About the whole "Eldrazi in Innistrad" thing.

[Xoan]

When I first heard about the eldrazi invaiding Innistrad, I was annoyed. Not just annpyed, but downright angry. The Eldrazi felt so boring and tired. I love innistrad, and didn't want to see it destroyed by lackluster villians. It also felt that the horror aspect was diminishing.

This all changed when I played the new update and seen all the cards. It feels fresh, and I loved the whole "monsters of the monsters" angle. Im very happy with how this set devleoped, and loved seeing more support to zombie token and prowess decks.

Eldritch Moon proved me wrong, and I 'm happily enjoying this new set.

(Damn I need the new planeswalkers)

[Khronikos]

Lackluster villains lol. Okay.

[GeneralVeers]

Originally posted by Spark The Dragon FDF:

When I first heard about the eldrazi invaiding Innistrad, I was annoyed.

Yeah. Mixing two worlds together in any form other than a planeswalker travelling somewhere is not good for MTG. It's what sloppy writers do. Zendikar should stay Zendikar, and Innistrad should stay Innistrad. Guess what, now we've got Zendistrad. The cards themselves are fun gameplay-wise (well, so far, although WB control/bounce is a pain in the ass) but Eldrazi WereVampires don't cut the mustard.

[Valance]

Originally posted by GeneralVeers:

Originally posted by Spark The Dragon FDF:

When I first heard about the eldrazi invaiding Innistrad, I was annoyed.

Yeah. Mixing two worlds together in any form other than a planeswalker travelling somewhere is not good for MTG. It's what sloppy writers do. Zendikar should stay Zendikar, and Innistrad should stay Innistrad. Guess what, now we've got Zendistrad. The cards themselves are fun gameplay-wise (well, so far, although WB control/bounce is a pain in the ass) but Eldrazi WereVampires don't cut the mustard.

But why shouldn't the planes interact sometimes? The mythos of Magic is that planes coexist in the Multiverse. This wasn't on quite the same level of awesome that I felt the Urza stories with the invading Phyrexians were like, but it gives it a similar feeling. Besides maybe this is all plot setup for something like exploring the Blind Eternities or something.

[GeneralVeers]

Because genre mixing is really hard to pull off when you've got career writers and a CGI team. WoTC has neither; their story writers have been coming up with derivative cheese for years. The thing that makes the different worlds interesting is because the ARE different. You've got Kamigawa (Oriental theme), Mirrodin (medieval Robotech!), Ravnica (city plane, and the Ten Guilds theme with all ten color pairs was some great flavor), Lorwyn/Shadowmoor (European/Celtic folk tale theme, and the whole plane turning everybody into their own dark side was creepy as hell), Innistrad with the goth deal.

You can't just mix flavors willy nilly; chocolate and Coke simply do not go together. Muscato and cheesecake? No. The wine kills the sweet flavor of the cheesecake. Doesn't work unless you're Gordon Ramsay and know what you're doing.

Planeswalkers are the proper mechanism here; explorers wandering the galaxy......except without a cool spaceship, no Captain Kirk, and no Vulcan science officer. Oh well.

[Viscount Landgrave]

Meh, devouring plane after plane is kinda eldrazi thing. All good.

[GeneralVeers]

That's the other thing. I can see Chandra now:

"Oh, hey, ANOTHER plane-ending Doomsday scenario! Hey Jace, how many is that??"

"Eight hundred seventy......uhhhhh......if you count Mirrodin getting turned into New Phyrexia? Not exactly a plane-ender, cuz Mirrodin didn't get exploded, just transformed, but--"

"--quit yakkin' and spit out the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ number??"

"Eight hundred seventy-three."

"Mother ♥♥♥♥♥♥."


One of these days the Gatewatch is gonna find themselves facing the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Death Star......

[GrimGrin]

The writing in this set is actually really good. The Eldrazi Titians always came in three so it was natural to do this. Also, Emmy is based off of Lovecraft, and what better place for that than Inistrad? If it were the other two titians it would have been weird but with Emmy, I think it fits. Plus we get a Black Mana PW for the Gatewatch here so I'd say the porgression is pretty natural.

