Physics major mildly annoyed & pleasantly surprised by Edge of Eternities - a rant

First things first: They did surprisingly good job at actually paying attention to physics.

The Summists & Monoists, astelli, sekhar, and other weapons, materials and effects that appear in the story are, while not scientifically accurate, well-researched and show a dedication. They don't just throw the word "quantum" around like a Marvel movie, but truly try to imagine "how would MtG look like a mildly-hard Sci-Fi?".
I was afraid it's gonna be Star-Wars level of non-science, but it's a lot better than that.

That being said, one idea annoyed me by being very cool and original, and simultaneously very right and very wrong: The Dawnsire's way of turning a black hole back into a star.
They use a pair of lasers which are shot near the event horizon, getting a gravitational assist (meaning they take energy away from the black hole), absorb the lasers as they return around the hole, rinse and repeat.

At first glance, it's a neat idea, but the physics fall apart simply because of the configuration: if the lasers go back to where you are, their orbit is ellipsoid, not hyperbolic, so they gain no energy. You'd have to use two Dawnsires, located at opposite sides of the black hole, shooting at each other. And even then, a hyperbolic orbit isn't enough - you need the black hole to move in the direction you're shooting. So your ships will need to oscillate around the black hole, only shooting while they are approaching it...

So, the physical concept of "shooting lasers to steal energy from a black hole" is totally fine, but they missed the fine print.

Anyway, thank you for coming to me TED talk. And if you enjoy real Sci-Fi, know that someone tried to actually make you enjoy this set, despite the absolute mess MtG is in.