#mtg community

[athousandlights]

Note: We’re Arab, not Native American, so listen to their opinions on this before ours.

I wanted to have hope that Outlaws of Thunder Junction would be handled well, or even just not awfully. But the evidence is starting to rack up, folks, and it aint pretty:

At MagicCon, Blake Rasmussen (mtg’s Senior Communications Manager) said that, “everyone’s a newcomer to Thunder Junction.”

Also at that MagicCon panel, Aaron Forsythe (VP of Magic Design) called it an “unspoiled land.”

Mark Rosewater (mtg Head Designer) says that, “prior to omen paths [sic], it was uninhabited.”

Could this just be three white guys saying White Guy Things? Sure. Especially since they’ve all shown themselves in the past to be kinda uninformed on the particulars of their product’s storyline. But it’s not a great look.

The narrative that lands are uninhabited and ripe for plunder is inextricable from the American colonial genocide of indigenous nations (which has never stopped). This is especially the case in a setting based on the American West, rife with the trappings of the imperialist genre of American Westerns, and fraught with the colonialist propaganda of “frontier fantasy.” For this world, they’ve even created an ethnic group explicitly based on the Diné nation, per the official MTG Twitter account. Yet they still chose to center the set’s story around the genocidal selling point of “exploring uninhabited lands to find untold treasure and fortune.”

Yes, they’ve said they used cultural consultants. And, sure, that’s gone well-ish (though not without great flaws) for NEO and LCI. But whatever influence those consultants were allowed to have on OTJ, it was clearly not enough. Because holy shit, even the (otherwise amazing) side story, No Tells, says, “Thunder Junction’s a new plane, one that’s still beginning.” (Do NOT go hating on the author; I doubt he had control over that level of worldbuilding.)

All of this has shattered my hope in the set being respectful, or even not actively harmful. You can say, “wait and see,” and we will, but we’ve seen a lot already—and gang, it has not looked good.

[leafdrake-haven]

Spoilers for MoM: Aftermath!

Beware!

So based off of packaging, it looks like Nahiri is not only alive but no longer compleated. Based on what we’ve seen so far and how much of a big deal it was for Melira and Karn to cure Nissa and Ajani, it seems wild that Nahiri would just be…. Ok? (Obviously we’re getting more story with Aftermath but STILL)

So.

WRONG ANSWERS ONLY!

How did Nahiri get back to normal?

[flavoracle]

Commander Pre-Con Recommendations

My 13-year-old really wants to teach one of their stepbrothers how to play Magic: the Gathering for Christmas, specifically playing Commander.

Their mom asked me if I had any suggestions of two pre-constructed Commander decks that play well against each other, but honestly it’s been a while since I kept up with new Magic sets and decks.

Do any of you awesome nerds in the MTG community have any recommendations I could pass along?

[magnusbeatle-blog]

If you play Magic the Gathering, let’s be mutuals!

[lexxlikes]

The invasion of Ravnica

I found it kinda sad, that we didn't get enough "The Multivers fights the Phyrexian" and so I've had the idea to write a little story about the Invasion of Ravnica and what the guilds might have learned after Bolas. Hope you like! (Yeah... there are some more gilds... but I kinda focused on my favorites. And yes: I do like the Azorius-Fun-Police-Senat)

RAVNICA

As the dark-skinned elf roamed the streets of Ravnica to run his errands, he was accompanied by a persistent, uneasy feeling. It wasn't nausea from bad mussels or a night of drinking. It was the feeling that gave you the creeps. The feeling, or rather, the instinct that is anchored in us to immediately take flight without knowing exactly where to go and why. The tension and adrenaline that ensured that all muscles were ready for immediate action. Eule, the courier, could not explain where these almost omen-like thoughts came from. Admittedly, he had survived the invasion by the God-Pharaoh Nicol Bolas and, as a Dimir agent, was entitled to a healthy dose of paranoia. But this feeling was... different. He had spent the whole morning trying to work out the reason for it and logically get to grips with his feelings. But in vain. Perhaps there were so many little things that you didn't even pay attention to in everyday life, but which subconsciously kept you constantly occupied. The fact that more and more of these strange symbols had appeared in the city. A circle divided vertically by a long line. Strange cloud formations. The way the light fell on the tin road. It all didn't feel... right.

