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Magic the Gathering, a Wallet gathering game. (Part 1)

Udlmaster

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It's time to R-R-R-R-R-R-R-REVISIONNNNNNNNNN.

It's been long enough. People have seen my livetweeting about my research and I've done enough to solidify for Part 1: The Planes.

Strap in and strap on, we're about to get technical. This is more or less a copy-paste job of my MTG blog, so if you want to skip the waffle, read here.

The Planes:
What is a Plane? A Plane is a Universe, ranging in size, with some reaching Infinite size
Jodah looked, and he saw the universe as Freyalise saw
it, as the planeswalker saw it. Worlds spun and danced, each belonging to one universe, yet separated from each other by the walls of reality. Some of the planes were natural, Jodah noticed, while others felt artificial, like works of art or mechanical things. They were huge. They were infinite.
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~ The Eternal Ice - Ice Age II, pg. 303​
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When falling into the Knowledge Pool in the story "Dark Discoveries", Tezzeret the Seeker describes New Phyrexia as having multiple layers and containing entire worlds;
"Layers within layers... there are entire worlds down here. I hear echoes, voices from the depths, scarping machinery. Furnaces. Shrieks."
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~ Dark Discoveries, Chapter 3​
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Other Planes have multiple Universes within them, a "jumble of infinities":
The study on the Shard and the rogue plane progressed
slightly better. It was hard for even Jodah to wrap his brain around the concept of a jumble of infinities, a collection of universes, split off from a greater infinity. Indeed, how could planeswalkers dream of escaping the Shard when there were full realities within this universe?
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~ The Eternal Ice - Ice Age II, pg. 68​
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Some Planes themselves seem to have Planes within them:
Better die than surrender, thought the mage. With no other hope, he reached into distant memory and
plucked forth a spell once glimpsed in an arcane book so horrid he'd suffered nightmares for months. There were many places among the infinite planes of Dominaria so frightening that even to imagine them drove seasoned mages insane with horror. One land was so volatile that even to breathe its air would blister a man to ashes. Yet desperate times called for desperate measures. "Unleash," Johan gasped, already recoiling from horrors to come, "the beasts of Bogardan!"
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~ Jedit - Legends Cycle, pg. 47​
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Planes like Theros have multiple infinite sizes realms within them, such as the Underworld:
Most imagine the Underworld's wards as being
stacked atop one another, but their actual relationships defy mortal understanding. While the Tartyx River reaches each ward, Phylias is typically defined as the entry to the Underworld, while Tizerus is farthest from this entrance. The other wards hold their own equal places in between. Regardless, souls destined for each realm reach their destinations with equal efficiency and permanency. Each distinctive Underworld ward is effectively infinite in scale, with the space between noteworthy locations endlessly expanding and contracting. Traveling between locations is typically impossible on foot. Secret paths that defy mortal logic, magical steeds, and the intervention of powerful Underworld denizens all might speed one's travels, though. Attempting to escape the Underworld is an entirely different, nearly impossible matter, though.
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~ Mythic Odysseys of Theros, pg. 107​
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Some Planes do possess higher dimensions, in Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos a Quandrix trinket can be a model hypercube:
A model hypercube carved from green crystal,
showcasing the fourth dimension
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~ Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos, pg. 34​
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Other planes such as those created by Planeswalkers possess multiple temporal dimensions:
In this model, the physical and temporal dimensions of
reality are warped by energetic bombardment. When reality becomes deeply convoluted, it traps energy so that it travels in circles instead of straight lines. Thus, the warping of reality by energy slows and solidifies that same energy. Eventually, energy and dimensional reality are compacted enough to form matter. Conversely, to change matter back into energy—as happens in the charging of powerstones—is to unfold the dimensions of reality, to create space. The charging of powerstones unleashes vast stores of energy by unfolding vast tracts of space.
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~ The Artifact's cycle. 1. The Thran, pg. 116​
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Each Plane itself has infinite time streams, something seen with Dominaria and Tarkir multiple times:
The rifts reach into infinite time streams, bringing the divergent products of alternate pasts into the present.
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Then again, with the timeline looking more
like a scribble these days, it could just be that many versions of the same two or three goblin wizards keep popping into the now from one of the infinite thens. I don’t think about it too hard; goblin wizards are as unworthy of thought as treefolk sprinters.
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Dominaria's time rifts continue to make life more and more
bizarre for its struggling inhabitants. The hand of Time brings the menaces of yesterday forward to cause havoc again today. The foes of ages past are deadly, but their methods and weaknesses are known. Dominarians can use this knowledge to survive the rifts and those who step through them. But the rifts are fracturing further, changing shape, changing direction. The hand of Time reaches not just backward but also into a temporal kaleidoscope, pointing to infinite pasts that facet and twist and branch from every moment. Through this twisting, ever-changing array of moments, Time grabs hold of just one. It could be the one we all know, the one in which the cat chose to kill the mouse that lay trapped beneath its paw. Or it could be the one in which the cat succumbs to an alien feeling of pity and sheathes its claws. Each of these moments begins a new timeline, creates a new cat, a new world into which the time rifts may open.
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Entities like Eligeth, Crossroads Augur exist five minutes in every possible future:
Nothing pleases a sphinx more than searching for and
discovering the secrets of the Multiverse. Centuries ago, Eligeth stumbled upon a truth that no being was supposed to know, and now he exists about five minutes into every possible future. To put it simply, if you were to speak with Eligeth, he would have already had the conversation with you and have experienced every possible permutation said conversation could take. Therefore, to you, it might seem like he is completely uninterested in everything you have to say, but in reality, he's already heard you out infinite times and has already answered your question as thoroughly and thoughtfully as possible-you just exist in the wrong timeline to hear the answer.
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Likewise, certain Planeswalkers are themselves natively higher dimensional such as Urza, who reduced himself to being a Second Dimensional being only to return back to being a fourth dimensional being:
With a thought the deed was done. Urza and the dragon folded into
immutable geometry. Planar creatures, they careened through the pitching corridor of space. In moments, the veil of that middle place dropped away, replaced with rushing treetops and a bright, cloud-cluttered sky. Urza and his drake regained their third and fourth dimensions. Wings unfolded into rushing air.
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~ The Artifacts cycle II, pg. 473​
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Some Planes such as Duskmourn may contain certain Platonic concepts themselves:
Chrysalises hung around the edges of the room, hard, angular things that gave the impression of natural and unnatural geometry at the same time, like they were shaped from platonic solids dredged out of another dimension. They were painted in shades of green and brown, and as Niko watched, one of them twitched, moved by something from inside. It was unsettling. It hurt their eyes to look at for too long.
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Similarly, Planes like Theros have conceptual spaces such as the Mystic Sea:
This body of mist and water hides endless secrets
within its depths-both literal secrets that manifest from mortal minds and unimagined concepts not yet fully formed. Thassa's palace floats underwater, its buildings suspended in giant bubbles that drift with the currents. At its edge, in a city of divine copper and marbleized hopes, Ephara makes her home.
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~ Mythic Odysseys of Theros, pg 106​
[/td]​
During Tezzeret's adventures in Test of Metal, he describes a Plane possessing five dimensions, with himself having a fourth dimensional mind:
It was damnably difficult to navigate five dimensions with a four-dimensional mind. He
supposed it would improve with practice; after all, he hadn’t met any of his future selves showing up to warn him he was making mistakes.
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~ Test of Metal, pg. 124​
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In Dissension, Capobar managed to escape some "Nephilim", one of whom could see in every direction and in seven dimensions:
The creature ripped away bits
of meat with barbed hooks lining its writhing arms and stuffed the flesh between light-sensitive eye sacs, there to be digested directly by an organ that had no known analog on the plane of Ravnica, a combination stomach and brain. It could see in every direction, and in seven dimensions.
