Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Discussing all things Ravenloft
User avatar
alhoon
Invisible Menace
Invisible Menace
Posts: 8804
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2003 6:46 pm
Location: Chania or Athens // Greece

Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by alhoon »

I never knew magic had anything except "themed" boost packs. I don't know what you people mean by "MtG worlds" since... I didn't know there were any.
I've played magic for a bit in the past but lost interest quite fast.
"You truly see what a person is made of, when you begin to slice into them" - Semirhage
"I am not mad, no matter what you're implying." - Litalia
My DMGuild work!
User avatar
Gonzoron of the FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 7555
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
Gender: Male
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

alhoon wrote:I never knew magic had anything except "themed" boost packs. I don't know what you people mean by "MtG worlds" since... I didn't know there were any.
Every 3 months or so, they release a new set of cards. For many years, they would set the cards in a new world each year. (Now it's gone to two worlds each year.) By setting the cards on a world, that means the art all matches this world, and the flavor text at the bottom of the cards combines to tell part of the story of the world. (They used to put the full story in a series of novels, but now they publish a short story online each week.) Some cards represent parts of the world, some represent people or objects from the world. (Imagine a set based in Ravenloft, you might see a Strahd card, a Ba'al verzi assassin card, a Castle Avernus card, a Broken One card, an Apparatus card, etc.) Lately, they've even been tailoring the style of play to evoke the emotional theme of the world.

So last year was set in an Asian-fusion warlord and dragon world. The year before was a Greek-mythology theme. In 2011, they had 3 Gothic Horror based sets on the world of Innistrad, and it was one of their most beloved and best selling blocks of sets ever. This winter, they are going back there for 2 more sets, so it's something to be excited about.
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
User avatar
alhoon
Invisible Menace
Invisible Menace
Posts: 8804
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2003 6:46 pm
Location: Chania or Athens // Greece

Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by alhoon »

Really? Where can I find a short synopsis of what happened in Innistrad? Like 2-pages abstract.
"You truly see what a person is made of, when you begin to slice into them" - Semirhage
"I am not mad, no matter what you're implying." - Litalia
My DMGuild work!
jamesfirecat
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 637
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2014 11:30 am

Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by jamesfirecat »

alhoon wrote:Really? Where can I find a short synopsis of what happened in Innistrad? Like 2-pages abstract.
This isn't exactly what you asked for but it's not super long and is probably better than nothing/let me know if it helps...

http://magic.wizards.com/en/story/planes/innistrad

EDIT:

Actually here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innistrad

Check the part marked "Story" that should do what you want perfectly!
User avatar
Cromstar
Arch-villain
Arch-villain
Posts: 184
Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 9:36 pm
Gender: Male

Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Cromstar »

By sheer luck, when I got back into MtG, it was during the Innistrad sets and they were lovely. Blue/White spirit deck was nice...but the feeling from the cards and the two-sided changing cards (man by day....werewolf by night) really gave it all a wonderful feel.
User avatar
Dion of the Fraternity
Lurker Maximus
Lurker Maximus
Posts: 1091
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 4:20 am
Location: Baguio City, Philippines
Contact:

Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Dion of the Fraternity »

I'm taking this news with a grain of salt. Whenever Magic: the Gathering does one of these revisits, they often ruin the world either by watering down the card mechanics (as what's happening right now with the Zendikar eldrazi), by making lame excuses to "preserve" some sort of element to preserve card mechanics (as what's happened to Return to Ravnica), or simply by destroying that world and turning it to something else entirely (as what happened to Mirrodin when it turned to New Phyrexia).

Chances are, the Innistrad that was left after Avacyn returned would be very different, either mechanics-wise or story-wise. Probably even both, and not likely for the better. Image
User avatar
Gonzoron of the FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 7555
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
Gender: Male
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Well, that's the problem inherent in sequels. If you have a story that makes big changes to the setting, following that up while giving people what they loved about the original setting is difficult. Sometimes you just have to push the reset button. (see Azalin's return for example.) Personally, I loved Return to Ravnica, and I think Battle for Zendikar is getting a bad rap (it's a really fascinating limited environment) and had an near impossible task to achieve in combining two completely different "settings" in the same "setting".* Unfortunately, SOI has the same issue. I'll be happy if they forget Avacyn Restored entirely, and just hit reset this time, like they did with RTR.

