#skyship weatherlight is... very bad

[spuriusbrocoli]

Casting Skyship Weatherlight and only exiling one card to its etb trigger is gay culture.

[arvadthecursed]

The Proposal

Happy Valentine’s Day! Here’s a short story I wrote about Arvad and Ollie to commemorate one of my fave holidays! 

Characters: Olympia Bellamy, Arvad the Cursed

Pairing: Arvad/Olympia

Word Count: 1190

Content Warnings: n/a

Story below cut!

“You’re really going to do it tomorrow?” Tiana asked, eyes wide in disbelief. “You’re actually going to do it?”

“No joking,” Raff interjected. “You’re being totally serious.”

“Mhm.” Arvad gave a vulnerable smile to his best friends and crewmates as they looked over the deck of the Weatherlight. The skyship was headed back to Benalia City to pick up Olympia; she’d spent the past month not only organizing the nation’s new medical texts following the destruction of several libraries, but also visiting her sister. Xenia had recently been released from rehabilitation, and under new laws, would spend two years as a civilian before being allowed back into the military. Not that Xenia appeared to mind; according to Ollie’s letters, the former knight was excited to be able to live normally after Emrakul’s defeat and the Knight Revolt two years prior.

In two years, Ollie and Arvad’s relationship had bloomed further. The vampire knight could have hardly imagined such a happy life with a beautiful woman by his side. He’d been musing to himself one night about his love for Ollie when in his mind, he referred to her as his wife.

He hadn’t asked her to marry him yet. It was at that moment Arvad realized just how much he wanted to be able to call himself Ollie’s husband.

As soon as Ollie was dropped off at Benalia City, Arvad scrapped together the savings he’d kept in his old rucksack for a decade and bought Ollie a simple engagement ring. When he returned to the ship, he explained to the crew that when his love returned, he was going to ask her to marry him.

“I already considered you two married,” Jhoira had commented with a gleam in her eye.

Shanna added, “I think we all did.”

Nonetheless, the crew was ecstatic and immediately helped Arvad plan the big moment. Tiana and Jhoira had found the perfect place for it to happen: a beautiful field of sunflowers with a tree in the middle near the city. Arvad wrote out his speech and read it aloud for the crew, taking suggestions and rewriting it five times until it was perfect.

Admittedly, Arvad had had his trepidations. As silly as it seemed, he was afraid Ollie would turn him down. When he’d expressed this concern to Jhoira, she’d slapped him.

“Arvad, if you even suggest that Ollie doesn’t love you with her whole heart and doesn’t want to marry you ever again, I’m going to skin you with my bare hands.”

“That wasn’t--”

“You think too much. Just ask her, damnit.”

Now, as he stood on the deck with his friends, Arvad was sure that tomorrow would be one of the best days of his life. He reached into his pocket, making sure the small box was still there. In the box was a promise -- a promise to keep Ollie’s heart safe forever.

---

The sun hung low in the skin, painting the sky brilliant shades or purple and pink. The Weatherlight crew had stopped for the evening to “enjoy the scenery,” as Jhoira had told Ollie. “You’ve been cooped up in the city, Ollie. It’s time to get some fresh air.”

A beautiful field of sunflowers lay before Arvad and Ollie as they stepped off the ship. Her emerald eyes lit up at the field. “It’s lovely,” she whispered.

“There’s a tree in the middle,” Arvad commented, throwing a glance over to the rest of the crew. “I wonder if there’s a clearing.”

Ollie’s eyes held a playful sparkle. “Let’s find out. I’ll race you there?”

The knight couldn’t help but grin at her. Over the past two years, her lively, flirty nature had shown itself to him as she healed from the wounds dealt by Emrakul. Everyday, he got to see more of her sweet personality, and everyday, he loved her even more.

The brunette took off in a light jog into the sunflowers; Arvad followed her, feeling the ring box in his pocket as he ran after her. Ollie turned to glance back at him, a radiant smile plastered on her face. There isn’t anything in the world more beautiful than you, Arvad thought as they broke into the clearing. The low sunlight danced off her hair as Ollie pulled him into her embrace, standing on her tiptoes to give him a passionate kiss. “I love you,” she murmured. “I’m so happy to be back. I missed you…”

“I missed you too.” Arvad moved a lock of hair behind her ear before caressing her cheek. “But I’m very proud of you, you know. Writing a textbook to be used by a new generation of healers is important work. You deserved that honor.”

Ollie rolled her eyes jokingly. “I could recite the book by memory at this point. What an honor.” She turned slightly to look at the sunset. “I think one of the things I missed most was watching the sunset with you.”

