Which Planar Factions Do You Identify With? [Guilds, Wedges, etc.]

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FenrirRex
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Post by FenrirRex » 2 years ago

With the release of Strixhaven and the introduction of the Colleges as yet another group of two-color factions, I am deeply curious which factions across Magic's numerous planes you personally identify with and why. Since this preference bleeds heavily into how we select commanders and otherwise build decks, I want to know what in worldbuilding and card design draws players in. This doesn't need to be limited to just the named guilds and wedges. If, for example, you're really drawn into the tribal archetypes of Ixalan or something I want to know! My picks are almost exclusively from mechanical design, including the following:

Ravnican Guild:
Orzhov - I love sacrifice synergies, lifegain and drain effects, and the general aesthetic of corrupt religious figures. Orzhov combines these effectively and (minus some flops in War... but that's War for you) it generally does a little bit of everything I want to do in this color combination.

Strixhaven College:
Witherbloom - Noticing a theme here already, see above love of employing life as a resource with a side of sacrificial shenanigans. Witherbloom also has a very chill vibe in general as a faction, and I lean heavily into themes of life and death in the various forms of media that I enjoy consuming, making Witherbloom a great choice after I dropped Silverquill.

Alaran Shard:
Grixis - Graveyard mechanics, removal galore, and general value just ooze from the Grixis options in the format. One of my earliest Commander decks was Sedris, the Traitor King and I always have some kind of Grixis reanimator deck in my stable. For me personally, since blue is my least favorite color, this wedge takes advantage of what I do enjoy about blue: scary value creatures and card advantage engines that also feed the grave.

Tarkir Clan:
Abzan - Karador, Ghost Chieftain is my favorite deck and he represents just about everything that appeals to me in Abzan. The keyword once again is value with limitless ways to seriously empower the battlefield while using the graveyard as a toolbox. The pure flexibility offered by the combination of colors really brings me in. Do you want to control the battlefield with bombs and wraths? How about another lifegain strategy? Sacrifice synergies? How about pure graveyard value? All right here in spades and thus the color combination I most identify with.

Honorable Mentions:
The Vampiric Estates of Innistrad (Voldaren, Falkenrath, and Markov) and the Dusk Legion of Ixalan are both quite interesting to me. Vampires are my favorite tribe in the game (with my first real standard success being Zendikar-era Mono Black Vampires) and being able to play tribal vamps is just another of the appeals of Commander for me. I very much love the flavor and visual design for these, especially the armor and clothing design.

New Phyrexia is entirely my aesthetic as well, as I have always had a thing for transdimensional horror and these guys are absolutely the tip-top-tier when it comes to that. Sure the Eldrazi do some interesting stuff with that too, but you just can't deny how clean the design of Phyrexians is.

Dishonorable Mention:
Silverquill - As a writer by trade and general creative, I was fully anticipating loving everything about Silverquill. Sadly, the combination of heavy bully saturation, weirdly militaristic art design choices, and an aggro focus in mechanical design (I empathize with Boros stans now), they ended up a complete failure for me. Maybe in the inevitable return to Strix.
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Post by BeneTleilax » 2 years ago

phyrexia

onering
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Post by onering » 2 years ago

I kind of like how Either loom plays into the sacrifice and dealing in life and death energy sphere without being obviously evil. Sure, they sacrifice living beings to harvest their life energy and the energy generated by their death, but what they're sacrificing are dumb little bottom feeders purpose bred to be sacrificial fodder. It seems pretty sustainable to me. Like, they could probably build an entire society on it and reap the benefits of blood magic without any of the ethical problems, since they're just using cattle. And it's not even like they need to dedicate good land and resources to the endeavor, just add pests to a mud puddle and bam, instant breeding pit. And we see that one pest lived long enough to become larger and potentially more useful than the others, so they could probably breed them to fill multiple roles. Like, instead of just being sac fodder, they could be front line troops against things like the mage hunters, and even take care of certain kinds of labor like a workhorse would, and when they outlive their usefulness they get sacrificed without any ethical concerns. Sure, some white aligned faction would stick their nose in and whine about it, but that's just what white does. What's wrong with a society that runs off of the labor and life force of dumb little disposable thralls purpose bred in pits for sacrifi.... Oh, %$#%, it's just the Order of the Ebon Hand isn't it. Return to Strixhaven is going to be "Nothing but Pests" isnt it?

