#Tahngarth

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Torment

"Volrath has killed me. All that remains of me is the scar!" —Tahngarth

Artist: Paolo Parente TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[markrosewater]

Invoking the hallowed and ancient rite of birthday trivia, I was wondering if there was anything new you could share about your original vision for the end of the Weatherlight Saga? Failing that, is there a villain in Magic's past that you personally would like to see return?

Our original pitch was for a three-year story (with the idea that we’d tell more stories; this was the first story arc).

Year one was Rath. It mostly matched with what happen save Crovax going evil and killing Mirri.

Year two was Mercadia. A completely different story, and a very different world from what was made.

Year three was Dominaria, but in the future. The crew returned to warn Dominaria about the upcoming Phyrexian invasion only to learn the portal they traveled through sent through time and the Phyrexians have already taken over Dominaria. The crew is able to defeat both the Phyrexians (using the hourglass pendant to rewind time) and Volrath who is aboard the ship disguised as Tahngarth.

Happy Birthday!

[randomgathering]

I am chaos - Deck 🔴

Canadian Highlander or Commander - 100 cards

Way back when, I built a Singleton deck for use in group play. It was 60 cards and mostly just used cards that changed how the rules worked. The deck was named after the quote on Maraxus of Keld from Weatherlight.

"I have no master. I am chaos." -Maraxus of Keld

This deck plays in the same space but aligns to the current Singleton formats of Canadian Highlander and Commander.

current deck list after the cut, this will change constantly based on new finds

Mythic Rare Uncommon Common

[COMMANDER]

Skoa, Embermage

[CREATURES]

Brothers of Fire

Chaos Dragon

Chaos Imps

Chaos Maw

Defender of Chaos

Kamahl, Pit Fighter

Leyline Tyrant

Maraxus of Keld

Mons's Goblin Raiders

Mountain Goat

Robber Fly

Shivan Devastator

Shivan Dragon

Squee, Goblin Nabob

Tahngarth, Talruum Hero

Tyrant's Familiar

Viseling

Wurmcoil Engine

[ARTIFACTS]

Ankh of Mishra

Bubble Matrix

Ensnaring Bridge

Feroz's Ban

Fire Diamond

Glittering Stockpile

Helm of the Host

Howling Mine

Lantern of Revealing

Lens of Clarity

Lifeline

Manalith

Mind Stone

Network Terminal

Null Rod

Planar Portal

Pristine Talisman

Relic of Legends

Ring of Ma'rûf

Sol Ring

Storage Matrix

Well of Knowledge

[INSTANTS]

Call In a Professional

Chaos Charm

Desperate Gambit

Fling

Fork

Invoke Calamity

Lightning Bolt

Melee

Outmaneuver

Red Elemental Blast

Run Amok

Wild Magic Surge

Wyll's Reversal

[SORCERIES]

Apocalypse

Chaotic Transformation

Cleansing Wildfire

Fireball

Pillage

Throes of Chaos

[ENCHANTMENTS]

Antagonism

Blood Moon

Chaosphere

Curse of Chaos

Earthbind

Goblin Bomb

Land's Edge

Mana Flare

Raging River

[LANDS]

Forgotten Cave

Mercadian Bazaar

Mountain x25

Snow-Covered Mountain x3

The Autonomous Furnace

[WISH LIST]

Artifact Blast

Chance Encounter

Chaos Lord

Chaos Moon

Chaos Wand

Chaos Warp

Chaoslace

Collision of Realms

Confusion in the Ranks

Elkin Lair

False Orders

Game of Chaos

Glorious End

Grip of Chaos

Impending Disaster

Let the Galaxy Burn

Mana Clash

Meekstone

Molten Influence

Planar Chaos

Possibility Storm

Quakebringer

Stranglehold

The Deck of Many Things

Thunderous Wrath

Tibalt's Trickery

Wand of Wonder

Warp World

Wild Evocation

Wyll, Blade of Frontiers

[shell-caster]

Tahngarth and Gerrard are fighting again and Karn just isn't having a very good time

[infimace-blog]

I'll agree that increasing the death count wouldn't help Magic's story. I think the Mending and the end of the Weatherlight Saga used the death toll well, but that was because those were the ends of eras and the deaths were to allow new characters to come to the forefront, and modern Magic has no interest in leaving the era it's currently in. I'm also glad that Nissa and Ajani are okay because I like Ajani and, while I wasn't involved in Magic when Nissa/Chandra started being a thing, I appreciate that the worst bit of Forsaken was walked back.

But the Phyrexian Saga did have a massive problem with stakes in that they were never entirely clear. The glistening oil would be extremely effective at one part but conditional and resistible, making it unclear how dangerous the situation is when the oil shows up. The stakes of ONE's story revolve entirely around whether the strike team can get to the core to set off the Sylex. Little to no time is spent establishing the potential risks if the multiverse is breached before they reach the core, or the team's feelings about setting off a nuke that'll wipe out the Mirran resistance along with the Phyrexians, which is a problem when the stakes of the final bit revolve around the ethics and danger of setting off a nuke under those conditions. The New Phyrexians are cunning enough to crush much of Dominaria, a plane that knew they were coming and had several people who'd already fought them first, but other planes are able to stall the invasion significantly and kill or defeat every single planeswalker or angel in charge of the local invasion (which makes sense given the differences between Elesh and Sheoldred's strategy but the story doesn't focus on the fact that invading the entire multiverse with only a plane's worth of soldier is A Bad Idea). A good action-focused story has to take some time to establish some facts and themes so the action scenes can build off of them.

