Excellion (finished set, MSE file posted)

[{mikeyG}]

So back last summer, just prior to Zendikar's release, many believed the set to be an Indiana Jones-esque set of adventure and treasures and danger. At that point, the prevailing speculation was that poison was back in the set to go along with the dangerous jungles and ancient civilizations feel we thought the set had.

We were, of course, just off the mark. But that speculation was a goldmine and got me to thinking about what that set would have looked like. What would a Magic set in the vein of Indiana Jones be like?

We of course we have to start with our plucky hero.

Spoiler:

Picaro Makama 1RR
Planeswalker — Picaro (M)
+1: Put an artifact card from your hand into play.
-4: Destroy all artifacts target player controls.
-6: Put all Treasure cards from all graveyards into play under your control.
[2]

Picaro here is a 'walker who has lived for adventure for years. No temple too precious, no foreboding jungle too perilous. He lives for the thrill of acquisition, the fortune and glory. For him, there's no greater accomplishment than taking something that everyone else had failed to secure, to succeed where others have failed. He's brash, boastful and reckless, but not altogether aloof. His charm and wits have fared him well just as often as his survival instincts and his battle skills. His knack for surviving where so many others would fall has earned him the respect of many throughout the multiverse who have hired him to secure for them objects of interest from dangerous locales. Picaro was growing bored with the routine his life was beginning to adopt when a stolen ledger from one of his former employers made mention of the Pyxis of Ages, an artifact of mythical power that was said to have been lost on its homeplane of Excellion a thousand years ago. His curiosity suitable piqued, Picaro planeswalked to Excellion intending to be the first in a thousand years to succeed in finding the lost Pyxis. Little does he know that his journey would be of catastrophic importance not just to himself or Excellion, but to the whole of the Multiverse.

A familiar archetype, I know, but it's popular for a reason. We love roguish anti-heroes and where would this genre be if not for its Indiana Joneses, Allan Quartermaines and Nathan Drakes?

Another character archetype this genre favors is that of the hero's damsel in distress. Though, as is the case with this genre, not everything is as it seems and damsels in distress have just as much spunk as the heroes.

Spoiler:

Azella Kinneas, Tomb Raider 3W
Legendary Creature — Human Rogue (R)
Vigilance
T: The next time a Treasure would be put into a graveyard from play this turn, put it into play under your control instead.
2/3

Azella here is a native to Excellion, and one who has made it her life's work to preserve the relics of the plane's lost civilizations. A thousand years prior to the set's story, Excellion was the site of a massive disaster that rendered its largest civilizations completely destroyed. Ancient palaces, cities and strongholds are now overgrown ruins and the modern world has no answers as to what happened a millennium before. Excellion as it stands now only sees these ruins as troves of riches and sites of exploration and the only mind paid to the travesties of old are in the folktales of a few disparate clans and tribes. But some look at these ruins as global treasures to be studied and respected, not raped for personal gain. Azella is one such intrepid adventurer, traveling the world in search of new sites to study, funding her research by selling the treasures she finds to the museum at Bel Arvadran. She's headstrong and independent and is known by many expedition houses as a nuisance and menace for her penchant for charming her way into adventuring parties and sabotaging them before they can plunder her ruins. But in her eyes, she's only doing what is just in the pursuit of preserving the past.

In play, she acts as a perfect defense for your precious treasures, saving them from destruction. Of course, she also has a knack for nabbing your opponents' treasures as well, in the pursuit of saving them from oblivion.

Of course, what are these treasures that these two cards refer to? Well, they're artifacts, ones that have worth beyond their text boxes. Here, I'll show you a common one for easy analysis:

Quartz Cameo 2
Artifact — Treasure (C)
(At end of turn, if the total combined treasure value of Treasures you control is 25 or more, you win the game.)
T: Add W to your mana pool.
“It gleams with every ray of sun ever to beat down upon the Caloris Panitia where it was discovered. And now it lights my coffers.” -Fylona Kes, Gjoan proprietor
[1]

The [1] at the bottom is Quartz Cameo's Treasure Value and denotes how much the permanent adds to your total Treasure Value. I know this forum has discussed this mechanic before and I think it's rather intuitive and grokkable. And yes, this Cameo is part of a cycle.

And yes, Treasure Values can be much more impressive than that.

Eskriba, Sacred Blade 5
Legendary Artifact — Equipment Treasure (M)
Equipped creature gets +3/+3, has double strike and is indestructible.
Equip 3
“For a thousand years it sat upon its altar, and even now its edge is prepared to cull the unworthy.” -Azella Kinneas
[5]

Some Treasures are equipment as well, representing the ancient and priceless wargear found in Excellion's ruins amid the priceless jewels, works of art and devices. Even without a hand to wield it, Eskriba here can win you games, its priceless nature adding heft to your coffers.

Excellion is a world where even upon the brink of death, a man can claim victory based on the vast wealth of his prizes. Though adventurers should remain wary, a purse full of coin or a chest brimming with jewels is not the only path to victory and others are pursuing their own means of winning. Picaro Makama has embarked on his quest for the Pyxis of Ages with headstrong Azella Kinneas in tow as his guide to Excellion's perils, but other denizens of the plane have their own plans in mind and will stop at nothing to stop him.



**** EDIT ****

The MSE file can be found in this post. Updates are still going on as I get feedback.

[Mshnik]

i really want to see the rest of this set, but clearly its going to be a while.

so are we talking a week, 2 3?

[Pichoro]

*claps* A Treasure set! Can't wait to see more. I hope you'll eventually post the set file for perusal.