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Sinis
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Post by Sinis » 2 years ago

I always found the old Urza's saga phyrexian cards very appealing. Phyrexian Plaguelord|ULG used to be very widely played.

But, stuff like Attrition|UDS, Carnival of Souls, Victimize|USG and Phyrexian Tower|USG all highly appeal. When Yawgmoth was printed in Modern Horizons, I was pretty stoked, and then the old frame treatment in TSR was highly appreciated.

All the other colours are secondary to me in some sense; I grew up with Greed|4ED, and Necropotence|ICE, and have enjoyed black's direction ever since.

I really don't identify with Dimir's secret keepers, even though black/blue is probably my favourite colour combination, nor do I appreciate the Sultai, Esper or Grixis cultures. Perhaps Rakdos? I appreciate the rejection of society in some senses.

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Post by TheAmericanSpirit » 2 years ago

Ravnican Guild:
Gruul -Meat and eggs! We eat! RG was one of the first color combos for which I ever felt an affinity, combining onboard threats with awesome burn. I'm still waiting for a gruul legend to really capture that low-to-ground speed and aggression, but ruric thar is good fun.

Strixhaven College:
Witherbloom - Being a professional janitor and an amateur farmer IRL, I can relate to the Heavy Boots, Hard Work, and Filth aesthetic of the college. I also really like attrition strategies/mechanics.

Alaran Shard:
Jund - Gruul with black? Golgari splashing red? Either way, I'm in. Jund decks are christmas and my birthday made manifest in 100 card piles.

Tarkir Clan:
Temur - gives you an excuse to say 'bivouac' om the regular, and that alone is enough.

Honorable Mentions:
Ixalan Faction:
The Brazen Coalition - I unironically enjoy the Pirates of the Carribean movies so.... yeah. Any excuse to get the main theme stuck in my head, I'll take.

Dishonorable Mention:
Innistrad:
Werewolves - I always feel like they missed the potential for something great here. Not a fan of DFCs in general, but they're also just kinda weak as a tribe and this disappoints me. Lon Chaney Jr would not approve.
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Post by PeaceRibbon » 2 years ago

Ravnica Guild: Boros Legion
Call me basic, but I really enjoy how Boros cards amplify white's theme of making little units into big units. Flavor wise Azorius came close, but Boros combines justice with true concern for others so they manage to win out in the end. Plus who doesn't like angels?

Strixhaven College: Silverquill
As a philosophy major I should probably like Lorehold more, but something about disturbing the dead just to get a history lesson rubs me the wrong way. Silverquill wins for its great sense of style and satisfyingly strong instant speed options. Also words and how to best use them is definitely something I consider a lot.

Innistrad's Gavony and Ikoria's Drannith and
The stories of the humans on these planes and their ability to find hope and fight on in spite of the hostile worlds they were born into are just beautiful to me. The flavor text associated with these guys in particular gives me goosebumps in a good way.
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Post by Sanity_Eclipse » 2 years ago

Guild (more like color pairs for me)
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- and . It's a toss-up between the pairs, in terms of general playstyle, mechanics, world, and flavor. In particular, Ixalan's vampires have a decent Iberian vibe coming off them, and as a dude of Portuguese heritage, that's pretty cool to me. I also like the vibe of corrupt churches and such mentioned earlier, in . speaks to the circle of life and death. In terms of Ravnica, I actually don't like the world too much. I wasn't around for 1.0, none of the guilds (or like 99% of their commanders) and their flavor and such speak to me very deeply, and we've gone back so many times I am extremely bored of it.

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Strixhaven
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- As mentioned under Guild, mechanically and appeal a lot to me in general. As a former band kid and someone that's typically either all business, laser focused on details or cooking to loud music with a cold one, I feel as a person IRL I would be Prismari.

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Shard
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- Jund. Was my actual favorite shard back then, includes one of my favorite color pairs, and has dragons. Also, a slowly dying world of survival of the fittest is totes relatable. None of the current generals speak to me though :(

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Khan
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- All. The literal Khans and some of the follow-up legendaries were some of the most interesting commanders to come out in a while, back then (to me anyway). For Mardu I throw it back to OG Kaalia, but otherwise, Anafenza, Narset, and Sidisi are interesting characters and decks, and while I love the idea of the Temur colors I am waiting on a general in that wedge to speak to me.

