Ravenous Hatchling (Common)
{3}{R}
Creature - Dragon
5/1
Cloudborne Whelp (Uncommon)
{1}{U}{U}
Creature - Dragon
Hoard - Whenever an artifact enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on CARDNAME.
CARDNAME has flying as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.
2/2
Kulrani Wingleader (Common)
{1}{G}
Creature - Human Warrior
Trample
Dragonrider (Whenever a Dragon you control attacks, you may exile CARDNAME riding it. When the ridden permanent leaves the battlefield, return CARDNAME to the battlefield.)
Creatures CARDNAME is riding get +2/+2 and have trample.
2/2
Autarch's Verdict (Uncommon)
{1}{B}{B}
Sorcery
Target player sacrifices a creature.
Dominance - That player sacrifices two creatures instead if you control a creature with greater power than any creature controlled by an opponent.
Dominance - That player sacrifices two creatures instead if you control a creature with greater power than any creature controlled by an opponent.
Awesome name. I'm not sure all of these play super dragon themed (although obviously, we don't want to overdo it to the point of Kamigawa), but I could be wrong.
ReplyDeleteRavenous Hatchling rocks.
Does this set plan on having a large artifact theme? A subtheme? Could hoard be expanded to other card types?
____rider looks awesome. Straight up cool. Does this want to be a one-shot effect like the updated O-rings? I think I'm okay with two separate effects but I'd like to hear what other people think.
For dominance (which works with dragons but isn't super "dragon"), I'd reorder the wording to make it a clearer "bonus, effect" text, as I got lost the first time I read it.
But awesome. If Avacyn Restored can be an angel set, this looks like a good start on a dragon set.
Agreed, these sets always have great names and are dripping with a feel.
DeleteThis set is about Dragon lords vying for power (something like war between the Elder Dragons like Arcades Sabboth, Nicol Bolas etc.), not just a world with a higher number of traditional monster-minded dragons, right?
Avacyn restored was able to portray the Angel vs Demon theme even though there were only a few of those creatures at Common. The set managed to portray the theme in many ways indirectly.
- Showing the actions of the Angels (miracles)
- Referencing Angels and Demons (the common scrolls)
- Showing people uniting to fight Demons instead of being dejected and squabbling among themselves (soulbond)
- Showing monsters under pressure (names like Hunted, Renegade, etc. or cards like Defang)
I think it works because it's not just about two creature types, but the overall activity or struggle that they are involved in.
So I think it's great that Dominance is in there, since it would let players experience the type of struggles the Dragon Lords are involved in, similar to what Miracles are doing in Avacyn Restored.
This is one set theme where it really makes me want to see a bigger portion of the set to see what other ways the theme can be portrayed in, because it will need many ways.
Maybe the set could show large armies being mobilized, wearing Dragon-like armor, as pawns of the Dragon Overlords?
I'm not sure if the set should have a high number of artifacts just to make the hoard mechanic work. Does a set with a high artifact count feel like a dragon set, or only when a hoard card is drawn? Maybe if the artifacts themselves have some mechanic that make them feel like part of a Dragon's hoard?
One minor thing: Autarch's Verdict seems like a slippery slope; if you lost out on Dominance and sacced 2 creatures, you would probably lose on the next Dominance spell as well.
I recently made a mechanic very similar to Dragonrider, except that it tried to work in the P/T and ability granting automatically. I definitely agree with Ben that mechanics of this type should exploit the "exile until" templating. My version's called 'aid' and it's in this post:
ReplyDeletehttp://mondaymorningmaro.blogspot.com/2014/01/unsolved-design-problems-putting.html
As far as the set in general-- I'm not convinced that "Dragons are cool!" is enough of a concept to support a set. But the idea is certainly appealing.
I get that we're in Dragon World, but dragons are still a red iconic, and to have blue dragons at uncommon seems really weird. Also, all dragons fly in modern Magic design.
ReplyDeleteDragon's Gold {1}{R}
ReplyDeleteSorcery (unc)
Put two colorless artifact tokens named Gold onto the battlefield. They have "Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool."
Dragon Slayer
Dragon Worshipper {2}{G} or {2}{R}
Creature—Human Shaman (cmn)
~ gets +1/+0 for each Dragon you control.
2/2
Love Gold Tokens. Really happy to see them on Gild
DeleteYeah. Really glad they produce all colors, as 'gold' should.
DeleteI was surprised to see it used as a one-off. Works though. And doesn't detract from a future set using them more.
Kulrani Wingleader (Common)
ReplyDelete1G
Creature - Human Warrior
Trample
Dragonbond (You may pair this creature with another unpaired dragon when either enters the battlefield. They remain paired for as long as you control both of them.)
As long as Kulrani Wingleader is paired with a dragon, that dragon has +2/+2 and trample.
2/2
A dragon having multiple riders is probably better as an exception than as a rule. Also, having the Rider be a permanent buff that can't be answered by removal feels a bit off from both a flavor and a power level standard.
DeleteNot sure it makes more sense that Kulrani can attack and block together (or separately) from the Dragon it's bonded to.
DeleteWould rather just use soulbond.
Thanks, all, for the feedback!
ReplyDeleteThis set is, of course, inspired by Avacyn Restored. (Which, despite its frosty reception from tournament players, sold extremely well! The kitchen table crowd isn't very loud on the internet, but they buy plenty of cards.) Dragons are the single best-loved creature type in the game, so I think there is room for a set focused around them.
As Chah noted, the main conflict of the set is power struggles between factions of dragons. That's why we have unprecedented color bleeds. I just can't quite feel the excitement behind a council of Elder Dragons/Wurms/Drakes.
I am not entirely sold on the Banisher Priest template for dragonriders. It made sense to change the wording from Fiend Hunter's because of ETB shenanigans allowing permanent exile. However, as far as I can tell, this triggered ability doesn't create any unintuitive corner cases.
Yeah, since it's all part of one ability, the only way to exile a rider permanently is to willingly do so as the ability resolves after the dragon has already disappeared.
DeleteExactly. I trust players not to stubbornly send their riders off into the void.
Delete