Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Sailing and Geocaching for the Brazen Coalition


So we received a geocache trackable in the mail!



Figured this was a good opportunity to make it as pirate themed as possible.  For those that don't know, the world of Ixalan has a organization of pirates, known as the Brazen Coalition, who seek out treasure and riches across the seas.  

So, we'll make this trackable, tag #TB8K9A3, go on a journey.  Its goal?  Reach a geocache in Japan!  

To get it started, we launched it where some have found it best to rest.  

Walking to the cache, we stopped at a group of old ones, marking the path.  Felt we were on the right track!  But the old ones stayed silent.  Hiding whatever more they would upon their guarded hill. 



Further on, we realized, there be muggles around.  Muggles in geocaching is apparently anyone in the area who's not geocaching, or an 'uninitiated' person in the game.  We waited until it was only us and the dead.  Dead tell no tales, maytee!





So thar it be!!!  The treasure is logged, soon to appear on the main #mtggeocachers website.  You can follow Sailing for the Brazen Coalition here, and hopefully help it journey across the seas.  We'll be posting more lore about the Pirates of Ixalan as it appears, and help everyone find some gold for themselves!






Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Exploring Ixalan through Geocaching

Ahoy!

Ixilan appears to be a world of pirates, and merfolk, dinosaurs and vampiric inquisitors!  Now it is another AR game for us, the players, to search for hidden treasure, right in our own world!

We found one, yarr!  Only took us 3 tries!


Wizards of the Coast is sending out these trackables for the players of both Magic and Geocaching to find!  The more they move, the more may come of it!  Pirates being in Ixilan, we know there must be good treasure to be found.

What is geocaching?  Geocaching is a treasure hunt game in our world using GPS (a map for you landlubbers!) to find little hidden boxes in the middle of plain sight!  You can check out the website here:  https://www.geocaching.com/play  An account is free, but to search and hide things, there's a subscription fee.


These trackables move from box to box, by players moving them around!  Wizards may release spoilers once the trackables move far enough (is the rumor)!

And Wizards has opened it to players the world over!  #mtgxln will be the tag for you to follow these trackables!

https://www.geocaching.com/promotions/promo/magic/



I'm going to hide the one we found again tomorrow, and X marks the spot! 
Code blocked out to hide its identity! 

So this blog will update where other geocachers are placing them, and track videos, articles, and comments as we search for the treasures in this new world, Ixilan!

Geocaching with Dinosaurs! 

Lauren Orsini hid one and wrote about it with Forbes Magazine.

Brave the Unknown

More coming soon as they're posted!


Thursday, August 10, 2017

Lore Dragons of Commander

With the early spoilers from Commander 2017, we found there were several legendary dragons revealed!  What many do not realize is that all of them are dragons of lore past- Wasitora, Ramos, O-Kagachi have all had their part in the Magic storyline.

Here we give you a brief history of each, with the links to learn more!

Wasitora:


Wasitora was a cat dragon of Jamuraa, on the plane of Dominaria, during the time of the Legends cycle.  She was sent into the jungle at an early age by her mother, and possessed green mana healing abilities.  Isolated from other Nekoru (cat dragon) culture, she grew up wild.  One day, she encountered a group of them gathering one day for their mating ritual, at which she defeated all the other female nekoru, and was thereby crowed the Nekoru queen.  After mating with the king Nekoru, she left Jamuraa, heading to the continent of Madara to raise her litter. 

Details of these events are in the "Monsters of Magic Anthology" novel, edited by J. Robert King.

Later, she is demanding tribute from a fishing village who call on the Imperial Champion of Madara to aid them.  Tetsuo Umezawa, the Imperial Champion, instead appoints her as deputy of the Imperial Champion and guardian of Sekana village port.   She also aids Tetsuo in his campaign against the dragon emperor Nicol Bolas, protecting Umezawa manor against the Kentsu army with her dragon kittens. 

Details of these events can be found in the Legends II novels: Assassin's Blade, Emperor's Fist, Champion's Trial, by Scott McGough. 

Further summary can be found at the mtg wiki: http://mtg.gamepedia.com/Wasitora


Ramos:


Ramos was a reprogrammed dragon engine of Phyrexian design originally under the control of Mishra, but upon reprogramming, sent by Urza to protect the people of Terisiare (a continent on Dominaria).

Dragon engines were some of the Phyrexian machines given to Mishra in order to conquer Terisiare (the largest continent on Dominaria), against his brother Urza.  At some point in the Brother's War, Urza captured Ramos and reprogrammed it. 

 Ramos gathered humans and merfolk to protect during the Sylex blast in the Brother's War, and managed to planeshift through Phyrexia and ending up in Mercadia by using a planar portal.  The people he brought to Mercadia ended up being the Cho-Arrim and the Merfolk of Rishada.  Parts of him, the "Bones of Ramos" were five power stones and part of the legacy, which the Weatherlight crew eventually re-acquired during the events of Mercadian Masques, towards their goal of completing the legacy weapon.  Ramos aided the Weatherlight by attacking and destroying Volrath's ship, the Recreant while they battled on Mercadia. 

All of this information can be found in the Mercadian Masques novel, by Francis Lebaron.  

