There, however, never has been, and never will be, anything red, which is as in ones face as in ones face can get, about ninja.
Glad you liked the snake samurai! I'm planning for many more in my custom set.
And I'm planning for many more red ogre ninjas. I get the treacherous waters I'm navigating with flavor, here. But Kamigawa, as a setting, has always pushed some weird flavor topics. I'm sure that, when I'm done with the set, I will have sold you on it. That's the challenge that I'm giving myself.
I remember that a long time ago (at least a year back) there was a thread talking about what third color ninjas would go in and a lot of people tried to justify red... including myself. I don't remember the arguments unfortunately, but I expect others will back you up as your red ninjas show up more.
The Bushi is cool, but be careful how many strong defensive cards you make. This guy blocks fliers as a 3/5 for just 2G, which will quickly stall most air offensives. Its fine to have guys like that, just be careful you don't have too many.
Matsu-Tribe Bushi - A 3/5 blocker for three mana is crazy. And you want it to be common? If it had something like the Gloomwidow twist it might be okay. Flavorwise, the Matsu-Tribe were all archers with the tapdown ability (Matsu-Tribe Birdstalker), so why have they now so radically changed into Samurai? If you are going to do Snake Samurai, then I think you need to create a new tribe for them.
Q: Could you explain the thinking behind the red ninjas in Betrayers of Kamigawa? I understand the blue and black ones, but red does not seem so sneaky. What went into the decision to include red ninjas?
--Frank S.
A: From Brady Dommermuth, Magic Creative Director:
To be frank, Frank, credit goes to Creative team lead Mike Turian for this bold flavor choice. I'm sure you've read the countless articles here at magicthegathering.com regarding the tengu (mountain-dwelling humanoid birds), and how Mike felt they were so essential to Japanese folklore that we simply couldn't do a feudal-Japan-inspired block without them. When he first proposed the idea of the tengu being red's main race in the block, I thought he was joking, and the rest of the developers were just as incredulous. But Mike continued to lobby for the tengu, claiming that the flavor payoff would make the color-pie weirdness worthwhile. Given the success and popularity of the tengu, I'd like to say that the development team came around to Mike's way of thinking, but that's not how it happened. In the end, Magic Director Mark Gottlieb had to intervene and make a decision, and he decided that Mike's plan was worth trying. So that's the story of how the Kamigawa block got a whole slew of common red flyers.
As for the tengu ninja, Mike told us that Japanese folklore portrayed tengu as master swordsmen and consummate tricksters. Agility, evasion (through flight), the trickster vibe… the stage seemed to be set for red ninjas. I think it was one of the Creative interns – either Kai or Elaine – who first suggested the "Order of Smoke" treatment, with tengu ninja specializing in flashes of fire and smoke for obfuscation. Mike liked the idea, and the development team was looking for a few more red tap-down effects anyway. And the rest, as they say, is history.
What is 'What If?' Week?
It's "What If?" Week here on magicthegathering.com, and in the spirit of Planar Chaos, we're presenting you with a variety of "What If?" alternate reality scenarios. Some of them, like Mark Rosewater's column, explain the premise up-front; others, like Kelly Digges' feature article, encourage you to figure out the "What If?" on your own. Ask Wizards and Card of the Day are in on the fun as well, containing implied "What If?" questions, but Arcana is "normal" – we didn't feel alternate reality scenarios would play well in that format. Thanks for reading, and enjoy "What If?" Week!
If you are going to do red ninja, you have to play up the quick, evasive, trickster angle of ninja. The name "Blood-Mad" implies some kind of crazed flailing Ogre Ninja, and that doesn't make sense flavor-wise.
It's tough to justify red ninjas if you stick strictly to the stealth/ silence aspect, but the ninjutsu mechanic does fit red very well mechanically. It emphasizes attacking and killing/ getting around blockers, and it's a surprising mechanic that catches people off guard. With a little creativity (like that shown in the Ask Wizards silvercut posted), the flavor is there. I'll vote for them.
As for the bushi, I think this would be a perfect common if you dropped it to Bushido 1 and changed nothing else. It would be as good a blocker as Giant Spider but a weaker attacker, for 1 less.
As for the bushi, I think this would be a perfect common if you dropped it to Bushido 1 and changed nothing else. It would be as good a blocker as Giant Spider but a weaker attacker, for 1 less.