He nodded. “I stood on the deck until night fell but it just wasn’t the same without you, my love.” The knight squeezed her hand gently. “I… I have something I want to tell you.”

“Oh?”

“It’s nothing bad, I promise,” he reassured her, turning her back to face him and taking both her hands in his. “Ollie, before I was turned, I was living blindly. All I knew was serving Benalia and Serra, and that was it. And after I was turned, I was so full of guilt. I thought that I must have done something to warrant my curse. That I deserved it. That I deserved unhappiness. Sure, I had the Weatherlight, but even then I felt like something was missing. And then I met you.”

Ollie smiled earnestly at him. “Oh, Arvad.”

“I’m being honest,” he continued. “Ollie, you give my life light and meaning. You’ve made me the happiest man in the Multiverse. If I know anything about love, it’s because of you. I… I want to be with you forever.”

Arvad reached into his pocket and began to move to one knee. Ollie gasped, tears threatening to spill down her rosy cheeks. “Olympia Bellamy,” he said, voice barely above a whisper, “will you marry me?”

The brunette let out a sob, covering her face in shock. However, Arvad could tell by the light in her eyes that she wasn’t unhappy at all. Ollie squeaked out, “Arvad… Yes!”

He took her left hand and gently slipped the ring on before standing and wrapping his arms around her while giving her a soft kiss. Arvad felt cool tears run down his face. In all his years, he’d never imagined he would ever be happy. Yet right here in his arms was the source of his joy, tangible and beautiful and his. As they pulled away to walk back to the ship hand-in-hand, Arvad swore that if his heart still beat, it would have pounded out of his chest at the way Ollie looked at him. Today is the beginning of the rest of my life. He smiled to himself, giving his fianceé's hand a squeeze. And I can't wait to spend it with you.

[vorthosjay]

Let’s Talk About Wool Over the Eyes AND Dominaria News!

AAAAAAAH SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT TODAY. The story is here, while big news for Dominaria was rolled out here, here, and in my own article here. NO TIME FOR INTRO LETS GO.

Sphinx’s Decree by Daarken

None of her tamales had made it through the journey (they had crumbled to an inedible dust somewhere in the metaphysical space between Ixalan and here), so she traded a piece of amber from home for a bag full of odd-looking coins.

This is an important detail for a couple reasons. First, she was bringing tamales to barter! Second, they crumbled to dust in the Blind Eternities.

"No, but I'd love to make one!" Saheeli grinned and pulled Huatli up off the bench. "We are going back to my workshop right now so you can describe them to me. I've been needing a new artificing project!"

I realling like that Saheeli and Huatli are besties now.

Also, and I can’t overstate this...

ARTIFACT DINOSAURS

Grimlock, Ferocious King by Tyler Jacobson

The road was dusty and broad, peppered here and there with stores that had been in business longer than he had been alive. It was a sleepy sort of place, and Angrath was happy very little had changed.

A little plume of smoke was rising from his foundry. A hand-painted window on the outside read "OPEN" in blocky lettering. The building was little more than a shack on the far end of town, but it had been his shack on the far end of town. Piles of iron and metal were stacked outside, and a number of items and weapons were hung on a rack, each tagged to mark which order was which.

Sounds an awful lot like an old west plane, as most of us have speculated for Angrath from the start.

Two minotaurs glanced up from their anvils. They were tall like their mother had been. They wore bulky leather aprons, and their horns were adorned with the jewelry worn by unmarried women of their age.

Their eyes went wide. The one on the right snorted in shock. The other's ears stood up in surprise.

The one on the right sniffed the air and trembled with emotion. "Father?"

Steam softly hissed where Angrath's tears met his skin. He smiled.

"Rumi. Jamira. I'm home."

She remembered journeying upriver alone . . .

bravely diving into the river that ran through the city . . .

watching as a sphinx rampaged through Orazca . . .

and standing atop the Immortal Sun to turn said sphinx—along with dozens of other enemies—into gold.

Vraska remembered it all as clear as day, and gladly laid bare her mind for Nicol Bolas to inspect.

Like the image up top, I really like the idea that the moments that didn’t happen because Vraska’s backstory for Orazca.

"HE IS ALONE AND IMPRISONED HERE," it read in the same wandering flourish as Nicol Bolas's earlier messages. "CONGRATULATIONS, GUILDLEADER VRASKA." The location listed below the message was in a sparsely populated corner of the city. A perfect place to deal with filth in an appropriately sinister manner.

Whelp, RIP Jarad... again.

