Weekend Art ChallengeClick through to see this weekend's art and the design requirements for your card submission, due Monday morning. Remember that you may ask for feedback by mid-day Sunday and redesign your submission once after you get it.
This weekend, the set is Dragon's Maze—the sequel to Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash. We know that this set will feature all ten guilds, and there has been speculation that it may include three- four- or even five-color cards, though we can be pretty confident it will still have mono- and dual-colored cards.
We're each going to design one of the guild champions tasked with solving Ravnica's mysterious hidden maze. You will choose one piece of art from the ten available here.
Your design should be a legendary creature that feels like part of a ten-card cycle and represents the means and mores of its guild. If you coordinate with another designer so that your different-art designs show discernible parallels, you will each get bonus points. If you can manage that with multiple designers, you will get proportionally more of these bonus points. You know the points I'm talking about—the ones that are never actually quantified but keep you up at night all the same.
Here's a more convenient link for viewing the guild champions and their art. Thanks, Bradley.
Obviously, discussion and sharing of ideas, either here in public or in some private side discussion is encouraged for this challenge.
ReplyDeleteExample: As neat as it would be if each champion sported the keyword for his/her guild, that's not going to work so well for Melek or Mirvos. So you either want to avoid that path entirely …or choose a set of champions that won't exhibit that irregularity.
Fun idea. It's worth mentioning that it's been revealed that these guild champions are rare, not mythic.
ReplyDeleteSweet, then I don't have to change the templates I just whipped up in MSE. Also, good to know.
DeleteAlso worth noting that we do have one guild champion already:
DeleteRuric-Thar, the Unbowed 4GR
Legendary Creature - Ogre Warrior (R)
Vigilance, Reach.
Ruric-thar, the Unbowed attacks each turn if able.
Whenever a player plays a noncreature spell, Ruric-Thar, the Unbowed deals 6 damage to that player.
6/6
Pfft. That design is terrible, clearly you should… oh. OH. Ohhhhh.
DeleteIt's weird, why does this card has "attacks each turn if able?" Flavor? To prevent board stall in Limited when the opponent drops an Axebane stag or two Rubbleback Rhinos?
DeleteAnyways, it seems this cycle takes pains to be multiplayer worthy (for Commander I suppose).
They synergize well with the Guild strategy, but don't necessarily call it out directly.
If it's a tight cycle, maybe they all have "whenever a player casts a " effect. But I think it makes more sense that they would try to make each one stand out as individuals rather than make them all line up in a uniform way. Uniformity makes more sense with a societal position like Guildmages, not so much with Legendary heroes.
Also,
Delete- A whole stack of abilities to cater to Timmy?
- A degree of protection from removal to make it playable as a fatty. Other champions might also have defense against removal or immediate impact to make it worth playing.
Yeah, I would bet moneys it's a pretty loose cycle. I also expect they won't all be aimed at Timmy.
DeleteWell, stacking abilities to cater to Timmy can be done in addition to things they do for other psychographs, so I think they will do it a lot in this cycle.
DeleteAlso, I'm pretty sure that Ruric is also aimed at Spike, those stats a pretty monsterous. I think that the "attacks each turn if able" is a drawback added for balance.
DeleteThe only thing that might make Ruric Constructed playable is his last ability (combined with his efficient body).
DeleteAnyone interested in collaborating? I'm leaning towards the Dimir champion personally, as my last two designs were R and GW respectively. I also think will be one of the more challenging designs. Anyone wanting to collaborate, send me a DM on twitter @zefferal.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a lot easier to collaborate and discuss right here within the discussion thread! There's a lot of champions, and a lot of people designing. =)
DeleteOkay, no one else is going to go first? I will!
ReplyDeleteEmmara Tandris (R)
GW
Legendary Creature - Elf Cleric
If damage would be dealt to CARDNAME, you gain that much life instead.
X, {T}: The next X damage that would be dealt to target player or permanent this turn is dealt to CARDNAME instead.
2/2
In the fiction, Emmara is a healer, so her card should reflect that. One card that I absolutely loved from (the first) Ravnica block was Phytohydra, and there are no cards (yet) in RTR block that call back to it. So, here we are! Hopefully it feels pretty Selesnyan. Feedback welcome.
