Weekend Art Challenge
Click through to see this weekend's design challenge. Your card submission is due Monday morning. Every submission warrants feedback, which I will try to provide, and which everyone is encouraged to provide as well. You may use that feedback to revise your submission any number of times. There will be no separate review posted, the feedback and dialog that occurs in the comments below
is the review.
Every set introduces a new mechanic and small sets evolve one or more of the mechanics from the large set they follow. Let's speculate where Born of the Gods might go from Theros. Your challenge is to design a card that features a new keyword or ability word that would work well alongside Theros' existing mechanics or—if that proves fruitless for you—to evolve one of Theros' mechanics. Your card can be any type, color or rarity, but try to find the combination that best illustrates the appeal of your chosen mechanic.
Not sure if this quite fits the precise terms of what you're after, but...
ReplyDeleteFleeting Eidolon {U}
Enchantment Creature - Spirit, 1/1
Bestow {3}{U}
CARDNAME and enchanted creature can't be blocked unless defending player pays {2} for each creature blocking it.
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1.
{1}{U}: Return CARDNAME to its owner's hand.
A Bestow creature (or cycle) that you can bounce after they "fall off" into standalone creatures sounds like a natural evolution of the bestow mechanic to me.
It's useful both ways round as well: you can cast it as a one-drop and then bounce it after you have something else you'd rather bestow it upon.
DeleteIs {1}{U} + {3}{U} too cheap for a repeated heroic trigger? It's pretty strong on Fabled Hero.
Hmm, this works as sortof regeneration. That wasn't intentional. I'd be happy with the bounce ability being restricted to sorcery speed except that's more words...
Makes sense for a single blue (and/or white) rare...
DeleteI think it could function as a concept for an Uncommon cycle (or mini-cycle depending upon adherence to color-pie restrictions); however, I think you would have to simplify the text such that the card only grants P/T, as the convenience of repeatable heroism-triggers should be sufficiently enticing and the design would already be immensely complex.
DeleteI'm with Jay on this one, but if you keep it at uncommon metaghost's point is well taken.
DeleteWhat if the bounce was this guy's schtick? Cut the Awesome Presence aspect and grant bounce.
Delete{COST}: If CARDNAME is an aura, bounce its target. Otherwise, bounce CARDNAME.
No review? Boo. It's always fun to see the mocked-up versions of everyone's submissions. Nonetheless:
ReplyDeleteAkhilleus, Warrior of Akros (rare)
{2}{W}{W}
Legendary Creature - Human Warrior
First strike, indestructible
If CARDNAME has received exactly 1 damage this turn, sacrifice it.
4/4
The mocks don't do much for me without art. If someone else wants to mock them all up, I'll post 'em.
DeleteThis is a sweet card concept*, but I'm looking for a keyword or ability word that can be used on multiple cards. Or are you suggesting indestructible should be common in Born of the Gods?
Delete*It's not clear when the last ability applies. Perhaps, "When ~ is damaged, if it's been dealt exactly 1 damage total this turn, sacrifice it."
Or perhaps you're evolving indestructible. But would we put achille's heel on multiple cards?
DeleteAkhilleus, Warrior of Akros (rare)
Delete{2}{W}{W}
Legendary Creature - Human Warrior
First strike, indestructible
Whenever CARDNAME is dealt exactly 1 damage, sacrifice it.
4/4
Missed the part about making the card have a new ability. I can revise this if you want, or come up with a new submission. If you don't mind me saying so, I think I've got a pretty resonant top-down as is. Achilles' heel definitely wouldn't go on multiple cards just like the Trojan horse mechanic doesn't go on multiple cards. It's a reference to one story.
I don't mind you saying, because I agree. The addition of first strike means he'll only be killed in combat by a 1/5 or Ashfiend Hound, but mostly he's just terrified of Prodigal Pyromancer. That said, this is a lovely top-down design.
DeleteIt's just not terribly relevant to the challenge I presented.
I like that the weakness is harder to exploit than just having a 1 power guy, but 4 power of first strike makes it too difficult for my taste. Making him smaller with Double Strike gives some more potential for excitement while simultaneously making hitting the heel more plausible.
DeleteI volunteer myself for mockups! where can I send them? (I'll probably use generic art.
