Save this shiny rock... or save the lives of your fellow warriors!
Wizards of the Coast has just released the Avacyn Restored trailer on YouTube.
And now, to the trailer proper:
Impressions
The video is pretty epic, as is the music score. Of course, I agree that lately the word epic has been trivialized, but epic in its original sense, can refer to a people's struggle, and that is what we see in this video, a final struggle of a people against the relentless forces of darkness.
The video features phtoto animations made from Magic cards illustrations, as has become the norm. To see Liliana the necromancer-muse so "alive" is always a treat, but I must confess that her "voice" was not a good choice, as well as the voice of Sorin Markov in the previous video, Dark Ascension, and unlike Garruk's voice for the Innistradvideo, which was quite adequate.
To our Liliana, she who exudes youth and lust, was given an "old" and tired voice , but maybe that was deliberate, since, the fans know, Liliana is not the young girl she appears to be, but in fact an old witch in a beautiful and young body, who traded her soul for eternal youth. Moreover, the consequences of this deal are the very reason for this video.
Did notice that the story told in the video emulates the ultimate ability of the card Liliana of The Veil? "Save this shiny rock... or save the lives of your fellow warriors!"
In conclusion, more of Liliana is always good, even when it is not so good. Oh, and I still don't buy the fact that Sorin was able to create an all-powerful angel .... But, what the hell ...
And speaking of relentless: Garruk is also missing in this story ...
Liliana comes to new year's eve, bringing along not spirits from beyond, but the very spirit of Christmas.
Nothing more appropriate, since, at least in this humble blog, the dark mage definitely established herself as the medieval fantasy muse of the year, among many others. And now she comes to reclaim the title, with the blessings of her talented portraitist, Steve Argyle.
Congratulations, Steve, you sure knew how to translate the whole mix of beauty, magic and mischief involving our muse.
In 2012, we look forward to discover what lies behind the veil of Liliana, and we count on you to capture and reproduce this moment.
What do you get if you have some female Magic players coupled with a (probably) boring day?
Magic cards with googly eyes! DUR!
This wacky style of "art" is by a group of female Magic players that call themeselves the Lady Planeswalker Society. According to their Tumblr page, it all started when one of them, Mercedes, brought some "googly eyes" (the kind you find in some art and craft stores) for one of their meetings. The rest is history.
The "activity", apparently unpretentious, went viral, and many people have contributed their own creations:
Atogs, by Drew Sitte, known for his 3D Magic cards alterations
Don't know about you, but I found it very funny. And it's a relief from all the seriousness that many Magic players impinge to the game.
Below is a selection of the best googly eyes (click to enlarge):
Yes, youread that right:the museofgrown menMagic players(myself included) in flesh and blood!
In the video belowyou will seeaLilianaVess cosplay. ThecosplayerisNinaLaNoir, pseudonym ofAshleyRegimbal-Kung. You can see thegirl'sprofileand portfoliopageon artists community site DeviantArt and see more of her work.
What isinterestingabout NinaLaNoir cosplayisthat shedoes justiceto the beauty ofLiliana.Not to mention thatthe material she uses for the costume isof excellent quality,and very well done.Confess, youhave always dreamedwhat would it be like if we had a real lifeLiliana, and NinaLaNoir just made your dream come true.In fact, we are verylucky to havesomeone likeher tocosplayourfavoriteplaneswalker.Lots of fatty, acne-ridden girls cosplaying around...(No offenseto fatty acne-ridden cosplayers around).
Innistrad Trailer - Garruk Relentless vs Liliana of the Veil
Another awesome Magic the Gathering video, this time for Innistrad. As other previous promotional videos, the video is made of animated art found in the very cards of the set. But this is a technique that the developers seem to be improving with each set released. Animations in this trailer seem more natural than those of the Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 video (note that we are not referring to the CG animation, which is another thing).
The Wildspeaker
The biggest asset of this video, however, is in the Garruk voice-over. Garruk is apparently the most popular planeswalker, according to the polls we've done in our humble but ever-growing blog. Garruk's voice is exactly how I always imagined, a deep voice, here combined with a practical discourse, quite suitable for a man who does not waste his time in a roundabout way of words and goes straight to the point.
Wizards channel on YouTube where the video is officially hosted does note not inform the voice actor for Garruk, but some speculate it may be the same actor who voiced Arthas in Warcraft 3 or CT Carson, who voiced Kratos in God of War. If you know who actually is the voice of Garruk, please let us know in the comments. Personally, I think the voice very similar to the Barbarian of Diablo II (David Thomas).
