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Get yer free PDF here:

http://www.dragonmag.com/5.0/#!/article/106375/102161027

nice-- thanks !

That's pretty cool. I always really liked Innistrad (and definitely saw the parallels with Ravenloft), but was disappointed with the whole introduction of the Eldrazi as they are less Cthulhu and more Shuma Gorath (ie less cosmic/psychological horror and more superhero fighty stuff). Kind of the same problem I have with D&D, actually.

I actually really liked the feel of the Innistrad setting as they introduced it in the first set. The whole humans banding together, finding strength from faith in their absent god, fighting an uphill battle against the literal monsters that inhabit the darkness of the night was super cool to me. However the more they developed the setting the crappier it got. By the time they got around to the whole your god is a secret vampire invention secretly invented by a vampire I was so done.

I think the problem is that there is an inherent conflict between a gothic (or cosmic) horror setting which really needs to be pretty low fantasy to work and super high fantasy planeswalkers which are much more like superheroes (or gods).

So a grim world where superstitious folk struggle against the horrors of the night is engaging because it is a very human struggle for survival. But how do you mesh that with a game full of beings who can summon legendary monsters, hurl arcane energies powerful enough to devastate regions, and travel between worlds? It's two wildly different tones.

It's why cosmic horror fell flat, too. Emrakul is not Lovecraftian, it is comic book. If it was Lovecraftian, the entity would probably be largely unaware and indifferent to what was happening, not fleeing for survival or seeking sustenance. And it would likely just be a portion or herald of something much worse (that is probably equally indifferent). There would be no fighting or victory. Any engaging such a horror would be irrevocably scarred, their understanding of reality completely upended. Magic would be no better as, at best, it would require dealing with such alien forces as to drive all humanity from a practitioner. At worst, it's just another conduit and might draw the being's momentary attention, resulting in utter ruin. Cosmic horror is generally not full of happy endings- at best you can pull the door shut and get somewhat back to the status quo (that is living in denial), though usually only at great cost. There is no "winning".

Such a setting does not jive with planeswalkers and the like, so you get just another big bad with tentacles glued on.

Well said, jmurph. I'll repost my take here: MtG fluff is okay scattered across fragmentary quotations or in artwork; it is not so good when conceived of as a narrative.