*Yeah, on Scars of Mirrodin, I agree. Bleah.
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
User avatar
Dion of the Fraternity
Lurker Maximus
Lurker Maximus
Posts: 1091
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 4:20 am
Location: Baguio City, Philippines
Contact:

Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Dion of the Fraternity »

For me it's more of like:

- Okay, I could probably deal with Mirrodin becoming New Phyrexia; it was the first tragic story arc that Magic ever created, so maybe I could give them credit for that.

- The novels' end for the first Ravnica trilogy specifically stated that the Guildpact ended and a new one (based not on magic but on real laws) took its place. Also, Agyrem was now a significant part of it. "Return to Ravnica" basically just threw those premises out of the window and insisted that the magical Guildpact still existed. The lone story that would have saved the new Ravnica arc (the one that sought to bring down the Guilds once and for all) was wiped out as well for a Hunger Games-style race in "Dragon's Maze," turning Jace into the "Living Guildpact" (whatever the hell that means).

- Zendikar more or less had a good story as well, especially when the Eldrazi awoke. However, part of what made "Rise of the Eldrazi" great was the sheer power of these creatures. The weakest of them, Hand of Emrakul, was a Common colorless 7/7 that could be summoned for 4 Drones and that could annihilate a permanent whenever it attacked. With "Battle for Zendikar" the Eldrazi seem underwhelming to me, and are less the eldritch horrors that they seemed to be at first (I'm looking at Kozilek's Channeler). And now there's the "Oath of the Gatekeepers" thing coming up, which from my perspective looks like another lame chance to recycle old planeswalkers. I mean seriously, can't MaRo just stop this whole gushing over JACE already?! He's quickly becoming Magic's Mary Sue!

So yeah, I'm wary. I also gave the Tarkir block a pass (and I was thankful I did, considering it had nice Asian art, because Magic is quickly becoming a play-to-win game). As for Avacyn and her ilk, Innistrad's storyline is so far the ONLY only one I've seen actually manage to handle a horror setting where angels exist, but at least wasn't silly enough to explain why everything in the world is so horrible. The angels are the balancing factor that lets mortals continue to exist on a plane that otherwise wants to kill them all and will collapse in on itself if this is achieved.

I loved Innistrad, but I'm not too happy about returning there so soon. "Avacyn's Return" was one of the few genuinely happy endings Magic has had in years (especially with Richard Garfield on the case during that arc), and now MaRo is going back to screw that up? Come on, give the people over there a break!

On the plus side, if indeed one of the Eldrazi has seeped into Innistrad, I'll be sort of happy as long as the natives defeat it so we never have to see that crap again.
Last edited by Dion of the Fraternity on Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
jamesfirecat
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 637
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2014 11:30 am

Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by jamesfirecat »

Dion of the Fraternity wrote: So yeah, I'm wary. I also gave the Tarkir block a pass (and I was thankful I did, considering it had nice Asian art, because Magic is quickly becoming a play-to-win game).

Magic never stopped being a pay-to-win game.

That said you can always stick to limited (either Sealed Deck or Booster Draft) if you want to test your skills at understanding the game rather than the size of your wallet.
Last edited by jamesfirecat on Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Dion of the Fraternity
Lurker Maximus
Lurker Maximus
Posts: 1091
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 4:20 am
Location: Baguio City, Philippines
Contact:

Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Dion of the Fraternity »