DeleteActually, I'd rather see how strong Achilles is via either indestructible or large P/T. Both makes him feel entirely inhuman, even with the vulnerability.
DeleteAkhilleus, Champion of Akros (rare)
Delete{1}{W}{W}
Legendary Creature - Human Soldier
Double strike, indestructible
Whenever CARDNAME is dealt exactly 1 damage, sacrifice it.
2/2
Better?
Love it.
DeleteVastly. Ain't iteration grand?
DeleteI like the new one a lot better too. Unfortunately it also plays in the same space as Fabled Hero (2/2 double strike for {1}{W}{W}), so I could see Development tweaking the numbers.
DeleteThat's a good point.
Delete2/1 (since that second point of toughness is irrelevant except against -1/-1 effects—which should probably kill him the same as damage)
Maybe even 3/1 (for more mana)
Some thoughts to jumpstart us. Feel free to add/refute.
ReplyDeleteTheros is all about Heroes, Monsters and Gods and each of those has a mechanic already(heroic, monstrosity and enchantment creatures). That thematic focus won't change and so we can't just add "and Slivers" or something. So any new mechanic either needs to be secondary (like scry) or illustrate a story shift.
One example of a possible story shift, based loosely off the set's name, is that heroes gain new power thanks to a divine inheritance. Perhaps we see enchantment creatures with heroic to illustrate that. Perhaps there's some additional interaction on them that's unique to enchantments with heroic. (Note that MaRo has said Demigods aren't happening in Theros, IIRC.)
We can also take a cue from the kinds of mechanics we already have and what that leaves gaps for. Between monstrosity, bestow and heroic, we've got all the creature enchancement we need. Blocks rarely have more than one smoothing mechanic and scry is the king of smoothing. We don't have any spell mechanics, for instance, which makes that one area to consider.
Finally, we can constrain our explorations so they fit the same parameters as Theros. A glut of powerful non-aura enchantments are not an option because black and red have no answers to them. Mechanics that play well with +1/+1 counters and large creatures are appropriate but mechanics that easily undo them less so.
To your point Jay,one rout could definitely be:
ReplyDeleteSon of Heliod 2WW
Enchantment Creature - Human Warrior
Bestow 4WW
Enchanted creature gets +3/+3
Heroic - When this is targeted, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
3/3
but that is pretty complicated i think.
For the gods, we could see something like:
Iroas 2 w/r w/r
Legendary Enchantment Creature - God
As long as your devotion to Red or White is less than 5, Iroas is not a creature.
Indestructible
2 w/r w/r:Creatures you control get double strike until the end of turn
5/5
Should Son of Heliod's heroic trigger be "When ~ or enchanted creature is targeted?" If so, does it trigger itself when you bestow it on a creature? I'm not loving bestow and heroic on the same card yet.
DeleteDevotion to red or white does seem like a possible evolution of devotion, especially since we know the upcoming sets have 10 more gods and that they are multicolor gods.
I wonder how likely hybrid is. It works quite well with devotion, but is too multicolor for the block after Ravnica? I really don't know.
If we are going to see the combination of Set One Keywords on a single card, I think we're much less likely to see Bestow + Heroism than we are Bestow + Devotion.
DeleteAnd I really don't think we'll see hybrid. Though the RTR hybrids serve as a pleasant bridge between multicolor and monocolor, devotion has so distorted the value of hybrid (changing Frostburn Weird and Nightveil Specter into legitimate constructed cards overnight) that I imagine additional hybrid would be a nightmare to develop.
You can still make a card that costs {1}{RG} or 2{UB}, though.
DeleteThe wording is somewhat confusing on this devotion, if I'm correctly interpreting the intent, for clarity I'd go with: "devotion to red and/or white." The card itself still could use a bit of massaging. First, devotion is too easy to hit here. I'm not convinced that we need to stick to five, but moreover, I'm pretty sure we won't see double hybrid costs. WotC could do single hybrid to sync them up with the Theros gods or normal multicolor. I'd expect one of four scenarios:
Delete1. single hybrid, require six combined devotion
2. single hybrid, require five combined devotion, weaker gods
3. normal multicolor, require six combined devotion
4. normal multicolor or single hybrid, require four devotion to each individually.
