What Happens in Streets of New Capenna?

Streets of New Capenna introduces us to a plane run by five crime families, but can they stand up to The Adversary, who threatens to take control of the Halo trade? And where does this magical substance come from, anyway?
Planeswalkers Elspeth and Vivien are here too, eager to learn more about the mysterious history of New Capenna, and how it stood up against a phrexian invasion long, long ago.
Read the official story: magic.wizards....
Become a Lore Mage: bit.ly/Patreon...
Follow us on Twitter: / magic_arcanum

[@KountKristyl]

Streets of New Capenna sounds like the biggest victim of 1 set per setting. It could really do with at least 2 sets, one to introduce New Capenna and the main plot, and then a second to focus on Ob Nixilis' takeover and the return of the Angels.

[@richardwilliams8008]

I agree that New Capenna should have been two sets, but the story arc that really needed an additional set was Kaldheim. That set was criminally underserved.

[@K9affirmative]

@@richardwilliams8008 Kaldheim was unbearable. Hey, here's TEN different realms each with their own history, culture, gods, and populations! QUICK let's run through them, maybe we can get each of them half of a paragraph! I hope we see more of Tyvar. I wasn't even a big fan of him personally, but if he shows up again it will at least mean that Kaldheim left some sort of impression.

[@KountKristyl]

@@richardwilliams8008 I'd argue (and have in the past) that all the new planes should get two sets so they get a proper introduction.

[@mauriciovillegas7285]

The cards feature the angels as if they're already free and public knowledge they were always trapped in the statues...

[@justinjacobs1501]

@@richardwilliams8008 kaldheim had a story? 😅

[@SamfisherSam]

"Ob Nixilis enters stage left, Vivian tries to 360 no scope him with an arrow but he swats it down, so she tells Elspeth to deal with him while she deals with the incoming draft chaff" Might be my single most loved sentence of MTG lore ever.

[@robertgronewold3326]

I think I know EXACTLY what happened here. This set was not initially meant to be for Elspeth, it was meant for Davriel Kane. He is a literal 1920's style character who specifically makes complex deals with demons to gain power, to such an extent that he's currently in hiding on Innistrad. The fact that he was an accountant might even imply that he was working for the Brokers, perhaps as a black aligned Maestro plant, before gaining the power to planeswalk. So I have the supreme feeling that they top down made this plane to be his home, and then just decided to not use him, perhaps because he's not the biggest of characters or they went in a different direction with the main storyline. Either way, it's still safe to say that this is his home plane, no matter how this story played out in the end.

[@ryanconrad2786]

interesting thought, a few months back (before his big kickstarter) there was a rumor that Sanderson was going to do a sequel book, so maybe they were keeping him free for that? Now though, I wonder if WotC could afford him. lol

[@Ozgarthefighter]

Makes a lot of sense, and this annoys me because Davriel is one of my favorite planeswalkers.

[@adrianmelo7768]

@@ryanconrad2786 I don't know if they can afford him but I remember him telling in an interview, I believe it was with The Professor, he wasn't planning on work with them again because of the way they treat his book. They, wotc and Sanderson, agree to make it a free story but the wotc decided to sell the book anyway.

[@tgs9929]

I believe they confirmed Dav was from a world already known to the players by the time of the novel.

[@sertaki]

@@adrianmelo7768 Dang, I didn't know they removed the freely available novella :/ That's quite a dick move, and I assume Hasbro's decision.

[@TokenBG]

It's almost like this, like Kamigawa, should have been two sets. One set with Elspeth rediscovering her old home with Urabrask and Tezzeret doing actual things. Then a second with the Halo story being more fleshed out.

[@Triceratopping]

yep should definitely go back to at least 2 sets. Set 1 introduces the setting, plot threads and mechanics and ends on an exciting cliffhanger, Set 2 introduces twists, conclusions, and exploration of the mechanics (Amonkhet did a great job of this imo). In Capenna, Set 1 could've been the intro to the crime families and the cliffhanger is Ob coming back and gaining control, then Set 2 is Elspeth on the run and the reawakening of the angels as the big showstopper ending. Give the audience time to enjoy a new setting before jetting off to a new place. I'm sure there are hundreds of people out there who would've liked another set on Kaldheim or Kamigawa. Unfortunately WotC seem determined to have Commander tie-ins do the heavy lifting.

[@christopherfu2169]

Maybe do a reverse Fate reforged approach? Start in the past, Show us the conflict with the phyrexians, the origins of the families and their Leaders, maybe do the Leaders either as MDFC or transform cards, one pre demonic pact and one afterwords. Then Go to the present and Show us how Capenna has changed and how the famalies have evolved.

