Anyone else kinda.... really let down by Thunder Junction so far?

Lore forum

Posted on March 27, 2024, 10:47 a.m. by KBK7101

I fully realize that spoilers literally just started and we haven't seen the entire set yet, but.... is anyone else disappointed in the setting/plane itself so far? Like, I was expecting this set to showcase a full new plane like any other new expansion, and it's one that I've been hyped about for a long time now. (ever since the rumor of a wild west set popped up a few years ago) Instead.... it's characters from seemingly every other plane dressed in cowboy outfits.

Anyone else get the same vibe or am I just being weird about it?

Niko9 says... #2

I don't know, I'm probably going to wait until I see the story, but yeah, right now nothing really jumps out at me and I'm not sure why. Maybe I kinda wish that they changed up characters more than they did. Like, what if Oko had a cursed shirt that he could never take off? What if Rakdos was a wonderful musician and he just never got to express himself before? What if Magda went broke and gave the player IOUs for treasure? What if Gitrog settled down and walked around with her Roglets?

Maybe it's just me, but I enjoy it so much when IPs take chances, and this feels very play it safe.

March 27, 2024 1:27 p.m.

Crow_Umbra says... #3

I feel like utilizing the Wild West setting carries a lot of cultural baggage when it comes to US History of colonialism and displacement/genocide of Indigenous Cultures. I'm not looking to delve into that history or make any soap-boxy statements about it at large, just giving some context on what could have informed their decision making.

Anyways, I think given that historical baggage, WotC definitely had to find a safe-ish way to utilize the setting, while gingerly stepping through that mine field. Thunder Junction being "totally uninhabited" before the Omen Paths serves a safe-ish path to do that, but also plays into another adjacent trope of the North American west being "uninhabited" (except for those indigenous folks). So by avoiding the larger historical baggage, they pick the safest route, while allowing the seemingly uninhabited Thunder Junction to hint at potentially previous inhabitants that might have been wiped out (The Fomori? Previous inhabitants wiped out by the Fomori?).

I think the larger setting of Thunder Junction is more so meant to set the stage that inter-planar migration is now a thing, and people are starting to move places. While this set feels a bit goofy with all the Western gear, I do think that long-term, it could set up for some inter-planar conflicts between different factions and competing interests. Maybe the Dimir are planting their spies and informants all across the Multiverse; Lazav is on Thunder Junction.

The upcoming Death Race is going to traverse 3 planes for its story, so I think the current setting is meant to set in motion that inter-planar travel, and potentially conflict could become a thing for future stories. A lot of the upcoming planes are fairly... experimental(?) settings for what WotC has done in the past, & break the molds of what most of us have become accustomed to for the game's history.Bloomburrow seems like it will be the first plane devoid of humans, & polymorphs its inhabitants into animals upon arrival, & Duskmourn seems to be a plane contained entirely in a giant horror mansion(?). In that sense, Thunder Junction is the first "uninhabited" plane (I guess, TBD on prior inhabitants, if any).

I'm not disappointed yet, but I'm not as excited as I was before. Definitely reserving my full judgement once the set is fully spoiled. Idk, given some of the other upcoming sets I mentioned, I think this is just a different setting treatment from what we've been accustomed to, and that's why it feels kinda jarring.

March 27, 2024 2 p.m.

legendofa says... #4

Too early to tell for me on the cards, but I still have a lot of questions on the story. I've probably asked these her before, and maybe they get answered, I'm slowly making my way through Kellan's arc, but I haven't seen anything yet.

How did Thunder Junction become the bad guy hangout? Who sent invitations to all the madmen, misanthropes, and murderers across the multiverse? Did they all just coincidentally stumble into the same place at the same time and decide to make an outlaw world together? Or did the Omenpaths decide it would be fun to jam them all together?

