Will the Members of the Gatewatch Be Involved in Every Block From Now On?
Lore forum
Posted on July 6, 2016, 11:54 a.m. by DemonDragonJ
Card artwork has shown that Chandra, Nissa, and Gideon shall be appearing in Eldritch Moon, making this the second consecutive block in which they and Jace have appeared.
I do not like that, as I worry that they shall now be appearing in every block and dominating the story, which would be a severe detriment to the development of other characters, a trend that I have seen happen far too often in fictional stories.
In the Shadows Over Innsitrad block, I can understand all the planeswalkers arriving on that plane to battle the eldrazi, because they are a multiverse-wide threat, but I really hope that only Chandra appears in the Kaladesh block, since there is no reason for anyone other than her to do so, since I highly doubt that the events of that block shall have multiverse-wide repercussions.
What does eveyrone else say about this subject? Will the members of the Gatewatch appear in every block from now on, or is it merely a coincidence that they are in two consecutive blocks?
shinobigarth says... #3
think of it like the MCU. they team up for big threats like the eldrazi. that's like their Avengers movie, then they'll do some personal stuff like Chandra going to her plane, etc.
July 6, 2016 12:50 p.m.
I mean, Jace does what he wants, so he'll go anywhere he pleases.
But to my knowledge this heroic team only exists on the grounds of Eldrazi threats and other things that threaten the multiverse as a whole.
July 6, 2016 12:53 p.m.
TheFoilAjani says... #5
Mark Rosewater has already stated that a Gatewatch member will appear in every plane. However, the Gatewatch can chage in it's membership, so it won't just be stupid Nissa.
I wouldn't get mad at that though. As much hate as Jace gets (for no reason), he's really mostly a supporting character in EMN and BFZ, with larger roles in OGW and in SOI (but never the one main character). I think that's how it'll play out in the stories. Someone from the Gatewatch will just happen to be on the plane the set is on, but won't be playing a main/key role in the story.
July 6, 2016 1:03 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #6
TheFoilAjani, what is the point of that? Why do they need to be present in every block? WotC has never done this, before, so what is so different about the story, now?
July 6, 2016 4:33 p.m.
Because Wizards has been running a game for over 20 years with a constantly expanding story, new worlds, and characters with long running story lines.
They're starting to run out of fresh ideas and new ways to reinvent the game. I can't blame them. They are the most successful Fantasy TCG in history. That's no small feat. It's impressive they made it last this long.
So when you run out of new ideas what's your next best option?
Build upon old ones.
So they're revisiting everybody's favorite characters, getting back to the basics with an emphasis on mono-colored cards and characters (which is why all the characters they emphasized in Origins - due to their mono color nature - are now the poster children for the Gatewatch), revisiting familiar and favorite places, and they're creating something new out of it.
They're bringing back the biggest badest threats they made originally and creating a whole new relationship dynamic among these powerful characters that stretches across more than a single place and single story.
It may seem short sighted, but it's also a massive undertaking on their part.
It can be mocked as the Avengers and WotC just pretending they're the MCU, but is that so wrong? They've got 20 years of rich history and original storytelling.
Why shouldn't they build on more of it?
They're the ones who have made the game last this long and keep strong. I'm not going to spend too much time questioning people far more successful than I'll ever be.
July 6, 2016 4:48 p.m.
Homura_Akemi says... #8
I think wizards could still do a good job using the Gatewatch. They definitely will continue to expand on planeswalkers, but hopefully not ones who have no part in the stories like Arlinn Kord. I really want them to do all possible three color planeswalker combos too, not just one or two colors.
July 6, 2016 5:04 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #9
I feel that the whole jacetice league thing is lazy storytelling. Jace has screwed over Ravnica by leaving right after becoming the living guildpact. I also don't like how they are making a team to combat evil by the power of friendship and rainbows.
I think that WotC has learned the wrong lesson from the super hero movie boom in the last 10 or so years. Superhero movies got popular once the characters were morally conflicted and fallible. Now WotC wants to turn there already interesting story with deep characters into Batman & Robin or Superman 3 when they already had Man of Steel and The Dark Knight.
July 6, 2016 8:39 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #10
and I didn't freaking proofread and can't edit. The use of the wrong homophone in the last sentence of that post shall forever haunt me.
July 6, 2016 8:42 p.m.
Homura_Akemi says... #11
Gidgetimer I know right! What the hell is happening on Ravnica?! Jace literally had to be constantly hearing cases as the Guildpact and now he's been gone so long on Zendikar and Innistrad!
July 6, 2016 8:42 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #12
They did something similar before with the Weatherlight Saga. Some people liked it, others didn't, though it turned out to be a mostly positive thing by the end.