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Misc.
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- Innistradi Vampire Houses were cool, Werewolves are a really cool idea, it's just that they're a bit more for other formats. Angels, and and wonking with the color pie they're typically in happened a good bit because of Innistrad which I liked. Did not like the Eldrazi takeover of the Angels though, hated that. Avacyn's madness was cool, Cosmic mind control and twisting wasn't (which I say purely in a personal "hurt my feelings" kinda way). Also the pseudo-tryptophobia of some of the Eldrazi cards is just no. /shudder

- Honorable mentions to and for being the "Sea Monsters.dec" color pair and me personally IRL, respectively. Similar thing to my Iberian heritage, always a deck I've wanted in whatever CCG I was playing, and the note under the STX section.

- I do seem to lean towards worlds, factions, settings, etc inspired by real world factions, settings, etc. I'd personally like a revisit to Kamigawa if possible, just as a slightly powered up block this around. Khans was cool, as previously mentioned, Innistrad as a gothic horror setting (I like the Underworld movies with Kate Beckinsale, shush off), I guess STX since I went through college?...

- Lorehold does seems to be heralding possible changes for , which I can appreciate. I typically need a support color instead of playing Boros/LH.

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Dishonorable Mentions
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- On the complete flip side for , most of their latest generals have completely stupid, potentially unfun power levels.

- . Literally the only one I've built has been Yuriko. 98% of them or w/e are mill generals, and mill is not necessarily great. It's a deck and strategy I actually like the idea of, it just doesn't work as well against potentially multiple opponents, who all potentially have anti-decking tech in the wings. At least Yuriko and to a half extent Tetsuko Umezawa do different things than usual stuff.

- As a purely aesthetic note on the cards, I hate it when the mana cost appears unbalanced. It typically involves multicolor cards with , since the other 4 colors are all dark colors with obviously being a light color. A lot of Esper cards were/are ordered instead of for eg. Similarly, there were a few cards in STX that had kind of costs, and I (at least initally) hate how that looks.
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pokken
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Post by pokken » 2 years ago

I don't really identify with any of the factions but I identify with color combinations that appeal to me mechanically. UW and BG are my main pulls. As far as 3 color, they never really grab me - most of my 3 color decks are little more than mono color with splashes. I've had a lot of 3 color loam decks but they're always like 70% green cards or more and the other colors are mostly for a couple cards or the commander.

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Serenade
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Post by Serenade » 2 years ago

This is probably a weird combo, but I like how red can cover both industriousness and chaotic freedom.

The Quiet Furnace: This fraction has tremendous "know your role and shut your mouth" vibes yet a quiet resistance to upper management.
I get it.

Rakdos: I love the entertainment and big performance angles of the current incarnation. I do not like the horror or death sides to it. I love Juri. I love Brain Salad Surgery. I love puns. Just seems like a group with absolute certainty for who they are.
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Post by BaronCappuccino » 2 years ago

Barring a brief sabbatical to Azorius and mono blue for something diffferent, I've been devotedly Rakdos colors the entirety of my Magic career. My one deck is Rakdos colors Chainer 2.0.

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FoxOfWar
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Post by FoxOfWar » 2 years ago

I alternate between flavor/aesthetics and mechanical appeal a lot, where the ideals are of course intersections of the two.

Ravnican Guild: Golgari
The cycle of life and death. Attrition is a playstyle I love a lot, and the undercity-dwelling "use what others won't to gain power" is up my alley. The one color combo where I have poked at or at least thought about building a deck for most of the legendaries. (I only have two Golgari decks by way of self-control.)

Strixhaven College: Prismari
Not usually a color combo I like, but that artistic "go big or go home" is a thing I can appreciate. I hope they do more with the "passion and creativity" side. Unfortunately didn't quite hit a legendary in the colors that hits it for me.

Alaran Shard: Naya
Big stompy. Plane's inhabitants revere the stuff I like. Maybe not the mechanically flowiest, but I keep coming back to cards like Where Ancients Tread and Mighty Emergence and poking at it. Had an unofficial Godsire commander deck once upon a time too.