Bad guys generally aren't well known for getting along and playing nice with each other, so there has to be some sort of power structure that prevents them from betraying and killing each other long enough to establish some sort of society. Who's in charge? Who's corralling this wide assortment of villains unleashed on a new plane and preventing each of them from trying to take it all for themselves?

Who were the first people to arrive on Thunder Junction, and how long have they been there? Let's assume the story is progressing more or less in real time, and it's been about a year since the Omenpaths opened up. Who set up the roads and saloons?

A well-done, cohesive story can get me hyped for a plane. A rough, incomplete story can kill the hype. As I get caught up in the story, or if anyone has answers for these questions, I might get more invested. For now, though, There's a few preview cards so far that I'm going to take a close look at, but I'm still focused on Bloomburrow.

March 27, 2024 3:02 p.m.

Coward_Token says... #5

Crow_Umbra: Well said. The cactus people seem to be native to the plane... which makes Bruse Tarl's new card (link) basically look like a racist settler, which is a weird choice for a fairly popular character.

But yeah, even those unfortunate implications aside, it seems weird that e.g. Marchesa would go out of her way to trade a crown for a wide-brimmed hat in a foreign land.

March 27, 2024 5:56 p.m.

Crow_Umbra says... #6

Thank you for highlighting the bit about the Cactus Folk Coward_Token. I knew I was forgetting something from the "seemingly uninhabited" trope sentence. I had a similar thought when I read his flavor text this morning lol. At least new Bruse doesn't destroy a target plant creature on ETB, or grant Oxen protection from Plants lol.

As I've seen some other comments around Marchesa, I've mostly seen folks either joking that she is on "vacation" from Girl-Bossing, and others speculating that maybe Fiora was so devastated that there wasn't much left to be Queen of.

March 27, 2024 6:13 p.m.

Coward_Token says... #7

Yeah I'm guessing there's going to be a "the Legend of..."-article which explains that she was deposed following the invasion.

Speaking of which... didn't New Phyrexia invade literally every plane? How was Thunder Junction not immediately compleated if it had barely any inhabitants? I don't think the invasion was mentioned at all in any of the stories. Meh.

March 27, 2024 6:17 p.m.

Crow_Umbra says... #8

I'm sure we will get some kind of silly explanation via lore, but for now I'd like to imagine the Phyrexians poked their metallic heads in & dipped because it was "uninhabited". The Cactus Folk stood really still and blended in.

March 27, 2024 6:23 p.m.

Coward_Token says... #9

A couple of relevant Blogatok questions:

https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/746122704092053504/some-of-the-choices-for-characters-on-thunder#notes

https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/746042259745701888/i-was-a-bit-disappointed-your-otj-article-did-not#notes

March 27, 2024 6:32 p.m.

SpammyV says... #10

It feels like the battle pass of a live service game. Like how the season's "thing" is going to be cowboy outfits or beachwear or neon rave costumes.

March 27, 2024 7:40 p.m.

Coward_Token says... #11

Fedoras are soooo last season

March 27, 2024 7:48 p.m.

Abaques says... #12

So far I'm not into this set at all. The whole plane seems pretty contrived. The idea that somehow all the baddies will appear in one place just doesn't make much sense from what I can tell. And mechanically this set feels like it's making things harder on itself than it needs to and none of them seem very compelling to me.

Personally I'm hoping that Bloomburrow will be good.

March 27, 2024 8:28 p.m.

Icbrgr says... #13

Cards and game mechanics aside.... I'm open to exploring the new theme and flavor... I remember not being excited for streets of new Capenea (the flapper mobster set) but it grew on me over time... it's kinda hard to break away from my preference of typical "fantasy" themes and settings but I think with universes beyond and other recent sets WOTC has made it very clear that they want to be more than that... kinda like how yugioh cards/archetypes have such a wide variation of themes from Dragons to anime waifu V-Tubers yet it all somehow feels on brand... I think that's the movement Magic is going for.

March 28, 2024 10:30 a.m.