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~ Dissension - Ravnica Cycle III, pg. 19​
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Seven dimensions itself seems to be notable as the Dimensionality of Ravnica, as a map of the Utvara area was displayed in Seven Dimensions:
Chief Observer Vazozav tugged at a dangling gold chain he
had wrapped absentmindedly around his left ear. His right ear was mostly gone. His excellent eyes, as young as they'd ever been, peered out between centenarian lids at the scrying pool that filled most of the floor space at Dragonfire Base. It displayed in seven dimensions a colorful, accurate map of the Utvara area and the sky above it.
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~ Guildpact - Ravnica Cycle II, pg. 18​
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The seven-dimensional image showed a sort of crease in the
sky five miles above a now-empty ghost town.
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~ Guildpact - Ravnica Cycle II, pg. 18​
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Crix's enhanced, analytical mind had little difficulty
making out a few of the simpler calculations of fate here and there, as well as a tangle of pipes and energy-filled tubes that were a perfect depiction of Niv-Mizzet's Seven-Dimensional Geometromancy Proof.
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~ Guildpact - Ravnica Cycle II, pg. 195​
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Ugin's Meditation Realm, a Focal Point of the Multiverse itself lacks dimensionality entirely:
Narset shook her head. "I feel something within here. Someone. I have suspicions of whom it might be, but it's impossible. Let's explore more before I make any hasty claims."
Elspeth rose into the air, making an orbit around Narset. It finally dawned on her what she'd found so unsettling: this place lacked dimensionality; it was more an idea than anything concrete, the landscape bending away as she looked at it, warping. It was a trick, an illusion, but for what reason?
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Within Strixhaven, Mages there create Mathematical spaces and realities, rewriting reality to exist in new mathematical ways, even going beyond numbers and even generating illogical, paradoxical and impossible spaces:
The blue side of Quandrix attracts those who delve into the abstract realms
of theory, conjecture, and possibility. Abstractors and proofspinners conjure wild magic that stretches the possibilities of space. Spiralmancers and fractalologists create beautiful patterns and odd optical illusions with uncertain relationships to reality. Echognosts and sequence prophets learn by studying infinite repeating patterns that bend the mind. Metamancers, phenomenologists, and void theorists go beyond numbers to study and tweak the fundamental nature of reality itself, learning or altering essential truths about the world. Sometimes this generates "impossibles," which are strange, surreal beings born of paradoxes.
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The green side of Quandrix is focused on bringing numerical possibilities to
life, creating physical reality out of mathematical possibilities. Vivifiers, zoetimancers, and figurists conjure fractal creatures based on biological life. Augmentors and scale druids, simply put, enjoy making things BIGGER. The famed Quandrix mana scholars investigate the nature and possibilities of mana itself and give lectures on leylines, Snarls, spellcasting, and other mana phenomena across the plane.
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The Quandrix campus is alive with dynamic sculptures made of water
behaving in odd ways: cube-shaped fountains, arching aqueducts that flow through the air, towers of solid-seeming water. One water structure holds a secret: a mysterious inner expanse called the Arithmodrome. From the outside, the Arithmodrome looks like a large cube of water, 10 feet on a side. Inside, it's an infinite-seeming theory-space where the rules of reality are suspended. Mages use this space to explore theoretical numerical possibilities.
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This does also include entirely conceptual mathematics:
The perspective of substance emphasizes physical
reality. In this view, math is embodied in the natural forces of the multiverse, waiting to be discovered by those with the intellectual fortitude to delve into those secrets. Quandrix mages who embrace this view use magic to bring numerical concepts to life, creating or altering physical reality out of mathematical possibility.
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~ Strixhaven - A Curriculum of Chaos, pg. 19​
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As well that they manipulate the fundamental aspects of the natural world by replacing its equations:
Professors of substance specialize in the concrete
side of Quandrix philosophy, manipulating physical dimensions and properties of growth. Their magic alters and replaces the equations that describe the natural world, including creatures, space, and substance. Through these manipulations, the professors change their size and the physical form of others, manipulate nature into rapid growth, travel instantaneously, and even fold space into deadly edges. These professors teach that numbers and mathematics aren’t merely intellectual concepts, but that they exist physically in all things. Professors of substance teach their students to wield magic practically, creating tangible change in the world around them.
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~ Strixhaven, a Curriculum of Chaos, pg. 208​
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It should also be understood that the Mages there also have an understanding a Set Theory and Greater infinities:
"Let me add to the growth factors." Zimone's fingers, trailing bluish light, dabbed through Dina's scrawls, pocking the muddy-green sigils with spots of brightness. "The imaginary spaces between discrete physical features theoretically extend forever, the same way an infinity of numbers exists between discrete digits. If we apply Thale's Expansion Hypothesis to flip imaginary into real . . ."
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Likewise, Zimone explains that between each Atom in the Planes exists an infinite space which she uses for her magic:
“There exists a theoretical infinity between the discrete atoms of reality. I’m simply appropriating that infinity as storage space.”
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Zimone herself says that understanding extraplanar geometry is easy if you think in Twelve Dimensions:
“Extraplanar geometry isn’t so hard once you get used to thinking in twelve dimensions.”
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Some planes exist outside of Time and Space such as Zhalfir, an artificial plane:
"That's what he thought, too." Teferi clasped his hands together and rested his forehead on his fingers. "So, with his aid, I sealed shut a Phyrexian portal that had opened up in the skies above Zhalfir. When the task was done, and he demanded my help in return, I simply laughed and refused. 'You've only wanted to defeat your foes,' I told him. 'This is how I save my people. This is how you and I differ.' Then I siphoned energy from the closed portal to fuel a spell spiriting Zhalfir away from space and time itself. I didn't ask permission. I didn't care what the people of Zhalfir thought. So, you tell me—who is the monster?"
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Some Planes have conceptual embodiments such as the Kami & Myojin who embody concepts like justice, rage, darkness secrecy, etc:
Uramon replied, but Toshi was concentrating too hard to
listen. There were kami spirits for everything in the utsushiyo— storms, rivers, stones, swords, light. Even concepts such as justice and rage had patron spirits in the kakuriyo. Toshi had fallen in with the Myojin of Night's Reach, the major spirit of darkness and secrecy, which held sway wherever there was no light. He made very few demands on her and she on him, but he had spent all of his time lately establishing what her power could do and how to invoke it. He was by no means expert, but he had learned to call upon her blessings in a manner that suited him perfectly.
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~ Heretic - Betrayers of Kamigawa II, pg. 27​
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These local conceptual beings are a manifestation of all things on Kamigawa, every place, event and concept has its spiritual counterpart:
The kami are the great spirits who come from Kakuriyo, the spirit
world. Kami are manifestation of all things on Kamigawa; each place, event, and concept has a spiritual counterpart in Kakuriyo. Because of this, kami come in an overwhelming variety of forms, even among the same "species" of kami, and their brand of magic is mysterious and beyond anything mortals have conceived. There might be a kami of a specific object, like the kami of imperial dishware, or powerful overarching concepts like Kyodai, the soul of Kamigawa.
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~ Planeshifted Guide to Kamigawa, pg. 6​
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Traditionally, o-bakemono worshipped the oni, in contrast to
the reverence of kami spirits by other cultures. Oni manifest from selfish and destructive concepts, which the o-bakemono view as necessary aspects of life. Their culture is defined by such concepts, valuing the power and strength of each individual. O-bakemono worshipped the oni with blood rites and sacrifices of living sentients in exchange for gifts of strength and supernatural powers. With the advent of the Kami War, the o-bakemono succeeded in freeing many of their oni masters from their spiritual prisons, together hoping to reshape Kamigawa on these principles.
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~ Planeshifted Guide to Kamigawa, pg. 24​
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This is not unique to Kamigawa either, Lorwynn has Elementals who are described as ineffable and conceptual embodiments:
Strange and ineffable. Elementals are manifestations of Lorwyn’s deepest magic, beings of ethereal wonder. Their forms combine the anatomies of living things with ideas, dreams, and thoughts given shape.