Arriving at the Guild's headquarters, he looked at the still large, circular hole gaping in the building. It was a silent memorial to all who had fallen in that battle and a lasting reminder that they were not alone. It wasn't just crazy dragon planeswalkers out there in the multiverse. A millennia-old war was brought to these streets and so many innocent people died. And not only that. The city was forever changed. The hole Eule stood in front of and in the distance you could still see the last remains of Vitu Ghazi. The tree that was forced into an elemental and went down fighting. Many of the inhabitants of Ravnica therefore met the familiar planeswalkers with fear. Ral Zarek, guild leader of the Izzet, didn't care - God knows he had more important problems - but there was a negative mood among the population. The ignorance of what a Planeswalker was mixed with the fear of what else was out there and the shattering realisation that there was an "out there" at all. Ravnica was a planet and a single city. It already made you feel small and sometimes insignificant. But now?

The elf's blue eyes stared at the sky, lost in thought, as if he would find answers there. In a way, this was also true when these strange symbols appeared in the sky. But only for a moment, until the circle simply opened up and a kind of portal appeared. Organic-looking roots clad in whitish-looking metal snaked through it and after a short time the ground broke open. Similar outgrowths erupted here too and while Eule's bag was still falling to the ground and he was running, he realised one thing: Ravnica was being invaded again.

Azorius Senate

It would never quite come out in the open - and frankly, it didn't matter - why the Azorius were able to react so quickly to the attack. Rumour had it that it was the precognition mages, who had fuzzy visions of the future but saw enough for Lavina, the interim guild leader, to prepare for anything. After the invasion of the Mad God, they wanted to be able to act more quickly in the event of future interplanetary conflicts. In a small circle of 30 selected members of the Azorius, various emergency procedures and sub-clauses were drawn up, which made a quick reaction on the part of the Senate possible and also legally legitimised it. It was hoped that these clauses would never have to be invoked, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

This foresight of the clairvoyant magicians made them feel uneasy that morning. Without being able to catch any concrete glimpses of the future, their statement put the entire senate on heightened alert. However, only the relevant members of the "Meeting Committee for the Prevention and Security of Ravnica and its Guilds", or M.C.F.T.P.A.S.O.R.A.I.G for short, were informed of this. Not only did this committee consist exclusively of members of the Azorius Senate, but it was also broadly diversified in order to ideally bundle the individual focuses and specialisations of the guilds and, if necessary - like today - to direct them in an effective action plan against an as yet unknown enemy. So couriers were sent out and - just to be on the safe side - Sonnenheim was put on standby. Maybe it was nothing. Perhaps it was a good exercise, because something like Nicol Bolas should never happen again.

Lavina wasted precious seconds at her office window as her mind tried to interpret what her eyes saw there. Huge, metallic tentacle-like outgrowths seemed to be coming out of holes directly in the ground and sky. These "tendrils" looked as if they were encased in a white metal, but the reflective glow didn't seem to match metal and it looked more like porcelain. Lavina's focus then centred on the portals and what the brown eyes saw behind them was a living nightmare. A nightmare of metal, precision and perfection.

With a quick movement, she opened the tightly closed, metallic tube on her belt and pulled out a piece of parchment. Immediately it unfurled its magic and all of Ravnica was warned.

The three gigantic, triangular pillars surrounding the fountain inside New Pravh immediately shone with a warm, bright light, while all the previous sky runes were extinguished at once. The previous law changes and announcements gave way to the urgent message that Ravnica was once again under siege and all defence protocols had been activated. Citizens were advised to seek shelter calmly and without panic or not to leave their homes. In view of the chaos that had already ensued, these words seemed like a farce.

Seconds later, various airlocks opened in the three towers of the Azorius Senate building and an uncountable number of Thopthers - a retained change from the previous guild leader - swarmed out like a gigantic swarm of bees. The task of the metallic fliers was to warn all the districts of Ravnica, but also to broadcast visually over the entire city - or at least the 10th district. 