Gleeock says... #14

Alot of it seems more like "duded" up rhinestone-cowboy stuff. Just a little more flamboyant wild-west than what I was hoping for

March 28, 2024 4:08 p.m.

Noire_Samhain says... #15

Frankly, I'd be feeling it more if it was straight up... not canon? Like an old Unset but without the jokey weird rule breaking cards sort of situation. Like I can dig an over-the-top Western-style set if it was just an excuse to do everyone as cowboys and nothing else. But there's actual lore implications in the storyline and that just makes me feel meh besides some really fun looking cards.

March 28, 2024 7:24 p.m.

SpammyV says... #16

One thing I will give this set is that I like Spree, actually. It's in the same space as Sagas using the mechanics to create a mini-narrative.

March 28, 2024 9:21 p.m.

Am I, the player, even a wizard any more in this game?

March 29, 2024 10:25 a.m.

Abaques says... #18

SpammyV I'm not sure I like Spree that much, but I do think it's the best mechanic of the set. Plot is just sort of bad Foretell. Crimes just seem unnecessary. Saddle is more different from vehicles than I initially expected, but overall feels pretty underwhelming and just in general feels tacked on as a way to "fix" vehicles in a very similar manner to how cloak and disguise are just blatant power creeps for morph and manifest.

The thing with Spree is that it's more or less the same thing. It's so close to kicker as to be almost the same thing. Kicker being one of the best mechanics ever means that Spree is also the best of the bunch from Thunder Junction. But overall I've found the mechanics of the last two sets to be kind of embarrassingly close to previous mechanics. I get that "every mechanic is kicker", but I feel like they've done a better job in the past. This just feels lazy to me.

March 29, 2024 10:41 a.m.

ork_mcgork says... #19

Not gonna yuck anyone's yum but...

So far I actually am very much enjoying the set. Looking at all the spoilers so far, not just rares, has demonstrated that there is some sort of law for the settlements on Thunder Junction. The set is just focused on the outlaws causing trouble in the frontier town, os of course there's going to be an over-reprsentation of villainy. Also, all these nerr-do-wells are entering an environment that's a power and culture vacuum, so a pecking order will naturally establish itself. Intelliigent criminals know full well that some sort of order has to exist to be able to continue to profit off crim (hence real-life crime syndicates/organizations).

Considering the theme of US western expansion in the "manifest destiny" era, they're doing a pretty good job of hitting hte high points without getting controversial in our overly sensitive society. They intentionally established (at least so far) that there are no real indigenous cutlures - ergo no natives to genocide. On top of that, cactusfolk is a rad idea I'd love to port over to TTRPGs. ...and yeah it's the romanticized cowboy/wild west aesthetic, but the game is inherently going to go for a fantastical interpretation. We just had that with magical roaring twenties mafia and this has been a better presetnation so far.

Also, the set mechanics seem pretty decent. Saddle opens more options than just vehicles, crimes is just a cleaner way to make cooler "When you target a permanent an opponent contorls" cards, plot may give yoru opponent information on what you're doing, but you've got the opportunity to use that information as a weapon just as much as hidden ifnromation is. Of all the mechanics, Spree is riding that line between cool and clunky right now for me. Overall, mos tsets have forgettable mechanics long-term exept for a handful of cards anyway.

Also, I just want to point out that "wild west wizards" isn't any more gimmicky than "20's gangster wizards" or "anime future ninja wizards" or even "traditional fantasy but furries" we're getting later this year. Not to mention "MTG but ancient Greece", "MTG but ancient Egypt", "MTG but feudal Japan", "MTG but steampunk", "MTG but other steampunk", "MTG but gothic horror"... After 30 years of the same game, you're going to have to do something novel to try to push the concept a little bit.

Again, just throwing down some thoughts. I know it's impossible to please everyone!

March 29, 2024 4:44 p.m.

