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 Post subject: How Urabrask was wasted
PostPosted: Fri Mar 24, 2023 3:36 pm 
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Barring a few questionable decisions, I largely enjoyed the story of All Will be One and March of the Machine. However, it’s clear that they have wasted Urabrask as a character. First introduced way back in Scars of Mirrodin, Urbrask and his red-aligned faction offered something remarkable: empathy, due to their unique mana alignment. Later in Theros we learn that Norn subjugated his layer precisely due to him allowing rebels to survive there, and New Capenna seemed to go in the direction of outright making him a rebellion against Phyrexia. Then All Will Be One that not only refuses to give him a POV despiste being an important player, we only hear about him from biased characters like Koth, who naturally want him dead. Then the Planeswalker’s Guide for the setting implies that, despiste preffering willing conversions, he’s still pro-Phyrexia, and the side stories have his underling Slobad using shady tactics for “willing conversions”. This effectively killed off all that was built in Scars, and it’s a damn shame. His whole contribution in March is an assist to Chandra – once again a biased character – and then dying via torture device. We could have had not only an unique character but an actual moral quandry on whereas it is possible to co-exist with some form of Phyrexia. Instead, we have the definition of wasted potential.

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PostPosted: Sun May 21, 2023 4:10 pm 
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It's not just Urabrask who is wasted though.

All the praetors apart from Elesh Norn have been completely wasted and have died in rushed ways.

Sheoldred goes from mounting a succesvol attack on Dominaria and a serious rebellion against Norn with Urabrask and some other thanes to being captured and killed without any exposition.

Vorinclex was a major threat in Kaldheim, with an encounter with Kaya that she just barely survived, but here is just killed by an unspecified person's sword after having his horn broken off by Elesh Norn and apparently being fine with that.

Just rushed garbage if you asked me.


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PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2023 1:39 pm 
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Indeed, though Vorinclex may yet live if Rhystic Studies is correct.

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PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2023 6:36 pm 
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I haven't actually read most of the MOM stuff. I know Urabrask had its limbs severed, but I had really hoped they didn't die. Urabrask was far and away the praetor with the most story potential. Really, I don't understand why the praetors had to die. Elesh Norn really needed to be offed for the story. Executing Sheoldred deserved more emphasis, but it communicated something about Phyrexia's workings. The deaths of the other 3 didn't really have any upside that I can see.

The omen paths are something like what I wanted from the Mending. I'm ok with those.

All those walkers losing their sparks came a bit out of nowhere though.

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PostPosted: Tue May 23, 2023 12:08 am 
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For me, almost nothing of real consequence happened in New Phyrexia or MOM. Sure, some planes got shaken up (mostly Ixalan, Eldraine and Theros from what I can gather), but magic has repeatedly shown that the aftermath of a devastation is only as impactful to a plane as any particular set needs.

Suddenly, these (some quite random-feeling) ENORMOUSLY impactful things happen in aftermath, mostly without a good explanation or foundation.

Magic story has often not been great, but at least it has always had a reasuring feeling of (at least some) direction. This just does not feel like that. It has a random 'making stuff up as we go along' feeling to it. It just feels very cheap.


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