Eldrazi will be the next major antagonist
This is just my own called shot. I will be looking back at this in ~a year and a half to see if I'm right, but I have evidence. I have. Some evidence.
Part 1: Data
I am going to use War of the Spark and March of the Machine as examples, and will assume their models are accurate to Ziplining, the climax event-set of the current arc.
Let's start with War of the Spark. This set had 31 months of "Foreshadow-time", which starts when the first Macguffin is loaded. Kaladesh set this in place with Tezzeret's presence, and the Planar Bridge he stole. I believe Tezzeret's presence was intentional, not just as "an" antagonist, but specifically Bolas' pawn. After that plot beat, it would take almost another year to see the true next step, in Bolas' army of Eternals. 31 months from first contact, 21 months from phase 2.
Moving onto the Phyrexian arc, now that we know what we're looking for, we can find the first two teasers of Phyrexia's presence. The first is obvious, with Vorinclex on Kaldhiem, 27 months before MOM, similar to the number gained from the first examination. It would take a full year for this beat to be continued, with Jin-Gitaxis on Kamigawa, giving us 15 months pre-climax, which is definitely a much smaller time-frame, but hey, data is data.
With this information, we can make some reasonable estimations. Ziplining wants between 31-27 months of heads-up between its first foreshadow and its release. Its slotted to come out in Spring 2026, meaning that its first mention should have been during....... March of the Machine.
Hm. If we all rack our brains, maybe we can come up with something that happened in the Phyrexia arc that might've disturbed something that lives in the Blind Eternities...
Part 2: Story
This section starts my more outlandish speculations that will make me look truly foolish in 2 years time.
So, if we continue the pattern of first foreshadow->followup a year later, we would need something that tells the audience what's going on.
You remember Modern Horizons back in 2019? Well its funny, that set was built from the ground up! There was barely any thematic consistency between the cards except for draft archetypes. There were only a few premium Slivers, there just to spice up a limited deck. And the same holds true for Modern Horizons 2, there's even less consistency, each deck is going to feature cards with vastly different flavours!
And then came Modern Horizons 3, themed not around generically powerful cards, but around Eldrazi. Not new Eldrazi mind you, but
Time for crazy theory #1: What if the focus on Eldrazi in MH3 was in order to show the old kind of Eldrazi, so that we would be wowed by the new kind showing up 2 years later?
Now, this sets up some serious expectations! After the second story beat, every set had to do with Wank of the Spank or Mommy! Well that's what I'm predicting.
CRAZY THEORY #2 EVERY SET MENTIONED ALREADY RELATES TO THE ELDRAZI!!!
Part 3: Pepe Silvia
The Death Race set is... well I don't know what planes it takes place on yet, so I won't be making any specific claims. I like Corocojo's theory that it will be taking place on the wasteland plane of Gastal though, so... maybe it was razed by Eldrazi in the past? That one's weak but the next ones are a lot stronger.
Tarkir is pretty clear. Ugin spent a thousand years recovering on that plane, giving it... some connection to Colourless mana? Okay I'll be real this one also sucks
BUT THEN ITS SPACE OPERA TIME! People tend to view planes as one planet, with others just near enough to travel to, but with the deadly void of space/the Blind Eternities between them, and with horrible monsters potentially living Out There! Eldrazi have always been compared to aliens, so it'd make some sense to draw the distinction. Maybe in a plane all about outer space, we could learn more about the origin of Eldrazi. Maybe something that lives in the In-Betweens of reality started in the In-Betweens of planets!
Lorwyn is easily my weakest link. Nissa made contact with Emrakul on Zendikar, then planeswalked to Lorwyn? I'll be honest, not sure what I'm cooking with that one.
But then we get to the real reason I'm making this post. A return to Arcavios, the final plane before the climax. And let me ask you a question. Do we know of any colourless creatures that live on Arcavios?
That's right. Why else would they make the penultimate set a Strixhaven sequel? Because it's been the home of an entirely different kind of titan this whole time.
Part 4: A list of the many reasons I'm probably wrong
Here's a non-comprehensive list of the many reasons I'm probably wrong.
Loot is related to the Fomori, whom have nothing to do with Eldrazi
Kellan has nothing to do with Eldrazi
It probably has to do with dragons cause Tarkir and Arcavios both have extant Elder Dragons and Bolas' probably escaped his meditation realm in the Invasion
Jace already did the whole Eldrazi thing a decade prior why would he be showing up so much if they just want to make him Do It Again
Emrakul is still in the silver moon and its not very likely that she'll escape off-screen
MH3's Eldrazi could just be a way to appease fans who won't get another chance to see them in a long time
We JUST defeated Phyrexia forever, why on earth would the other big bad of the multiverse be next, instead of being saved for 2033 with a smaller big bad in-between
Tezerret has nothing to do with the Eldrazi
Why the fuck would the first "Macguffin foreshadow" be something that happened DURING the last climax
Why the fuck would the second story beat take place in a set WITHOUT A STORY
Mark Rosewater said about Ziplining "I can't even say who the antagonist is". If it was Eldrazi he might've said 'what the antagonist is'
You've never once made a correct magic theory
But hear me out on that last one. There's a first time for everything :)
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