[GeneralVeers]

Originally posted by U.S. Marshall:

Also, Emmy is based off of Lovecraft, and what better place for that than Inistrad?

Zendikar. :)

It would have fit better if it was Ob Nixilis, or the Demon of Westvale Abbey, or some such "Demon of Insanity" driving everyone in Innistrad bonkers. Then it would be an actual Demon. Which actually belongs in Innistrad. And for the Demon of Insanity to present itself as a squirming writhing tentacled Lovecraftian abomination wouldn't be such a stretch--think "Cosmic Horror" from old-school MTG. (since you mentioned Lovecraft--yeah, that angle would be perfect for an Insanity Demon!)

The fact that it's Emrakul screwing Innistrad up doesn't do anything for the story. Especially considering nobody on Zendikar seemed to be losing their marbles.

Plus (and here's the really important part, because, yeah, we gotta have that planeswalker card!) it doesn't have to be Emrakul in order for Liliana to realize she's being a ♥♥♥♥♥ and finally join the Gatewatch. The end of the story, after you beat the fifth mission, and she smiles sweetly and joins The Gang? That was kind of an ass pull, and pretty much any big bad meanie (except possibly Garruk) would do fine for slapping Liliana around and making her have a "Friendship is Magic The Gathering" moment.

(uhhhh--wait--WHAT??)

[Gom]

Indeed this has been the most interesting set of cards so far for me as well.

[GrimGrin]

Originally posted by GeneralVeers:

Originally posted by U.S. Marshall:

Also, Emmy is based off of Lovecraft, and what better place for that than Inistrad?

Zendikar. :)

It would have fit better if it was Ob Nixilis, or the Demon of Westvale Abbey, or some such "Demon of Insanity" driving everyone in Innistrad bonkers. Then it would be an actual Demon. Which actually belongs in Innistrad. And for the Demon of Insanity to present itself as a squirming writhing tentacled Lovecraftian abomination wouldn't be such a stretch--think "Cosmic Horror" from old-school MTG. (since you mentioned Lovecraft--yeah, that angle would be perfect for an Insanity Demon!)

The fact that it's Emrakul screwing Innistrad up doesn't do anything for the story. Especially considering nobody on Zendikar seemed to be losing their marbles.

Plus (and here's the really important part, because, yeah, we gotta have that planeswalker card!) it doesn't have to be Emrakul in order for Liliana to realize she's being a ♥♥♥♥♥ and finally join the Gatewatch. The end of the story, after you beat the fifth mission, and she smiles sweetly and joins The Gang? That was kind of an ass pull, and pretty much any big bad meanie (except possibly Garruk) would do fine for slapping Liliana around and making her have a "Friendship is Magic The Gathering" moment.

(uhhhh--wait--WHAT??)

Well it was time to move to a new plane and finish the Eldrazi story while introducing the Black PW. Being that they're revisiting older sets for now, if Emmy can't be on Zendikar then Inistrad is the next best place. Also, I'm sure Liliana will get more development in the official story. This game stories hve awlays been lackluster.

[Algol]

What pissed me off the most is Liliana turning into multiverse-saving goody-two-shoes.

[僕の名前 (仮)]

Eldrazi on Zendikar more interesting, they have better design and cards have better art. Eldrazi werewolf, seriously?

Only the big dudes with emerge look cool.

[Xaneorath]

Originally posted by U.S. Marshall:

Well it was time to move to a new plane and finish the Eldrazi story while introducing the Black PW. Being that they're revisiting older sets for now, if Emmy can't be on Zendikar then Inistrad is the next best place. Also, I'm sure Liliana will get more development in the official story. This game stories hve awlays been lackluster.

I disagree, the stories of the different planes of Magic were usualy actualy pretty well written and interesting. I enjoyed the whole Gerrard of the Weatherlight / Phyrexian Invasion arc. Kamigawa had an interesting story, considering the invading Kami. Memnarch of Mirrodin was an interesting villain too, and I don't even mind the New Phyrexia too much, since it makes sense storywise.