The tan was real. The scrapes, the newly callused hands, the muscles (the muscles!) were all his. Jace felt proud of his body for the first time in his life. He must not lose track of it now. Gideon would help with that—he'd been trying to foist a workout regimen on Jace for a year now.

Love to see that the emotional growth for Jace is sticking. He’s no longer intimidated by Gideon and avoiding his help because of that.

Also, you were trying to use me to lure Bolas to Ixalan to be imprisoned, weren't you? What stopped you on Tarkir? Has everything you've ever done actually just been about defeating Nicol Bolas? If so, we're going to need you to step up.

YEAH WHATS UP, UGIN?

Jace's first instinct was to reach his friends on Dominaria by focusing on Liliana, but the thought of her gave him pause. What he felt for her now wasn't anything resembling affection. It felt more sickly than that. An anemic, old, anxious tether between them that felt more like dread than tenderness. The entire notion of her was unsettling him, so he focused on the others instead.

Good.

Gideon's position on Dominaria was moving—not just at normal walking speed or mounted speed, but faster than he had any reason to be going.

How is he moving like that?!

I know how.

"Wow! I've never planeswalked onto a moving object before—what exactly are we riding in? How is it powered? How fast are we going?"

Skyship Weatherlight by Mark Tedin

It’s the Weatherlight, which in it’s earlier incarnation could achieve speeds of up to 110 mph, but got faster as the story went on.

It’s powered by powerstones, perhaps the bones of Ramos still?

He realized he had landed in something slightly gooey, and looked up to see who was nearby.

@sarpadianempiresvol-viii suggested that Jace landed in Squee and now I don’t want it to be anything else.

He heard quick footsteps on metal and saw Gideon skid out from a nearby door, eyes wide and body frozen with shock. His expression was overcome with emotion. This was someone who was happy to the point of tears to see that he was alive. This was a friend.

Compared to his rampant insecurity around Gideon earlier, this is awesome.

He saw Gideon lurching forward to hug him, but one of the other people in the room abruptly stepped in his way. She appeared to be in her seventies. She wore thick red robes, and her silver hair was tied in a loose, somewhat frizzy braid at her side. She looked Jace up and down with a distant, amused smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. The woman looked over her shoulder at Gideon and raised an eyebrow.

"Who's the bookworm?"

WHO IS THIS LADY I WONDER?

Art by Yongjae Choi

"Orazca is ours once more," he said. "The three aspects of the sun shine bright, and thus begins a new age of conquest for the Sun Empire. Ixalan is ours . . . and Torrezon is next."

That was... a relatively minor ending. I think the vampires and pirates might have been more interesting.

Magic Story will resume in April 2018 in Dominaria.

Magic: The Gathering Narrative Team:

Writers – Alison Luhrs and Kelly Digges Editor – Gregg Luben

Ixalan Story Development:

James Wyatt (Creative Lead) Chris L'etoile Doug Beyer

Special thanks to:

Jenna Helland Ken Troop

I want everyone to take a close look at this list, and realize that Chris L’etoile hasn’t been at Wizards of the Coast in year. This list shows exactly why the new plan to bring on an outside author is so fantastic. Alison and Kelly were writing all of the stories for Ixalan, AND were responsible for the world guides for future sets and the thousand art descriptions necessary every year.

Let’s move to the Io9 Article!

Dominaria’s story starts right after the events of Hour of Devastation. Gideon and Liliana have arrived on Dominaria following the Gatewatch’s defeat at the hands of Nicol Bolas. Together, they begin a mission to kill Belzenlok, the final demon holding Liliana’s contract. They get to see a lot of Dominaria in the process, which gives fans a look at how the plane has changed, and make some allies who may be familiar to longtime players.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. First of all, confirmation that Liliana’s fourth demon is on Dominaria.

Second, and more interesting, the rest of the Gatewatch are still working together?

Also, if Liliana’s fourth demon is there, YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS

What’s changed in Dominaria since fans last went there in Time Spiral?

Wells: Dominaria has started to recover from the Phyrexian invasion, though it’s left its mark on a lot of places and cultures. At the time the story starts, Dominaria is facing a new threat from the rise of the Cabal, which has been taken over by Belzenlok, and is now spreading across the world.

So, has the Weatherlight been restored to take on the Cabal? That seems like the task here, the big bad. Which honestly has me super excited because we’re inching one step after another closer to my grandest theory coming true.

I feel like I don’t have to do much speculation as to where the story is going, because I’ve already figured it out. I’m super pumped.

And then my article!