Tarkir Clan: Abzan
Endure the desert and survive. Almost entirely because of flavor, although I'm plenty guilty of poking at token and +1/+1 counter strategies too. I have three Abzan decks. So... yeah.

Dusk Legion.
Conquistador Vampires. That's all.
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Post by Cyberium » 2 years ago

Ravnican Guild:
Selesnya Conclave WG - Despite the short story joked about how they (or some groups within the Conclave) do not bath, I'm most sympathetic with Selesnya's cause. Like Boros Legion there's a strong group mentality here, but I prefer restoration of nature over zealotry. Boros would've been a second choice though.

Strixhaven College:
Lorehold WR - I'm a writer, so I was drawn to both Lorehold and Silverquil, but I've never been keen at using language to actively rouse or demean people, I prefer telling stories, so Lorehold is the best choice out there. I'm also a truth seeker, and Lorehold magic can bring me witness of events from ages past.

Alaran Shard:
Grixis UBR - Not because of the shard itself per se, but because of Bolas. One of my pet deck is Nicol Bolas + his five gods. White and green have most of the permanent removals, so it's refreshing to play a shard without that many options.

Tarkir Clan:
Abzan WBG - You probably know by now that I prefer history, lineage, and camaraderie, so Abzan is my natural pick, though I do appreciate Mardu and Temur for being most "clan-like" of the five. That said, my deck building often revolve around WBR i.e. Mardu.

Honorable Mentions:
Spirits of Kamigawa - My favorite creature type, again because I appreciate history and lineage, and Kamigawa's soul shift (weak though it may be) symbolizes the never ending cycle that's my core philosophy.

Overall:

White splashing red is my primary pair. Creativity under discipline, carving future with history in mind, honor your lineage like roots of a tree while continue to grow upward. Out of the factions above, Lorehold is my first pick for a faction if I were to join one. Some might argue that blue could stand in as the "discipline" part of my color, but blue does so out of efficiency, white does it out of duty.

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Sinis
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Post by Sinis » 2 years ago

Serenade wrote:
2 years ago
This is probably a weird combo, but I like how red can cover both industriousness and chaotic freedom.

The Quiet Furnace: This fraction has tremendous "know your role and shut your mouth" vibes yet a quiet resistance to upper management.
I get it.
I had forgotten about this. Big respect to Urabrask.

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Post by materpillar » 2 years ago

I don't identify with them per say but I've always really like the aesthetics of esper WBU. All the metal bodies are captivating yet horrifying. I find it fascinating.

I'm also a sucker for artifact and artifact synergies.

Similarly I've always loved the lorwyn/shadowmoor elf design. Both the aesthetics and the culture of murder ugly stuff. They just feel really original where I rarely feel like I can say that about elves.

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Post by Candlemane » 2 years ago

RAVNICA
Easily the RWBoros Legion. When I was younger my first cards included an Angel of Mercy and Shock, and when Boros came around later, it gave me a place to put my aggression to use for a cause. Nowadays it represents protection for those who need it now and communal respect towards the populace. Back in the original Ravnica, the guilds didn't get along necessarily then or ever, but it was understood that having friends, contacts, and trust didn't mean relying on just your guild allegiance. To this day, I'm still consider myself a proud 'member' of the Legion, and it partially influenced my name on the site.

STRIXHAVEN / ARCAVIOS
This one is harder. Mechanically I love WBSilverquill with its aggression, tokens, politics and control. It's like they act tough, and then have to back it up. However, I don't like belligerence for the sake of intimidation or otherwise, and while I think I'll end up liking Killian in the story (on the 30th), there isn't much in the way of flavor I like. Now, RWLorehold is my kind of flavor. I love researching history, delving into the ruins of old citadels and cities, conjuring the spirits to speak with them for firsthand accounts... If I had to actually enroll, I'd pick Lorehold as a history, story and paranormal interested person.

ALARA
This world has been a bit back and forth over the years. I really like none of them on flavor. Big creature worship, brutal Darwinism, aloof metallic oppressors... eh. Mechanically I think I like devour from BRGJund the best, but I would avoid the world all together and visit none of the shards.