Phytohydra is an awesome card to call back to. I'm worried that Emmara both outshines it and leads to board stalls. The comparison isn't clear since Emmara gains life where Phytohydra gains counters, but a nearly invincible 2/2 for two is pretty good compared to a nearly invincible 1/1 for five.
DeleteHer second ability means that you don't want to attack with her, you want to block… And negate four creatures when you do. (Gain life equal to the power of the highest two and at least offset the damage from the next two.)
Admittedly, the Selesnya player would love to have that because it'll stall the board while you populate your army, but Emmara doesn't feel like she belongs to that guild because she only cares about damage prevention and life gain, not about creatures. Consider tweaking this design so that it interacts with creature tokens somehow.
I'm explicitly trying to *avoid* creature token interactions because Trostani already does that, and I feel like the 2nd legendary creature in this guild should hit a different beat. Her activated ability does need tweaking, though. Would she be underpowered if it were gone entirely? It's worth considering.
DeleteI'm totally on board with the legends trying to hit a different beat than other cards in the set. That said, Trostani still feels similar to this, it has a huge toughness and gains a lot of life. Her second ability even helps maintain your army, albeit in a different way than populate.
Delete"Whenever ~ deals damage, put an X/X Ooze token OTB…"
DeleteEmmara Tandris (R)
DeleteGW
Legendary Creature - Elf Cleric
Vigilance
If damage would be dealt to CARDNAME, you gain that much life instead.
2/2
She's already essentially immune to combat damage, so vigilance gives her a reason to swing every turn, which might fit better in the GW aggro/midrange decks Selesnya likes to play. I'm debating giving her lifelink, but I don't know if I could justify that without adding an extra mana.
Her art shows one of those huge Elementals in the background. It almost looks like an Eldrazi. Perhaps an 8/8 green-white vigilance creature token as part of the effect?
DeleteI know you're trying to avoid creature token interactions, Evan; but since I think each champion will end up with designs that complement their guild's keyword, I don't think this would be possible for her. The mechanic populate, but I don't think she would have populate. Therefore, she would be making at least a creature token - something that Trostani doesn't do.
It seems like, with her eyes the way they are, and with that huge monstrosity in the background, she would be a summoner of powerful huge creatures.
I definitely like the new Emmara better.
DeleteI wonder if you could find a white damage trigger and a green damage trigger that look nice together.
Lots of the guild leaders don't interact with their guild's keyword. Niv-Mizzet, Lazav, Rakdos. Isperia even non-combos with detain, because a bunch of detained creatures make it less likely that her ability will trigger.
DeleteJay TreatMarch 30, 2013 at 10:32 AM
Delete"Whenever ~ deals damage, put an X/X Ooze token OTB…"
--
Why deals damage? Why not absorbs damage?
Emmara Tandris (R)
2GW
Legendary Creature - Elf Cleric
Vigilance
If damage would be dealt to CARDNAME, instead put an X/X Ooze creature token onto the battlefield, where X is the damage that would be dealt to Emma Tandris.
2/2
Aren't oozes Simic?
DeleteRegardless, in the flavor Emmara is a healer. Spitting out creatures didn't seem like something that would make sense for her. We will see if I'm proven wrong in a few weeks, I suppose.
I was thinking there was a Selesnya card in RtR that made oozes, but there wasn't and with good reason.
DeleteVorel of the Hull Clade (R)
ReplyDelete4UW
Legenedary Creature - Merefolk advisor
~ is unblockable
G: Regenerate ~
Creatures you control cannot be blocked by creatures with fewer +1/+1 counters.
4/4
Biomancer, General, Champion and ready for the maze. He will be supported by the Simic Combine latest advances as he seeks to outrace his opponents.
Feedback welcome.
Vorel is Simic Champion.
DeleteJust for clarification that W here means pay green mana. That's W as in gWeen just like its U as in blUe. It's not my fault I occasionally struggle to pronounce my R's (and blogger doesn;t let you edit posts)
Melek, Izzet Paragon 4UR
DeleteCreature-Weird Wizard (R)
Instant and sorcery spells you cast have “Gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn.”
6/4
"An epiphany is a terrible thing to waste."
Now to overload something...
It's kind of weird how Vorel sets up this new rule about +1/+1 counters making creatures hard to block and then makes himself unblockable in a completely different way. Why not integrate them?
