Magic the Gathering: Planeswalkers (Part 1) v1.00. D&D 5e Monster Stats Commissioned by King Kassynder
Here they are, finally! A big series of commissions done over the past few months for King Kassynder! Planeswalkers! I’ve made these stats, and remade them so many times! The final version I did after reading War of the Spark, feeling like I had a better idea of what planeswalkers and the specific characters could do.
Bonus: Living Land
The living land is a bonus statblock to go with Nissa! Please enjoy having these planeswalkers (and extra) for your Ravnica campaigns, other MTG games, or just as misc NPCs for your campaigns.
(Edit 06/10/2019: Swapped Synaptic Static out on Jace for Mislead. Turning invisible but leaving an illussion behind where you were? How did I miss that spell the first time?)
I have been working on this wee comic for a while now! Garruk is one of my favourite MtG characters of all time, and I was so happy to see him finally free of the Chain Veil’s curse after all this time in Eldraine, however it was also sad that he was put back on the shelf as soon as Eldraine was over, and seemed back to normal right away in M21.
So this is a comic about Garruk mulling over his new sense of clarity, and guilt for what he did while cursed, and how he wants to move forwards. Since Wizards probably won’t, or at least wont for a long time.
Yes I know I haven’t gone over the email stories. I was going to read it yesterday to compare & contrast it with today’s, but I’ll give Greg Weisman one last chance. Let’s let him wrap things up before we move onto better things…
I.
Y’know, reading the first paragraph, it reminds me of something. It’s like hearing your friends talking about something funny that happened, but when they tell it it’s kinda eh, and they’re like ‘You had to be there.’ That. That’s what this is.
Why does everyone keep calling it a gem between his horns? It’s made of metal. Unless it’s coated in metal, in which case why would you hide your bling, Bolas?
Of course Liliana is still alive. We STILL don’t know who Raven Man is.
STOP. CALLING. THEM. CREEPIES!!!
I think that’s Rhonas and Kefnet down, if the card art is anything to go by.
He spoke with such confidence, such authority, that he was pretty darn reassuring, you know?
DON’T SAY THAT WE’RE GONNA MISS HIM EVEN MORE NOW…!
“The plan, this time, is simple enough. For the moment, Bolas has pulled back the bulk of his forces to his Citadel. So we’ll respond by launching a massive two-pronged attack. On the ground, every guildmember, every Planeswalker—hell, every Ravnican who can hold a weapon—will launch a full-frontal assault. Everything we’ve got. All at once. Everyone. Unless you can fly or can hitch a ride on something that does. Next, while the ground assault keeps the Eternals busy, Aurelia, me, and the rest of our combined air forces will engage from above. I’ll make use of my invulnerability to get in close. Then I’ll stab Bolas with Blackblade. And it will all be over.” He made it sound really simple, really easy. Too easy …
Nominated for a “Slimefoot thought it was a terrible idea” award.
I love Ral trying to protect his boyfriend~!
Mister Jura began, raising Blackblade high once more and saying: “Never again. Not on any world. This I swear: for Sea Gate, for Zendikar, for Ravnica and all its people, for justice and peace, I will keep watch. And after Bolas falls, when any new danger arises to threaten the Multiverse, I will be there with the Gatewatch beside me.”
I’m pretty sure the rest of Jace’s Oath was telepathic. Where’s your psychic powers for that, Rat?
Chandra’s, same as before.
Teferi would know all about the strong plaguing the weak: he’s met Urza.
“I have seen tyrants whose ambitions knew no limits. Creatures who styled themselves gods or praetors…”
HOLD UP WAIT A MINUTE HOLD UP WAIT A MINUTE
AJANI, BRUH, YOU AIN’T NEVER BEEN ON NEW PHYREXIA
‘But he met with Elspeth!’ Yeah – he ain’t seen shit about praetors! Unless there’s a Roman plane we ain’t been to yet, but f*ck that shit! I’m calling you out on this, Greg Weisman!
NISSA SAID HER OATH SHE’S BACK BABY!!!
Wait… where’s Kaya’s oath? There was a card for it and everything.
Don’t you go onto the next section without giving us Kaya’s Oath!
II.
I wonder how long Isperia’s petrified corpse is gonna stay there. Did she have any family? How often do sphinxes have kids anyways? Are there litters, or is it one at a time?
