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PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 10:25 am 
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I definitely agree about the impact of marketing (and better story/card integration for that matter). I mean, in fairness, the last two printed novels were Quest for Karn and Test of Metal and those are pretty much universally hated, and the e-books probably didn't have much of a chance to begin with because e-books are harder to sell to people than printed books. But even when printed novels were still a thing, the fanbase pretty frequently complained about the lack of marketing. If they had had a better and more aggressive marketing strategy (or any marketing strategy at all) and a better editorial system to prevent duds like QFK and TOM from happening, we would probably still have printed novels in some form. And then, it would probably have been a wise move to come back to the authors they had previously worked with whenever possible, who knew the world and whose books were good and successful, and to pay them decently (which is why Clayton Emery stopped working with WotC after Legends I apparently). Just commissioning and releasing novels isn't enough, a novel line needs some care and maintainance. I daresay that a continuing novel line with a better integration with the cards could even have prevented the latest batch of retcons in Origins from happening.

I understand that the artbooks are a great and comprehensive source of info about the planes. But honestly, so were the novels. I know a lot about planes like Kamigawa, Mirrodin and Ravnica (not to mention Dominaria) because I got to read novel trilogies based on them, with each trilogy costing roughly the same (or perhaps less) than an artbook. It's probably a matter of individual preference, but I prefer absorbing info about a setting from stories rather than facts listed in an artbook, and I'm more attracted to stories than visual art. There's enough art on the cards to show us what a plane looks like. Given how detailed the Planeswalker's Guides used to be before Kaladesh (Theros, Innistrad etc.), I feel like they've taken something away from me that used to be available for free (PW Guides) while not offering another thing anymore that I was willing to pay for (novels). And that sucks. And that's not even talking about things like maps or a clear official timeline that helped flesh out the MtG universe and that they stopped doing.

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 11:16 am 
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Hope is legendary.....

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You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is "never get involved in an thread with GM_Champion" - but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go in against AzureShade when card design is on the line!"


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 11:30 am 
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This reminds me of some Belgian history. When Antwerp was under Spanish control, Antwerp rebels loaded a ship called "Hope" full of explosives to blow up a bridge. It didn't work and a ton of people got killed. Weird how similar this is.

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 11:40 am 
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I kind of want this to end up like the end of Stargate where the Gatwewatch send the nuke-Thopter through the Planar Bridge and it pops out the other end in Amonkhet because that was Tezzeret's plan all along....to improbably find someone on Kaladesh that could invent a way to worm-hole things between planes, send Baan to enlist the Gatwatch only to have them join the other side when Chandra's history kicks in and the rest get a whiff of Tezz's presence on the plane, go megalomanical with his doomsday bridge to trigger the rebels and the Gatewatch to do something crazy stupid to stop him....all to drop a bomb at the doorstep of Bolas' summer retreat just in time for him to show up there for his thousand-year summer party and be blown the hell up to free Tezzeret from his dragon master.

That sounds like a Xanatos Roulette that Tezz would be capable of conceiving.

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magicpablo666 wrote:
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is "never get involved in an thread with GM_Champion" - but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go in against AzureShade when card design is on the line!"


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 11:52 am 
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I really want it to be a legal target for Crush. Shattering the Hope of Ghirapur just doesn't have the same ring to it.

I hope he calls some Phyrexians through the bridge. They may sever the connection... but do they get every drop of oil? :evil:

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 12:05 pm 
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I really want it to be a legal target for Crush. Shattering the Hope of Ghirapur just doesn't have the same ring to it.
Other options include: Abolish, Crash, Crumble, Demolish, Overload, and Smash.

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magicpablo666 wrote:
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is "never get involved in an thread with GM_Champion" - but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go in against AzureShade when card design is on the line!"


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 12:14 pm 
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-Oh my god, the threat to the magic's status quo !!!
-Blowing it up !

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 7:28 pm 
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Welp we have the first monkey tokens.

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 11:20 am 
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Full spoiler is up: http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/card-image-gallery/aether-revolt

Also, it seems Kaladesh has Felidar?

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magicpablo666 wrote:
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is "never get involved in an thread with GM_Champion" - but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go in against AzureShade when card design is on the line!"


