I considered that it would maybe be some Omenpath shenanigans, but I figured I'd have some recollection of the character existing in that case. I'm still kind of lost on the purpose of this change to the setting, I guess it gives you easier ways to tell "fish out of water" stories, since most planeswalkers will be kind of used to it. I'm already overdosed on isekai stories from Japan though.
General [ECL] Lorwyn Eclipsed
- Thread starter Seeker
- Start date
I'm getting more in line with the sensibilities of Bloomburrow or Eldraine from these, but the first round of spoilers was slightly closer to what I was hoping for. I think we're going to end up a bit far away from what made the plane charming on the first time around, but it's early and I need not be so cynical.
I thiiink the five students are Quintorius/Zimone/Maybe Dina/And You Were There!!! (for some random value of new idiots)
like I think we aren't getting Killian or Rootha? so some new faces
edit: to be clear this is a shame because Rootha, Mercurial Artist was one of the most fun retail uncommons of the last decade
edit2: not for my opponents
No one's excited by the vampire that publicly reads feminist literature but privately watches Vladimir Tate?
I like hybrids. I like triggered abilities. I like tapping my Spawns for stuff.
I don't like that this dude took a Thunder Junction choo-choo train from Hogwarts to show up in my nostalgia elf tribal set.
I also don't like the vampire heartthrob aesthetic. More Innistrad. Less Twilight. Please.
Is he purple? Is the light shining on him purple? Is this a new race of vampire? Why are his eyes uneven? Is that part of this new race?
Overall, I give it a 0/10 and I'll definitely run it.
I like hybrids. I like triggered abilities. I like tapping my Spawns for stuff.
I don't like that this dude took a Thunder Junction choo-choo train from Hogwarts to show up in my nostalgia elf tribal set.
I also don't like the vampire heartthrob aesthetic. More Innistrad. Less Twilight. Please.
Is he purple? Is the light shining on him purple? Is this a new race of vampire? Why are his eyes uneven? Is that part of this new race?
Overall, I give it a 0/10 and I'll definitely run it.
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Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I see someone is triggered, let me tap two untapped creatures to copy that! XD
100% agree and another advantage a well-fitting fantasy UB set has over a set where wizards has the freedom to do bs like this.
The second one - the flower he's carrying is glowing purple.
...
I'm a little confused by the decision to make a bunch of Strixhaven students on a field trip (maybe) important to the set's story? My only guess is that someone on the story team went "new!Lorwyn's setting is so weird that we need some audience inserts from an easier-to-understand plane that we're about to revisit", which would be an odd lack of confidence on their part.
I am honestly convinced that someone with decision making pull thinks that players love the Omenpaths.
Not like, in the sense of "they are good to let us tell stories and not have to focus on planeswalkers", but like "the reception of this story will be better - completely regardless of all other contents - if we add an Omenpath to it".
It's all I got that can explain why they have to come up all the time! You can set something up in one plane, self-contained, before it becomes greater-Multiverse relevant, they've done it before, I'm sure they'll do it again... so why does every set right now have to have this thing happening in it?
That's a real possibility... which makes it even worse that WotC doesn't seem to know how to handle omenpaths narratively.
Like, both DFT and OTJ established that major factions on the planes that got invaded are not only aware of the omenpaths, but have been using them for cross-planar trade/colonization... and the only consequences of that are a bunch of people cosplaying as cowboys and wacky races (involving seven planes that we've never seen before, six of which are apparently obsessed with going fast?) Meanwhile we've got the Fomori ()
It just stands out a lot on Lorwyn, which is both a long overdue revisit and a version of the plane with some pretty weird metaphysics that doesn't need the distraction of a bunch of Strixhaven students wandering around.
Like, both DFT and OTJ established that major factions on the planes that got invaded are not only aware of the omenpaths, but have been using them for cross-planar trade/colonization... and the only consequences of that are a bunch of people cosplaying as cowboys and wacky races (involving seven planes that we've never seen before, six of which are apparently obsessed with going fast?) Meanwhile we've got the Fomori ()
It just stands out a lot on Lorwyn, which is both a long overdue revisit and a version of the plane with some pretty weird metaphysics that doesn't need the distraction of a bunch of Strixhaven students wandering around.
