Two for the price of one today:

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/a ... 2022-03-28

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/a ... 2022-03-28

I like how Xander is a tailor.

If Urabrask hasn't fallen in line with the rest of the Phyrexians now, it makes sense to see Tezzeret playing multiple sides. He probably wants a destabilizing agent on New Phyrexia. I wonder if Urabrask could have actually come to this plane in search of Phyrexians who had been living independently of any Father of Machines.

It's interesting that Xander doesn't remember actually taking over the city because of some contract.

So, thus far, it's difficult to peg down how to feel about the stories.
The first was well written, and the setting is highly intriguing, but that is it's advantage as much as a flaw because the most interesting characters in it aren't the ones we're going to be following, are they? The **** Planeswalkers are going to spoil another world aren't they? They're going to run roughshod over the cast that have the most to care about and squander the planes potential, yet again.
Xander and Jetmir both had strong introductions, working through the unique aspects of the setting, giving some degree of life and mystique to the plane and letting us glimpse a brief moment in the city's daily life.

Ob, clearly the adversary, is about the only walker here that likely has sufficient cause. That being, he's a bastard. Meanwhile, Urabrask and Tezzeret being here is.... Obscure for the moment. Vivien is a weird choice, and honestly I just hope they feed her to the machine to make up doing that to Tamiyo. And Elspeth has.... Absolutely nothing to offer the story the way she's presented. We missed the most interesting thing they could have done with her, skipping straight over her reunion with Ajani, and she's blandly just plopped in our laps here. Maybe she'll do something interesting, but she's not an interesting character, so I doubt it.

Meanwhile, despite new capena seemingly being a replay of Amonkhet in terms of setting, they seem to be using "home" more metaphorically than literally for Elspeth. I mean, maybe phyrexia is out there beyond the walls, but it's a bizarre mish mash if it is.

The second story is not good. Writers really need to learn present tense doesn't read worth a damn. It comes across, at best, as amateurish.

I disagree, I feel that other than the tone it was a surprisingly poignant story.

But alas, another two: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/a ... 2022-03-29 https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/a ... 2022-03-29

Elspeth burning New Capenna to the ground:

"Whatever government was in place wasn't very effective since she couldn't even name it"

I have to say, the second story is great but I am disappointed with the new cephalids. At least add a squid beak or something.

Zootopia but with demons. And halo is probably ground up angels

Well, we're certainly allowed to disagree with one another, though I should specify my issue isn't in content, it's in application. It's not well written from a technical stand point, not a thematic one.

As to the new stories, I was right, Elspeth is dull as dirt, but contradictorily, that almost works to the story's advantage in this one. Seeing one of the characters just make ends meet was surprisingly refreshing, partly in how mundane it was, but also in how mundane it was to us specifically. No medieval daily life that most planes make you walk through, nor high fantasy shenanigans. It's a relief for a change of pace.

Unfortunately, it's one of two problems in the story too. Walkers might be use to seeing wildly different things, but the staggering lack of culture shock here is... Highly distracting. Even more so, the supposed adaptability that language concepts work into the prose where they have no business being. I just find it staggeringly difficult that someone who has spent the majority of her life in a bronze to iron age setting would so readily be able to slip seamlessly into a post industrial one.

For all the faults people want to dump on way of the spark for it's story, Teyo's reactions to a new culture were genuine and logical. We need more of that here.

My second issue with this story was the reunion was absurdly underwhelming. Now, I'll grant, that might be due to either space or time limitations, but it's a hugely anticipated and relevant moment and it's just so... Bland. Where's the pathos? Why the eagerness to part? It just comes across as flat. (Similarly, though this I've long given up on worrying about, the staggering improbability of two walkers every meaningfully encountering one another.)
The coy way they want to interject this in the middle of another story also does it no favor either, instead of giving it the time and attention it properly deserves.


On the other end of things, I will say, the art has been constantly very striking and appreciable. One of the best looking sets to come out in a while. It almost has some of the old pizzazz from back in the day, at least in terms of creativity.

I do like seeing Vivien story going on in the backgrounds of Elspeth and vice vera.

Like how they portrayed Urabrask. He might have emotions, but ultimately he's still a phyrexian so he speaks very formally.

Wild speculation time, I think Giada is an angel/ the source of new Halo. She's clearly a prisoner to the Cabaretti, even if she allegedly wants for nothing.

I really like the historical background of the factions pre-New Capenna.

The Obscura were mystics and advisors. When Raffine made her demonic pact, they turned increasingly selfish and focused on their own goals rather than good governance.

The Maestros were the nobles and art aficionados. They were the ones who saved the art and culture as the old world collapsed.

The Caberetti were druids who would hold festivals in nature but as people had to isolate in the city and became disconnected from nature, they partied more and more to reconnect until parties became their primary purpose.

The Brokers were paladins, who traveled and made agreements with villages to protect them in exchange for shelter and food. Over time, these agreements became increasingly legalistic contracts. Falco believes they need to gather as much halo and contracts as possible to prepare for a coming doomsday.

The Riveteers were artisans, but after Ziatora took over, her thrill-seeking tendencies influenced the faction. She thought it was a lot of fun fighting knights, and that love of fights trickled down.

In a way reminds me of the Simic, once a noble purpose turned decadent.

I rewatched it and did a longer write-up of most things discussed.

