MTG Salvation

Quote from ryuplaneswalker »

I am not sure "Ugin died to become the spirit dragon" is going to be a thing, I imagine that his ascension from his colors* to colorless has to do with becoming "The Spirit Dragon"

Ugin isn't a ghost, so no, he doesn't have to die to become the spirit dragon. Spirits don't have to be souls of the dead (see: Kamigawa).

Quote from Tiro of Meletis »

This author is really, really good. This is quality stuff. I hope she writes more for WOTC.

I've been enjoying it a lot, Dominaria had too much to cover in too little time. My only hope is that this plot doesn't drag on (heh) for the next five episodes. The frame story doesn't feel like it can believably support more storytimes.

Rath and Storm comes next, then Masquerade, then Invasion.

I wrote a whole thing on the Elders of Dominaria earlier this year. Chromium's in particular is very flavorful.

Quote from Shadowkill »

Wasn't he reborn on Madara near the Talon gates? I wonder if that place will play a role for him again in the future (assuming he hopefully isn't killed by the younglings).

Yep, he was killed and reborn on Madara near the Talon Gates.

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Quote from Etherium Sage »

I wonder how much better off the people on Amonkhet, Zendikar, Innistrad, Tarkir, Ixalan and Dominaria (among other planes influenced directly and indirectly by Bolas and Ugin) would have been if the hunters got to the twins.

Well the Eldrazi Titans would be ending planes unless some other Oldwalkers stepped up to stop them.

If so, then they're attracted to mana because the plane is leaking mana, like blood in the water.

This has actually been my pet theory for a whole while now, so I'm glad to see someone else coming to the same conclusion. It'd make sense too, they lured the Eldrazi to Zendikar by leaking mana through a beacon into the blind eternities, emulating a dying plane. Nahiri presumably did the same with Innistrad.

Yeah! This was my thought too, I even had a whole article on it that has now disappeared with a small article site. I'll see if I can wayback machine it.

Edit: Here it is.

Quote from Etherium Sage »

So both Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist and Tezzeret's Strider show Tezzeret somewhere on Esper.

Is he going back to Alara at some point, or is this just non-canon stuff?

I think that's just the planeswalker deck version, which looks like his Agent of Bolas era outfit, the art we've seen for the pack version has him looking more recent.

Quote from Firebead_elvenhair »

Quote from Kman »

Im pretty curious now about how Bolas "arose" to planeswalker status. His flip card gives us nothing to go by unless just gaining mana allows you to spark. Did he defeat the Leviathan Planeswalker and steal his spark and Gem?? Does the gem itself grant planeswalker status and he found it somewhere??
The other flip walkers seems to flavorize their condition to flip based on their story of sparking but Bolas is just a mana cost. Seems odd.

If I'm not mistaken he literally deovured the leviathan.

Yeah, the bones are what formed the Talon Gates, which can be seen behind him in Nicol Bolas, the Arisen. It's the same scene as The Eldest Reborn.

In terms of 'Likely to Happen' and 'Already knows a bunch about Magic Lore', I vote Ferret Steinmetz. Writes Magic articles and has few published novels out. His main character is basically an Azorius lawmage already.

Quote from keiv77 »

The story states that the that the death of Merrevia sal "smells like honey. Its sweetness is its power, although these hunters don't know that yet."
I wonder if this power can change the hunters (whatever race they may have been) into the viashino. They have some power over dragons and seem to be a hunter type race.

The viashino, as far as we understand it, have some sort of draconic ancestry, so they wouldn't predate the elder dragons.

My feeling is that the bipedal humanoids were elves. But also remember humans exist within the next 7-8,000 years because the Numena had to overthrow the Primevals.

Quote from keiv77 »

Alos, I think it is strange that there are two elder dragons that did not hatch. This will come back in the story later. The impact of Bolas contemplating "'Which death is worse?' he asks. 'Never to waken, or to waken and live your few moments in a frenzy of fear and fighting?'" could have been accomplished with just one.

I think the Elder Dragons that didn't hatch might be the origin of The First Eruption creation myth on Shiv. I think it's Chromium that ducks his head into the crater their impact creates and the implication is the mountain has become a volcano.

Quote from keiv77 »

Could it be possible that the fight between Darigaaz and Tarox Bladewing (stated by their bios) will be a consequence of the events of this story? I have a feeling that the primeval dragons could be the heirs to the first elder dragons.

The implication is that the Primevals are a later clutch of dragons spawned by the Ur-Dragon.

I'm not sure what the Darigaaz/Tarox fight you're referring to is. I don't see that implication in their bios. It might happen, because Tarox seeks supremacy and will eventually eat his siblings, but that version of Tarox hasn't happened yet (and may not come to pass).

Aaand Return to Dominaria is up.

Quote from keiv77 »

Could it be possible that the 5 Elder Dragons be from Tarkir? Judging by the playmat in which Nicol is, I’m starting to believe that they are all from Tarkir

Mark Rosewater states they were talking about the five original elder dragons. Those five, we know, are from Dominaria.

Quote from Etherium Sage »

Quote from Jay13x »

Vampire Sovereign seems to be from Ixalan.

Maybe the plot twist is that Ixalan and Torrezon aren't the only continents on the plane. Lian sounds kinda Asian.

I'm not sure it requires anything but asian analogues on Torrezon, but it's possible that Elenda stumbled across this vampire queen and it's how she became a vampire herself, or something.

Saving for more images

Here is your official Core 2019 Discussion thread! We know the set explores the rivalry between Ugin and Bolas, features the original (not Tarkir) elder dragons, and seems to hit a lot of different time periods.

• I’m pretty sure the playmat art is a new Nicol Bolas creature card, set before his spark ignited! Note the orientation, the lack of the Gem of Becoming, and the Dominarian background.
• The Onakke Ogre is an interesting addition, and likely means that the Chain Veil plotline connects to Bolas more deeply than we’ve previously suspected.
• Vivien Reid is the green planeswalker for Core 2019. Bolas destroyed her world, Skalla
• Tezzeret, Ajani, Liliana, and Sarkhan round out the planeswalkers for Core 2019.
• Vampire Sovereign seems to be from Ixalan.

With elder dragons returning, are you curious about elder lore? I wrote about it earlier this year!

• Elders of Dominaria
• Elders of the Multiverse