Regardless of the choice (my bet's on 3), I can't see the multicolor gods only having one enchantment effect after the monocolored ones had two.
"Devotion to red and white" might work, given the reminder text could clarify "each {R} and/or {W} symbol."
DeleteI made it Red or White because I figured as a god, he would not care if you worshiped his red portfolio, or his white one, he only cared that you picked one and were devoted to it. I made it hybrid, so that in an all red deck, you play him and are meeting his devotion to red. In an all white deck, you meet his devotion to white. I didn't think it made flavor sense to be able to have both red and white permanents out to meet a devotion to Red and white. That doesn't seem very devoted.
DeleteMaybe the lesser gods will follow something more like:
Iroas 2 w/r w/r
Legendary Enchantment Creature - God
As long as your devotion to red is less than 5, Iroas is not a creature
As long as your devotion to white is greater than 5, creatures you control have +1/+1
2 r/w: tagert creature gains double strike UEOT.
so one devotion turns on the god's global enchantment, and one turns on the ability for the god to attack.
Not sure I love this, but its a possible angle.
You forgot indestructible.
DeleteI also forgot a power / toughness. o_O where is my head at today..
DeleteIroas 2 w/r w/r
Legendary Enchantment Creature - God
Indestructible
As long as your devotion to red is less than 5, Iroas is not a creature
As long as your devotion to white is greater than 5, creatures you control have +1/+1
2 r/w: target creature gains double strike UEOT.
5/5
When I was trying to make a mythology set, I came up with a mechanic called "prophesy" that I like a lot. (I also suggested it for the Kisme guild in the Suvnica project.) It plays well in slow formats with a lot of library manipulation, so I think it would be a great fit, even if it does occupy much the same 'flavor space' as scry. It also happens to be very similar to the [0] ability on the new Chandra.
ReplyDeleteThe cards I originally designed can all be found at: http://mondaymorningmaro.blogspot.com/2013/07/downfall-card-image-gallery.html
Here's my favorite:
Temple Ritual 3R
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Add RRRRR to your mana pool.
Prophesy. (Look at the top card of your library. You may cast it if able.)
Feedback welcome and much appreciated.
Looks fun and plays well with scry. There's some flavor overlap, but you can reduce that by calling it pray* or similar, which works well since it's similar to miracle.
Delete*I'm also working on a mechanic named 'pray' but apart from caring about the top of your library,they're completely different.
Template tweak: "You may play that card." This eliminates a complete whiff on 1/3 of your deck: lands.
DeleteTriumphant Slayer 4WW
ReplyDeleteCreature - Human Warrior (Unc)
When Triumphant Slayer enters the battlefield, destroy target creature with power 4 or greater an opponent controls. If that creature was monstrous, you gain life equal to its power.
3/3
Flavor text: A hero’s arrival in any polis is sure to meet with crowds and celebration.
Is the idea that there would be a bunch of cards that care about monstrousness without having monstrosity?
DeleteBasically. I wanted to think of flavorful ways to incorporate the mechanics that wouldn't make sense to do in the first set.
DeleteMake this a Heroic trigger and I'm sold. Its not completely parasitic like "Destroy target Monstrous creature" would be. Thumbs up.
DeleteHubris (Common)
ReplyDeleteR
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature has hubris. (It gets +1/-1 for each Aura attached to it.)
“Ambition and folly are twins born a moment apart.”
—Sicelles, Pheres Band Poet
I like this individual card a lot, but I think it's a bit too narrow for a keyword mechanic. Bestow is already giving us just about as many auras as you can cram into limited, and even so few enough get cast that hubris applying to more than one aura would be rare.
DeleteThere's only two Heroic black creatures in Theros. Making a handful in Born to the Gods with hubris could create a fun B/R limited archetype that does something different. Also, a few hubris Auras in those colors allows you to combine boons for you with removal for opposing creatures. Remember Black is getting high toughness creatures these days, which mitigates the negative effect when you use hubris as a boon for your guys..
DeleteI could see this effect on 1-3 cards, but I sure wouldn't pay {R} and a card for just +1/-1, even if it does trigger heroic (I don't play Scourgemark as it is) and I sure wouldn't make this a keyword mechanic: Even with high toughness creatures, I'd rather give them +1/+1 or at least +1/+0. Math's easier too.
