Magic The Gathering Thread XXIII: Modern is Dead, Long Live Modern

[LansXero]

So in MTGA, I just got a card from a pack called Gideon's Sacrifice. It says in the flavor text that the cost of lilliana's betrayal was not paid by her, and it shows a guy behind her being the one disintegrated instead. So I guess Lilliana is still alive after that trailer.

Spoiler: size

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Its been out for a while now.

[LaZodiac]

So in MTGA, I just got a card from a pack called Gideon's Sacrifice. It says in the flavor text that the cost of lilliana's betrayal was not paid by her, and it shows a guy behind her being the one disintegrated instead. So I guess Lilliana is still alive after that trailer.

Yup! If you want any other story details (since you seem to not know them, which is fine not everyone cares) feel free to ask me, I read the book and am a crazy lore machine that subsists on nothing but stories and writing.

[enderlord99]

So in MTGA, I just got a card from a pack called Gideon's Sacrifice. It says in the flavor text that the cost of lilliana's betrayal was not paid by her, and it shows a guy behind her being the one disintegrated instead. So I guess Lilliana is still alive after that trailer.

That is correct.

[Marywn]

Ya Gideon's Sarcifice and Liliana's Triumph Both pay tribute to her not dying, I believe

[Silverraptor]

Yeah. I just remember seeing the trailer (and not knowing what was happening in it) and having it explained plus the conversation everyone was having on whether they killed her off or not. Then when I got that card, I remembered the trailer and the debate and thought that was interesting.

Yup! If you want any other story details (since you seem to not know them, which is fine not everyone cares) feel free to ask me, I read the book and am a crazy lore machine that subsists on nothing but stories and writing.

Can you give me the cliff notes version, of the events leading up to the trailer, a short recap of the trailer, and what happens afterwards and how she is not obliterated?

[Douglas]

Can you give me the cliff notes version, of the events leading up to the trailer, a short recap of the trailer, and what happens afterwards and how she is not obliterated?

With links to cards representing various things:

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Liliana is unwillingly serving Nicol Bolas because he controls her contract and can kill her automatically if she refuses. He's having her control the giant army called the Dreadhorde of zombies called Eternals (represented by the Amass mechanic) that he's invading Ravnica with, attacking anyone they come across but most especially harvesting the sparks of any planeswalkers they encounter (and there are a lot of them because of a device that got turned on right before the invasion to lure planeswalkers to Ravnica, plus the Immortal Sun that prevented them from leaving). Meanwhile, Bolas is just sitting there on his throne, enjoying the spectacle.

Several sets ago, Gideon acquired a legendary weapon called Blackblade, a sword that once was used to kill an elder dragon. This weapon is the good guy's One Big Hope for killing Bolas. The plan is to get Gideon in striking range (which his invulnerability should make easier), and stab Bolas with Blackblade. One hit could potentially be all he needs, as demonstrated when he killed God-Eternal Rhonas earlier.

With some unexpected help from the demon Rakdos after Oketra shoots down his pegasus mount, Gideon successfully strikes Bolas with Blackblade. To everyone's horror, instead of killing him, the blade shatters instantly, and the shrapnel badly wounds Gideon.

This proves to be the last straw for Liliana. She decides that there is, in fact, one thing that she fears more than dying - and that thing is being Nicol Bolas's slave forever. She commands all the Eternals to turn on him, most especially the two remaining God-Eternals (zombified versions of four of the gods of Amonkhet), Oketra and Bontu, who were standing guard right next to him.

The contract's penalty triggers and she starts to burn, but then a severely wounded Gideon puts his hand on her shoulder and somehow gives her his invulnerability. Not "shares", not "loans", but "gives". This saves her, but causes him to suffer the contract's penalty instead.

Shocked and grieving, but determined to make it count, Liliana continues to push the Eternals to attack Bolas. He destroys Oketra, but then Niv-Mizzet stabs him in the back with the spear of Hazoret (not represented by any card), willingly given for the purpose by the only surviving god of Amonkhet. This distracts him, and the fact that he had made that spear himself and put a small piece of his own power into it means he can't simply destroy it (though he spends a moment trying before he realizes that), and the distraction lasts just long enough to let Bontu grab him.

Bontu takes from Nicol Bolas all of the planeswalker sparks that he had stolen during this invasion, by the same method as the Eternals had been using to harvest those sparks in the first place. More than that, Bontu harvests Bolas's own spark, making him no longer a planeswalker. The power of all those sparks destroys Bontu, but in his shock Bolas responds too slowly and the sparks dissipate before he can recover them.