Niko9 says... #20

After reading the first few storyline chapters, and I don't know, it's not like there are any glaring problems, but I also don't think it's going to bring in people who aren't already interested in the set from the game. It's suitable, kind of dry, good guys doing good guy stuff, bad guys doing random bad guy stuff, and I'm surprised. The way the set was previewed I thought the story was going to be, the villains we know but not in the way we know them, and then it's all pretty meh.

Though I do realize that maybe I'm expecting too much. Like, it's fine, it's just that I'd really love to see the mtg stories be more Avatar The Last Airbender (cartoon!) and less GI Joe. They've had amazing settings lately but I just kinda think that they are writing stories as content for existing players rather than trying to write stories that might attract someone to the game, because that's the energy there, feels like filler a bit.

March 29, 2024 10:20 p.m.

legendofa says... #21

ork_mcgork Good analysis, and it's refreshing to get a take from someone who's more into it. Thanks for posting.

Still, I'd like to poke at a couple of your points.

"Intelliigent criminals know full well that some sort of order has to exist to be able to continue to profit off crim (hence real-life crime syndicates/organizations)." Real life doesn't have Gisa, Geralf, Rakdos, or any other overtly magical criminals running around, and scam artists, assassins, serial killers, and so on either don't care about a power structure or manipulate it to take everything for themselves. Put two of them in a room together for any amount of time, and only one's going to walk away. There are some genuinely sociopathic/psychopathic people on Thunder Junction right now.

"They intentionally established (at least so far) that there are no real indigenous cutlures - ergo no natives to genocide." This is fair l, as far as it goes. The Wild West plane has been a popular request for a long time, so it was going to happen sooner or later. Whichever path they took, though, someone was going to be unhappy. It's either supporting settlers who are clearing out the people who had been there before, or denying the existence of pre-settler culture and society. I think they handled it as well as they could, and I'm not upset here. It's just a very sensitive topic in history circles.

"Also, the set mechanics seem pretty decent." I agree with you here. The mechanics are solid--maybe similar to older mechanics, but that's not the biggest sin. None of them look unfun.

"I just want to point out that "wild west wizards" isn't any more gimmicky than "20's gangster wizards" or "anime future ninja wizards" I still want more non-Earth-but-with-magic planes, and I feel like there's been a lot of Earth-but-with-magic. I want another Ikoria, or Zendikar, or Mirrodin/New Phyrexia, or (especially) Alara. Why is everything we visit in a near-infinite fictional multiverse so similar to a specific slice of reality? (I know the answer, it's a rhetorical question.)

March 30, 2024 1:53 a.m.

Mortlocke says... #22

Full disclosure, i'm a New Phyrexia fanboy - but i'm just bitterly reminded of the absolute hack job Wizards' writing department did for War of the Spark / New Phyrexia. Multiple plot holes and the sudden loss of basic reasoning on part of the villains for the sake of plot convenience has forever turned me off from stories from this game. But the most insulting part is that every single one of the walkers that went through heavy physical and spiritual augmentation - phyresis somehow "got better" and act as though the trauma never happened. Apparently anyone can just remove extra limbs then find and reattach long discarded limbs when you just ignore the trauma.

It is now cannon that there are no stakes. No circumstances. Every so called bad guy will simply encounter Deus Ex Machina when it's time to move on to the next thing. Why have bad guys in this game? It's not like they can actually do anything.

March 30, 2024 11:18 a.m.

Gleeock says... #23

Here is a well articulated form of how I feel about it: https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/outlaws-of-thunder-junction-proves-magic-the-gathering-is-too-obsessed-with-pop-culture/ar-BB1kOEFS?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=01e3889844a84eec9da97541be770d27&ei=26

I like the part about "clap like a seal" because they gave us a card called "loan shark" that is an actual shark, but serves no other purpose. To me, at least Capenna had the "breaking the mold" component with 3-color demons & really branching out devils

March 31, 2024 11:20 a.m.