DeleteI like this card. :) But I have to agree with the others. :(
DeleteI can't get behind a keyword for it. See the Flagbearers/Whirlpools/Phyrexians/Bloodfires/Penumbras from Apocalypse. Mechanical identity, but no keyword.
I agree with what everyone else said, I just want to point out that the flavor text is awesome.
DeleteCavalry Recruit 1W
ReplyDeleteCreature-Human Soldier (C)
Spectacle—Whenever the power of a creature you control increases, CARDNAME gains flying until end of turn.
3/1
"When insanity ensues you have two options: run for the hills or join in."
This trigger feels so foreign yet there's no question how it works. That's a good sign for it. Works with heroic, monstrosity and bestow, which is sweet.
DeleteI'm just not entirely sure why the recruit gets the bonus rather than the creature whose power increased. Is he inspired?
For this particular card, how does he gain flying, in Vorthos terms?
I'd considered creatures that got a bonus when they got bigger, but those didn't interact with monstrosity or heroic so I went for the disconnected route. I never even considered rewarding a separate growing creature!
DeleteNew submission:
Facilitator of Dreams 2U
Creature-Human Wizard (C)
Spectacle--Whenever the power of a creature you control increases, that creature gains flying until end of turn.
2/2
This new version adds a bit more board complexity, but I think it will still fall into an acceptable range so long as we're careful about the bonuses. Also, it's interesting that while either white or blue could do either effect, the one that grants itself flying felt white to me and the one that helped others felt blue. It's contrary to color philosophy, but seems to be borne out by the numbers.
The rules for keeping track of power are kind of weird-- are we sure that this actually works correctly with +1/+1 counters? (And might we *just* want to trigger off of +1/+1 counters, a la Renegade Krasis?)
DeleteI don't know if the rules do work, but they certainly wouldn't be hard to make work and that's the only relevant question when we're treating our designs as if we were in R&D. Triggering off only +1/+1 counters is easier to balance and better explored territory, but also much more parasitic (though not entirely so) and I think it's less exciting for most players.
DeleteElegant. Thumbs up
DeleteSteadfast Lampad
ReplyDelete3W
Enchantment Creature - Spirit - Uncommon
Bestow 3W
Steadfast Lampad and enchanted creature have defender.
Enchanted creature gets +2/+4.
2/4
Bestow creatures you would probably rather play on your opponent's creatures seems like a natural outgrowth.
My original design was Leaden-Fists-on-a-stick, but I feel like if you got creative you could make each color have at least one of these guys.
Interesting...
DeleteFor the sake of curiosity, how would we get creative for black, red and green?
Red is easy -- +2/+2 and attacks each turn if able.
DeleteBlack could be -X/-0 with regeneration tacked on? Or is that treading too much into blue?
Green...I'm not sure how the p/t would work out (+0/+1?), but "Can't be the target of spells/abilities your opponents control" could be interesting. Weakest of the cycle, for sure.
My main quibble with Steadfast Lampad (other than I'm not sure why a cave-dwelling nymph is in white) is that the p/t bonus will make it really hard for you to attack through the opposing defender.
Demonic Naiad
Delete1B
Enchantment Creature - Spirit - Uncommon
Bestow 3B
Whenever Demonic Naiad or enchanted creature attacks or blocks, its controller loses half of his or her life, rounded up.
Enchanted creature gets +3/+2
3/2
Not sure losing half your life is uncommon under NWO. This might have to be rare.
Ardent Eidolon
DeleteR
Enchantment Creature - Spirit - Uncommon
Bestow R
Enchanted creature and Ardent Eidolon can't block.
Enchanted creature gets +2/+1
2/1
As I make these, it seems like "want to play on your opponents creatures" is giving way to "is correct every once in a while to play on your opponent's creatures."
Deadgrowth Spirit
DeleteG
Enchantment Creature - Spirit - Uncommon
Bestow 3G
Enchanted creature loses all abilities and is an 0/3.
0/3
Plenty of room in here. Can't block, doesn't untap, damages controller (attack trigger or upkeep), spells cost more, must attack, mills controller (whenever tapped or upkeep), controller discards a card...lots of space to mine.