I think that's why a lot of people got upset about the ending, because the stakes, as established, relied on compleation being irreversible. The storyline treated compleation as synonymous with death. No one on Dominaria tried to take Aron alive. No one tried to knock out Tamiyo or Lukka (though nobody really wanted to save Lukka). The only person who managed to undo compleation before the end was Squee, and he had to die to make that work. If you get subsumed into New Phyrexia, there's no more hope for you and the best thing to do is take you out of your misery. I don't like that sentence but that's what most of the New Phyrexia storyline is saying.

And they didn't need to take this route. Old Phyrexian compleation was semi-reversible because the oil was just one part of a more elaborate process. Tahngarth was rescued before anything happened to his mind but after he got the physical modifications, and that became part of his character, cursing Phyrexia for taking his natural body away from him. Volrath got his prosthetics revoked when he was dethroned as Evincar. Urza was brainwashed by the majesty of Old Phyrexia near the end and he managed to shake it off in time for the finale. If they built the storyline around reversing compleation being theoretically possible from the get go, then the stakes would be established as 'who'll be able to keep their Phyrexianized loved ones intact long enough to get them cured? will they actually be able to make a cure? what if they're too far gone for the cure to work? what if they're standing in the way of what you need to make the cure work?'. Build the tension around whether Chandra can still save her ex-girlfriend (instead of around whether she can avenge her ex-girlfriend) and it becomes oh so satisfying when she finally does.

It’s been six months already, but I’m still annoyed at how many people dogpiled on the March of the Machine story because Nissa and Ajani being cured of their phyresis apparently, somehow, meant that the entire saga had no stakes. It’s such a stupid hill to die on: “I won’t be happy with the sci-fi war story in my CHILDREN’S CARD GAME unless it ends in a mountain of named characters’ corpses.” 

Ending such a dark, oppressive story with a small glimmer of hope was a beautiful way to wrap up the Phyrexian arc, and it opened up the doors for more interesting stories to be told down the road. With Nissa and Ajani specifically, both are genuinely good, kind people who now have to live with the unbearable trauma that they were the Phyrexians’ most powerful, blunt tools in the terror they unleashed on myriad worlds upon millions of people; and furthermore, the two of them also have to live with the memories of the things they were thinking and feeling and seeing and doing at the time. Isn’t that a more interesting way to explore the consequences of this (fantasy) war than simply an endless pile of dead characters? 

As a librarian by trade with two (too many) English degrees, I want Magic story to be good like the rest, but I’m not expecting Macbeth out of it; I don’t want Magic Story to be Macbeth because I love Magic Story for what it is: fun, snappy, campy, sometimes inconsistent, but always full of characters I love going on adventures to interesting places with their friends, lovers, and allies… 

I’d rather not end a story with most of them dead to satisfy some misguided attempt to transform serialized Magic the Gathering web fiction into some kind of gritty Pulitzer-Prize winning literary masterpiece.

[xantchaslegacy]

*pounds table* BULL BOYS BULL BOYS BULL BOYS

From MtGJP Twitter

[neon-dynasty]

I kinda want to use this card just for the sweet southpaw artwortk.

[planeswalker-umbral]

Commander 2019 shoutouts to the past Pt. 3

[markrosewater]

Is Tahngarths rage in pie for red? If not, where does it belong?

It’s a bend in red, but would also be a little bit of a bend in black. As a one drop, that’s the two viable options.

[phyrexianphamily]

Sisay: Oh my God, they killed Squee!

Tahngarth: You bastard!

[arvadthecursed]

gimme all those Weatherlight crew cards!!!

[bacejelerenvorthos]

Commander 2019 Character Spotlight: Tahngarth, First Mate

“The minotaur first mate of the Weatherlight is gruff and intensely loyal. He’s also easily angered and loath to back down from a fight. To him, there’s no problem that can’t be solved by throwing a punch — or several. He’s proud of his abilities as a brawler and isn’t afraid to prove his prowess.”

Art by Anna Steinbauer

[debaiser]

"after this round around the table tahngarth has attacked jacob thirty seven times"

"we've only gone around the table four times"

"correct but remember he doesn't have haste"

[asmund-scion-of-ice]

Hey guys, check out one of my extremely lore focused Commander decks: The Coalition Rides Again!

If you’ve ever wanted the entire Weatherlight crew in one deck, this is it! It’s obviously not the best and tends to lose a lot, but when it wins, it’s a welcome surprise. It’s a blast to play and isn’t meant to be competitive but if anyone has feedback (other than more lands) let me know!

[xantchaslegacy]