@@NameEntryyou never saw UwU Sliver? Gives all slivers you control Adorable 2. Cant be blocked unless defending player controls 2 or more creatures with Cuteness.
Brother i'm a sliver main and "cute" is never a word i'd use to describe them. They're adorable in a cosmic horror kind of way. "Cute" doesn't foot the bill here.@@budgetdeckmastermtg2144 Unless you mean they make you feel cute when you Cascade Value Pile, then I totally get you
There is also an explicit difference how stuff is depicted. Loot's art very obviously screams "LoL", while what I've seen from Bloomburrow (admittedly, I don't recall whether those cards you mentioned I've already seen) at least seems to fit far more into mtg.
In 10 years, Jace and Vraska try to "reset" the multiverse, but then fortunately a white Planeswalker with a legendary weapon will appear at the last minute to seal them away in a pocket dimension or remote/lost part of the multiverse...
Part of the problem with loot is that Thunder Junction has felt largely like essentially a LoL skin pack. Here's all these characters, now they're cowboy. When you then turn around show off essentially a LoL character to end it, well, kinda seals the deal there.
No it doesn't. If anything the upcoming Bloomburrow (AKA Furry Fetish) set is like an unset in terms of theme. Thunder Junction is just a western set with extra inspirations from Saturday morning cartoons and Borderlands.
I like the setting of Thunder Junction, I think it’s one of the most interesting and unique sets and it gives us an actual reason to see a bloat of legends, kinda like Dominaria United but cowboy themed. I just wish the characters had explanations for their purpose in thunder Junction besides Kellen and his deadbeat dad, and the bloat of legends from other sets, and the bloat of just cowboy hats on ordinary things, and the product bloat, etc.
@Theoszombie How does that "influence" even make sense? For instance, where did all the people in TJ even get their cowboy-like Style from, when the plane was apparently not actually inhabited? They shouldn't have any western clothing or aesthetic at all - they should all be walking around with what they generally wear. While also not forgetting that Cowboy clothes are work clothes; some of the people in the set shouldn't brother with those at all.
@@lVideoWatcherl They wear what they want. Who cares where they buy their clothes from? If you're too busy worrying about the source of their clothing, that's your problem.
Phyrexian Jace was probably the most terrifying of the compleated planewalkers power level wise. Anyone who even gets close immediately has a seizure and drops.
It does look designed to be cute, rather than just be cute. Which could give the feeling of something possibly dangerous mascarading as something harmless. The alternate art gives off less of the feeling since it just looks like a little bean.
They won't, but it would be great if the story touched on how bad an idea it when two people with problems think that having a child will solve all their problems.... because it never does, it just makes them worse
I knew we were getting a Grogu character, and honestly i like this little critter. I can see them as the mascot, plushy sales character that they are designed to be, but i the story around them is just so good (imo) that I cant wait for more story of our non-traditional family
I do think the special frame treatment one is pretty good (and I like capturing the moment from the story on the actual card, which the base version doesn't do). But to be honest, Magic does such a poor job of merchandising its characters that I don't even think they're hoping to sell plushies here. I'm definitely actually intrigued by the story now, which I haven't been since they botched March of the Machine so poorly. Definitely a lot of potential here now that it seems like we're going to actually get some answers about the Omenpaths and Planeswalker sparks in the next year
Even though I have zero despire to play socery. Their hand painted art is unbelievable. The current digital ai looking art we are getting no is pretty sad.
I really hope loot turns into this badass giant or they change the artist (no offense artist). I don’t mind obviously cute marketable character but I want him to look mtg cute.
The original lore built into the HarperPrism novels was great. Ever since Ravnica the MtG lore has become a convoluted mess that rivals Marvel and DC. I worked on the MtG animated show, and trying to explain the lore to my coworkers who just knew of the brand name but not the game was met with blank stares and utter confusion.
major pet peeve of mine in MARO land, referring to planeswalkers (and others) as having 'abilities"...this is not xmen, these are not mutants...it is magic.
I genuinely think most of the Magic players are just being cynical about this design. But it's Magic players. There's usually a cynicism constantly bleeding through everything, and I'm saying that as someone who can self-acknowledge that he's been cynical about the Universes Beyond sets. And it's not even that I think Magic doesn't warrant a lot of it, but the reaction to Loot being so divisive simply because "He's too cutesy" screams of cynicism for the sake of cynicism. Hell, you're already pondering on the notion that it'd be awesome if one of the parties involved will murder or sacrifice him just due to how dark that could be. Definitely feels like the cynic take.
