Remaining Loose Plot Threads
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on Dec. 10, 2018, 1:52 p.m. by ZendikariWol
First off, I'm only going to be considering planes that scored lower than 8 on the Rabiah Scale. If you don't know what those are, take a look at these:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/making-magic/rabiah-scale-part-1-2018-11-12
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/making-magic/rabiah-scale-part-2-2018-11-26
Second, this forum's goal is to cover and discuss the loose plot threads that could warrant a future set, whether or not we think they do, and how interesting that set would be.
Alara: The actual effects of the convergence got explored a little, but not a whole ton. I think there's more room to look into the atmosphere of Alara and the shifting allegiances. Maybe follow one character from each shard or have a more Theros/Tarkir-style structureless narrative? That being said, they're exploring this theme in Ravnica (a much more popular plane) right now, so this set would need to be in the farther future.
Amonkhet: Amonkhet was NOT a fan favorite, but that may just be because the mechanics the block introduced were nearly unplayable. Not only that, but the plane's only real purpose was to give our characters some information. It was a plot point and nothing more. That being said, following the survivors around might be neat.
Dominaria: I think wizards could spin a beautiful tale about the merits and dangers of chasing legends with this plane. We won't get that because wizards doesn't seem to care about problems of any scale except apocalyptic, but I think it would ne nice. That being said, there are few (no?) significant threats still lurking on Dominaria. Surely we'll return but there will probably be no ties to other sets.
Innistrad: Emrakul is in the moon. Surely she's biding her time. That's what will be covered in the next return. The next question, then, is when will that be?
Ixalan: The Battle for Orazca was raging when we left, and if we come back then I assume that will be the plot.
Kaladesh: I would like to see something that delves into the life of the Consulate during the war. However, the capitalists already kinda won, so that's a little off the table. I don't know what new threat would lurk if we had another set there.
Lorwyn: Look, I know Lorwyn is largely despised and I see why. Mechanically, the set was really weak and few cards had much value at all. But the plane is just so gorgeous and the idea of the aurora is fascinating. Problem is, once again, what would the plot be? Like Amonkhet, Dominaria, Kaladesh, and I'm sure a few hereafter, there is no story thread that Lorwyn could pick up. However, seeing aurora versions of some of our favorite walkers would be fascinating.
Mercadia: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, jk, jk.
Mirrodin: We're going to see Karn blow it up, surely... but what if something goes wrong? I don't know what or how or the results but it's interesting to think about. Maybe the Phyrexians are our new Eldrazi? Except they can't bring back infect.... hmmmm....
Ravnica: Let's reserve speculation on Ravnica until this set finishes.
Regatha: It's gonna be tough to not make Regatha mono-red. Beyond that, nearly 0 plot anything has happened there, so we'd have nothing to return to. It would have to be a totally original story and wizards isn't doing another one of those for quite some time.
Shandalar: other than the slivers, we didn't have much of anything on Shandalar. That being said, the plane is pretty and the fans like it. So...?
Tarkir: I love Tarkir, and I'll try not to let that get in the way. But, anyway, we could pick up on the power struggle between the dragons, what some of the walkers from Tarkir are doing, etc. There are plenty of things about Tarkir to pick back up.
Theros: I, like many players, did not enjoy this set, mechanically. But the plane has a lot of flavor, and more importantly, WHAT HAPPENED TO ELSPETH!?!? Oh, and also Dack and Ashiok are messing around with some dreamy thing, but ELSPETH!!
Vryn: My favorite character, which many seem to agree with, is Jace. I think wizards knows that the fans love him and being able to see his family again would be nice. Beyond that, maybe some trouble's a'brewin on Vryn? Problem is, what might that trouble be?.
Zendikar: If I had my way (I rarely do), we would cover some of the survivors -a totally new group of nonplaneswalker people- coping with their personal losses and the losses of others and the plane and trying their best to restore their broken, battered world. Perhaps to symbolize rebirth, landfall wouldn't reappear until the last set?
So yeah those were some of my ideas on where the story might go, be sure to call me put if anything needs added, subtracted, or if you've any ideas of your own on how a plane might be used in the future.
ZendikariWol says... #3
And yes, you're correct, Vryn has never had a set dedicated to it. That doesn't mean it's super unlikely to.
December 10, 2018 3:43 p.m.
I think that actual worlds that we can visit again are very few:
Dominaria (always go to Dominaria)
Innistrad (Emrakul, but also popular plane, though our last visit was lackluster)
Ixalan (there is a second continent on that plane we never got to visit)
Theros (Elspeth and I want more Ashiok dammit)
Mirrodin (phyrexians are the only threat in the multiverse after Bolas is defeated in a couple of sets)
Alara (the convergence has changed the plane enough that a revisit is welcome)
Vryn (it is in the same state Kaladesh was before the titular set - a planeswalker we know is from there, while we know next to nothing else)
That is it - 7 worlds total. The first three, and even possibly Theros are too recent to revisit again, so that leaves Mirrodin, Vryn and Alara. Mirrodin and dealing with Phyrexia is where Karn is currently, so it makes sense (though they can easily give him the Garruk treatment and forget he exists for a decade). Vryn is too unknown and there is 0 player attachment to it, but hey Jace is cool. Alara feels like a logical choice, but I think we have expored it enough for now - there needs to be something else besides seeing post-convergence Alara.
TLDR - I think we need 2-3 new planes before we go to a familiar one, but if we do, Vryn gets my vote as the most probable new plane.
December 11, 2018 4:47 a.m.
landofMordor says... #5
ZendikariWol, my vote is Angrath/Ajani/Elspeth vs Heliod.