DeleteBut remember, if you never want to cast the card as a creature, or if you don't want it become a creature when it falls off, it's purely an offensive aura and shouldn't have bestow. It's a tricky line to walk. It exists, but it's narrow.
DeleteThere's a narrow line, but not so narrow not to investigate further. A 2/2 that deals damage to its controller equal to its power might not be cast as creature very often. A 0/2, however, makes your opponent's guy harder to kill and serves as a passable blocker. You'd have to find a "solution" for most of these, but they may lead someplace fun.
DeleteNot too narrow to investigate.
DeleteI am voleenteering myself for mockups, jay, tell me where to send them on monday.
ReplyDeleteAkrosian Militia 2W
Creature- Human Soldier [C]
Rally— As long as you control another creature with power 5 or greater, Akrosian Militia has first strike.
3/1
Between the walls of Akros and the monsters outside, we know where we stand.
Sweet. Thanks, TehWERR. You don't have a Twitter profile or spam account I can give you my email address, do you?
DeleteLike Spectacle, Rally is also 'triggered' by three of Theros' main mechanics, which is great. Should Akrosian Militia not get first strike if you give it +2/+2?
The "as long as" wording is perfect as long as Rally will never grant toughness (because of post-combat weirdness), but given that Rally depends on power, I expect you were already planning it to never increase power.
a junk email is shimoncooper@aol.com
Deleteyes my intention was to have it not grant power or toughness, even though it could due to the fact that it says "another" this was also because you can't rally behind your self. this mechanic also serves to remedy the main complaint about theros, that it is only about big guys getting bigger. now you will have a team that also benefits from you making the hero more heroic. the plan was to make this a very common heavy mechanic.
My main concern with Rally is that the Theros environment already ups the swinginess of removal in a lot of ways and blowing out your opponent's team in combat in addition to killing their huge creature might be too much. I think we can work around the problem by choosing numbers so that players will easily be able to get two creatures that meet the requirement in the late game, I'm just not sure what that number is yet. That said, I'd like to start testing at power four or greater.
DeleteHeroic Paladin WW
ReplyDeleteCreature - Human Knight (Uncommon)
Awe (During your turn, creatures your opponents control get -1/-0.)
First strike
2/2
I'm glad that awe promotes attacking instead of blocking.
DeleteI expect it's a mechanic that plays much stronger than it reads.
My biggest concern is that awe plays in much the same space as heroic did. When is a creature heroic but without awe? Vice-versa? Should creatures be evoking awe when gods don't?
I agree that this mechanic is very powerful. Even one instance of awe will make Sedge Scorpions and Baleful Eidolons practically useless. However, this mechanic has great resonance, and if it belongs anywhere it's in a format where players are routinely making 10+ power creatures, so I think it's worth exploring further. What about making it an action word?
DeleteWhenever Heroic Paladin attacks, daunt the defending player. (Creatures that player controls get -1/-0 until end of turn.)
Then we could also put this on a sorcery, just by adding the line "daunt target player". That would address some of Jay's concerns about a conflict with heroic.
I think Born of the Gods is likely to try to slow down the super fast Heroic strategy, in the same way that Mirrodin Besieged slowed down infect. This means having expensive Heroic enablers legitimately worth playing.
ReplyDeleteI propose a cycle or two of double-cyclers that both trigger heroic and smooth the late game. For example:
Ferocious Strength 6G
Instant (Common)
Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn.
Draw two cards.
I'm not sure there's such a thing as a double-cantrip. The point of a cantrip is that it doesn't cost you a card. "Draw two cards" is Divination and it's pretty weird seeing that Divination stapled onto a card with an unrelated effect in every color.
DeleteI'd love to see another execution on the core idea that BofG will slow the format down.
There was a giant argument in R&D about whether or not it was okay to give Red Scry because "card manipulation" is supposed to be blue. Eventually they decided it was okay, because Magic is a card game. As cantripping is allowed, I think all colors should be allowed double cantripping as long as it is costed inefficiently enough.
DeleteI agree there is the risk that if one of these cards was accidentally cost too aggressively, it would risk people playing it for the card draw (like people did with Stand Firm for the Scry back in the day), which would be unfortunate.