Further summary can be found at the mtg wiki: http://mtg.gamepedia.com/Ramos


O-Kagachi

The spirit world and the physical world are two separate planes of existence in Kamigawa, and spirits protect and guard everything in their world, as well as the physical manifestations. 
O-Kagachi was the great serpent, the spirit of the barrier between the two worlds.   When Konda managed to steal "That which was taken" from the spirit world, it began the Kami war, as "That which was taken" is the daughter of O-Kagachi, though she herself is not a dragon.  O-Kagachi eventually manifested in the physical plane of Kamigawa, in the 20th year of the Kami war three times, finally being defeated by Michiko and "That which was taken" (manifesting herself to a woman, and giving herself the name "Kyodai").  The two women took up the mantle of guardians of the veil between worlds, and ended the Kami war. 

Further summary can be found at the mtg wiki: http://mtg.gamepedia.com/O-Kagachi


So, I'm really excited to see these three classic legendary dragons in Commander 2017!  Who else are we hoping for in the other 3 decks?  And will there be any story about the Ur-Dragon?

Monday, August 7, 2017

The Multiverse of Magic the Gathering

The Multiverse, once known as Dominia (not to be confused with Dominaria), is comprised of infinite worlds.  is considered the Nexus of the multiverse.

Richard Garfield, in the 1994 Pocket Player's handbook, described Dominia:

Imagine a vast beach. The sand shifts constantly, moved mostly by the tide and the wind, but also by the creatures that scurry across it or burrow beneath. Subtler effects, like compression or changes in temperature, also make their mark. Sometimes the grains cling together, weathering as a single stone until they are broken apart by some other force.

Now, imagine that each of these grains of sand is its own world, and you begin to get a picture of how Dominia works. Dominia is a multiverse, a collection of universes. Usually, the inhabitants of a particular world have no interaction with the other universes; the live out their lives believing that their home is the “One World.” Even when some cataclysm on a nearby plane affects the surrounding worlds, the occupants of those worlds can blame the gods, or perhaps invent nonexistent natural laws to explain the changes in their plane.


Dominaria is the center of the multiverse. 
It is connected to 11 other worlds, once known as the shard of the 12 planes, and is one of the largest worlds of the entire multiverse.  Imagine it as a large boulder in the center of the beach, with the sands and stones of other worlds shifting around it. 

These worlds, and the infinite others in the multiverse, are where our stories begin, to show what planeswalkers can do, and we follow them on their exploration and journeys!

The Known multiverse (2008) 



The Planechase sets, both 2009 and 2012 introduced many worlds not seen in various block sets.  They are described here for 2009.

Planeswalkers once were some of the most powerful beings in the multiverse- they were able to create and destroy planes.  Some examples of fabricated worlds were Serra's Realm, Mirrodin, and Phyrexia.  Planes have also been revealed to have a sort of spirit, a soul, of senses, which can form into a elemental, or speak with animists.


Recent worlds visited:

Ixilan- A lush jungle continent on a plane with the same name, this world is inhabited by Pirates and Dinosaurs, and planeswalkers here have found the inability to leave. 

Amonkhet- A world with similarities to ancient Egypt, it is a world ruled by Gods and their trials to greatness for the return of the God-Pharaoh.

Kaladesh- A world of wonder and artifice, where Aether fuels the energy of the inventions created by genius designers.  An inventor's fair is held, overseen by the mysterious Tezzeret. 

Innistrad- Two blocks have shown the gothic gloomy world of Innistrad, and while the humans of the plane already face werewolves, vampires, and zombies, they now have to contend with the cosmic horror of the Eldrazi.

Zendikar- A world of intense mana and floating peaks, full of quests and adventures, with danger and temples to explore.  It was invaded by the Eldrazi over 5000 years ago, and they have recently escaped!

Tarkir- A world ruled by 5 dragon lords which was once the battlegrounds of Khans. A time shift has changed it from a world where dragons were once extinct. 

Theros- Greek mythology influences Theros, and the gods of the subplane Nyx are the thing of enchantments.  Gods here can be invoked, and magical creatures are formed of the living sky.  One planeswalker attempted to become a Theros god himself- to what ends, however?

Ravnica- A city world controlled by ten guilds plotting against each other.  They are held to law by the living Guildpact, Jace Beleren.  However, their world is often visited by planeswalkers, and it is an very unstable peace at the moment. The past events. The Recent Events

New Phyrexia- The artificial world of Mirrodin is no more; the world is now ruled by Phyrexia.  This metal world is still forming itself to the new hub of the Phrexian homeworld, to eventually spread further to the multiverse. 

Alara- Alara was once broken into five subplanes, each with their own 3 color shards.  Bant, Jund, Grixis, Naya, and Esper are now areas within this single plane, but their isolation has caused them to clash. 

Fiora- A world of a classical kingdom, Paliano is the hub of intrigue, culture, and royalty

Lorwyn/Shadowmoor- A world alternating between light and shadow, Lorwyn magically changes to Shadowmoor at night through a Aurora, but with inhabitants being able to be in control. 

Kamigawa- The Japanese inspired world of Kamigawa is home to a variety of different races, and has connections to their spirit subplane.  A war between the Spirit and Physical world brought choas to the usually peaceful world. 

Shandalar- A wandering plane, Shandalar is a world ripe with mana, and very traditional fantasy elements. 

Dominaria- The center plane of the multiverse, it is one of the largest worlds.  Spanning multiple continents and cultures, Dominaria has a wide variety of races and history- from an Ice Age to multiple world ending events, including time-related catastrophes.