There is a lot wrong with Loot... existing. The Omenpath map in Loot's mind makes no sense. Im not gonna go on a rant, but i said, even in the last phyrexian set, that none of this crap with Realmbreaker should work. And Jace and Vraska both having strong ties to Ravnica yet thinking theyd need to adopt a child is actually crazy. Like, brother was the Guildpact, did he forget that the Simic Guild exists. They're led by a half elf half jello woman and can combine a jellyfish, a hydra, a beast into a single living creature but neither Jace nor Vraska thought about going to them... Bullshit. I thought they were supposed to be smart.
As someone who tapped out of mtg after the fuckfest of War of the spark and then trying to dip back in and getting backhanded for caring after MotM, hearing the statement “the story was very good” gave me the same pyrrhic hope that was why Hope was in pandora’s jar
I thought the epilogue stories were fine, but the main story for this set was not good. Annie Flash felt like the only one who was interesting but everyone else was either one note or bad (see: Kellen). People keep saying this set of stories was really good and it just makes me think the other stories were killing their dogs. How low is the bar?
No discussion on the wonderful line from the story that implies Jace has been rawdogging Vraska to no avail? "I don't think it would work" "I think we'd know by now if it did" - Jace and Vraska talking about becoming parents.
Loot will get more cards, clear as day, as he grows with his new family, and I make a prediction, Loot's "final" or his teenage/adult card, will be Loot Beleran, as he full comes into being Jace and Vraska's adopted son
You have kind of sold some parts of the thunder junction story to me (thought definatly others I dislike) and overall I love the idea of a frontier town created by the introduction of interplanar travel. But again this has some ugly corporate fingerprints on it, and it makes me uncomfortable.
Sometimes I look at modern Magic and think WotC really wants it to be Hearthstone and have failed to remember that Hearthstone is a parody game of WoW. When the paper WoW TCG was a thing, while there was a lot of silly art to reflect Warcraft's campier elements, there was also a lot of grim stuff showing the darker areas Warcraft's lore from artists like Dave Kendall and Tom Baxa. It feels like some corporate committee decided Innistrad was the scary, mature plane and now if there's going to be any blood, gore, sensuality, etc. it has to take place there. The Magic the Gathering I played as a child was somehow more serious than the Magic the Gathering I play now as an adult.
@@menderbug1 Ah yes, the Foglios, artists so bog standard for the tone of older Magic that they aren't noteworthy at all for their distinct style. Old Magic had plenty of camp but it also knew when to treat the material with gravitas, and sometimes it tried to instill a bit of discomfort or revulsion in the viewer. You can actually just engage with my point in good faith and say you prefer newer Magic (which is perfectly fine) instead of hitting me with this weak-ass shit.
I think Loot embodies the philosophy of "what SHOULD be done" rather than "what CAN be done". The design epitomizes a safe play, which isn't necessarily horrible. But combined with the blatant Borderlands-esque setting and recyling of so many of the same characters, I was hoping for them to change it up and push the envelope a bit more.
Hey that story about Jace and Vraska and what happened with them after ONE sounded pretty neat. It would be cool of some of it were represented on some cards in order to reach a bigger part of the player base and also tie the story into the game a bit better. Maybe there could have been a set that deals with what happens after the invasion, like, the... aftermath of it. Oh well.
Isnt "there is a child with a super important map ingrained in them and the protagonist might do something nefarious with it" also thebplot to waterworld
No. Seeing the Jace and Vraska fucking story shit all over Twitter is lame as fuck. Its legit Tumblr level highschool girl wrote this level fanfic vibes. The lores gone man. None of it means anything anymore lol.
@PleasantKenobi because I've been trying to stomach the shitty story all over the place retcon bs on the site for year and have been getting progressively more angry the world's and lore I fell in love with have been undone man. When I got into the game, the main reason i got into the game, was there was a novel in the random fatpack I got that looked cool. And I said, "Holy shit, there's whole novels about the worlds and characters on these cards!?!?!" And that gripped me, man, I was in. Seeing all that get blown of wizards crusty asshole the last idk decade? This means something to me, dude, even if you just want a "gamepiece system."
Oh ye of too much faith. He would have had a hard time being set up as main character even if WAR hadn't been the clusterfuck it was, terrible books included.
@@bonafaceat least tyvar and viv got to be pov characters during march and kellan has been in the last 4 standard sets in a row both with a card and in the story. Tameo and basri just disappeared.
The artist actually does work for League of Legends. I think the artist is quite talented but this is a bit too much for Magic. This creature feels so mascot-coded that it reverts back to a bad marketing ploy. Shame really.