I think I liked Jamuraa best -- Zhalfir really captured my imagination -- but every setting had so much potential for more stories.

Zhalfir (might) be back! The wording on this was awkward so it’s not clear if she was talking about the history of Jamuraa or modern Jamuraa.

In the podcast, you mention a number of intriguing story details that I'd like to talk about. The biggest of which is the return of Skyship Weatherlight. Is this the original Weatherlight, recovered and rebuilt, or a new ship with the same name?

It's the original Weatherlight, which is rebuilt during the story.

It’s the original Weatherlight!

Notes from the Podcast!

Tiana is the guardian angel for the Weatherlight!

Arvad is a vampire and they become friends!

Teferi has a family!

Lots of cool stuff! I’m super pumped, and I’m sure more specifics will form in my head as we go.

[bontu-the-fabulous-side]

Reki, the History of Kamigawa - As Casual as a Competitive Deck Can Get

FULL DECKLIST

Hi there! My name is Bontu-The-Fabulous, or Mereth. I’ve been playing EDH for about 5 years now. Reki, by far, is not only my favorite deck, but by far my best.  It started when I first got into the game. Our school had an unblocked deckbuilder site, called tappedout, and while browsing it I found an early version of this deck. it was simply called Mono Green legends, and it had Reki at the helm. 

Essentially, Reki was the first ever commander I wanted to build. However, it ended up being eight and a half tails, as Reki as a deck is actually a bit pricy for a 15 year old freshman. 

Last year, however, I decided I finally had enough to start building, and around a year and half later, Reki is 99% complete, and it’s time to share why I love this deck so much, along with my list. I will remind you- This isn’t a cheap deck. I’ve never put more effort into a single MTG deck in my life, and this deck is my pride and joy. You can easily build a much cheaper version on a budget, and hile it won’t be as consistent, it worked for me for a while!

WHO IS REKI?

Reki, the History of Kamigawa is a 1/2 Human Shaman legendary that draws you a card whenever you cast a legendary spell. On the surface, this ability seems alright, nothing too special- And that’s what I initially thought. Then, I tested the deck, and immediately understood what Reki was. Reki is not only one of the best draw engines in the entire game in my opinion, but the way you play him in a deck is so fun and different than other decks that it creates a unique, interesting deck. Think Azami, but for Legendary Green spells. Reki himeself becomes a card that makes sure you always have a full hand. When you cast a legendary, you draw a card. If it’s legendary, you cast it again. And again. He gets out of hand fast. 

WHY NOT SISAY? This is the first question people ask me about this deck. Sisay is probably a better version of this deck, however, Reki is actually better and much diferent than you would think in a few different ways. Firstly, he costs less- This is important, as it means you get your engine up a full turn sooner. Secondly, Reki as a commander works differently- Sisay searches for Paradox engine and then wins. Reki? He draws his entire deck out in a turn or two. While Reki is searched out in Sisay, it takes an extra two turns- One to cast Sisay, and one to search for Reki. Reki, this time, is here sooner and the engine is harder to get rid of, as he can simply be recast. If he dies in Sisay? Too bad. Finally... I think he’s more fun. More variety, and the deck is much different- Mono green legends is a fun ass deck!

THE STRATEGY The strategy of this deck is quite fun. Your goal is to ramp and play big legendary spells every turn, normally at least two or three until the mana you are producing hits such a level that you can draw literally around 20 cards in a turn, and play every single one of them. Around 40% of the deck is legendary spells. 44 cards, to be precise, not including Reki. That means around half of the cards you play immediately replace themselves, and that’s including other sources of mono green draw in the deck. 

WINCONS Now this is a fun part. Originally, there was only one win con in this deck, and that was get a big enough board to kinda jut murder everyone at the same time. While that is still a major win con, everything changed when the fire nation attacked. 

This card make Reki viable in competitive play, if only a little bit. This deck runs a LOT of mana rocks, and things that aren’t technically rocks that use this very well. Essentially, this LEGENDARY artifact gave Reki a fighting chance in competitive places. This card will be the easiest and quickest way to win, though not the funnest. 

This is the funnest. I own a FOIL ONE (It looks so pretty), and Helix Pinnacle is no joke. I spoke before about how much mana this deck produces, and I wans’t kidding- I’ve been able to get this card consitantly. I’ve been able to generate this much mana in a single turn. Without going infinite. A mix of Nykthos, mana doublers, and a very specific and powerful mana rock I will speak about soon. This card can snatch a game before anyone sees it coming. Only 100 mana. 