At Ugin's prompting, Jace then casts some illusions to make it appear that Bolas disintegrated and to hide what really happens next. Ugin planeswalks in, knocks Bolas unconscious, grabs him, and planeswalks both of them to a private plane that he now renames the Prison Realm. Ugin reasons that Bolas would have prepared for death, but would never have imagined he might be imprisoned, and that if the multiverse knew Bolas still lived there would be people seeking him out for vengeance and, however inadvertently, risking enabling his escape. Ugin himself will stand guard as Bolas's jailer until Bolas dies of old age, which he is now subject to because of losing his planeswalker's spark.

Gideon's gifted invulnerability fades from Liliana, and she planeswalks away. Meanwhile, in the afterlife of his home plane of Theros, Gideon is reunited with his old friends that had died in the incident that ignited his spark.

And to finish off the late story cards, Kaya joins the Gatewatch and all of Ravnica celebrates their victory.

Side note, Blackblade failed because Bolas was specifically prepared for it. There's a short point of view scene from him where he thinks about how he had spread rumors about it to draw their attention to it, and bolstered its reputation so they'd be certain it was enough and not bother looking for other options. It had indeed killed an elder dragon once before, and precisely because of that Bolas had taken steps to make absolutely certain that this specific weapon would never be able to harm him.

[LaZodiac]

I mean it's still actually contentious if Piru is an Elder Dragon or an elder dragon, if that makes sense.

Anyway yeah, pretend I said all that because I was at work.

[Spore]

If I ever won a clear moral victory then it was in my Zombies vs. 6x Teferi BO3 that I just played in MTGA.


The opponent played a fairly standard "you dont get to play" Esper Midrange list (Dreadhorde General and/or milling as win con). Basically he is dead if he doesn't bring out his 5 cost Teferi. I played a pretty aggressive but efficient zombies list. Game 1 goes swiftly to me with my aggression. Game 2 goes to him after he left me without cards as I played into board wipes and was generally too slow to build my army up. Game 3 was an incredibly "yugioh-esque" back and forth.

Kaya's wrath my first board. Dreadhorde General (mine) and Untouched by Death removed. Desperation play of Bontu into destroying my own lands down to 3. In the end, I face a Kefnet, 5 cost Teferi but I see he is running out of cards. I think to myself, hey I have yet to see a Teferi tucking himself back into his deck as a win con played out so I continue. then he +1s Teferi to draw his last card instead of tucking Teferi back in because he was going for emblem (from 7 to 8). He only forgot that he didnt have ANY way to put a card back into his deck in hand.

My god I feel so invigorated.

[Marywn]

Take that teferi!

[ImperiousLeader]

Yup! If you want any other story details (since you seem to not know them, which is fine not everyone cares) feel free to ask me, I read the book and am a crazy lore machine that subsists on nothing but stories and writing.

I'm only a mild Vorthos, so I'm spoiled on the contents but haven't read the book. So, my question, did you enjoy the book? Was it a good read? Because the excerpts and the Professor's review have soured me a little on the novel and I wouldn't mind hearing another take.

[LaZodiac]

I'm only a mild Vorthos, so I'm spoiled on the contents but haven't read the book. So, my question, did you enjoy the book? Was it a good read? Because the excerpts and the Professor's review have soured me a little on the novel and I wouldn't mind hearing another take.

It was amazing. I very much enjoyed the book. The Professor is a big lame-o who thinks that no matter how they beat Bolas it won't "work" because they built Bolas up too much, ignoring the fact that as they built him up they also made it clear what his weaknesses are, and they exploited them.

I have not actually seen anything substantial from him other than that one tweet though so I can't comment on that particularly. All I can say is that I loved the book, and felt it gave just about everyone it could the limelight they needed.

[LansXero]

All I can say is that I loved the book, and felt it gave just about everyone it could the limelight they needed.

If you've read them, how do you feel it stacks up against other MTG novels?

[LaZodiac]

If you've read them, how do you feel it stacks up against other MTG novels?

This is a legitimately hard question since by War of the Spark's very nature, it's like saying "how does Endgame compare to Ant-man or the 1970s standalone Captain America movie".

I would say, based purely on a quality thing, comparing the writing back then to this writing right now, this is probably better on the whole.

The character stuff is stronger in the books that are dedicated to one or two characters having an entire arc throughout an entire novel but that's just something that goes with the territory, and the character arcs that are in War of the Spark are very strong, arguably comparable to some of the best old stuff in my opinion, if not better.

I'd say action wise the fighting is easier to read in War of the Spark compared to other novels. It's not good but then the older novels had bad fight writing too, but then I'm super biased since I'm a _good_ fight-writer so I get ansty about it.

So yeah, I'd say it stacks up pretty well all things considered.

[Douglas]

I only read this one, so I can't judge how it compares to others, but it didn't really impress me. A lot of the time it felt like it was just going through a checklist of plot points, and many of them seemed rushed.