Niko9 says... #24

Gleeock That is a pretty fun read. I don't think the thing for me is that magic has too many pop culture references, I get that it probably does I just don't mind, but when I see something like Loan Shark, it feels like somebody's first idea. And so many cards feel like that, just cards for the sake of cards, and I look at a lot of it and can't help but think, if they don't want to put the time into making things interesting, then why be interested?

On the flip side though, I do feel that a lot of the premise of Thunder Junction, and many new sets, it's really great. It's just when I actually look at the sets that it's like, this was a fun idea that got rushed and fizzles into no pay off.

I totally get the pop culture argument though : ) It is really apparent, and for people who find that annoying, yep it is just more and more every time.

March 31, 2024 12:35 p.m.

legendofa says... #25

Gleeock Why does Loan Shark serve no purpose? Yeah, it's a forced pun, but an animal-centric set and a horror-themed set are coming out in the near future, and I can imagine sharks fitting into one or the other of those. Island World/Fantasy Oceania coming out 2026? If a card seems out of place, what could it be setting up?

I agree with the article in broad strokes, but "obsessed with pop culture" isn't really the way I would describe my issues. "Everyone is inexplicably dressed up in trench coats and hats, crouching dramatically over pools of blood." There aren't really any cards that show this exact scenario. Homicide Investigator and Chalk Outline come close, though. Actually, looking deep at the MKM art, I'm not sure where the "too many hats" complaints are coming from. The Detective subtype does get oddly overused, but that's the only real concrete example of forced genre-ism I see. Everything else, as far as I can see, is exaggerated Tamiyo, Field Researcher vibes, or disconnect between expectation and presentation.

"To have noir-y detectives running around doesn’t feel natural for the setting, which has two guilds of law enforcers and a fairly rigid high fantasy setting already." The Planeswalker's Guide specifically mentions that the Ravnican Agency of Magicological Investigations grew to the size of a guild, as the Guildless realized they didn't have any security or protections. And the author seems to be suggesting that mixing genres is unnatural, that high fantasy shouldn't ever deal with murder mysteries, and murder mysteries can't take place in high fantasy settings.

I 100% agree with the paragraph

  • "Part of the problem is that Magic doesn’t have time to develop its settings. The greats, like Innistrad and Theros, were often the focal point for a whole year of Magic, whereas these days we’ll go to four or five planes in that time. Sets only have one release to sell their entire theme to those looking at booster packs in a shop, which means it needs the grabbiest, most ‘resonant’ imagery possible, regardless of whether it serves the game in any way."

Unfortunately, that's what sales and market research have said people wanted. Assuming Mark Rosewater is telling the truth (and I have no reason to believe he isn't), second- and third-sets don't sustain interest among the customer base as a whole. As much as I don't like it, it's the business model that works for them.

So while there's a lot of specific genre tropes and references in the last, um, two sets (and probably some more coming next year), and I desperately want another fully original plane, I personally don't have a deep problem with with the genre mixing that these opinion articles are decrying (which, incidentally was not invented by Fortnite or Marvel).

March 31, 2024 1:38 p.m.

Abaques says... #26

legendofa I think your point about sales and market research is the most important decision driver for Wizards currently. But sales and market research is almost always focused on the short-term. And that's where I believe this will all back-fire on Wizards in the long run.

Over many years Wizards built up a universe and characters and stories within that universe that provided a background for the game to be played in. The story and the universe was never the best thing about Magic, but it was generally treated as an important component of the game. And this had real benefits, and not just for the vorthos people out there. Core game concepts such as the color pie were a key part of the universe. Ravnica enabled Wizards to build around the color pairs. Theros provided a background that let enchantments come to the fore.

I worry that Wizards is just making the story and the universe not matter because it's turning into a Michael Bay movie where everything just looks like CGI mush. Exciting on the surface but hollow beneath. If the story and universe are incongruent, then maybe the mechanics are too? Do the designers start ignoring the color pie more and more? Sooner or later the whole game becomes a Michael Bay movie and that makes it easier to walk away from the game.

