Kuro's Hatamoto can't block unless you control a Demon.
[1/1]
Stinkfoot Samurai1BB
Creature - Rat Samurai [U]
Stinkfoot Samurai has bushido X, where X is the number of Rat and/or Demon creatures you control.
BB: Destroy target creature with power less than Stinkfoot Samurai's power. Activate this ability only once each turn.
[1/2]
Pit General4B
Creature - Rat Samurai [R]
Bushido 2
:symtap:: Put a legendary 9/9 black Demon Spirit creature token named Kuro the Soultaker onto the battlefield. It has "Pay 1 life: Draw a card." Activate this ability only if you control four or more Samurai.
I think you should consider making Kuro the Soultaker an actual card in the set and having the rat tutor him into play a la Urborg Panther. On the other hand, he would be awfully close to Griselbrand...
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On the other hand, he would be awfully close to Griselbrand...
Now that you mention it, I think he already IS awfully close to Griselbrand. So, I may adjust that ability.
I'll also consider the tutoring option, but I know I only have space for one monoblack legendary card in this set, and I'm not sure I want it to be Kuro. But I'm not necessarily opposed to legendary tokens, a la Tolsimir Wolfblood, so that's why I went the way that I did here.
Anyway, here's attempt #2 at Pit General:
Pit General4B
Creature - Rat Samurai [R]
Bushido 2
:symtap:: Put a legendary 9/9 black Demon Spirit creature token named Kuro Unchained onto the battlefield. It has intimidate and "Pay 1 life: Kuro Unchained gets +1/+1 until end of turn." Activate this ability only if you control four or more Samurai.
How splashable do you want the Pit General do be? Idk how the fixing looks in this set but it feels like this is something very much rooted in black's color pie. I think it would feel a little too weird if this showed up in G/W Samurai midrange or something of that vein.
The common seems definitely ok power wise. The original block had a two-drop 1/1 with bushido 2 in red, and if I recall that guy didn't even have the blocking drawback, so no issues there.
The wording on the uncommon bugs me, not because it doesn't function, but because I'm just inclined not to like something worded in such a clunky manner. It's also somewhat unusual to use three components in a counting-based mechanic. Usually you have a basic template as such:
P/T modifier
Ability where P/T matters
This guy throws another moving part into the mix, which isn't awful, but can be complex without meaning to. If you need to attack with him to to turn on the activated ability, for example, you're probably trying to force your opponent into a chump block. If they have a trick that messes with the number of Rats and/or Demons, they can also prevent the ability from doing what you want and possibly blow you out in combat. Again, it's not an impossible feat to make this card work, but it's definitely a benchmark of the limits your set's complexity can reach.
Now you have a 9/9 with Hatred built in, which is probably okay but also not all that exciting. How about "Pat 1 life: Target creature gets +1/-1 until end of turn."? Evokes old Kuro, while also having that aggressive black "hatred" feel.
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I understand that this is probably for flavor reasons, but I'm not in love with all the tribal running through black's share of the set. In addition to the Demon-loving uncommon black Ninja, you've got a common that wants a bunch of Demons, a rare that's worse than the average uncommon unless you have a bunch of Samurai, and an okay uncommon that also cares about creature types. It'd be nice if at least one of these (probably the Stinkfoot) was something I could just throw into any black deck and be happy about.
That said, I do like the design on Pit General, as if he manages to activate he will probably end the game in one swing against a nonblack deck. Should there be a sacrifice as part of the cost? It seems strange that you can keep re-summoning and sacrificing the same Kuro token every turn.
I understand that this is probably for flavor reasons, but I'm not in love with all the tribal running through black's share of the set.
Thinking about it a little bit more, I half agree with you. I decided that I want a little bit of Demon tribal in this set, since story-wise, it deals with the beginning, middle, and end of Kamigawa's final war against the Oni. But I slipped a bit into Rat tribal and Samurai tribal here, and with an extra day to think about it, I think that was a mistake.
With that said, I still think that Kuro's Hatamoto is on-the-mark. I'll try to salvage the other two. I'll post an update here soon.
Creature - Rat Samurai [C]
Bushido 2
Kuro's Hatamoto can't block unless you control a Demon.
[1/1]
Stinkfoot Samurai1BBCreature - Rat Samurai [U]
Stinkfoot Samurai has bushido X, where X is the number of Rat and/or Demon creatures you control.
BB: Destroy target creature with power less than Stinkfoot Samurai's power. Activate this ability only once each turn.
[1/2]
Pit General4BCreature - Rat Samurai [R]
Bushido 2
:symtap:: Put a legendary 9/9 black Demon Spirit creature token named Kuro the Soultaker onto the battlefield. It has "Pay 1 life: Draw a card." Activate this ability only if you control four or more Samurai.
[2/2]
Now that you mention it, I think he already IS awfully close to Griselbrand. So, I may adjust that ability.
I'll also consider the tutoring option, but I know I only have space for one monoblack legendary card in this set, and I'm not sure I want it to be Kuro. But I'm not necessarily opposed to legendary tokens, a la Tolsimir Wolfblood, so that's why I went the way that I did here.
Anyway, here's attempt #2 at Pit General:
Creature - Rat Samurai [R]
Bushido 2
:symtap:: Put a legendary 9/9 black Demon Spirit creature token named Kuro Unchained onto the battlefield. It has intimidate and "Pay 1 life: Kuro Unchained gets +1/+1 until end of turn." Activate this ability only if you control four or more Samurai.
[2/2]
The common seems definitely ok power wise. The original block had a two-drop 1/1 with bushido 2 in red, and if I recall that guy didn't even have the blocking drawback, so no issues there.
The wording on the uncommon bugs me, not because it doesn't function, but because I'm just inclined not to like something worded in such a clunky manner. It's also somewhat unusual to use three components in a counting-based mechanic. Usually you have a basic template as such:
P/T modifier
Ability where P/T matters
This guy throws another moving part into the mix, which isn't awful, but can be complex without meaning to. If you need to attack with him to to turn on the activated ability, for example, you're probably trying to force your opponent into a chump block. If they have a trick that messes with the number of Rats and/or Demons, they can also prevent the ability from doing what you want and possibly blow you out in combat. Again, it's not an impossible feat to make this card work, but it's definitely a benchmark of the limits your set's complexity can reach.
That said, I do like the design on Pit General, as if he manages to activate he will probably end the game in one swing against a nonblack deck. Should there be a sacrifice as part of the cost? It seems strange that you can keep re-summoning and sacrificing the same Kuro token every turn.
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Thinking about it a little bit more, I half agree with you. I decided that I want a little bit of Demon tribal in this set, since story-wise, it deals with the beginning, middle, and end of Kamigawa's final war against the Oni. But I slipped a bit into Rat tribal and Samurai tribal here, and with an extra day to think about it, I think that was a mistake.
With that said, I still think that Kuro's Hatamoto is on-the-mark. I'll try to salvage the other two. I'll post an update here soon.