[@benrockefeller6334]

Agreed. Doing New Capenna in one set is like trying to imagine Shadows Over Innistrad and Eldritch Moon as a single set. It would not have worked because it would have been too much action in a single set and not enough setup. Streets of New Capenna has too much action and not enough setup for a single set. Strixhaven had a similar feel where the story had a lot of action, but the cards of the set made up for the limited world building of the set's story. All of the major characters had cards that reflected the story extremely well, but this one didn't have that.

[@Wiitigo_X]

I feel like they were hoping revealing elspeths home plane would help carry the set but I’d agree they seem to have tried to fit too much into one set. I’d also agree that it seems like maybe the story or overall the set was very different and changed to fit newer parameters within this ongoing developing story.

[@Kuronosa]

I think, if they had made this an old-style block, it probably could have worked. Between the Elspeth stuff and the Phyrexian plot....yeah, they could have made it last for 2 or three 3 sets instead of just sticking it onto 1.

[@tgs9929]

They kinda said so, they had the idea of demon gangster art deco world and later added Elspeth story. But they do this with all the worlds, Kamigawa was the same way as was all the worlds in the bolas arc. They often come up with the world and themes before they lock in the story.

[@Wiitigo_X]

@@tgs9929 true but with Kamigawa and even most planes in the bolas arc they didn’t try to jam as many new things into one story so the stories were more successful generally speaking

[@tgs9929]

@@Wiitigo_X I disagree, Kamigawa rebooted itself, introduced Kaito, tied in the phyrexia plot and had the wanderer face and back story revel as well as featuring Tamiyo’s family. I think the story needs more room to breath but I think that more chapters in the story than the default 5.

[@Wyattbw09]

This story had so much potential, but was so overstuffed that the depth of any individual plot line was razor thin. This story was a great outline for a full size novel.

[@JimPea]

I feel like WotC's visual design for settings is almost always on point, as it is with New Capenna. Unfortunately, worldbuilding and storytelling is more than just visuals, and I get the feeling that was sidelined in pursuit of ticking off as many gangster tropes as possible.

[@rickxhoshinji]

I'm grateful Magic Arcanum explained the new lore on prerelease day. It was extremely fun playing Jetmir for tonight's prerelease, but all the flavor text had me curious about the story.

[@0jutai]

The visual style and flavour of the set is absolutely my favourite in all of magic. I just really hope that we return to the plane at some point in the future.

[@flaredrake2093]

I agree! I’m getting back into magic after being away for years and the Cabaretti and New Capenna and they’re my absolute favorite.

[@ryan_the_rizza2571]

Had a terrible day at work, seeing this as I clocked off definitely brightened my mood. Thank you Guys!

[@isin4b]

Overnight shift? Cuz if so same.

[@thatonedudejake]

night shift crew signing in

[@MTGPringles]

Have a better day, friend!

[@thatepicwizardguy]

Elspeth continues to be the biggest underdog out of the main characters in mtg. I really hope she gets a proper badass heroic moment at some point. EDIT: I'll add this - magic has this pattern of making really cool and interesting places and characters and completely undermines it by constantly going back to and relying on a tiny handful of preexisting characters while making the rest pretty empty feeling. they don't ALWAYS do this, but it happens wayyyy too much. I really wish they'd actually make the stuff specific to the plane the main focus and make the planeswalkers and such a little less of the focus. I get that planeswalkers and big bads and stuff are like THE thing they're doing but it just feels so lame to constantly have the same characters over and over and over just in different backdrops.

[@stepniak18]

At this point MtG stories are so boring and repetitive that I can't even watch Ryan telling them and believe me, he makes them 10 times more interesting than they really are. He carried them for a while but there is nothing interesting in them anymore. Having the same planeswalker rotating wouldn't be so bad if: a) they really rotate (out of tens of walkers in the game only a handful is making appearance over and over again). b) they fit the plane the action is set on (Vivien in New Capena just doens't feel right. If you want a green walker that fits a city just make up a new one). However, as long as draft is decent I will play the game. And the game is most important part after all. Still, if they really put some care into the story they could make an extra buck by selling books or something. War of the Spark have shown that with this level of narration, publishing books doesn't make any sense.

[@joshc7291]

If you wanna see some heroic Elspeth moments I’d go back and read the story for original Theros/Born of the Gods/Journey into Nyx and then Return to Theros as well if you never read those. All those stories centered around Elspeth and developed her character a lot

[@mstrikerwildrift]

Elspeth needs to fulfill her destiny, to become compleat.

[@iculas]

I feel this hard.

[@askani21]

Good news guys! Elspeth is now the main protagonist in the Phyrexian storyline! And we can already assume she will return in March of the Machine with a BANG and save the multiverse! I speculate that she'll return from the Sylex Blast transformed into a true Archangel, or even into a godlike pre-Mending planeswalker... Go read the All Will Be One stories, they're awesome. :) PS: Elspeth was also central to the Dominaria United story. She has a beautiful epic moment where she inherit Jaya's last flame and bursts into a supernova of light that blows up an entire battlefield. Elspeth is a beast!