It is certainly possible the risk is just too high color-pie-wise, but I still like the idea!
'Double cantripping' is pure card advantage without any hoops to jump through, which is almost entirely a blue thing. The whole idea of a cantrip is that it "doesn't cost a card", whereas this spell actually gains you a card the same way Divination does. Also, it's highly unlikely that "Draw a card" or "Scry 2" would ever be printed as the only effect on a spell, but "Draw two cards" gets printed as a stand-alone effect all the time.
Delete(Reach Through Mists has "draw a card" as the only effect *printed* on it :P And it even gets cast doing nothing more than that a fair amount of the time, because you don't always have your splicers in hand.)
DeletePomegranate Harvest 1G
ReplyDeleteInstant - (c)
You gain life equal to target creature's toughness.
Rebound (If you cast this spell from your hand, exile it as it resolves. At the beginning of your next upkeep, you may cast this card from exile without paying its mana cost.)
Rebound plays neatly with Heroic - it gives you double Heroic triggers, but only the first one is a surprise (in case that matters). It also, however, can allow you to slow Heroic down, by overcharging for basic effects (since they are doubled) and making playable, more expensive spells. This card in particular helps as a cheap Heroic enabler that doubles as a strong lifegain spell to use in a midrange deck with Monstrous fat. One way to shift focuses of a format to "big creatures" is to give players the option to just pad their life totals, if that's what they want to do.
Solid idea. I like that you can (potentially) get two triggers on the same creature for just two mana, which nothing in Theros lets you do. My one reservation is that this is probably better as a sorcery-- that's more typical for pure-lifegain spells and gives the opponent a chance to deal with your toughest creature.
DeleteOn an unrelated note, I'm guessing that Born of the Gods won't actually introduce more returning mechanics-- scry plus devotion seems like plenty for now.
Exactly what Ipaulsen said. Rebound would be an excellent fit, but I doubt we'll see another returning mechanic in Born of the Gods.
DeleteAs long as Born introduces a new named mechanic, I wouldn't /shocked/ it they brought back an old one. That said, as perfect as rebound is for Theros mechanically, it's a flavorless keyword and I'm not sure they'd allow in such a resonant block.
DeleteJay, I was thinking similarly, but I'm not so sure! Greek mythology isn't as explicitly "one of these, and another of these"-based as, say, Jewish mythology, but there are plenty of pairs of siblings, and an Erebos/Returned flavor can help sell the unity of twos. Whether it's flavored as "Once my God shows me how, I can duplicate this trick again", or some sort of demigod "once for gods and once for mortals" flavor to bring out the Born theme, I can see Creative respinning it to have a lot more flavor here than it did during its brief stay in Rise. That said, it's a push.
DeleteAgreed. While the name of the mechanic lacks flavor (outside of a Basketball-themed world), Creative could improve upon that by finding a name/art/flavor text connection that makes it feel more natural.
DeleteHell, you could make a coven of Cyclops witches whose spells are all "divided in two" because they can only see half the spell at a time.
Prayer to Thassa {2}{U}
ReplyDeleteSorcery (cmn)
Return target creature to its owner's hand.
Pray to blue (Reveal the top card of your library. If it's blue, your prayer is answered.)
If your prayer was answered, put that creature on top of its owner's library instead.
or
Prayer to Erebos {1}{B}
Instant (unc)
Pray to black (Reveal the top card of your library until EOT. {B} in its mana cost counts toward your devotion to black as long as it's revealed.)
Target creature gets -X/-X until EOT, where X is your devotion to black.
Cool cards, great flavor. I think the first version is the more likely of the two: it's much better as a stand-alone mechanic, and it's very cool that you can do stuff like "pray to red and white".
DeleteI'm not sure the second version needs a color word at all. What about: "Until end of turn, play with the top card of your library revealed. Each colored mana symbol in its mana cost counts toward your devotion to that color."
I agree that the first implementation is more likely. I don't think it's impossible to make a keyword mechanic that only works in the context of another one, but I'd need a really good reason to go along with it and Pray#2 is just okay.