Chandra. You want Chandra to turn on the Immortal Sun. Okay. I didn’t know it could be turned off, but hey, whatevs. Azor’s a dick, and I could totes see him keeping everyone else on the plane even after he thought Ugin abandoned him, instead of just letting everyone else flee.
Actually this still has me pissed off, but I’m too tired to articulate my frustration.
Oh yeah, Dack could touch the Immortal Sun and learn how it works. It’s not like he’s… oh right…
Yes I am still immensely proud of my edit.
"There’s a humongous golden trinket a couple blocks away, and instead of going after it, I’m off to fight an Elder Dragon. Some thief …” – Dack Fayden, not quite last words but close enough
III.
If I was a little bit …invulnerable, I’d use that to make sure my friends and family stayed alive and safe.
Rub more salt in our wounds, why don’t you.
That’s… an awkward conversation between Vraska and Jace. I feel like if we knew what was going on, it might seem less so. Why aren’t I complaining about it more? You’ll see…
Ral, are you jealous of their relationship goals?
IV.
FIRST LINE AND WE’RE ALREADY IN MEDIA RES, HEARING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT ALREADY HAPPENED OFF-SCREEN.
I mean, axes can still be used for sneak-attack. Hell, any weapon can be used for sneak-attack in 5e. Maybe they’re working on Pathfinder rules…
I’m surprised sparks are still flying up. Just how many people on Ravnica are planeswalkers?
For that matter, is the baby from Under the Cover of Fog still allive???
Also I miss Nicky Drayden. Even at her worst, she still showed gave us a lot of worldbuilding, memorable characters, intriguing settings, and new ways of thinking about each of the guilds. She is leagues above Greg Weisman.
Oh right, as the eternals are covered in Lazotep, Dack would be able to touch ‘em and gain insight. Shame he couldn’t put that to use…
I guess it makes sense for Vorel to return a bit to his roots and use a mace, but I’d be hulking out and using my fits if I were in the simic. Or use a swordfish as a weapon, because I’m in the Simic and I can make a fish that can be air and remain perfectly rigid when impaled through a foe!
RAT DON’T YOU DARE CALL VRASKA A DEMON IN MY PRESENCE EVER AGAIN!!!
Jace apparently had telekinesis now.
Sorin and Nahiri are working together for now. It’s temporary. I fully expect a set where they’re duking it out on some plane. Maybe the Gatewatch has to stop their feud from destroying more worlds.
Of all the scenes we get to see, of course we get to see Dack’s death!
Rest in peace, you brilliant thief. You deserved to star in one of the main sets, and you certainly deserved a better death, but we’ll always remember you as the greatest thief in the multiverse…
V.
How is Kaya valuable to you? Oh right, your unnoticability…
Rat. Please. Tell me. How do you know what a werewolf is? Is it your psychic ability to know things you shouldn’t?
VI.
Oh hey! We get to see Feather! See and nothing more. Perhaps in the novel…
Ooh, card callbacks with sapphire drake!
So Liliana actually gave the order to shoot Gideon down. Not an autopilot zombie thing – she actually fucking pantomimed shooting a fucking bow and arrow to shoot down Gideon. Just…fuck.
VII.
If she was caught off guard, maybe Bolas made her enforce her contract. Yeah, Imma go with that ‘til I read the novel…
Let’s all take a moment to appreciate Viktor Titov and his art piece here. Gideon Jura, wielding the Blackblade, riding amidst the flames on Rakdos’ head, all while lightning arcs in the background. F*cking superb!
Oof, but this is hardly the worst thing Rakdos has endured.
Blackbladeshattered against Nicol Bolas’s invincible brow.
If nothing else, we got the phrase ‘invincible brow’ from these stories.
VIII.
Okay, folks. It’s coming. The moment we’ve all been dreading…
I knew then that Miss Raven-Hair had switched sides. No way to know why…
A child with unexplained psychic powers? Greg… you haven’t been reading Stephen King, have you? It all makes sense now…!
Yes, that was it. There was less of her; black flecks and purple sparks were being carried off by the wind. I was watching her flake apart, disintegrate, one little bit at a time. That does not seem like a pleasant way to go …
Mister Jura I don’t feel so good…
Goodbye, Gideon…
(I know it’s insensitive, but did his Eternal Aegis transfer to Liliana?)
IX.
Well, looks like Bolas was backstabbed figuratively and literally! Go Niv-Mizzet! Bonus points for using the last Amonkheti God’s weapon!