In short, I think that short-term decision making may have long-term negative consequences.

March 31, 2024 2:07 p.m.

legendofa says... #27

Abaques I agree with the sentiment, but I'm not sure this is really short-term decision making. Yeah, the single-set model does provide more profit in the short term, but it also provides more profit in the long term. The intangibles that two- and three-set blocks, like greater development of characters, settings, and story, simply weren't worth the annual increase in apathy and corresponding loss of engagement. I loved the three-set block structure, and I believe that they tried everything they could to make it work. But the majority of people engaged and disengaged in a very regular and predictable way, and the last short- and long-term decision they made was to abandon it. Most people buy a handful of boosters to put something together and play with their friends, and might not be aware that there even is an ongoing story, let alone different formats Keeping the interest of this large and diverse player base was moved up the priority list, at some cost to those intangibles. Obviously not satisfactory to the people who like the intangibles, but vital to maintaining production and innovation.

There's lots of games, and franchises, and even industries that I think have a serious problem, and I think "maximize short-term profits" is one of the most dangerous phrases around right now. I'm just not sure that this is really an example.

March 31, 2024 3:25 p.m.

Gleeock says... #28

Speaking of recurrent short-term profit spike (while homogenizing an eternal format)..I'm really surprised I haven't seen a WUBRG "best of" card come out for this set. Where is the WUBRG cash cow to sell all those $$ WUBRG mana bases for the next new no-personality WUBRG money grab?

I will consider it, at least, a mechanical victory if this set has no WUBRG cash grab card.... Just wait, I will have just said my piece & the next card out will be a game breaking WUBRG "best-of" treasure commander, literally named: "cash cow"

I think there is some aptitude to the article when you think about the amount of out of place phrases & actions based cards that don't really seem all too "magicky". Am I actually casting a spell? or am I just spending mana to tell someone to "reach for the sky" or "There's snake in my boot!"... Those cutesy "Westernisms" should be surrounded by quotes at the bottom of the cards IMO. And why are all these characters speach patterns suddenly changing?

That being said, I love scorpo-dragons. I just feel that they jacked up my Western motif that I was kind of pumped for. How do you not make REALLY fun multiplayer mechanics for a western theme? You are talking about prime chaos politic setting & doing NONE of that. Nothing with bounty counters Mathas, Fiend Seeker, nothing that forces a "Mexican standoff" situation, nothing that forces duels, minimal forced action.

March 31, 2024 4:10 p.m.

Gleeock says... #29

AND, minimal gamble-themed cards or dice rolling... Just a miss in my book for fun, but good mechanics with a random-but-good effect

Instead we have pseudo-rehashed mechanics that probably didn't need renaming for the sake of cognitive loading.

March 31, 2024 4:14 p.m.

legendofa says... #30

Gleeock What counts as "magicky"? Is digging a hole, or throwing rocks, or closing a door appropriate?

I promise I'm not trying to be contrarian or disrespectful in this thread. I've just seen a lot of "this isn't what M:tG should be" in the last few months/couple years and I'm wondering what people think it should be.

And for your last paragraph, how much of the commander decks have been revealed so far? I haven't been keeping up with those, and that's where I expect the multiplayer insanity to be. And scorpo-dragons are awesome.

March 31, 2024 4:24 p.m.

Gleeock says... #31

The frontier itself lends to what could have been a really fun set of group slug & punishers. Cards that punish artifice & enchantments while advancing the game in another way would have been great here. And in the other direction, a "gold rush" type of card that was functionally similar to Descent into Avernus would be great. I imagine Ghired (custom made for the frontier) would be able to cast some powerful enchantments to slow down industrialization & the taming of Thunder Junction. The setting would have been a great place for those type of game-clocking, yet non-stax types of effect

March 31, 2024 4:38 p.m.