Gidgetimer: some people would argue that having Man of Steel as the "premier" (for lack of a better word) example would be a mistake. Lol
July 6, 2016 10:12 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #15
I guess I should go into my analogy a little more instead of expecting people to follow what I am trying to say. Man of Steel may not have been well received, but it showed conflict in the Superman origin story and that make the characters much more interesting. It isn't some infallible person that only stops being Mr. Perfect because a computer makes him. It makes Superman a much more relatable, and therefore more interesting, character.
The Dark Knight Trilogy did the same thing with Batman. It showed conflict, misjudgement, and redemption. "Refusal of the Call" and "Woman as Temptress" are important parts of the Hero's Journey. It is a bit sad that the stages were named in the 40's where things were named as such. Many people actually confuse what "Woman as Temptress" refers to because of this. Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin falls less into this part of the Hero's Journey than does the fast cars and obvious excess in The Dark Knight.
By bringing up the Hero's Journey I am not saying that all good stories have to follow the exact arc of it. I am also not saying that all story arcs have to be completed in the space of one block. I do however feel that each block should have a self contained story as well as including plot points that fit into the overarcing story.
I also feel that making a commitment to include one of five characters in each block can only be bad for the story. It is no longer a diverse tapestry being woven to create the multiverse. It is now a monster of the week style of story telling where you have to include one of the Jace's Power Rangers along with a monster that is going to seem unbeatable in the first set of the block and then be dealt with in the second set without ever being a threat to the PW of the block.
One of the best things WotC did to get me engaged with their story was killing off my favorite PW. I loved Elspeth and thought she was a great character. I felt that it showed that no one was safe in the story and that the enemies were legitimate threats. It turns out that they were clearing the way of the interesting mono-white PW so that they could make the white one Gideon. A bro so basic he should have the supertype.
July 6, 2016 11:42 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #16
I really hope that there shall be multicolored planeswalkers in the Gatewatch, so that it is not simply comprised of one planeswalker of each color, as that would be very unimaginative.
July 7, 2016 3:11 p.m.
Homura_Akemi says... #17
Yes DemonDragonJ! We need planeswalkers of every shard/ khan too for tricolor decks
July 7, 2016 4:02 p.m.
bennybubbles says... #18
I for one think it's a good thing that WOTC are condensing the story to focus on some key characters and their journey through the multiverse. I know lots of people liked the old model, but I didn't. Getting invested in a world and it's characters, conflict and story and then abandoning it never sat well with me, I would much rather follow Gideon, Jace, Nissa, Chandra and Liliana through the planes and look at the stories through their eyes, learning more about them as I go and watching them experience different cultures, races, civilisations and villains.
Planeswalkers are MTG's biggest resource and to not use them in this way is a mistake in my opinion. I feel like this moment could be looked back upon by players in the future like the early days of Magic are looked back upon today, but instead of "why did they stay on Dominaria all the time?" it would be "why didn't they focus on the same characters across blocks?".
People are quick to criticise, but we've hardly even seen the 'Mighty Walking Power Rangers' or the 'Super Jacetice League' or whatever other superhero name you people are so fond of using. It's been 2 blocks and already people are saying it's going to be horrible. I would be the first to admit that some story things didn't go as well as they could have, but this is very much early days, so as MaRo is so fond of saying; "Don't criticise before you see the whole thing". Even in our two blocks of 'Magic: The Brave and the Bold', we have had loads of stories that don't centre on one of the Gatewatch, including our beloved Hal and Alena, so I think we can say that the planeswalker saturation in the stories will be the same as it always has, the only difference being that there will be more use of the Gatewatch as story characters. And don't be afraid that it will be BFZ level because BFZ was the Avengers #1, Justice League #1, X-Men #1, the starting team-up story that set the scene for the remainder of the stories.
In conculsion, I think that Magic: The Brave and the Bold (which is my favourite thing I have ever come up with) is one of the things that people will hate for no reason other than that it is different from what they know, and will eventually be regarded as one of those things that people talk about here. Thank you, and may the aether be with you.
July 9, 2016 1:34 a.m.
I just hope jace finds a space/time rift and get sucked by it and get lost in the aether forever so the gatewatch split an everybody can get their onw INDIVIDUAL development, of anything normal media I can relate planeswalkers to, are the "jumpers" from the movie "jumper" oh hey, you have the same skills as me, we are special, but don't cross in my path I have my own agenda because X or Y background, and not "we are all together having fun, saving the wooooooold" f@ck that, I want conflict I want confrontation, you know, what make movies/games/books great, not facing "todays big bad" over and over again like if this were power rangers.
Faytl says... #2
The fact that the Eldrazi showed up here again is likely a big part of it. They formed to combat threats like the Eldrazi, so it makes sense for them to all team up again for it (not that I'm a fan of Emrakul showing up again so very quickly after the other two).
Next block is Chandra's home plane, so we can certainly expect her to be there, but I don't think we'll see the rest of them, barring perhaps Gideon, since they seem to be pushing that particular ship. Even if there's something big going down there, Chandra's exactly the type to be all "No, this sh*t is PERONAL" and go it alone.
July 6, 2016 12:38 p.m.