[gmoyes]

Yeah, I've read the novel and found it spread rather thin. It jumps between like 10 different characters and tries to catch readers up with what lead up to the War of the Spark with kinda clunky exposition. Those of us who are familiar with the lore already know mostly of what happen up until now, and I'm pretty sure any noobies would be rather lost with all the character and location names thrown around. I do like how it handled Ral and Tomrik's relationship though.

Spoiler gripe, though not really a spoiler as it was in the trailer:

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It was interesting to use Dak Faden as a POV character as we see him die in the trailer. But it doesn't play out like it does in the trailer. His arc throughout the book is that he would prefer to run and hide as opposed to fight. But he changes his mind and joins the fight alongside the other planeswalkers and has an actual badass fighting moment.

He's then unceremoniously ganked by a random eternal. Poor guy doesn't even have a card in the set (though understandable as Ral and Seheeli are the other two Izzet walkers and more well known and Ral is more plot important). His death had no consequence and Liliana was nowhere near it. It's a pretty big let down compared to the heroic sacrifice of Gideon and the well deserved betrayal of Domri.

[LaZodiac]

Yeah, I've read the novel and found it spread rather thin. It jumps between like 10 different characters and tries to catch readers up with what lead up to the War of the Spark with kinda clunky exposition. Those of us who are familiar with the lore already know mostly of what happen up until now, and I'm pretty sure any noobies would be rather lost with all the character and location names thrown around. I do like how it handled Ral and Tomrik's relationship though.

Spoiler gripe, though not really a spoiler as it was in the trailer:

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It was interesting to use Dak Faden as a POV character as we see him die in the trailer. But it doesn't play out like it does in the trailer. His arc throughout the book is that he would prefer to run and hide as opposed to fight. But he changes his mind and joins the fight alongside the other planeswalkers and has an actual badass fighting moment.

He's then unceremoniously ganked by a random eternal. Poor guy doesn't even have a card in the set (though understandable as Ral and Seheeli are the other two Izzet walkers and more well known and Ral is more plot important). His death had no consequence and Liliana was nowhere near it. It's a pretty big let down compared to the heroic sacrifice of Gideon and the well deserved betrayal of Domri.

Yeah that's a valid take.

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Dack isn't in the set because he was added to the novel after the actual card set was finished. That's just an unfortunate part of how these things work.

Domri's betrayal is honestly one of the most tragic, since it makes it very clear Domri does not actually know what the **** Bolas is, and was never in contact with him. My guess is that Nikea, the centuar lady who was building Domri up as Apocalypse Jesus, is Bolas's agent (much like how Mazirek is an agent of Bolas). Because remember, when Domri see's Bolas summon the God-Eternal's to kill Vitu-Ghazi, he doesn't go "hey it's Bolas, let's join my bud!" he says "Oh hey that random dragon destroyed the Selesnya's stupid tree house! Let's join the side that is obviously going to destroy the most civilization, which is what we want!"

It's not Domri being betrayed by a master and so deservedly dying, it's a 16-17 year old kid getting slaughtered like an animal because Ravnica kinda gave him a **** life.

[LaZodiac]

I'm reading Agents of Artifice and would like to rescind some of my even footed comments.

War of the Spark is WAY better written. I'm not hating this, but also it takes seven ****ing pages for "Kallist and Liliana and a deathpact angel she summons kill a shambler but get their supplies stolen" and it's some of the most boring action writing I've ever seen. It has good character stuff from what I've seen so far but wow this was miserable.

The fights in War of the Spark had actual DYNAMISM to it compared to this. Not up to my standards in any real sense, but still.

[PraetorDragoon]

I'm reading Agents of Artifice and would like to rescind some of my even footed comments.

War of the Spark is WAY better written. I'm not hating this, but also it takes seven ****ing pages for "Kallist and Liliana and a deathpact angel she summons kill a shambler but get their supplies stolen" and it's some of the most boring action writing I've ever seen. It has good character stuff from what I've seen so far but wow this was miserable.

The fights in War of the Spark had actual DYNAMISM to it compared to this. Not up to my standards in any real sense, but still.

Most of the Mtg novels are drivel is my experience. I have read Alara, the Lorwyn-Shadowmoor books, and Agents. The latter is definitly the worst.

And according to people online Test of Metal is even worse.

[LaZodiac]

Most of the Mtg novels are drivel is my experience. I have read Alara, the Lorwyn-Shadowmoor books, and Agents. The latter is definitly the worst.

And according to people online Test of Metal is even worse.

I'm honestly kinda liking Agents of Lying, but it's not a very good book in any real sense.

[ImperiousLeader]

The only Magic novel I've read, I read before I played Magic, was Arena. I kinda liked it. I remember liking Garth One-Eye.