At the same time, countless Verdalken mages gathered on the ground at the large, central fountain in New Pravh. Various hand movements followed in practised synchrony and after the nullification mages rose into the air, a transparent dome formed around the Senate headquarters. No spell would now be able to penetrate the seat of the Laws. Runes of pure light flew around the mages, whose concentrated gaze became filled with fear after a moment. From their elevated position, they could see what they were up against. They had survived Bolas. But this was a completely different category of enemy.

The defence of the Senate building against the metallic, insectoid warriors was taken over by the members of the Lyev Column. The trained special unit for internal security immediately streamed out of the main buildings, clad in shining silver and blue capes. Armed with lances, swords and warhammers, the melee fighters positioned themselves around the Senate itself, while other units consisting of battle-hardened paladins and powerful clerics took care of the protection of the citizens. Various units, some even on horseback, were now also spread throughout the city and the first clashes between attackers and defenders could be heard loudly.

Boros legion

Aurelia, the red-haired angel and guild leader of the Boros, read the news of Lavinia with concern. As much as the angel lived for the battle, she hoped for the safety of her city and its inhabitants. And this could never be guaranteed in a war. As the Boros had to reckon with unexpected training sessions every day, the many members were at work with routine safety and, as befitted soldiers, they did not question orders from their superiors.

Aurelia was divided when the invasion began. On the one hand, there was now certainty and action could finally be taken. On the other hand, it was the inhabitants of Ravnica who suffered the most. The city itself. So should the leader be happy that the adjustment and uncertainty was falling away from her? She routinely shook off any feelings and the red-haired angel rose into the air with powerful beats of her wings. An aura of fire enveloped the guild leaders and she allowed the heavy gates of Sonneheim to open. The Boros garrison moved out to defend Ravnica.

The synchronised appearance of the soldiers running in step towards the giant roots shook the cobblestones and served as a warning to many citizens. Minotaurs, giants, humans and vashinos alike charged towards the enemy. Armed with lances, swords and an arsenal of devastating magic, the enemy's ground troops were immediately engaged in battle. But how did one fight something that did not understand fear itself and yet evoked fear in everyone else? Strange creatures that seemed to be more metal than flesh, with unreal eyes and disproportionate mouths, pounced on the legionnaires and soldiers with no regard for their own health. However, the battle-hardened Boros constantly regrouped and were quickly able to set up various defences so that the nearest residents could flee. But even some of them began to wonder whether they stood any chance at all against these creatures. After a while, fellow fighters who were thought to be dead got up again - but changed forever. Cables tore open their skin, metallic lenses literally burst from their eyes as their bodies tried to repel everything organic. Glistening black oil dripped from various pores and while some of the victims screamed in pain, a look of rapture could be seen on their disfigured faces.

While the ground troops suffered losses but were able to hold their positions, they tried to fight the root of the evil in the sky. Through the cloudy sky, another monster burst forth in the direction of the roots. The Parhelion II. The flagship and mobile centre of the Boros garrison. With incredible thrust from two nozzles on the underside of the gigantic building, the object headed slowly but inexorably towards the roots of the worldbreaker. At a suitable distance from the enemy, the many airlocks on the front opened and to the distant observer it looked as if white doves - a sign of peace - had been released. But none of the angels that swooped down on the enemy were meant to bring peace. Only salvation. With merciless precision, the countless heavenly squadrons swooped down on the enemy. The enemy needed several minutes - important minutes that greatly minimised the numbers of the attackers - to adjust to the new danger. When he tried to launch a coordinated counterattack, however, the angels scattered in all directions as if on command. The last thing the enemy saw was the grounded energy weapon of the Parhelion II. Light as pure, bright and hot as the sun itself burst upon the enemy's troops, melting metal and skin alike. All that was left behind were steaming lumps of metal and the almost undamaged "branch" of this strange tree. This naturally dampened the initial euphoria of the sky warriors and it sank almost to the bottomless pit as for every enemy defeated, it felt like two new ones came through the portal on the other side. But as long as even one Boros was standing, they would fight for Ravnica. And this is exactly what Aureila shouted at the top of her lungs as she crashed down on the enemy again: "FOR RAVNICA!“

Izzet league

Lavinia had long struggled with whether the Izzet League should be integrated into the early warning system for Ravnica. On the plus side, the Izzet had a perfect knowledge of the city and enough equipment to cause a lot of damage by exploding. On the downside, they had enough equipment to cause a lot of damage through explosions. And a chemo-voltaic radiation condenser, for example, made no difference between aggressor and inhabitant. But the new guild leader, Ral Zarek, assured the M.C.F.T.P.A.S.O.R.A.I.G that he would proceed with caution for the inhabitants of Ravnica in the event of a potential interplanetary or multiversal threat. Now the leader of the Azorius hoped that she would not regret her decision. The Storm Mage might inspire confidence - but the unpredictable goblins... She didn't want to finish the thought.