And now Bolas is no longer a planeswalker. His own weapons, turned against him. Glorious.
Now, we know from the cards Bolas is in the Meditation Realm with Ugin serving as his jailer. I suppose it’ll be explained in the novel…
X.
Oh, Vitu-Ghazi’s just dormant. Good to know!
Note from the wiki, she apparently took Bolas’ Spirit-Gem. Y’know, it kinda does look like an egg… maybe the Raven Man will hatch from it…
I saw Miss Yanling and Mister Yanggu depart with their three-tailed dog (who seemed to turn to stone just before all three vanished).
…?
I guess that’s how he’s trying to explain how Mowu can go between planes? I don’t like it.
XI.
Sorta strange, but then again Rat’s powers are strange, so you’re forgiven for not remembering her, Hekara.
“COME, WOMAN,” he said in his booming sepulchral voice, “RAVNICA IS OURS AGAIN. THE LONG BATTLE HAS BROUGHT THE PEOPLE LOW, AND THE CIRCUS MACABRE MUST PLAY TO THE CROWD AND LIGHTEN ALL HEARTS. WE HAVE PERFORMERS TO GATHER, ACTS TO PREPARE, AND A READY-MADE AUDIENCE YEARNING TO FORGET THE DAY’S HORRORS—BY BURNING. BLEEDING AND BURNING.”
We got this too out of today’s story. This was fun.
I’m with Angrath: Destroy the Immortal Sun.
Dang, Ob Nixilis is on their hitlist now… What did he do? Recently, I mean.
Miss Nalaar looked over at the demolished Embassy of the Guildpact and said, “We lost our clubhouse.”
The Gatewatch do need a clubhouse. It brought us one of the greatest stories in Magic, Homesick.
There’s Kaya’s Oath.
God bless you, Niv-Mizzet, bragging about your new job to the former holder of said job.
Tomik showing his allegiance to his guild. Think of the property damage…!
So here’s the hitlist as follows:
Ral Zarek vs Tezzeret I am 100% convinced Tezzeret will show up on New Phyrexia. Ral, bring a hazmat suit.
Vraska vs Dovin Baan So her “punishment” is getting to kill the former Azorius guildmaster? Dang, she got off easy…
Kaya vs Liliana Vess I mean if you really want to help the dead move on, Kaya, you got your work cut out for you…
That was… alright. There was still a lot missing, but it still summed up the story pretty well… though not as well as the cards in the set did :P
So what’s next? Well I have a backlog of email stories to read which I’ve heard are fantastic, so I’ll try and work on that tomorrow. Then we have Core Set spoilers, not sure if we’re getting stories with that or not. We still haven’t had an announcement day in what seems like forever! But I’m sure we’ll get it eventually.
As for you, Greg Weisman…
… we’ll see if it’s just the free stories you wrote that aren’t so good, or you yourself…
…stay tuned for the Ravnica prequels, and for the roasting of Greg Weisman!!!
I’ve been absent for a while, doing my best to fight the coup in my country (Brazil) and protest against it, but the battle was officially lost today. I’ll still dedicate my time to politics (not in this blog, obviously) but today I return to vorthosian matters as they provide me with a reliable way to escape, even if it’s only for a few hours, the surreal turmoil of lies and injustice that took our lives by assault.
Animated version of Tyler Jacobson’s Avacyn (SOI trailer)
Written by Nik Davidson, Stories and Endings takes place in Thraben’s Cathedral and features the first encounter by Tamiyo and Jace followed by the appearance of Avacyn, who’s determined to destroy them. Please read it first, then we may discuss what caught our attentions. In my case, I would highlight the following…
We knew a lot more about Tamiyo’s personality. She avoids contact in Innistrad, and she does it not only because of the dangers that awaits at every corner, but as someone who refuses to attach to its objects of study. She went to the cathedral after the stories about Avacyn, and she will probably leave the plane after she solves the mystery of the Eldritch Moon.
Magic Story is trying to show us how different mages and planeswalkers cast spells. Sorin sings, Gisa whistles, and now we know Tamiyo draws her power from her studies and stories, by recollecting anecdotes, myths and legends and drawing her spells from their narrative core (from “the music of the stories”).