The Hunter and the Veil
For thosewho are lostin Garruk's narrative,read thewebcomicThe Hunterand the Veilto keep updatedabout what isgoing on betweenGarrukand Liliana. Ok, with this videowe areaware of thereasons for Garrukdropping by Innistrad, but what is Lilianadoing there? Certainly notonly becauseof her fondness forzombies(something that Innistrad has in spades)?
Our sexydarkwitchisjust after hersoul, that shesoldto some demons(actuallyfour demons) in exchange forpower andeternal youth. At leastoneof these demons, Griselbrand, is inInnistrad. Or at leastwas, since the demonmysteriouslydisappearedtogether with Innistradprotector, the archangelAvacyn. Liliana, with the power of the Veilat her disposal,wantsher soul backand is afterthe fiend, and has the greenbrute,Garrukin her wake. That is, what we have here is a hunt with powerfulpredatorschasingeach other.It is as ifthe entire topof the food chaindecidedto hunt each other through the plans.
We eagerly await the unfolding of this hunt in the upcoming Innistrad set, Dark Ascension, together with another promotional video of the same quality we see here- perhaps with Garruk yielding to his dark side?
Creepy Doll - 5
Artifact Creature - Construct (Rare)
Creepy Doll is indestructible.
Whenever Creepy Doll deals combat damage to a creature, flip a coin. If you win the flip, destroy that creature.
1/1
That's right. It is a fearful, indestructible, killer doll, which will kill you if you're out of luck.
What does this have to do with horror: Certainly the most iconic representative of the "indestructible killer doll" type is Chucky from the movie Child's Play (1988). Chucky is a doll possessed by the soul of the psychopath Charles Lee Ray, who, shortly before his death, uses a voodoo ritual to transfer his soul to a doll. The doll starts a series of murders, and despite being shot, burned, dismembered, crushed, melted, and cut into small pieces, always returns to carry out his killing, and even to initiate a series of five films.
The theme "killer doll" was also well explored in the RPG setting of Ravenloft (which, as I will elaborate later, IMO, was the main inspiration for Innistrad). Here we have the "carrionette," a live puppet, almost an evil and psychopathic Pinocchio, who, like Chucky, will not rest until he gets a human body to inhabit.
Killer dolls are able to arouse the horror just by exploring innocence and playfulness, the last elements you would associate with evil. Notice that the card "Creepy Doll" "plays well" with the playful side effect of flipping a coin to destroy a creature, like a macabre and deadly child's play. Creepy!
In game: You can use Krark's Thumb to make Creepy Doll more playable, improving your chances to use her destroying ability.
Innistrad - "Horror Lurks Within".... But exactly how?
The mechanics of upcoming set Innistrad just been revealed on the Wizards of the Coast website. The most intriguing of all are the double-faced cards. That's right, creatures printed on the front and back of the card, without the traditional back with the Magic logo. These cards will be "transformable", ie, if the right conditions are met, they are turned over, becoming the creature printed on the other face. We've talked about this in this post. As we have shown, that mechanic will be used to represent werewolves, who in the world of Innistrad are normal people, respected in their community, but become pretty wild when night falls ...
Here in Medieval Fantasy we aim at original approaches, and we will not limit ourselves to only showcase Innistrad spoilers, showing only the images and the mechanics of the cards, like hundreds of other websites.
No, here our interest about Magic is not only for the game itself, but also for all the mythology and history printed on the cards. Innistrad tagline is "horror lurks within". From the beginning, Innistrad designers made it clear that they would have "traditional" horror as inspiration, ie, that horror found in books and films such as Nosferatu, Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Those in which we see the monster hiding in his eerie castle, fleeing a mob of peasants angry at so many atrocious acts, armed with pitchforks and torches. What does this have to do with horror: Okay, but where exactly do we find that "horror" in the Innistrad cards and mechanics ? Come on in, we will show you (the castle doors open with a soul-chilling creak...)
First, let's take a look at the mechanics of double-faced cards. These came to represent the tradition of the "monster literature," a genre of horror literature which includes the Frankenstein monster, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Dracula and many other stories of werewolves and vampires.
Fans of the traditional horror that inspired Innistrad will recognize that shadow ...
The "monster literature" often deals with the evil side of man, represented in the form of a monster, and the greatest example of this dualism is the case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. By day, Dr. Jekyll is a peaceful and respectable doctor and the monstrous Mr Hyde at night. The mechanics of Day and Night and double-faced cards represents this theme with mastery.
