#bolas's citadel

[yoshifawful64]

the current event on arena sure is fucking something, huh

[danco110]

“Everyone, to me!”

Ajani roared to the heavens, golden light from the Interplanar Beacon illuminating his fur. A small army of planeswalkers answered the leonin’s call, forming a loose circle around him. The Beacon fired off more rays of light, each falling on another planeswalker, invigorating them. A furious battle cry rose from the group as Ajani spoke.

“Greetings. I know that under different circumstances, we might be killing each other right now. But, I am afraid we cannot afford that luxury as of present. And I think we all know why.”

The gathered planeswalkers all turned to look at Bolas and the God-Eternals, standing menacingly atop their citadel in the distance.

“Right. Now, I am sure some of you already know, but we are trapped here. The same magic lighting our way and bringing us together…”

Ajani paused to point up to the shining Beacon.

“…is the same force holding us here. So, we have two choices: fight, or die. And I hope none of you plan to die here, today!”

Yet another roar from the assembly.

“Now, first we must…er…”

Ajani reached out with a paw, slowly swiveling and scanning the crowd. Small noises of confusion rose from the others.

“Everything all right, Ajani?” asked Ral Zarek.

Gideon hefted Blackblade in his hands, restlessness clear in his stance. “Yes. If there’s a problem, let’s hurry and deal with it now, before we give up the element of surprise.”

“No, everything’s fine. Just…”

Ajani lowered his paw, muttering his next words under his breath.

“…I forgot so many of us were humans.”

“What did he say?” The Wanderer asked politely, from behind Ral and Gideon.

“Er, nothing!” Ajani bellowed, quickly returning to form. “Only that our numbers are…fewer than I expected.”

Gideon smirked. “Then we’ll just have to fight like our lives depend on it.”

“Just like always,” Ajani chuckled. “Now, let’s move out!”

The planeswalkers began towards Bolas’s citadel in the distance, the Beacon still lighting their way.

[More non-human planeswalkers please, Wizards. Maybe a…mmm oh I dunno…a named viashino planeswalker next? And one who is NOT just killed off for shock value mayhaps? Not that I’m bitter ofc.]

[markrosewater]

The next time you guys do colored artifacts, can you do it like Bolas' Citadel was done? Artifact frame with a colored text box. It looks better and reasonably seems like what they would have done if colored artifacts were introduced in the past.

Let me ask this for retro frame fans. Which do you prefer?

a) in a means that mimics what we did do

b) in a way that mimics what we might have done had that element existed

[magicjudge]

If I have K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth out and cast Vraska, Betrayal's sting, spending life for the phyrexian mana symbol, can I elect to have her enter with her full loyalty by electing to pay 2 life using K'rrik's abiliy rather than the 2 life mode for phyrexian mana? Or does Compleated only care if I spent life for that mana symbol, and not how I did so?

Compleated only very specifically cares if you chose the inherent life payment option for the card's Phyrexian mana symbols. If you pay life to cast the card in other ways, such as through K'rrik or Bolas's Citadel, the planswalker will enter the battlefield with its printed starting loyalty. The loyalty reduction is specifically linked to how you pay that phyrexian mana symbol. If you don't pay it somehow, then there's no loyalty reduction.

[littlegoldenbirdie]

MTG WotS idea, with the power of ROCK!!!

I have a crazy little idea for a fanfic about War of the Spark. It involves my fanwalker Amelia, who has a touch of Emrakul's power and most of her sanity, going all Pied Piper to get the civilian masses of Ravnica, people and animals alike, to piranha-swarm Nicol Bolas atop his Citadel and wear him down, overwhelm him... just bury his scaly butt beneath a pile of bodies. I even know what songs she'd use, and some of the lyrics would be her talking to people. My main concern is whether I'd do it right.

Does anybody else hear Ronnie James Dio's 'Egypt (The Chains Were On)' and think "Hey, that fits Amonkhet pretty well"? The chains were on there too, after all... And no, I am not talking about JJBA!