Why go infinite (Near) with Paradox engine, why go big and play a pinnacle, when you could just generate so many big cards in a turn and drop this baby to punch everyone at the same time? Akroma’s Memorial is a card that once it hits the board ends the game. In a time where you’re just playing cards and drawing them, this card ends the chain with a GG. 

The same effect as Akroma, however, this card just makes your board massive. not only that, but it’s a great mana sink. 

THE LEGENDARY CREATURES I would love to sit here for the next 2 hours and write about every legendary in the deck. Maybe I will, one day, but there’s 44 legendary spells in this deck. I’ll list all of them, with the most important ones at the beginning. Each and every legendary in this deck has value, meaning, it’s not just a vanilla creature. Here we go! I’ll list the most important ones with text on why it’s busted. 

Hope of Ghirapur Ghalta, Primal Hunger Hazoret’s Monument Hua Tuo, Honoed Physician Jolrael, Empress of Beasts Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro (8 mana on a four drop creature. Remember, Reki is a Shaman. One of the best legends in the deck because of this.) Yeva, Nature’s Herald Heroes’ Podium  Jugan, the Rising Star Hall of Triumph Oath of Nissa Rhonas’s Monument Rishkar, Peema Renegade Selvala, Heart of the Wilds (Strongest mana dork in the deck, can provide draw as well) Sword of the Animist Predator, Flagship Mox Opal (Literally 0 to draw a card and a mana rock. Hands down the best card in the deck due to the sheer... Holy fuck it’s a 98 card deck.) Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter Planar Bridge Sakiko, Mother of Summer Nissa, Vital Force Hammer of Nazahn Nissa, Vastwood Seer Skyship Weatherlight Dosan the Falling Leaf (Play this first on your big turn and you win.) Bow of Nylea Skysovereign, Consul Flagship Polukranos, World Eater (Mini win con with enough mana.) Helvault Alhammarret’s Archive (This doubles your power. One of the best cards in the deck.) Akroma’s Memorial Growing Rites of Itlimoc Garruk Wildspeaker Omnath, Locus of Mana (Don’t have enough mana this turn? You will next turn, along with a dead player!) Garruk, Primal Hunter Paradox Engine Nylea, God of the Hunt Patron of the Orochi (Doubles your mana) Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger (ALSO doubles your mana) Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger (Oh) Kozilek, the Great Distortion (Oh no) Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre (Oh no...) Kozilek, Butcher of Truther (Please no more...) Emrakul, the Promised End (Dear god why) And that’s that. You’re probably either done skmming over the list and missing half of the cards, or you’re in shock of how much this deck was. Now then, I will remind you, I’m missing a few cards. I don’t ACTUALLY have a Mox Opal, as it’s 80, but I’m working on it. Not only that, but an Azusa, Lost but Seeking as well.  That list is preeetty intense. I encourage you to read over it again, because there are some scary things in that list.  God, what about the Non-Legendary Spells? Glad you asked! There’s a total of 21 spells that aren’t legendary, and all of them are either draw, remval, or ramp. Most are ramp. Let’s talk about the most important ones... Starting with, hands down, the best and most important card of the entire deck. 

This card is nucking futs. In a single game, I’ve hard this 3 drop artifact produce more than 5 mana by turn 5 by itself. Late game? Upwards of 10, 15, even 20. It’s too powerful. Think about it. Legendary permanent... Well, there’s Reki. Your planeswalkers. Your legendary artifacts, enchantments... 44% of yoru deck just became tap, add 1. Have fucking fun. So, basically, eery legendary card in your deck, is now: Tap add 1, when you cast this draw a card. And I’ll remind you... This doesn’t care about summoning sickness. Everything you cast adds a mana to your pool. 

Cloudstone is fantastic in this deck. In the legendary pool, there’s actually a lot of low cst cards that do things- This card essentially allows you to return them to hand to cast again to draw a card. Hope of Ghiraur is the best in the deck for this. Going Oviya Pashiri and Hope is utterly busted,as it becomes 1 to draw a card. You can, also, of course, recast an Ulamog or Kozilek. 

This card not only is a mana doubler, but it ALSO draws you cards. Reki just got even better. 

Wow, a card that protects Reki, AND increases your mana for a turn? NICE!

Who needs things like Akroma’s Memorial when you got this baby?

What else? That’s pretty much it! I didn’t mention a lot of the random ramp or removal in this deck as it’s self explanatory. Go ahead and grab the tappedout link below to test this deck out for yourself, and see how wild it is! Once again, my name is Mereth, and this is my favorite commander of all time. I hope you enjoyed reading about this random commander. 

Have a nice day!!

FULL DECKLIST!!