On one hand, I like the Oltecs (Olmec reference, yay) and the fact that we're actually getting gods like a proper Mesoamerican set should have.

On the other hand, hate the dyson sphere angle and the angels.

I actually like the Hollow Earth take. It's fitting with some Mesoamerican lore (if you squint through M:tG lenses) and really evokes a retro-fantastical angle that feels like old Magic, rather than a theme park.

When I first saw the Ojer Axonil/Temple of Power card I sort of nodded and thought to myself "THIS is what a God card should be like." though I kind of wish they started in Temple mode and had to be called forth (or at least could, as MDFCs)

It's early, and there are some parts of Ixalan that were sour before and may still rankle in my mouth, but this is some of the most promising Magic stuff in recent memory.

Didn't see the take on angels.

I'm way behind on the Ixalan info. I haven't seen anything about angels. Do you have a link? Found the angel pic. Something about them does seem a little off, but I can't place it. Maybe it's just too easy seeing them fit into a Roman setting. I always imagined the angels of Starstill to have sun discs instead of standard halos. I prefer a halo flipped 90 degrees over a helmet though. Maybe a big issue I have with the Ixalan angels is that they seem more like birdmen than divine constructs.
Excited to see MTG's take on Mesoamerican cultures. I'm especially ecited to see how it compares to Starstill. "Oltec" is a little on the nose, but, eh, whatever.
I guess Ixalan is go in a more pulp direction as opposed to swashbuckling. Come to think of it, one half of swashbuckling is pirates and the other half is musketeers. I guess the musketeers were all back on Ixalan's Old World. Which I think Vivein Reid genocided or something in a side story? Kind of a big thing to drop off-screen.

If those are supposed to be angels they don't sit quite right, NGL, but they might just be wing warriors?


Looked it up, she messed with one (admittedly important) city in one colony of the Legion of Dusk, not even Torrezon itself. Much damage, and the beast rampage she triggered ran off a lot of citizens but she didn't exactly stick around to kill lots of people so they probably got things under control and rebuilt after a while.

Anyone know why the wings are shaped like that? When I saw wings that curve forward at the end with feathers perpendicular to the curve, my first thought was Polish winged hussars.

It's meant to resemble mesoamerican flowing patterns.

Anyways, most if not all of the story dropped today.

One story in and I love the reference to the myth of the five suns

Into the side story and we get something we missed: language barriers!

Gonna be honest, given how saccharine their relationship is, I really kind of root for Saheeli and Huatli to get into an argument and break up.
Their entire happy couple schtick makes me teeth itch.

That said, overall, I fairly like the story we got so far. The atmosphere is right in line with what slakes my thirst for the setting and I prefer something like this a helluva lot more than any of a dozen other stories we've gotten in the past.
Still, that might just be a predilection on my part to like the aesthetics and tone of this kind of story. Pirates, Explorers, Jungle Ruins, etc etc. Plus, y'know, Dinosaurs.

To be truthful, I've not been looking forward to hardly anything in magic lately, but if there was going to be something, it was probably going to be Ixalan. Though oddly, I hated how segmented the previous set was. Also very not thrilled with the Sun Empire as an execution, but what'll you do, right?

Into story 2.



What?

In regards to the worldbuilding, I'm not quite sure on the Sun Empire having access to [non-obsidian] glass and citruses, as well as calling their grandpas "abuelo". Kind of takes away from their indigenous inspiration.

God this is horrifying

The malamet were quite unexpected. They seem like another Maya inspired culture, albeit the suspended bridges remind me of the Xingu cities.

So the Mycotyrant is basically Audrey

So the Oltec have some clear Incan inspirations, like the use of khipu. The fact that they have mechanical flying things reminds me of Disney's Atlantis

Chimil reminds me of the Pan-Sun in temtem

Pretty sure this is PG rated mf

Perfect

Overall, I quite enjoyed the story for Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Barring some worldbuilding issues - like native-inspired characters calling their grandpas "abuelos" - this was quite thrilling. And there's now two villains in Magic's roster on the loose.

Yeah, the issue with using language like that is a big problem.
It's the fact that they consult people that are primarily concerned with the modern experience instead of the historical, no matter how twisted that actually ends up when put in full context.