itscrispycoffeecollector

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

For all the people saying this isn't a mistake/this is in-character: Mohar uses the correct term in Chapter 1.

The moment Gonti's name is announced on the radio, Mohar hurls it across the room. His eyes go small as pinpricks, a vein pulses at his temple; her jaw aches just looking at the set of his. "That … criminal." Here is the horror of a father like Mohar: he has shown her tenderness, he has shown her recalcitrance, and sometimes, he shows her the cruel anger for which he's famous. "Papa," Sita says. As afraid as she is at the outburst, she can't shake the need to run over and try to soothe him. "Papa, it's all right. It's just the news, that's all." "That they should profit and we—we can barely …"

Being shitty in some respects doesn't mean you're necessarily shitty in every aspect, and I don't think that the Creative team wants to tell that type of story (although they are definitely evoking a similar space with the Kaladesh deadnaming). A similar mistake happened in the final chapter of Wilds of Eldraine, where Kellan and his mother refer to the Fae Lord as he/him towards the end of the final chapter (which has been fixed but can still be seen in the internet archive). Mistakes happen.

the fourth Aetherdrift chapter (Little-Guy Shortcuts) misgenders Gonti in the opening section from Mohar’s point of view :( i’m not sure who at Wizards to point that out to so it gets fixed?

I will pass it along

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

Aren't you the first to tell use that card art isn't always canon? Liliana was using the Veil in Forsaken (granted, another dubiously canon source), but since it's appearance at the end of the novel (locked up in a puzzle box on Ravnica) matches up with the Javelineer's flavor text, I don't see any reason that that particular piece of Forsaken should be considered retconned, unless there's something more recent textually that overwrites it.

Just saw your response on a loose ends question, but: The chain veil was destroyed?!

Also I’ll take any type of post you want to do on ‘loose ends’ however you define them; sounds interesting! I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few.

Yeah, even if you don't credit the War of the Spark novels, it is shown as shattering in Finale of Eternity.

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

Still kind of weird to see a blonde Theran.

FYI the angel on the judge Greater Auramancy isn’t an angel, just a human with nyx wings I’m pretty sure ,, so still no angels on theros so far!

That makes sense

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

I wish I shared your optimism about Gideon's fate. It still hurts five years later.

Following up on what you said about aetherborn and Planar afterlifes. Do most planes have fleshed out rules for the afterlife? We saw what appeared to be Gideon in theros' afterlife after dying on Ravnica. I've always been curious as to what happens after our favorite characters die. And especially the belief systems of the average citizens on non-god centric planes. E.G. Gruul Gods

Gideon’s thing was not actually in the Theros Afterlife - I’ve discussed that a bunch, but I want to also note that it doesn’t mean it wasn’t “real”.

Some planes have defined afterlives, others do not. Usually they’re where it’s thematically appropriate (top down settings based on real world mythology). In some cases, like Ravnica for a long time, it’s just a random metaphysical side effects.

Cosmically, there is heavy implication that the aether of the Blind Eternities is a sort of cosmic afterlife where souls return when they die. This might be what Gideon experienced. Even with the Theros Underworld, souls eventually fade and become misera, and my assumption is that the Underworld finally loses them back to the Eternities then.

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

I think murder mystery works on Ravnica, but it works better when the Ravnican aesthetic is adapted to the genre rather than when the genre overrides the Ravnican aesthetic. 80% of the set works, but cards like Case of the Gateway Express don't feel like Ravnica at all. Tenth District Hero does an okay job blending Ravnica with detective noir, but might have worked better if the majority of detectives weren't sporting trench coats and trilby hats (googles are already an established part of the Ravnican style thanks to the Izzet and do a better job of conveying "Ravnican detective" than the trilbies do, imo). Imagine if instead of creating Duskmourne, we went back to Innistrad and all the cathars abandoned their aesthetic to dress up like a Magic version of the 80s; it would be a little bit discombobulating. Or if we (hypothetically) went back to Kaladesh and instead of the filigree Indian aesthetic, everyone was dressed as extras in Mad Max for the death race set. I like the idea of a backdrop set, but I don't want the setting to take a backseat to the theme; the setting should inform the theme not the other way around.

MKM is a first time for me, first time completely skipping a premier set for flavor reasons, and I am worried that this might happen more often now. It feels like an un-set, honestly. And it's so weird that now everything on ravnica, even non-sapient being like zombies or gargoyles are detectives. And they all wear those stereotypical detective costumes. In general, ravnica suddenly got a much more modern sense of fashion. And trains. It's too goofy and too much real world at the same time.