I think a return to Amonkhet is likely, albeit with a different focus: this time, Egypt in ruins, to play up Traps, Curses, evil mummies, etc. My hot take is that we’d get a WUBRG Hazoret, since she’s now the sole protector of her people. Bolas ruined their plane, and I think the aftermath (no pun intended) is compelling.
Otherwise, I agree with Boza that those main 7 are the most likely. Smart money is on Mirrodin next.
Second hot take, though — I don’t think Bolas will die or anything in RTRTR part 3. I just think he’ll go back to scheming, or at most lose his spark or get confined to Ixalan (lol wouldn’t that be rich). He’s too valuable as a storytelling resource.
December 11, 2018 7:44 a.m.
ZendikariWol says... #6
Well, Boza, absolutely add Zendikar to that list, and probably Tarkir too. As much as I would love to see a return to Lorwyn, it seems very unlikely.
Of the ones that you stated, Dominaria, Innistrad, and Ixalan (and both Zendikar and Tarkir, from my comment) are too recent for the story to pick up there, I agree.
So that does leave Alara, Mirrodin, Theros, and Vryn for the next recognized plane.
Alara: I guess it would just be covering the effects of the conflux, but how would you like this subject to be covered? I would like them to introduce a planeswalker who had been born on the shards, visited multiple, left for a while, and is just now seeing them combined. The struggle of seeing your home totally different and adjusting to that change could be a really neat story.
Mirrodin: We all know that if we return there it'll be Karn with the Cylix blowing up the Phyrexians. From that we get two big quandaries: 1) does it kill the Phyrexians, and 2) what are the ramifications on the plane as a whole? The first time the Cylix blew, it destroyed half of Dominaria and plunged it into an ice age. What would it do to Mirrodin?
Theros: Yeah, Elspeth is coming back, but how and why? Maybe she teams up with Ashiok, and Ashiok starts exploiting the fears of the gods, throwing Nyx into disarray! And from there, the gods are in a position to be beaten by Elspeth.
Vryn: We know almost nothing about this plane, except the mage-rings. I don't know what they are but I am so hype to figure out how they work. What do they do, how do they do it, what even IS magic on this plane? There's so much possibility.
December 11, 2018 10:59 a.m.
ZendikariWol says... #7
landofMordor, these are some hot takes indeed. I love the idea of rainbow Hazoret, the Protector.
As for the second hot take... Imma have to disagree. I think WotC knows, at this point, that not really killing Bolas off would just feel like a copout and repetitive after the shit they pulled with Emrakul (yeah I'm still upset about that).
December 11, 2018 11:22 a.m.
OR the shit they pulled with Bolas vs Ajani (Bolas should have lost, but hey ho) or the shit they pulled with Bolas vs Toshiro Umezawa (Bolas should have stayed dead, but hey ho) or the shit they pulled with Ugin vs Bolas (Ugin should have stayed dead, but hey ho) or the shit they pulled with Bolas vs Gatewatch (GW should have perished, but hey ho)...
Battles involving Bolas always end non-deterministically. It would actually break tradition if Bolas would die now.
December 11, 2018 11:45 a.m.
ZendikariWol says... #9
Okay. So which of the GW do you want to die? I say Gids or Chandra. I kinda don't like Lili, but I want a less interesting character to die.
December 11, 2018 11:53 a.m.
Boza - but breaking tradition allows for Unexpected Plot Twist, and killing off Bolas allows the creation of Compelling Resurrection of Evil!
I don't expect anything groundbreaking in terms of how the Bolas arch ends. Wizards is very good at worldbuilding, but their stories tend to be a bit too cliche. Plot Armor is harder than dragon scales, and it doesn't feel like there's any risk in the story for either the heroes or villains.
I would love if Wizards surprised us. My personal hope is that Bolas is the "good guy" of the story--that he has learned of some bigger threat (likely Phyrexia), and has been building an army and recruiting planeswalkers to combat said threat.
But I fear my being surprised by Wizards' storytelling is a bit of a pipe-dream.
I fully expect we will go back to one of the lesser-known planes next. After Ravnica and the end of the Bolas story (until they run out of bad guys), I think there will probably be a cool-down period with the story focused on gathering allies for a foray into New Phyrexia.
I would suspect we will be introduced to at least one new plane and probably revisit another plane before returning to New Phyrexia. Phyrexians are popular, so they're going to want to build up hype for a bit.
I think Theros is either going to be visited before New Phyrexia, as part of the heroes' collecting their forces and armaments, or much further down the line. Theros is pretty popular, so they're probably not going to do a Phyrexia-Theros mash-up.
December 11, 2018 12:39 p.m.
ZendikariWol says... #11
Okay so I did just post another, similar thread in the lore section stating my frustration with how things -specifically characters- are handled by WotC. Take a look here and see.
https://tappedout.net/mtg-forum/lore/the-gatewatch-problem/
December 11, 2018 1:12 p.m.
Darkshadow327 says... #12
That would be cool if Bolas was the "good guy" and was preparing to fight something like the phyrexians. Sadly, WOTC is too cliche for this.
We can dream though . . .
December 11, 2018 8:13 p.m.
ZendikariWol says... #13
Oh man what if Bolas was just a pawn of the Phrexians or Emrakul?
ZendikariWol says... #2
I would actually love to see Elspeth waging a semi-one-woman war on the gods! Maybe have Ajani and someone black and/or red helping them out. Maybe they consider that the gatewatch's next move, or what their next move should be.
December 10, 2018 3:28 p.m.