[inventors-fair]

Partial Decree

It’s been almost a year since I became a judge for this fair, and I’ve loved every second of it. That’s not to say it hasn’t been difficult, though. As with everything, I’ve encountered my own personal trials and difficulties to work through. One of those trials is my issues with personal bias. Every contest I’ve run has required me to make a conscious effort to avoid my own personal bias when judging, and give feedback based on objective qualities. Obviously, there’s no such thing as being completely impartial, but I try my absolute best. But what if... for one week... I didn’t?

This week’s contest: Design my new favorite card!

Okay, so that’s pretty vague. What do I mean by that? Well, for this week, I’m letting myself be biased. I want cards that appeal to me as a designer, and me as a player. I want cards that demand I build a deck around them, or buy a million copies just to dive into a pool of them like Scrooge McDuck. Then again, that’s still not overly helpful, since none of you know me super well. Therefore, here’s some helpful information to reference:

Here are the winners I’ve chosen for the last 5 contests I’ve run. Again, I’ve tried to be unbiased with these, but there may still be patterns that hint at my preferences, for those keen enough to uncover them.

IP IP Hooray

Relentless Optimism

Pre-Ignition

Name, Set, Match

Key(words) to the Kingdom

Now, that’s all well and good, and maybe some of you will be able to glean something from that, but let’s move beyond custom designs. Here’s a selection of my favorite real, printed cards:

Artifact: Isochron Scepter

White: Winds of Abandon

Blue: Mystic Reflection

Black: Bolas' Citadel

Red: Disrupt Decorum

Green: Doubling Season

Multicolor: Killian, Ink Duelist

Commander: Riku of Two Reflections

And... okay, alright, one more thing, since the purpose of this is designing, not unravelling the intricate oxymorons of my mind. 

Each contestant can ask me ONE simple question (Either through Tumblr or Discord) about my MTG preferences.

I reserve the right to not answer if the question is too vague, or if my answer would be too complex or nonsensical. Obviously, this does not apply to regular questions about the nature of the contest, logistics, etc.

Anyways, with that, good luck! I will await my offerings with great anticipation!

~judge @naban-dean-of-irritation​

Gain my favor by submitting here!

Fan the fires of invention in our Discord!

[aflo]

with two corridor monitors, jhoira could be inventing a bolas's citadel as early as turn 3.

[magicalgirlpenny]

Mirrodin, Lorwyn and Shadowmoor?

Mirrodin: Your favorite win condition

i have a few different win conditions in my decks, but i think my favourite is my regna and krav deck turning halfway into a turing machine of life gain and life loss and using aetherflux reservoir and bolas' citadel to cast basically my entire deck and kill everyone before they even realise what just happened

Lorwyn: Your favorite color of mana

i'm not really sure tbh but i feel like it's green bc it's the one i make the most decks with and i just like messing with mana and +1/+1 counters and such, and like 90% of my decks are creature-based

my colour preference mostly matches my result for this one personality quiz i took, which said my identity is temur (i think it was like, 60% green, 30% red and 10% blue or something) second would probably be red bc i tend to use aggressive and swingy strategies

Shadowmoor: Your least favorite color of mana

honestly probably blue bc i kinda struggle with playing passively and planning too far ahead, plus a lot of blue strategies are much more spell-based, which i really struggle to play. i own like seven decks with blue in them

[ashley-royale]

fondly remembering the opponent who tapped out to cast bolas's citadel and I threw an abrade at it the following turn and they surrendered

[crimechannels]