How the double-faced cards work: If you use opaque card sleeves, you simply turn the "transformed" face up, returning the other side up when the card leaves the battlefield. What if you don't use sleeves? Wizards came up with an insightful solution, a card called checklist card. The checklist card can represent any one of the creatures listed, simply mark (with a pen, for example) the creature that will be represented in the list and its power / toughness on the field at the bottom right of the card. The first time I heard of double-faced cards, I thought the folks at Wizards were going crazy, but here is proof that they have done it well!
Fight
AnothernewmechanicisFight. The creaturecan choosetoliterally fightacreature. Eachfightingcreature will makeanamount of damageto the otherequal to its power, but thecreaturesdon't taplike they do in normal combat.
NightfallPredator, "transformed" face of DaybreakRanger,brings themechanicFight
And thenyou wonder:
What does this haveto do withhorror:Thismechanical reproduces the"monster hunters"present inmany storiesof monsters.For example, vampires andwerewolves hunters such asVanHelsing, Alucard from Castlevania series, and SolomonKaneby RobertE.Howard.
In future posts, we will continueour seriesInnistrad - "Horror Lurks Within".... But exactly how?, This time analyzingspecificInnistradcardsand what they haveto do withhorror.
Innistrad spoilers never cease to amaze us. Whether true or not. In the case of two cards that we show here, is not known how far their content is true, but they are there nonetheless and are quite intriguing.
First of all, let's be fair and cite our sources. The two images, it seems, first appeared on a Spanish website, MagicMadrid.com, and from then on, in Facebook accounts and other Magic sites.
Now, to the images: the first is "Mayor of Avabruck."
And his "card" version:
(Day) Mayor of Avabruck - 1G Creature - Human Advisor Werewolf (Rare) Unknown text, 3/3 1/1
The second is "Howlpack Alpha", and seems to be a token type.
(Night) Howlpack Alpha Creature - Werewolf (Rare)
Other Werewolf and Wolf creatures you control get +1/+1.
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a 2/2 green Wolf creature token onto the battlefield.
At the beginning of each upkeep, if a player cast at least two spells during the previous turn, sacrifice Howlpack Alpha.
3/3
Legitimate or not (and in my opinion, they seem legitimate enough), it is interesting to note the symbols on the top left of the cards. They are symbols of "Day" and "Night". Apparently this is a fundamental mechanic in Innistrad, and is almost obvious that Howlpack Alpha is the "Night" version of Mayor of Avabruck. It is unclear how this mechanism will be implemented, but is sure to be something innovative and exciting, and this is becoming a trend with everything related to Innistrad.
Spoilers on the block Innistrad are getting better, and further increasing our anxiety for this that is one of the most anticipated and promising blocks since Ravnica.
After Ral Zarek, we now have material on another planeswalker that will be on the block: none other than the acclaimed "Beast Boy" Garruk. In the last GenCon, we were presented with two pieces of art featuring "Innistrad" Garruk.
The first is this:
We see Garruk without his traditional helmet, dressed in black, striking a quite "conanesque" pose. Note that his signature axe and buckle are still there. But Garruk is changed. No doubt this is the result of the curse that Liliana placed upon the poor bastard, as seen in the webcomic The Hunter and the Veil, Part 3. That's why our friend Garruk, will most probably be a Green / Black planeswalker, and not just because he's dressed in black. In The Hunter and the Veil we witnessed as the curse of Liliana made all summoned creatures by Garruk become sick or even "zombified" and this certainly will be reflected in the new planeswalker Garruk.
The second art was presented in an UltraPro product:
I must say I did not like this one. Garruk looks like a Hells Angels biker in his forties. The kind that spills beer on his beard. He seems stockier here than in the other art, in which he seems more alert, more at ease, despite the curse that weighs upon him. Somehow, the other art is much more fluid than this, and we hope they use the first art for his planeswalker card. We already had enough with the art for Garruk in the core set 2012 (M12), which makes him look like a big and clumsy caveman. Not to mention his man boobs ... Well, at least in the UltraPro art, Garruk had the decency to cover his large and protruding nipples.
Garruk and his man boobs
Nevertheless, the art for new Garruk adds to the whole gothic horror mood that is being built on Innistrad. Especially the art for Garruk reminded me of the movie Van Helsing (2004), with all that black leather and "vampire hunter" looks. In fact, I think the R & D staff at Wizards of the Coast has this film as one of their main inspirations for Innistrad, and I'll talk about that later.