Did you take advantage of the feature I added to magic-new-extra for this, or did you represent them some other way on the cards?

[{mikeyG}]

Originally Posted by Mshnik

i really want to see the rest of this set, but clearly its going to be a while.

so are we talking a week, 2 3?

I usually do previews not unlike Wizards, centering on 4-5 cards to display a particular aspect of the set (in this case, Treasures) each time I post. The more activity the thread has, generally the more I reveal.

Though I usually post the whole thing within a week or two.

For this post, I'll say that I 'reprinted' Lay of the Land, Trash for Treasure, Traumatize, Awe Strike, Burst of Energy, Diversionary Tactics, and Covetous Dragon. A string of cards that actually does a good job at hinting at other aspects of the set. And retrace reappears along with another keyword (which I'll reveal later in its own post).

I should mention now that my design was influenced by Zendikar and as such, Allies, Quests and Traps found their way in. Though in one case, in a radically different form than in Zendikar.

Originally Posted by Pichoro

*claps* A Treasure set! Can't wait to see more. I hope you'll eventually post the set file for perusal.

I will, for sure. I'll even post the MSE file itself so people can download/export/play with the set if they like it.

Did you take advantage of the feature I added to magic-new-extra for this, or did you represent them some other way on the cards?

There was a feature!? I just put the Treasure Value in the Loyalty spot. Since I don't plan on making Artifact Creature - Treasure Golem cards, I didn't see it being an issue. But I know we talked once about putting the value near where the Tombstone icon lived.

[Jenesis]

I don't really like how the Cameos obsolete the Diamonds in three ways, but I suppose the Diamonds were never that great.

Will there be an "artifacts matter" subtheme in addition to the Treasures? I like how they can be useful in either a Treasure deck or on their own, and the alt-wincon doesn't crowd out the text or require fiddly bits like counters.

Why was the decision made to have the alt-wincon trigger at end of turn, rather than at the beginning of your upkeep?

[{mikeyG}]

Originally Posted by Jenesis

I don't really like how the Cameos obsolete the Diamonds in three ways, but I suppose the Diamonds were never that great.

I was aware when I made them that they do obsolete the Diamonds, but I allowed it for a few reasons. One being, as you said, the Diamond cycle was never really amazing. I wanted the Treasures to really dazzle, so to speak, where even the common ones with overall low TVs (Treasure Values) still commanded attention without necessarily being game winners alone. And with the decision to include the Treasure win condition text on every non-mythic Treasure, it really squeezed out room on a vast sum of artifacts (another artifact-slanted mechanic had a similar effect) and I knew I wanted flavor text on at least one set of Treasures at common to give them a bit of flavor heft. I could've included the cipt clause, but that really crowded the text box. In the end, it was a clause I was willing to exclude.

The set as a whole is a bit of a different beast in that straight-up aggressive creature strategies (both of the weenie and fatty varieties) are largely discouraged in favor of control and combo strategies. So you're not acceling into the usual weenie squad or fatty. Note that I say 'aggressive creature strategies' since creatures are a mainstay of the game, I didn't backburner them entirely. Creatures have a major presence in Excellion, they're just largely not the attacking force we're used to. But I'll get to that.

Will there be an "artifacts matter" subtheme in addition to the Treasures?

Yes and no. Artifacts will matter more for sure since one of the major mechanics is Artifact-only, but I decided not to devote a large portion to the set to artifacts-matters cards. There are a few, and a handful more dedicated to Treasure-matters, but it's not much more than a minor theme. The cards that care about artifacts could have just cared about treasures, but I loosened some of them up to decrease the amount of parasitism in the set.

I like how they can be useful in either a Treasure deck or on their own, and the alt-wincon doesn't crowd out the text or require fiddly bits like counters.

It was precisely that that gave me hope that the mechanic had design space back when we discussed it a few months back.

Treasure is interesting in that it encourages you to play with a lot of treasure, but you can also use specific ones in decks not devoted to the win-con. The idea was that each card had a use of its own as well as a use as a cog in the great treasure machine of winning. On some cards, the treasure value is what you're after most of the time, for others it's the abilities apart from that, and some have different uses in different decks and situations.

Why was the decision made to have the alt-wincon trigger at end of turn, rather than at the beginning of your upkeep?

You know, I don't quite remember. When the mechanic was first developed, I think we just settled on end of turn with little argument and it just stuck. It takes enough time and mana investment that I think it's alright that the window to disrupt your plan once you're able to 'go off' is small. There's enough instant-speed artifact removal in the game that I think it's alright.

Besides, there's another mechanic that uses the upkeep as its check, and I wanted to distance the two as much as possible.

Why don't I explain.

The plane of Excellion doesn't really have a dominant ideology or religion. After the cataclysm that shook the world a thousand years ago, civilizations are for the most part small and insular. There isn't any kingdoms or empires and the various races are individualistic and self-involved. Sure, there are nature-tribes and scholarly sects, orders of knights and expedition houses; but there's no armies, no world-spanning religions, no direction or purpose beyond the here and now.

Stelmarria Jonell was a page girl in the island-spanning museum and repository of knowledge at Bel Arvadran. She toiled away for years under the watchful eyes of the scholars and historians, soaking up all the knowledge she could from the faded scrolls and dusty tomes. One day, several years ago, she was caught trying to steal an ancient manuscript from one of the Bel Arvadran high scholars and was sentenced to one year in their mystical oubliette. Stelmarria was to be deprived of light and sound and of all contact with the world outside, kept alive by the magic of the cell. It was there that she found solace in meditation. She sat in the darkness of her prison and closed her eyes, closing herself off to her conscious thoughts and opening herself up to a higher level of thought. In a moment of perfect clarity, her spark ignited and she ascended as a planeswalker. Her first, involuntary planeswalk left her confused and alone on a foreign plane. As she realized what had happened, Stelmarria found joy in her newfound powers and in the power of her meditation.