DeleteEverything becomes Act of Treason is a pretty sweet ability (and the subtle combo with overload is indeed clever), but what's blue about Melek? What if Sorcery spells gained Treason and Instant spells gained something bluer?
DeleteGaining control of things does still feel a bit blue, but this guy still seems a bit like the love child of Tibor, Lumia, and Molten Primordial.
DeleteJules (I'm only addressing you because your submission happens to fall under the replies thread to Antny223's submission),
DeleteI love that the ability "splices on" an extra effect to instants/sorceries, and that the "target," as Jay points out, interacts with overload. It's AWESOME.
With that said, I think overloading to be able to gain control of all creatures is too much. Being able to Insurrection twice or more turns in a row feels wrong, which can definitely happen since the player just needs more than one overload spell.
An example of something more tenable is "This deals 1 damage to target creature you don't control." Not that I'm suggesting this, but it's an example for illustration purposes. Though, there IS a bit of lightning surrounding Melek, which seems to align O.K. with 1 damage - then again, what's 'blue' about his ability in this case? ...thus why you probably chose the Act of Treason ability in the first place.
I wonder how many other blue/red effects there are that can be used in place of Act of Treason that can be doable with overload ("target," tenable, etc.)?
Another attempt:
DeleteVorel of the Hull Clade (R)
4UG
Legenedary Creature - Merefolk advisor
Whenever a +1/+1 counter is placed on another creature you control, place a +1/+1 counter on Vorel of the Hull Clade.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from Vorel of the Hull Clade: Counter target spell or activated ability unless its controller pays 2.
4/4
Which card looks better?
The first ability is Great. Seriously.
DeleteThe second ability makes me sad.
The Act of Treason effect was the only one I could find that felt sufficiently Izzet without being ungrokkable or feeling disconnected, but after designing all nine I have others I like better. I'll make sure to share the rest in the review thread. For now, my new submission:
DeleteLavinia of the Tenth 3WU
Legendary Creature-Human Advisor (R)
At the beginning of your end step, tap each untapped creature you don’t control. Those creatures don’t untap during their controller’s next untap step.
2/5
Lavinia 'doubles' summoning sickness and Detainment without completely shutting off opposing attackers or blockers. And I'm tickled by her coming down on those who literally stand in the way of justice.
I'm going to echo Jay's sentiments on the second version. I wish I'd come up with that first ability, a magnificent feat of elegance and coolness combined.
DeleteI'm going to submit this as a final version incorporating the best of both cards:
DeleteVorel of the Hull Clade (R)
4UG
Legenedary Creature - Merefolk advisor
Whenever a +1/+1 counter is placed on another creature you control, place a +1/+1 counter on Vorel of the Hull Clade.
Creatures you control cannot be blocked by creatures with fewer +1/+1 counters.
4/4
I'm still worried this feels more green than blue, but I'll let it go as blue doesn't get many abilities which it doesn't share with green and this is pretty wordy already.
Melek, Izzet Paragon 3RU
DeleteLegendary Creature-Weird Wizard (R)
Flash
Whenever a player casts an instant or sorcery spell, put a charge counter on Melek, Izzet Paragon.
{R/U}, Remove a charge counter from Melek, Izzet Paragon: Choose one, gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn; or switch Melek, Izzet Paragon's power and toughness until end of turn; or change the target of target spell with Melek, Izzet Paragon as its only target.
1/7
Studying Ruric a bit, I have trouble believing this cycle will be a tight one, but if it were…
ReplyDeleteExava, Rakdos Blood Witch 3BR
Legendary Creature-Witch (rare)
Haste, First strike
~ can't block.
B, Sacrifice a creature: For each +1/+1 counter on the sacrificed creature, put one on Exava. She deals her power in damage to target c/p.
5/3
Feedback appreciated.
I think trying to make this a tight cycle is a mistake. Ruric-Thar attacks each turn not as a drawback but because GRUUL SMASH!!!!11!SHIFT+1!! Here I think "can't block" just reads as a drawback. It doesn't add anything to the card (aside from make it more aggressive, but she looks pretty aggressive as is.)
DeleteI'm also annoyed that she calls out unleashed creatures pretty explicitly. Ruric-Thar's last ability isn't red-green. It's Gruul. The Rakdos are not that subtle.