Coward_Token says... #32

Yeah you're not yet safe from a Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch-style rainbow commander box topper. Commander spoilers are on the fourth of April, withhold your judgment until then. (Also, this is technically supposed to be a flavor-only thread.)

March 31, 2024 4:44 p.m.

Gleeock says... #33

legendofa for sure, they have card labeled in that way for years, it just seems to be more pop-phrase gimmicky than it used to be, where alot of those used to be general actions. Since, the article was being questioned on validity of critique based on how visually pop-cliquey MtG has been, I thought I'd mention it is not only the visible aesthetic that has been doing this... seems to be much more labeling & pharasing. Now it seems to be more: card = "tarnation" = Look it's a "Western" instant because we used 50's TV Pop cowboy slang. I just wish they had more: "Ghired's mystical wall" = an enchantment that punishes progress, then in quotes just say some hokey thing like "Where the frontier pushes back", instead of West-pop quoting something as your card label. I just thought it was an interesting highlight, reading it. It is not honestly, my primary reason for not liking the set so far. So far, that would be my perception of unnecessary or boring mechanics

So far, the big faces don't seem to have much Machiavellian oomph to them. Can't totally say that this will ring true for the whole set.

March 31, 2024 4:51 p.m.

Gleeock says... #34

Haha Coward_Token, priceless. We see the true reason for the banning of Golos, Tireless Pilgrim

Speaking of flavorful to a setting, anyone have the delight of playing Prisoner's Dilemma? That spell is a freaking beauty if you like flat-out burning people, while watching players try to squirm their way out. Johnnie Tight-Lips says: "Go suck a lemon!"

THIS tangent ^ THIS time is because you are right to some extent. That Machiavellian, multiplayer bomb, along with several others were in the Commander release, so there is a decent chance of the Commander product completely blowing up my annoyance. Though, to be fair, the Clue set had more general multiplayer intrigue in the main set & just better mechanics throughout the main set at this point as well.

March 31, 2024 5:07 p.m.

Gleeock says... #35

I am also aware of flavorwise arguments & this is not a vehicle to directly spoil or reference unreleased materials Coward_Token I appreciate your nuanced heads-up :) I should probably just stick more with what I don't see as to why I am disappointed (so far). It is difficult for me to discuss flavor though without discussing the interlinking of mechanics with flavor as to whether or not I find a set to be "a letdown so far". I mostly have given up on story elements in the current climate of Storytelling, particularly with this company, so it is mostly where vision meets mechanics with me.

March 31, 2024 5:30 p.m.

legendofa says... #36

Gleeock Okay, I get where you're coming from. And yeah, there are a lot more specific references like that. I think You Are Already Dead was an experiment along those lines. That kind of theme naming is probably going to be around for at least the next couple years as they see how popular it really is.

Also on board with avoiding that five-color zero-relevance card.

I feel like a lot of what keeps me invested in the game and its future is on the less popular side.

March 31, 2024 5:32 p.m.

Gleeock says... #37

legendofa probably. I think there can also a good amount of lag time between some of the elements that keep players invested & some of the meta at-large catching on to these elements... Then add even more lag-time for corporate research to find those elements (many of which still haven't been identified). Sometimes that is where I make money on this game, recognize cards that aren't eye-candy to the meta at-large & buy those singles while they are still worth beans. Then the at-large realizes how bonkers fun those elements are & you have +$$ surplus on your hands :)

March 31, 2024 5:50 p.m.

StopShot says... #39

They made the highlight of the plane be about the names and faces that don't come from that plane.

April 5, 2024 12:39 a.m.

Gleeock says... #40

Yeah, I didn't get my opinion changed. Oh well

April 6, 2024 7:21 p.m.

DemonDragonJ says... #41

Coward_Token, not only Marchesa, but Olivia and Rakdos were in positions of great authority on their home planes, so why would they leave them?

April 9, 2024 8:44 p.m.

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