The difference is that the original planeswalkers were a single cycle of cards and that's it. It's not like Chandra showed up in the art for Incendiary Command or the like.
In contrast, we're getting Strixhaven students on random cards as part of the "hey, here are some early cards as a vibe check" phase of spoilers.
In contrast, we're getting Strixhaven students on random cards as part of the "hey, here are some early cards as a vibe check" phase of spoilers.
Given that the Strixhaven students are central to the story for Lorwyn Exlipsed, I'm wondering if there will be Lorwyn stuff bleeding into Secrets of Strixhaven later next year.
The Lorwyn planeswalkers basically weren't on Lorwyn, they don't appear in the story, and I don't think Lorwyn comes up in their individual stories either. Maybe Garruk and Liliana since they had a thing going on. These guys all seem central to the plot.
Conceptually I don't even know if I dislike it, since I think it's neat how their "otherness" is integrated into the plot, but the way they're presented gives me too much dnd party vibes, so they're kind of thematically jarring to me and I don't really like them.
Conceptually I don't even know if I dislike it, since I think it's neat how their "otherness" is integrated into the plot, but the way they're presented gives me too much dnd party vibes, so they're kind of thematically jarring to me and I don't really like them.
I like that they made it a modest 3/3 for 3 and made the ability have a cost to it rather than doing the recent trend of making it a 4/3 just because they could and having the ability be automatic or something.
I read the Magic Stories for Lorwyn Eclipsed, here's a little summary if anyone is interested:
The story begins on Arcavios, where Dina (the witherbloom student from our last visit to the plane) leads a bunch of first year students into the now safer forest (after the invasion) to collect some flowers.
A couple friends from different races and planes (Goblin, Gorgon, Owlkin and the already known Vampire) stick together for the task, when suddenly an ugly flying insect-thing (spoiler, it's a Shadowmoor faerie like Wasp Lancer) appears and the Goblin starts chasing it (sorry I did not bother to remember the names of these intruders into my beloved Lorwyn/Shadowmoor). They all end up falling through an Omenpath into the plane of Lorwyn/Shadowmoor, right in front of a big Dolmen Gate. They go in and see a huge sleeping beast, whereupon they obviously feel the urge to touch it and so it wakes up. The beast is none other than Isilu, Carrier of Twilight who follows them out and starts to spread Shadowmoor, wherever it goes. After the fall of Oona, Queen of the Fae and the rupture of the The Great Aurora the two planes have been kinda in balance/stable, but this looks bad. Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile saves them and brings them to Gold meadow only for Isilu to plunge the whole village into twilight converting all the inhabitants into their xenophobic and suspicious Shadowmoor variants (Kithkin Rabble).
In parting Brigid tells them to go to visit Maralen of the Mornsong who took Oonas place (and is also her daughter) as Queen of the Fae, to help them get back home. On the way, the Owlkin falls into the Wanderwine River and is saved by the Lorwyn merfolk (Drowner of Secrets). The vampire gets snatched up by an elf (Hunter of Eyeblights) and is brought before High Perfect Morcant). He tells her what's up and she decides to try to kill Isilu with dawnglove, the flower Kirol, Attentive First-Year is picking. The flowers only bloom in shadowmoor, no problem though, because people from other planes are not affected by the transition from Lorwyn to shadowmoor.
Meanwhile back on Arcavios Dina tells Liliana AKA Professor Onyx that the students are missing, Ajani also happens to be there and he goes off to save the students (Liliana cannot planeswalk anymore).
The Gorgon and goblin make it to the Fae Palace and find Maralen, but it's a bit problematic because weird things are happening there (one faerie is missing but all the beds are occupied, oooh). We get another glimpse of the weird faerie that can cross between Lorwyn and Shadowmoor who lured the students to Isilu and it's apparently also causing mischief in the palace. Maralen is paranoid that she might transform into Oona one day and asked her good friend Rhys, the Redeemed to kill her if that happens. Rhys, seeing her and not taking any chances with talking goes for the kill and they have to flee. They make their way down the river and find her friend Ashling, Rekindled. When they hear about the elves plan to kill Isilu, they decide to stop them and some boggarts help them along the way.