Convinced that she had been chosen by a higher power to spread her enlightening word, Stelmarria began to teach and proselytize. Her movement spread far and wide, beginning first with the unnamed plane she woke to after her ascension, but soon on other worlds including a small sect of followers on Ravnica. In a trance one day, Stelmarria had a vision of Excellion wasting away in a sea of bile and darkness. Convinced it was a sign of Excellion's fate without the intervention of her divine word, she set out to return home for the first time since her imprisonment, the self-styled demi-goddess intent on saving the people of Excellion from their own ignorance.

Spoiler:

Stelmarria Jonell 2WU
Planeswalker — Stelmarria (M)
+1: You may tap target creature. It doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step.
-2: The next time target creature would untap, it becomes innervated instead.
-6: Destroy all uninnervated creatures.
[3]

As a 'walker, Stelmarria is controlling and seeks to enlighten those who follow her. And destroy the ones who choose to remain ignorant.

Of course, the key to her power lies in this mysterious "innervation". What is it? Innervation was my attempt to make creatures matter in winning games for something other than attacking for damage. Whenever a creature with innervate would untap, you may pay its innervate cost to have it become innervated instead. At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control six or more innervated creatures, you win the game. Conceptually, as your creatures find enlightenment by letting go of mortal senses and opening themselves up to the energies of the aether, you get closer to using their connection to tap into the Blind Eternities itself.

Disciple of Mada'Zyl W
Creature — Kithkin Soldier (C)
Innervate W (If this creature would untap, you may pay its innervate cost instead. If you do, it's innervated. At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control six or more innervated creatures, you win the game.)
1/1

This little guy is the most basic innervate creature in the set. Attack once (or better yet, use it to fuel the handful of effects that using tapping your creatures as a cost) and the next time it would untap, you can pay W and keep it tapped to innervate it. Then, during your upkeep, if you control 6 such creatures, you win.

It sounds easy, but it requires a few hoops. Six creatures, mana, tapping, untapping - but it's a very different kind of play than attacking, which is the whole point. Innervate creatures are almost universally more fragile than the norm, but some make up for it by gaining abilities when they become innervated. And like treasures, some innervate creatures lend themselves to other strategies for winning:

Repentant Thief 1U
Creature — Vedalken Wizard (U)
Innervate U (If this creature would untap, you may pay its innervate cost instead. If you do, it's innervated. At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control six or more innervated creatures, you win the game.)
1U, T: Put the top four cards of target library into their owner’s graveyard.
1/2

Lifetwister Monk 1G
Creature — Human Monk (U)
Innervate G (If this creature would untap, you may pay its innervate cost instead. If you do, it's innervated. At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control six or more innervated creatures, you win the game.)
T: Gain 1 life for each innervated creature you control.
1/1

In case you hadn't guessed by now, the overall theme for Excellion is that of alternate win conditions. Treasure and Innervate are two, there are still two others, one of which is only moderate in size (but spans well over a decade in history in the game).

[Jenesis]

Originally Posted by {mikeyG}

The set as a whole is a bit of a different beast in that straight-up aggressive creature strategies (both of the weenie and fatty varieties) are largely discouraged in favor of control and combo strategies.

So, in other words, the complete opposite of Zendikar?

Innervate, as a mechanic, I like a lot less than Treasure:
* You'd have to rewrite the rules to allow players to activate mana abilities during the untap step, or you'd only be able to innervate in conjunction with "untap ~" abilities.
* Is "innervated" an ability, a status, or just something that's true about a permanent?
* How long does "innervated" last? Do you pay once, then the ability has no duration? Do you have to repeatedly pay or the creature becomes "un-innervated" when it untaps?
* How is a player reasonably expected to keep track of which creatures are and aren't innervated? (Particularly with the 'walker, which can give "innervated" to creatures that don't even have the "Innervate" ability.)
* The mechanic seems a lot more parasitic than Treasure; by their nature, innervated creatures have to be small and fragile, so they'll be much worse in decks that aren't slavishly devoted to the alt-win.
* Was there any other word considered for the mechanic? Players are notorious for giving nicknames to things (Ramp, Sac, Lupper) and "innervated" is quite a mouthful. Writing the word four times on every card with Innervate also takes up a nontrivial amount of space.

Regarding the triggered alt-wins: exactly how do they play out? If I control 6 innervated Lifetwister Monks, would 6 triggers go on the stack at the beginning of my upkeep? Same for Treasure at EOT (it seems to be a triggered ability inherent to a subtype; that's fine).

What if I control 6 creatures innervated by Stelmarria Jonell, but none of them have the "Innervate" ability themselves? Does anything trigger?

(Don't take this as a flame, please; if I didn't like your set I wouldn't be writing so many words about it! Can't wait to see more!)

[{mikeyG}]

Originally Posted by Jenesis

So, in other words, the complete opposite of Zendikar?

Haha, pretty much. Excellion was intended to be sort of a distorted mirror of Zendikar.

* You'd have to rewrite the rules to allow players to activate mana abilities during the untap step, or you'd only be able to innervate in conjunction with "untap ~" abilities.

I truly didn't know that rule existed (obviously). Would a rewrite necessarily break much in the game?

* Is "innervated" an ability, a status, or just something that's true about a permanent?