Yeah, I see the argument. Ultimately, it could go either way. It's a development question rather than a design question - the design of the card makes sense whether it's bushido 1 or bushido 2, I think. It's just a question of whether the environment needs / can support a super-efficient reach blocker at common. I'd go to bushido 1 for sure if the card stalled out flyers too much.
We'll see as I continue to fill out cards in the set.
@Silvercut: Thanks for digging up that Ask Wizards! I'll definitely keep that in mind as I work on the flavor of red ninjas in this set.
I think red ninja make quite a bit of sense, just because red is one of the trickster colours and tends to get small creatures with odd combat abilities. Blood Mad is an odd name for it.
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Creature - Snake Samurai [C]
Reach
Bushido 2
[1/3]
Creature - Ogre Ninja [C]
Ninjutsu 1R
Whenever Blood-Mad Shinobi deals combat damage to a player, it deals that much damage to target creature that player controls.
[3/1]
There, however, never has been, and never will be, anything red, which is as in ones face as in ones face can get, about ninja.
Glad you liked the snake samurai! I'm planning for many more in my custom set.
And I'm planning for many more red ogre ninjas. I get the treacherous waters I'm navigating with flavor, here. But Kamigawa, as a setting, has always pushed some weird flavor topics. I'm sure that, when I'm done with the set, I will have sold you on it. That's the challenge that I'm giving myself.
The Bushi is cool, but be careful how many strong defensive cards you make. This guy blocks fliers as a 3/5 for just 2G, which will quickly stall most air offensives. Its fine to have guys like that, just be careful you don't have too many.
Blood-Mad Shinobi
Ask Wizards March 1, 2007
--Frank S.
A: From Brady Dommermuth, Magic Creative Director:
To be frank, Frank, credit goes to Creative team lead Mike Turian for this bold flavor choice. I'm sure you've read the countless articles here at magicthegathering.com regarding the tengu (mountain-dwelling humanoid birds), and how Mike felt they were so essential to Japanese folklore that we simply couldn't do a feudal-Japan-inspired block without them. When he first proposed the idea of the tengu being red's main race in the block, I thought he was joking, and the rest of the developers were just as incredulous. But Mike continued to lobby for the tengu, claiming that the flavor payoff would make the color-pie weirdness worthwhile. Given the success and popularity of the tengu, I'd like to say that the development team came around to Mike's way of thinking, but that's not how it happened. In the end, Magic Director Mark Gottlieb had to intervene and make a decision, and he decided that Mike's plan was worth trying. So that's the story of how the Kamigawa block got a whole slew of common red flyers.
As for the tengu ninja, Mike told us that Japanese folklore portrayed tengu as master swordsmen and consummate tricksters. Agility, evasion (through flight), the trickster vibe… the stage seemed to be set for red ninjas. I think it was one of the Creative interns – either Kai or Elaine – who first suggested the "Order of Smoke" treatment, with tengu ninja specializing in flashes of fire and smoke for obfuscation. Mike liked the idea, and the development team was looking for a few more red tap-down effects anyway. And the rest, as they say, is history.
What is 'What If?' Week?
It's "What If?" Week here on magicthegathering.com, and in the spirit of Planar Chaos, we're presenting you with a variety of "What If?" alternate reality scenarios. Some of them, like Mark Rosewater's column, explain the premise up-front; others, like Kelly Digges' feature article, encourage you to figure out the "What If?" on your own. Ask Wizards and Card of the Day are in on the fun as well, containing implied "What If?" questions, but Arcana is "normal" – we didn't feel alternate reality scenarios would play well in that format. Thanks for reading, and enjoy "What If?" Week!
If you are going to do red ninja, you have to play up the quick, evasive, trickster angle of ninja. The name "Blood-Mad" implies some kind of crazed flailing Ogre Ninja, and that doesn't make sense flavor-wise.
As for the bushi, I think this would be a perfect common if you dropped it to Bushido 1 and changed nothing else. It would be as good a blocker as Giant Spider but a weaker attacker, for 1 less.
Yeah, I see the argument. Ultimately, it could go either way. It's a development question rather than a design question - the design of the card makes sense whether it's bushido 1 or bushido 2, I think. It's just a question of whether the environment needs / can support a super-efficient reach blocker at common. I'd go to bushido 1 for sure if the card stalled out flyers too much.
We'll see as I continue to fill out cards in the set.
@Silvercut: Thanks for digging up that Ask Wizards! I'll definitely keep that in mind as I work on the flavor of red ninjas in this set.
Art is life itself.