[...]
Embodied concepts. Abstract ideas exist in Lorwyn as elementals — and the more significant the idea, the greater the elemental. In fact, the existence of elementals may be tied to the prevalence of the ideas they represent, and to the fundamental nature of Lorwyn itself.
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~ Lorwyn Player's guide, pg. 9​
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Kithkin are reverent and superstitious. They venerate the mysterious
greater elementals of Lorwyn, beings that embody the abstract concepts and dreams (and sometimes, nightmares) of the plane. They feel that the movements and actions of the greater elementals represent omens for their own lives, and watch them with respectful distance.
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Greater elementals are embodiments of ideas and concepts, often
weird, whimsical, or terrifying. They are typically massive, dwarfing many of the other creatures on the plane, though they might also take on smaller forms if they so desire. They are forces of nature that are untamable and primal. They are neither good nor evil, existing beyond the typical understanding of morality. Flamekin have a specific connection to these beings, though their communication is often a mix of instinct and guesswork.
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Planes contain within themselves all potentiality and actuality as we find out with Yawgmoth, who would be a conduit for all the energy of the plane, where Actuality and Potentiality would pass through him:
Dyfed crossed arms over her chest. “You will be a conduit for every
energy in the world. Actuality and potentiality will pass through you to imprint the stone. Once begun, the power surge will continue to completion—even if you are burned away in the process.”
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~ The Artifact Cycle - The Thran, pg. 201​
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Another example is Nyx on the Plane Theros, which contains potentiality within it;
Nyx is an endless plane of existence where the powers
of potentiality and belief hold sway. It is the realm of the gods, of belief given form, of dreams, and of rising and fading philosophies. From here, the pantheon of Theros watches the mortal world and guides the living. Though the gods live in a veritable paradise, they can't sever themselves from the mortal world. To do so would be to lose the faith of their followers, the source of their magic and a power they will not relinquish. Nyx can be perceived in the night sky, with its ever- changing brilliance marked by constellations and cosmic phenomena. Its power slips into the world in the same form, with star fields filling the shadows of Nyxborn beings that are infused with its power. While Nyx is impossible to map, distinct regions do exist, and some travelers have returned to the mortal realm with tales of these incredible locations.
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~ Mythic Odysseys of Theros, pg 106​
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So, your next question may be, "what about the Multiverse?" well...

The Multiverse is a collection of verses- I mean Planes, what this specific number is, either finite or otherwise is contested, Jodah believes that there are an infinite amount, a splinter of a Greater Infinity.
The study on the Shard and the rogue plane progressed
slightly better. It was hard for even Jodah to wrap his brain around the concept of a jumble of infinities, a collection of universes, split off from a greater infinity. Indeed, how could planeswalkers dream of escaping the Shard when there were full realities within this universe? Still, that seemed to be what was driving creatures like Leshrac mad.
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~ The Eternal Ice - Ice Age II, pg. 68​
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When discussing the Shard of Twelve Realities, Jodah goes onto describe closed off portion of the Multiverse, which became its own Multiverse, as a separate construct from the greater portion of the Multiverse, an infinite fraction of a greater infinity.
The Shard, according to the ancient texts, consisted of a
dozen or so parallel universes. This stable collection of planes split off from all the other realities at the close of the Brothers’ War, likely a result of the massive explosion at Argoth. Since then, these separated realities formed a stable construct separate from the greater portion of the multiverse—an infinite fraction of a greater infinity.
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~ The Eternal Ice - Ice Age II, pg. 68-69​
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The Official Mage the Gathering website,said that there was a boundless expanse of Worlds;
The Multiverse—a boundless expanse of worlds, each different from the last. These worlds, called planes, differ as widely as the imagination. One plane might be covered entirely in dense jungle, for example. On another, city has replaced nature entirely. Still others are volcanic, icy, barren, or more like our own world, with many varied elements.
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Several card sources seem to imply Infinite and Endless planes also such as, Behold the Multiverse:
Countless worlds unfolded before Niko, every one in need of heroes.
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Despite there being an infinite number of accessible Planes within the multiverse, according to Yawgmoth there's also an infinite number of Planes which are inaccessible:
“You're a thief. You steal other men’s ideas. You claim them for
your own,” Glacian roared. “Look at this—cities within cities!” Rebbec marveled. “There's just one catch,” Yawgmoth said with a gentle laugh. “There's no way to get into or out of one of these planes—infinite spaces that can never be reached.”
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~ Artifacts Cycle I, The Thran, pg. 121​
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Ugin, however, flatly states however that the Multiverse is infinite, the contents are not.
"They're called the Eldrazi," said Ugin, "and they devour entire worlds. They are not true Planeswalkers, yet they move freely between planes. They are living organisms, apparently native to the Blind Eternities—the only such creatures known to exist. If they are not stopped, they pose a threat to every world."
"They cannot threaten every world," said Sorin. "The Multiverse is infinite."
"You clearly don't believe that," said Ugin. "If there are an infinity of worlds, then why save any of them? Why not just move to other worlds, ahead of the Eldrazi? No. The Multiverse is boundless, but its contents are finite. To believe otherwise is to believe that nothing matters at all. And when you are as old as I am, you will understand that nihilism is an indulgence you cannot afford."
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Regardless of the number, infinite or finite, each Plane is different and is host to different realities, ranging from logic-defying to infinite expanses.
Most planes are spheres with an atmosphere and one or more suns and moons; they resemble planets. But there is no law of physics common to all planes of the Multiverse. Planes can be infinite expanses of matter, tiny specks of empty space, or logic-defying inversions of normal reality. A plane can contain an entire, sprawling universe or nothing at all.
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Teferi describes how the Multiverse itself is contradictory with any metaphor or example feeling facile and glib:
The structure of the multiverse was one of the most difficult
things to impart to a non-planeswalker, as so many of its facets were self-contradictory. The infinite array of planes was held together by the Blind Eternities, but it was also separated by them: planes had definite boundaries but indefinite shapes: travel between planes was frequently more difficult when one's origin and destination were adjacent in the multiverse's grand array. There weren't many hard and fast rules that could be applied to every plane, but there were norms that could be codified and discussed. Teferi had used a thousand different metaphors over the years, and a million different examples, but in the end he always felt any explanation was too facile and glib. A student who submitted similar answers for an exam would have found himself in the bottom half of the curve, among the other essayists who had written well but not answered the question.
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~ Time Spiral, pg. 45​
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It should be noted that Planeswalkers themselves don't fully understand the Multiverse, as revealed in Tarkir: Dragonstorm:
The Multiverse was infinitely more
complex than a mortal being could ever hope to comprehend, and this place, this dimension, this whatever it was, was a representation of that truth and others beside it. She was certain of this.
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So what does all this mean? Simple.

