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neon-dynasty · 27 days

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Sometimes I think about how interests come and go in waves, and I wonder why things happen the way they do. Right now, for instance, I can't think of a single Western animated series that has the same kind of fan energy that, say, Steven Universe or Gravity Falls or the Owl House did. I'm sure they're out there, but there's also something that's missing in the field, largely due to the animation industry being on a general downswing in America. (Yes we're all hooked on Dungeon Meshi and Frieren right now, but that's another story.)

Likewise, it feels like the Magic the Gathering story fanbase has been in a rut. And there are a lot of factors for that, but I want to point out what I think are the two biggest culprits: the overprinting of Legendary cards for Commander and the decentralization of the story branch of the creative team at WotC.

It's on my mind today because the Thunder Junction Epilogue stories by Alison Lührs (one of the most loved writers from the most recent high point and arguably the best professional author of Jace x Vraska there's been) were a breath of fresh air. They came out and gave fans what they wanted in Magic story - character-driven narratives.

Sure, the endpoint was Jace and Vraska adopting an adorable plot device baby to bring the story into its next arc. But we got to learn more about Jace and Vraska, as well as understand why they think the way they do and why that makes them act the way they do. Laying there dying, Jace faces his guilt and begs his mother to save them. When the topic of marriage and children comes up, they're completely in sync and Jace knows exactly where to find a parentless child. But the most important part is that we're with these characters while they act out the plot, rather than watching characters react to the plot. As much as I love, say, Kaito and the Wanderer, neither one of them had much agency over the story as it marched steadily toward invasion.

I truly hope that we get more storytelling like this. I hope that we can see the characters be themselves and see why that's important in the ongoing sagas.

But it wasn't just Jace and Vraska we fell in love with back in the time of Ixalan. We had Chandra and Nissa and Ajani and Gideon and Liliana and Jaya and Kaya and Teferi and Ral and so many others. Hell, Bolas was the most fun villain I'd seen in any media in a long time specifically because we spent time with him as he plotted and schemed.

And that was the grand promise of the Lorwyn Five, wasn't it? A storyline that could follow our favorite characters, and have them make choices that affect the entire narrative. Even if it were years between appearances, it felt like our favorite characters could show up at any time. Now with the mass desparking and the Omenpaths, that doesn't feel like such a good thing anymore.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I hope that going forward we get more of the character-driven narratives that defined the best period in the history of Magic's story. I hope that this isn't a one-off, bringing in an author who clearly still has that way of writing. I'd love to see more about how characters and planes are recovering from the Invasion and the existence of Omenpaths.

But more than that, I want the fans to be excited about Magic Story again.

#mtg #mtg story #mtg spoilers

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hazel2468 · 1 year

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Should be fucking illegal for one blorbo to be so cute. Man needs a warning sign or something.

#mtg #mtg fanart #jace beleren #digital art #my art #this man is my blorbo #add him to the blorbo pit #magic the gathering #jace x vraska

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kalcat · 1 year

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Tagged by @skipperxiv, sorry it took me awhile to get to this, I almost forgot it existed

The Rules: Tag (9) people you want to know better and/or catch up with, then answer the following:

Four Ships:

Shadowgast from Critical Role

Fjorester also Critical Role

Jace x Vraska from Magic the Gathering (if there's a commonly used widespread ship name for these two I haven't found it yet)

Gency from Overwatch (don't play the game anymore but I'm still in a shipping server so)

Last Song: Dreams pt. II by Lost Sky (feat. Sara Skinner)

Currently Reading: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (yes I know its a D&D sourcebook, but I don't really read novels anymore and I ain't sharing my fanfic tastes)

Last Movie: I think it's Dune? It's been awhile since I've watched movies (I tend more towards TV shows, D&D streams, and hours long youtube essays)

Craving: Chocolate Ice-Cream, always

Tagging: @and-then-the-trash, @born-of-stardust, @bismuth-209, @phantom-solitaire, @celestialswirl, and whoever else wants to

#tagging game

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mowu-moment · 2 years

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The Trivia Contest Write-Up (AKA I Got Obsessed)

One of Unfinity's Attraction cards, Trivia Contest asks you to name a card (or plane, creature type, etc.) from a given starting letter that's in one of eighteen different categories. Naturally, as a trivia nerd, I had to be the one to bust it. Is the effect even worth all the effort? Who cares, we're here to have fun.