"Whenever you cast a creature spell, it gains unleash. (Yes, they stack.)"
"Whenever you lose life, each opponent loses that much life."
I think the champions, even more than the guild leaders, have to feel like their guild.
I'm confused, do you dislike how subtle the combo with unleash is or how explicit it is?
DeleteI would argue that everyone—even Rakdos—are more subtle than the Gruul.
I agree the "can't block" seems forced and she could probably feel more Rakdos.
Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch 2BR
DeleteLegendary Creature-Witch (rare)
Whenever ~ is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to each player.
B: ~ deals 1 damage to each creature and player.
5/5
Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch 3BR
DeleteLegendary Creature-Witch (rare)
Whenever another creature dies, return it to the battlefield under your control with an additional +1/+1 counter on it. It must attack each turn if able. When it attacks, exile it at the end of the turn.
5/4
I thought the first one was pretty cool. How about keeping the sac to damage ability, and coupling it with "whenever a creature is put into a graveyard, move all +1/+1 counters from that creature onto the Bloodwitch?"
DeleteSomething like this?
DeleteExava, Rakdos Blood Witch 3BR
Legendary Creature-Witch (rare)
Whenever a creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on ~ for each +1/+1 counter on that creature.
At the beginning of your end step, sacrifice a creature. If you do, Exava deals damage equal to her power to target creature.
4/4
Yes. I don't know if the sacrifice should be mandatory though.
DeleteI like the first strike, haste, can't block trifecta. I'm not sure all of them will follow Ruric's format, but lots of abilities seems fun.
DeleteAlso, is this an intentional call back to Lyzolda, the Blood Witch? It's plenty different, but sacrificing to deal damage hits many of the same notes.
Absolutely. I _loved_ Lyzolda, and they're both blood witches. How could I not call back to that?
DeleteI spent a lot of time trying to play into Unleash too, and it's hard to do so given that Simic and Golgari make so many more counters. That said, I think this last implementation is a very good one. I could imagine opening that card in a pack.
DeletePretty tempted to squeeze in haste and can't block for my final version. I'm inclined to keep the sacrifice mandatory because she's Crazy (and I like calling back risky cards like Lord of the Pit).
DeleteExava, Rakdos Blood Witch 3BR
Legendary Creature-Witch (rare)
Haste. ~ can't block.
Whenever a creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on ~ for each +1/+1 counter on that creature.
At the beginning of your end step, sacrifice a creature. If you do, Exava deals damage equal to her power to target creature or player.
4/4
Nope. Too much text. Apparently I have to use her full name and not just 'Exava'.
DeleteTeysa, Envoy of Ghosts 4WB
ReplyDeleteLegendary Creature - Human Cleric (R)
Lifelink, Intimidate.
~ gets +1/+1 for each spirit you control.
Whenever you cast a spell, put a 1/1 black and white Spirit creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
4/4
What if this was, whenever you gain life, get a Spirit?
DeleteThe condition Chah suggested would mean Teysa's Spirit-making ability would work with extort. Which, to me, is "eeeexcellent..."
DeleteThat's the trigger condition I went with as well, but I'm not sure the spirits need to be literal. This was my take:
DeleteTeysa, Envoy of Ghosts 1WB
Legendary Creature-Human Advisor (R)
Lifelink
Whenever you gain life return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/3
Jules' graveyard will constantly be empty.
DeleteVorel of the Hull Clade 1GU
ReplyDeleteLegendary Creature - Merfolk Wizard
Flash
At the beginning of each player's combat step, you may pay UG. If you do, target creature that player controls becomes a copy of another target creature that player controls until end of turn except it isn't legendary.
2/3
I want to make this work in multiplayer, but it became texty as a result.
DeleteWould like feedback!
What if it just copied any creature onto any other creature each upkeep? Probably still with EOT and legend clauses. Do we need the trigger cost?
DeleteCopying any creature onto any creature would actually reduce the variety of interesting choices because it would always be, "you get the weakest creature, I get the strongest."
DeleteIf it just copies one creature of the same controller, even if the opponent has a strong creature, you have the ability to cast a stronger creature to fight it. If it copies any creature, whatever better creature you cast just gets virtually "stolen". The game would just be about whether you draw removal for Vorel or not.