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 11:54 am 
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Flavor text on Conviction: Blaaagrrh :(

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nice quotes from this forum

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 12:06 pm 
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My votes for Flavor wins of the set:

White:
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Blue:
Image

Black:
Image

Runner up:
Image

Red:
Image

Runner up: For quoting a Le Mis song.....
Image

Green:
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magicpablo666 wrote:
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is "never get involved in an thread with GM_Champion" - but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go in against AzureShade when card design is on the line!"


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 12:52 pm 
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also the art for Chandra and Pia's Revolution match up nicely...

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magicpablo666 wrote:
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is "never get involved in an thread with GM_Champion" - but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go in against AzureShade when card design is on the line!"


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 3:15 pm 
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I'd happily jettison Quest for Karn because it was a terrible travelogue.

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 9:30 pm 
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 5:32 pm 
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Now that the set and everything is out, why don't we talk about the story resolution?
The fat pack lines out that in the aftermath, Liliana shares that Tezzeret let's slip that something big is going on with Bolas. Ajani, freshly indoctrinated, says that they'll need help and they should regroup on Dominaria (who do they even know there?) and leaves. Meanwhile our... "heroes" decide that, nope! they can't wait to free an entire world from Bolas! So, not heeding Ajani, they immediately rush off.

I'm ridiculously disappointed Liliana, at least, wasn't smart enough to cash out on that plan. Jace should have known better too, but I can believe he'd jump in with the rest of them. Interesting that Ajani won't be showing up.

But oh sweet gods, they NEED to get absolutely wrecked next block. I mean, there's just no question this HAS to end in failure for this team. It's not just that they're going up against something so much further above them (thanks Eldrazi...) but also that they're jumping in half cocked and biting to win.

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 5:49 pm 
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Maybe they'll find a world of people perfectly happy to serve Bolas and cause mass misery

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:05 pm 
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So they did zero prep work and rushed right in? I'd say that's a sure sign WOTC's setting them up to fall, but, you know...

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:16 pm 
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Barinellos wrote:

I'm ridiculously disappointed Liliana, at least, wasn't smart enough to cash out on that plan. Jace should have known better too, but I can believe he'd jump in with the rest of them. Interesting that Ajani won't be showing up.
I think that this kind of thing is what they save for the specific stories, not the summaries in the artbook/fat pack. We won't know why Liliana goes (if she really does: the description is somewhat vague in the ratbook at least) until we get to that chapter.

Quote:
But oh sweet gods, they NEED to get absolutely wrecked next block. I mean, there's just no question this HAS to end in failure for this team. It's not just that they're going up against something so much further above them (thanks Eldrazi...) but also that they're jumping in half cocked and biting to win.
I do think they're laying groundwork for a Gatewatch upset. They're charging off totally unprepared to fight the multiverse's (likely) most powerful mage on his home turf, flash with the thrill (hubris) of three victories (of which they only even really earned two). Those circumstances practically demand they get thoroughly thrashed.

If that doesn't happen, that absolutely would unjustifiably bad storytelling.

EDIT: I would be okay with them getting thrashed in Act 1, but winning overall. The explanation of how they rallied to ultimate victory needs to clear a very high bar, though.

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 11:46 pm 
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Barinellos wrote:
But oh sweet gods, they NEED to get absolutely wrecked next block. I mean, there's just no question this HAS to end in failure for this team. It's not just that they're going up against something so much further above them (thanks Eldrazi...) but also that they're jumping in half cocked and biting to win.


I said my piece on this in another thread

Long Story


Short: Looking forward to something pwning Gatewatch and soon, but there are merits to having the villain's lair be a push or a scenario in which they're just superfluous and taking the smackdown to the Gatewatch where it matters to them.

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 12:37 am 
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Barinellos wrote:
I'm ridiculously disappointed Liliana, at least, wasn't smart enough to cash out on that plan.


The short explanation will be Razaketh.

I've joined up in team-based games before for the sole reason of reaching achievements that would not be as beneficial to the team as simply playing the game normally would (Sure, we lost this round, but I got 10 environmental kills!). I definitely understand Liliana's motivation here, dealing with her demon while she has the support to, and am fully expecting her ambivalence in engaging Bolas to be the key flaw in the Gatewatch plan.

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