Thursday, August 29, 2013

Designing Suvnica, Week 13: Gangster's Paradise

Theros previews are right around the corner. I'm hoping to wrap up this stage of Suvnica design right around the time that the RtR block starts fading into the background. With that in mind, this week we're rolling right along with another guild keyword, as well as another cycle challenge.

Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste

For the current creative vision of the Radkar, take a look at their Guild Profile Page



I tried to stay away from an overly spikey mechanic for the Radkar to distinguish them a little more from Rakdos, but I wasn't able to come up with much that felt right for the guild. Opportunistic was initially just a slightly modified Frenzy, but I wanted something a little more original. I ended up going with a keyworded version of a mechanic I submitted for the WAC a couple weeks ago. This is a little on the complex side for NWO, and may not be printable depending on the complexity of the mechanics of the guilds it shares a set with. It may also encourage some not especially {B}{R} plays, but that's not the worst of things.

Electronic Sheep in Wolf's Clothing


For the bonus challenge this week, we'll be taking a final crack at another cycle. This one is going to be a Suvnican take on one of my favorite cycles in the original Rav block (and one I was very disappointed they didn't do again in RtR block) - the guild artifact cycle.

Some of them were super fun, and others were duds, but the cycle still stands out as one of the highlights of the block to me. Their purpose was to be playable in theory even in decks that didn't have either of the given guild's colors, but be a lot more useful if backed by guild-mana.

My first stab at it was this:


I like this design, but it doesn't really deviate from the design of the original Ravnica artifacts in any way, so I tried a different route instead:


Instead of relying on the artifacticity of the card to make it available in non-guild decks, I decided twobrid can do the same trick. This card gave me conniptions, since I more or less kept designing artifacts and calling it an enchantment. I finally got to here, which was wordy, but felt much more enchanty than artifacty.

The Challenge


  1. Radkar keyword. 
  2. Pick 2 guilds and design rares that fit into a cycle of cards analogous to the guild artifact cycle in Rav.
    • The card should at the very least be able to be played even if you're running neither of that guild's colors
      • But it should be better if you are
    • The cards should be rare
    • Artifacts have been done, twobrid is weird. Bonus points for creative solutions around mana costs on non-artifacts.
    • NO MORE THAN 2 CARDS for this part of the challenge.
Good luck everyone. I'm looking forward to seeing what you all come up with.

-zeff

30 comments:

  1. I like Opportunistic a bunch, but it's a little complicated, especially for the Radkar. It's also unclear whether the ability is meant to work when you're defending. You could make it simpler and even meaner:

    Opportunistic (As long as it's attacking, ~ gets +1/+0 for each creature the defending player controls that isn't blocking.)

    "I'm the one who's going to be attacking here. Not you."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That might be too controlly/unbalanced since the mechanic will appear on multiple common creatures. If I have two opportunistic creatures, and you have three creatures, attacking in with one gives me a net bonus of 2 attack power next turn. That seems a little too powerful to me for what is normally a safe attacking decision. I'd still be willing to playtest it though.

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    2. Opportunistic makes no sense to me. Why is my guy stronger when you choose not to block with your guys than when you have no guys at all, or when you've attacked with them instead? Why is BR rewarding the defender for blocking more? What does Opportunistic get us that's so much better than Frenzy?

      Delete
    3. An alternative version that might be fun:

      Relentless (CARDNAME gets +1/+0 for each unblocked attacker you control.)

      It templates very nicely and has good resonance. It would push you strongly toward an aggro style of play, though.

      Delete
    4. @Jay: It's not rewarding the defender for blocking more as much as taking advantage of your opponent letting his guard down. After thinking it over a little, I think Frenzy would have worked fine to capture the same flavor without nearly as much of a headache.

      Delete
  2. Rare designs:

    Gilrog Chimera 4
    Artifact (Rare)
    Whenever a black creature enters the battlefield under your control, CARDNAME becomes a 6/6 Chimera creature until end of turn. (It's still an artifact.)
    Whenever a green creature enters the battlefield under your control, creatures you control gain haste and trample until end of turn.

    Tezzi Cloak 1
    Artifact- Equipment (Rare)
    As long as it's blue, equipped creature gets +0/+1 and has hexproof.
    As long as it's red, equipped creature gets +1/+0 and has intimidate.
    Equip 3

    The idea is to do what the guild leaders did on the original Ravnica, but without requiring players to use both colors. Not sure about the power levels of these designs; my intent was to make them usable by either color on its own, but awesome when both colors were active. Feedback welcome and appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It might be a little tricky, but my hope was to have each card in the cycle care about the colors in different ways. Here are the other possibilities I came up with:
      -Cast X or Y spell
      -X or Y basic land enters battlefield
      -X or Y creature dies
      -Pay X or Y mana:
      -X or Y creature deals damage to player
      -Discard X or Y card:
      -Sacrifice X or Y creature:
      -Tap untapped X or Y creature:
      Some are activated abilities and some are triggered, but this is a pretty loose cycle anyway.