I added the trigger cost because without it, in a multiplayer game the card would cause one player (the controller of Vorel) to hold up the game during each combat step as s/he chooses how to copy creatures to best foil that player's turn. Since there are many combinations possible, it would be time consuming if it happened with every player's turn.
I do want to leave the option to trigger on different player's turns so that it can create politics and dealing.
Unfortunately, the more I "pre-develop" this card the textier it gets...
I don't know, copying things feels a lot like Lazav. Getting these guys to not copy cards in the block feels important, but tricky.
DeleteIt's also a bit awkward that this guy rarely triggers much evolve.
The copy ability works well with Evolve creatures' +1/+1 counters, though.
DeleteAll fair points. And if you have to put a clunky blob of text somewhere, Simic isn't the worst place for it. I am concerned that this card feels too thinky and not enough amazing and/or bad-ass for Simic.
DeleteI'm not sure whether this card benefits from being a universal effect. Perhaps allowing Vorel to target your own creatures and having the effect reduced to an activated ability (even if it has activate no more than once per turn or activate only when you can play a sorcery). Being both rare and legendary allows this mechanic to have a reasonable amount of complexity as long as the flavor fits.
DeleteThe game play here is interesting, but the Simic using their alterations to intentionally inhibit anyone feels weird. Aren't they supposed to be all about improvement? I don't have a great solution on hand, just thought I'd note how it struck me.
DeleteChanging my card to this:
DeleteVorel of the Hull Clade 1GU
Legendary Creature - Merfolk Wizard
2/2
At the beginning of your upkeep, return a creature you control to its owner’s hand. Distribute X +1/+1 counters among creatures you control, where X is the power of the creature you returned to your hand in this way.
Well, he hasn't been done yet, so:
ReplyDeleteMirvos, Mind Drinker 4UB
Legendary Creature-Vampire Rogue
Flying, Intimidate
Whenever Mirvos, Mind Drinker deals combat damage to an opponent, that player discards cards equal to the damage dealt and you draw that many cards.
3/5
Feedback!
DeleteDuring Jay's first art contest, someone submitted a sorcery about a Stolen Scroll - an opponent discards a card, and you can Cypher it onto your creature. It would be cool to have that ability on this Legend.
DeleteMaybe!
DeleteMirvos, Mind Drinker 4UB
Legendary Creature-Vampire Rogue
Flying, Intimidate
Whenever Mirvos, Mind Drinker deals combat damage to an opponent, search that players deck for an instant or sorcery spell. Exile that card. It gains cypher and is encoded on Mirvos.
3/5
The problem I have with that is that its even more similar to Nightveil Specter. I'm trying to avoid similarities with existing block cards if possible.
Flavor alert: His name is Mirko Vosk.
DeleteHe has many Aliases. Seriously, mtgsalvation lied to me. If others have flavor background on these creatures, I'm sure we'd appreciate a synopses.
DeleteNormally, having both flying and intimidate/fear on a creature is something to avoid (because they are two forms of evasion that may cause each other to be redundant in situations often) - but it does happen occasionally under rare (hah!) circumstances. In this case, a vampire (it can fly) that drinks minds is pretty intimidating to face against.
DeleteALSO, and this is important: it's so awesome at enabling cipher.
For its last ability, I would think that mind-drinking would involve milling somehow. Interacting with the hand seems to me as "thought-drinking" and doesn't represent the entirety of a player's mind.
You don't want to mirror Nightveil Spector, but I still wish this were cheaper and smaller.
DeleteAnd trickier. What if you had to do/pay/gamble something for such good evasion each turn?
More convergent design! I ended up in Bradley's camp with this:
DeleteMirko Vask, Mind Drinker 4UB
Legendary Creature-Vampire Wizard (R)
Flying
Whenever Mirko Vask, Mind Drinker deals combat damage to a player, that player puts that many cards from the top of his or her library into his or her graveyard and you draw that many cards.
3/3
I'm pretty sure the opponent's end has to be mill because for this card to deliver a six card swing every turn in a balanced manner would require a truly gargantuan mana cost. I also opted against intimidate since I wanted the interaction to extend beyond "do they have removal?"