I really like that they are making Loot a cute marketable character! Hopefully if we get our Pikachu hopefully that means Hasbro will push the MTG IP instead of trying to do crossovers with other cute characters. Maybe I'll regret this in the future but I really hope this becomes the most popular character of all time so we can get more MTG stuff and less universes beyond
@@Sinistra359 mystical critter who's a noble and is the " Key to Everything". It'd be more suspicious if it had shroud, Hexproof, or protection. Mechanically, it's fine that it has a little bit of protection in Ward 1.
@@Sinistra359 I'm not going to defend Voja because that is not even an equivalent situation in the slightest. It makes no sense for Voja to have Ward period.
I think the reason a lot of us aren't a fan of Loot's design because: 1. Art design is completely out of place of mtg. Sure we've had different art directions, but they always looked like mtg and not a chibi character without a nose. 2. It's an outdated design. This type of chibi like design peaked in 2010s and it's not extremely popular anymore since it's been oversaturated. We're just tired of it. 3. It's TOO cute. There's nothing not cute about it. I can argue that Fthlthp is ugly cute because he's not as round and as a lanky figure. Goblins are ugly cute too because theyre small chaotic shits, but don't have extremely round features. Loot hits all the adorable features. Round. Big eyes. Baby. Looks like something that would ask if you have games on your phone.
The biggest issue is, as I understood it - the omenpaths didn't exist between planes before MOM. So "Loot" having a map to them in its brain is nonsensical if it was imprisoned for any amount of time, because before it was improsoned there couldn't have been any map for something that didn't yet exist. So either there is _another_ dead-end the writers wrote themselves into, or I'm missing something essential here?
Since the whole vault thing on the supposedly "empty" plane was supposedly put there by aliens, the map could have just been some yet unknown cultures way of naturally and safely traversing the Blind Eternities without being planeswalkers like the omenpaths now allow. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if WotC & Hasbro just wrote themselves into a corner like they did with New Phyrexia. Shrug.
Loot has an understanding of EVERY plane, not just the Omenpaths. Basically, he is a living map of the Blind Eternities that lets him see every plane, even ones that are dead, too new to have any life, and ones that aren't connected to the Omenpaths.
There's a blink-and-you-miss-it line in the Epilogue story when Jace is viewing the map in Loot's mind where he notes the map is updating itself in real-time. So my understanding of Loot's mental connection to the Blind Eternities is that it's some kind of psychic knowledge that comes 'natural' to him (I guess like how migratory birds can sense the magnetic field of Earth for navigation). Quintorius' story is that he's following the trail and history of the ancient Coin Empire (who were the same race as Loot) and we're learning that they'd established themselves across the Multiverse long ago, my guess is that the ability may have been common to the Fomori. Time'll tell why Loot was in the Vault, though. It might have been some kind of Ark, if they knew their empire was falling or if they were under threat from something unknown to us.
@@RaptorGoesRAWR If that's the case - how, logically, is "Loot" the only remaining member of that species? I mean, at least a good chunk of them must at least have been able to nomadically flee any issue they'd had wherever they were, assuming they all possessed that ability that you speak of. How would such a species ever entirely die out, if they possessed the ability to travel between any and all planes as implied by them having such an 'empire'?
To me the design sits in that weird “made to be cute to undercut serious themes” zone like Grogu, baby Groot, LoL yordles, etc. It feels a bit like pandering particularly compared to the Mabel design in Bloomburrow which is cute without undercutting any serious themes.
I just think this character and card is boring, forgettable, and kinda lame? I also dont find loot very cute personally... This isnt going to have the grogu effect or anywhere close. Im hopeful they do SOMETHING interesting with the story... but they fucking wont lol
If Jace and Vraska are planning on resetting the universe then perhaps, instead of thinking on how they get stopped, we shouldn't discount the possibility that they just succeed. Expansive univseres with complex tangled plots that have gone on for decades and then wanting a hard reset isn't that unusual. Just look at DC comics.
@@cherry9787First of all I am not 100% sure that is necessarily the case. DC's reboots didn't kill all of the DC characters. We are dealing with magic cosmic mumbo jumbo so there are a lot explanations for how they can avoid killing everyone they care about (and, indeed, that would seem counterintuitive to their motives). Second of all I am just going off the theory as already presented and asking if the theoritical plan would actually succeed or not. If that is Jace's and Vraska's plan, then they would reasonably have thought of how or if they can spare their friends and either believe they can do so or determined that it was worth it regardless. If that isn't their plan than this conversation doesn't really matter.