Whoops, correction: I was supposed to say PAY-to-win game. All the good cards nowadays are either Rare or Mythic. :P
User avatar
Gonzoron of the FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 7555
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
Gender: Male
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Dion of the Fraternity wrote:- The novels' end for the first Ravnica trilogy specifically stated that the Guildpact ended and a new one (based not on magic but on real laws) took its place. Also, Agyrem was now a significant part of it. "Return to Ravnica" basically just threw those premises out of the window and insisted that the magical Guildpact still existed. The lone story that would have saved the new Ravnica arc (the one that sought to bring down the Guilds once and for all) was wiped out as well for a Hunger Games-style race in "Dragon's Maze," turning Jace into the "Living Guildpact" (whatever the hell that means).
Looks like we're coming at things from two different places. I didn't really follow the storyline much back then. I'd heard "The guildpact was dissolved" but that's about it. The Ravnica I knew and loved from the cards only, and the thing is: you can't have Ravnica without the guilds. There's just no point. Make another city-world in that case. So I was fine with them overruling the end of the prior story if it meant we could go back and have more cards for the guilds. Jace as the Living Guildpact is silly, but it's one card, which I can easily ignore if I want. (besides, I was hoping it would tie him down a bit more so we might see some other PW's on other planes for a change. No such luck, I guess.) I play for the game first and the actual storyline a distant 3rd or 4th, so it didn't bother me.
- Zendikar more or less had a good story as well, especially when the Eldrazi awoke. However, part of what made "Rise of the Eldrazi" great was the sheer power of these creatures. The weakest of them, Hand of Emrakul, was a Common colorless 7/7 that could be summoned for 4 Drones and that could annihilate a permanent whenever it attacked.
Eh. The weakest of them were the 0/1 eldrazi scions, no? And there were the non-colorless drones as small as 2/2 nest invaders. So we knew there were little ones and big ones. And annihilator was one of the most frustrating mechanics in history. I'm glad they mostly did away with it, aside from the one throwback card. I actually like Kozilek's Channeller as a symbol that (as the designers said) "Even their mana elves are huge".
I mean seriously, can't MaRo just stop this whole gushing over JACE already?! He's quickly becoming Magic's Mary Sue!
I don't think Maro has any say in that actually. The creative team wants him to be the poster boy, so he is. As I understand it, PWs are mostly driven by creative and development's decisions. Design just gets "this is a new Sarkhan, and he's RUG now" and has to fill in the blanks. So blame the creative team (And I think believe it or not, polls put him as one of the most liked PWs by the fans, so blame the Jace wanna-bes too)
I also gave the Tarkir block a pass (and I was thankful I did, considering it had nice Asian art, because Magic is quickly becoming a play-to-win game).
Sorry to hear that. Khans and Khans/Fate were amazing for limited. (I mainly play limited and Commander). One of the most beautifully crafted blocks ever. Everything intertwined in a really surprising way. Dragons sucked in comparison, but only because Khans was so good. (and also that, it turns out, kewl DRAGONZ! isn't really much of a basis for a set).
I loved Innistrad, but I'm not too happy about returning there so soon. "Avacyn's Return" was one of the few genuinely happy endings Magic has had in years
Hey, I'm all for a happy ending once in a while, but on Gothic Horror world?!? It was kind of misplaced.
Dion of the Fraternity wrote:Whoops, correction: I was supposed to say PAY-to-win game. All the good cards nowadays are either Rare or Mythic. :P
*cough* Treasure Cruise *cough* Monastery Swiftspear *cough* ;)
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
User avatar
Dion of the Fraternity
Lurker Maximus
Lurker Maximus
Posts: 1091
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 4:20 am
Location: Baguio City, Philippines
Contact:

Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Dion of the Fraternity »

First promo art for "Shadows over Innistrad."

Image

For a guy who became Ravnica's "Living Guildpact," he sure does get around.
User avatar
Gonzoron of the FoS
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 7555
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:02 pm
Gender: Male
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Dion of the Fraternity wrote:For a guy who became Ravnica's "Living Guildpact," he sure does get around.
Yup... sigh... I guess it's kind of like how Batman can be in JLA and 5 of his own books and whatever the current Crisis crossover is, all at the same time.
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
User avatar
hidajiremi
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 239
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2004 1:13 am
Gender: Male
Location: Lexington, KY
Contact:

Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by hidajiremi »

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:
Dion of the Fraternity wrote:For a guy who became Ravnica's "Living Guildpact," he sure does get around.
Yup... sigh... I guess it's kind of like how Batman can be in JLA and 5 of his own books and whatever the current Crisis crossover is, all at the same time.
Spiderman and Wolverine have both suffered from the same problem over the years.
"Children are innocent and love justice, while most adults are wicked and prefer mercy." G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
Dion of the Fraternity
Lurker Maximus
Lurker Maximus
Posts: 1091
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 4:20 am
Location: Baguio City, Philippines
Contact:

Re: Magic: the Gathering's Ravenloft revealed: INNISTRAD

Post by Dion of the Fraternity »

It's slightly frustrating for me because (according to the storyline of the first Innistrad arc) there's another potentially useful blue planeswalker there at the moment:

Image

That's Taylor Swi Tamiyo, a rabbit/moonfolk from Kamigawa. She's a scholar attrascted to Innistrad's moon, but unfortunately Development turned her into "HURRR, EHRM IN YEHR PLANE STUHDYING YHER WHHEEERRWOOOLVES, EEHHRRMEGEHRRD."
Post Reply