Five Crime Families - their mechanical and narrative identity is focused on the center color

- The Obscura (WUB, mechanical themes are card draw and control): Conmen, grifters, spies. Oracles use their knowledge and prophecies to control the city and maintain balance between the families while they line their pockets.

- The Maestros (UBR, mechanical themes are sacrifice and removal): Artists who see murder as their medium. They're more old money and refined in dress.

- The Riveteers (BRG, mechanical themes are aggro and big beaters, good at buffing each other up): Union workers, mess with them and they will take apart the infrastructure below you.

- The Cabaretti (RGW, mechanical themes are creature synergies and go wide): Party throwers, the most inclusive and accepting, have a lot of politicians in their pocket.

- The Brokers (GWU, mechanical themes are protection and control): Doomsday lawyers who will keep you safe but at what cost? Always there when something goes wrong, whether you want them to be or not. Protection rackets and a lot of favor trading.

Worldbuilding Process

- Set started as "Demon Mobsters". Took inspiration from 1920s, noir, crime genre, and seeing what fit Magic.

- New Capenna is one "massively tall city", not a world-city. It is made of three layers: Park Heights is 1920s Hollywood glitz and glamor on top, the Mezzio is 1920s Manhattan everyday life, the Caldaia is 1920s Chicago and "foundry of the city".

- Giving each family a really different identity allows them to lean into different tropes in a heightened way. Cabaretti draws upon the Roaring Twenties, Great Gatsby party feel. Maestros have the Godfather aspect. Riveteers are the union, which is evocative of the period but also contrasts with the fancy mobsters.

- They brought guns into Magic by emphasizing the magical aspect. Some guns are fueled by halo, but they also heavily leaned into instruments as magical weapons, which plays on the trope of the gangster carrying a gun in a violin case. They also have mages literally just shooting spells with finger guns.

- There is always a danger of going "too modern" for Magic players, but they also want to always broaden what Magic can look like and push boundaries.

- Do a lot of work upfront to lay out what the world looks like, including themes and motifs. They want it to be clear when you look at a card that you can tell which family a character is in.

Development Process

- Three-colored faction sets have to be later in the Magic year because they need the support of more cards in the Standard format. They also want to space out multicolored sets.

- They want to have a creature type that most represents each family, even though the families are not just one type. Maestros are vampire-focused. Cabaretti are leonin and elves (now with little horns). Riveteers have viashino that lean into a draconic look. Obscura have cephalids. Brokers have aven and rhox.

- Raccoonfolk.

- It's fun to be on this creative team and be able to just commission artists to make wild ideas into reality.

New Capenna & Its History

- Capenna was originally a traditional high fantasy setting, similar to Bant, "the Kingdom Era". Tragedy struck and all the people had to take refuge in New Capenna.

- Living outside the city is very rough and difficult, very few do it.

- There is a government, elected officials, judges, police, etc. outside the five families, but they're perfunctory while the families run things for real. It's generally understood that the government is for show and help keep semblance of peace.

- I described the background of the families in my comment above.

- The biggest resource of the plane is halo. It fuels power, themselves, weapons, etc. Its greater significance is still mysterious now.

- The Phyrexians on Capenna were the original Phyrexians from Yawgmoth's time. There were still pockets of them on Capenna twenty-thirty years ago when Elspeth was a child. (Elspeth's not an oldwalker.)

- The angels built New Capenna with demons' help as a refuge for the people. What happens after that and what happened to the angels will come with the stories.

Current Story

- Urabrask's recovery on New Capenna after traveling there is impeded, thinks halo has to do with it. He came to this plane to investigate the Phyrexians that were on Capenna.

- MOb Nixilis is disrupting the balance between the families because he is taking control of the halo trade. Halo is becoming scarce. He is in the story because he just fit really well more than there being an overriding narrative reason.

- They give the whole background of what has been Elspeth's story so far. She grew up in a Phyrexian dungeon, tried living on different planes that she thought would be safe, was killed by Heliod, brought back to life, met up with Ajani again, got pointed to New Capenna.

- New Capenna was not intended to be Elspeth's homeplane from the start, but when you have a lot of dangling threads like Magic does, you can find ways to sew them into ongoing things.

- Vivien is on New Capenna hoping to find a world with a balance between nature and civilization to release her Arkbow's spirits and then get pulled into the ongoing story.

- There isn't one concrete way that determines which planeswalkers show up. It's a variety of both game and story reasons.

Okay, I caught up. I actually mostly like the writing in these. The Perrie short story is the strongest one so far. Good crime drama story with good characters. The crime bosses so far are all cool characters.

I like how the Brokers strongly believe in prophecies (or *the* prophecy at least) but don't get them while the Obscura get them but only exploit them. I think it shows their shared white-blue with the contrast between green and black.


I agree. She's the cream being hidden by the cat (Cabaretti).

The panel even seemly shows Elspeth running somewhere with a woman I'm guessing is Giada that she is helping escape.

I thought one of the clues that Giada is an angel is that her clothes are bulky to hide her wings, but the woman in that image doesn't. It makes sense that's her though.

Stories of da day: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/a ... 2022-04-04 https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/a ... 2022-04-04

Today's mainline chapter feels like the victim of having to fit everything into five chapters. It's very functional, though I like Xander appreciating the art. There's no real description of the Crescendo despite the buildup.