DeleteAs for the first version, I think there's enough scry around to make it work in a sufficiently non-random manner, but I'm worried about player perception. I think a lot of spikes will be up in arms over this mechanic. That aside, the implementation needs at least a bit of tweaking since the current template doesn't work within the rules, we'd have to do it like Whirlpool Whelm (which results in huge blocks of text). I thought of two routes to avoid this:
1. Use it as is, but put the prayer first and group the other two effects into a single block of text.
This helps a bit with the wall of text issue, but doesn't solve it completely.
2. "Pray to blue (As an additional cost to cast CARDNAME, reveal the top card of your library. If it's blue, copy this spell. You may choose new targets for the copy.)
This version saves a lot of space, but also loses the capability to appear in a multitude of contexts and is more difficult to balance. Even if the power level is okay, it may prove too swingy for such an inherently random mechanic.
I really think you hit pray on the head with Prayer to Thassa. I would change the name so that you could have more than 5 cards with the mechanic, but otherwise awesome.
DeletePrayer for the Tide {2}{U}
DeleteSorcery (cmn)
Pray to blue (Reveal the top card of your library. If it's blue, your prayer is answered.)
Return target creature to its owner's hand. If your prayer was answered, put that creature on top of its owner's library instead.
Note that some prayer cards could actually use the revealed card:
"If your prayer was answered, put the revealed card into your hand."
"You may cast it [without paying its mana cost]."
"X equal to the revealed card's CMC"
Gift of Thassa 4UU
ReplyDeleteSorcery (R)
Put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of target creature you control.
Reverence (The player with the highest devotion to blue may copy this spell.)
Reverence is a cool idea, but it's a feel-bad when it triggers for an opponent and it requires players to understand devotion before using it. I suggest un-keywording this and writing:
DeleteWhen you cast Gift of Thassa, copy it if your devotion to blue is 3 or greater.
Then it's just a spell that is very good when you have the necessary devotion, but isn't dead when you don't, which seems like a good place for devotion-matters spells to be.
The drawback is too brutal. It also might not be clear to everyone if you clone a {U}{U} creature that would put your devotion higher than your opponent's who gets to copy the sell.
DeleteTriggering solely for you is better, and could work either with an internal threshold or require you to be more devoted than any opponent.
Since the copy effect increases your devotion, I feel the drawback for this particular card is on par. However, coupling Reverence with other mechanics (that don't put permanents onto the battlefield) can lead to lose/lose situations. Good call. I'll change it to:
DeleteReverence (If you have the highest devotion to blue among players, exile CARDNAME and copy it. You may choose new targets for the copy.)
My choice of "Crackling Counterpart" meant to showcase one card that hits all three of the major THS mechanics. It's a devotion card, devotion enabler, double heroic trigger, and allows you to "rebuy" monstrous. The mechanical heart of Reverence is to enable Heroic while reinforcing the theme of devotion. Can I get some comments on that aspect?
As an aside, I disagree with the copied mana cost critique. Artisan of Forms was released in THS and can require more tracking than a pair of static tokens would. Additionally, with Pack Rat/Devotion a known player in Standard, the cat is out of the bag.
I'm not seeing a the "copied mana cost critque" you mention, but you're right that Artisan of Forms is doing that. At rare.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOff colored bestow and bestow that does not grant all their ability words to the enchanted creature seem to be a possible evolution:
ReplyDeleteEmissary of Iroas 2RR uncommon
Bestow 4WW
Haste
Emissary of Iroas and enchanted creature each have +X/+X where X is the total power of the creatures your opponents control.
1/1
Interesting. I like the idea, but this card immediately makes me ask two questions:
Delete(1) What color is the frame?
(2) Does the enchanted creature get the Emissary's base +1/+1 or not?
I think the answer to 2 should be "it does", but that would require quite a bit of template hacking. Maybe make this a 0/0 and give +1/+1 *and* +X/+X, following Nighthowler?
Not that you would, but what happens if you enchant a creature an opponent controls?
Delete0/0 does make more sense, and I assume the frame would be red.
I would indeed assume that the frame is red unless R&D decided to change how things work.
DeleteGood point about it becoming a 0/0.
If you put it to an opponent's creature it indeed breaks the game, so the wording should perhaps change to:
Emissary of Iroas and enchanted creature each have +X/+X where X is the total power of the creatures with a different controller.