TARKIR
While I like GUR, the WBGAbzan win it for me here. I love the flavor of surviving the harsh deserts, and even using it to your advantage. They take their houses and fortifications with them to war, and form powerful bonds with each other. Could also be I live in a desert.

As for the plane as it stands currently, I'd probably lean GWDromoka. Not too different than Abzan, and most of the other dragons are, well, very dragon-like in the way they value the lives of their clansfolk. Ojutai otherwise doesn't really speak to me.

Hmmmm.... That is a distinct lack of U. Sounds like me :D
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Post by FenrirRex » 2 years ago

Genuinely can't believe I forgot Phyrexia, something about the metallic, oil-infested body horror is just 100% in my wheelhouse. I particularly like how New Phyrexia was portrayed and I'm looking forward to seeing more of them, though I am decidedly more interested in seeing the Machine Orthodoxy and all the non-red factions keep pushing for their terrible supremacy. So, I suppose Atraxa, Praetors' Voice style New Phyrexia in the end.

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Post by toctheyounger » 2 years ago

I'm not entirely sure I have an affinity with a faction on every known plane, in all honesty. In terms of what colors I tend to run, predominantly it's ubx.

Ravnica
Dimir - The secrecy and clandestine plans suit my playstyle and inner workings well - I'm pretty taciturn socially but there's often lots going on beneath the surface. Mechanically, mill isn't really my thing but that's not what this thread is about really.

Tarkir
This is a bit of a weird one, there's no one faction I really pull from entirely. I've built a ton of Abzan, but that's because I really like reanimator. Thematically, I like the cunning of Sultai, the resilience of Abzan and the subtlety and cleverness of Jeskai.

Strixhaven
I've not looked into the lore heavily, but from what I see I relate most to Silverquill. My wife often thinks I'm a bit snooty and this seems to fit, not to mention I have a penchant for creativity in writing. I'm also a woodshed musician so Prismari appeals too. Zaffai, Thunder Conductor appeals massively purely for looking like a wild and frenzied Ludwig van Beethoven. I was really bummed they got the spelling of his name wrong. He went from a build I really wanted to make to one I couldn't abide, so I guess I'm a grammar nazi.

Alara
Esper. Easy choice, I love the aesthetics, the dedication to research, knowledge and purpose, the cunning and cleverness. There are a lot of commanders I'd love to build in the shard too, but above all, Varina, Lich Queen is the queen of my heart.

Mirrodin
The Machine Orthodoxy - Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite's art is nothing short of exquisite, and the orthodoxy reflects how I feel about most religion, at least when it's at its worst. Oppressive, vindictive, ruthless and convinced of their own purity of purpose and righteousness. That's a very cynical view, I know, and I mean no offense to anyone who is religious and a good person.

Team Yawgmoth too - Urza was a douche, and it's a hill I'll die on.
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Post by PrimevalCommander » 2 years ago

Ravnica: Golgari - I like the reanimator themes and strong value from ETB and LTB creatures that Golgari provides. Gruul being a tie or a close second. The Red Green decks in Ravnica always drew me in and the reckless aggression of Gruul can do quite well in 20 life formats.

Alara: Naya - I played Naya lightsaber in standard and just really liked what Naya had to offer in that block. I liked Jund a lot as well for the flavor and themes. Also played Naya zoo in extended to great effect. Wild Nacatl FTW.

Tarkir: Temur (is that the right plane?) - While I didn't use the Temur commanders from this block, the RUG colors with a combat theme is something that was appealing to me as different and interesting. Kalamax is my take on a combat oriented spellslinger type deck evoking the essence of Temur.

Strixhaven: Too soon to tell. Witherbloom brings me back to Golgari value, which I like. Though I'm using more Prismari cards for my new Yidris Magecraft deck.

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Post by Yatsufusa » 2 years ago

By nature, I'm a methodical, organized person who likes to find loopholes and for progress, which would explain why years ago I took months to structure out 8 decks covering all color (pairing)s and archetypes I enjoyed, and why one of my favorite tools/flavor is reanimator, after all undeath is a loophole to finality of death, is it not? That would roughly put me as a person in around an uwb archetype.

