#VaeVictus

[mesmermacabre]

Arkivet + /Vae Victis\ :: "Apophis" Ritual Blade by Mesmer Macabre (Arkivet) Via Flickr: Coming soon to Chronicles and Legends, March 10th! This might be a little early to show off, but we're very excited to release this one! Another collaboration with Vae Victis, The Apophis Undead Ritual Blade. Based off the Egyptian Khopesh and taking inspiration from the Egyptian Mythology of Apep (Apophis), the spirit of evil, darkness, chaos and destruction, who had anti-worship rituals to keep him at bay. This is a right-hand held blade with 7 hold poses and 11 colours to mix and match. The gem in the hilt rotates with some ancient magic~ Taxi! maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nymphai/77/112/3117

[thecornwall]

Cornwall's Random Card of the Day #797: Vaevictus Asmadi

Vaevictus Asmadi is a rare from Legends.

This guy has three abilities which pretty much boil down to firebreathing. They probably coulda had it be "{1}: CARDNAME gets +1/+0 until end of turn" and still retain its functionality. Weirdly, modern templating lingo can only get that down from three lines to two. I'm sad they didn't do like a red for firebreathing, black for the shade ability, and green for toughness pumping, which still woulda been a bit problematic but woulda been fully in-line with how the colour pie and Magic in general worked at the time, rather than just face-pumping.

[violetsystems]

I should probably get back to writing in the morning again tomorrow to provide some vague context of where I'm at headspace wise. I do really like the people I work with. It feels more intersectional than where I was at and I think it is a little more genuine. Everybody is very passionate and sweet about everything. The commute through the rest of the city can be weird and I feel there's a lot of forced activism and bullying going on. There's also a lot of Jesus stuff that kind of surrounds me outside of work. The environment I work in is interfaith. So there's a lot of opportunity to be conversational for a change without being prodded about your own beliefs. All of my high school and college were religious schools. This environment I'm in now at work is way more progressive and positive. Work life balance can be tricky when you are trying to wrap your head around a new job, people and schedule. But I generally am not unhappy about the position at all. I always felt like I wasn't cool or good enough in art school. There's a lot of that outside in the world today. Making people feel bad about their struggles, shortcomings, and personal challenges. People don't care when you are working on yourself. They just want to neg you down so they can feel good about themselves. That isn't the atmosphere where I'm employed now. I have talks about books, Kpop Stans, magic the gathering, cricket as a sport, the theological and social implications of the caste system in India. And I can speak freely about the duality of man and how it resembles the Chimera Ant arc in Hunter X Hunter without being judged. People even know and empathize with Togashi's back problems there. It fucks me up that I was so isolated for so long. And community around here can be forced out of fear and need for control. But we're not all the same person. And we don't all have the same problems or struggles. And when we don't communicate them outside of following someone around in a t shirt, pamphlet or consent to bother it starts to be something else entirely. You want to put me up on a cross that's going to cost you extra. But for the most part, I'm happy to be employed again. I just need my space to settle and grow. I've been so hurt by everything the last three years. And truthfully it still stings. But if we get this magic group together for a commander league at work. Then we can talk about the theology of Vaevictus Asmadi someday without someone scratching their head asking if this is marketable or not.

[procidensorientem]

@nxtleftbehxnd pleasant dream.

“Rather pretty name, Alice. And even prettier wings, my, quite blessed tonight. At peace, you’re safe here. It’s only a little chilly, despite being at the tail end of summer, well, the mountains don’t quite care.” The ghostly horse chuckles and nods, stepping back as its skeletal body formed a bit more, hooves gracing the snow yet not making a print, the dark mist curling around its legs and neck. 

“Ah, it’s been such a while since I’ve had any guests. You may call me Vaevictus, I am just a lonely soul, yes yes, a lonely soul, please pardon any poor manners I may have.” They say, offering the girl a small bow. 

[bacejelerenvorthos]

Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire

“Vaevictis Asmadi is sometimes described as a rampaging monster, said to have sired the fiery Shivan dragons of Dominaria. He is also called ‘the Serpent’s Tongue,’ and tales are told of his subtle deceptions and twisted layers of deceit. Given his close relation to Nicol Bolas, it should be no surprise that both descriptions are accurate.” - James Wyatt

Art by Steven Belledin

[sandadopts-archive]

Moirai for VaeVictus

[chiyukiakasuna]

kinda redraw of old Vaevictus Asmadi??