Amazing promotional video for Magic: The Gathering 2012 - Duels of the Planeswalkers
"My name is Gideon. And I am about to die. I was born on a world long since destroyed.
Some said I played a hand in it's destruction. Less charitable voices said I was the soul to cause it's demise. I cared little at the time, as I was blinded by my own self-righteous fury. But then a reckoning came upon me. I found others that could travel between worlds. And whose beliefs conflicted with my own. I was humbled by their power and tempted by their convictions".
Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 is both a sequel to Duels of the Planeswalkers and part of Magic 2012 core editionline of products, scheduled to be released on July 15, 2011. In fact, when referring to Magic 2012, Wizards of the Coast has made it clear on their website that Magic 2012 refers to both the game and the cards set. Both present the same mechanical and cards. DotP 2012 will be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, via Xbox Live, PSN, and Steam.
Actually DotP 2012 is scheduled for release on June 15, therefore, it acts as a preview of the cards and mechanics that will be in Magic 2012, due out later in July.
A sensational promotional video was released. This is a short dramatic narrative by the noble planeswalker Gideon Jura. From what we can see, Gideon tells about the fateful events in the block of Magic, Shards of Alara, in which his glorified world, Bant, is "invaded" by the worlds of Esper and Naya, bringing war, death and destruction. He also reveals his discovery of the existence of other Planeswalkers: Sorin Markov, Jace Beleren , Chandra Nalaar, Garruk and Liliana Vess, as well the infamous dragon Nicol Bolas.
Initially, we find that Gideon meets these Planeswalkers on not so friendly conditions. But as the almighty dragon Nicol Bolas enters the story, (as always) the tide reverses. Apparently on the verge of death, prostrated on the ground with the shadow of Nicol Bolas upon him, Gideon says, "I did something that my opponent could never do: I made allies out of enemies". Meanwhile, we see the planeswalkers being "contacted" by some sort of symbol. And then, one by one, the Planeswalkers Jace, Sorin, Chandra and Garruk appear around Gideon. And the video ends abruptly with the promise of an epic battle between these five planeswalkers versus the all-powerful and hated across the multiverse, Nicol Bolas.
As for the video game, there are no secrets. It is already confirmed that all these Planeswalkers will be "playable". The question remains as to the Magic 2012 core edition. Will these five Planeswalkers be reprinted and be part of Magic 2012, as in the virtual game? We can see that every color is represented by a planeswalker - blue, Jace, black, Sorin; green Garruk; red/Chandra, and white/Gideon. Some wonder why the choice of Gideon and not Ajani.
Well, in game terms, Gideon is arguably a better planeswalker than Ajani. In terms of flavor, I think the folks at Wizards have reached the conclusion that a human would create more empathy with the audience than a a lion-headed man could. Moreover, the super-group of human planeswalkers a la Justice League becomes more harmonic like that (racial prejudice not intended).
Another element of the video that raises questions is the appearance of Liliana. What's the reason for her appearance, if she does not get into the group of super friends? Well, I think she is just there for the drama. We also suspect that, as is almost certain that the next expansion, Innistrad, will revolve around the black mage, Wizards declined to wear off the image of the character, and Sorin got to replace her. The same would happen in the case of Gideon and Elspeth. Since the latter already figured prominently in the last expansion, Scars of Mirrodin, it was necessary to choose another planeswalker to represent white mana, and Ajani lost out to Gideon. I do not think it was a bad choice because for the little I saw, Gideon is a character with plenty of dramatic potential, being able to add an almost Shakespearean depth to the captivating, but often futile, Magic the Gathering plots.
Unlike other promotional videos so far, this seems to be the first that has not exclusively used photo animation (of the art in Magic cards), which is not necessarily bad, but also 3D animation. The quality of the video raised the standard for Magic lore, and fans certainly hope to see more videos like this whenever it launches a new product, especially the expansions. We also gather from that video that Magic lore has enough potential to become an animated series or even a movie, provided they keep the same visual quality, epic and dramatic feel seen here. Of course, a successful Magic The Gathering movie would require respect for said lore (something hard to find in Hollywood adaptations) and the casting of actors as good as the guy who lent his voice to Gideon in this video. It's what us fans hopefully await for the future.
And now that we've done our considerations about the video, let's go to a bit of trivia. Can you identify the cards that were used to make the video? Let's show a few:
In recent months, there have been great speculation in the card games community about the third and final set of Scars of Mirrodin Block. The block story revolves around the war between mirrans (original inhabitants of the metallic world of Mirrodin) and the insidious invaders Phyrexians (alien species that corrupts the body and soul).