      Delete
  3. Radkar keyword: Power Hungry

    1R Early Exploiter (C)
    Creature - Human Warrior
    2/1
    Power Hungry - CARDNAME has haste unless you control a creature with greater power.

    2R Show Off (U)
    Creature - Human Rogue
    3/1
    Power Hungry - CARDNAME has double strike unless you control a creature with greater power.

    5BB Minion Loving Demon
    Creature - Demon
    5/5
    Power Hungry - CARDNAME has "Pay 2 life: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature other than CARDNAME" unless you control a creature with greater power.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, it sounds like you want these to be "~ has [ability] if you control a creature with less power."

      Delete
    2. Hm.. that does fit the flavor better, but I like the mechanics of this - the boosts are usually temporary and reward curving out.

      I guess the flavor of the keyword is that they all want to be the biggest, baddest guy you have, but then they become spineless cowards when someone scarier then they are shows up. Maybe the trigger should be "unless an opponent controls a creature with greater power."

      Delete
    3. That's a lot of fun. Doesn't especially incentivize building a deck with lots of power hungry creatures, but that's not at all a dealbreaker.

      Delete
    4. This almost fits better with the Sahleen identity, with a small adjustment:
      "Worship - The creature you control with the highest power gains vigilance"

      Delete
    5. How about making it a basic ETB effect? (odd template, but I can't think of another way to reduce the repetition of the creature name)

      {R}{B} Radkar Bladeswinger (C)
      Creature - Human Rogue
      2/1
      Flying
      Despotism - If you control a creature with power less than ~ when it enter the battled, ~ gains haste UEOT.

      {3}{R}{B} Slum Burner (C/U)
      Creature - Ogre
      4/3
      Despotism - If you control a creature with power less than ~ when it enter the battled, ~ deals 2 damage to target creature or player and you gain 2 life.

      {R}{B} Radkar Bladeswinger (U)
      Creature - Vampire
      3/1
      Lifelink
      Despotism - If you control a creature with power less than ~ when it enter the battled, you may sacrifice ~. If you do, add {R}{R}{R} to your mana pool.

      {3}{B} Skull Dwellers (U)
      Creature - Rat
      2/3
      Despotism - If you control a creature with power less than ~ when it enter the battled, target player discards two cards.

      4RB Rakdar Gangmaster (R/M)
      Creature - Demon
      3/3
      Despotism - If you control a creature with power less than ~ when it enter the battled, put three 1/1 red Goblin tokens with haste on the battlefield.

      As a side note, it concerns me that the vast majority of the keywords suggested so far (yes, most of mines included) have been strictly creature keyword.

      Delete
  4. For the Radkar, how about the punisher mechanic? It's a perfect flavor fit; it makes for a clear gameplay style (deal damage aggressively so that punisher cards become better); and it's never actually been keyworded. Some sample designs:

    Radkar Brute 2R
    Creature- Cyclops Warrior (Common)
    2/2
    Punisher-- Whenever CARDNAME attacks, it can't be blocked this turn unless the defending player pays 2 life.

    Radkar Extortionist 1B
    Creature- Human Rogue (Common)
    2/1
    Punisher-- When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, target player discards a card unless he or she pays 2 life.

    Radkar Edict 1B
    Instant (Uncommon)
    Punisher-- Target opponent sacrifices a creature unless he or she pays 5 life.

    Radkar Purge 2R
    Instant (Uncommon)
    Punisher-- CARDNAME deals 3 damage to each creature target opponent controls unless he or she pays 5 life.

    Radkar Ultimatum 2BR
    Sorcery (Rare)
    Punisher-- Destroy all creatures and artifacts unless target opponent pays 10 life.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What's the guild artifact cycle from Ravnica? Not the signets?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sunforger, Bloodletter Quill, Moratorium Stone, Evolution Vat...

      Delete
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  7. Radkar mechanic: (Type) Dominance

    If you control/have more (of a type/thing) than target opponent, (do something).

    Brawl Instigator - 2R
    Creature - Goblin Minion (c)
    Creature Dominance - When ~ enters the battlefield, if you control more creatures than target opponent, creatures you control get +1/+1 and haste until end of turn.
    2/2
    "Get'em!"

    Scornful Arrogance - 1BBR
    Sorcery (u)
    You draw two cards and lose two life.
    Life Dominance - If you have more life than target opponent, ~ deals damage to that player equal to the amount of cards in your hand.