[jones-friend]

Commander Decks for Sale

Whisper, $258.30

Daretti Iconoclast, $212.94

Unesh Sphinxes, $210.06

Breya Artifact Beatdown, $252.95

Kynaios and Tiro Hugs, $221.02

Queen Marchesa Combat Control, $252.53

Vaevictus M19 Hug?, $162.28

Phelddagrif Hug, $211.93

Dovin Grand Arbiter Flying Tribal, $135.89

Also for sale, can be priced on request: Mayel of the Anima, Yidris, Ghave, Tasigur, Niv 3.0, Izoni Thousand-Eyed, Nikiya, Licia, Brudiclad, Trostani 1.0, Karrthus, and Tiana.

All decks looking for good homes. DM me if you’re interested!

[dapper-delinquent]

I played Yarok for the first time last night

I built my first Sultai deck in YEARS (last one was Damia, Sage of Stone, if that tells you how long). I built Yarok Constellation! Its 90% enchantment based with a handful of "goodstuff", and it actually played a LOT better than i was expecting! The only downside i currently have is EXTREME vulnerability to enchantment wipes, which, obviously, is the major drawback of the archetype. I actually ended up winning one game (4 player FFA) because of Vaevictus Asmadi making me sac Yarok, that got me Avenger of Zendikar (thanks Retreat to Coralhelm) while i had 14 lands on the field. I recast yarok, cast Khalni Heart Garden, cast Farhaven Elf, Land for turn, pop the garden, swing with FOURTEEN 10/10s for 3 way lethal :)

[trdizifilm]

Vaevictus vs Atraxa vs Arcades vs Empress Galina EDH / CMDR game play for Magic: The Gathering

Vaevictus vs Atraxa vs Arcades vs Empress Galina EDH / CMDR game play for Magic: The Gathering

►Like what you spot? Why not subscribe: http://bit.ly/1MhSmfN ►you can now strengthen me through Patreon: http://bit.ly/2k6NJtf ►New videos each Monday / Thursday at 11AM EST (Jap Same Old Time) ►Watch me play EDH / CMDR on Twitch: http://bit.ly/2puY8BD ►you can now buy MTG Muddstah playmats: http://bit.ly/2omrWBl ►Here’s my referral hyperlink for OMA: http://originalmagicart.store/mtgmuddstah

V…

[vorthosjay]

Literally for years I assumed Nicol Bolas was a good guy because his original card art seemed so cozy and warm. He was like a Dragon Grandpa.

I think what a lot of people don’t realize, given how omnipresent Bolas has been for the last decade, is that Nicol Bolas was a non-character for nine years before he appeared in a story (or more accurately, was revealed as the God-Emperor in Emperor’s Fist). Until then he was the nerd dragon. And Bolas only made it to the Legends II cycle by process of elimination, Palladia, Vaevictus, and Chromium were all dead thanks to the Armada Comics, as was an unnamed fourth dragon. That left only Arcades and Bolas, and once one was confirmed, the other would have had to be dead.

Given that there was a much firmer grasp on the color pie (in terms of characterization) by 2002-2003, I imagine it was pretty clear the GWU dragon wasn’t going to be your big villain.

[golgari-trash-lord]

Take apart Prossh Tremors to make Vaevictus Meatshield Superfriends, y/y?

[procidensorientem]

Anyways, blog plot related interactable (selectively) npc 

It calls itself Vaevictus, lingering on the tallest peak of the world. Banished and trapped to never leave unless special conditions are met. 

It can and will travel in dreams to whisper ominous warnings, sweet promises, or vague prophecies in people’s ears.  Probably has a minor cult following. 

Originally a spirit of natural growth, change, the feeling of wanting to wander. Loves to talk to people, likes to convince randoms to climb the mountain, despite how risky it is. 

Hates humans, knows that eventually someone’s going to do something and break it out, it’s waited for a few thousand years, a few more thousand doesn’t hurt. 

Will appear as a dark mist, sometimes it uses bones to mess with people in dreams.

[abzanascendancy]

In Today’s Magic Story...

Chronicle of Bolas: Things Unseen

Last time, Bolas was doing Bolas things! This time, can Naiva and Baishya escape the Ojutai attack?

Oh wow Yasova already had grandchildren when she submitted to Atarka. Blimey.

Oh a “handsome young wanderer”? Someone has a crush~

Excuse you? She may be old, but Yasova can... hang on let me check her card...

As soon as it’s her turn to attack, she can turn the aven translator against the dragon, or vice versa! She ain’t the one who takes things lying down! Do not underestimate your granny!

I agree with Naiva: it shouldn’t be this way. Khans should be ruling instead of dragons, and the Abzan should have a much better mechanic.

Yes, I maintain that Outlast and all the +1/+1 counter tribal associated with it is still better than Bolster. Bite me.

Keeping her hand hidden from the aven on the rock, Grandmother gestured Kill.

