When an Aetherborn dies, the aether that makes them is released, and eventually a new one comes along.
The concept of lifecycles like this are more of a Golgari kind of deal, but Aetherborn are Mainly black, occasionally Dimir. Shuffling into the library is secondary in Blue, so I'm comfortable with the colors here.
It is very wordy. There are ways to reduce the words, but of the avenues I've explored so far, it makes for worse gameplay, so I'll leave it as is for now.
I love the first ability. What's the second one doing?
ReplyDeletePutting deceased Aetherborn back into the mix, to keep the cycle moving. Although now that you're pointing t to it, maybe it could just be dropped?
DeleteI recommend dropping it. You're at nine (!) lines of rules text at the moment. I would also reformat the card slightly. Stealing Skirk Recruiter and Summoning Trap for reference:
Delete"Whenever another Aetherborn you control dies, look at the top seven cards of your library. You may put an Aetherborn creature card from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order."
This clocks in at seven lines of text which is manageable if still beefy. Personally I'd slim things down even more with a tweak ala fa'adiyah seer:
"Whenever another Aetherborn you control dies, draw a card and reveal it. If it’s an Aetherborn creature card, you may put it onto the battlefield."
This one fits on four lines, and I think captures the essence of what you want on the card, unless seven is really important to you.
Going from library to battlfield isnt a UB abilty
ReplyDeleteThis is also a fair point. Maybe the first ability should simply put the creature into your hand.
DeletePolymorph is pretty blue. This is polymorph on a death trigger. Point taken though. Maybe this wants to be sultai?
DeleteYou're right. When discussing polymorph, MCP says "Blue gets transformations where the outcome is known and red gets them where it is not."
DeleteI think this effect could put the creature in hand or on the battlefield, whichever better fits the card's role in its environment. I think putting it onto the battlefield is more flavorful and within color-pie.
Hmmm "Polymorphing as a deathtrigger" is interesting I didnt read it like that.
DeleteI really like this card concept. The first ability does a great job of representing what makes Aetherborn unique. Honestly, it makes me wonder why WotC established such a cool flavor for the tribe and then failed to capitalize mechanically on a card. It may have to do with their asynchronous creative and design work? I feel like the set really would have benefited from a rare that captured this idea, maybe even a legendary creature.
ReplyDeleteWith respect to wording, it looks like:
"..an Aetherborn creature revealed this way onto.."
should be changed to:
"..an Aetherborn creature from among them onto.."
This would only be a very marginal character decrease, but it lines up with modern templating (see Animist's Awakening, Aetherworks Marvel, and Aethermage's Touch).
Further, I do think the second ability does more harm than good. While I understand the intention and think the card would play well, I'm afraid it implies some nonexistent synergy. I could easily see many players reading the card and thinking, "So I can pay {2}{U}{B} to kill my own Aetherborn creatures and get new ones? Cool!" And then at some point they find out that the second ability EXILES, which does not qualify as DYING. It can be unfun for players to discover that first-glance synergy doesn't actually work.
Thus, I would suggest letting the first ability stand on its own. It's awesome, and I think it expresses the flavor very well. The second ability has some cool gameplay potential, but overall muddies the card in my opinion. Maybe a simple keyword (flying or deathtouch) could be added in its place to make the card feel more complete?
Finally, I think the first ability could have the word "another" removed from the first sentence (especially if the second ability is removed). This would significantly reduce the number of times this card is played without you ever getting to see the cool first ability happen. Of course, it would be a powerful change, but it could be costed and balanced appropriately.
If this ability is inherent to the Aetherborn, why do I need a wizard watching over the process? I'd rather see an Aetherborn with this ability for itself: "When ~ dies…"
ReplyDeleteI also kind of want to see what it looks like if we involve the energy that Aetherborn transition to and from:
Lifecycle Aetherborn 3B
Creature - Aetherborn
Aetheric (You may spend E instead of 1 to cast this card.)
Whenever ~ dies, you gain EEE.
3/3
Maybe this could have been best executed as a vertical cycle? An aetherborn at common, uncommon, and rare, each of which could have its casting cost reduced by energy? However, this execution would suffer from the critique that it seems all aetherborn should have the keyword if it's not representing anything unique to the members of the vertical cycle.
DeleteI think the aetheric keyword captures the tribe well. Unfortunately for Kaladesh, I don't think it would have fit the needs of the set. It seems excessive to keyword it if its only being used on some members of one tribe in a non-tribal set. In order to show off the tribe's lifecycle on a card, but not devote a bunch of the set's complexity to that one aspect of that one tribe, I think Zefferal's rare (with tweaks) actually suits the needs well.
I agree with all that, except the argument that every member of a tribe must have the ability that's unique to that tribe. Not all elves make mana, etc.
DeleteLifecycle Aetherborn 3B
DeleteCreature - Aetherborn
Whenever ~ dies, you gain EEE.
Lifecycle EB (EB, Exile this card from your graveyard: Draw a card.)
3/3
I like the idea of cycling out of the graveyard to represent the reincarnation of the setting, where Aether can take many shapes not just a new Aetherborn.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWobbles, I had pretty much the exact same idea as you. Both abilities, in fact. I was starting to think of a card and then saw your response. I think the one thing I would do different would make the lifecycle cost nothing but would be a "must" trigger at the end of each turn. So aetherborns don't actually remain in your graveyard. They dissipate whether you like it or not.
DeleteI guess it depends on what flavor you assign to casting a creature: are you creating the creature out of nothing? Are you recruiting the creature to fight for you? Opinions differ
DeleteI dig all of these tweaks. I'm happy Aetherborn didn't overlap much with energy in kaladesh, but on a revisit I'd love to see exploratory in that space.
Delete