It's like tapped/untapped, flipped/not flipped, etc. It's something that the creature is.

* How long does "innervated" last? Do you pay once, then the ability has no duration? Do you have to repeatedly pay or the creature becomes "un-innervated" when it untaps?

The ability has no duration. Like flipping, there are currently no ways to un-innervate a creature.

* How is a player reasonably expected to keep track of which creatures are and aren't innervated? (Particularly with the 'walker, which can give "innervated" to creatures that don't even have the "Innervate" ability.)

Given that decks using the mechanic likely wouldn't have many creatures outside the theme, nor would they have more than five or six innervated creatures in play at once, I don't feel it's unreasonable to simply divide one's creatures.

I toyed with the idea of using a counter, but I felt it was too clunky (the set already had enough special counters flying around in addition to the usual +1/+1).

* The mechanic seems a lot more parasitic than Treasure; by their nature, innervated creatures have to be small and fragile, so they'll be much worse in decks that aren't slavishly devoted to the alt-win.

Indeed, that wasn't completely unintentional. I felt that since several of the set's themes were much more modular, it was alright to include one or two that felt much more insular. Innervate decks still play decently outside of the set since there's a wealth of cards that tap and untap that inherently make innervating easier to accomplish.

Of course, there are a few innervate creatures that aren't small and fragile. As mentioned before, some gain additional benefits to becoming enlightened. The green and white ends of the three innervate colors especially get creatures that get beefier and/or learn new tricks to offset the drawback of having to remain tapped that extra turn to become innervated (remember that the creatures becomes innervated instead of untapping).

Stalwart Observer 3G
Creature — Human Monk (C)
Innervate 2G (If this creature would untap, you may pay its innervate cost instead. If you do, it's innervated. At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control six or more innervated creatures, you win the game.)
Stalwart Observer gets +3/+3 and has shroud as long as it’s innervated.
3/3

My question is this, though: If I play this on the fourth turn, somehow give it haste and attack, can I innervate it on my next turn, or would I not have my lands available to untap until after my chance to pay the innervate cost is over?

If not, the mechanic is in serious trouble as that would severely hamper its uses. Trouble is, it would have to be tweaked in such a way as to not cause too much to change since the mechanic as it stands is an intricate part of the set. Cards with innervate or included/designed specifically to interact with it comprise a decent chunk, perhaps around an eighth of the set.

* Was there any other word considered for the mechanic? Players are notorious for giving nicknames to things (Ramp, Sac, Lupper) and "innervated" is quite a mouthful. Writing the word four times on every card with Innervate also takes up a nontrivial amount of space.

I looked high and low for a word with a wide enough meaning to encapsulate how the various colors see the mechanic. White sees a righteous calling, blue sees a transcendant form of thought, green sees a spiritual way of tapping into inner strength. Looking at innervate in a Thesaurus gives a wide array of other words, but they either don't convey the various perspectives, already have ties to the game or don't sound very Magic-y at all. I needed a word that was both high-minded.

I agree that innervate doesn't flow as well as the ability wants it to, but nothing else stuck out as a viable replacement. I am absolutely all ears for great suggestions, though.

Regarding the triggered alt-wins: exactly how do they play out? If I control 6 innervated Lifetwister Monks, would 6 triggers go on the stack at the beginning of my upkeep? Same for Treasure at EOT (it seems to be a triggered ability inherent to a subtype; that's fine).

What if I control 6 creatures innervated by Stelmarria Jonell, but none of them have the "Innervate" ability themselves? Does anything trigger?

I'm not sure whether it's so much a trigger as it is a check of SBEs, particularly with Treasure. With Treasure, I always envisioned it as something SBEs checked during cleanup with no shift in priority or chance to respond. Like losing for having 0 life.

(Don't take this as a flame, please; if I didn't like your set I wouldn't be writing so many words about it! Can't wait to see more!)

Certainly not. If I didn't want any criticism at all, I wouldn't have posted a thing.

But for you, a treat. A revisit of Quests, this time subtype supported!

Hunt of the Sable Wolf 2G
Enchantment — Quest (U)
Whenever a creature comes into play under your control, put a quest counter on Hunt of the Sable Wolf.
1G: Put a 4/4 green Wolf Beast creature token into play. Play this ability only if there are five or more quest counters on Hunt of the Sable Wolf.

I never liked that Quests had to be sacced for their effect. I like the idea that the journey has a lasting impression on you once you've completed it. Such as this one. As more men join your hunt, you find the elusive Sable Wolf of Iskendrun. And once found, you learn how to summon the beast to aid you in your path.

Delving the Darkest Tombs 1B
Enchantment — Quest (C)
Whenever a creature is put into your graveyard from play, put a quest counter on Delving the Darkest Tombs.
Creature cards in your graveyard have retrace if there are seven or more quest counters on Delving the Darkest Tombs.

Fill your tombs too full, and eventually some of its denizens will want out.

But what if a Quest has no end?

Voyage of Chryst-Kings 3W
Enchantment — Quest (R)
At end of turn, if you were dealt no damage his turn, put a quest counter on Voyage of Chryst-Kings.
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a 1/1 white Soldier creature token into play for each quest counter on Voyage of Chryst-Kings.