By • Olalekan Fagbade JUST IN; Tinubu’s Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila reveals when Students Loan Scheme will start Chief of Staff to the President, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, has said that efforts are underway to ensure the take-off of the Federal Government’s student loan scheme in January 2024 to ensure that Nigerian students can access the loans “to fund their educational aspirations.” He spoke in Lagos on Friday while delivering a lecture titled ‘Empowering Nigerian Youths in the Present-Day Economy’ at the 35th convocation ceremony of Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH). Gbajabiamila stated that to make the process seamless, “applicants will apply online, be verified online, and be credited based on the verifiable documents and credentials they have submitted.” He said: “Earlier this year, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, signed the Students’ Loan (Access to Higher Education) Act, establishing the Education Loan Fund and creating a new legal framework to provide education financing through interest-free loans to Nigerian students. Efforts are underway to ensure that by January 2024, Nigerian students can access these loans to fund their educational aspirations. “The application system for the student loan programme is being designed so that there is no interface between the loan administrators and the beneficiaries. Applicants will apply online, be verified online, and be credited based on the verifiable documents and credentials they have submitted. Nobody will need to know anybody to qualify for these loans, so that access to this financing will be genuinely egalitarian. “The student loan system answers part of the question of how to fund a quality public tertiary education but doesn’t answer all of it. Any serious conversation about the future of tertiary education in Nigeria must include a thorough consideration of the ways and means of addressing the funding needs of public tertiary institutions beyond government subvention. “In this regard, we cannot for much longer avoid the simple truth that tertiary education costs money, and the best institutions worldwide succeed, amongst other things, because they can generate significant sums through fees, investments and other means. “The simple truth is that for our institutions to compete favourably, we need more resources than are currently available to address the dangerous decline in the quality of scholarship and academic output and the graduates we produce from many of our institutions.” He stated that In a perfect world, access to education would be a fundamental benefit afforded to every individual from basic through tertiary. And our learning centres will be majestic citadels of research and innovation, open to all who seek knowledge, regardless of means. But this is not a perfect world. In this real world, education is a commodity and a quality education even more so. Therefore, the central public policy challenge is the conflict between the competing objectives of access and quality. How do we fund a quality tertiary education without imposing costs that make access to quality education impossible for most people? “We require a programme of aggressive and sustained investment in education. Not only in the physical infrastructure of classrooms and lecture halls but in technology hardware and software to facilitate information exchange and innovation. “In this new world, we have found ourselves in, nothing has changed as drastically as the nature of work and how we measure productivity. Today, many skills that guarantee employment and a healthy income for previous generations have been made redundant by technological advances. “This generation will not only be competing with one another for opportunities, but they will also be competing in a global marketplace, against students from all over the world, and against technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, blockchain and financial technology tools that are increasingly replacing the human function in the workplace.

We must prepare them with these realities in mind. “To do this effectively, we need to develop a new understanding of the changing nature of work and the future of employment. The limits of our knowledge hinder us from effectively addressing the challenges of this new age and adapting to the changing realities we cannot escape. Collaboration between our higher institutions and the organised private sector is vital to carry out the essential work of engagement, research and review required to bridge the gaps in our knowledge. We need to do this as a necessary precursor to focusing national attention on these issues so that we can jointly rise to the demands of the moment. This is an objective that we cannot, for the sake of our future, leave to the government alone to pursue.” Rector of the college, Dr Ibraheem Abdul, said the institution had focused on youth empowerment through its various programmes. “Furthermore, to show how committed we are to the empowering of our youths, the management established Industry Advisory Committee to enhance her dynamic role of producing technical manpower for the economic and social development of Nigeria,” Dr Abdul said. According to him, when it comes to manpower development, technological advancement and youth empowerment, the college has been at the forefront. Some of the initiatives targeted at youth empowerment put in place by the school, as highlighted by the rector, include the Quadruple Helix Collaboration Scheme for Youth Empowerment; the establishment of a centre for technology marketing and product development; the YCT Industry Alliance Group (YIAG) Programme; and the Students Work and Study Scheme. “The Academic Board of the college, on this basis, carefully selected the theme of the lecture title, ‘Empowering Nigerian Youths in the Present Day Economy’. This topic holds significant relevance to our nation as we face the various challenges and opportunities that come with a rapidly evolving global economy. It is imperative that we equip our youth with the knowledge, skills and resources needed to navigate these dynamic economic landscapes and emerge as successful contributors to our society. “This topic cannot be better handled by anyone other than the chief engineer in charge of the engine room that drives and coordinates all national activities and development. The man who has been actively and practically involved in youth empowerment for several years and perfectly understands the workings and directions of the Renewed Hope Agenda of our dear president and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. We have the privilege of hosting a distinguished speaker who will share his expertise and experiences in this field. It is my hope that this lecture will not only inspire our graduates but also ignite passion within them to pursue their dreams, overcome obstacles and contribute meaningfully to the development of our nation,” he said.