However, I do agree on the notion of the "Emmrakul in Innistrad"-Theme being a bit out of place. Allthough.. I do not know how it is explained in the actual novels. Maybe reading them would clear up stuff a bit. And well, it was certainly a surprise. (even though it felt disconnected to the events which happened in the prior block, while playing Duels)
Concerning the Gatewatch. Meh. I have always been a legend enthusiast in Magic. Loved collecting them, while thinking fondly about their roles in their respective stories.
When the planeswalkers were introduced as cards and reoccuring element (appart from a few planeswalkers appearing in prior stories), I was at the same time interested and worried.
Now I fear I do share the notion about the writing of Magic getting boring and sloppy, considering it's all centered around our Hollywood-esque recurring element of Planeswalker-stardom. (woohoo, Player Self-Identification.. )
Yay, new block! What happens? Jace is the guy investigating Innistrad. No interesting new legend with an own background.. nope, it has to be our blue Flagpole of Mindmagic-Franchise.
Besides, apparently all problems are only solved by dimensional planeswalkers anymore. Who cares about the native people of the different planes?

So... tldr:
In my opinion the writing of Magic has ~not~ always been sloppy. But focusing on Planeswalkers as Star-Characters let it degrade to being so these days.

[GrimGrin]

Originally posted by Xaneorath:

Originally posted by U.S. Marshall:

Well it was time to move to a new plane and finish the Eldrazi story while introducing the Black PW. Being that they're revisiting older sets for now, if Emmy can't be on Zendikar then Inistrad is the next best place. Also, I'm sure Liliana will get more development in the official story. This game stories hve awlays been lackluster.

I disagree, the stories of the different planes of Magic were usualy actualy pretty well written and interesting. I enjoyed the whole Gerrard of the Weatherlight / Phyrexian Invasion arc. Kamigawa had an interesting story, considering the invading Kami. Memnarch of Mirrodin was an interesting villain too, and I don't even mind the New Phyrexia too much, since it makes sense storywise.

However, I do agree on the notion of the "Emmrakul in Innistrad"-Theme being a bit out of place. Allthough.. I do not know how it is explained in the actual novels. Maybe reading them would clear up stuff a bit. And well, it was certainly a surprise. (even though it felt disconnected to the events which happened in the prior block, while playing Duels)
Concerning the Gatewatch. Meh. I have always been a legend enthusiast in Magic. Loved collecting them, while thinking fondly about their roles in their respective stories.
When the planeswalkers were introduced as cards and reoccuring element (appart from a few planeswalkers appearing in prior stories), I was at the same time interested and worried.
Now I fear I do share the notion about the writing of Magic getting boring and sloppy, considering it's all centered around our Hollywood-esque recurring element of Planeswalker-stardom. (woohoo, Player Self-Identification.. )
Yay, new block! What happens? Jace is the guy investigating Innistrad. No interesting new legend with an own background.. nope, it has to be our blue Flagpole of Mindmagic-Franchise.
Besides, apparently all problems are only solved by dimensional planeswalkers anymore. Who cares about the native people of the different planes?

So... tldr:
In my opinion the writing of Magic has ~not~ always been sloppy. But focusing on Planeswalkers as Star-Characters let it degrade to being so these days.

I was just talking about the this game in particular. It does the stories an injustice. Reading them is a lot better and EMN has had a great couple of chapters so far. And Liliana is not a goody-two-shoes, she's only doing this because she'll get something out of it.

[GeneralVeers]

Originally posted by U.S. Marshall:

Well it was time to move to a new plane and finish the Eldrazi story

FINISH the Eldrazi story??? Lol! The story is never finished. You KNOW we haven't seen the last of Emrakul. Someday in the future, the writers at WoTC are gonna do an ass pull, and somebody is gonna blow up the Moon or something, and Emrakul will be back for more shenanigans.

Originally posted by Algol:

What pissed me off the most is Liliana turning into multiverse-saving goody-two-shoes.

If you haven't done the Story missions for Eldritch Moon yet, do 'em. When you beat the last one, and the "yay, you win" screen comes up, TELL me Liliana doesn't have a really lame expression on her face.

Not lame in the sense of "yay, we won, yes, I was a ♥♥♥♥, and I'm sorry about it". Lame in the sense of "yay, we won, and some idiot drew my face wrong".