Planes (in totality): 1-A
Worldsoul: 1-A (They are the Plane)
Oldwalkers: At least 1-A (they can make Planes with Worldsouls. Newwalkers can collapse Planes and Bolas needed all the Sparks in the Multiverse to equal his Oldwalker spark)
Newwalkers: Varies up to 1-A (Their power varies significantly not only from character to character but also their conviction, where they're drawing their power from etc.)
Eldrazi Titans (Avatars): At least 1-A (Collapse Planes by just manifesting on them. It speaks for itself)

(Eldrazi's true form will be handled in Part 2)

Other beings would also get similar scaling such as:
Theros Gods
Phyrexian Preators (possibly rating)
Kamigawa strongest Kami (Superior to the Spirit of the Spark)
And people who scale to Planeswalkers in General.

TL;DR: I've corrupted yet another verse

Agree:

Disagree:

Neutral:
 
Following,

Btw you accidentally added a bunch of these:
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Following,

Btw you accidentally added a bunch of these:
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I just copy and pasted from my blog lol

It's an artifact from it.
 
As some additional things to add onto this, in Loran's Smile, we get this descriptor for how summoning works
"When you cast a spell using fire," explained the scholar, "I believe you do not create fire. Rather you take the magical energy and form it into the shape of fire, which then does your bidding. It is for all intents and purposes fire, but it is made of magic."

"But what about when I use fire," asked Feldon, "or when the hermit calls a great wurm?"

The scholar waved his hand, "Different uses for the same tools. Yes, in those cases it is a real fire and a real wurm, but the magic alters it. For the moment, assume that you can create something made of magical energy."

Feldon thought about it and nodded slowly.

"So if you study an object, you can create the object over time," said the scholar.

Again, Feldon nodded.

"If you study me," he said, "you would be studying that which makes me a scholar. Therefore you could call at a later time that part of me which is my scholarliness and rely on its advice."
Feldon took a deep breath and called upon the powers of the land. He thought of the nervous scholar in his thick spectacles, rummaging relentlessly through the decaying paper and rotting vellum. He tried to call a being that summed up the nature of the creature in one place.

There was a pause, and then an identical duplicate of the scholar appeared.

No, not identical. It was taller, and its flesh had a ruddier hue. But it was thin and nervous and had thick spectacles and a knowing manner.

The scholar (the real one), walked up to the created being and looked over his glasses at it. The duplicate did the same.

Feldon was amazed. "Is it real?" he choked out at last.

The scholar reached out and touched the quasiduplicate, and the duplicate touched back. "Feels like it," said the scholar. "A lot of the little details are wrong, but you aren't just summoning me. You're summoning the essence of my me-ness as a scholar. You can keep this me around by keeping that part of your mind aware of me, but it isn't. Me, that is."
For some stuff regarding aether and summoning (from the old ask wizards Q&As, an archive of which can be found here)

January 3, 2007​

Q: It can mutate and rift, it can surge and become tainted, it can snap and storm, and you can even pack it into a spellbomb. So I guess my question is: What exactly is "Æther" (and what is its correct pronunciation)?

--Derrick

Grundy, VA

A: From Brady Dommermuth, Magic Creative Director:

As I said in an earlier Ask Wizards response, “æther is the stuff between planes. In the Magic multiverse, when a creature is summoned, it materializes from (is 'pulled through') the æther.” Here’s a little more information about this extraplanar stuff:

  • “Æther” is Latin for the modern word “ether,” whose cosmological (rather than chemical) meaning is the basis for Magic’s æther.
  • The word “ethereal” is the adjectival form of “ether,” but whereas we use “æther” to refer to the stuff between planes, we use “ethereal” to mean simply “intangible” or “celestial” (its standard English meanings).
  • Older planeswalkers like Teferi refer to the æther somewhat poetically as “the Blind Eternities.” Only planeswalkers and beings of godlike power can enter this “space.” Little is known about its physics, including whether it has any.
“Æther” is pronounced “EE-ther,” with a long e and an unvoiced “th” sound (like the one in “lethal,” not the voiced sound in “whether”).
(Of note this is more support regarding the aether and the blind eternities being one and the same, the stuff between planes and all that)

April 14, 2004​

Q: "What is the Æther?"

-- Nate L.

A: From Brady Dommermuth, Magic Creative Director:

"Æther is the stuff between planes. In the Magic multiverse, when a creature is summoned, it materializes from (is 'pulled through') the æther. Blue and red mages are best at manipulating the æther -- blue by Aether Burst summoned creatures to the æther, red by 'Aether Flash' the æther so that it hurts creatures that emerge from it."
WoTC themselves say that there are infinite worlds (entirely likely to mean planes) across the multiverse here
In Magic: The Gathering, a Planeswalker is a powerful mage who is able to travel across the planes of existence. There are infinite worlds across the Multiverse, and Planeswalkers are unique in their ability to move from one world to the next, expanding their knowledge and power through the experiences they collect there.
(For some further stuff unrelated to this thread but to the wider mtg cosmology)
More stuff regarding how the Aether is The Blind Eternities
THE BLIND ETERNITIES
Dividing the planes are the Blind Eternities, an unknowable maelstrom of aether that fills the
abstract void between worlds. The Blind Eternities are traversable only by those whose souls have
been touched by aether, granting them a planeswalker’s spark. Even then, it remains a perilous
journey, as the Eternities threaten to rip apart a careless planeswalker.
-Magic: The Gathering - The Visual Guide
and from the magic story podcast for the mending we have a couple of statements
Dominaria was connected through the Aether, or the Blind Eternities, the Space/Not-Space between planes...

Teferi ends up giving up his spark in order to seal the Shivan time rift [...], the idea was the Planeswalker spark, you can think of as a little bit of the Aether, a little bit of the blind eternites, that becomes imprinted on a soul as it becomes embodied in a being [...] as this kinda birthmark of the soul that the aether leaves, and that's what makes you a planeswalker, the naescent, the ability to become a planeswalker. These sparks, these bits of aether, embodied in people, were shredding the multiverse...
The Blind Eternities being described as logic defying and quasi-existent, along with Aether being described as raw potential, here

The Blind Eternities​

The “Blind Eternities” is a somewhat poetic term for the space between planes. The Blind Eternities are a chaotic, logic-defying place of quasi-existence filled with raw potential called Æther. Only Planeswalkers can survive there, and only for a limited time. Mortal beings without the Planeswalker spark are soon destroyed by raw entropy and uncontained mana that suffuses the Blind Eternities.

Beyond that
still disagree with this being on the blog for the reasons I mentioned before (Platonic solids not being Platonic concepts)
Some Planes such as Duskmourn may contain certain Platonic concepts themselves:
Chrysalises hung around the edges of the room, hard, angular things that gave the impression of natural and unnatural geometry at the same time, like they were shaped from platonic solids dredged out of another dimension. They were painted in shades of green and brown, and as Niko watched, one of them twitched, moved by something from inside. It was unsettling. It hurt their eyes to look at for too long.
I do think the concept mention regarding Thassa is referring to mental concepts rather than physical ones, given her nature as the God of Knowledge, so concept in that context being mental there would make more sense, in addition to the belief-based nature of Theros' gods

But in my own opinion, I disagree with 1-A and think Low 1-A is more correct for planes (and honestly the blind eternities), given the existence of antifeats (the main kicker here being the fact that aether can exist within physical reality and be interacted with by normal people, become normal, physical, 3D people (aetherborn) who interface with reality in the same way as everyone else, and thus without some degree of counter argument fails 1-A standards of being irreducable to a lesser reality)
 
But in my own opinion, I disagree with 1-A and think Low 1-A is more correct for planes (and honestly the blind eternities), given the existence of antifeats (the main kicker here being the fact that aether can exist within physical reality and be interacted with by normal people, become normal, physical, 3D people (aetherborn) who interface with reality in the same way as everyone else, and thus without some degree of counter argument fails 1-A standards of being irreducable to a lesser reality)
I mean, the entire point of Aetherborn is that they're highly unstable and unable to actually exist in a physical form for more than a few weeks. They literally spawn into existence knowing the exact moment they will stop existing
 