[afro-dave]

Vintage tomorrow morning (15 proxy). I’m nowhere near as versed in the format but I’m gonna try this out and play some cards that I own but aren’t allowed in legacy.

1 Gitaxian Probe

1 Mental Misstep

1 Ancestral Recall

1 Brainstorm

1 Ponder

1 Mystical Tutor

1 Time Walk

1 Timetwister

1 Tinker

2 Spell Pierce

2 Force of Negation

4 Force of Will

1 Vampiric Tutor

1 Demonic Tutor

1 Yawgmoth's Will

1 Bolas's Citadel

1 Wheel of Fortune

1 Black Lotus

1 Mox Pearl

1 Mox Sapphire

1 Mox Jet

1 Mox Ruby

1 Mox Emerald

1 Mana Crypt

1 Manifold Key

1 Pithing Needle

1 Sensei's Divining Top

1 Sol Ring

1 Time Vault

1 Narset, Parter of Veils

2 Dack Fayden

3 Hullbreacher

4 Orcish Bowmasters

1 Tolarian Academy

3 Urza's Saga

3 Underground Sea

2 Volcanic Island

2 Flooded Strand

1 Polluted Delta

1 Misty Rainforest

2 Scalding Tarn

1 Island

Sideboard

1 Blue Elemental Blast

3 Flusterstorm

1 Hurkyl's Recall

1 Fatal Push

1 Virtue's Ruin

1 Alpine Moon

1 Pyroblast

1 Red Elemental Blast

1 Abrade

2 Grafdigger's Cage

1 Portal to Phyrexia

1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

[hardynwa]

Tinubu picked wrong fight imposing hardship on Nigerians – Pastor Tunde Bakare

Tunde Bakare, the overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, has accused Bola Tinubu of imposing hardship on Nigerians. He said Tinubu picked the wrong fight by imposing hardship on Nigerians. Addressing his members yesterday in Abuja, the preacher said Tinubu should allow the poor breath by killing corruption and not Nigerians. According to Bakare: “By imposing hardship on Nigeria without going after those individual, cooperations who have plundered Nigeria over the years, the president has picked the wrong fight. “Mr President, if you are truly on the side of the poor; if you are serious about the welfare of the people; if you truly want the poor to breathe as you once said, then kill corruption and not Nigerians.” Read the full article

[danco110]

“Uh, sorry about this, Trostani! I didn’t really think this through…again…”

Nissa struggled to keep her balance atop the awakened Vitu-Ghazi as the newly animated elemental accidentally crushed a nearby clocktower underfoot. The spectacle garnered the attention of the gathered guildmasters, even causing Trostani to temporarily stop fighting herself. The Selesnyan’s constituent dryads paused, frozen between blows, and gazed up to watch their home walk away from them.

“Our vernadi!” the three dryads shrieked in unison, before quickly catching themselves.

“Ah. Ahem. We mean…” “Very good work, animist!” “That should be just the thing to rout those Eternals, as you called them.”

The other guildmasters stared in shock at the elemental and the planeswalker riding it for some time, then began to murmur among themselves.

“I know guild politics…grrrr, and our egos…dictate we all be lukewarm to contributing to the war, but…”

“…If Selesnya gets all the credit for stopping the fighting, then the rest of us…”

“…GET THAT DRAGON!”

In a rare display of unison, the other nine guildmasters turned to their war horns, messengers, and already-gathered forces. Before long, a wave of furious Ravnicans, comprised of members of every guild, was trampling the Eternals underfoot on its way to Nicol Bolas’s citadel. A short distance away, a small army of planeswalkers watched the events unfold with some curiosity.