[@jota.0101]

I like to compare the Tarkir block with Streets of new Capenna. Both have five 3 colour bosses and families and a war or conflict between them. But the fact that Tarkir had 3 different expansions made the story more clear and easily to understand. I hope that Wizards will make more 2 or 3 expansions blocks for each world in the future. Sorry for my bad english

[@thomasdavis6989]

Hearing that Xander died puts a tear to my eye, he was such a dashing fellow, and awesome card

[@againstthegrain4164]

I love the higher quality editing that this channel has now been getting. The new card transitions in and out and the glowing effect around the cards both look great! Even with all that extra quality in editing you were still able to produce this video on time for prerelease too.

[@MagicArcanum]

Thanks for noticing! I've been trying to make incremental improvements over the past two years, but when you write your own scripts, perform them, record them, edit them, and animate them, it doesn't leave a lot of room for 'playful innovation.'

[@againstthegrain4164]

@@MagicArcanum Sounds like a lot of work and stress, but the end product always looks great. I especially like your Flavor Wins and lore videos.

[@monorayjak4377]

Ok, so I''m glad you mentioned the Angel cards. Those have been driving me nuts. A key part of the world is literally "ANGELS ARE GONE," and yet here we are, with Angels at common! COMMON! I could understand an artifact angel here and there as a facsimile of Angels, I can even accept a Mythic angel nightmare. But just regular angels at common???????????? It drove me nuts. Also, I'm a bit sad you didn't mention the fact Urabrask is betraying New Phyrexia, or that Elspeth seems absolutely fine working alongside him; because at the end Vivien name drops him and Elspeth reacts like nothing actually happened.

[@seanscott4543]

THANK YOU! I have seen so many people justifying the inclusion of angels in the set with the ending "implying they were freed", but literally nowhere is there even a remote reference to this at all. I was almost convinced something was going over my head.

[@GladiusM]

Fantastic video, I always look forward to these. On the note of the jambled up stories: Bring. Back. Block. Structure. Honestly, who can tell me what happened on Kaldheim vs what happened in Return to Ravnica block and give me both very cleanly and clearly? We don’t have the time to appreciate set stories and flavor with one set coming out with a crap ton of cards that won’t be remembered flavor wise in about a years time…

[@atalhlla]

Kaldheim? Uh. Well. Um. Vorinclex ran into a wall and … I think Kaya stabbed things. Yeah, hard agree on the need for a return to blocks, it’s just a bunch of whiplash and a very, very shallow dip into every setting’s lore.

[@randomguy6232]

Honestly I think this story mostly brought down by being written as s vehicle to carry along the overarching phyrexian narrative with planeswalkers running amuck rather than getting to stand up on it's own two legs, Ob Nixilis never has his motive explained aside from maybe generic power, what the hell is urabrask doing and wasn't he disliked by the other phyrexians, and why suddenly tie in a planeswalker to a world where she almost certainly was never originally supposed to be born in. The chaos between 5 mob families and urabrask alone could have carried a story, maybe even a few sets worth, but what we got was a bizarre road trip

[@anthonydelfino6171]

Ob Nixilis's inclusion, at least to me, felt like someone just grabbing at the most obvious answer to what planeswalkers should be in the set, and no one pushing back. Sure, demon planeswalker on demon world, but I think we could have had a much more interesting story if they started setting up Davriel as a more important character to the story here. He's someone we know is very adept at conversing with demons and getting them indebted to him rather than the other way around, which fits really well with the mafia world of New Capenna. Plus his fashion style is something that could fit into this world with very little adjustment if any needed at all.

[@ablegrim]

I watched this video for the soul purpose of finding out what Urberask was up to. "Urberask was there". Thanks wizards. Riveting story telling.

[@perspiringspike]

Biggest flavor fail is clearly not reprinting defenestrate over murder

[@emperornapoleon6204]

Good summary👍🏻 I think they do the lord a disservice spending so little time on each plane. It’s quite a shame: early Magic had such tremendous and developed lore, and the Bolas arc was very well-developed as well. It seems they dropped that as soon as Bolas was locked away, and started trying to fly through it to keep pace with product development.

[@Thickolas]

I feel like Elspeth has the most established rep as a straight-up ass-kicker. She's been a knight and a monster slayer and all sorts of stuff. I think it's pretty wild she would lose 1v1 vs Ob in this story

[@JonahKilledTheWhale]

It's sets like this that make me think we should go back to 3 set blocks story wise and would also allow mechanics to be fleshed out in creative ways like the fact we only got one card with extort that I'm aware of

[@AzoriusCub]

This 100%. The stories have been terrible since they have had to condense them to five chapters per plane…

[@k9commander]

3 sets is too much. 2 would do. Set 1: Elpeth, and Vivian are investigating the world. Each for their own reason. Elspeth finds out about the angels and demons. Vivian finds out about the Phyrexians. Set 2: Ob Nixilis goes to war with 5 families. Giada awakens the angels. The angels help the 5 families defeat Ob, but it's too late for Xander.