[Ebon_Drake]

I remember liking a bunch of the Magic novels way-back-when. Nemesis in particular stood out as being genuinely quite well-written (albeit bleak), to the point I can still clearly remember specific passages from it. Others like Invasion block I suspect I only see as good from a rose-tinted perspective, but I think The Brothers' War, The Thran, the Ice Age books with Jodah and the Legends books that first established Bolas as a big player are all pretty well-regarded. I liked the Odyssey block books pretty well, although Chainer's Torment stands quite a bit above the other two. The Kamigawa books were fairly popular too and probably the best part of that block.

On the flip side, a bunch of them are utter dreck. Prophecy may well be the worst book I've ever read, and that's probably only because I stopped reading them before I got to Legions and Scourge - books so bad the community took to calling them The Books That Shall Not Be Named.

[Divayth Fyr]

With links to cards representing various things:

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At Ugin's prompting, Jace then casts some illusions to make it appear that Bolas disintegrated and to hide what really happens next. Ugin planeswalks in, knocks Bolas unconscious, grabs him, and planeswalks both of them to a private plane that he now renames the Prison Realm. Ugin himself will stand guard as Bolas's jailer until Bolas dies of old age, which he is now subject to because of losing his planeswalker's spark.

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Is it explained how Ugin transports Bolas to his prison? As a non-planeswalker, Nicol should be obliterated by the Blind Eternities... Also, is that dying bit stated explicitely like that? It would go against previous lore, which made the Mending remove Planeswalker immortality (which ws the reason for Liliana's pacts and one of the reasons Bolas was so determined to regain his old status...

Out of curiosity, did Sorin feature in the novel?

[LaZodiac]

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Is it explained how Ugin transports Bolas to his prison? As a non-planeswalker, Nicol should be obliterated by the Blind Eternities... Also, is that dying bit stated explicitely like that? It would go against previous lore, which made the Mending remove Planeswalker immortality (which ws the reason for Liliana's pacts and one of the reasons Bolas was so determined to regain his old status...

Out of curiosity, did Sorin feature in the novel?

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Elder Dragons were said to be one of the only living creatures that aren't planeswalkers to be able to survive the Blind Eternities. Ugin just grabs hold of him, envelops him in his wings, and planeswalks away, forcing Bolas with him. Bolas survives it, but it cripples him entirely. He can barely stand, his wings are broken, his scales have been acid washed green, and he's entirely blind. He is also completely cut off from using magic.

Elder Dragons are just very long lived. The post-mending spark doesn't make you immortal, but from the perpsectives of most everyone Bolas could live practically forever. It took literally untold Millenia, and then sixty years after the mending, for Bolas to start actually feeling the affects of his age. It was only due to bolas's spark letting him do the nonsense of consuming Alara's excess mana in the Conflux that allowed him to even regain his youth, which means he's got millenia to live still, most likely.

Sorin and Nahiri are both mentioned. They **** off to do some fighting once they meet each other, but then return to fight on the same side. They aren't given much screen time otherwise.

[Zhentarim]

The more I look at black and blues’ philosophies, the more alike they seem.

[Techwarrior]

That's one of the reasons that they're an allied color pair. The big difference is that they're looking for. Blue wants to know things, even if the things aren't useful. Black seeks power.

[Ebon_Drake]

Also, pure Blue doesn't really have a sense of competition. A Blue character will want to learn, improve and develop. However, they don't particularly care about whether other people are smarter, better or progressing faster - except probably seeing them as someone else to learn from. Being jealous and concerned about rivals is a Black trait.

Conversely, mono-Black only cares about what it wants to achieve. It doesn't care about the method used to get there. If studying is the best way to achieve power then it'll do it, but it will also happily cheat or take shortcuts to get results. It would also see the opposite route as perfectly reasonable, i.e. dragging others down rather than trying to surpass them.

[Tvtyrant]

I did a 1v1 sealed with a friend using a WotS fatpack. 10 packs, I got Kefnet, Oketra and Blast Zone of cards worth money. Blast Zone not hitting tokens is more prohibitive then I realized.

[Douglas]

Blast Zone not hitting tokens is more prohibitive then I realized.

Hmm... Use Nissa, Who Shakes the World or some other way of changing Blast Zone's permanent type, then Price of Betrayal to remove the free charge counter. Blast Zone is 100% capable of hitting tokens.

[Tvtyrant]

Hmm... Use Nissa, Who Shakes the World or some other way of changing Blast Zone's permanent type, then Price of Betrayal to remove the free charge counter. Blast Zone is 100% capable of hitting tokens.

Haha I stand corrected!

[Spore]

I did a 1v1 sealed with a friend using a WotS fatpack. 10 packs, I got Kefnet, Oketra and Blast Zone of cards worth money. Blast Zone not hitting tokens is more prohibitive then I realized.

With Kefnet, maybe get a play set of Soul Diviners and remove the first counter of Blast Zone?