoiler season starts so that the previews don't spoil the story and you find it appropriate to post a story spoiler in a non-story thread without marking it as such?
I agree that it probably has to do with the offspring mechanic making token copies (maybe even the 1/1 part)
Ohh, I think you might be onto something. Kind of like how embalm creates a copy but changes some characteristics around, this mechanic creates a copy but makes it 1/1. Looking at the art, the bunny does look a bit like a child, like the weapon and clothes are too big for it.
I don't get why they marketed the set as one full of villains when half of them are just random legendaries. Getting Ikoria, Lair of Behemoths flashbacks.
Did they market the set as a villain set or is that just something MaRo (who has previously fed false hopes/expectations through unfortunate word choices that actually don't appear in any "proper" marketing i. e. anything that doesn'toriginate from blogatog) stated? there is a >50% chance you can trace misdirected hype back to blogatog from what I have observed whenever I actually research where it originates (this includes, btw, Ikoria - though the special Godzilla-themed card versions didn't help).
So, you actually have a point. I don't remember where exactly the "villain" part came from. I think it was from the preview panel: I'm preeeeetty sure that they said that they wanted to do a "villains of the multiverse" set. Maybe that was only the starting off point and they moved to "characters of the multiverse" down the line once they realised an all-villain cast is not only boring af but also probably not very color balanced or diverse in terms of types of characters. Who knows.
At any rate, it's something that shows up time and time again, so I think there was some sort of miscommunication happening somewhere.
However, big disagree on Ikoria. The name of the set was literally "Ikoria - Lair of Behemoths". This did not come from blogatog. The expectation was on the product itself. And it keeps showing up whenever Ikoria shows up in the story. It's definitely marketed as a kaiju world, if not by literal marketing, then still by whoever presents the product at any given moment.
They literally made individual tokens for squad the first time they used it. My assumption is that they expect you to use it the same way I do: One token card and abunch of beads/die to represent the multitude of tokens.
Those products weren't randomized though, but pre-constructed decks. There you can give out as many tokens as the deck needs.
Another thing that doesn't sit right with me in this case is just the flavour of the card itself. All cards with squad are concepted as creatures that make natural sense of have multiples of. However, this card is called "Warleader". How does it make sense for a card called warleader to come in groups most times you cast it?
I know, I know, Magic has been kinda hit-and-miss with individual card flavours, but looking back at squad cards, it doesn't mesh with the expectation.
All I'm saying is, everything we see here doesn't point towards something like squad. It's obviously not hard proof, but all I'm saying is I remain doubtful.
I don't get why they marketed the set as one full of villains when half of them are just random legendaries. Getting Ikoria, Lair of Behemoths flashbacks.
So, Ral assumes that the contents of the vault is something he can just carry away to another plane? But also wants to do that because he thinks it's dangerous?
That's quite a couple leaps of logic there. What if it's just ordinary treasure? Or a bunker with a lot of Fomori tech and even some stasis capsules in it. (Could also explain why Thunder Junction is uninhabited safe for cactus folk, some cataclysm wiped out most life and the Fomori tried to protect themselves)
As far as we know, nobody knows what's in the vault, so all of this feels very unmotivated. Why is a vault more likely to contain an ancient evil than, I dunno, some planeswalker's footprints?
Once again, everyone has read the script.
One thing I did like is that instead of them getting lucky with the Sterling Company attacking Tarnation, it was actually a plan put in motion by Oko. Only problem is that Oko couldn't have known how Akul would have reacted. What if he had killed them right away? What if he had picked a different time for the duel, an hour early or later?
As for the story as a whole, I feel like the Ixalan and the Ravnica sets were a complete waste of time for this arc. (Not saying I hated them. Murders of Karlov Manor was a better story than the arc's main story.) Kellan did NOTHING in those sets and then in Thunder Junction the entire arc of "I'm so happy I found my father :D" -> "mmh, my father's actions rub me the wrong way :/" -> "that's it I hate my father :(" happens at breakneck speed because two sets were entirely wasted instead of using them to set up the conflict at the end.
Would have been better to have Kellan find Oko in Ixalan and accompany him as Oko collects the various keys. As is the pacing is just insanely off.