[@felipeguidolin1055]

- hey, Elspeth, didn't you...like...killed literal Gods (plural)? - yes - and brought yourself back to life out of spite? - yup - and weren't you the plane's greatest hero, slayer of countless mythological beasts? - sounds about right - so... Why are we running away from 3 mobsters and an angry waiter? - ...forgot my spear in the other dress

[@Unity-hk1bf]

New Cappenna felt like it was an excuse to do shards of Alara color combos now that Alara has been put back together, but they didn't really think about differentiating the families from the shards until the set was like, releasing lmao.

[@buamp8186]

New Capenna is a reminder of what can go wrong when designing strong mechanics first and then throwing a story on top.

[@nicktaylor3245]

I really appreciate that you do this. I've recently decided to complete a collection of all Story Spotlight cards, and it frustrates me that there's no given order anymore, after there used to be up until around War of the Spark. So I use these videos to put them in chronological order to the best of my ability. So I just wanted to say thank you for doing this and for making sure you discuss all the Story Spotlight cards, regardless of whether or not they fit in with the written story!

[@MagicArcanum]

You're welcome - glad you find it helpful!

[@ludovicdisson3668]

The very reason I watched this video was to know what Urabrask did in New Capenna. Disappointment doesn't even begin to express what I feel... But it's not your fault, of course. Great video, as always !

[@bakedbeans9404]

I found your channel recently after coming back to mtg after an 18yr hiatus. Your channel, and Magic Historian, are my 2 favorite mtg channels. Your voice is smooth, sense of humor isn't too cringe, and you lay out the lore & flavor of mtg in a very digestible format. Keep up the good work!!

[@MagicArcanum]

"isn't too cringe" I must be losing my touch.

[@jasonoleary8817]

I am always amazed at how easily and clear the story is told

[@MagicArcanum]

If it looks easy it's because I have a degree in communications and work very hard at writing my scripts to be as understandable as possible. Glad you appreciate them!

[@digitalscribbler68]

Ob Nixilis always seemed to me like the kind of guy who would blow a perfectly good opportunity to execute his diabolical plan by monologuing it up. As Tuco says: When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.

[@timeilers5612]

With this time I'd call it an established pattern. Back on Zendikar (feeling old yet?) he had the Gatewatch caught and was ready to execute them. And instead he monologued at them until Nissa (iirc) managed to free them. I love Mob Nixilis dearly as I love many a MtG Villain but he is so far among the purest Disney Villains in Magic.

[@GregTom2]

What I would have done if I was WoTC would have been a whole year of "clue tokens" instead of treasure tokens. Starting in Inistrad, you return to the original plane of clue tokens. Initial clues would have hinted at the wedding. Maybe reprint that blue-green tracker that made a clue for every land. Once you are at the wedding, more clues prop up, story wise related to new phyrexia and kamigawa. Scrap the blood tokens to avoid too many types of tokens at once in the set, and instead have black-red be proper vampires tribal. Perhaps a return to madness, or perhaps expand the dance theme with two creatures attacking per turn. Have maybe one archetype where clues shine, like "drawing a second card every turn" or "drawing during your opponent's turn", or "keeping mana open to cast flash / instants / pop clues". Throw in a couple clue tokens in kamigawa that relate to phyrexians and their designs. And then bam. Replace the brokers as a crime family with the police. Have one plainwalker investigate phyrexian plans there. Clues foreshadow the fact that the next set is going to be phyrexia or something like that. Completely scrap the "halo is treasures" subtheme, rework red-green into something else, and make white-blue-green control-and-clues a full standard archetype using cards from 4 different sets. Brokers and obscura now fully explore the potential of clue tokens. Some cards have you mill when you pop a clue. Information broker makes it so that every clue token is simultaneously a treasure token. Etc. The things that might have been. Alas...

[@rennac3152]

“Watered down Ravinca” what a lot of these faction focused sets feel like.