A cycle of rares explores the idea of Quests without an end. This one in particular highlights the plight of Naloa. Once a prosperous kingdom known as the seat of the Chryst-Kings, Naloa fell along with all the other ancient civilizations of Excellion a thousand years ago. Now known as Naloa Tor (Tor being the word used to denote ruins that were once seats of power in the ancient world) the survivors of its past live in exile. But some believe that lost somewhere in the bloodlines of the surviving Naloans lies the scion to the Chryst-Kings of old and they believe someday a scion will rise and his royal blood will restore the kingdom to its former glory. Yearly, knights still dedicated to the old kingdom make pilgrimages to Naloa Tor with chosen men believed to be potential scions. The pilgrimages bring the scions to the ancient throne room to verify the bloodlines and each year, though ending in failure, summons countless Naloans as the caravans wind their way through the world back to the southern continent where Naloa once ruled.

This quest represents those pilgrimages. As the voyage begins, you start to attract company as one by one, Naloans from all corners recognize your glorious pilgrimage. These voyages never truly end and never will until a true scion is found and a new Chryst-King takes his throne.

Of course, Quests aren't limited to just Enchantments.

Aged Spellcaster 3RR
Creature — Minotaur Shaman (R)
Whenever you cast a spell, put a quest counter on Aged Spellcaster.
At end of turn, you win the game if there are thirteen or more quest counters on Aged Spellcaster.
4/3

Some creatures have personal quests as well. Though not gifted with the subtype for obvious reasons, such creatures fit the theme. This minotaur badass just wants to see you cast spells. He remembers when spellcasting was an art and not some pragmatic part of daily life. He wants to experience the revelry of tapping into the raw elements, and will reward you handsomely when his thirst is sated.

Journeyman's Mount 2W
Creature — Griffin (C)
Journeyman's Mount has flying as long as you control a Quest.
“Kyfalan here is as loyal as any hound or arm-for-hire. She has walked beside me as I traversed Hylonia and when I was tasked with rescuing a group of relic hunters from Miracuff, she flew us there in the knick of time.” -Jerada, Azaadha journeyman
2/3

Some creatures are better if you embark on a Quest. This trained griffin is land-bound at her master's behest, but once her gifts of flight are needed to succeed in a quest, the tether comes off and she's soaring.


Unscrupulous Journeyman 1UU
Creature — Human Pirate Rogue (U)
As long as you control a Quest with five or more quest counters on it, Unscrupulous Journeyman is 3/4 and has intimidate and “Whenever Unscrupulous Journeyman deals combat damage to an opponent, he or she puts the top five cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.”
2/2

Once you've proven yourself an able adventurer, this pirate shows his true colors and lends you his considerable talents.

Eldergorge Traitor 3B
Creature — Ogre Rogue Mercenary (U)
Remove a quest counter from a permanent you control: Eldergorge Traitor gets +1/+1 and gains first strike until end of turn.
The ogres make for appealing muscle on any expedition, but the addition of such power comes at the price of progress.
3/2

Not everyone is out to be a team player. As I mentioned earlier, the world of Excellion is very individualistic. And for every Ally who joins your cause with the aim to succeed, there's a Mercenary who has no trouble sabotaging your efforts for his own personal gain.

Tavern Rumormonger 2R
Creature — Human (C)
When Tavern Rumormonger comes into play, search your library for a Quest card, reveal it and put it into your hand. Shuffle your library.
“I heard from a friend that south of Libreton, out by the Menephon coast, there’s this massive beast that guards the entrance to some sort of old temple or some such thing ....”
2/1

Ah, the tavernmaster, bringer of ale, singer of songs and informant to anyone out to make a few bucks. An RPG staple and the card more than any other that convinced me that Quests needed to have a subtype.

[Pichoro]

Originally Posted by {mikeyG}

There was a feature!? I just put the Treasure Value in the Loyalty spot. Since I don't plan on making Artifact Creature - Treasure Golem cards, I didn't see it being an issue. But I know we talked once about putting the value near where the Tombstone icon lived.

Yeah. Way back when, when you first posted about the mechanic in custom cards, it got me going and wanting to make some of my own. So the next update to Magic New w/ Extra Colors after that added "treasure values" to the template. I'll attach a render from back then. I still wish I had a better coin to use. It just looks kinda out of place where I positioned it. I went with that location because many locations were not possible without changing the game file (which is something I refuse to do with magic-new-extra), and because in that spot, they should be visible in a fanned hand of cards.

I really liked the idea, and knew I wanted to use it. I find building a large set daunting, and so I've taken to what I call "mini-sets". In particular, I did a "mini-set" of 60 cards around the Treasure theme. Really more of an experiment than a set, I suppose.

---

Also, I love the other stuff you're doing, but I love alternate win conditions. I've thought about doing my own, but perhaps I will wait awhile now, to put this one farther back in my memory.

[Jenesis]

Originally Posted by {mikeyG}

I truly didn't know that rule existed (obviously). Would a rewrite necessarily break much in the game?

Probably the cleanest way to do it would be, "Pay {cost}, Tap ~: ~ becomes innervated. Activate this ability only during your upkeep and only if ~ was tapped at the beginning of your turn." This doesn't have any rules complications, but does trigger "When [something] becomes un/tapped" abilities.

Another alternative is "You may choose not to untap ~ during your untap step. If you do, at the beginning of your upkeep, pay {cost}. If you do, ~ becomes innervated. If you don't, untap ~."

This also neatly gets around the question of "do my lands untap before or after I choose to innervate?" by making it always, non-negotiably, before.

It's like tapped/untapped, flipped/not flipped, etc. It's something that the creature is.

OK, so it's a status.

Given that decks using the mechanic likely wouldn't have many creatures outside the theme, nor would they have more than five or six innervated creatures in play at once, I don't feel it's unreasonable to simply divide one's creatures.