In Nivix, the headquarters of the Izzet League, there was no difference to a normal Tuesday afternoon. Explosions could be heard in the distance and, as various goblins rushed around to fulfil orders for their lab leaders, the smell of electricity (and, strangely, barbecued meat) was everywhere. On the rooftops of Nivix, the Storm Mage with the grey mottled hair watched the invasion of enemies not entirely unknown to him. 

New Phyrexia.

Jace had reported it, and as much as he wanted to help and be a part of the rush to the Machine World, he was also Ravnican. This was his home. This was where Tomik lived. This was where he grew up. The multiverse was at stake and perhaps deep down Ral Zarek felt like a coward, a traitor or an egotist. But at that very moment, he had to live with his decision and all the consequences it entailed. As well as the certainty that the invasion meant the failure of the Gatewatch. He fervently hoped that he would not encounter any of his old acquaintances in a nightmarish caricature of themselves. Zarek repeatedly asked himself whether his presence would have made a difference. Whether his abilities would have led to victory. But looking at this enemy, he wasn't sure what would have helped at all. Jace spoke of a Sylex and Kaya was very convinced in the presence of Teferie. But apparently none of that had been enough. The only thing Ral could do now was to fight for his city. He took another deep breath and focussed his entire analytical mind on the here and now. He had to have a clear head. He hadn't been a friend of M.C.F.T.P.A.S.O.R.A.I.G from the start. Too long. Too bulky. Too Azorius. That's why there was the Izzet version CM-LPG. "Activates the counter-motion loss power grid," came Ral's words over the small radios that had been developed some time ago - for just such cases.

What happened next surprised Phyrexians and Ravnicans alike. In a four-shift, three-person rotation, there were houses at strategic points in Ravnica that had been bought by the Izzet League some time ago. Extensive conversion work was carried out there, so that with the obligatory press of a red button, the 13 diesel engines in the house came to life. Four hyper-torque drivers and gyro-stabilisers at the most motion-critical points and cooling by crystallised ice magic ensured that the houses pushed themselves upwards through two hydraulic legs. After a gap opened in the floor on the now exposed underside of the house, four more legs appeared and the three joints made the house look like a gigantic, clumsy spider.

Reinforced by metal on the inside and protected by the natural masonry, the 3 people were able to operate the running bulwarks and keep the enemy at bay. Sufficient armament - partly due to unstable and risky research projects - was part of the basic equipment of the counter-movement loss power grid. It was intended to keep the enemy at bay until either the inhabitants could flee to safe havens or the Boros, Selesnijans or Azorius could dig in.

[shardssystem]

[gregor-never-leaves-the-house]

I'm not a huge fan of super effective magic cards. I like weird stuff that doesn't work, and then I'm frustrated when it fails, haha.

But I really like to arrange stuff for Proxies. And since our child has a huge amount of coins and other knickknacks, I thought, why not?

I tried to fill the card with lots of baubles a child would find valuable, various coins, acorns ... The child loves to collect rocks from everywhere and insists bringing them home.

There's even a tiny duck hidden underneath the tules text ☆

[sluttymaplesyrup]

Playing Commander at my local game shop!

Am I doing it right?

[leafdrake-haven]

Fandom Friday

Welcome to Fandom Friday! A day for the MtG community to come together and talk about our OCs, fanplanes, and favorite aspects of MtG in general!

Ok so you know the drill, I’ll give a prompt and you can respond to it by answering directly, doing a doodle, making a custom card, a little flash fic, or whatever feels right and most fun for you! (Heck, do multiples if you want, this is just for fun!)

Happy Friday!

So we recently got Murders at Karlov Manor which gave us a murder mystery fun trope set but on a familiar plane. It’s fun cause they get to fit the trope to the existing lore there and seems like a fun twist to developing an already known plane. So here’s the question. What’s a trope you’d love to see magic build a set around and what existing plane would you love to see it flavored toward?

