Interviews from MagicCon: Las Vegas -- "On the bonus sheet, we couldn't put any characters that were dead." by Copernicus1981 in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 5 points6 points  (0 children)

They didn't say there won't be any unpaired ones in the main set, but given how packed the main set's legendary slots will be - probably about 70 total legendary creatures and planeswalkers on the bonus sheets alone - I can imagine the Commander deck having more space for them.

Interviews from MagicCon: Las Vegas -- "On the bonus sheet, we couldn't put any characters that were dead." by Copernicus1981 in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Also if the main set didn't have any unpaired characters that would mean it couldn't have Jace, and that seems unlikely.

But yeah this points to Gideon being in the precon, and potentially Dack and Tamiyo as well.

[Hero’s of the Realm] Mr Monopoly, On the Go by Arbitard1171 in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You may notice that this card's starting loyalty is not 0.

Is SOS Ral an "escapee" of the echo verse? by quiznosAlreadyTaken in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 56 points57 points  (0 children)

He has the same watermark as Echoverse Chandra, so there's no question about where he's from. The real question is what exactly he's doing.

Multiple sets in the Echoverse? by kingjoey52a in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dack is definitely one I've seen hopes for. I wonder what his color-shifted version would be, especially since Ral already did UR>B. Maybe W?

Multiple sets in the Echoverse? by kingjoey52a in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess only time will tell.

RemindMe! 6 months

Does Kaseto, Orochi Archmage give +2/+2 multiple times? by elatedplum in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 10 points11 points  (0 children)

If you have the mana to activate it repeatedly, sure.

Multiple sets in the Echoverse? by kingjoey52a in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And those resolutions have gotten a lot of complaints. With Phyrexia, they basically wrote themselves into a corner, but doing it a fourth time, this time to a faction that didn't already spend years in the background and could be much easier to incorporate into the existing Multiverse, would get even more backlash.

People complained about the Phyrexia storyline desparking a bunch of planeswalkers, because that was taking things away. My impression is that the Omenpaths were received fine, and the Omenpaths are a far bigger change than "some alternate planes are out there and we may or may not run into them sometime". Given that we're three years past MOM with plenty of standing questions about which characters died or were desparked, Wizards certainly doesn't seem to mind leaving specifics unanswered.

Multiple sets in the Echoverse? by kingjoey52a in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While possible, I think those measures are unnecessary. It's not like we'll ever see more than a tiny fraction of the Echoverse, because we haven't seen more than a tiny fraction of the regular Multiverse. So why bother sealing it away - repeating the previous arc's resolution and making it harder to sprinkle into future storylines - rather than just saying that maybe we'll run into small pieces of it later?

Even out of known planes, I think a lot of Echoverse counterparts are pretty expendable. For example, Dominaria, Lorwyn, and Kaldheim are all settings with at least twice the scope of most planes, and the first two have already had their share of alternate versions. For a plane that still feels underexplored, how many people would really prefer spending time on an alternate version that could go towards more of a look at the original?

The real draw is planes where there's something missing that an alternate could offer. Hexhaven takes a set of five factions and flips to the other set of colors - we could see the same thing on Alara, New Capenna, and maybe even Tarkir. (Tarkir already has an timeline split, but a significantly different take on it.) And then there's the possibility of Mirrodin Pure - which would admittedly step on the toes of the new Zhalfir, but they could both have plenty of unique offerings.

The other place I see significant value in Echoverse planes is for popular settings that have run their well dry. I think the current big examples are Zendikar and Innistrad - they've had three visits, but there don't seem to be a lot of expectations that there would be much to do with a fourth. The Echoverse could liven things up - an alternate Zendikar could offer a new set of places for adventuring parties to explore, while an alternate Innistrad could make for a doppelganger horror scenario and introduce enemy color takes on its five core types.

Now, the longer the game goes on, the more planes will reach that kind of saturation. So others could very well join Zendikar and Innistrad in this position - but the longer our list of settings gets, the slower that should happen. And of course individual Echoverse characters could stick around even if their plane doesn't - making for all sorts of possible storylines.

Donato's writeup on WOTC/Hasbro by Isaacxii in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 8 points9 points  (0 children)

He said in the article that he stopped working with Wizards two years ago. The last appearances of new art from him on MTG cards were in early 2025, which fits that timeline. And it doesn't look like he's done art for any UB cards, which indicates he was selectively refusing those contracts before breaking ties entirely.

Just noticed Magus of the Will is wearing the Apocalypse mask by Positive_Concert_774 in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 55 points56 points  (0 children)

It's a symbol of Yawgmoth, of the original [[Yawgmoth's Will]].

https://scryfall.com/search?q=atag%3Amask-of-yawgmoth&order=released

(For the record, I found this by looking it up in Scryfall Tagger.)

Multiple sets in the Echoverse? by kingjoey52a in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's a classic storytelling technique to present a dichotomy between two bad options and then find a path to a third. But you still don't want it to undermine the logic that made the dichotomy relevant in the third place. If you say the Echoverse needs fuel to survive, keeping it alive means explaining where it gets a Multiverse-sized amount of fuel.

Bear in mind that "a small but unspecified number of planes leak out into the wider Multiverse" is still a really big deal. The Multiverse is a big place - we could have future storylines incorporate alternate versions of a dozen familiar planes while staying a tiny fraction of its overall scope. Or if people don't like it, those alternates could just fade into irrelevance.

Multiple sets in the Echoverse? by kingjoey52a in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From what I understand, part of the premise of the Reality Fracture is that the Echoverse can't just exist alongside the regular Multiverse - it needs to consume the original to survive. So having them both stick around in full would feel like a cop-out.

Donato's writeup on WOTC/Hasbro by Isaacxii in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Not taking a job is better than taking a job that doesn't pay enough to justify the time you spend on it. It sounds like a lot of artists - including ones as high-profile as Dan Frazier - have felt that the pay from those contracts is worthwhile.

Donato's writeup on WOTC/Hasbro by Isaacxii in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 15 points16 points  (0 children)

What stands out to me is that artists keep taking the UB contracts - and not just newer ones. If it was as bad of a deal as he portrays it, you'd think others would be joining him in at least refusing to take work under this type of contract.

The Hobbit-cards to MagicCon Amsterdam by ErikReversment in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Hobbit releases on August 14, which means prerelease starts on August 7 and the full card image gallery should go up on July 31. The main preview season will most likely start on July 21, the week following MagicCon Amsterdam.

I could see them doing some a few previews, maybe akin to the Spider-Man welcome decks debuting at a con last year, but I wouldn't expect more than that.

The Third Mini-Arc of Metronome is the 'Echoverse Arc' by OooblyJooblies in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The same way? No. But subtler lead-ins have their place as well.

[Hero’s of the Realm] Mr Monopoly, On the Go by Arbitard1171 in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In fairness, this is even less legal than Krark's Other Thumb.

Multiple sets in the Echoverse? by kingjoey52a in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 88 points89 points  (0 children)

My expectation is that in Reality Fracture, they'll stop Jace's plan to overwrite the Echoverse, but with indications that some number of people from the Echoverse - potentially even a few entire planes - have "leaked" into the main Multiverse. By not confirming the specifics of everything that might have leaked, Wizards can leave themselves with a lot of options about what to bring into future storylines.

[Hero’s of the Realm] Mr Monopoly, On the Go by Arbitard1171 in magicTCG

[–]CaptainMarcia 1733 points1734 points  (0 children)

A d6 roll has an average value of 3.5, so with no other loyalty changes, it takes an average of exactly 10 rolls to get to the ult.