The more I thought about Ekkremes, the more I liked the idea of it being a factory plane.
Originally, the machines were entirely dependent on pure mana. Over time, to increase production, the machines were modified to accept mana of other colors, diluting the potency of the products created.
However, one side effect - creatures built this way were galvanized and made twice as strong as before, and with a sentience previously unseen.
White's Union vs Black's management with Blue Scholars, Red Artificers and Green Beasts caught in the middle.
A vote will be taking place to establish a plane-binding collective bargaining agreement which will determine the fate of Ekkremes, the Factory Plane.
The primary mechanics are Operate and twobrid artifact creatures. Nearly all the artifacts in the set will be colored, save for the machina being operated. Secondary mechanics include Tokens, Purity and Multikicker.
Aluminum Argonaut - 2/R 2/R 2/R
Artifact Creature - Minotaur (G)
2/R: ~ has first strike until end of turn.
3/3
Bigoted Floor Boss - 3B
Creature - Human Advisor (C)
When ~ enters the battlefield, target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn for each artifact target opponent controls.
2/2
Brass Monkey - 2/G 2/G
Artifact Creature - Ape (C)
Multikicker 2/G: (You may pay an additional 2/G any number of times as you cast this spell.)
~ enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each time it was kicked.
2/2
Proper Readings - 2U
Sorcery (C)
Purity - You may cast ~ any time you could cast an instant if only U is spent to cast ~.
Draw 2 cards.
Repurpose Parts - G
Instant (C)
Destroy target non-creature artifact. Its controller may put a 1/1 white Gnome artifact creature token onto the battlefield under his control.
Serum Fountain - 2
Artifact - Machina
Operate - 2, T: Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Each creature you tap while operating ~ reduces its cost by 1 or by one mana of that creature's color. Operate machina only as a sorcery.
Spit Shine Scholar - 1U
Creature - Salamander Wizard (C)
Whenever you operate machina, you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card.
1/2
Technophobe Technician- 1B
Creature - Human Warrior (C)
Whenever a player activates an ability of an artifact, target player loses one life and you gain one life.
1/1
Power Coils - 1
Artifact - Machina (C)
Operate - 1, T: Untap target land. Each creature you tap while operating ~ reduces its cost by 1 or by one mana of that creature's color. Operate machina only as a sorcery.
Assemble Workers - 2/W
Sorcery (U)
Multikicker 2/W: (You may pay an additional 2/W any number of times as you cast this spell.)
Put a 1/1 white Gnome artifact creature token onto the battlefield, then put a 1/1 white Gnome artifact creature token onto the battlefield for each time it was kicked.
Mass Malfunction - 2R
Sorcery (U)
Purity - You may cast ~ any time you could cast an instant if only R is spent to cast ~.
~ deals 3 damage to target artifact creature and all other artifact creatures with the same name as that artifact creature.
Gorilla Press - 3
Artifact - Machina (U)
Operate - 3G, T: Put a 3/3 green Ape artifact creature token onto the battlefield. Each creature you tap while operating ~ reduces its cost by 1 or by one mana of that creature's color. Operate machina only as a sorcery.
Elton, Union Leader - 2WW
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer (R)
You may operate machina anytime you could cast an instant.
Whenever you operate machina, you may put a 1/1 white Gnome artifact creature token onto the battlefield.
3/4
Token -
Assembly Worker (Red)
Artifact Creature - Assembly-Worker
2/2
The judges were uniformly enthusiastic about the innovative flavor of this pitch. It made colored artifacts genuinely different from Esper and New Phyrexia, and the originality was sufficient to outweigh our concerns about whether it was too wacky.
However, we were quite split on its mechanics. Purity and Twobrid together is too strong a mono-color message for my comfort, but many judges disagreed with me on this point. We liked the cleverness of this version of Operate, but it also seemed like too much text for the effect. (One first step towards simplifying it would be to get rid of the color-matching criterion and make it a flat 1 mana.)
I strongly believe that Multikicker and Twobrid are a bad combination. Both of them are "adjustable casting cost" mechanics. How many different casting costs does one common spell need? Brass Monkey requires much more arithmetic than Gnarlid Pack, but it adds about the same level of fun.