I feel like in a world of Flying 1/1 tokens, having a flyer that needs to connect to activate is pretty unexciting. Looking at Ruric, I'm thinking that these guys are going to be pushed pretty heavily for constructed. So, I'll revamp:
DeleteMirvos Vask, Mind Drinker 1UB
Legendary Creature- Vampire
Flying, Trample
Whenever a card is put into an opponent's graveyard from their hand or library, put a +1/+1 counter on Mirvos Vask.
2/2
I like the call backs to previous Ravnica cards in Jay's and Evan's submissions.
Trample?
DeleteGruul's champion plays VERY well with its guild's keyword, bloodrush. I can't help but think that what ties all the champions together in this loose cycle besides legendary creature status and being two colors is that they each complement their guild's respective keyword.
ReplyDeleteHere's Golgari's champion. My design parallels with Jules and Wobbles in that their designs interact with their guild's keyword AND that each of our cards' mana costs are 6 CMC, just like Gruul's champion's is.
ReplyDeleteVarolz, The Scar-Striped 4BG (Rare)
Legendary Creature - Troll Warrior
4/4
Whenever a creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Varolz, The Scar-Striped.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from Varolz, The Scar-Striped: Regenerate Varolz, The Scar-Striped.
Look at the art here: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=140717&d=1364326442
In the art, he's obviously a Troll. So, he has to regenerate in some way (doesn't have to literally be the regenerate ability, but that's what my design pointed me toward).
Both of the abilities work together, but they each do work in taking care of a couple of restrictions:
First, the art - he's collecting skulls on a spine from dead bodies and has a blade that seems to perhaps have been made from bone. It looks like he LIKES dead people and gets stronger from it. Thus, the first ability. Also, the first ability allows for the second ability to exist.
The second ability makes use of Golgari's Scavenge keyword. This Troll has to regenerate, but the condition or cost to regeneration could be anything - thus, the requirement of +1/+1 counters.
But it'd be a terrible design to require +1/+1 counters as a payment and not have him be able to produce any kind of +1/+1 counters on his own. Thus, the benefits from the first ability had to be +1/+1 counters to allow this second ability to exist.
Lastly, I want to stress that I know that he can get really big. But he also doesn't have evasion or trample or anything of the sort to balance it out. So he can be chump-blocked. Which actually is awesome because he then gets stronger and stronger with each chump-block.
Feedback welcome!
I'd been pondering Varolz as well. I like your implementation, with one major change. Here's my idea:
DeleteVarolz, The Scar-Striped 4BG (Rare)
Legendary Creature - Troll Warrior
5/5
Whenever Varolz, The Scar-Striped is dealt damage, put that many +1/+1 counters on it (The damage is dealt before the counter is put on.)
1, Remove a +1/+1 counter from Varolz: Regenerate Varolz.
I like the interaction with dying creatures, but I think Jarad covers that enough already. Like I said above, I want him to feel Golgari without feeling just feeling green-black. My hope is that the "getting dealt damage and growing stronger" communicates that. I also made him a 5/5. Because. :D
...Is there a way I can say this so that it's more collaboration and less me hijacking your idea Bradley? I kinda feel like a jerk.
Delete...Feedback appreciated.
...Also, someone's gotta try Lavinia and Tajic.
Bradley, without Trample, I imagine there's not much harm in making Varolz efficient to start and let his abilities promise an even bigger upside.
DeleteBen, I'm always happy to see Fungusaur's ability come back and this seems like a great place for it. The second ability combos well with it, but it's dangerously confusing. If the first damage Varolz takes is lethal, can he be regenerated? How many players will know the answer? How many will even be sure you get counters from the first trigger when you have to regenerate him? Is there something else interesting we can do with this fast-growing, masochistic Golgari champion other than regenerate?
How about instead of making him Johnny, we make him more Timmy?
DeleteVarolz, The Scar-Striped 4BG (Rare)
Legendary Creature - Troll Warrior
5/5
Whenever Varolz, The Scar-Striped is dealt damage, put that many +1/+1 counters on it (The damage is dealt before the counter is put on.)
{B/G}, Exile a creature card from your graveyard: Put a number of +1/+1 counters equal to that card's power on Varolz. Activate this ability only as a sorcery.
Timmy likes him. A lot.
