Yeah, going with the rules used by Mark Gottlieb during the Grand Creature Type Update, Karona should surely be granted the God type in virtue of being said in her card's name (that's how we got things like Soldier Warrior). (Then again, it also says it's "false", so I'm not entirely sure here).
Also the Spirit Avatars from Shadowmoor/Eventide. They're Deus, Deity, Godhead, and so. One is a Demigod, but a demigod is still partly God, just like a creature that's, say, half Merfolk and half Elf got both the types.
If they take this route, the God tribe is shaping up to be really interesting.
Completely agree on retroactively bestowing Godhood. Other candidates include Karona, False God, and somewhat ironically Emrakul aka the god Emeria, Ulamog aka the god Ula and Kozilek, aka the god Kosi.
Yeah I almost said Apollo vs Galactus lol. But then the temptation would be to make it totally Marvel and say Captain Marvel vs Galactus or Squirrel Girl vs Galactus (she totally kicks his ass as I understand the lore.)
I wrote an article about it: the biggest creature in the game has infinite body. (And Chameleon Colossus, or others with the same mechanic, is the one that reaches the infinity of greatest magnitude.) In comparison, Emrakul's body is approximable to zero.
The point is what they'll allow for a card to have written on it, in order to convey godlike status. I think the Theros Gods will have great flavor without bombastically take the Emrakul++ route. They could totally write a story where the Eldrazi attack Theros and the Theros Gods successfully repel them.
It's indeed interesting to contemplate the different ways they used to convey godlike status over time (not including planeswalkers, whose modern form is more akin to superheroes/supervillains, which sometimes have godlike flavor, but in a different way).
Eldrazi are essentially all about individuality, and what they do is devouring worlds (Lovecraft aside, Emrakul's strongest inspiration is probably Galactus).
On the other hand, the Theros Gods (for what we have seen so far) need the support of their people and are more about boosting their followers than they are about getting their own hands dirty.
The Kamigawa Myojins (I wonder if they will retcon their type adding "God" at this point, I hope so) were about channeling a very powerful effect from their color.
We also have godlike effect like Phage's, whose destructive power is depicted as able to annihilate anything by touch, which is something even Emrakul can't do.
I might write an article about this aspect of the game, after Theros is released.
As much as I get what you are saying I think AJ has the right of it here. Scary? that's subjective and bigger? Well there is ALWAYS something bigger. We just haven't necessarily discovered it yet.
When we do it will be "Eldra what? Emrawho?"
On the other hand I agree with your sentiment that nothing SHOULD be bigger than (or as big as) Emrakul and co.
Also more like Apollo vs Cthulhu. Or maybe Yggdrysal.
I don't think Blood Moon is a great fit here. All your cards are white so far and you have a bunch of non-basic utility lands. I like Rest in Peace in the board for sure, though it's probably not that great in the main. I think a couple Stony Silences might be good, perhaps 2 main, 1 board. As for others, I didn't see anything super amazing, but I think Ghostly Prison might be interesting, esp. with Ports, Thalia, etc. Also, Serenity for sure in the board (not sure if you are doing Sideboard separately as it's own after the MD is finished).
I said "biggest and scariest". None of those are scarier than Emrakul. Because none of those are both a 30 body + protection from almost everything + evasion + (most importantly) what essentially boils down to "destroy the opponent's battlefield". Or if you want, "when this creature attacks, roll a die. On a roll of 1-5, you win the game. You can re-roll".
It's the reason why Emrakul is the finisher of choice for ramp decks.
Plus, the flavor. I was mostly talking about flavor, and the way flavor influences the mechanics, with the new gods in mind. The new gods will be strong, possibly way more useful and versatile and played than Eldrazi. But it's Apollo vs. Azathoth.
They consciously (and I'd say purposely) painted themselves into a corner when they let Azathoth into their setting. It's possible to conceive something superior, but it's too risky both flavor-wise and mechanics-wise. So my prediction is that Emrakul will never be beaten as Tron finisher of choice. There's no design space there and they don't want to go there to begin with.
Nothing is bigger than leviathans. Nothing is bigger than Dreadnoughts. Nothing is bigger than beasts. Heck, Worldbreaker Wurm matches Emrakul for size, and Draco beats her for cost. There is no such thing as a permanent record that will never be broken.