Whenever we go to a world, we focus on the aspects of the world that play into that set's themes. We could do a creepy take on Ravnica and focus on those aspects which would feel very different. But I think you're saying there are elements that you don't think belong on Ravnica. Do others share this belief? Do certain cards in the set not feel like Ravnican cards?

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

Unless they're already dead. LET'S GO AGRUS!!! Although, I guess he could get banished... D:

I've noticed a distressing lack of emmara since wots surely 2 planner invasions would do something to someone who didn't want to know other planes exist do we have any words on where she is and how she's doing

Let me put it to you like this: you probably don't want a character you care about showing up in a murder mystery story, yeah?

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

"Religious imagery was NOT actively avoided on Kaladesh." Taken from the article "The Making of Kaladesh": "To help us treat our cultural references with respect and care, we enlisted help from a team of Indian colleagues at Wizards, including Jisi Kottakuzhiyil, Sandeep Kedlaya, Narayanan Raghunathan, Sathish Ramamurthy, Basha Mohideen, and Trinadh Nemaniat...They... cautioned us against the use of colors or shapes with strong religious connotations, including saffron-colored robes or green domes in architecture." You can argue against their efficacy, but the intent to actively avoid religious imagery was there.

Religious imagery in Kaladesh was actively avoided because Hinduism is a real religion, yet for Tarkir Nagas and Rakshasa were specifically remade to be closer to their representation in Hinduism. How and why?

Religious imagery was NOT actively avoided on Kaladesh. The angels evoked the imagery of Hindu gods. Which was a problem, but a simple art direction one.

Naga haven’t changed, they’re just getting the snake type eventually. I’m not sure what you’re referring to here. Some of them have new, less yellow-peril-y art though.

Rakshasa changed because the cat demon version was based on a half-remembered episode of Kolchak and bears no resemblance to Rakshasa. Which isn’t offensive, it’s just stupid. Rakshasa are not off-limits: I think we can all agree that depicting Christian angels and demons is different than say, crucifying Avacyn on a cross, yeah? Certain elements of religious mythology are as much cultural folklore as part of the religion.

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

"Frankly, I don't know if those cards are even getting new art." The announcement article said "Coming with the Magic: The Gathering Arena rollout of Khans of Tarkir on December 12, new Rakshasa card art will follow updated creative guidelines" which could be read as either "The Khans of Tarkir Rakshasa are getting new art to adhere to our new guidelines" or as "new Rakshasa art going forward will follow updated guidelines", although I lean more towards the first interpretation.

Genuinely curious, if Gravebreaker Lamia and Thoughtrender Lamia can coexist, why not pop culture Rakshasa and traditional Rakshasa (or was Thoughtrender Lamia also a mistake)? Why not keep the five cat demons that exist as they are and just make non-cat demon Rakshasa going forward? Also, biblically accurate angels when? :p

I don't really know that much about Lamia, but if they added the snake stuff the second time around it's probably cause they were trying to fix it. Probably for similar reasons to the Naga change.

Why did they fix Hyalopterous Lemure in Dominaria Remastered? They had the opportunity.

There's a Khans of Tarkir Arena Release coming at the same time they're getting reading for Return to Tarkir. The timing was just good for making a change. Frankly, I don't know if those cards are even getting new art.

In any case, Rakshasa are already a demon variant, confusing the name between the 'I spent five seconds thinking about this' DND version and the real, cool thing seems pointless. Especially when you can... just have other cat demons. And we do, with Jetmir, and I'm sure will again.

Biblically accurate angels are a fun meme. I wouldn't mind Ophanim labelled as angels, but that would sure set off a scripture debate as to whether or not they're really angels or just... literally the wheels of god's throne.

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

KARLOV MANOR, not MARKOV, my bad. Thanks for the response!

I think your article today did a good job laying out why Play Boosters had to come about, but I'm still feeling mildly apprehensive about the change. I reread your articles "Project Booster Fun" and "Set Boosters" and one of the throughlines in those articles was player agency. I liked that Set Boosters and Draft Boosters filled different niches and purchased both types of boosters depending on my needs. Play Boosters feel like a compromise that is going to leave both parties less satisfied.