I was hoping to save these designs for the review thread, but apparently the Art+Name combination led many of us to far too similar implementations not to share them as reference for my thoughts on the matter.
DeleteVarolz, the Scar-Striped 1GB
Legendary Creature-Troll Shaman (R)
Varolz, the Scar-Striped enters the battlefield with three +1/+1 counters on it.
Deathtouch
If Varolz would be destroyed, instead remove a +1/+1 counter from it and regenerate it.
0/0
Letting him bring his own counters allows for the same sort of regeneration without as much confusion over trigger timing, but still plays awesomely with Scavenge. The deathtouch feels a bit odd, but is integral to making the card feel relevant once it shrinks, and Glissa, the Traitor suggests that it's plausible to balance.
My only issue with trading counters for regeneration shields is that it has been done on both Golgari Grave Troll and Deity of Scars.
DeleteBesides, shouldn't he get stronger after regenerating if he's scar striped?
Jules' Varolz loves Scavenge best.
Delete@George Gone: I agree on getting stronger with regeneration in principle, but I can't think of a way to get good game play out of it. If it'll weaken him opponents might be willing to trade off creatures, but if it'll strengthen him he's just unblockable and impossible to attack into.
Delete(I know I've been commenting a lot - but there's a lot of champions! Lots of designs means lots of discussion!)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, here's a link to easily view all the guild champions' art: http://imgur.com/a/NUJIS
And Mythic Spoiler here has been awesome in the past at how they present Magic: The Gathering spoilers: http://www.mythicspoiler.com/
I'm not quite sure how to template this, but here's the idea.
ReplyDeleteVarolz, The Scar-Striped 3BG
Legendary Creature - Fungus Beast
Trample
Treat +1/+1 counters on creatures opponent's control as -1/-1 counters.
Whenever a card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, you may put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.
3/3
Or... Alt template:
Varolz, The Scar-Striped 3BG
Legendary Creature - Fungus Beast
Trample
Creatures opponents control get -2/-2 for each +1/+1 counter on them.
Whenever a card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, you may put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.
3/3
Also - Feedback Welcome.
DeleteTemplating wise the first card causes trouble with the old +1/+1 and -1/-1 counter rule as placing the +1/+1 counter will trigger removing another +1/+1 counter I beleive, before it becomes -1/-1. I would take a thorough look a how the rules define "treat".
DeleteThis mechanic feels very cruel towards Simic (whose creature have to evolve when they enter the battlefield) and a little mean to Golgari and Rakdos and yet fairly weak towards other guilds.
I really like the second ability though. Perhaps there's a slicker way to give creatures -2/-2 in some way.
The intent is to turn Scavenged creatures into removal.
DeleteIt could also be:
Varolz, The Scar-Striped 3BG
Legendary Creature - Fungus Beast
Trample
Whenever a card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, you may put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.
Remove a +1/+1 from a creature you control: target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
5/5
Alternate version:
DeleteVarolz, The Scar-Striped 4BG
Legendary Creature - Troll Fungus
Trample, Haste
If damage would be dealt to ~, instead put that many +1/+1 counters on ~.
Remove X +1/+1 counters from ~: return target creature with power X or less from a graveyard to tr battlefield under your control.
3/3
I like the last two much better than the first. Except for the haste. Where'd that come from?
DeleteI was looking for a non Regenerate keyword to keep the loose cycle. Haste is secondary in G and tertiary in B so I tried it.
DeleteI really like the "remove +1/+1 counter: -1/-1" ability, but then I realized that was just Vish Kal.
DeleteVish Kal is slightly different as you can only pull counters off of him, and only all at once.
DeleteFinal submission:
Varolz, The Scar-Striped 3BG
Legendary Creature - Fungus Beast
Trample
Whenever a card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, you may put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.
B/G, remove a +1/+1 counter from a creature you control: target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
5/5
Tajic, Blade of the Legion
ReplyDelete4RW
Legendary Creature - Human Soldier
First strike
RW: Put a 1/1 white Human Soldier creature token onto the battlefield.
Creatures you control are indestructible as long as they're attacking.
5/5
Another idea, though this steps on the toes of the Gruul hero too much I think:
DeleteTajic, Blade of the Legion
RW
Legendary Creature - Human Soldier
First strike, Vigilance
Tajic, Blade of the Legion attacks each turn if able.