So in other words, the door is wide open for people to cheat. Pen and paper, then. (For example, if a player controls two creatures with the same name and one with a different name, there is a tendency to physically clump the two same-name cards together.)

I'm not sure whether it's so much a trigger as it is a check of SBEs, particularly with Treasure. With Treasure, I always envisioned it as something SBEs checked during cleanup with no shift in priority or chance to respond. Like losing for having 0 life.

What you mean is a turn-based action, then, like combat damage being assigned and dealt (i.e. it doesn't use the stack). A minor rewrite of the ability so it doesn't start with "At" should do the trick; as written, it appears that it goes on the stack, and I can prevent it by killing one of your permanents in response.

Hunt of the Sable Wolf: I'm not sure what the difference between a Wolf and a Wolf Beast is, but it's a decent card...if a bit close to 'narc.

Delving the Darkest Tombs: Nice riff on retrace, even not in the "lands matter" set. On a common there should be reminder text, though.

Voyage of Chryst-Kings: The name is unnervingly close to real-world religion for me, but the card is quite interesting...unlike 'narc, turn 4 should give your opponents plenty of time to build up an attacking army. Shouldn't this say "at the end of each opponent's turn"? It's kind of cheating if it cares that you didn't take any damage on your own turn, especially since Burn isn't a viable archetype.

Aged Spellcaster: Needs intervening if clause, otherwise fine.

Unscrupulous Journeyman: Is there a reason you use "is 3/4" instead of "gets +1/+2"?

Tavern Rumormonger 2R
Creature — Human (C)
When Tavern Rumormonger comes into play, search your library for a Quest card, reveal it and put it into your hand. Shuffle your library.
“I heard from a friend that south of Libreton, out by the Menephon coast, there’s this massive beast that guards the entrance to some sort of old temple or some such thing ....”
2/1

The card is great and very flavorful, but is this last bit necessary? There's only so much interesting you can pack into one breath...

[Dodavehu]

Why not use the 'walker's example of how to template Innervate?

Innervate (Tap this creature. If you do, during your next untap step, instead of untapping it becomes innervated. At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control six or more innervated creatures, you win the game.)

It will let you innervate as an instant, but it still locks them down for a turn.

Also, I love this concept and it looks like you've done a great job with it. I think naming the people looking for their prophesized savior to return and rule them something so similar to "Christ" was kind a little too unsubtle, but I still like all the flavor so far (especially the second 'walker, even though I don't like her mechanics as much).

I was discussing this very same block theme with a friend of mine a while back, so it's really interesting to see someone who had the same idea and who actually tried it out. Judging from the other cards, I'd guess Poison and Milling are other supported alt-win-cons.

Keep up the good work!

Edit: Sarnath'd (by nearly two hours, that'll teach me to read the entire thread before posting) by just about everything Jenesis said. Also, my proposed innervate fix probably won't work since I now realize a lot of them have tap effects already that will be competing with the keyword. Hmmm.
--

[{mikeyG}]

Originally Posted by Jenesis

Probably the cleanest way to do it would be, "Pay {cost}, Tap ~: ~ becomes innervated. Activate this ability only during your upkeep and only if ~ was tapped at the beginning of your turn." This doesn't have any rules complications, but does trigger "When [something] becomes un/tapped" abilities.

Another alternative is "You may choose not to untap ~ during your untap step. If you do, at the beginning of your upkeep, pay {cost}. If you do, ~ becomes innervated. If you don't, untap ~."

This also neatly gets around the question of "do my lands untap before or after I choose to innervate?" by making it always, non-negotiably, before.

Good enough, I'll test the templating out. Thank you!

What you mean is a turn-based action, then, like combat damage being assigned and dealt (i.e. it doesn't use the stack). A minor rewrite of the ability so it doesn't start with "At" should do the trick; as written, it appears that it goes on the stack, and I can prevent it by killing one of your permanents in response.

Ah, didn't think of that. I can't profess to be a rules guru by any stretch so often things I design have slight issues in conveying intent versus functioning within the rules.

Hunt of the Sable Wolf: I'm not sure what the difference between a Wolf and a Wolf Beast is, but it's a decent card...if a bit close to 'narc.

I wanted to make it clear that the Sable Wolf was different from regular wolves (though not legendary) beyond size. The Sable Wolf is larger but also far more bestial and ferocious. Think Gmork from The Neverending Story.

'narc?

Delving the Darkest Tombs: Nice riff on retrace, even not in the "lands matter" set. On a common there should be reminder text, though.

Retrace is a returning mechanic and has its reminder text on many cards throughout the rarities. I thought that Wizards' policy was such that a returning mechanic may go without reminder text in situations where it would clog up text boxes as long as the reminder text existed often enough in the set?

Retrace here returns as a way of denoting the remembrance of ancient times in Excellion, a way of highlighting that many of the plane's inhabitants are searching for answers in the past.

Voyage of Chryst-Kings: The name is unnervingly close to real-world religion for me, but the card is quite interesting...unlike 'narc, turn 4 should give your opponents plenty of time to build up an attacking army. Shouldn't this say "at the end of each opponent's turn"? It's kind of cheating if it cares that you didn't take any damage on your own turn, especially since Burn isn't a viable archetype.

I felt that the card would be nearly impossible to get going if not for the cheat. Aggressive creature strategies are downplayed, but they're still a central component and most decks will still use them to some degree (though the set is seeded with tools to assist players going completely creatureless). By turn five, you'd likely be suffering some damage and even if not, at best this will net you two 1/1s who won't be able to attack until turn 6. It's certainly a cute little weenie engine but even with the cheat, it's slow.