(They also want to find their Strixhaven friends, although I really don't care about that but I'm sure they will pop up in the right place at the right time to further intrude into this great Lorwyn Eclipsed story. Also for sure we'll get a lot of "Strixhaven students doing stuff in Lorwyn" cards to appease their diverse audience, because otherwise they might leave equity on the table.)
A couple friends from different races and planes (Goblin, Gorgon, Owlkin and the already known Vampire) stick together for the task, when suddenly an ugly flying insect-thing (spoiler, it's a Shadowmoor faerie like Wasp Lancer) appears and the Goblin starts chasing it (sorry I did not bother to remember the names of these intruders into my beloved Lorwyn/Shadowmoor). They all end up falling through an Omenpath into the plane of Lorwyn/Shadowmoor, right in front of a big Dolmen Gate. They go in and see a huge sleeping beast, whereupon they obviously feel the urge to touch it and so it wakes up. The beast is none other than Isilu, Carrier of Twilight who follows them out and starts to spread Shadowmoor, wherever it goes. After the fall of Oona, Queen of the Fae and the rupture of the The Great Aurora the two planes have been kinda in balance/stable, but this looks bad. Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile saves them and brings them to Gold meadow only for Isilu to plunge the whole village into twilight converting all the inhabitants into their xenophobic and suspicious Shadowmoor variants (Kithkin Rabble).
In parting Brigid tells them to go to visit Maralen of the Mornsong who took Oonas place (and is also her daughter) as Queen of the Fae, to help them get back home. On the way, the Owlkin falls into the Wanderwine River and is saved by the Lorwyn merfolk (Drowner of Secrets). The vampire gets snatched up by an elf (Hunter of Eyeblights) and is brought before High Perfect Morcant). He tells her what's up and she decides to try to kill Isilu with dawnglove, the flower Kirol, Attentive First-Year is picking. The flowers only bloom in shadowmoor, no problem though, because people from other planes are not affected by the transition from Lorwyn to shadowmoor.
Meanwhile back on Arcavios Dina tells Liliana AKA Professor Onyx that the students are missing, Ajani also happens to be there and he goes off to save the students (Liliana cannot planeswalk anymore).
The Gorgon and goblin make it to the Fae Palace and find Maralen, but it's a bit problematic because weird things are happening there (one faerie is missing but all the beds are occupied, oooh). We get another glimpse of the weird faerie that can cross between Lorwyn and Shadowmoor who lured the students to Isilu and it's apparently also causing mischief in the palace. Maralen is paranoid that she might transform into Oona one day and asked her good friend Rhys, the Redeemed to kill her if that happens. Rhys, seeing her and not taking any chances with talking goes for the kill and they have to flee. They make their way down the river and find her friend Ashling, Rekindled. When they hear about the elves plan to kill Isilu, they decide to stop them and some boggarts help them along the way.
(They also want to find their Strixhaven friends, although I really don't care about that but I'm sure they will pop up in the right place at the right time to further intrude into this great Lorwyn Eclipsed story. Also for sure we'll get a lot of "Strixhaven students doing stuff in Lorwyn" cards to appease their diverse audience, because otherwise they might leave equity on the table.)
By now there are some pointers that the small blue/green fairie causing mischief is Oko.
Also, something something Jace is dead but probably not, he keeps coming back like a weed. I think this is from the last story though, where they happened to release Nicol Bolas from the meditation realm. Oups.
Also, something something Jace is dead but probably not, he keeps coming back like a weed. I think this is from the last story though, where they happened to release Nicol Bolas from the meditation realm. Oups.
That reminds me of a question I've had for quite some time now: How can Maralen of the Mornsong be queen of the fae when she's an elf?
I don't remember how or why she is an elf exactly, but apparently she was made of a petal from Oona herself. Funny aside, Glen Elendra, the palace of the Fae she is living in now, is slowly changing to match the size of its new ruler (doors, ceilings, etc), making it oversized for the Faeries who also live there.
Yes yes, I agree with this. This is also bothering me, and I would like to have a Lorwyn set without any other distractions. But that's why we have Cube, right? One could make a Lorwyn thematic cube cutting all of the cards with random people
Yes yes, I agree with this. This is also bothering me, and I would like to have a Lorwyn set without any other distractions. But that's why we have Cube, right? One could make a Lorwyn thematic cube cutting all of the cards with random people
Stop reading my mind