Editing
Nephilim
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
{{Infobox type |type=creature |stats={{stats|M=5}} as of ''[[Guildpact]]'' |beeble=8 |beeble_ref=<ref>{{EzTumblr|https://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/188790293663/|title=For the Beeble scale, i Meant the creature type|November 3, 2019}}</ref> }} {{TOCright}} '''Nephilim''' is a [[creature type]] unique to the ''[[Guildpact]]'' set and the [[Ravnica]] [[plane]]. ==Description== The five [[rare]] [[creatures]] of the [[cycle]] have different appearances; some are [[spirit]]-like, others [[beast]]-like. Each costs four [[mana]] of separate [[colors]]; the excluded color is the [[enemy color]] of the middle two colors. *<c>Yore-Tiller Nephilim</c> ({{W}}{{U}}{{B}}{{R}}) *<c>Glint-Eye Nephilim</c> ({{U}}{{B}}{{R}}{{G}}) *<c>Dune-Brood Nephilim</c> ({{B}}{{R}}{{G}}{{W}}) *<c>Ink-Treader Nephilim</c> ({{R}}{{G}}{{W}}{{U}}) *<c>Witch-Maw Nephilim</c> ({{G}}{{W}}{{U}}{{B}}) ===Storyline=== Nephilim were powerful monstrosities with limited intelligence that were venerated by the [[Cult of Yore]], who saw them as the “Old Gods”.<ref name="Dissension">[[Cory Herndon]] (2006), ''[[Dissension (novel)|Dissension]]''. Wizards of the Coast.</ref><ref>{{DailyRef|feature/wake-call-2006-02-22|Wake Up Call|[[Matt Cavotta]]|February 22, 2006}}</ref> As such they were a symbol of the old [[Ravnica]], before the time of the [[Guildpact (spell)|Guildpact]]. Unlike the created lords of the Guildpact, these entities did not make demands or accept sacrifices. They did not require or answer prayers. They were there only to humble; living, walking examples of the world's vastness, diversity, unpredictability, danger, wonder, horror, and complexity beyond comprehension.<ref>{{DailyRef|arcana/guildpact-zoom-ins-2006-12-20|''Guildpact'' Zoom-Ins|[[Magic Arcana]]|April 03, 2006}}</ref> The Nephilim were subdued thousands of years before the events of the ''[[Ravnica block]]'', and imprisoned deep below the plane's surface. Their precise origins are unknown. Once awakened by construction works in the [[Utvara]] district, five of the creatures fed on a [[dragon]] corpse and grew in size and power, showing a shared ability to absorb power from other beings.<ref name="Dissension"/> Almost forgotten for 10,000 years, the return of the Nephilim was seen as a sign for change and indeed it coincided with the fall of the Guildpact at the [[Decamillennial]]. Though they defeated [[Niv-Mizzet]], he managed to destroy two of them. The remaining three made it to the center of [[Ravnica|Ravnica City]] where they were eventually subdued: [[Rakdos]] defeated one of them and the last two were killed by mana explosions. ===Four-color design=== The Nephilim were the first cards printed that needed exactly four different colors to play. They were created because there was some concern in [[R&D]] that some players might not buy into the “guild thing” and they wanted to have some other cool cards for them. They ended up being not all that liked and none saw any tournament play, as their admittedly unique abilities were not seen to justify the difficulty of assembling those colors.<ref>{{DailyRef|making-magic/absence-2013-05-10|Absence|[[Mark Rosewater]]|May 13, 2013}}</ref> However, as the nephilim were the only four-color cards in all of ''Magic'' until ''[[Commander 2016]]'', there has been a persistent wish from some [[Commander (format)|Commander]] players for R&D to issue [[errata]] for the Nephilim to make them into [[legendary]] creatures.<ref>{{EzTumblr|http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/152378605203/will-we-ever-see-nephilim-again-i-thought-they|title=Will we ever see Nephilim again?|October 27, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{EzTumblr|http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/176849831658/two-questions-why-is-everyone-so-obsessed-with|title=why is everyone so obsessed with the nephilim? |August 10, 2018}}</ref> Although [[Mark Rosewater]] admits that he should have made them legendary, R&D is unwilling to do a functional errata.<ref>{{EzTumblr|http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/15878300773/in-relation-to-ihititwithmyaxes-question-i|title=One point that always seems to pop up again is the Nephilim issue.|January 15, 2012}}</ref> Rosewater has cited the Nephilim as an example of creative design that didn't come together into a compelling whole.<ref>{{EzTumblr|http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/18499488882/i-dont-doubt-that-designing-4-colour-cards-is|title=Could you explain how each of the Nephilim embodies "not the fifth colour"?|February 29, 2012}}</ref> ==Trivia== *The name is taken from eponymous Hebrew biblical creatures. ''Nephilim'' is derived from the Hebrew ‏נפיל‎ (singular: ''nephil''), “the fallen”. It can also mean [[Giant]]s, specifically the giants who were the fallen angels (hence the name "the fallen") in jewish myth and their children.<ref>{{DailyRef|ask-wizards-july-2006-2006-07-03|Ask Wizards - July, 2006|[[Wizards of the Coast]]|July, 2006}}</ref> *Dune-Brood Nephilim produces [[Sand]] creature [[token]]s. The only other card producing Sand creature tokens is <c>Hazezon Tamar</c> from ''[[Legends]]'', and later with <c>Hazezon, Shaper of Sand</c> in the ''[[Dominaria United/Box Toppers]]''. *''[[Dissension]]'' had two cards referring to the Nephilim: the [[aura]] <c>Blessing of the Nephilim</c> and the [[instant]] <c>Might of the Nephilim</c>. *Dune-Brood Nephilim's art has a strong resemblance to one of Zdzisław Beksiński's ''Untitled'' paintings (Depicted here: https://www.wikiart.org/en/zdzislaw-beksinski/untitled-504) ==References== {{reflist}} {{Ravnica|affiliations|state=collapsed}} {{Creature types|Races}}
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Magic the Archiving may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
Magic the Archiving:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Templates used on this page:
Template:B
(
edit
)
Template:Creature types
(
edit
)
Template:DailyRef
(
edit
)
Template:EzTumblr
(
edit
)
Template:G
(
edit
)
Template:Infobox type
(
edit
)
Template:R
(
edit
)
Template:Ravnica
(
edit
)
Template:Reflist
(
edit
)
Template:Symbol
(
edit
)
Template:TOCright
(
edit
)
Template:TumblrRef
(
edit
)
Template:U
(
edit
)
Template:W
(
edit
)
Template:WebRef
(
edit
)
Module:EzTumblr
(
edit
)
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Page
Discussion
English
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Special pages
Page information