The name, ironically enough, was never something I connected to real-world religions. It started as a riff on FFXII's use of the word 'Chryst', and it was with that intention that I used it.

Aged Spellcaster: Needs intervening if clause, otherwise fine.

In what way?

Unscrupulous Journeyman: Is there a reason you use "is 3/4" instead of "gets +1/+2"?

I liked the flavor that he's not getting a bonus per se should you have proven yourself, he reveals the power and talent he was hiding all along. It's a case of bucking the tradition to underscore flavor without really jeopardizing function.

The card is great and very flavorful, but is this last bit necessary? There's only so much interesting you can pack into one breath...

Hahaha, true enough.

Originally Posted by Dodavehu

Why not use the 'walker's example of how to template Innervate?

Innervate (Tap this creature. If you do, during your next untap step it doesn't untap and becomes innervated. At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control six or more innervated creatures, you win the game.)

It will let you innervate as an instant, but it still locks them down for a turn.

Certainly a great fix, though it does in turn now call into question the need for cards to assist you in tapping your creatures. Not a major deal (at most it's 5-7 cards spread through three colors at low rarities), but a consideration.

Also, I love this concept and it looks like you've done a great job with it. I think naming the people looking for their prophesized savior to return and rule them something so similar to "Christ" was kind a little too unsubtle, but I still like all the flavor so far

Entirely coincidence. Naloa Tor was envisioned as a giant palace made of crystal (in its heyday, obviously now it's lost much of its splendor), and its kings so named for the image of their kingdom's crowning jewel. The whole aesthetic for the Naloans has a jewel/crystal theme with the throne itself carved out of the flawless crystal that would glow a particular color when occupied by a member of the royal bloodline (thus the pilgrimages to Naloa Tor).

Some other cards depicting Naloans and the Naloan tradition:

Awe Strike W
Instant (C)
The next time target creature would deal damage this turn, prevent that damage. You gain life equal to the damage prevented this way.
“Our king may no longer sit proudly upon his throne, but you will bow to his glory nonetheless.” Jalona Tal, Knight-Captain of Naloa Tor

Chryst of Kings W
Artifact — Treasure (C)
(At end of turn, if the total combined treasure value of Treasures you control is 25 or more, you win the game.)
Whenever you cast a white spell, gain 1 life.
[1]

Chryst-King Liege 3WW
Creature — Human Knight (U)
First strike
Chryst-King Liege can block may number of creatures.
The knights of the fallen kingdom of Naloa guard not only the ruined palace, but the scions of the royal bloodline, believing that one day both will be restored to their former glory.
3/4

Keeper of the Southern Span 2W
Creature — Human Knight (C)
Lifelink
Keeper of the Southern Span has first strike if you have 25 or more life.
“The old kingdom of the Chryst-Kings is no more, but its descendants still eke out a living defending its honor. If you ask me, putting yourself in harm’s way to protect a fallen kingdom is foolhardy when one could put that effort into profiting from its fall.” -Picaro Makama
2/2

Shield of Naloa Tor 2W
Artifact — Equipment Treasure (U)
(At end of turn, if the total combined treasure value of Treasures you control is 25 or more, you win the game.)
Whenever a face down artifact is turned face up, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature and choose a color. Equipped creature has protection from each color chosen this way. This effect does not remove Shield of Naloa Tor.
Equip 2
[2]

Naloa Tor, Seat of Chryst-Kings
Legendary Land — Ruins (M)
When Naloa Tor, Seat of Chryst-Kings comes into play, tap it and gain 2 life.
T: Add W to your mana pool.
Equipment Treasures you control have “Equipped creature is indestructible.”

(especially the second 'walker, even though I don't like her mechanics as much).

The set has four 'walkers, each tied (either subtly or explicitly) to one of four mechanics in the set. And all four are heavily flavored and that flavor is reflected in how they play. Picaro is a boisterous treasure hunter with a knack for surviving and his card accents his ability to play well with Treasure cards. Stelmarria is a self-involved, self-made demi-goddess with her nose in the air and her card displays her drive to convert and enlighten as well as destroy those who choose to ignore her calling. We still have N'Longo Ugo, an elven witchdoctor with strong ties to ancient sadistic ritualism; and Rulah, a very old dryad priestess who knows the secret of protecting life.

Keep up the good work!

Thank you very much!!

[Dodavehu]

I think if you changed the Naloan ancestors to something as simple as "Crystal-Kings" it would divorce it enough (while paradoxically making it more generic).

Other options from the top of my head: Shard-Kings, Shattered-Kings, Quartz-Kings, Sparkling-Kings, or maybe Halcyon-Kings. None save Quartz have the monosyllabic kick though.

Absolutely love the image of a broken order of knights who bow to the once great shattered throne.

Also, was Cyrst of Kings supposed to have a treasure value or is this a hint that some treasure is worthless? Which is kind of interesting, the first idea I had when you were explaining treasure, was the johnny card:
Bauble
Artifact [r]
[4]

Might be too unsubtle though.
--

[{mikeyG}]

Originally Posted by Dodavehu

I think if you changed the Naloan ancestors to something as simple as "Crystal-Kings" it would divorce it enough (while paradoxically making it more generic).

I guess that leaves me with the trouble of deciding if the divorce is worth the generic result.

Stop thinking about Jesus, dammit!

Other options from the top of my head: Shard-Kings, Shattered-Kings, Quartz-Kings, Sparkling-Kings, or maybe Halcyon-Kings. None save Quartz have the monosyllabic kick though.

Kruos-Kings may work (derived from an old Greek word for "icy cold, frost" from which we get crystal in the first place), but sort of diminishes the high-fantasy element Chryst implies.

