Planeswalker's Guide to Kaladesh

Lore forum

Posted on Nov. 3, 2016, 9:22 a.m. by DemonDragonJ

Instead of a story, this week, WotC posted the Planeswalker's Guide to Kaladesh on their website, which pleases me, since they have not had a planeswalker's guide in quite some time, so I was worried that they were not having them, any more. However, I am very disappointed that there were no stories for any of the legendary creatures introduced in this year's Commander set, as I very much would have liked to have learned more about them, especially Atraxa.

The discovery of how the refine aether, and the subsequent increase in technological development, is reminiscent of various discoveries in actuality that have fueled technological developments, most notably the harnessing of electricity, the refinement of petroleum, and the invention of the transistor.

Does anyone have any thoughts about the planeswalker's guide to Kaladesh? Why did WotC post it only now, rather than at the beginning of spoiler season for this set?

clayperce says... #2

DemonDragonJ,
I don't have any thoughts on the Planeswalker's Guide, but wanted to point out the Biographies of the 2016 Commanders, as you may have missed it. There's not much of a story on Atraxa, but we get a paragraph anyways :-)

November 3, 2016 10:09 a.m.

Homura_Akemi says... #3

Honestly this just felt like an article version of the Player's Guide in the Kaladesh Bundle (Fat Pack!)

November 3, 2016 1:58 p.m.

Phaetion says... #4

I would have rather have seen the Guides akin to the ones of old (See, say, Planeswalker's Guide to Tarkir for example).

As is, it seems too late as introductions are long gone.

November 3, 2016 3:58 p.m.

Homura_Akemi says... #5

Phaetion I agree

November 3, 2016 4:33 p.m.

DemonDragonJ says... #6

clayperce, I did see that article, but that was all the attention that WotC gave to those characters; not even a single full-length story was written for them, which is very disappointing.

I also notice that the home plane of every character was revealed, except for Tana and Saskia. This may not be the thread for it, but does anyone have any guesses about from where they originate? Tana would be perfect as a member of the Gruul guild of Ravnica, except that there are no forests or wilderness on the planewide city, and, if she was from that plane, the article would have explicitly said so. The fact that her and Saskia's home planes have not yet been revealed makes me suspect that they may be from planes that have not yet been the setting of a block.

November 3, 2016 10:52 p.m.

Homura_Akemi says... #7

DemonDragonJ I was disappointed last year too when Anya's plane wasn't announced. From Tana's outfit she certainly looks Gruul.

November 4, 2016 6:10 a.m.

DemonDragonJ says... #8

Homura_Akemi, Anya definitely is not from the Boros guild of Ravnica, and most likely not from Innistrad, either, but, other than that, there is nothing to indicate her home plane.

In the other thread, Phaetion commented that Saskia is likely not from Dominaria, given her backstory; I noticed that the people in the background of her artwork look vaguely like vikings, so perhaps she is from Kaldheim or Valla? Perhaps Tana is from one of those planes, as well, since legends of elves originated in Norse mythology (and their modern depictions are heavily influenced by Tolkien).

As for the main topic of this thread, does anyone think that Avaati Vya, the one who first discovered how to refine aether, may ever appear in the game, or is she merely backstory and world-building for Kaladesh, akin to (unfortunately) Edgar Markov, Hixus's mentor, or the original leaders of each guild of Ravnica?

November 4, 2016 10:02 a.m.

This discussion has been closed