At the same time though, my favorite Magic character of all time is Hidetsugu, because I respect and am fascinated by his efficient use of both wit and strength to achieve his goals (he outwitted Toshiro Umezawa about their blood pact from the very start, he maximized who could brutalize (the Yamabushi) so he could defeat who he could otherwise cannot (Keiga). By technique he was still a r character through and through, but his character clearly utilized his allied colors (b for wit and g for strength), so in way he could be classified as rgb (wit is still last because he emphasizes he only bothers with complex plans when they get out of scale for strength or he's just bored).

Among my 8 decks, my flagship deck would arguably be Animar and I think that's because the Commander allows me to pilot a deck that I subconsciously think represents what I respected about Hidetsugu's character (sub b with u, still wit). Sure, any 5-color toolbox deck of today probably could also effectively use both wit and strength, but I appreciate Animar's "restrictions" (well it comes with its own set of broken) to allow more emphasis on why I built it.

This feels like an off-tangent reply to the topic, but I think what I'm trying to establish is that I don't really identify with any obvious factions of the game because I established both my own nature and my favorite character/deck and there isn't really a faction that fully embodies those traits. Mechanically I already methodically covered my archetypes so I essentially learn towards multiple factions at once. At this point I can only loosely point a faction I lean towards and it's likely because they're close to either my nature or my favorite character/deck, whichever appeals closer.

Ravnica
The appeal to nature wins here (nothing comes close to Hidetsugu/Animar representation)
Azorius, for obvious methodical, organized reasons. However I stand by that Azor is still the most lawful stupid being I've seen in Magic whose plans basically require everyone to think like him and that's why Ravnica and Ixalan are the mess they are. Even the most methodical plan needs to take into account the volatility of simply having others around and Azor(ius) is just too blind to that. Despite my flack at their obvious flaws, I still feel that every other guild is simply too volatile to even have the time/concentration to plan methodically and being Azorius gives the best chances of that. Prahv, Spires of Order's flavor text resonates with me, except it's "where much work is done so I can rest securely unnoticed".

Strixhaven
Appeal to nature still wins (Quandrix and Witherbloom pretty much carry the same connotations as Simic and Golgari in direction, still far from Hidetsugu/Animar)
As an academy, one could say all the Schools are more organized, methodical than their Guild counterparts, but as I said I like to relax securely and Silverquill seems to be too extroverted-aggressive by design (they encourage debates all the time) so I'd say Lorehold is more my jam. With Ravnica it was the opposite, the city seems to be in conflict so often Boros would give some security but probably never enough time to plan or relax (which is why Azorius won out in the end) and Silverquill seems to be that kind fast-paced, even if it wasn't brutal conflict out there causing it.

Alara
Appeal to character/deck wins (Bant/Esper is organized, methodical, but overtly pristine that their chase for honor/perfection just felt it was for the sake of itself and not actual progression, so they fall out).
Jund wins out here. Both Jund and Naya have big stompies (one has wings the other doesn't), but the Darwinism system in Jund displayed the need for personal strength better than the worship of Naya did. A shame there wasn't a display of how wit is also a strength in its own right (in fact the goblin sacrifice system sorta goes the opposite) and even the b forces are brutish, but I suppose it's the "obvious" faction that comes closest to the Hidetsugu representation I wanted.

Tarkir
Appeal to character/deck wins (it's the opposite of Strixhaven, even the most methodical faction still needs to focus on survival of some kind)
You would think from my favorite deck's colors, it'd be Temur, but it's actually not them. Yes, they value both knowledge (visions) and strength (punch-a-bear) but the wit/cunning is lacking. I play Animar because I can substitute back in "wit" using u simply by gameplay itself (so I effectively play a it in a Jund-ish manner). Sultai has all the cunning, yes but in a world of survival they relatively lack strength of proactivity. So, the actual winner is Mardu, because the very essence of Tarkir itself is survival. Yes, the Abzan are also good at survival, but the Mardu as a whole actually feel like they're thriving with it and in a world where the world itself is about survival, can you actually outlast the entire plane itself? This is blatantly reflected when Sarkhan twisted the world and the one dragon that literally ignored its population instead of suppressing it was Kolaghan. Their wit might be too on-the-spot and the strength reliant more on haste and numbers than power, but I appreciate in essence they still hold what I liked most about Hidetsugu, even more than Jund. It's just too bad the Commander choices and color restrictions never made my Mardu deck(s) feel like that, Animar still triumphs in practice.