I find squad a bit doubtful given the logistics behind giving each creature with squad its own token. It works with embalm and a hypothetical creature-adventure mechanic because there you only need one token for each card (barring flicker and bounce shenanigans), so it's feasible to get enough tokens for your cards but squad requires you to have multiples. It just doesn't seem like something that makes sense. They'd probably do generic copy tokens for squad.
The multiverse doesn't have object permanence. Every plane is frozen in time while the camera is looking elsewhere.
Oh, almost missed Bartered Cow too.
Probably for the same reason the centaurs are.
The story has already concluded that particular plot point. Wizards specifically publishes the stories a couple weeks before previews start specifically so that the cards don't spoil the story.
Actually, looking at the art again, you see feathers on the right side. So the two cards probably form a panorama.
I just hope Jace and Vraska's plan doesn't unleash a new big baddie on the multiverse. The fomori don't seem like the chillest of guys. Imagine trying to fix stuff and accidentally making matters worse. Oops.
Given the track record? Nobody. Have people already forgotten the writing of ONE and MOM? And honestly Caverns of Ixalan too?
Also they weren't explained for all characters. A tiny bit of faith restored (plus the fact they didn't completely forget about Amalia) but not much, to be honest.
So, Wizards specifically posts the stories before spoiler season starts so that the previews don't spoil the story and you find it appropriate to post a story spoiler in a non-story thread without marking it as such?
Ohh, I think you might be onto something. Kind of like how embalm creates a copy but changes some characteristics around, this mechanic creates a copy but makes it 1/1. Looking at the art, the bunny does look a bit like a child, like the weapon and clothes are too big for it.
So, you actually have a point. I don't remember where exactly the "villain" part came from. I think it was from the preview panel: I'm preeeeetty sure that they said that they wanted to do a "villains of the multiverse" set. Maybe that was only the starting off point and they moved to "characters of the multiverse" down the line once they realised an all-villain cast is not only boring af but also probably not very color balanced or diverse in terms of types of characters. Who knows.
At any rate, it's something that shows up time and time again, so I think there was some sort of miscommunication happening somewhere.
However, big disagree on Ikoria. The name of the set was literally "Ikoria - Lair of Behemoths". This did not come from blogatog. The expectation was on the product itself. And it keeps showing up whenever Ikoria shows up in the story. It's definitely marketed as a kaiju world, if not by literal marketing, then still by whoever presents the product at any given moment.
Those products weren't randomized though, but pre-constructed decks. There you can give out as many tokens as the deck needs.
Another thing that doesn't sit right with me in this case is just the flavour of the card itself. All cards with squad are concepted as creatures that make natural sense of have multiples of. However, this card is called "Warleader". How does it make sense for a card called warleader to come in groups most times you cast it?
I know, I know, Magic has been kinda hit-and-miss with individual card flavours, but looking back at squad cards, it doesn't mesh with the expectation.
All I'm saying is, everything we see here doesn't point towards something like squad. It's obviously not hard proof, but all I'm saying is I remain doubtful.
I don't get why they marketed the set as one full of villains when half of them are just random legendaries. Getting Ikoria, Lair of Behemoths flashbacks.
That's quite a couple leaps of logic there. What if it's just ordinary treasure? Or a bunker with a lot of Fomori tech and even some stasis capsules in it. (Could also explain why Thunder Junction is uninhabited safe for cactus folk, some cataclysm wiped out most life and the Fomori tried to protect themselves)
As far as we know, nobody knows what's in the vault, so all of this feels very unmotivated. Why is a vault more likely to contain an ancient evil than, I dunno, some planeswalker's footprints?
Once again, everyone has read the script.
One thing I did like is that instead of them getting lucky with the Sterling Company attacking Tarnation, it was actually a plan put in motion by Oko. Only problem is that Oko couldn't have known how Akul would have reacted. What if he had killed them right away? What if he had picked a different time for the duel, an hour early or later?
As for the story as a whole, I feel like the Ixalan and the Ravnica sets were a complete waste of time for this arc. (Not saying I hated them. Murders of Karlov Manor was a better story than the arc's main story.) Kellan did NOTHING in those sets and then in Thunder Junction the entire arc of "I'm so happy I found my father :D" -> "mmh, my father's actions rub me the wrong way :/" -> "that's it I hate my father :(" happens at breakneck speed because two sets were entirely wasted instead of using them to set up the conflict at the end.
Would have been better to have Kellan find Oko in Ixalan and accompany him as Oko collects the various keys. As is the pacing is just insanely off.