[@frostwalkerspodcast5864]

I feel like that will be true of any faction set just because of how popular Ravnica is. There is just SO much content there multiple block sets novels comics etc. A DnD book even. Any set will feel watered down compared to it

[@rennac3152]

@@frostwalkerspodcast5864 Then they should try a different tactic. Organized Factions don’t always have to be the life blood or center of a plane. they can be just as effective as supporting elements to the wild building

[@frostwalkerspodcast5864]

@@rennac3152 I would agree that would be fun to see! I know Ikoria had a 3 color theme but that was settings and even then it was sort of glossed over. I think that being wanted for a future set but also conflicts between factions are an important part of MTG even before and after Ravnica. I think it becomes important to differentiate color based factions, tribes like the factions of Ixalan and sides of conflicts like the Brothers War. Those are all factions and it becomes tough to remove such a deep part of magic from it. Kamigawa had factions in the background but it was so in the background most people forgot about it when compared to the main Kaito and Tezzeret plotline.

[@rennac3152]

@@frostwalkerspodcast5864 that’s on the writing teams. Cramming so much into one set or short story doesn’t let any one Area shine. They need to slow the f@ck down and let the world building and characters develop. Ikoria was alright. Ixilon did great given how many planes walkers they had to juggle with their story

[@frostwalkerspodcast5864]

@@rennac3152 Heavy agreement there! I hope this didn't come off as an argument. I am someone who still likes the less good worlds and I think my writer brain tends to like "I will fix it myself" and I know fanfic does not fix canon but still.

[@FantomMind]

Story time is my favorite time. Something looks different though!

[@MagicArcanum]

Yes, I explained in two prior videos that I am between houses and temporarily living in an apartment, which limits the space I have to use, and the recording gear available to me.

[@FantomMind]

@@MagicArcanum ahhhhh. Good luck on the move! Hope everything goes smoothly.

[@Styxer1008]

I understand why they want Planeswalkers in every set, but they need to do a better job of including them in the story. They all feel a little shoehorned lately, but Vivian is biggest perpetrator in this story.

[@briankuczynski6884]

Vivien is the planeswalker of tourism. What's she doing in Ikoria? Tourism.

[@briankuczynski6884]

I'd even go as far as to say we know more about Wrenn than vivien, and the former has had only 2 cards and 1 story appearance! Compared to vivien's 6

[@ry7hym]

22:22 when the spoiler season begun for this set I also said to myself like "wow this set feels like an excuse for WotC to not return to Ravnica again"

[@ingloriousday8811]

Really elegant telling of a sadly kinda subpar story. I appreciate the work you guys do

[@peterhorst7169]

The story wasnt transparent through the cards unfortunatly. Than I remembered your youtube channel, but i forgot your name. I found it anyway, looking for the beard, freeing me from not understanding - understanding there isnt enough story. Thank you! :)

[@johnquiett1085]

I agree completely with the statement this set's story didn't come through in the cards. I had no idea who Elspeth was working for, but did get she was searching for home. The mob family story with Ob Nixulus was fine, but details of the angels and demons was not present in the cards. Loved this recap bringing it all together though.

[@nathanielleon4163]

Ajani: So how do we get strong enough to beat the Phyrexians? Elspeth: Drugs.

[@justinedwards5047]

For the angel bit, the flavor text on paragon of modernity says "No true angels have been created since the founding of New Capenna, but artisans have learned to craft elegant facsimiles." So I assumed that all the clan aligned angel cards were similar facsimile angels and not the true angels

[@xXFriagneXx]

This is my favorite pack and story

[@johnvermintide]

thank you for explaining new capenna thoroughly as im interested with the world of new capenna

[@tyjames3339]

All I know about this set is that the soundtrack is absolutely fire

[@MyHandsAreBlank]

This story feels like it would be from a "Mom can we have the Magic story? We have Magic Story at home. Magic Story at home: SNC" meme

[@AmericanVoyages]

Subscribed! Your recaps are very helpful.

[@MagicArcanum]

Glad you like them!

[@Flamingpangolin]

I am glad we get to see some heroes take on Ob again. I mean this is the guy who almost drowned Gideon in a muddy puddle and broke Jaces jaw back in the Eldrazi arc.

[@MrKyGuy]

Thank you for doing this! This story feels like it’s like one of those middle movies that need to set up for a new one. Like it’s all leading to the Phyrexians and we just sorta needed to get through this to get to that.

[@MagicArcanum]

It reminds me a lot of Iron Man 2 in that way - felt like that movie only existed to introduce Black Widow and lay a lot of groundwork for The Avengers.

[@K9affirmative]

I'm really happy to see that Ryan shares the frustration that so many people had with New Capenna's story. It really felt like the story in the cards was just completely different than the story we were told in the... story.

[@timeilers5612]

Boy howdy do I have an Ikoria for you :P

[@delasvegas9644]

I love the setting and art direction for this plane and i think the mechanics are fun, but the story was lacking. Also, why was there no Riveteers side-story? We get 0 insight into Ziatora or any the other Riveteers, or what they're like. That annoys me

[@sertaki]

At least we know they like punching. But yeah, quite disappointing.

[@stevilicious]

I love your channel! thanks to you I don't have to read through the kind of boring storylines the last sets had (except Crimson Vow/Moonlight Hunt)... keep on the great work!