??? Any other more elegant way to phrase it?
What if X is the number of creatures you control?
DeleteAscended Akroan
ReplyDelete3R
Creature - Human Warrior (U)
Whenever Ascended Akroan deals combat damage to a player, if it isn't divine, it becomes divine.
As long as Acended Akroan is divine, it's an enchantment in addition to it's other types and has double strike.
1/1
This might be a cycle only thing (in which case it would have a divine counter rather than a new property), but if not I imagine different divine triggers for different colors. They all become enchantments though.
Feedback appreciated.
Feels very Bushi Tenderfoot. Is there a way for its divine bonus to be "creatures you control have X"? No idea whether double strike is too strong at that point or not, but (an ability in that vein) might help sell "enchantment" a little better I think.
DeleteAgreed, but divine definitely can't be done without a counter. Monstrous is okay because it's basically always trackable, but anything with out a marker is bound to cause memory issues.
DeleteIn Theros, divinity is implied by enchantment-ness:
DeleteWhenever Ascended Akroan deals combat damage to a player, it becomes an enchantment.
Ascended Akroan has double strike as long as it's an enchantment.
Jules has a point about trackability.
What about this?
DeleteAscended Akroan
2R
Creature - Human Warrior (U)
First strike
Whenever Ascended Akroan deals combat damage to a player, you may put a divinity counter on it.
As long as Ascended Akroan has a divinity counter on it, it's an enchantment and it has "Creatures you control have first strike" (It's no longer a creature).
1/1
There's some danger of confusion whether a counter on a creature like this is a +1/+1 counter or a divinity counter, though it's not so bad as to be a total non-starter.
DeleteI do think achieving divinity should be harder and more rewarding.
Oh, it becomes not a creature anymore. That's very different. In that case +1/+1 counters are irrelevant and we just have to remember whether it's a creature or an enchantment, which should be fairly easy, at least when the game doesn't get locked and go very long. Neat.
I'm okay with divinity being harder to achieve. What about "At the beginning of your end step, if Ascended Akroan dealt 4 or more damage to an opponent this turn, put a divinity counter on it" etc. etc. ? Or maybe "if ~ dealt 4 or more damage, put a..."
DeleteI don't know whether restricting it to just players (or creatures?) makes for a better card.
4 is just a ballpark guess. Would require aura + trick considering it's a 1/1. That can certainly be tweaked.
DeleteAlso, it should remain "You may put a counter on it". I don't want to force someone to lose a creature if they don't want to.
Congrats on the fiction contest! I thought I recognized your name over on Gatheringmagic.
DeleteYour divinity mechanic feels like the lovechild of the Ascendants and Myojins of Kamigawa. If you were to redesign the flip mechanic, your divinity would be at the top of the list.
Is there a way to distance your mechanic from them?
Thanks! Don't forget to congratulate Ant, he's the one who won the grand prize!
DeleteI think it speaks to flavor resonance that there has been an "divine ascension" mechanic before which also turned creatures into enchantments. I'm not sure if I can alter this particular card to distance itself, but perhaps a different kind of card.
Here's the updated Akroan:
Ascended Akroan
2R
Creature - Human Warrior (R)
At the beginning of your end step, if Ascended Akroan dealt 5 or more damage this turn, you may put a divinity counter on it.
As long as Ascended Akroan has a divinity counter on it, it’s an enchantment and it has “Creatures you control get +1/+1 and have double strike” (It’s no longer a creature.)
1/1
Bumped up to rare. Really texty.
I wasn't sure if that was the same Ant. Congrats to him as well!
DeleteClean execution. Thumbs up. You may be right about the resonance thing. There is a precedent, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDisciple of Iroas 2RR
ReplyDeleteCreature - Human Warrior (C)
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, target creature gets +X/+0, where X is your devotion to red.
3/2
(Disciple of Karametra 2WW
Creature - Human Cleric (C)
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on up to X creatures, where X is your devotion to white,
1/2
Disciple of Keranos 2UU
Creature - Merfolk Wizard (C)
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, scry X, where X is your devotion to blue.
2/4)
this is the cut off because I did the mockups already
Delete