Dammit, stop thinking about Jesus!! Hahahahahaha

Absolutely love the image of a broken order of knights who bow to the once great shattered throne.

It's a bit cliche, but I think it really suits the world. A lot of groups are trying to recapture lost roots, though many others are attempting to distance themselves from the wreckage and begin anew. The cataclysm had drastic effects on everyone and the world of Excellion now owes everything to the events 1000 years in its past. Groups exist now that would have been snuffed outright ages ago if not for their oppressors toppling in the Great Fall. Others, like the Naloans, live scattered in exile in the centuries after the loss of their kingdom.

Much like Zendikar, permanent settlements of any massive scale are very rare on Excellion. There's no Roil tearing things asunder, but on a very basic level, the inhabitants of the plane fear another cataclysm and feel that avoiding massive civilizations is the key to avoid history repeating itself.

Though there are cities. Razalen, the Gold Horizon crowns the northernmost reaches of the western continent, a city heralded for its healers, mediators and benevolent paladins. On the southern reach of the same continent lies both Bazanda, a moderate-sized port city famed for its marketplace as well as Azaadha, a large outpost that holds most of Excellion's prestigious expedition houses. To the northeast on a small island continent lies Lisala, a known center of mercenary activity. Further east is the village of Gjoa, perched halfway along the course of the Kithwash River, a massive tributary that splits Excellion's largest continent in half, it's a bit of a hub for adventurers and a great place to rest and restock before setting out again. Far to the east is Zehaan, a corrupt city amidst a huge marsh called Endermire; home to many assassins, necromancers and thieves, this is not a settlement for the faint of heart. On the plane's southernmost continent lies the small town of Libreton, a haven for the free and a known hub for hunters and poachers.

But none of these settlements are overly large, and none possess much in the way of militaristic or political clout. Razalen may have its paladins and Bazanda its loose navy, but the world is at a stalemate, in terms of the balance of power. The nations are simply too small to really gain much ground over one another. Racial tensions and xenophobia are common in some areas (the elven natives of the Bangou region to the northeast in particular have a reputation for being openly hostile to outsiders), but in the interest of self-interest, many willingly overlook race and ideology if it will help them achieve their own goals.

(I have a metric ton of flavor info in my head for this set, I'll probably end up writing A Planeswalker's Guide to Excellion and post it in Personal Writing after the set is posted)

Also, was Cyrst of Kings supposed to have a treasure value or is this a hint that some treasure is worthless?

Yes, it's [1]. Exporting doesn't carry TVs over and I remembered to add the Shield's on, but not the Chryst's.

No, at this point no treasure is without a TV.

Which is kind of interesting, the first idea I had when you were explaining treasure, was the johnny card:
Bauble
Artifact [r]
[4]

Might be too unsubtle though.
--

For now, I've tried to give all Treasure a dual purpose. Even if one purpose seems more a drawback, they all at least have one other ability beyond their TV, in the interest of keeping things dynamic. Some abilities are small (like the Chryst, which is part of another cycle), while others are interesting in their own right (most of the Equipment Treasures fall into this category). I felt that diversity gives the type a bit of room to play beyond just as an alt-win-con.

[Jenesis]

Originally Posted by {mikeyG}

'narc?

My nickname for Luminarch Ascension.

Retrace is a returning mechanic and has its reminder text on many cards throughout the rarities. I thought that Wizards' policy was such that a returning mechanic may go without reminder text in situations where it would clog up text boxes as long as the reminder text existed often enough in the set?

From Mark Gottlieb's July 2009 Update Bulletin:

Sometimes, if a block-specific keyword like transmute or suspend has long reminder text, we'll leave that reminder text off of some cards (usually rares) for space reasons. Grozoth, for example, has transmute but no reminder text. When you're busting open Ravnica packs, the odds are that if you've found a Grozoth, you've also got some other transmute cards that explain how the ability works.

A few years down the line, however, that doesn't necessarily hold true. It's much more likely for a player to pick up a random Grozoth without any other Ravnica cards nearby and have absolutely no idea what transmute means.

See also Kicker in Zendikar; even though it's a returning mechanic, the reminder text is on every card except Gigantiform. This card is a common, so entirely possible for a player to open it in a booster and have no idea what the heck "Retrace" means. Furthermore, adding the reminder text (even with post M10 wording) isn't so bad, as long as you don't have flavor text:

Example Mockup:

In what way?

"At end of turn, if there are thirteen or more quest counters on Aged Spellcaster, you win the game."

Essentially the same, except it doesn't trigger at all if there are fewer than the requisite 13 quest counters. Mainly to not piss off MTGO players by triggering every turn for no good reason. Yes, this prevents you from playing instants in response to the trigger, but you could probably have just played them during the postcombat main anyway.

Chryst of Kings W
Artifact — Treasure (C)
(At end of turn, if the total combined treasure value of Treasures you control is 25 or more, you win the game.)
Whenever you cast a white spell, gain 1 life.
[1]

Is that a cycle of Lucky Charms I see? (i.e. Ivory Cup,/Angel's Feather, etc)

Shield of Naloa Tor 2W
Artifact — Equipment Treasure (U)
(At end of turn, if the total combined treasure value of Treasures you control is 25 or more, you win the game.)
Whenever a face down artifact is turned face up, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature and choose a color. Equipped creature has protection from each color chosen this way. This effect does not remove Shield of Naloa Tor.
Equip 2
[2]

...Morph? Hmm...

I'd love to see more flavor about the different races that populate the world.