Art by Mark Tedin
The first story comes from Kamigawa and shows us how a goblin was able to deceive a demon to steal his treasures. Under a rock, the goblin invaded the demon’s lair three times, but was soon unmasked when she tried to lie in order to spare her own village from his wrath. Tamiyo used this story to cloak herself from the cathedral guards, but is it possible that this story is also a metaphor for what’s happening in SOI? I’m still not sure.
I may be exaggerating, but I think they sneaked a Catalog reference here:
The central library was just ahead. She started mentally cataloguing the stories she brought with her, trying to determine how best to deal with the locks that would likely be up ahead, when she noticed something amiss.
Art by John Matson
The second story involved the Myr and their myth of origin, but it also implied that Tamiyo knows Mirrodin (more on this later). It was used to calm Jace down and restore his sanity.
Jace suggests he may call the Gatewatch to help Innistrad, but Tamiyo’s Ugin-like wisdom regards the plane’s destruction as natural as any other plane’s “death” and despite the archangel’s madness (probably caused by Nahiri and spread to other angels with the help of the cryptolith’s leylines) Tamiyo still thinks it would be dangerous to destroy her, as she wards the plane from outer threats.
The telepath then convinces her by offering help to approach Avacyn in her current state as a way to solve the current puzzle, and both agree to connect their minds to know each other, something that would also help keeping Jace sane in the process. Tamiyo also offers to share her research with the Gatewatch (and offers the sharpest definition I ever seen of what a hero is).
“I have helped you, Jace. I will offer a compromise. I will share my research with you, and you and your friends can use that information to help avert similar disasters on other planes, if it suits you. But I have recorded ten thousand stories about heroes, and a hero is merely a disaster with a point of view.”
Jace accesses Tamiyo’s knowledge of other planes, something that may be important to connect the Gatewatch to future storylines (he already knew Kamigawa, but now we’re sure he knows about Mirrodin, a cold plane - possibly Ice Age Dominaria and not Kaldheim, and Serra’s Realm). This way, Jace knows about post-Memnarch Mirrodin and about the original Phyrexians that tainted the white mana artificial plane created by Serra, and this may help him understand what New Phyrexia is when the time comes.
He also got to know about the three mysterious iron-bound scrolls Tamiyo carries around. She made the promise to never use them, but they impressed Jace as powerful spells.
Art by Wayne Reynolds
Avacyn appears and identified both planeswalkers as targets. To attack her with an icy blast, Tamiyo reminds herself of an old song from a world covered in ice (Dominaria’s past?), and nothing and no one will ever convince me that the song’s theme is not about Marit Lage’s release.
She called with terror’s breath from mountain door, The truest cold had risen from the sea. Only his howl of anguish echoed more.
Avacyn went on being creepy when Jace paralysed her for a moment. He knows she’s holding something out of the plane (Emrakul?), and want to use his already fragile mind to take a peek at it, when Tamiyo convinces him that’s enough. He seems to have noticed something terrible, but Avacyn prepared to roast them in her light before he named what he seems to have found.
“Jace, that’s enough.” “Wait. No. That’s…”
Jace knows what Tamiyo knows, and he reminds her of a scroll with a fitting story that could be used to stop Avacyn.
Tamiyo. The scroll. The iron scroll. You showed it to me. An old story. A powerful story. The survivors of a place that was lost…Serra’s realm. That cataclysm, that power…the story fits. You know it does. You can stop this.
Art by Michael Sutfin
Okay… What story is there from Serra’s Realm to fit this moment? Could it be the story of Radiant? Probably. Serra created her artificial plane as a monumental and utopian world of pure white mana. It’s angels were created to defend it. When Urza fled Phyrexia, he planeswalked there to heal and spent five years in the process, but Phyrexia tracked him and invaded the plane, corrupting it (including some of it’s angels - by the way, Selesnia was a Serra Angel before Phyrexia corrupted her). Urza went to Dominaria and Serra was so frustrated seeing her masterpiece tainted (see Befoul) that she abandoned it and put the Archangel Radiant in charge of protecting it, but she was suddenly contaminated as well (without even noticing it) and became paranoid, using angels to destroy the humans of the plane since they “could be” Phyrexian sleeper agents. If we look at old spells to stop a corrupted angel using other angels to smite mankind, we would find Humble.
The problem is that Tamiyo swore to left the iron-bound scrolls intact, and she is ready to die to keep her promise, to Jace’s despair. If only a millennia old planeswalker dropped from the dome to help them…