I imagine the DOOM theme kicking in here, for what will be an obvious showing of badassery.

Hold up. You go after the aven first??? I mean yeah, take out the mobs and such, but you have a dragon that’s still around, un-debuffed, and fully ready to fight. You guys are bad at tactics.

Also it takes three of them to kill an aven. Just putting that out there.

This is actually a nice crop of Icefall Regent.

Fec and his pecs are good at archery. I’ve been dying to make that rhyme since last week when I missed it.

Reminder that Atarka dragons eat Ojutai dragons for breakfast.

Naiva feeling a bit envious of her sister there, desiring power. Yet more parallels to Nicol and Ugin.

He turned his dark gaze on her. "I will die one way or the other, whether now or later. Discipline teaches us to accept what cannot be escaped."

Are you sure you’re a Jeskai monk? ‘Cause you have a little green in you.

"The rock saved me. I have not seen such a display of earth magic before. May I know your name?" "That wasn't me. That was my twin, Baishya."

OOF. That's gotta hurt.

Grandma Yasova has had enough of your flirting. Get a room.

By now the dragons had vanished from sight, although now and again a faint thunder marked the direction of their battle.

You sure that’s not a Kolaghan dragon?

Grandmother gave her a thoughtful look. "Has your sister said nothing to you about planes? I thought she told you everything." Naiva's chest grew tight. "You've talked about such matters with Baishya and never with me?" she asked indignantly.

This kid’s gonna kill her twin.

I can just imagine a baby Nicol and Ugin napping together and it is adorable.

Plants are alive too. You heard it from Ugin.

Sometimes the denseness of this living web comforted me. Sometimes the sheer weight of living things crowded about me like an incessant thunder that never ceases. At those times, life's jangling and roaring troubled my spirit. Sometimes its clamor humbled me, for among these teeming multitudes, I was but a single creature whose existence could be rubbed out and forgotten in an instant. A sapling oak may be crushed by the steps of passing aurochs, and no one would be the wiser. A hatchling chick may fall from the nest and be lost in the grass as if it had never existed. Not that a dragon is so insignificant as an oak or a sparrow, or so I thought, not understanding then that even the smallest, briefest life has its place. That even a dragon's name may be swallowed by the passage of time and vanish into the abyss of oblivion.

--Circle of Life plays in the background--

There’s your word of the day: rectilinear. Not to be confused with rectal-in-ear which... y’know what I regret that joke now.

Oh? Nicol Bolas being chased by Vaevictis Asmadi? *grabs popcorn* This is gonna be good!

Ugin: “I would die for you Nicol!” Nicol: “Thanks, that saves me a lot of time and effort.”

Is it only the Tarkir dragons that can breath things other than fire? ‘Cause Ugin, Bolas, and Vaevictus all breath fire.

So, I reached into my tiny arsenal of magical tricks and spun a pair of transparent, feather-light globes out of the nexus of colors and into the air.

 I underlined the important part here. Ugin’s transcending color already into transparency.

Anyone else: “Thanks for saving me!” Nicol: “Cool vape trick bro.”

"Where did you come from?" I rasped out.

Well Ugin, when an Ur-Dragon loves themself very much...

Ah, so Te Ju Ki is the originator of colorless magic. The eldrazi technically predate it, but they also transcend magic, so...

"No human, however old, can ever be as wise as the youngest dragon, for we are born with the greatest dignity, intelligence, and power of all creatures." -- Nicol Bolas, pretentious asshole.

Yeah, but your Wisdom stat can still be higher than your intelligence stat. Just ask monks or clerics.

Ugin do learn about what Nicol learned. Get as much info from your enemy as you can. He’s not your enemy yet, but consider it a future investment.

"You shall see. And I will reveal to you my special learning regardless, because we are twins and we should share everything.” -- Nicol

Well you two did both die and get revived, so... par for course?

Nicol: “I know something you don’t!” Ugin: “Is it the planes beyond this one?” Nicol: D:

Oh, you’re referring to towns and villages and continents. Lame.

The other dragons he’s referring to are the Primeval dragons.

Anyway, I was sleepy.

Again, don’t know what award this goes under, but -- no wait! The Non-Sequitur Award! For out of nowhere lines like this that don’t match the gravitas of the preceding story!

Red deer? But... elk have never been in red!

"These are markers too big for humans to have made," I said. "I'm hungry," he answered.

... okay here’s my idea for a game. Hungry Hungry Hippos, but Bolas.

"I'll kill their leaders when I feel like it, but not now. Now I'm going to eat this delicious banquet you've so conveniently hunted for me." -- Palladia-Mors

Translation: “I’m too scared of them, thanks for letting me kill-steal, deal with it.”