[@TheMalletKid]

Amazing video!! I really think they are going to return to this plane within the next 3- 10 years. My guess is it's going to be in the same fashion as dragon of tarkir where the Angels are back and running the mobs terribly and it's up to the demons to take it back. I believe that explains the slight disconnect between the story and visuals to leave space for a return set with Giada (probably getting a spark) and the rest of the freed angels. Hopefully this comment ages well lol.

[@nickrossi5992]

I just find it weird that nobody (even here) is talking about the hinting at Elspeth also being a wayward Angel like Giada. For me when reading the story, that was a significant moment

[@FlightlessPheasant]

I find this sets story to be a confusing mess. I'm particularly disappointed with Urabrask's poor showing. He is easily my favorite praetor and he got done dirty by this story. A praetor showing up should always be a major story point, but his presence is so unimportant that even in this review he is only mentioned twice.

[@lucasriddle3431]

And if (like me) you don't bother to read the side stories (which, yes, I really should), you literally have no idea he's there on the plane. That's how little impact he makes on the main story of the set. I can assume he's there to investigate the site of (one of) the Phyrexians' most significant defeat(s), and the Halo that enabled it, but as far as I'm aware he has literally no influence on the main Elspeth-centred story.

[@Hexatomb]

Tezzerett is working for the Phyrexian praetors. Urabrask was tasked to this plane, likely as a scout, so isn't meant to be seen. It's weird he didn't have more a card presence, but after the previous compleations the praetors are likely looking for more planeswalker since the spark is part of their current goal. Capenna defeated the phyrexian invasion so keeping an eye on it is smart. Elspeth taking halo back to dominaria is probably worrisome to the praerors at this point.

[@notagoat281]

It does _kind of_ make sense from the given story why Urabrask was only on his own card because he spends the entire story just licking his wounds from inter-planar travel and doing science on Halo. What makes _less_ sense is the fact that the previous 2 Phyrexian Praetors we encountered on other planes were apparently just fine using the Planar Bridge, but suddenly for Urabrask it's been corrupted.

[@MagicArcanum]

They other praetors were not fine - Vorinclex was also a broken mess when he arrived on Kaldheim and the story tells us he spent considerable time hunting local creatures and using their flesh to remake his own body. He also appears on multiple cards in that set, even though he was just there to recover the tree sample (which ironically was not shown on a card)

[@notagoat281]

@@MagicArcanum : My mistake on the not being damaged part. But at least Vorinclex was implied to be doing stuff "off screen" rather than just hiding and having others run errands for him. Both of the other cards that depict him or refer to him (I believe Kaya's Onslaught and Dogged Pursuit are the only 2 besides his own) take place in the beginning of the story, as Kaya tracks and then fights him. Meanwhile Urabrask didn't really _do_ anything that would make a good card. Lie There And Rest doesn't really sound like a very fun card. _Maybe_ they could have done something with his meeting with Vivien, or with him studying Halo?

[@7swordquanta459]

I was expecting Elspeth, when facing Ob Nixilis and while holding Luxior (or whatever her weapon was), to say "Say hello to my little friend!" Missed opportunity

[@KnightsofTitan]

New cappenna felt like it was suppose to be a full block, but got shorten down to fit how releases work now

[@thatkaiguy]

Thank you for the summary. I understand it way better with this video.

[@MagicArcanum]

Glad to hear it!

[@nateperkins9860]

I really do feel that they cut Davriel Kane, whether he was replaced by Ob, Elspeth or Vivian but there is no way he wasn't intended to be in this set.

[@TheOtherAngle]

I've read tons of other books by many other popular authors and loved their literature. My problem with Magic's writers is that they focus too much on representation and not enough on story. Thank goodness this channel exists. It's way easier to understand what's happening from one of these videos than I could ever understand reading from the website.

[@jamesloder8652]

"There are 5 crime families who run the city, but only 2 are pertinent to the story." Well that's disappointing...

[@Fattybobatty1224]

I don’t understand why the phyrexians had to be driven from the plane. It would be much more interesting if New Capenna was completely surrounded by a twisted hell of old Phyrexia, cut off from Yawgmoth. That could have made Urabrask’s presence more compelling too-he’s searching for Phyrexians that have yet to be touched by Elesh Norn’s influence. It’s much better than him messing himself up to go there just because he had a dream about meeting Elspeth there.

[@ToxicAtom]

I think we're really starting to see the cracks form from having one-set stories. They're trying to shove as much into one set's worth of time in the spotlight what they would normally over the course of two or three. ...but then that leads me to our most recent visit to Innistrad and that theory kinda falls apart.