Through the two sets already released, Scars of Mirrodin and Mirrodin Besieged, we followed the mirrans in the desperate defense of their world, against the invading Phyrexians. Wizards of the Coast, the maker of this game, kept secret on the third set, which would reveal the fate of this conflict. Who would win, the mirran defenders or Phyrexians attackers? In fact, even two possible titles for the third set were revealed: Mirrodin Pure or New Phyrexia. Well, whoever placed their bets on Phyrexian victory, won.
New Phyrexia has been defined as the upcoming third set and with it, Phyrexians victory. That surprised many, since in this case the victory goes to the villains, something unusual, if not nonexistent, in fantasy stories. Since we always have the heroes winning in the end, most players bet on a "Mirrodin Pure" set, with Phyrexians being repelled. Well played, Wizards of the Coast (and sorry for the pun ...)!
New Phyrexia Spoilers are already all over the web. Most discussed has been the planeswalker card, no less than Karn, creator of Mirrodin itself! In Mirrodin Besieged, Karn was found infected with Phyrexian ichor, his mind corrupted, and playing the role of leader of the invaders, oppressing his own creation, the mirrans. The new card is titled suggestively Karn, the Released. Karn released from Phyrexian domain may well mean a change in the course of history. Most likely, the story does not end here, and perhaps it is not this time that the bad guys win in the end. Many are betting that Mirrodin will come out pure after all, with Karn releasing its creation and purging the Phyrexian evil. The release of Karn was told in the novel The Quest for Karn. We found out the planeswalkers Koth of the Hammer, Venser and Elspeth Tirel played a big role in this closure. Check the web comic Scarred, in which these planeswalkers are seen in Mirrodin joining forces against Phyrexia. However, the story is not further advanced as in the novel The Quest for Karn.
Other very commented cards, and whose featured characters will probably influence the final history of Mirrodin, are the praetors of New Phyrexia. There is one for each color of mana: Elesh Norn the Grand Cenobite (White), Jin-Gitaxias the Augur of the Core (Blue), Sheoldred the Whispering One (Black), Urabrask the Hidden (Red), and Vorinclex the Voice of Hunger (Green ).
Think of the praetors as Phyrexians generals for each mana color in Mirrodin. Urabrask has raised most of the speculation. His flavor text says: When the Mirran resistance arrived, the furnace dwellers looked to Urabrask for guidance. His decree stunned the others: "Let them be."Why one of the big dogs of Phyrexia would save and grant shelter to mirran rebels? It may be that Urabrask sympathize, after all,with the mirran cause, and nourishes desires of treason againts his peers? This would be consistent with the color he represents, red, the color of individuality in Magic the Gathering. I believe we will have to wait for future novels to finally know the intentions of this mysterious praetor.
Speaking of novel, it's actually already out of the "furnace" (this time ... pun intended) and is called The Quest for Karn. You can read the first chapter in the Wizards page. In this chapter we find the planeswalkers Koth, Venser and Elspeth in their journey through Mirrodin, as we saw in the comic book, though in the book we find a certain animosity between Koth and Venser, not seen in the comic book. Do not expect, however, the biggest revelations about the fate of Mirrodin, because the book is modest in this regard. Tezzeret also shows up, but our spoilers end here. Our final opinion about the book? Superficial, disappointing for those looking for answers and cohesion, but good entertainment for lazy afternoons in the life of any fan leaning towards Magic flavor and fluff. The end, however, is not so bad, one of the few chapters that actually sheds light on something. In the final chapter, you'll find out why we have a "Karn liberated" card.
We expect Wizards to develop the story in the future, not leaving things as we see in New Phyrexia. Since the story of Phyrexia and Karn have evolved from other blocks (Karn since Weatherlight, Phyrexia since Invasion ), it is very likely that we still have news of Mirrodin through future expansions. Or maybe not. Perhaps Mirrodin as a background for Magic have become brittle and wore itself out. Those who can't stand another Mirrodin block, raise their hands now!
And you, what do you think?
What role Karn will definitely play in the fate of Mirrodin?
What are the real intentions of Urabrask? What are the interests of each planeswalker in this whole conflict? For instance, what plans Nicol Bolas and Tezzeret in Mirrodin ( we know that Tezzeret is acting as agent for Nicol Bolas in Mirrodin / New Phyrexia)?
Will Karn kick Phyrexians butt back to Phyrexia crying under the robe of Yawgmoth?
For now, we leave you with a great video spoiler about the new card Karn, the Released.
