#Oketra

[xantchaslegacy]

[madcat-world]

Oketra - Richard Wright

[everclearcat]

Мм~ Какая интересная книга! И пофиг, что я падаю в бесконечной библиотеке~ 😊

референс:

[andalon-historian]

I don't think that makes any sense, and I think the reason for that is completely different definitions of "worship."

Since when does being physical prevent you from being worshipped? Since when is divinity and faith mutually exclusive with a parental figure or a guide?

https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/trust-2017-04-05

As Temmet led them closer, Gideon could see the adoration and devotion on the faces of the people around the god—the training children, the older ones supervising the exercise, and the others who appeared to have gathered just to be in the presence of the god.

The gods of Amonkhet are absolutely worshipped.

Was just thinking about your recent post about Avacyn and stumbled onto a thought of: what if some people from amenkhet stumble into theros and try worshiping the a dead god like Bontu or one of the others?

I will admit I have American Gods on the mind but that could be a cool story if/when we go back to theros again.

The interesting thing about the Amonkhet gods is that they are close to the bottom of a list of "most worshipped" divinities. Their role in society was almost closer to that of parents or guides, since supposedly their whole thing was preparing people for the "real" divine world they'd need to reach. Avacyn, on the other hand, was prayed to actively and praying to her had a material effect on the world. So I don't know if Amonkhet refugees could re-create a god on Theros

[cindernet-exploded]

It's Thighsday, right?

[He/She/They for A'vyra (catboy)]

[candycryptids]

Khorloo prefers to observe- from a distance. A great distance. Watching people live out their day to day lives….

featuring.. featuring... a lot of people... so many people... uhm... under a cut! With closeups!

FEATURING- from @cindernet-exploded , Shyssa, U’nia, A’vyra, Oketra, and Itself!

Ris from @this-is-ris

E-Nishka from @e-nishka-aosh

Flidais from @selnyam

Verbaros from @cerbaros

Percy from @sealrock

Ashe from @gatheredfates

X’vahl and Lyra from @zylphiacrowley

ALSO Lizzy from @lizzy-calaxio (she’s there I swear….😭 I didn’t get to focus on her a!)

Keathan from @dustedbooksandreadingnooks

Aaand there’s a Wind-up Kea to be spotted, from @nhaneh

And also my self insert is there OvO and Lev, Sasha [Krystdraga] and Ishi’li from myself… uwu

I’m pretty sure that’s everybody @v@ but I will update this with MORE tags if I find out I missed people 😤

Oh also the teensy blue bird is named Zaya…

This all happened cos I wanted to pose people watching in a tree…. But there was like, no people at all? Not even a little bit? So I gathered as many people as I could find publicly available and then kinda, Scrimbled them around as little as possible because 25 actors is a LOT of. It’s a lot of everything. Don’t do that.

Also why the hell does that tree sway 😭😂😂😂 [oh my god there’s a tag limit of 30]

[mtg-smash-or-pass]

[professor-oaktree]

Maybe I will post my first mono-colored deck when the cards get here

[thethunder-tomylightning]

being a somewhat out of touch dweeb naming my mtg commander decklists after NULA lyrics

[ashpeth]

The first Aetherdrift stories released today and they got me thinking about this set, about Magic as a whole and about current world events and attitudes.

While it is easy to dismiss Aetherdrift as just another “Magic characters in hats” set, like the common and not wholly deserved (or undeserved) criticism aimed at MKM and OTJ and DSK, it has been made clear that, at least from a story and worldbuilding perspective, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

This set is about change. More specifically, its about change versus tradition, the forward movement of culture versus the knee-jerk reaction to stay in what is known and comfortable, the future versus the past and the hope for a better tomorrow mixed with a desire to move past what didn’t work before versus a fear of what we could lose combined with a revulsion for the new.

We see this with the change from Kaladesh to Avishkar. This plane that represents invention and a bright future has its own past (both in and out of universe) to reckon with. In “The Dashing and the Desperate,” Episode One of the Aetherdrift Story by K Arsenault Rivera, we see this dichotomy represented with Spitfyre/Sita and her formerly wealthy conservative father Mohar Varma. In the morning we spend with him, he continually deadnames Avishkar, laments the changing of the status quo and puts up a facade as if to convince himself that nothing has changed, with the lavish breakfast that goes to waste and his complaints about being treated the same as “commoners”. On the other hand, his daughter Sita is the masked star of the Aether Rangers and only feels herself while in her Spitfyre persona. She is an integral part of the change her father so despises and laments. Mohar is all about traditional roles, both politically and personally. He longs for the old days of the Consulate and the social structure that it instituted and the only future he can imagine for their two person family is for Sita to get married to a wealthy individual (likely a man, but that’s not confirmed or denied anywhere in the text). It is clear that Mohar only respects wealth and status as he understands it, as it had been, not how things have become in this new and egalitarian society.