A standard? Since when they have such standards? I don't want to be mean her, but honestly, I don't appreciate what they called standards. - Scott Safadi
Thank you!
Wow, that's a lot of work for the spoiler tags. :)
I'll try to experiment with that and the Excel import (I'm trying never to import things except from Notepad, because the editor does funny things when I do). Luckily, they're not things I usually need.
And yeah, Erik was absolutely unique. I didn't know him "in person" (or virtual person, that is), just used to read his articles before I even started writing my own, and still I miss him a lot. And, as it happens, he's still helping us.
we don't need another Titan-era "battlecruiser" Magic.
Yes, we do! :)
But the Gods look more Spike-ish to me.
Speaking of battlecruiser Magic, I was thinking the other day that the Eldrazi will (and should) never be surpassed as the biggest, scariest creatures in the game. They've been defined as the equivalent of Lovecraft's Outer Gods, from the infinity beyond the planes. What could they possibly come up with to beat that? Even by returning to Zendikar, and introducing new Eldrazi, Emrakul will always have to be the #1 of the gang.
@kuma - The Table is just an Excel spreadsheet pasted into the rich text editor and then I adjust the alignment since the default makes it all left align regardless of what I set it to in Excel. Then I go into the plain text to set the border and center it in the page. I'm using Chrome, but if you right click and then select 'Inspect Element' you can see it all. I suggest using last weeks column because I have comments that clearly mark where the table begins and ends in that one.
The spoiler is from this thread in the New Writers Corner
The post at the end by Erik was what I used. In Chrome, when you load the preview the first time, it will not work, but hitting Reload makes it work fine. Not sure how it works in other browsers?
...I didn't start reading PureMTGO until after Erik had passed away. I think my second week reading the site was the week that the memorial articles were posted. Seeing how much he meant to the other writers, finding many helpful posts by him as I scanned through the New Writers Forum...well, I wish I had known him. It seems like he was one hell of a guy...
I picked up my foil Sovereigns of Lost Alara in paper this week (my paper Modern deck is Mythic Conscription) just in case some bonkers Aura gets printed even bigger than Eldrazi Conscription. Zur might be a good pickup, his foil is already expensive but for all I know there could be a Modern deck with him post-Theros and the nonfoils could spike.
Dunno about a Daybreak Coronet reprint, but Daybreak does always make me think Greek because of the Maxfield Parrish painting "Daybreak" with those columns. That art looks so much like Rest in Peace. Tangent here, but I wonder if Rest in Peace was originally slated for Theros, the art could go that way.
It's not just Wasteland, City of Traitors is at it's highest price in years, I guess from either Legacy Tezzeret play or some folks planning to run Shops in Classic/Vintage. Some Tempest block would be fun right now, and help prices come down an inch.
Surprised at no Myr players. I had drawn up a Myr deck with Gobln Welder and Battlesphere I was gonna run if I'd been able to play, though we made a late decision to go camping last weekend instead.
Excited about Theros, though I'm thinking it looks very Timmy/EDH so far. I like that sometimes, but we don't need another Titan-era "battlecruiser" Magic.
Yeah, I'm buying a lot of enchantment-related cards these days. Probably for nothing, but oh well, they're good cards.
Utopia Sprawl, you say. Because "utopia" is a Greek concept, so it fits? Might be. Daybreak Coronet is generic enough as a name, and it would have different art, less Jesus-looking, but dunno, it would feel like pandering to a very recent archetype. Then again, they might not have known about Bogle when they thought of including it. And it's a Future-shifted card, so it might be the one that MaRo alluded at being in Theros.
Form of the Dragon is so cool, because you really become a Dragon! You're a 5/5 flyer from that moment on!
I want to ask you some technical tips: how do you make the "spoiler" thing in the editor? (Or better, which HTML code you have to use). And also that table, it's very good-looking!
Yeah, going with the rules used by Mark Gottlieb during the Grand Creature Type Update, Karona should surely be granted the God type in virtue of being said in her card's name (that's how we got things like Soldier Warrior). (Then again, it also says it's "false", so I'm not entirely sure here).
Also the Spirit Avatars from Shadowmoor/Eventide. They're Deus, Deity, Godhead, and so. One is a Demigod, but a demigod is still partly God, just like a creature that's, say, half Merfolk and half Elf got both the types.