I mean, the entire point of Aetherborn is that they're highly unstable and unable to actually exist in a physical form for more than a few weeks. They literally spawn into existence knowing the exact moment they will stop existing
Yeah, but that doesn't stop it from being an antifeat
 
Wouldn't it be more along the lines of avatar creation?
No? They are directly and explicitly made of aether
Either way they're just an example I was using of aether being very much physically present and tangible, and that being a very direct antifeat to 1-A
 
But in my own opinion, I disagree with 1-A and think Low 1-A is more correct for planes (and honestly the blind eternities), given the existence of antifeats (the main kicker here being the fact that aether can exist within physical reality and be interacted with by normal people, become normal, physical, 3D people (aetherborn) who interface with reality in the same way as everyone else, and thus without some degree of counter argument fails 1-A standards of being irreducable to a lesser reality)
Aether existing within reality more so supports that Planes are 1-A rather than the reverse.

Since if your issue with 1-A BE is that it fails the standard that 1-A cannot be reduced (irreducible) then it stops being an issue when Planes are 1-A.

Regardless, the reason why Planes would be 1-A under the new system is that they contain their own potential to be any variation of themselves, which is how we get all the things with Strixhaven.

These variants are contained within the Planes themselves, including mathematical variants of the Planes which exist beyond numbers or use transfinite numbers (As we see with Zimone having a clear understanding of set theory and cardinality), meaning a Plane in totality would contain all possible dimensionality and mathematical structuring it could have, including the ones that are using things beyond numbers and cardinality. The Plane (In totality) is qualitatively superior to it's potential existences as the super-structure containing it all within a singular Timeline, let alone infinite timelines within the Plane.

This is also not mentioning the Conceptual embodiments of each aspect of existence within a Plane all contained within it.

By and large, these antifeats are easily explainable.
More stuff regarding how the Aether is The Blind Eternities
We don't need to discuss the Blind Eternities yet, as that will all be in Part 2.

It's in my blog regardless, so no need to worry.

I do think the concept mention regarding Thassa is referring to mental concepts rather than physical ones, given her nature as the God of Knowledge, so concept in that context being mental there would make more sense, in addition to the belief-based nature of Theros' gods
Well, I took it as mental concepts regardless. The main point was that mental concepts have material existence within the sea.

Beyond that
still disagree with this being on the blog for the reasons I mentioned before (Platonic solids not being Platonic concepts)
As said before, it's only on there as a "possibly" and as before I don't think a cube or tetrahedron is "otherworldly", hence why I left it in under the "possibly"
 
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Aether existing within reality more so supports that Planes are 1-A rather than the reverse.

Since if your issue with 1-A BE is that it fails the standard that 1-A cannot be reduced (irreducible) then it stops being an issue when Planes are 1-A.

Regardless, the reason why Planes would be 1-A under the new system is that they contain their own potential to be any variation of themselves, which is how we get all the things with Strixhaven.

These variants are contained within the Planes themselves, including mathematical variants of the Planes which exist beyond numbers or use transfinite numbers (As we see with Zimone having a clear understanding of set theory and cardinality).

By and large, these antifeats are easily explainable.
It's not it simply existing within reality that's the antifeat, it's the fact that it exists within the 3D portion of reality with no explanation as to its existence, it is distinctively as real as these non-1-A things, just because the totality of a plane or furthest extents of a plane are 1-A, does not mean that everything within it is 1-A, and the fact that Aether as a substance can manifest, interact with, and be interacted by less than 1-A things distinctively stops Aether from being 1-A.

The planes being 1-A off that is fine (feels more Low 1-A to me tbh), but aether's own antifeats when it is superior in nature to planes actively shoots the existence of 1-A planes in the foot
 
It's not it simply existing within reality that's the antifeat, it's the fact that it exists within the 3D portion of reality with no explanation as to its existence
Yeah, that doesn't really mean anything, for the same reason why Avatars of Eternity show up in 3-D space but remain 1-A despite just being shards of a 1-A being. When we see Eternity show up, we don't go "Oh, well he's showing up in 3-D space, time to downgrade", we just realise he's spread out across other aspects of reality that need not go remarked upon because it's irrelevant to the story. From what we know about Aether, it's potentiality, so would be spreading out in other ways, not just existing within 3-D reality.

It's not like being an aetherborn has ever been treated as you becoming a regular person, so the anti-feat wouldn't apply. They're dying the moment they begin to exist because they're unherently unstable and their aetheric bodies gives them special powers. In the Brother's War extra bits, Gonti is dying because his aether is thinning and describes himself as "wasting away"

So the "no explanation as to its existence" is not an anti-feat because the absence of evidence is not itself evidence and thus cannot be used as an anti-feat.

The planes being 1-A off that is fine (feels more Low 1-A to me tbh), but aether's own antifeats when it is superior in nature to planes actively shoots the existence of 1-A planes in the foot
The reason being it would be 1-A is because you can split Worldsouls and Planes multiple times and still get more Planes.

So as we saw with Alara, Progenitus is the true World soul of the re-united Alara, but there was another Worldsoul that was the "Child of Alara" for when Alara was split apart.

Jodah described Alara as a jumble of infinities from a Greater Infinity, meaning when you divide a Plane into multiple parts, you simply get more Planes and more Infinities rather than a reduction.

This means that the main structure of the Plane (as in the totality of it) is greater than any subdivision of the Plane you could make by reducing it over and over again. making as many beyond mathematical number Planes as you like would still be inferior to The Plane.

Funnily enough, the Plane was absorbed of all it's Mana (the main energy of a Plane) by an Oldwalker and still was fine being split into pieces, showing that it's the nature of the Plane that lets it do this, not it just having a lot of energy or whatever else.

That's the fancier explanation. The other explanation is the Worldsouls (and likely some of the Conceptual embodiments like the Kami) embody all aspects of the Planes, all permutations of reality, the concepts of time and space, etc.
 
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Not evaluating the evidence as a whole, but clearing up some misconceptions on how 1-A anti-feats work.
I mean, the entire point of Aetherborn is that they're highly unstable and unable to actually exist in a physical form for more than a few weeks. They literally spawn into existence knowing the exact moment they will stop existing
Not how 1-A works. Being able to exist in a lower reality at all, at any extent, for any period of time, without immediately destroying that reality, is an anti-feat against being 1-A.
Yeah, that doesn't really mean anything, for the same reason why Avatars of Eternity show up in 3-D space but remain 1-A despite just being shards of a 1-A being. When we see Eternity show up, we don't go "Oh, well he's showing up in 3-D space, time to downgrade", we just realise he's spread out across other aspects of reality that need not go remarked upon because it's irrelevant to the story. From what we know about Aether, it's potentiality, so would be spreading out in other ways, not just existing within 3-D reality.
Not how 1-A works. A 1-A being cannot exist, in any extent, within space that is less than 1-A without destroying it immediately.

Avatars are not the same as the true being; that's why an avatar showing up isn't an issue. It's not because they're "spread out across other aspects of reality".
It's not like being an aetherborn has ever been treated as you becoming a regular person, so the anti-feat wouldn't apply. They're dying the moment they begin to exist because they're unherently unstable and their aetheric bodies gives them special powers. In the Brother's War extra bits, Gonti is dying because his aether is thinning and describes himself as "wasting away"
Not how 1-A works. Even if they're not a "regular person", if they can exist in less than 1-A space and are composed of a 1-A material, that is an anti-feat.
 