“Well,” Jace sighed, “their motives are a little off, but they’ve got the spirit.”

Gideon gave a boisterous laugh. “Shall we lend them a hand, then?”

Ajani loomed over the two humans, hefting his enormous axe over his shoulder with one hand. “Yes, let’s go!”

And with that, the planeswalkers eagerly joined the charge towards Bolas’s citadel, alongside the army of Ravnicans.

[markrosewater]

Hey Mark, as much as I love the retro commander decks, is there a reason you didn't go for the colored artifact frame used for the retro Bolas's Citadel? That I assume would've been much more appreciated.

The challenge with the retro frames is feeling retro. Adding elements that didn’t exist feels anti-retro to a lot of players who enjoy retro. Yes, there’s a functionality issue, but retro frames are full of issues there.

[asterism343]

I have a confession to make, online I have a K'rrik commander deck, and anytime I have Bolas's Citadel and Aetherflux Reservoir, I gamble and if I don't see more than one land while playing with the top of my deck, I get like 20+ life and cast 10+ cards for free and spend like 10 irl minutes comboing off 😭

two days ago, my opponent did just that. I could've countered the Citadel, but i decided not to because i knew things were about to get goofy and i wanted to see how it would go down. That's a pretty interesting coincidence, huh?

spending 10 minutes comboing off is really cool, but probably sucks for your opponent haha

[littlegoldenbirdie]

The Dragon and the Maiden (sort of)

Okay, I'm going to try posting a big story again. We'll see how long this one ends up being and how many posts it takes to get it up.

Here's my oc and stuff, in an AU version of the War of the Spark and its aftermath. This is just the setup right here.

Prologue: After the War

Though she remembered nothing from before being discovered on Innistrad’s streets by the Gatewatch and subsequently latching onto a most displeased Jace Beleren, the woman known only as Amelia was aware of how she always seemed to end up where she was needed, or where she could be the most helpful. Indeed, she had always known this was the case, though the why of it would most likely have eluded her if she’d cared to investigate the matter. It was enough for her to know that Fate seemed to guide her steps. After all, hadn’t her wanderings on Ixalan allowed her to turn the tide of battle with that monstrosaur stampede down Orazca’s main thoroughfare? She was content to be a feather on the wind, carried wherever Fate and her feet took her, but now it seemed as though whatever had guided her before was gone. The Gatewatch had scattered to the four winds after the downfall of the malevolent dragon Nicol Bolas. Gideon was dead, Liliana had been freed from shackles none of them had known she wore, and Jace and the rest had simply moved on. Even Ajani, the leonin they had met on Kaladesh, the only one to treat her with genuine kindness rather than exasperation or patronizing tolerance, had moved on with his life. But something had kept her here, on Ravnica.

She had been atop the Citadel with the rest, witnessing how Nicol Bolas had been stripped of power and barely managed a desperate escape from the battle, driven onward by a sudden spasm of sheer animal terror even he would have hated to see from anyone, let alone a fiercely proud dragon like himself. Gushing blood from myriad wounds that should have completely incapacitated him at best, they had all watched him claw his armor off and throw it at his would-be killer as a desperate distraction before bodily throwing himself from the Citadel’s height and glide away over the wartorn city, making for the wild areas as fast as his unsteady wings could take him. She had watched him go, blood raining down on those he passed over, even as the other dragon stepped in out of nowhere to gaze down at the scene before him with a face as cold as ice, if not colder. Ugin, some part of her mind had said, though she had no idea where she had first heard that name. The rest of that day had not mattered to her. The battle was long over, the multiverse was truly safe for the first time in forever, but that idea meant surprisingly little to her. By all rights, she should have simply moved on as she always had. Why hadn’t she?

Rather than leaving Ravnica behind, she eventually found her way down to the city’s edge, where housing gave way to wilderness. An abandoned two-story house tucked away in a forested area was all she needed. The old feeling came back to her upon spying that house; this was where she was supposed to be. She was, or would be, needed here… but why? How? What good could she do in such a remote place?

Little did she know that she would soon get an answer.