Before getting into the lists, there's a few base things to get out of the way.

There's a lot of overlap between names, since every card has to fall in at least two categories. For a fun side fact (of course there's fun side facts), Reaper King falls in the most as far as I can find, fitting eight categories (all five colors, legendary, artifact, creature) (and since it can be cast for colorless, you might fudge it into nine depending on your debate skills). A good few cards do share names with mechanics and sets, yet the only ones I feel are really notable are Conflux (which hits seven!), Future Sight, Hour of Devastation, Time Spiral, Channel, Fabricate, and Flash.

Some first letters appear much more often than others, namely those on basic lands, from here on being referred to as the FIMPS (Forest, Island, Mountain, Plains, Swamp). If there's anything to memorize from each category, it'd be FIMPS, since about a third of the cards you'd mill in limited are one of those. After that, I'd go for cards which are the only valid option (here on denoted with a * for the ones I can feasibly check) since they're harder to pull off the top of your head, and then the classic letter order (your RSTLNE's and such). Depending on how the set breaks down, you might not even need to worry about X's and Q's.

We'll be abusing the overlap considerably--all planeswalkers are legendary, after all, so why remember the same thing twice? Reused cards will be italicized, while new cards are bolded. Cards will be chosen generally off of EDHRec rank since Scryfall can tally that, although deviating based on name rememberability and number of overlapped categories. I opted to layer planeswalkers-legends-colors and colorless-artifact-creature, then take everything else as it stands. Acorn cards are included since Trivia Contest is acorn, but other types are not--sorry, Inzerva. Feel free to deviate from this for cards you remember better--I did opt for one-word names over more popular cards. Focus on titles for the legends--you need the full name to count. Onto the study guide!

PLANESWALKERS: Ajani Goldmane; Basri Ket; Chandra Nalaar; Dovin Baan; Elspeth Tirel; Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury*; Garruk Wildspeaker; Huatli, Sun's Champion; [NO I]; Jace Beleren; Karn Liberated; Liliana Vess; Mordenkainen; Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God; Oko, Thief of Crowns; Professor Onyx*; [NO Q]; Rowan Kenrith; Sarkhan Vol; Teferi, Time Raveler; Urza, Academy Headmaster; Vraska, Golgari Queen; Will Kenrith; Xenagos, the Reveler*; [NO Y]; Zariel, Archduke of Avernas*

LEGENDS: Ajani Goldmane; Basri Ket; Chandra Nalaar; Dovin Baan; Elspeth Tirel; Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury; Garruk Wildspeaker; Huatli, Sun's Champion; Iroas, God of Victory; Jace Beleren; Karn Liberated; Liliana Vess; Mordenkainen; Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God; Oko, Thief of Crowns; Professor Onyx; Queen Marchesa; Rowan Kenrith; Sarkhan Vol; Teferi, Time Raveler; Urza, Academy Headmaster; Vraska, Golgari Queen; Will Kenrith; Xenagos, the Reveler; Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow; Zariel, Archduke of Avernas

WHITE: Ajani Goldmane; Basri Ket; Cleansing Nova; Dovin Baan; Elspeth Tirel; Farewell; Generous Gift; Huatli, Sun's Champion; Iroas, God of Victory; Justice; Karma; Land Tax; Merciless Eviction; N; Open the Vaults; Path to Exile; Queen Marchesa; Rout; Swords to Plowshares; Teferi, Time Raveler; Urza, Academy Headmaster; Vindicate; Wrath of God; [NO X]; Yoked Ox; Zetalpa, Primal Dawn

BLUE: Archaeomancer; Brainstorm; Counterspell; Dovin Baan; Expropriate; Force of Will; Growth Spiral; High Tide; Intuition; Jace Beleren; Keep Watch; Laboratory Maniac; Mordenkainen; Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God; Oko, Thief of Crowns; Ponder; Quench; Rhystic Study; Swan Song; Teferi, Time Raveler; Urza, Academy Headmaster; Vivisection; Will Kenrith; Xenograft; Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow; Zephyr Charge

