:4mana:, Sacrifice an artifact: Put a token that's a copy of Junkslide onto the battlefield.
[6/4]
Those who have been paying close attention will recognize this as the final, rare entry of this vertical cycle: (commons / uncommons).
Yes, I intend for it to be good, and Constructed-worthy. Just not degenerate (or nearly degenerate, if you prefer), like Ravager.
Thanks to Scuirimancer for the idea to put the rare entry of the cycle onto an artifact creature, a la Basalt Golem.
Now, speaking of vertical cycles, some other entries, revisions, and filled holes from the set / vertical cycles:
Daring ArchaeologistGU
Creature - Human Scout Artificer [UNC]
Artifact landwalk
When Daring Archaeologist enters the battlefield, put a colorless Treasure Chest artifact token onto the battlefield. It has ":2mana:, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card."
[2/3]
Lodestone Armor2
Artifact - Equipment [RARE]
Equipped creature gets +0/+1 for each artifact you control.
Equipped creature assigns combat damage equal to its toughness rather than its power.
Equip 2
Sterling Compass4
Artifact [RARE]
When Sterling Compass or another nontoken artifact enters the battlefield, that artifact’s controller may put a colorless Treasure Chest artifact token onto the battlefield. It has “:2mana:, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card."
The Archaeologist may become a 2/2 with Nonbasic landwalk if I can't find enough use for his current ability while designing the set.
Comments? On anything? Specifically Junkslide, if you care to.
Tanglewalker says the ability should be spelled out.
Nice catch!
That would probably be why my Gatherer research missed that card entirely.
Assuming that I didn't want to just ape Tanglewalker, can you (or anybody) suggest a similar, alternate ability for the Archaeologist? Something that captures a sort of Indiana Jones / Tomb Raider-y flavor?
I am having a hard time with this card, I will not lie.
As a general design rule, I'm try to avoid repeat mechanics unless I can put a new twist on them, or unless there is just no better option. For this set, I am especially trying to avoid repeat artifact mechanics, and especially especially repeats from Mirrodin / Alara / SoM blocks. I want this to be a new set with new ideas on artifact interplay.
For the Archaeologist, there's no particular reason why he has to have a watered-down version of the Tanglewalker ability. I just forgot about Tanglewalker and mistakenly thought I was doing something brand new. So, rather than rehashing that Darksteel mechanic, I want to find that new thing, whatever it is. I want this to be a cool and unique card. I'm just struggling a bit with the functionality.
Doing new things just for the sake of being new doesn't strike me as a terribly great design philosophy. Reusing good ideas is perfectly fine, even desirable. Of course you don't want to retread the same material over and over, but when something works there's reason to use it again (see cycling, kicker, scry, etc).
Doing new things just for the sake of being new doesn't strike me as a terribly great design philosophy. Reusing good ideas is perfectly fine, even desirable. Of course you don't want to retread the same material over and over, but when something works there's reason to use it again (see cycling, kicker, scry, etc).
No, I totally agree that you should re-use old ideas that work. In fact, I think that it's bad form not to - I think it shows that you don't appreciate the vast and untapped potential of the body of existing mechanics. You need to acknowledge, then stand on the shoulders of what has come before.
But, if you use old mechanics, you need a reason. And, except in very few circumstances (like cycling, perhaps, or combat abilities like flying), that reason needs to be that you have a new way you can utilize those mechanics that wasn't done before. If you click through to my master set thread, you'll see that I'm using Evoke extensively. But, I believe that I'm using it in a new way that makes particular sense for artifacts.
With the Archaeologist, my problem is that I don't really have a good reason to have "artifact landwalk" in the set unless it's for the novelty of it, because I'm not going to have more than a smattering of artifact lands. And, as you've shown me, the novelty isn't really there. So, I don't have any reason to go back to the Tanglewalker ability, because it's not needed from a functionality point-of-view.
Not every card in this set has to be snazzy and super-original, but that's the kind of mechanic I'm searching for with this particular card.
don't mean to dance above what you're looking to hear, but have there been non-creature tokens in the past? if not, is this something you're expanding on beyond Treasure Chests?
Mirrorworks -- limitedly there have been. Never has there been a card that explicitly creates a specific token that isn't a creature. But that doesn't mean it isn't possible or should be avoided.
I assume there are imprint cards that also do this.
Prototype Portal is the one that comes to mind.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein
Sorry I didn't mention it (because the thread's still front page), but here's the first thread where I brought up the Treasure Chests, for those interested.
I'm still weighing the cost. seems like the sweet spot - is going to undermine the decision-making that I want the token to create, but I'm worried that might put people off with its price. Anybody have any for / against opinions about the ":2mana:, Sac:" cost?
[EDIT]: A revision, and a new card. I didn't end up using gumOnShoe's idea for the Archaeologist, but I give him credit for inspiring the new guy:
Brave ArchaeologistGU
Creature - Human Scout Artificer [UNC]
Nonbasic landwalk
Whenever Brave Archaeologist deals combat damage to a player, put a colorless Treasure Chest artifact token onto the battlefield. It has “:2mana:, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.”
[2/2]
Sacred Barishi1GG
Creature - Elemental [UNC]
Protection from red
:symg:, :symtap:: Put target artifact card from a graveyard on the bottom of its owner’s library. Put a +1/+1 counter on Sacred Barishi.
[3/2]
I believe that's the first monogreen creature with pro red (excluding other create-a-card stuff, of course). There will be other weirdness like that in this block, as each set is dealing with a 3-color ally / enemy pie.
Artifact Creature - Juggernaut [RARE]
Junkslide attacks each turn if able.