Change is an integral part of life and is not inherently good or bad - it simply is. Regardless of how common it is, we tend to resist it. It is impossible to know with any certainty what the outcome of change will be and that scares a lot of people.

In Hour of Restoration by Hadeer Elsbai, the first side story for Aetherdrift, we see Basri Ket on Amonkhet trying to bring his deceased god Oketra, back. With the help of Mahitab and Niharet, the two survivors from his crop, as well as Marunaten and Marinaten, human twin embalmers, Basri seeks to find the embalmed Temmet and hopefully return Oketra to life with his help. Along the way, they delve into the trauma left by Bolas and his tyrannical reign on Amonkhet. Niharet had been buried alive by angels for speaking out too many times about old, dead gods (like The Scarab God/Scorpion God/Locust God, or the Chitin Court, as they would come to be known). She had been rescued by Mahitab during the Hour of Devastation, but is still traumatized by her ordeal. Upon finding Temmet, they are attacked by monarchs from the Chitin Court who seek to reclaim Temmet for themselves. Niharet sides with them and ultimately leaves with them. The rest of the group is rescued by a god who reveals himself to be Ketramose, the son of Oketra, brought here by Basri’s faith in Oketra.

This story highlights the same conflict of past and future, change and tradition, but in a different form than “The Dashing and the Desperate.” Basri seeks to bring Oketra back, but to heal Naktamun from its trauma left by Bolas and the Phyrexians. Niharet seeks to help the Chitin Court, as she believes that, as the original Amonkheti gods, they are uniquely positioned to help transform Amonkhet into what it should be, as it was in the ancient past.

Both parties are parties of change, but Basri wants Amonkhet to be able to move forward, while Niharet only wants to move backwards to the pre-Bolas times. This contrast is further highlighted by the fact that Basri, who seeks to rejuvenate a dead god, finds a new one and decides to move forward and is opposed by Niharet, who works solely with undead gods and their undead priests. While she still seeks change from the status quo, Niharet’s change is one that erases progress and trauma instead of dealing with it and healing and moving forward.

Magic has been going through some changes the last few years that have not been widely liked or accepted. The largest change is ahead of us in 2025, where there will be three Universes Beyond sets, all of which will be standard legal. Half of the sets coming out in this new year will be of IPs other than Magic’s. It is not an exaggeration to say that many Magic players are upset by this. Several Universes Beyond products have sold well and been acclaimed by people in the community as good additions to Magic. Others have been less successful, such as Assassin’s Creed. Even successful products such as Lord of the Rings have brought problems, like the format-warping One Ring or the very powerful Orcish Bowmasters.

There is a lot of frustration surrounding Universes Beyond, as many players feel, not unfairly, that the influx of products are just another cash grab by a company that has flooded the market with more and more products over the last few years in order to squeeze every last penny from Magic players. Hasbro seems so intent on slaughtering its golden goose with its greed, destroying its reputation and goodwill in the process with products like Magic 30th Anniversary Edition or certain business decisions such as the limited print run Secret Lair. In 2024 draft boosters and set boosters were replaced by their new synthesis: Play Boosters, which have also been polarizing.

Things change constantly. To try to prevent that is futile. It has now been 25 years since the new millennium. There has been plenty of progress since then and just as much, if not more, backlash against it. Like Mohar on Avishkar, demographic changes have begun threatening the hegemonic power of the wealthy and powerful. Political movements, especially in the last ten years have reflected that backlash to perceived changes to the status quo of social mores and roles. Increased immigration and acceptance of queer people have inspired fear of loss of power and brought some of the most virulent and hateful politics to the mainstream.

We are living in a time of great change and every day something new happens. It can feel exhausting to try to keep up with it all. I think the Aetherdrift story is going to represent that really well. I’m excited to see where it goes!

[cindernet-exploded]

[ft. @candycryptids' Chuu]

Picture from their Post.

[incorrect-mtg]

A little bit of wish fulfillment

In one version of the story, Liliana Vess chooses to take a final stand against the dragon that holds her life in his hands and Gideon pays the price, taking on her punishment so she can deal a final blow to Nicol Bolas.