BLACK: Assasin's Trophy; Blood Artist; Crypt Ghast; Demonic Tutor; Exsanguinate; Feed the Swarm; Grim Tutor; Harvester of Souls; Infernal Grasp; Jumbo Imp; Killing Wave; Liliana Vess; Merciless Eviction; Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God; Opposition Agent; Professor Onyx; Queen Marchesa; Reanimate; Sign in Blood; Toxic Deluge; Urza, Academy Headmaster; Vraska, Golgari Queen; Waste Not; Xathrid Necromancer; Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow; Zulaport Cutthroat

RED: Anger; Blasphemous Act; Chandra Nalaar; Dockside Extortionist; Earthquake; Faithless Looting; Gamble; Hostility; Iroas, God of Victory; Jeska's Will; Kaboom!; Lightning Bolt; Magmaquake; Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God; Obliterate; Pyroblast; Queen Marchesa; Rowan Kenrith; Sarkhan Vol; Thrill of Possibility; Urza, Academy Headmaster; Vandalblast; Wheel of Fortune; Xenagos, the Reveler; Young Pyromancer; Zariel, Archduke of Avernas

GREEN: Assassin's Trophy; Burgeoning; Channel; Doubling Season; Explore; Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury; Garruk Wildspeaker; Huatli, Sun's Champion; Incubation Druid; Jarad's Orders; Kodama's Reach; Lure; Masked Vandal; Naturalize; Oko, Thief of Crowns; Plummet; Quirion Ranger; Rampant Growth; Sarkhan Vol; Tireless Tracker; Urza, Academy Headmaster; Vraska, Golgari Queen; Wood Elves; Xenagos, the Reveler; Yavimaya Elder; Zendikar Resurgent

COLORLESS: Akroan Horse; Burnished Hart; Crashing Drawbridge; Duplicant; Etched Oracle; Foundry Inspector; Gingerbrute; Howling Golem; Iron Golem; Juggernaut; Kuldotha Forgemaster; Leveler; Meteor Golem; Night Market Guard; Ornithopter; Plague Myr; Quietus Spike; Rust Elemental; Solemn Simulacrum; Thopter Assembly; Universal Automaton; Viseling; Walking Ballista; Xanthic Statue; Yotian Soldier; Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp

ARTIFACT: Akroan Horse; Burnished Hart; Crashing Drawbridge; Duplicant; Etched Oracle; Foundry Inspector; Gingerbrute; Howling Golem; Iron Golem; Juggernaut; Kuldotha Forgemaster; Leveler; Meteor Golem; Night Market Guard; Ornithopter; Plague Myr; Quietus Spike; Rust Elemental; Solemn Simulacrum; Thopter Assembly; Universal Automaton; Viseling; Walking Ballista; Xanthic Statue; Yotian Soldier; Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp

CREATURE: Akroan Horse; Burnished Hart; Crashing Drawbridge; Duplicant; Etched Oracle; Foundry Inspector; Gingerbrute; Howling Golem; Iron Golem; Juggernaut; Kuldotha Forgemaster; Leveler; Meteor Golem; Night Market Guard; Ornithopter; Plague Myr; Quirion Ranger; Rust Elemental; Solemn Simulacrum; Thopter Assembly; Universal Automaton; Viseling; Walking Ballista; X; Yotian Soldier; Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp

ENCHANTMENT: Abundance; Burgeoning; Courser of Kruphix; Doubling Season; Exploration; Felidar Retreat; Ghostly Prison; Hardened Scales; Iroas, God of Victory; Jace's Sanctum; Kenrith's Transformation; Land Tax; Mystic Remora; Nyxbloom Ancient; Outpost Siege; Propaganda; Quest for the Goblin Lord; Rhystic Study; Sanguine Bond; Thopter Spy Network; Underworld Breach; Valakut Exploration; Waste Not; Xenograft; Yet Another Aether Vortex; Zendikar Resurgent

