Cool Card Design of the Day12/9/2014 - Mike's submission got me thinking about champion.
Why do champions exile a creature of their own kind? You could say they're protecting those creatures, shielding them from all possible harm as long as they last, but then why would having a creature be a requirement?
Here's another way to express similar flavor.
This take on champion is all-upside, and therefore can't produce cards that are quite as strong, but I like the space: Oaknock Expert isn't a lord because it doesn't pump your elves, and it's not as all-or-nothing as Immaculate Magistrate and the like. It's simply, "If I've got a friend to fight for, I will fight harder."
Could potentially be a keyword, if we don't need much variance in its use:
Steward (CARDNAME gets +2/+2 as long as you control another creature that shares a type with it.)
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ReplyDeleteChampions exile because WotC wanted to show upgrading. The word "Champion" was being used as a verb. Pichu --> Pikachu
DeleteYou went in a different creative direction than I would have, but that's what's interesting about this site. I'd be surprised if we didn't see some variation of your version, eventually.
"Type" Steward or Steward n
That's definitely what they were going for, but there are no brownie points for lost intentions.
DeleteChampion, the WOTC one, is definitely one of the least appealing abilities I've seen, and I even like Echo. Jay's version is much, much better!
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, what you put your emphasis on was not what I think is the best part of Champion. As I said in the comments to the challenge, and Maro also said that (http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/53126275286/did-you-like-the-champion-mechanic), the interesting part is the idea of evolution. Regarding your design, I actually like it much more than Champion itself in regard of the Tribal component, and I'd absolutely argue that your design would have been a better pitch for Lorwyn especially: it's simple, has clear purpose and play well.
ReplyDeleteWhat I envision for the future of Champion, as I already said, is a Chroma -> Devotion treatment (or something in those lines), especially regarding the idea of evolving creatures (see how Pokemon TCG handles evolution for this); I feel that the idea of Evolving/upgrading creatures has so much design space, largely yet unexplored, in Magic.
In a set with heavy tribal (Lorwyn, Onslaught, etc.) this doesn't make for interesting gameplay: the ability will be switched on the vast majority of the time, to the point where when it's switched off, it feels like a downside. ("Oh, you Doom Bladed my other creature, so you two-for-one'd me.")
ReplyDeleteIn a set with light tribal (Khans' Warriors, Theros's Minotaurs, etc.) this doesn't really warrant a keyword, as the tribal build-around-me isn't something you'd want to spend the mindspace of an ability word on.
We've seen "threshold one" cards like this in Advocate of the Beast and Angelic Overseer; I'm just not sure it's something we'd want in quantity.
feels like Metalcraft-like mechanic but way more easier. love it. :)
ReplyDelete