[@ChristopherG1990]

It feels like several plot points that were leading up to some big reveal fell flat. Like, floating city built by angels where the plane was decimated by Phyrexia? It made the plane sound like Serra’s Realm. Then we have the character Giada who does the same explosive ability much like Elspeth. Was this supposed to reveal that Elspeth is actually an angel? And Tezzeret playing double agent with the Phyrexia Praetors…does this mean he’s still running on Nicol Bolas’s orders of ensuring New Phyrexia does not grow into a threat? So many questions left unanswered

[@ShawnSansonetti]

Xander: dead but not super dead. That is reserved for Gideon. This story felt like it jumped all over the place for me. The side stories gave great world building support but the main story seemed chaotic with no real payoff. It doesn't feel like we're going back here soon so at the end I can sum it up with "Elspeth got a new sword." We can splash in the fact is has fancy angel juice in the guard but that takes away from making it sound like she went shopping.

[@MrJTGarner]

I love that the Phyrexians are slowly(very slowly) being brought back to the forefront little by little. I do want them all back now but I'll take what I can get. These videos help a great deal thanks to your incredible storytelling Ryan. Biggest question I have is that if all the Praetors are receiving new versions I can't wait to see what Elesh Norn's is going to look like.

[@Bonavire]

Be careful what you wish for...

[@joshc7291]

Totally agree with your assessment, they obviously changed this story very late in the game. If we take Vivien and Urabrask out, and we put the angels back on the world coexisting with the demons, then you basically eliminate the connection to the Phyrexians at all and the story is about the families (with both angels and demons working together) fighting for control of the city which seems to make a lot more sense given the cards

[@michaelblueknight1268]

Elspeth is such a lovable woman, everytime I read something about her I fall in love with her even more than before. She's the hero we need

[@rowdyrager-9403]

Just got the 5 commander precons ordered. They should be arriving today. Hope they are a fun set!

[@Insanir]

Old Phyrexians were mostly alligned to black mana, so Halo worked against them. Wasn't Yawgmoth in his monstrous black mana death cloud form destroyed by a burst of white mana from the Null Moon? But the New Phyrexians are 5-colored and even have their own Angels...

[@xdavid00]

This summary also summarized most of what I thought. There were LOTS of world-building related side stories and card, but the main story was a bit narrow and doesn't actually bring any new and interesting revelations to all the "secrets" teased throughout the story. Soul of Emancipation seems to be why the angels are back (and is actually the image shown on the main story instead a story spotlight card), but all that has to be inferred from existing cards. I think one issue could be because the story requires a lot of political interactions between factions and also building on the intrigue of "what happened to the angels," but unlike Ravnica that whole concept never got enough room to fully develop. Also, unlike last set Neon Dynasty, the story couldn't just be carried by a character driven story arc. One particular example of the interactions between families not having room to grow (both from side stories I assume you'll cover later) are Raffine and Falco Spara both working for some prophecies. Falco specifically is hording vast amounts of Halo for some reason. Yet the main story closed with Elspeth using Xander's personal Halo stash for some reason. Really felt like those story arcs were totally left hanging. Also, one last thought, I personally was expecting the Urabrask story to "go somewhere," I'm not sure if other people got that vibe. There was the whole side story with Vivien, but the story ended without following up on that. I don't even think we know how much Vivien told Elspeth. I don't think it's that bad ending on a cliffhanger for that arc, but I just totally wasn't expecting is. But part of this might also be Jin-Gitaxis taking such an active role on Kamigawa. Urabrask is this set seems more akin to Vorinclex in Kaldheim; shows up, interacts, ignored for rest of story lol. Love your videos!

[@AidanWR]

"But then he commits the greatest sin you can make against a hero character." Me: "He starts monologuing." "He starts monologuing."

[@iPhonix07]

The “this feels like a poor man’s version of ravniva” just hits. I never was too interested with this plane and even the story doesn’t sound that compelling. Maybe they should’ve developed over more sets like ravnica is usually handled

[@xmenwolverineX]

I love this style of video thank you!!!

[@godblackheart]

Always love your lore/story videos. Help me understand the sets! Keep up the awesome work!

[@jesusmunoz6372]

When this set got announced I was not the hyped about it. But the story is more interesting then I thought.

[@Theblueportal98]

Capena lore feels like it should of been 2 and the second set could be the angels that were left in stasis being very upset about the demons leaving them like that

[@anothertarnishedone5960]

Is sad that an unique and original plane like New Cappena only has one set. I want more of all that gangster stuff mixed with magic

[@TheCart54321]

Can’t wait for this to get its own dnd book.

[@ColdCaseJohnDoe]

so did Urbrask like... actually do anything in New capenna...? it felt like Tezzert was basically going; "look at this guy - neat huh? anyway have a nice adventure." Is he like... a good guy...? is he working with the other phyrexians...? Has he just - been here for ages just chilling and waiting for things to calm down in new phyrexia?