INSTANT: Assassin's Trophy; Brainstorm; Counterspell; Dark Ritual; Entomb; Force of Will; Generous Gift; High Tide; Intuition; Jump; Keep Watch; Lightning Bolt; Magmaquake; Naturalize; Opt; Path to Exile; Quench; Return to Nature; Swords to Plowshares; Thrill of Possibility; Utter End; Veil of Summer; Wear // Tear; [NO X]; You Are Already Dead; Zap

SORCERY: Approach of the Second Sun; Blasphemous Act; Cleansing Nova; Demonic Tutor; Exsanguinate; Farewell; Gamble; Harmonize; Idyllic Tutor; Jeska's Will; Kodama's Reach; Life from the Loam; Merciless Eviction; Nature's Lore; Obliterate; Ponder; Quasiduplicate; Reanimate; Sign in Blood; Toxic Deluge; Unearth; Vindicate; Wrath of God; Xander's Pact; Yawgmoth's Will; Zombie Apocalypse

LAND: Ancient Tomb; Breeding Pool; City of Brass; Desert; Endless Sands; Forest; Godless Shrine; Hallowed Fountain; Island; Jungle Hollow; Karoo; Lotus Vale; Mountain; Nimbus Maze; Overgrown Tomb; Plains; Quicksand; Rogue's Passage; Swamp; Temple Garden; Unknown Shores; Volcanic Island; Watery Grave; Xander's Lounge*; Yavimaya Coast; Zoetic Cavern

SET: Amonkhet; Battle for Zendikar; Conflux; Dominaria; Eldritch Moon; Fate Reforged; Gatecrash; Hour of Devastation; Ixalan; Jumpstart; Kaldheim; Lorwyn; Mirrodin; New Phyrexia; Oath of the Gatewatch; Planar Chaos; [NO Q]; Return to Ravnica; Shadowmoor; Theros; Unfinity; Visions*; War of the Spark; [NO X]; (Year of the Tiger 2022?); Zendikar

MECHANIC: Affinity; Banding; Channel; Double strike; Explore; Flying; Graft; Haste; Indestructible; Jump-start; Kicker; Lifelink; Menace; Ninjutsu; Overload; Prowess; [NO Q]; Reach; Shroud; Trample; Unearth; Vigilance; Ward; [NO X, Y, Z]

CREATURE TYPE: Angel; Brushwagg; Cat; Dragon; Elf; Fish; Goblin; Human; Insect; Juggernaut; Kraken; Leviathan; Mime; Ninja; Ooze; Phyrexian; [NO Q]; Robot; Shapeshifter; Thopter; Unicorn*; Vampire; Warrior; [NO X]; Yeti*; Zombie

PLANE: Amonkhet; Bablovia; Capenna; Dominaria; Eldraine; Fiora*; Gargantikar; [NO H]; Ixalan; [NO J]; Kaldheim; Lorwyn; Mirrodin; New Phyrexia; Obsidias*; Phyrexia; [NO Q]; Ravnica; Shadowmoor; Theros; Ulgrotha*; Vryn; Wildfire*; Xerex*; [NO Y]; Zendikar

Some final comments (and fun facts):

There's actually two planeswalkers with cards whose names start with Y--Yanling and Yanggu--but neither are printed as such (being Mu Yanling and Jiang Yanggu in all incarnations). Whether your opponent allows them to be named is up to them. Their homeplane is also the Plane of Mountains and Seas, which is the other major contender for the P Plane--if you count that sort of name as valid, anyhow.

As for playing against Trivia Contest, it's ideal to name plane, mechanic, or set, as those have several gaps and fewer options overall (not to mention several one-ofs). Planeswalker may seem like a good choice, missing a FIMPS and having the most one-ofs, but it's likely far easier to name a planeswalker card with a more common letter. I'd still go for it if you were playing green or blue and if you felt like being risky, but otherwise land is probably a better choice. For the other two, just follow your gut.

H is a significant gap in planes--I count 3 'H' cards in Unfinity so far--yet there might be one in 'Hell'. It's listed as a plane in my source, being connected to Dominaria and Innistrad and having been visited in older parts of the story, but I don't think anybody will actually count it. Your mileage may vary.