Junkslde can't be blocked by artifact creatures.
:4mana:, Sacrifice an artifact: Put a token that's a copy of Junkslide onto the battlefield.
[6/4]
Yes, I intend for it to be good, and Constructed-worthy. Just not degenerate (or nearly degenerate, if you prefer), like Ravager.
Thanks to Scuirimancer for the idea to put the rare entry of the cycle onto an artifact creature, a la Basalt Golem.
Now, speaking of vertical cycles, some other entries, revisions, and filled holes from the set / vertical cycles:
Daring Archaeologist GU
Creature - Human Scout Artificer [UNC]
Artifact landwalk
When Daring Archaeologist enters the battlefield, put a colorless Treasure Chest artifact token onto the battlefield. It has ":2mana:, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card."
[2/3]
Artifact - Equipment [RARE]
Equipped creature gets +0/+1 for each artifact you control.
Equipped creature assigns combat damage equal to its toughness rather than its power.
Equip 2
Artifact [RARE]
When Sterling Compass or another nontoken artifact enters the battlefield, that artifact’s controller may put a colorless Treasure Chest artifact token onto the battlefield. It has “:2mana:, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card."
The Archaeologist may become a 2/2 with Nonbasic landwalk if I can't find enough use for his current ability while designing the set.
Comments? On anything? Specifically Junkslide, if you care to.
Yes, maybe, and yes.
As for the "maybe", I feel like it's no less grokkable than Dryad Sophisticate or Livonya Silone. But then, the counterargument is Neurok Spy. So, I dunno.
As for the second "yes", the set already has three. I haven't settled on my rare land cycle yet, but that cycle might (MIGHT) provide three more.
It will be more of a question of whether I can provide suitable interactions for it at common / uncommon, though. We'll see what I can do.
Oooooh!
I like how you think!
Yes, that's exactly the kind of thing I want to do in this block. If you have any other suggestions like that, throw them at me!
Hmmm... I wonder what set would like an Echoing cycle...
R Citizen Cane (Feldon of the Third Path)
Nice catch!
That would probably be why my Gatherer research missed that card entirely.
Assuming that I didn't want to just ape Tanglewalker, can you (or anybody) suggest a similar, alternate ability for the Archaeologist? Something that captures a sort of Indiana Jones / Tomb Raider-y flavor?
I am having a hard time with this card, I will not lie.
*Shakes fist at top-down design*
Hmm... would protection from instants work? As in it's protected from various traps and tricks that it might encounter.
R Citizen Cane (Feldon of the Third Path)
No, it would just make it a baby Tanglewalker.
As a general design rule, I'm try to avoid repeat mechanics unless I can put a new twist on them, or unless there is just no better option. For this set, I am especially trying to avoid repeat artifact mechanics, and especially especially repeats from Mirrodin / Alara / SoM blocks. I want this to be a new set with new ideas on artifact interplay.
For the Archaeologist, there's no particular reason why he has to have a watered-down version of the Tanglewalker ability. I just forgot about Tanglewalker and mistakenly thought I was doing something brand new. So, rather than rehashing that Darksteel mechanic, I want to find that new thing, whatever it is. I want this to be a cool and unique card. I'm just struggling a bit with the functionality.
R Citizen Cane (Feldon of the Third Path)
No, I totally agree that you should re-use old ideas that work. In fact, I think that it's bad form not to - I think it shows that you don't appreciate the vast and untapped potential of the body of existing mechanics. You need to acknowledge, then stand on the shoulders of what has come before.
But, if you use old mechanics, you need a reason. And, except in very few circumstances (like cycling, perhaps, or combat abilities like flying), that reason needs to be that you have a new way you can utilize those mechanics that wasn't done before. If you click through to my master set thread, you'll see that I'm using Evoke extensively. But, I believe that I'm using it in a new way that makes particular sense for artifacts.
With the Archaeologist, my problem is that I don't really have a good reason to have "artifact landwalk" in the set unless it's for the novelty of it, because I'm not going to have more than a smattering of artifact lands. And, as you've shown me, the novelty isn't really there. So, I don't have any reason to go back to the Tanglewalker ability, because it's not needed from a functionality point-of-view.
Not every card in this set has to be snazzy and super-original, but that's the kind of mechanic I'm searching for with this particular card.
Lodestone Armor is nifty.
Seconded. :3
• Recent Card Ideas • My Drawings at DeviantArt
NICE.
I will work with this.
Anybody have thoughts on the Compass? Too 'meh'?
Prototype Portal is the one that comes to mind.
R Citizen Cane (Feldon of the Third Path)
I'm still weighing the cost. seems like the sweet spot - is going to undermine the decision-making that I want the token to create, but I'm worried that might put people off with its price. Anybody have any for / against opinions about the ":2mana:, Sac:" cost?
[EDIT]: A revision, and a new card. I didn't end up using gumOnShoe's idea for the Archaeologist, but I give him credit for inspiring the new guy:
Creature - Human Scout Artificer [UNC]
Nonbasic landwalk
Whenever Brave Archaeologist deals combat damage to a player, put a colorless Treasure Chest artifact token onto the battlefield. It has “:2mana:, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.”
[2/2]
Creature - Elemental [UNC]
Protection from red
:symg:, :symtap:: Put target artifact card from a graveyard on the bottom of its owner’s library. Put a +1/+1 counter on Sacred Barishi.
[3/2]
I believe that's the first monogreen creature with pro red (excluding other create-a-card stuff, of course). There will be other weirdness like that in this block, as each set is dealing with a 3-color ally / enemy pie.