Cool Card Design of the Day4/25/2016 - I'm not entirely sold on Goldnight Castigator. It suffers double damage, but its toughness was doubled, so that ability doesn't matter. If it were red-white, the combination would be cute, but red doesn't do giant toughness, so it's just a poorly delivered joke.
I played it this weekend and against it, and Castigator cost its caster the game every time. Not surprising, since if you boil it down, it's a 4/4 haste flyer for four with a huge downside—a downside that red is least equipped to mitigate. It certainly compares poorly to Thundermaw Hellkite, for a mythic.
None of that is to say that the design goal or the flavor are bad… I love them both. Which is why I wanted to find an execution that does them more justice.
Goldnight Betrayer occasionally murders some unsuspecting creature she decided wasn't to her liking that turn. If the odds of being targeted were even (like Goblin Test Pilot), Betrayer would give you excellent odds when you're losing on the board. While that's an attractive idea, it doesn't convey frothing, violent, traitorous madness as well as this effect which is always more likely to target your own creatures. Even with that probability, Betrayer could potentially prove all upside in certain matches, which is exciting. Mistform Ultimus is excited. Just look at that… grin?
Maybe this wants haste and mythic rarity.
Wobbles points out on Twitter that Castigator references Gisela's damage doubling. That is cool, I agree. If we'd kept the first strike, then it could literally just be Furnace of Rath and that would feel super-red as well as more insane.
ReplyDeleteIt feels really hard to tell what kind of deck I'm supposed to play this in, because I need to know what creature types my opponent will be running.
ReplyDeleteI'm fine with this being used only in casual decks, tournament sideboards, and changeling tribal.
DeleteI agree with lord Vetinari. Also, destroy a creature is not very red. Not even slightly red. If you go through the motions to exile a card, you can deal damage equal to the revealed creature's power to someone.
ReplyDeleteAlso the card as is can target itself betraying itself? That does feel red, but makes little sense for an angel.
I agree, it should deal damage rather than destroy.
DeleteI disagree that a mad angel wouldn't hurt herself. In fact, of all the creature types, I would argue that an insane angel would be the most likely to try to end herself.
That assumes a moment of clarity...
DeleteSelf-destruction in red is usually either from overambitious contraptions, impulsive choices and last-ditched efforts. But the feeling of anguished madness if more black than red to me.
It would be kind of fun to try to make a deck where no 2 creatures shared a type, like inverse tribal, but this card alone isn't enough reason to make that deck.
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