[maliciouspotato]

Beginning of my EDH shitposting Era

[inxblott]

WHEN

When is wizards going to make a EDH precon with the best creature type? When I say best I mean objectively best.....to me, I'm just a little *Weird* wink wink nudge nudge we need an izzet weird EDH deck :I there is a criminally low amount of weirds as cards

[lexxlikes]

My opinion on the story of Murders of Karlov Manor

XXXX With spoilers! You have been warned! XXXX

I was initially very sceptical when Murders of Karlov Manor was announced, but I wanted to give the story behind it a chance. (After „Phyrexia“ and „All will be one“, my bar was set very low). My secret hope was that the schemes of Tezzeret (FANBOY!) and Lazav hinted in Greg Weisman's "War of the Spark" book would finally be flourish. Plunging Ravnica into chaos. More Tezzeret (finally with his Darksteel Body).

I also found the first story interesting, didn't quite know what to make of Proft and was curious to see what would happen next. In general, a murder-mystery story is always a fine art. Do you manage to write it in such a way that the attentive reader ends up with the same keys as the detective? Or - as in many films - are there 15 minutes of scenes that are essential to solving the mystery? However, with each successive story, my enthusiasm was dampened and my eyebrow rose higher and higher.

When the murderer was finally caught, it was there again. The feeling of the Phyrexia/All will be one story-arc. I find it a great pity that it seems as if the simplest solution is always taken. The characters are sometimes not written consistently and the end of the respective arc leaves you unsatisfied. Somehow you can feel in the stories that perhaps there is simply a lack of love for the protagonists and that's why they act OOC. The author did a good job and wrote a great story, but if the briefing says that Trostani, or rather Oba, is the vengeful retribution, there's nothing you can do. For me personally, the revenge motif is simply too heavy-handed in this context. It seems as if they had thought about who is least expected to be the murderer. Then they tried to knit a motif around it. It all seemed so incredibly contrived to me and didn't feel natural in the course of the story. 

What bothered me in general, however, were (unfortunately) many other aspects of the story in Ravnica. For one thing: Niv-Mizzet? It might have been nice to see/hear the living guild pact on this topic. Proft himself was a very unlikeable character to me. There's nothing wrong with creating a super intelligent Sherlock Holmes variation, but then it needs wit or a flaw. Proft unfortunately had neither and in the scene where he explains her job to Erata, I found it rather ridiculously over the top. What Krenko was doing in this whole scene - with all the guild leaders, I still wonder. Yes, he's a VIP in Ravnica. But to integrate him into the story because of that?

Another big aspect that I find very unfortunate are the open storylines. Teysa is/was a double agent? Judith is planning her own coup? The Simic are experimenting with glisterin oil? All great ideas, but unfortunately they were either nipped in the bud or, in the case of Proft, not pursued any further. Who was the intruder in his mind palace? Emarkul? Jace? A new party?

But despite everything I'm criticizing, I'd also like to highlight what I thought was good. As a big Kaya fan, I like the way the Planeswalker was portrayed. Her sassy demeanour, which often just serves as a protective shield. I also liked the way she was treated as a planeswalker in Ravnica. A story arc that I thought was great in the non-canon comics. The city/plane of Ravnica has a real problem with multiversal invaders and Kaya and Ral are met with distrust and anger. I think it just felt natural in the storyline. Ral Zarek only had a brief appearance, but he was electrifying. (Well? huh? You get it?.... Sorry…)

The author, Seanan McGuire, has also written a good story that beautifully depicts Ravnica, the guilds and everything that goes with it. There was also - especially at the beginning - a lot of excitement and joy when the new chapter was published. 

Basically, I would have liked to have seen a few open story lines (Lazav and Tezzeret) picked up and no new ones opened up. Only to be quickly cut short again.

I would be interested to hear your opinion on this? Am I being too critical? What do you think about the murderer and her motive? 

[blenn-tennyson]

My friend dropped this lore on me yesterday.

[the-art-of-matt-wydick]

“The 4 stages of building an EDH deck”

Does anyone else relate to this?

Untitled mtg comic series #3