NICOL BOLAS DID YOU JUST TRY AND USE MIND MAGIC ON YOUR TWIN HOW F*CKING DARE YOU

Very fitting that the much desired Rebecca Guay art is used for this birth mountain.

...yeah these humans are f*cked. Don’t talk shit about how you killed a dragon if you ain’t ready to kill more.

Two people tilted back their heads and were hit square on the face with a splash of my blood. One sank to the ground as in prayer, hands clasped at her chest, and those who had not reached the blood in time prostrated themselves around her. The other howled with glee, arms raised triumphantly as he shook spear and knife toward the sky in defiance, or as thanks for a heavenly portent.

... are we sure Sarkhan was born on Tarkir? These sound like his people.

Okay, so they do have other dragon skulls. Good to know.

Five settlements, five colors... They are on Dominaria, right? And not on Tarkir? Are we quite sure of that?

Dragons can’t cry.

"They are not as frail as you think them," said Nicol. "Greed is not frail. Ambition is not frail. Their weapons can kill us because they are clever. Because they work together, as they did when they killed our sister. They will come after us because we are dragons. They want to seize our power for themselves."

There’s the Black & Blue of Nicol Bolas.

"You won't have to kill anyone at all, brother. That I promise you. I have a plan, a very cunning plan, because I have taught myself to do something no one else can do." -- Nicol “I’ve got a secret but I’m not telling you” Bolas.

I don’t think it’s planeswalking. If it’s mind magic, then he’s gonna be pretty pissed when he meets Jace in a few thousand years.

But that sense of being left behind still rankled.

Naiva will remember this.

So to hide whisperers from Atarka, she had children sleep next to the grave of a ghost dragon, so that if they were magical it would trigger it early, and it would help them hide their magic...? You have met teenagers, right? Heck I was a moody teenager and I wouldn’t have hidden my magic! Also, this implies that you’re still getting them to use their magic, but only to hide it -- which still involves using magic that Atarka hates!

“My delicious cousin told me the truth before I ate her!”

Ooooooh snap! Tae Jin using ghostblade!

Now don’t stab the dragon in the eye -- that’s a waste of a good trophy!

"You wear the dragon mark of a ghostfire warrior. Shu Yun made a bargain that all the ghostfire warriors would die in exchange for the rest of the Jeskai people being allowed to live. So tell me: how is it that you even exist?"

Gee, I dunno Yasova. You made a bargain that all the mages would die in exchange for the Temur people being allowed to live. So tell me: how is it that your granddaughter even exists?

This is another award nominee. I don’t know what it is yet, but this two-facedness just needs to be remembered.

And that’s the end of another Magic Story! More spirituality from Ugin, more scheming from Bolas, and a love triangle... yeah that last one’s kinda forced, but oh well. The whole allegory/allusion thing between the twins and Ugin & Nicol is obvious, but I’m willing to see how it plays out. We got ice breath! Kill gestures! Three people to kill a single aven! Jealousy! Mistaken identity! Dragon fighting dragon! Power-hungry! Healing! Green Jeskai monks! Secret-keeping! Ugin’s singing Circle of Life! Existential crises! Vaevictis is a scaredy-cat! Colorless vape tricks! Not secret secrets! Other planes lands! Kill-stealing! Failed Mind Magic! Rebecca Guay! Sarkhan’s ancestors and you cannot tell me otherwise! Five color settlements! Nicol showing UBR! Nicol Bolas being Nicol Bolas! Bad parenting! Killing cousins! Ghostfire! Hypocrisy!

But will Naiva take the obvious path to becoming like Bolas? Will Baishya talk about things with her sister again? How did a ghostfire warrior survive? Will Yasova let it go in this frozen tundra? What can Bolas do that he (allegedly) taught himself that (supposedly) no one else can do? Can Ugin develop his colorless magic even further? Will they meet the primeval dragons? And when will Sarkhan’s ancestors move to Tarkir?

Stay tuned!

[nicol--bolas]

We’ve heard your thoughts on Ugin, how about the other elder dragons?

chromium: is Shiny Af i think thats pretty cool you can see your reflection in their scales

palladia mors: is a pretty cool dragon too i don't know if she's canonically dead or still sleeping

arcades sabboth: i think he looks beautiful on the outside but i hate his personality

merrevia sal: its sad that she was killed so young :/ i would have loved to have gotten to know her

vaevictus asmadi: <- a bitch

special shoutout to piru for mating with her cousin chromium and producing the most hideous offspring i have ever seen

[inudono]

Halfway through the box. I had a big lull after pulling Vaevictus, but thankfully the God-Phaoroh came through for me.