If they take this route, the God tribe is shaping up to be really interesting.
Completely agree on retroactively bestowing Godhood. Other candidates include Karona, False God, and somewhat ironically Emrakul aka the god Emeria, Ulamog aka the god Ula and Kozilek, aka the god Kosi.
Yeah I almost said Apollo vs Galactus lol. But then the temptation would be to make it totally Marvel and say Captain Marvel vs Galactus or Squirrel Girl vs Galactus (she totally kicks his ass as I understand the lore.)
I wrote an article about it: the biggest creature in the game has infinite body. (And Chameleon Colossus, or others with the same mechanic, is the one that reaches the infinity of greatest magnitude.) In comparison, Emrakul's body is approximable to zero.
The point is what they'll allow for a card to have written on it, in order to convey godlike status. I think the Theros Gods will have great flavor without bombastically take the Emrakul++ route. They could totally write a story where the Eldrazi attack Theros and the Theros Gods successfully repel them.
It's indeed interesting to contemplate the different ways they used to convey godlike status over time (not including planeswalkers, whose modern form is more akin to superheroes/supervillains, which sometimes have godlike flavor, but in a different way).
Eldrazi are essentially all about individuality, and what they do is devouring worlds (Lovecraft aside, Emrakul's strongest inspiration is probably Galactus).
On the other hand, the Theros Gods (for what we have seen so far) need the support of their people and are more about boosting their followers than they are about getting their own hands dirty.
The Kamigawa Myojins (I wonder if they will retcon their type adding "God" at this point, I hope so) were about channeling a very powerful effect from their color.
We also have godlike effect like Phage's, whose destructive power is depicted as able to annihilate anything by touch, which is something even Emrakul can't do.
I might write an article about this aspect of the game, after Theros is released.
And why back to the islands? I don’t understand why you make such titles. - Sandra Dyche
As much as I get what you are saying I think AJ has the right of it here. Scary? that's subjective and bigger? Well there is ALWAYS something bigger. We just haven't necessarily discovered it yet.
When we do it will be "Eldra what? Emrawho?"
On the other hand I agree with your sentiment that nothing SHOULD be bigger than (or as big as) Emrakul and co.
Also more like Apollo vs Cthulhu. Or maybe Yggdrysal.
I don't think Blood Moon is a great fit here. All your cards are white so far and you have a bunch of non-basic utility lands. I like Rest in Peace in the board for sure, though it's probably not that great in the main. I think a couple Stony Silences might be good, perhaps 2 main, 1 board. As for others, I didn't see anything super amazing, but I think Ghostly Prison might be interesting, esp. with Ports, Thalia, etc. Also, Serenity for sure in the board (not sure if you are doing Sideboard separately as it's own after the MD is finished).
I said "biggest and scariest". None of those are scarier than Emrakul. Because none of those are both a 30 body + protection from almost everything + evasion + (most importantly) what essentially boils down to "destroy the opponent's battlefield". Or if you want, "when this creature attacks, roll a die. On a roll of 1-5, you win the game. You can re-roll".
It's the reason why Emrakul is the finisher of choice for ramp decks.
Plus, the flavor. I was mostly talking about flavor, and the way flavor influences the mechanics, with the new gods in mind. The new gods will be strong, possibly way more useful and versatile and played than Eldrazi. But it's Apollo vs. Azathoth.
They consciously (and I'd say purposely) painted themselves into a corner when they let Azathoth into their setting. It's possible to conceive something superior, but it's too risky both flavor-wise and mechanics-wise. So my prediction is that Emrakul will never be beaten as Tron finisher of choice. There's no design space there and they don't want to go there to begin with.
Nothing is bigger than leviathans. Nothing is bigger than Dreadnoughts. Nothing is bigger than beasts. Heck, Worldbreaker Wurm matches Emrakul for size, and Draco beats her for cost. There is no such thing as a permanent record that will never be broken.
You know what I was talking about. Creature type, aka that thing Tribal decks are built around.
Also, I didn't mention "winning in a fight". I mentioned "being the biggest". Royal Assassin kills most things (including Emrakul) and it's a 1/1.
If it's sentient, it's a creature. Heck, Gideon beat them, and he explicitly does the creature thing as his schtick.
Not against creatures.