Tajic, Blade of the Legion blocks each turn if able.
3/3
The latter feels more unique. The former is basically Sunhome Guildmage + Frontline Medic.
DeleteNot my submission, but
DeleteTajic, Blade of the Legion RW
Legendary Creature- Human Soldier
Haste, Double Strike
Tajic, Blade of the Legion can't attack or block alone.
2/2
Come on! Just Lavinia left!
ReplyDeleteLavinia of the Tenth - 2UW
ReplyDeleteLegendary Creature - Human Advisor
Creatures can't attack you unless their controller pays X for each creature he or she controls that's attacking you, where X is the number of creatures they control.
At the end of combat, gain 2 life for each creature that does not attack.
4/4
Wait, are you doing Lavinia or Varolz? Either is fine, just make sure it's clear which is your submission when the time comes.
DeleteAside from templating, my only question is should she also protect planeswalkers?
DeleteLikely Varolz. I was just trying to start discussion
DeleteMirko Vosk, Mind Drinker - 3UB
ReplyDeleteCreature - Vampire Rogue
2/2
Flying
Whenever you cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand, put two +1/+1 counters on ~.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from ~: Choose one -- draw a card; or target opponent discards a card. Activate this ability only whenever you could cast a sorcery.
Feedback welcome.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteIn retrospect, I think he can be a lot more aggressive (development, not design issue, but still). Let's call him 3/3 at 2UB instead for now.
DeleteAlso, if we're treating this like a close cycle, I guess Intimidate also, although...
Both of Ruric Thar's keyword abilities are green, and one's not even primary in green. Vigilance really bothers me on that card. But it sets precedence to do two keyword abilities from one color on these cards. So maybe instead of Flying, Intimidate (which, as was pointed out above, is dumb), Let's now make him:
Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker - 2UB
Legendary Creature - Vampire Rogue (Rare)
3/3
Flash
Flying
Whenever you cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand, put two +1/+1 counters on ~.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from ~: Choose one: draw a card; or target opponent discards a card. Activate this ability only whenever you could cast a sorcery.
Flash and an "activate whenever you could cast a sorcery" clause seem odd on the same card.
DeleteSeconded.
Delete@Evan: I agree. I added Flash because nearly all the designs were including two evergreen abilities to sync the cycle up with Ruric. It's less boring than double evasion (via Intimidate), and creates some very interesting interactions with cypher. If anything, I would take the "only as a sorcery" off of the last ability. It's only there because discard is nearly always sorcery speed, but if anyone was going to do it at instant, it would be a dimir champion.
DeleteThese +1/+1 counters feel funny.
DeleteIn what way, Jay?
DeleteFinal Design
DeleteMirko Vosk, Mind Drinker - 3UB
Legendary Creature - Vampire Rogue (Rare)
3/3
Flash
Flying
Whenever you cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand, exile a card at random from target player's hand.
Put a card exiled with ~ into its owner's graveyard: Draw a card, and ~ gets +2/+2 until EOT.
Decided to channel some Void Maw instead of the modular ability. No +1/+1 counters, which don't really synergize with Dimir in RTR block anydangway. Instead we have an ability that loves cipher, as well as flashback, nightveil spectre, a bunch of izzet stuff, has some GY hate, would be a fun general to build around. I'm done modifying at this point, but would still love to hear any feedback on the design.
That was exactly the way I meant the counters were funny. Definitely an improvement.
DeleteAn idea for Lavinia (not my submission, just for fun)
ReplyDeleteLavinia of the Tenth 1WU
Legendary Creature - Human Soldier
2/3
Vigilance
When Lavinia of the Tenth enters the battlefield, you may pay X. If you do, detain X target nonland permanents an opponent controls.
Whenever you detain a nonland permanent, detain a land an opponent controls.
Not my submission, but:
DeleteLavinia of the Tenth UW
Legendary Creature- Human Wizard
When Lavinia of the Tenth enters the battlefield, name a nonland card.
The named card can't attack or block and it's activated abilities can't be activated.
2/2
An idea for fun for Tajic:
ReplyDeleteTajic, Blade of the Leigon
3RW
Vigilance, first strike
Whenever Tajic, Blade of the Leigon attacks, each other creature you control gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is Tajic's power.
4/4