Not how 1-A works. A 1-A being cannot exist, in any extent, within space that is less than 1-A without destroying it immediately.
I know, that's what I pointed out already. The subtext of my point might have been lost, but that's why I said in my first post to Deon

Aether existing within reality more so supports that Planes are 1-A rather than the reverse.

Since if your issue with 1-A BE is that it fails the standard that 1-A cannot be reduced (irreducible) then it stops being an issue when Planes are 1-A.
Not how 1-A works. Even if they're not a "regular person", if they can exist in less than 1-A space and are composed of a 1-A material, that is an anti-feat.
Yeah, the Aetherborn example is completely beside the point of this CRT thinking about it. Aether is a part of Part 2, not part 1. It is largely completely irrelevant to the discussion so I'm not sure why it's being brought up.

The point of the thread is arguing why Planes are 1-A in the first place. Deon seems to be using Aether as a reason for why they aren't but the logic itself for that is entirely circular. "It's can't be 1-A because Aether doesn't collapse the Plane."

The point about "they're not regular people" was pre-emptive to shut down any argument like "but they're just regular people thou", not an argument by self.
 
Yeah, the Aetherborn example is completely beside the point of this CRT thinking about it. Aether is a part of Part 2, not part 1. It is largely completely irrelevant to the discussion so I'm not sure why it's being brought up.

The point of the thread is arguing why Planes are 1-A in the first place. Deon seems to be using Aether as a reason for why they aren't but the logic itself for that is entirely circular. "It's can't be 1-A because Aether doesn't collapse the Plane."
I bring up Aether because if Aether, which we can both agree is superordinate to planes, is less than 1-A or has 1-A antifeats, then planes and the multiverse, which are inferior to Aether, will get downgraded to sub 1-A also, though I'll just wait for whatever conclusion you and ultima come to before arguing further
 
I bring up Aether because if Aether, which we can both agree is superordinate to planes, is less than 1-A or has 1-A antifeats, then planes and the multiverse, which are inferior to Aether, will get downgraded to sub 1-A also, though I'll just wait for whatever conclusion you and ultima come to before arguing further
But it stops being an anti-feat?

Since if we say X defines the condition of Y and we're arguing over what X is, we can't then say "Because X defines the condition of Y, X cannot be such because of Y".

Since we're arguing what defines X (Planes), it'd be absurd to then argue "But X can't be 1-A because Y doesn't collapse X." When the condition of 1-A resolves that argument.

It essentially is a self-defeating argument.
 
I've added more to the argument now, notably to reinforcing the potentiality argument and remembered:

There's Archetypes within Theros. The Archetypes of X are a cycle of cards that are archetypal embodiments of what they represent, notably the Archetype of Imagination.

I think given that there's literal Archetypal embodiments which are just creations of the Gods (Archetype of Aggression), I think we can put the argument on whether Planes are 1-A to rest.
 
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and remembered:

There's Archetypes within Theros. The Archetypes of X are a cycle of cards that are archetypal embodiments of what they represent, notably the Archetype of Imagination.

I think given that there's literal Archetypal embodiments which are just creations of the Gods (Archetype of Aggression), I think we can put the argument on whether Planes are 1-A to rest.
Is there stuff from the lore books substantiating this? Since just from the cards themselves, they seem to simply be people who were blessed by Gods due to being prime examples of certain virtues.

Not a literal set of archetypal blueprints which everything else is derived from. And not something that could plausibly be extended to other ideas that are actually tiering related.
 
Is there stuff from the lore books substantiating this?
They become Nyxborn (that's the border), meaning they derive their powers from Nyxthos:

Nyx is an endless plane of existence where the powers
of potentiality and belief hold sway. It is the realm of the gods, of belief given form, of dreams, and of rising and fading philosophies. From here, the pantheon of Theros watches the mortal world and guides the living. Though the gods live in a veritable paradise, they can't sever themselves from the mortal world. To do so would be to lose the faith of their followers, the source of their magic and a power they will not relinquish. Nyx can be perceived in the night sky, with its ever- changing brilliance marked by constellations and cosmic phenomena. Its power slips into the world in the same form, with star fields filling the shadows of Nyxborn beings that are infused with its power. While Nyx is impossible to map, distinct regions do exist, and some travelers have returned to the mortal realm with tales of these incredible locations.
Likewise, the quote for the Archetype of Imagination is:
“Is it not the embodiment of our aspirations?”
—Prokopios, astronomer of Meletis
Since just from the cards themselves
Cards are canonical with them even having Lore text. So yeah, them being "just from the cards" means nothing.

they seem to simply be people who were blessed by Gods due to being prime examples of certain virtues.
The only one confirmed to be created is Archetype of Aggression, and even then, I don't see why someone being made over into an Archetype would mean anything. We have countless examples of people on this Website who go from regular old guy to Archetypal embodiment.

Not a literal set of archetypal blueprints which everything else is derived from.
One of them is flat out called an Embodiment. I'm not sure what else there is to derive from that unless someone is reading with bad faith.

When the evidence points overwhelmingly to something, it is just that thing.

And not something that could plausibly be extended to other ideas that are actually tiering related.
What other type of archetypal embodiment is there?

I think it's fairly ludicrous to argue they aren't what they are stated to be.
 
Cards are canonical with them even having Lore text. So yeah, them being "just from the cards" means nothing.
That's not what I said. I was meaning "from the information provided on the cards alone, this is the conclusion I draw".
One of them is flat out called an Embodiment. I'm not sure what else there is to derive from that unless someone is reading with bad faith.

When the evidence points overwhelmingly to something, it is just that thing.


What other type of archetypal embodiment is there?

I think it's fairly ludicrous to argue they aren't what they are stated to be.
The evidence is weak as hell.

"Archetypes" and "embodiments" aren't always used for literal blueprints which everything is derived from, they can be ways of enshrining things which are excellent. Look at example of those terms' use.
 
Archetype can also be referring to (and one could argue it is more likely be referring to given the nature of Nyx and Nyxborn) the narrative or mental/Jungian kind, not foundational concepts of reality
 
The evidence is weak as hell.

"Archetypes" and "embodiments" aren't always used for literal blueprints which everything is derived from, they can be ways of enshrining things which are excellent. Look at example of those terms' use.
You would have a point if they weren't together. It would be one thing to say that "this guy is the embodiment (exemplar) of this virtue." or separately have another state of them "this guy is like the archetypal example" but this clearly isn't one of those times because "Finality" isn't a virtue, vice or something to be "exemplary" for. You can't be "exemplary at finality" or be "archetypal" for Finality.

And again, it's a very bad faith reading to be like "It's not that deep"
Archetype can also be referring to (and one could argue it is more likely be referring to given the nature of Nyx and Nyxborn) the narrative or mental/Jungian kind, not foundational concepts of reality
For one, Jungian concepts are specific, you have the Hero, not Courage, the Shadow, not aggression, etc.

Also what mental Jungian concept is "Finality". Finality doesn't fit what you're trying to imply. Neither does Imagination, as Jungian archetypes are themselves extensions of Imagination.

Likewise, the flavour of the card itself represents the concepts and denies its use for the opponent:

The Archetype of Imagination gives all things flying and takes away flying for the opponent.

Archetype of Aggression does it with Trample, Courage with First Strike, Endurance with Hexproof and Finality with Deathtouch.

This is clear conceptual embodiment not psychological symbolism. Like, how would it make sense if they're mental concepts to bestow power upon their allies and to take it all away from the opponent?