But shift the battlefield slightly, and everything changes.

Eager to see the Scourge of Skalla defeated, Vivien Reid charges into battle more aggressively, her projections tearing a path through Bolas' army until she is close enough to see the woman she'd tried to kill earlier that very day throwing her life away to spite her master.

All Liliana wants is to be free.

All Gideon wants is for everyone to be safe.

Vivien? She just wants a dragon to be very much dead.

Their interests align beautifully and, after assessing the situation, Vivien unleashes all she has in Bolas' direction.

Even a Godlike Elder Dragon might struggle to concentrate on enforcing a contract when pierced by a divine spear, attacked by undead gods and then dealing with a magical rhino slamming directly into his face. The greatwurm that follows only serves as a bigger distraction.

Vivien might have preferred to be the sole cause of Bolas' defeat, of course, but avenging Skalla is more important than the way it is done. Her arms are a blur as a menagerie, the combined fauna of an entire plane, charges forward to buy Liliana as much time as she needs.

And then... It is done. Bontu bites through Bolas' neck alongside the spectral beasts looking for their own pound of flesh, a final distraction that allows Oketra's magic to dive into his chest. As his planeswalker spark leaves his body, the Dragon-God dissolves as though a dream.

All combat stop, Bolas' lazotep army crumbling without any commands to follow. In the sudden silence, Jace Beleren — freshly done helping Ugin deceive everyone — surveys the battlefield until his gaze meets Gideon's, the hieromancer kneeling next to an unconscious Liliana.

The necromancer is alive, but the damage all over her body — letter shaped burns that match her contract — still mean she's in critical condition. As Gideon carefully picks her up, Jace establishes a mind link with him.

"I'll take care of her" he sends through.

And then he's gone.

As they realize the battle is over, people all around start cheering. Some just drop down to their knees. Many planeswalkers just leave altogether.

Jace just takes a deep breath.

His duty now is to help with clean up and to make sure nobody decides to go hunting for his friends.

[whatsthatmagiccard]

Historically, it's probably Pir & Toothy, but Rebbec is a close competitor.

Currently, I've been "playtesting" a lot for Ghen, and he's honestly growing on me. I might get the deck in paper once I'm satisfied with it.

I vastly prefer WAR-era Brawl, though, 'cause Krenko Tin Street Kingpin was an absolute blast. Nothing in Commander has quite scratched that itch.

So there are more tumblr mtg players than I anticipated, it turns out. What's everyone's favourite commander?

I'll go first, Juri of the Revue.

(Honourable mention to my meme deck where you have to get a date for Jenson Carthalion, Druid Exile by swiping left or right with his scry ability.)

[dimestoretajic]

your input is appreciated, but bear in mind it may be ignored

also, feel free to say which one you think works best for its intended purpose

[furious-jorg]

Custom Zombie Warrior mtg token I made for a friend. (It's the one from god eternal oketra) You can also use it as a Zombie Army or Zombie token if you feel so inclined.

Inspired by Dominik Mayer's Knight token from Wilds of Eldraine

[danco110]

“…but although Oketra was the only archer among the gods - an exceptional one at that - she was still no slouch when it came to hand-to-hand combat.”

“Yes, but I feel that the former was still the more prominent of her skills.”

A man and woman walked alongside each other through the desert while debating. Though the midday heat was nigh unbearable, neither were troubled; a glowing blue shield wrapped around the woman as she walked, and a cover of swirling sand emanated from the man’s hand, each protecting them from the weather.

“Basri,” argued the woman, “I just feel like…We are literally using her arrows! Shouldn’t we maybe use them as such? Or at least, as close as we can?”

The man shook his head. “Not necessarily, Kawit. While I’m sure there’s something philosophical to be said about not trying to rival our gods, I would much rather point to the more practical issue of us not sharing Oketra’s stature…”

While the argument stalled, a small group of survivors followed behind Basri and Kawit. Unprotected by either’s shield, these former initiates felt the full force of the midday sun, and sweated profusely as they muttered amongst themselves.

“What are they talking about?”

“Whether it’s better to use Oketra’s arrows as a polearm or a throwing spear.”

“That’s what their incessant yapping is about? I wish they spent as much effort in their arguments, as expanding their shields to save us from the heat as well.”

The other two survivors groaned in agreement at this jab. Still, they followed dutifully behind the discussing pair, who were leading their group through the seemingly endless desert.

[Fun fact: Oketra’s Avenger is actually featured throwing the arrow in the Hour of Devastation story!]