As a drafter, I don't like the idea of a draft pool being warped by the List slot. If you continue to do premier set Universe Beyond tie-ins (like the Transformers and Jurassic World cards), I don't look forward to drafting those (even if I can appreciate them design-wise). The "extra value" that you mention doesn't matter as much to a drafter if they are passing that value to the left (although, I guess in fairness, they could also be passed value, but it does exacerbate the age-old dilemma of do you draft for value or do you draft for your deck?).

As a collector, it's disappointing to see the loss of a guaranteed art card (although I'm sure I'm the minority in that). The odds of opening a card from the List also seem a lot lower and the List taking over a common slot instead of the Token/Ad slot feels worse. The List in the Token slot was always a bonus, even if it was only a common or uncommon. If you continue to do premier set Universe Beyond tie-ins (like the Transformers and Jurassic World cards), I'm worried that the designs will be limited by keeping Limited in mind rather than making the best design for the IP.

That's just my two cents on the matter. I'm sure you folks have thought about it a lot more than I have and we'll have to wait until Markov Manor to see how Play Boosters...play out.

The market didn't want two core booster packs. It turns out more Magic players enjoyed having a fun booster opening experience than enjoyed playing limited formats, so set boosters were edging out draft boosters.

Our move to play boosters is us trying to keep player agency. We want players who want to play limited formats to continue to have the opportunity, but we wanted players who enjoyed a more exciting booster pack opening to keep having access to that as well, so we basically changed the set booster such that it also allowed limited play.

This is not us trying to lessen Magic for anyone. We're adapting to the needs of the players while staying true to the needs of the market. The history of Magic is constant evolution, and this is just the next step in the game being the product that makes the greatest number of players happy with it because it lets them have the greatest options of how to interact with it. If we were shrinking agency, we'd just make set boosters and stop having limited be part of the game.

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

The first thing I thought of when I saw it was the Red Bull from The Last Unicorn, which is fairy tale adjacent.

Which fairy tale is Restless Bivouac from?

I dunno, anyone know?

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

On the one hand, your relationship with WotC means you can’t really answer the question because there is no public information about Wilds of Eldraine’s story. On the other hand, the way you phrased your answer does not inspire confidence.

Do you know whats up with Wilds story? there is no date for the online story, and if something had to come out before spoiler season, they'll have announced it by now. It's another beyond death?

The current set’s story has been out for 70 years.

Wilds of Eldraine comes out in September.

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

Thanks for the answer, but that really puts a damper on the whole family reunion in chapter 10. “And yet it is unmistakably her.” Except that it isn’t.

Is that Tamiyo spirit thing actually Tamiyo? Does it have her soul or is it just a magical ai programmed with Tamiyo's memories?

It's not really Tamiyo, it's a spell, an echo or imprint of her from an earlier time.

Kaya explicitly says she isn't a ghost or anything like that.

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

Alright, looking at it again, they’ve got pointed ears and no soul patch, so just a random elf.

Did I spy Niko Aris in the ONE trailer? What are they doing there?

I dunno, I think it was meant to be a random Mirran, not them? I don’t know. I have nothing to do with Trailers.

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

Not really a fan, tbh, for all the reasons already mentioned.

I love compleated Planeswalkers; I like the Phyrexian biotech Giger horror look a lot, and I’m a sucker for Evil Mode versions of characters in general. For the characters that I find bland, phyrexianization brings something new to the table to pique my interest in them; for the characters I already like, I get treated to the Evil Mode for them.

How do others feel about Phyrexianized planeswalkers?

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

In fairness, “bipedal snake person” isn’t much weirder than “bipedal octopus person”.

Is there an in lore reason of why the Orochi of Kamigawa lost their legs?

The outside lore explanation is obvious because why are the snake people tailless hexapods, so replacing the legs with a snake body is a pretty logical art design change.

This myth explains it

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

Undead Slayer says no

For batching may I suggest zombie, skeleton, and either spirit or vampire as undead

Are Spirits considered “undead”?

[itscrispycoffeecollector]

If you’re not doing the “1001 reflections” thing, then it doesn’t really feel like Rabiah. A different top down world is cool, though.

Regarding Rabiah, here's what I (and I suspect others) want to see: I want to see a Persian/Arabic plane. It does not need any connection to the original Arabian Nights set or story (if there was one), but I would like it to be called Rabiah. And maybe have some clever Time Spiral style call backs (like how Fool's Demise was a reference to False Demise)

Do others agree with this sentiment?