Innistrad
Appeal to nature (werewolves were just Gruul in a twisted angle, but there still isn't that much wit)
The spirits of Innistrad were just there and honestly not very organized, so it is the Zombies that win out hard here, or to be more precise, that a (segregated) colony of zombie-raisers (it's stated that Gisa, Geralf and Ludevic each had different specifics they preferred) that had passion for their own style of Zombie-raising. Sure, they're not very organized together, but I can appreciate their passion for finding the loopholes of dead bodies and it strikes me that they're their own styles of "organized messes". The same thing I had disdain for the Azorius I do appreciate them for at the very least (although the plane is so depressing and dangerous I'd stick with the Azorius on Ravnica if I had to choose between the two).

New Phyrexia
Appeal to both, actually.
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur wins here. Phyrexia is already organized by design, so Elesh Norn feels like "just a visionary", Sheoldred's faction just backstabs for the sake of power and Vorinclex is such a meathead Glissa had to do the organizing. Sure, they all actually talk about the same goal, but at least Jin does emphasize on the potential of the "hows" and at least confident his wit will compensate for his strength. He's basically only a "very-mild" version of both my nature and favorites, mixed in oil, but at least I can feel the mild essence there compared to the others.

I was not around during pre-modern era and was not familiar enough with Ixalan (was on a game/lore-break, caught only some story summaries, so not familiar with the faction-building, I only know Azor is lawful stupid), so I don't comment on those.

The factions of Kamigawa (Eiganjo, Sokenzan, Takenuma, Minamo (under Oboro in some ways) and Jukai Forest (with its inter-tribal divisions) technically were hostile with each other (in a myriad of ways, some political, some territorial), but them fighting the Kami War again, in their own unique ways sort of slowed that all down it wasn't emphasized on. But my bias of Hidetsugu puts me in favor of Sokenzan. Konda and the Moonfolk made their factions too stuffy, Jukai was too isolated and straight-up hostile to outsiders to like and while Takenuma also had its own interesting society with the likes of Boss Uramon, Marrow-Gnawer and Kiku, I liked Sokenzan's diversity of Bandits managing their Myojin and borders and honestly outside of Marrow-Gnawer alone, the Akki were more amusing than the Nezumi, then Hidetsugu overtakes all of Toshiro and the rogues of Takenuma. O-Kagachi / the Kami were more of a force of nature than a faction, to be honest, that sort of self-regulated by replacing O-Kagachi with Kyodai and Michiko if you see the both factions as a microcosm of a whole.

For the same reason though, I'm fascinated by the Eldrazi, for they sort of represent to the multiverse what the spirits were to Kamigawa, if Ugin speculated right (and if he had to speculate, for how old he is, that speaks volumes about the Eldrazi). Too bad MTG wrote them too big and then had to close it rather unsatisfactorily when the time came (at least Emrakul just went to sleep giving further hints). What should've been planar consequences for meddling with their natural order even for 3 oldwalkers but people liked Zendikar too much we had to cheese it out with the Gatewatch to save Zendikar (and Innistrad) for future sets. At the very least in-game the titans are pretty much the epitome for battlecruiser strength and I could use them to represent power in Animar (for 0 mana no less).
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darkeshrine
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Post by darkeshrine » 2 years ago

Izzet and Quandrix. I've always loved the idea of thinking about magic from a scientific and mathematical perspective. In the D&D campaign I'm running for some friends, they were able to visit a pseudo-futuristic city with elevators, monorails, and numerous other mechanisms that use the unorthodox or clever application of magic and enchantments as a means of functioning. The city also so happens to be basically just a large magical college that just grew over the centuries. I spent ages thinking about the cities design and how the different modern-day machines would function using only D&D 5e magics and enchantments in unorthodox ways.

I just love how they handle the concept of techno-magi. I've seen way to many video games, far more often than any other medium, that use something akin or just magic to fuel modern day machines. "Oh, this magic stone gives off an electric current. Boom, battery." I hate that.

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