Planeswalker? That is nice thing you have there going. - Scott Safadi
Everybody is looking forward to you playing. If not, the game will be boring. - Scott Safadi
The finish is astounding. They did not expect that finish and neither did we. - Scott Safadi
A standard? Since when they have such standards? I don't want to be mean her, but honestly, I don't appreciate what they called standards. - Scott Safadi
"There is always a greater power."
The Eldrazi lost. Twice.
Thank you!
Wow, that's a lot of work for the spoiler tags. :)
I'll try to experiment with that and the Excel import (I'm trying never to import things except from Notepad, because the editor does funny things when I do). Luckily, they're not things I usually need.
And yeah, Erik was absolutely unique. I didn't know him "in person" (or virtual person, that is), just used to read his articles before I even started writing my own, and still I miss him a lot. And, as it happens, he's still helping us.
we don't need another Titan-era "battlecruiser" Magic.
Yes, we do! :)
But the Gods look more Spike-ish to me.
Speaking of battlecruiser Magic, I was thinking the other day that the Eldrazi will (and should) never be surpassed as the biggest, scariest creatures in the game. They've been defined as the equivalent of Lovecraft's Outer Gods, from the infinity beyond the planes. What could they possibly come up with to beat that? Even by returning to Zendikar, and introducing new Eldrazi, Emrakul will always have to be the #1 of the gang.
@kuma - The Table is just an Excel spreadsheet pasted into the rich text editor and then I adjust the alignment since the default makes it all left align regardless of what I set it to in Excel. Then I go into the plain text to set the border and center it in the page. I'm using Chrome, but if you right click and then select 'Inspect Element' you can see it all. I suggest using last weeks column because I have comments that clearly mark where the table begins and ends in that one.
The spoiler is from this thread in the New Writers Corner
http://puremtgo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1837
The post at the end by Erik was what I used. In Chrome, when you load the preview the first time, it will not work, but hitting Reload makes it work fine. Not sure how it works in other browsers?
...I didn't start reading PureMTGO until after Erik had passed away. I think my second week reading the site was the week that the memorial articles were posted. Seeing how much he meant to the other writers, finding many helpful posts by him as I scanned through the New Writers Forum...well, I wish I had known him. It seems like he was one hell of a guy...
I miss your opinion this week :-) Always interesting to see the topic of the week. Hope to see it back when you have time for it.
And when you really dont know what to do with your time, I would love to read a final wrap up on the investment project (if you didnt already do it).
I picked up my foil Sovereigns of Lost Alara in paper this week (my paper Modern deck is Mythic Conscription) just in case some bonkers Aura gets printed even bigger than Eldrazi Conscription. Zur might be a good pickup, his foil is already expensive but for all I know there could be a Modern deck with him post-Theros and the nonfoils could spike.
Dunno about a Daybreak Coronet reprint, but Daybreak does always make me think Greek because of the Maxfield Parrish painting "Daybreak" with those columns. That art looks so much like Rest in Peace. Tangent here, but I wonder if Rest in Peace was originally slated for Theros, the art could go that way.
It's not just Wasteland, City of Traitors is at it's highest price in years, I guess from either Legacy Tezzeret play or some folks planning to run Shops in Classic/Vintage. Some Tempest block would be fun right now, and help prices come down an inch.
Surprised at no Myr players. I had drawn up a Myr deck with Gobln Welder and Battlesphere I was gonna run if I'd been able to play, though we made a late decision to go camping last weekend instead.
Excited about Theros, though I'm thinking it looks very Timmy/EDH so far. I like that sometimes, but we don't need another Titan-era "battlecruiser" Magic.
Yeah, I'm buying a lot of enchantment-related cards these days. Probably for nothing, but oh well, they're good cards.
Utopia Sprawl, you say. Because "utopia" is a Greek concept, so it fits? Might be. Daybreak Coronet is generic enough as a name, and it would have different art, less Jesus-looking, but dunno, it would feel like pandering to a very recent archetype. Then again, they might not have known about Bogle when they thought of including it. And it's a Future-shifted card, so it might be the one that MaRo alluded at being in Theros.
Form of the Dragon is so cool, because you really become a Dragon! You're a 5/5 flyer from that moment on!
I want to ask you some technical tips: how do you make the "spoiler" thing in the editor? (Or better, which HTML code you have to use). And also that table, it's very good-looking!