Loot is a fomori....The epilog makes that pretty clear. He is directly called a "fomori child" in that story. Did you miss that part? And the visual differences are absolutely no problem. Young creatures often look different than the adult versions. After all, you weren't born with your beard. And Loot has the protrusions for horns. Otherwise, art is subjective. I like the full art version from the CC Booster way more than the normal card. Future cards could look much better or worse. Depending on the artwork.
Really starting to get tired of Magic not looking like Magic. I know it's years coming now. I can stomach the Universe's Beyond stuff mostly. The stupid unreadable secret lairs I don't buy anyways I can ignore. But this? It's not my cup of tea. Imagine sending this back in time to Richard Garfield as he was playtesting Alpha. Good lord lol.
What? WotC changed how phyrexian oil works afrer wrote themselves into a corner with the most recent iteration of how they decided phyrexian oil works for the most recent story just because thats how they needed it to work for that story and ignored any problems with previous stories or any potential problems in the future? No way they've only done that *checks notes*..... Oh wow that's actually several times..... Like.... a lot of times to retcon the core functionality of a core part of the scariest and longest running antagonists of MTG's entire lore. Almoat like the writers have been using it as a throw away contrived MacGuffin device ever since the first Mirrodin story? Real weird no one ever got fired for such hack writing strategies.
I do not mind some cute squirrels and kithkins or Flbthpthat - cats, dogs and mice mixed into magic sets from time to time. I guess Loot is too central of a figure in the story line that players get upset?
I wonder how our reaction would have been if Loots introduction was not as a creature but as just art and flavor text on a non-creature card. Like a Saga, or instant/sorcery where hes not the main focus. You think we (the community) would have been able to organically and slowly grow more attached to Loot until like a year later after seeing it in art all over the place we finally get the creature? Or do you think we would have gotten the pitch forks and said where is my cute plushy card WoTC why are you being a teas...
I don't like the animated looking version at all. It doesn't look like art that would be in magic. It feels like pokemon and Digimon had a baby and put it in a magic card.
How did we come from Ashnod's Altar over Mutilate and Pulling Teeth and Sensory Deprivation to .... this? We once got art like Ad Nauseam, now we get Pokemons.
@@PleasantKenobi Duskmorne i like very much. At least its a whole setting, like Wilds of Eldraine and its fairy tales. But why do i get a Pokemon in random Wild West MTG set? Once Upon a Time in the West was right there, ready to be used, instead of Cuteness McCuteface in a vault.
I mean Formori have white hair between 2 horns. Loot has white hair tuft between 2 tiny horns. I don't think we should rule out the Formori idea just yet. Tons of species don't look like their babies at all.
"I don't know why I dislike it so much" -- because it doesn't look like Magic. It looks like a Furby or a Pikachu or a Grogu or _something else_. It doesn't look like a super-intelligent alien creature with a map of the multiverse in it's head, it looks like a cartoony tasmanian devil about to start spinning around while spewing gibberish.
I will classify loots visual design as "ok". I don't find it quite as money grabbing as you do. I could classify it as "meh" just as you. but without the negatives that you bring up. But I'll stick with it's just "ok". Edit: on a sidenote I find loot extremely powerful
Also cant think of this without thinking of the scene from Zoolander when the files are "in the computer". The Key to Everything is IN the Loot? It's so simple...
after not having seen or followed mtg news since lotr set came out, I realize how after, too much thinking and caring about it, you start to make less sense. it is a cute character. Who knows at this point what's WOTC's idea of this guy role. We will see. It doesn't matter that much, I'd say. I'm glad they introduce new characters.
Jace is a Mary Sue if you don't trust the writers behind him. A cynical perspective sees them writing a story about how Elspeth was pivotal in saving Jace from his condition and assumes this is the writers trying to retcon an earlier scene that made Jace look like a Mary Sue. If you trust that this was always the plan, or you take it at face value, then it's a perfectly acceptable explanation of the events that happened. But through a cynical lens, you instead see it as making things up as they go to downplay the negative aspects of their writing. This is hardly a new trend in magic. I remember reading the original Mirrodin Block books, and come the third book the protagonist is frozen in time for several years and rescued by a character who dies within a chapter. A cynic looks at this and sees plot convenience, and someone who takes it at face value sees it as a way to move the story without leaving the protagonist in an awkward place where they do nothing for years while waiting for the important time based events to catch up. Unfortunately I'm more of a cynic. Trust is earned, easily lost. One of my favourite books is a magic the gathering book that I still have, but that book is long in the past of magic the gathering.