Not to mention, the guy who speaks about the Archetype of Imagination? Their whole thing is Platonism, very unsubtle Platonism:

The Æther is of particular interest to Meletian scholars, and many study its use in magic. Some believe that the Æther is the realm of abstract entities, such as numbers, concepts, and theories. Some formalists study magics that allow them to cause objects to disappear from physical reality. They say they are "perfecting" real, necessarily flawed, concrete objects by transferring them to the realm of perfect, abstract entities.
“Every object has an echo in the Æther beyond the world. Every idea has a shadow that can be brought to light.” - Meletis Charlatan
 
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You would have a point if they weren't together. It would be one thing to say that "this guy is the embodiment (exemplar) of this virtue." or separately have another state of them "this guy is like the archetypal example" but this clearly isn't one of those times because "Finality" isn't a virtue, vice or something to be "exemplary" for. You can't be "exemplary at finality" or be "archetypal" for Finality.

And again, it's a very bad faith reading to be like "It's not that deep"
Finality is a virtue in the eyes of Erebos.

You're ignoring the more common and more reasonable usages. Like, just look at these examples:
the House of Commons, the archetype of all the representative assemblies which now meet
He is the archetype of a successful businessman.
These clearly aren't referring to literal abstract blueprints.

And at these examples:
external manifestations of gender
Hate in all its manifestations is wrong.
That doesn't substantiate anything abstract or all-encompassing. On the contrary, they're rather physical and mundane.

I'm not saying "it's not that deep", I'm saying that you're assigning overly niche meanings that aren't actually substantiated. It's just because one word was used in a title, and one word was used in a description, where you're taking niche meanings of those words over more common ones.

A succinct distillation would be "This interpretation is just battleboarder brainrot".
What other type of archetypal embodiment is there?
The precise thing I meant by this was that there's a limited set of archetypes that could be related to the gods of Theros. There is no "God of Dimensionality" that could give this any tiering-related significance.
 
Finality is a virtue in the eyes of Erebos.
You completely ignored everything I said in the quoted part which already addresses this reading.

but this clearly isn't one of those times because "Finality" isn't a virtue, vice or something to be "exemplary" for. You can't be "exemplary at finality" or be "archetypal" for Finality.
You calling something a "virtue" does not magically convert an abstract terminal principle (Finality) into excellence of character (Exemplar).
You're ignoring the more common and more reasonable usages.
You do not define meaning by commonality, you define it from context so I hope given that I already addressed the archetypes other meanings...

Your examples ONLY work because they appear alone (it's not) and if the concept is a trait that can be exemplary (it can't).

Further, I already showed you how I changed the normative default by bringing up these guys are Platonists.

This also ties in to my other point that you're not engaging with the thread in good faith.

That doesn't substantiate anything abstract or all-encompassing. On the contrary, they're rather physical and mundane.
So it's a very good job that there's more substantiating it than the word you're clinging to "Manifestation".

Especially as Manifestation is not relevant to the discussion even as an example.

I'm not saying "it's not that deep", I'm saying that you're assigning overly niche meanings that aren't actually substantiated.
Once again, I already addressed how the meanings you are obsessing over do not apply here.

Your argument comes down to "it's not that deep" because you are flatly denying any deeper reading of it beyond your own narrow definitions arbitrarily.

It's just because one word was used in a title, and one word was used in a description, where you're taking niche meanings of those words over more common ones.
That is how we gather context for definitions, yes?

I already went over how "common definitions" is not a cudgel you can just throw out there. I have substantiative evidence if you would engage with the thread properly.

They are conceptual beings (Nyxborn), they are called Archetypes, a Platonist says it's also an embodiment.

Not only this but I provided you with flat out evidence that these people are Platonists, this shifts the normative default automatically because once the setting itself treats concepts as literal things, appeals to dictionary-level usage become arbitrary.

A succinct distillation would be "This interpretation is just battleboarder brainrot".
I've already bounced many arguments on the basis they are scaler brainrot, so it's particularly hilarious to be accused of having it.

The precise thing I meant by this was that there's a limited set of archetypes that could be related to the gods of Theros. There is no "God of Dimensionality" that could give this any tiering-related significance.
This is where I'll get to you not engaging with the thread.

Not only is there explanations why it is relevant in the OP, but I already already went over it in this thread again explaining why it would be relevant.

At first I thought you simply didn't catch the subtext of what I was saying, but it's become clearer to me that you aren't actually properly engaging with what I'm saying, you're simply being argumentative.

Hence why your first comment on the thread ignored my original response to Deonment that the thread is arguing that Planes are 1-A, so his entire anti-feat argument is mute to claim standards already expressed by that point and expanded upon afterwards.

From this continuing behaviour, I can only conclude you are not interested in the this thread and are not engaging in good faith, especially with the sneering accusation that I'm engaging in;

battleboarder brainrot

Your entire response isn't engaging with the material anymore, it's just engaging in arbitrary dictionary normative standard which doesn't apply for the reasons I've showed.

This is why I am saying you are being argumentative because you're no actually addressing what's being said but repeating your point which could be inserted anywhere on the entire site and not with the debate proper.
 
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You completely ignored everything I said in the quoted part which already addresses this reading.
I'm not sure what you're referring to here. I don't see stuff in that quote which addresses how Erebos would view that.
You do not define meaning by commonality, you define it from context so I hope given that I already addressed the archetypes other meanings.
Yes, but if the context does not point to anything strongly, then we do defer to commonality.
So it's a very good job that there's more substantiating it than the word you're clinging to "Manifestation".

Especially as Manifestation is not relevant to the discussion even as an example.
Oh my bad, came back to this after a day at work without rereading the relevant evidence.

Yeah, the important word was actually embodiment, which does have similarly mundane examples:
She's the embodiment of all our hopes.
Mother Theresa was often regarded as the embodiment of selfless devotion to others.
Chawawa is perhaps the greatest embodiment of how viral talent can work both behind and in front of the camera on traditional TV.
(I did check both of those actual words on the way to work, and saw mundane examples; I just remembered and drew from that incorrect word when making my previous post)
They are conceptual beings (Nyxborn)
I didn't engage with that too much because, as you say, it's something solely based on their frame, which is shared with hundreds of cards, with quite the variety of traits among them.

And because the quote you provided didn't actually say that such Nyxborn beings are conceptual, just that they are filled with power from Nyx. It just kinda seemed irrelevant to this cycle of creatures in particular being important.
a Platonist says it's also an embodiment.
Ah, I didn't read that part since it was responding to someone else's post.

In that case, fair enough for you to draw that conclusion. I still think it's not great, but it is a plausible basis.
This is where I'll get to you not engaging with the thread.

Not only is there explanations why it is relevant in the OP, but I already already went over it in this thread again explaining why it would be relevant.

At first I thought you simply didn't catch the subtext of what I was saying, but it's become clearer to me that you aren't actually properly engaging with what I'm saying, you're simply being argumentative.

Hence why your first comment on the thread ignored my original response to Deonment that the thread is arguing that Planes are 1-A, so his entire anti-feat argument is mute to claim standards already expressed by that point and expanded upon afterwards.
I mean, I said from the start that I didn't have time to evaluate the whole contents, and was just commenting on discussion over what qualifies as a 1-A anti-feat.

I didn't comment on the planes being 1-A stuff, since if you have a valid reason for part of the thread not being hurt by those anti-feats, I don't need to bring that up. Deon themselves already agreed that if it was just the planes that'd be fine, but had issue with Aether still being subject to that, and Aether scaling above Planes. Which is then a question about the particulars of the verse's cosmology. Not something I can/should make a general standards statement on.

