Cool Card Design of the Day9/17/2012 - This illustration by Brent Hallowell needed to be a card. The mood gave me the card name, the name gave me the ability, and the ability gave me the color. You might question that last part when you see the card, so let's take a look now. I'll explain when you're done.
Normally, the extra-combat-phase ability is red, where by "normally" I mean that of 11 cards that have ever explicitly granted an extra combat phase, only Finest Hour isn't red. So it seems fair to question my assertion that this card is white.The functional difference between this card and Aggravated Assault (and the other 10 cards) is that Interminable March doesn't untap anything. Untapping isn't red, so how is not-untapping less red? Because vigilance is. This card works in two scenarios. One, you can split your normal attack into two waves, perhaps so that you can wear down your opponent with Gustcloak Cavalier, Crested Craghorn, Prized Unicorn and the like, then follow up safely with your Scroll Thief or Phage the Untouchable. It's pretty hard to get much value out of that path.
The second scenario is quite simple: Attack with creatures that can use both rounds. Gustcloak Cavalier seems pretty amazing here, but any creature with vigilance gains a kind of double strike. Ultimately, white is the color philosophically most inline with the first use and most mechanically supporting the second. As a do-nothing-by-itself Johnny card, there's an argument that you should need to pair it with another color to get maximum use out of it, but honestly the theme of the card just doesn't feel red to me at all.
This would also create twice the when ~attacks triggers. It sounds nice on paper, and I was dubious when I fist saw it, but I like it. However the artwork does not really fit a white card in my opinion. I would rename and change the image, (the image suggests fatigue from the war which is not translated in the mechanic) but I do like the ability. It might at first get some knee-jerk reactions but this is a Johny card if I have seen one, with the potential to spike up at this cost given the appropriate metagame (putting this in a core set, then releasing a combo in the next core set for example).
ReplyDeleteWith this artwork I would go for a card, to represent the war fatigue: whenever a creature attacks it does not untap at the beginning of its owners next untap phase.
Yeah, the art and card name would probably be better suited to what you describe. Not to mention, it would be a symmetrical effect that White (and Green) would be able to best take advantage of, while still being concretely within the core of White's pie.
DeleteThat said, this is a very well-thought justification for exploring such a concept as a "crust" ability for White.
I love this card. As I am a Johnny at heart, I would build a deck around this and play it interminably.
ReplyDeleteI agree with placing this in white.
ReplyDelete