In short, we generally agreed that this pitch catered too strongly to Melvin at the cost of simplicity. Power Coils is a lot of work for a Springleaf Drum. On the other hand, we also felt that it came closer than any pitch we'd seen before to finding the right flavorful spin on Ekkremes.
I agree. I like the design a lot, I'm not sure the mechanics work as-is.
ReplyDeleteThree quick comments while I'm thinking of them:
ReplyDelete1) Multikicker doesn't really work for me, either. I initially had Replicate on Assemble Workers, but wanted a similar flavor on creatures. Multikicker seemed to fit at the time, but it doesn't. Replicate works better.
2) The line about colored mana doesn't need to be on operate. It does open some corner cases, like having a Green 2-brid creature to operate a Gorilla Press without a forest, but may just be overcomplicating.
3) I still need to find a Creature based Mechanic. Preferably to assist with Operating. Something like:
Brass Monkey - 2/G 2/G
Artifact Creature - Ape
Salvage - 2/G 2/G (2/G 2/G, Exile this creature from your graveyard: Put 2 1/1 white Gnome artifact creatures onto the battlefield.
3/2.
Something that stands out to me this reading is:
ReplyDeleteWhite's Union vs Black's management with Blue Scholars, Red Artificers and Green Beasts caught in the middle.
White as the color for unions and black as the color for management is spot-on (though I'm not sure we can make the cut that cleanly because it reduces us to one factory or one civilization where every color is 'working together'). And I can see them employing blue as the researchers and red as the builders (Marketing it red too, btw), but then we have beasts for green. What? Why are there beasts in the factory?
They could be beasts of burden, put into service by the factory, but then they're not green anymore. Green could be the anti-factory/ecoterrorists, but does that feel too much like Viridia vs Mirrodin? Maybe for Ekkremes, green can represent that world itself revolting to the factories' invasive presence. Any other thoughts occur?
I looked at it as of looking at the Wizard of Oz: Creatures native to the plane who were assimilated into the Factory and altered to work more efficiently.
DeleteWhen I say Beasts I mean Minotaurs, Senient Apes, Cats, Salamandir; not Beasts of Burden.
These are your more colorful creature types subservient to the Factory Bosses seeking equal rights.
By the way, while sunburst and twobrid on the same card is a bit complicated and too focused on costs, notice how it explicitly encourages multicolor play.
ReplyDeleteSentient Chimney Sweep 2/W
Artifact Creature (unc)
Sunburst
1/0
can be Elite Vanguard or a 3/2 for CD.
Sentient Street Roller 2/G 2/G
Artifact Creature (U)
Sunburst
Trample
1/1
can be 2/2 Trample for GG, 3/3 for RGG, 4/4 for BRG or 5/5 for BRGW
I'm not suggesting we should do this combination (certainly not at common), just pointing out how much it supports multicolor play.
In fairness, this doesn't demand multicolor play in the same way Street Roller would at 3G, it supports both mono- and multi-color decks. Which is good or bad depending on how you look at it.
I think there's room in the Factory Plane for workers and bosses in every color.
ReplyDeleteWhite can have benevolent bosses who see the factory as a collective unit and see the value in offering free meals and medical care to their staff (the character John Thornton from North and South comes to mind).
Blue would seek to automatize their workforce, replacing them with machines and making the best use of technology.
Black would have greedy bosses who run the factory with utmost efficiency, even if it means compromising the workers quality of life.
Red would have a start-up mentality, prefering nimble operations that can capitalize on the boss's flashes of inspiration.
Green would value hand-made products, shunning the assembly line. They would be the Etsy of Ekkremes.
We might not be able to convey all the nuances mechanically, but starting with the ideology can help us to make sure that every color has a place in Factory World, even Green.
Nice.
DeleteThat current wording of Purity made me think you could cast it as an instant for just one blue mana. Maybe you could spell out the alternate cost as the full {U}{U}{U}, or saying "with only blue mana."
ReplyDelete