I will protect this lil gremlin furry baby. He's so dumdum. I like it lol Only crime I see here is his card is meh at best. And he definitely Bolas unwanted child. Bolas scare of him according to Jace loool
Calling it now, the angle is to hard reset the game to an "ages 6 & up" aesthetic; Jace & Vraska succede in an Owlman sort of way and all of Magic is reborn through the happy eyes of a pure and innocant child. And then Lo'gue becomes the Bonzi Buddy of Magic, slapped on every advert and box or pack, possed excitedly saying, "Hey Kids (!), you wanna play the COOLEST card game ever!?" I wanna be wrong, but gods be if me & the cynics haven't been batting a thousand on Wizards and their B'S' enough times since Fire took over to make me cringe at what this litte f***er heralds.
I keep forgetting that I live in the same universe where some people think Pugs are cute. So it's not surprising that some May find this hideous abomination indeering.
It's different. Pugs are "cute" as in "ugly little monster pets". Their snouts and expressions are bizzare so that makes them look funny (not that I necessarily find pugs cute myself, but I don't find them hideous either, so can understand the logic behind it). This thing isn't "ugly-cute", it's just... uncanny. Like that LoL dragon champion that was released recently before he got redesigned (and still is now, though less). The overwhelming majority won't find it cute because there is just something off with it.
The story of MTG is great, it's what makes Magic, Magic. Those that don't care and are dismissive are somewhat part of one of the many problems that the game has in 2024.
TBH I would've thought they were retconning the Fomori design if it wasn't for Lost Caverns. I'm intrigued by the differences in design between Loot and, not just the few other Fomori cards from MTG history, but also the Fomori described in Lost Caverns' story by Quint (one dead and one in the 'spaceship' at the end). Reason being how Loot was constantly referred to as 'the Fomori child'. I guess Fomori could just... look like that as children? He does have those wee little horns. Maybe Fomori have some kind of caste system and the big ones are the bashers with the little ones being the brainy ones or something. After all, the Fomori had a Multiverse-spanning empire at one point, which would make the star map in Loot's brain something useful to have as a species (think birds using Earth's magnetic field for navigation but on a multiversal scale, perhaps). It's possible the other Vaults might just have other Fomori in them; if they knew their empire was about to fall or there was some kind of existential threat they couldn't survive, the vaults could have been Arks of some kind? I liked the Epilogue, so here's hoping they don't Garrosh/Sylvanas Jace and Vraska (to borrow a WoW turn of phrase). But now I'm intensely curious to see where Bloomburrow fits in all this. There's also the possibility Loot is half-Fomori -- Fomori appear in Irish-gaelic folklore, where they're also sometimes described as monstrous and giant, but half-Fomori were a thing -- one in the mythology was called Lugh who was intensely skilled, made it into the royal court, and was adopted as a child. 'Course, I'm probably reading waaaaaaaaaaay too much into that aspect and giving WotC too much credit, lmao.
Loot is MTG trying to get a PIKACHU. The whole character screams Pokemon, and yes i can see why, MTH wants a maskot, they want something "magic and cute" that they can use as face for everything to sell merchandise. i have mix feeling about the design. I 100% hope Loot dont stay like this, that we see Loot growing old, and becoming more humanoid in nature and less Pokemon(ish). something like a mix of a satyr and a humanoide feline. about if Loot is a Formori or not, it can go both ways. Creatures in MTG can have very diferent looks and still be the same type. Take for example how different Vraska is from Theros's Gorgons, or how different Merfolks look from one plane to the other. Also Loot is a "Noble" so maybe they reveal that you have different sub-groups of Formori, some are warriors so they are bigger and strong, but Noble ones like Loot are more "magic" in nature and abilities and just look different. Also he is baby, he can change a lot with age.
To me, the design feels like the epitome of the "design by committee" feel that Magic's kind of been sinking into for a long time. It feels like they started with "What will translate well into a marketable plushie?". It feels like a board of suits sat down and said "Well Grogu is memeing right now, let's do that" - except super late, because apparently they still haven't realised that you can't work 2 - 3 years ahead and still try to ride on modern trends. That's what I find so off-putting - the cuteness is so horrifically forced, and yet like you said, not actually that cute. It's like that moment during character creation in an RPG where you tweak every individual part of the character to look perfect on its own, but then when you look at the character as a whole nothing really fits together well. The story itself...I don't want to say I'm not interested because I am a big story guy, I love losing myself in a good story, and I'd love to be able to do that for Magic. But I've been finding the story absolutely dreadful for years now, and just cannot bring myself to remotely care about Jace/Vraska's relationship or whatever the hell they're trying to do with it, so I can't really speak to that part of it. It's mostly the design that irks me. I just can't look at it without hearing Hasbro screaming "BUY PLUSHIES".