Similarly, the only Y sets are the Chinese New Year promos--the cards themself are listed as 'PRM', yet Scryfall categorizes them under the 'year of the' names. There's no Y cards in Unfinity as of yet, so hopefully we're safe from that discussion.

This list doesn't account for the cards in Unfinity itself--maybe they'll add a mechanic that starts with Q, but more likely you'll remember the cards in your deck more than anything on this list. Do remember you can name Trivia Contest itself for a T artifact!

Correct me in the comments if I slipped somewhere--I spend three late-day hours on this, and I do not have the energy to do a full review.

#magic the gathering #mtg #unfinity #by god why'd i sink my day into this. i had shit to do. alas

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mtghewillneverend · 1 year

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Author's Note #1

This story is loosely based on private roleplays between me and my girlfriend.

A lot has happened in that RP, and it was started before Dominaria United had fully finished, so be aware that canon divergencies are abundant (and somewhat the focus, as our story is very much an AU that’s loosely based on canon). Note that this was written after Dominaria United’s release, so some things were edited to fit a little more closely for this story, but… it’s still hugely divergent from canon lol.

This story will have chapters based on individual planeswalkers that slowly piece together the entire story by explaining each character’s role in the story, part-by-part.

Canon divergencies that are worth mentioning from the start/other notes worth mentioning from the start:

You’re going to see me blatantly ignore a lot of War of the Spark/Forsaken, whilst also acknowledging other parts of War of the Spark/Forsaken.

This is because as much as I love WotS as a concept, Forsaken was a horrific spit in the face of so many characters lol.

Biggest example of this: Jace and Vraska *did* still separate in here, post-WotS, but it was because Vraska told Jace her target assigned by Niv was Liliana, and Jace was super uncomfortable with it. Vraska took this very poorly, and unlike in Forsaken, Vraska never told Jace that she exchanged targets, nor that her new target was Baan, nor that she was being blackmailed after cutting a deal with Dovin. Vraska took Jace’s discomfort with her target being Liliana to mean that Jace still cared for Liliana, and she started to believe that she and Jace would never have what Jace felt towards Liliana, especially given that it was revealed that Liliana never intentionally worked for Bolas. Jace took Vraska pulling away to simply mean she didn’t care for him as much anymore and started to believe that their closeness, leading up to and in WotS, had been borne of trauma, and believed she didn’t “need him” anymore now that the events of Ixalan were over. They separated due to a decaying relationship, so still rather similar to Forsaken, but not… whatever the hell Forsaken was doing with them.

Also… while I’ve read bits and pieces of WotS… I refuse to read it all. I am sorry. But you cannot make me read Forsaken. Also, in general, there is SO MUCH STORY to MtG, and while I’ve certainly read a lot—I LOVE the Innistrad stories!—I have not read everything. I am not an omniscient being with endless time. I am sorry :S Canon divergencies are going to be abound by me not having read everything, and I will simply say that they are intentional bc, well… they still are, I still have to consciously decide for things to be part of the story, even if they’re there because I didn’t read X story.

Another part of that—since Jace never knew Vraska exchanged targets, he never knew that Kaya was the one that targeted Liliana. He believes that Vraska killed Liliana post-WotS and that Kaya killed Dovin (Chandra was not present for the falsified death of Dovin in this version of events, it was someone else).

Everyone still believes Liliana is dead at the start of this also!

Jace never told anyone that Tamiyo was overcome by Emrakul, and that the latter sealed herself within Innistrad’s moon. Nor did he ever tell anyone that he assisted Ugin with imprisoning Nicol Bolas to the Meditation Plane; as far as the others knew, at least at the start, Bolas was killed during WotS (he wiped Saheeli’s memory of her role in it all, then his own memory of the fact Saheeli was involved).

Saheeli was not present during this story’s presentation of Dominaria United’s events, because at the time we started RPing it, the story was not complete, and I didn’t know she was going to play such a role yet. :shrug: Karn’s Sylex was destroyed, Teferi believed it lost, he assisted the New Coalition for a while post-Battle of the Mana Rig, but then returned to Ravnica to inform them of what had happened there as well as discuss what to do next about New Phyrexia. So begins this story.

#{ story info }

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