[@sesamestreettv]

This is one of my favorite sets since Kaldheim, absolutely love the aesthetic

[@marcelbehncke900]

Thank you very much for this very cool Video 😊🤴🏻👍🏾 my favorite KZbinr and Plane 😊👍🏾 thank you very much , good Job

[@infamousXsniper055]

I like that we no long have blocks and wizards has the freedom to give planes as many sets as fits them. Innistrad got 2 sets, Strixhaven got 1, Ravnica with War of the Spark got 3, etc. Unfortunately, Wizards keeps giving sets which should have more than one set only the one set. It's unfortunate since this new model should be giving them more freedom but they instead keep restricting themselves.

[@franbh94]

I feel the same as with every set from Eldraine onwards: Just 1 set isn't enough. Just 1 set gives me the impression that a plane is just a photograph, a lame parody of their source material with little original worldbuilding backing it up. Then we have our little boy Innistrad that has 2 sets and uses them to tell a compelling story in 2 acts with characters developing through it (see Katilda and her two legendary cards). WotC, please, use 2 or 3 sets per plane. Give us insights and true and compelling wordbuilding for the plane. Use intrigue in Strixhaven, have us wondering for a set what will happen when the Blood Avatar awakens and if the Defense against Black Magic professor will betray the school. Here I just see a lot of info/name dump in an unamusing story in a plane that we won't visit in +5 years just for the sake of dropping a McGuffin.

[@RisottoNero-z1w]

this should be AT LEAST 2 sets

[@bestania]

Can we all just admit Wizards makes a good card game? I'll even tip my hat to their world-building. But their talent for writing stories... I know middle-schoolers that could write a more coherent tale.

[@TehFoamy]

Well, at least when he was fighting Ob Nixilis, Xander wasn't a total pushover ...no pun intended

[@djelibaebi]

was looking forward to riveteers as i used to do boxing when i was younger and jaxis seemed like a perfect card for that but like ... are they just not in the story?

[@CarmenCards]

I don't know I'm always more interested in the stories that center on the established planeswalkers (new capenna, zendikar rising)than I am the newer ones (ikora, neon dynasty)

[@U.Inferno]

Man. A set all about deals and mafias and demons... It would have been perfect for our favorite diabolist.

[@AidanWR]

I was watching this video hoping to learn why Urabrask was there, because there are no clues on the cards, and the other praetors had stolen something from the planes they visited. Looks like I still have no answer because even Wizards don't know why he was there

[@robertsimpson7424]

Wizards of the coast need to get back to three ser blocks. Forget dropping the ball, they let the air out of it with the way they have been carrying on.

[@NinaFelwitch]

I like the beard. And I personally think that what's on the cards always has priority over anything written elsewhere.

[@cibor07]

As always, great video, great narration. It's also a shame that the story it's also greatly underdeveloped, like it has been for many years after they started having one set to cover a whole arc: empty characters, 0 character development, rushed narrative, tons of red herrings, etc. It is what it is, so there is no point beating a dead horse. It is however very fun to listen to what You have to Say and how it is presented, and that's a gift by itself. Thank You for the work.

[@natahliazaring5291]

What I wish they would do with the "single set" design philosophy is not be afraid to commit to that. SNC is a setting that needed a whole set to introduce it and establish the baseline. Throwing in ways that it ties into the larger magic story and having those be front and center just...detracts from being able to establish the world. If you only get one set, all you get to do is establish the plane. Like, you can even have an Elspeth card and have the whole explanation be "she's trying to find her home and thinks this might be it." And then on a return to NC, you get to dive into what she's doing and how that unfolds. But a real interesting design element that lets you do is have the return to a plane happen only a few releases later. Maybe we get SNC now, then come back for The Halo Revolution in the fall where we get to see Elspeth's search, Ob's rise to power, the changing of the old guard and the return of the angels. Making each of the two sets able to stand on their own is good design, and given a breather between them both builds suspense and also helps keep mechanics fresh.

[@woody72691]

I love This Plane I love characters and setting and I hope they come back to it soon

[@MexcanNinja]

it just shows they them doing 1 set isn't enough to tell a full story and falls short every time when dealing with mechanics that could be explored in 2-3 sets for more fleshed out stories.

[@StevenBryceWroten]

I really think that each new plane needs at least two sets. One to establish a baseline and one to show how things change.

[@raimarulightning]

The abandonment of the blocks format has really screwed settings like New Cappena. It's basically impossible to get attached and invested in a plane like this when we have so little exposure before the next one. As for the story on the cards, it was basically indiscernible to me. Genuinely had no idea who was interacting with whom, and while the tone and aesthetic was done well, it was apparently at the expense of narrative. Great video, as always, and I hope to god the side stories better explain and explore Urabrask.