Wednesday, July 11, 2018

CCDD 071118 - Half-Lords

Cool Card Design of the Day
During GDS3's first challenge, I came up with an idea for Imps that I ended up discarding because, after iterating, it didn't feel like it fit the tribe anymore. I still like the idea, though, so I figured I'd walk you all through my thought process so we could discuss whether the core idea of a "Half-Lord" is salvageable in some way.

The initial concept was a set of cards that split all Imps you control into two piles, representing the opponent not being able to keep an eye on all of your Imps at once. They could choose a pile to "watch", which wouldn't receive the bonus - but the unwatched Imps would grow stronger in the process. This was my first cut at the card:
The concept was solid, but I was concerned it wouldn't feel good to cast this with an odd number of Imps. Only getting one +1/+1 counter across three Imps wasn't a good rate. My next attempt changed it so that there were two bonuses: the "watched" pile got bigger, while the "unwatched" Imps did some dirty work:
Variants on this led to some weirdness, however: it often was correct to put all of your Imps in one pile, leaving a second empty pile. This didn't feel good, especially because newer players wouldn't necessarily understand that a pile could even be empty in the first place. The piles as a whole felt a little messy. I next tried a version where the player controlled the outcome, removing the piles entirely:
This version lost all of the flavor that I'd liked, however. It didn't feel tricky anymore, or like anything really Imp-like. It didn't have the "it" factor that drew me to the original idea anymore, and I dropped it for more fruitful pastures.

...sort of. You could imagine a version of this ability where an opponent chooses either +1/+1 or loses life for each Imp you control. In fact, that version, cranked up to 11 in every way, ended up as part of my submission:
However, the underlying idea had drifted enough from its initial state that I didn't feel like I could salvage the "Lord that boosts half of your team" concept, even though I really liked it.

That doesn't mean, though, that outside of the context of Imps and Tribal challenges, the idea doesn't have legs! I'd love to see what some Artisans can come up with using this or related technology. What context does an ability along these lines make sense for? Is there clever flavor that makes this mechanic immediately grokable? Show me what you've got!

20 comments:

  1. The choice here is "do I risk or not" rather than "which pile do I pick", but here's a half-lord that I think is generic-set grokkable.

    Grueling Instructor 1R
    Creature - Human Advisor
    1R, T: For each Warrior you control, flip a coin. If you win the flip, put two +1/+1 counters on that creature. If you don't, remove all counters from that creature. It loses all creature types and becomes a Coward.
    2/2

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    Replies
    1. Cool! Do they need to lose the counters, or is losing the Warrior creature type (presumably in a Warrior tribal deck that potentially cares about being a Warrior) maybe a sufficient downside?

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    2. I thought losing the counters would make bookkeeping as to who is still a Warrior easier, but it could be that "lose one counter and lose Warrior type" makes the card more playable.

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    3. Trying to keep the same flavor with less bookkeeping:

      Grueling Instructor 1R
      Creature - Human Advisor
      1R, T: For each Warrior you control, flip a coin. If you win the flip, put two +1/+1 counters on that creature. If you don't, return it to its owner's hand. Sorcery speed.
      2/2

      Delete
  2. I dont know if this fits, but your cards made my mind diverge in a pincer-attack design:

    Ambush leader {3}{r}{r}
    Creature - Imp (Rare)
    During each of tour turns, after the first combat phase, you get an additional combat phase. Creatures that attacked or blocked this turn cannot attack or block this turn anymore.
    3/3

    This is an attempt to recreate a situation where you "divide" your forces.

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    Replies
    1. Ah, and congratulations on becoming a resident Artisan!

      Delete
    2. This is a way better way to do this than previous attempts. (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=raging+river) Nice. And thanks!

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    3. You can auto-link cards by enclosing their cardname in a <U> tag in a post or in a <A> tag in a comment.
      Raging River

      Delete
  3. I like the idea! It's kinda like support meets tribute:

    Mini-Imp Lord 2B
    Creature -Imp (C)
    Flying
    As Mini-Imp Lord enters the battlefield, an opponent chooses two Imps you control. Put a +1/+1 counter on each of those Imps.
    1/1

    I think the pile splitting is cute, it just makes the cards both more confusing and more powerful. Locking in a value for the number of Imps that get the boost helps the cards feel better and balance more easily.

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    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. That’s great. I don’t think it’s perfect for Imps, but I like the idea. It feels very black or green, in an “only the chosen few survive” kind of way. Is there a more clear tribe (or maybe we just make a new one?) from a Creative perspective that works with that narrative?

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  4. Minimal change:

    Imp Half-Lord 2a
    1B
    1/1 Flying Imp
    When ~ ETB, an opponent separates each Imp you control into two piles. Put a +1/+1 counter on each Imp in one of those piles. Each Imp in the other pile can't be blocked this turn.

    I like Wobbles' solution better, but I wanted to show how switching who divides the Imps and who chooses changes the experience.

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  5. The "watched/unwatched" split might make for a fun un-card

    Imp of Cloaking Shadows
    1B
    1/1 Flying Imp
    Over-under: When ~ ETB, split your creatures how you wish above and below the table until you control no creatures with Over-under.
    Creatures your opponent isn't looking at can't be blocked. (Players can only be looking above or below the table, not both)

    ==========
    Imp of Darkfire
    1R
    1/1 Flying Imp
    Over-under: When ~ ETB, split your creatures how you wish above and below the table until you control no creatures with Over-under.
    Creatures your opponent get +2/+0. (Players can only be looking above or below the table, not both)

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    Replies
    1. Darkfire should read "Creatures your opponent isn't looking at get +2/+0"

      Delete
  6. I think splitting permanents on the battlefield is a little too unwieldy for an effect that could occur a few times over the course of the game. The second half-lord you cast will require you to move around several creatures that already have counters on them while keeping track of which creatures have summoning sickness. Not to mention that some of your creatures might be tokens and not represented by actual cards.

    I think a Killing Wave style effect (like Four Torments but simpler) would be a better way to implement this. Something like:

    "When ~ ETBs, for each Imp you control put a +1/+1 counter on it unless an opponent loses 1 life. Gain life equal to the life lost this way."

    Might be a little less resonant but it's a lot more playable.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah.
      Though it would need to be 2 life to have any chance of being chosen voluntarily.

      Delete
  7. Desperate for Treats 5R
    Sorcery
    Target opponent chooses half of the creatures you control rounded up or down (their choice). Put a +1/+1 counter on those creatures. Each goblin that wasn't chosen deals damage equal to its power to that player.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As usual, I tried to make the idea more attractive to players by making both halves up-side :)

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    2. Unsupervised Mischief 1B
      Enchantment
      At the beginning of each opponent's end step, if they didn't attack you this turn, put a +1/+1 counter on an imp you control with smallest power.

      (Also considered "inexorable" flavour with zombies and "poltergeist activity" with spirits)

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