But when you made this post:
I've added more to the argument now, notably to reinforcing the potentiality argument and remembered:

There's Archetypes within Theros. The Archetypes of X are a cycle of cards that are archetypal embodiments of what they represent, notably the Archetype of Imagination.

I think given that there's literal Archetypal embodiments which are just creations of the Gods (Archetype of Aggression), I think we can put the argument on whether Planes are 1-A to rest.
It seemed quite short and self-contained. And in fact, referenced a cycle of cards I was already quite familiar with, so I asked for further clarifying information.

If there's more stuff explaining a Theros god that lines up well with tiering-related stuff contained in the OP, or some earlier posts, then I'm glad.
From this continuing behaviour, I can only conclude you are not interested in the this thread and are not engaging in good faith, especially with the sneering accusation that I'm engaging in;
Now that you've drawn my awareness to how that statement was made by a Platonist, I retract that view of that argument.
 
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I'm not sure what you're referring to here. I don't see stuff in that quote which addresses how Erebos would view that.
I updated my post to fix potential tone (it's early morning for me) and expand on what I mean, so I'll post it here since you might not have seen the amendment:

but this clearly isn't one of those times because "Finality" isn't a virtue, vice or something to be "exemplary" for. You can't be "exemplary at finality" or be "archetypal" for Finality.
You calling something a "virtue" does not magically convert an abstract terminal principle (Finality) into excellence of character (Exemplar).
Yeah, we'd gone over them. As I say, I am aware of these other definitions and did consider them as I've done for a bunch of other cards which I've thrown out for being unsubstantiative.
It would be one thing to say that "this guy is the embodiment (exemplar) of this virtue." or separately have another state of them "this guy is like the archetypal example" but this clearly isn't one of those times because "Finality" isn't a virtue, vice or something to be "exemplary" for. You can't be "exemplary at finality" or be "archetypal" for Finality.
And because the quote you provided didn't actually say that such Nyxborn beings are conceptual, just that they are filled with power from Nyx. It just kinda seemed irrelevant to this cycle of creatures in particular being important.
Sure, I'll expand on that bit here they themselves are ideas incarnate:

Born from the minds of the gods, the creatures that populate
the gods' realm are called Nyxborn. Nyxborn creatures
resemble mortal beings, but philosophers debate
their true character. Are they idealized forms of mortal
beings, free from the imperfections and transience that
causes mortals to suffer and die
? Or are they hollow and
soulless shades, lacking the authenticity and pathos that
make mortal existence worthwhile?
A Nyxborn is like a fragment of divinity, an idea or a
dream that is incarnate. You embody an idea-like the
way leaves turn toward the sun or the feeling of ocean
sand between the toes, the way the heart stirs when the
tide of battle changes or the sadness that lingers when
remembering a happy moment of childhood
.
I imagine this makes the reading more comfortable for you?

Ah, I didn't read that part since it was responding to someone else's post.
That's fine, that's why I was saying things came across as you wasn't engaging in the thread, because it seemed like you were responding to this thread and then immediately moving onto others, basically only letting you argue defensively and not properly engage.

In that case, fair enough for you to draw that conclusion. I still think it's not great, but it is a plausible basis.
Then I'm glad we have moved you.
I mean, I said from the start that I didn't have time to evaluate the whole contents, and was just commenting on discussion over what qualifies as a 1-A anti-feat.
I know, but it did come across as "You aren't meeting the requirements in this argument"

It seemed quite short and self-contained. And in fact, referenced a cycle of cards I was already quite familiar with, so I asked for further clarifying information.

If there's more stuff explaining a Theros god that lines up well with tiering-related stuff contained in the OP, or some earlier posts, then I'm glad.
So the key part for the Theros Gods is that ones like Thassa have a conceptual space called the Mythic Sea in Nyx:

This body of mist and water hides endless secrets
within its depths-both literal secrets that manifest from mortal minds and unimagined concepts not yet fully formed. Thassa's palace floats underwater, its buildings suspended in giant bubbles that drift with the currents. At its edge, in a city of divine copper and marbleized hopes, Ephara makes her home.

So even if we do say "the Archetype of XYZ" doesn't yet exist yet because it's not imagined by the people of Theros or the Gods, Thassa's domain would already contain it, whatever concept it might be. And of course, we already know that beings in the realm have already thought up Platonism.

Now that you've drawn my awareness to how that statement was made by a Platonist, I retract that view of that argument.
Awesome
 
Sure, I'll expand on that bit here they themselves are ideas incarnate:

I imagine this makes the reading more comfortable for you?
Yeah, that makes it a lot better, then.
I know, but it did come across as "You aren't meeting the requirements in this argument"
Do you have any ideas on how I could phrase things better in the future? I wanna get across "You're wrong on this point, but idk whether that actually torpedoes the thread as a whole or not since I haven't read it". ig I could just say that, but it is rather long.
So the key part for the Theros Gods is that ones like Thassa have a conceptual space called the Mythic Sea in Nyx:

So even if we do say "the Archetype of XYZ" doesn't yet exist yet because it's not imagined by the people of Theros or the Gods, Thassa's domain would already contain it, whatever concept it might be. And of course, we already know that beings in the realm have already thought up Platonism.
I don't buy this link, but I don't think it's important enough to debate in detail, given the other arguments presented.

(There's no point in me going "Ermmm, this one link has a flaw" when you have shittons of other evidence, and the argument isn't on its face odd enough to indicate a misunderstanding of site standards)
 
Do you have any ideas on how I could phrase things better in the future? I wanna get across "You're wrong on this point, but idk whether that actually torpedoes the thread as a whole or not since I haven't read it". ig I could just say that, but it is rather long.
May something like;

"I might be relevant to outline the rules on this so that all involved are informed"?
Yeah, that makes it a lot better, then.
Excellent.
 
It seemed quite short and self-contained. And in fact, referenced a cycle of cards I was already quite familiar with, so I asked for further clarifying information.
I just realised (now I'm not stressing tf out for my exam I had today. Thank god) you might not know what a "cycle of cards" means in context, so just in case:

A cycle of cards means that there's the same card but printed for each different colour identity (usually the 5 main colours but sometimes with multiple colours)

A hilarious example of another cycle was from the original set were "3" was the commonality, so you had "Dark Ritual", "Giant Growth", "Lightning Bolt", "Healing Salve" and then another card... now the cards before this are meh. Dark Ritual and Lightning bolt are the only good ones, the other two are bad. The last card is "Ancestral Recall" a card SO POWERFUL it's on the "Power Nine", the 9 most powerful cards in Magic.

So as you might tell, they are rarely equal.
 
I just realised (now I'm not stressing tf out for my exam I had today. Thank god) you might not know what a "cycle of cards" means in context, so just in case:

A cycle of cards means that there's the same card but printed for each different colour identity (usually the 5 main colours but sometimes with multiple colours)

A hilarious example of another cycle was from the original set were "3" was the commonality, so you had "Dark Ritual", "Giant Growth", "Lightning Bolt", "Healing Salve" and then another card... now the cards before this are meh. Dark Ritual and Lightning bolt are the only good ones, the other two are bad. The last card is "Ancestral Recall" a card SO POWERFUL it's on the "Power Nine", the 9 most powerful cards in Magic.

So as you might tell, they are rarely equal.
I know, I've been playing for about 16 years, and still regularly go to an LGS :3
 
Yeah m8, Eldraine prerelease in a few days.
 
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Lorwyn, Eldraine. Manifestation, embodiment. It's all the same, right?
 
How does this affect the New York plane?

LARRY.jpg
 
Now that we've gotten things shmovin, perhaps we could blackbag a few more mods to check out the thread.
 
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