    Slum Kingpin - 2BBB
    Creature - Human (r)
    Land Dominance - At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control more lands than target opponent, you may gain control of target land that player controls for as long as ~ remains on the battlefield.
    2/2

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  8. this will require a bit outside of the ability to work but:
    opportunism - Whenever ~ blocks or becomes blocked by a creature that has been dealt damage this turn, X.

    examples
    common
    greedy vampire 2B
    creature 3/2
    opportunism - Whenever ~ blocks or becomes blocked by a creature that has been dealt damage this turn, ~ gains lifelink until end of turn.

    uncommon
    greedy ogre 3RR
    creature 4/4
    opportunism - Whenever ~ blocks or becomes blocked by a creature that has been dealt damage this turn, ~ gets +2/+2 gains trample until end of turn.

    rare
    greedy demon 4BB
    creautre 6/6
    opportunism - Whenever ~ blocks or becomes blocked by a creature that has been dealt damage this turn, target player loses life equal to the damage dealt to that creature and you gain that much life.

    other key support cards: common prodigal pyromancer variant. (or two), Seismic Shudder.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. on second thought i would word it as opportunism - Whenever ~ blocks or becomes blocked by a creature, if that creature has been dealt damage this turn, X.

      Delete
    2. much better for red than for black, unless we up the vampiric type of direct damage in black. Can't have too much of that in a given set though.

      Delete
    3. also for the artifacts....
      Sorba dualblades {3}
      Artifact- equipment
      equipped creature gets +2/+2
      {W}: Equipped creature gets +0/+1 until end of turn.
      {R}: Equipped creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
      Equip — {2}

      Kismi Growpot {2}
      artifact
      {X}: Kismi Growpot becomes a X/X until end of turn.
      {U}: Untap Kismi Growpot.
      {G}: Kismi Growpot gains trample until end of turn.

      can be played in no color, both colors, or either colors.

      Delete
  9. Fighty Robber 2R
    Creature-Human Rogue (cmn)
    Highway Robbery—At EOT, if ~ dealt combat damage, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
    2/2

    Stealey Robber 2B
    Creature-Human Rogue (cmn)
    Highway Robbery—At EOT, if ~ dealt combat damage, target player discards a card.
    3/1

    Bad-Trade Robber R
    Creature-Human Rogue (cmn)
    Highway Robbery—At EOT, if ~ dealt combat damage, you may discard a card. If you do, draw a card.
    1/1

    Shootey Robber RR
    Creature-Human Rogue (unc)
    Highway Robbery—At EOT, if ~ dealt combat damage, it deals 2 damage to target c/p.
    2/1

    Poison Robber BB
    Creature-Human Rogue (unc)
    Highway Robbery—At EOT, if ~ dealt combat damage, destroy target tapped creature.
    2/1

    Mama Robber 2R
    Creature-Human Rogue (unc)
    Highway Robbery—At EOT, if ~ dealt combat damage, put a 1/1 red Rogue creature token OTB.
    1/3

    Infernal Robber 2BB
    Creature-Devil Rogue (rare)
    Flying
    Highway Robbery—At EOT, if ~ dealt combat damage, draw that many cards and lose that much life.
    3/3

    ReplyDelete
  10. Cycle: Leylined (Creature)

    These are based on the rumored God cards from Theros. This would be a cycle of colorless enchantment creatures with big static abilities than animate when you control a creature of each color of the "guild identity" associated the first ability.

    Leylined Ursus - 7
    Enchantment Creature - Bear Spirit (MR)
    If you don’t control a green creature and a white creature, Leylined Ursus is not a creature.
    Indestructible, vigilance
    No more than one creature can attack each combat.
    No more than one creature can block each combat.
    6/6

    Leylined Craniovore - 9
    Enchantment Creature - Vampire Spirit
    If you don’t control a blue creature and a black creature, Leylined Craniovore is not a creature.
    Flying, hexproof
    You may play face-up cards in exile.
    5/5

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. definitely splashy, but if you're ever making colorless enchantments, you have to ask yourself if they're really doing anything that an artifact can't be doing. Because the two types occupy very similar mental space, R&D take great pains to distinguish between the two types of cards. Color/colorless is one of the lines that they draw.

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    2. You are right. I just got the idea of "living leylines" in my head and ran with it. They certainly should be artifact creatures instead. I'm also not sure how broken Leylined Craniovore is. I suspect it is very good, but in a "how will Johnny break this" kinda way.

      Delete
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  12. We don't like all-downside mechanics, right? I considered something like "this creature only deals combat damage if it is attacking", but that makes people feel bad, right? It's got promise, though.

    How about something like this...

    Glorious End X (if this creature is attacking, you may pay X and sacrifice it. If you do, it deals damage equal to its power to target creature or player.)

    Radkar Brute 1R
    Creature - Goblin Berserker (C)
    Glorious End 3R
    2/1

    Radkar Assassin 2B
    Creature - Human Assassin (U)
    Deathtouch, Glorious End 5B
    2/2

    Radkar Goremonger 3BR
    Creature - Ogre Berserker (R)
    Double Strike, Glorious End BR
    4/2

    ReplyDelete