So I began work this weekend filling out the common set for my purely-Red and red-derivative block (Codenamed Stop, with Drop and Roll being the second two sets).
To clarify, before someone gets all holy on my behind. I realize its a ludicrous endeavor to create an entire block that's based around a single color of mana. I've had to debate, argue, and such with people about it already a few times, just know its my goal and project and that will not be changing.
The end goal for the entire set is for it to be limited-playable with a draft environment, and to be balanced and playable in and of itself.
So here's (most) of the Common Set, I need balancing critique and help with some of the cards available in it, as well as potential ideas to fill in the gaps. There are some reprints in there (quite a few actually) so keep that in mind as well. There will be basic lands for each color as well when all is said and done.
Notes
-My Rare dual land set is also in the file, I can take feedback on those but don't jump the gun and assume they're supposed to be common.
-Red-Blue is missing a bit, Red-Black only has one card so far, and there's a slot for Mono Red still to fill. Blue's keyword is up for change to something else, and I'm considering bringing Flashback in as my spell mechanic.
-I realize Pureblood in and of itself is a negative mechanic, flavorfully its supposed to be, and I'll be keeping it as such. The idea is that you can draft a pure mono-red deck with other color hate as well as multicolored if you wish.
Errata
-Hakuur Warrior power/toughness changed from 3/1 to 2/1
-Harbinger of the Red changed from Dragon to Viashino, removed flying, changed P/T to 5/3, effect "When Harbinger of the Red attacks, Viashino you control get +2/+0 until end of turn."
-Koshak Flamebringer ability fixed, had X instead of 1.
-Savage Growth wording changed to "Destroy target artifact or enchantment. Savage Growth deals 2 damage to that permanent's controller."
-Interuption received flavor text "Its much harder to cast a spell with a screaming goblin hurdling towards you."
-Mountaintop Sage bumped to 2UR
-Shifting Thoughts changed to UR, added Cantrip
-Wording on Stormcloud Rager, now states "Instant or Sorcery Spell"
-Enraged Soul dropped to 1/1, given "When Enraged Soul dies, it deals 1 damage to target creature or player."
-Untameable Fury just renamed Untameable
-Mirage Warrior changed from sacrifice at end of turn to return to hand at end of turn, power/toughness changed to 2/1.
-Pureblood Altar renamed Altar of the Red, uncapitalized color names.
-Tablet of the Harbinger effect changed to "3, T: Draw a card".
-Gorger Wurm Reprint added (Forgot the bastard)
-Ulgorak Tunneler bumped up to 2(R/G)(R/G), made 4/2.
-Blessings of the Red Sun shifted to Enchantment, made RR, Red creatures you control get +1/+0, shifted to UC
-Ulgorak Rusher changed to Ulgorak Fodder and lost haste, gained "When this creature dies put a +1/+1 counter on target creature."
Here are some thoughts (kind of organized) on the set. Remarks on rarity are made in a vaccuum - I know this is a commons set so far. And before you continue: moment of respect for making an entire set, because that's something I couldn't do.
On keywords and mechanics:
Fanatical is odd, looks a bit too strong on Almadhi Fanatic. Seems really easy to hit them for 4 damage for 2 mana. On second glance, most of the cards this is on are far too strong at common.
Relentless is pretty cool, actually. I think it's a keeper. Put it on more cards if it's gonna be a keyword, give it some room to breathe.
White and red Spirit tokens is strange. Not feelin' it so much.
Empower doesn't seem keywordable, it's a bit narrow.
Pureblood just isn't worth keywording, see below:
Flavor and color checks:
Why can a pureblood creature stick around if I have a monocolored permanent that produces multicolored tokens? Or a card that reanimates a multicolored permanent?
Mirage Warrior isn't really blue. Spark Elemental weakened and common shouldn't add any blue to the card.
Enraged Soul - 2/1 lifelink is mono white even if it's a Warrior.
What's the flavor behind a land etb untapped if a creature died? A bit of flavortext might be in order.
Pureblood Altar shouldn't capitalize the color words. Don't know what it has to do with the pureblood mechanic, with that name they should be related somehow.
Not sure why Ulgorak Rusher is anything but red.
Unhindered Ferocity - name's too similar to Untameable Fury.
In general, it kind of feels like a bit of a blur - I feel like there wasn't a strong distinction between the cards of different hybrid colors, it sort of ran together. To be draft and limited playable, you need to encourage the player to draft Certain Types of Decks which means the color pairs need to be very distinctive and do very different things, especially at common since those are the cards that a player will see the most of.
Individual cards:
Cool cards: Geoshift, Goblin Skybreaker, CHAIN LIGHTNING..., Interruption (what does a creature dying have to do with an interruption though? flavor), Savage Growth (easier to format as "2 damage to that permanent's controller"), Noble Sacrifice (PRINT IN GATECRASH PLEASE), Static Charge, Viashino Bladescout, Wurm Food.
Harbinger of the Red - I'm just gonna straight out say: this can't be a common. The only common-rarity dragon is Dragon Hatchling and it's literally a baby.
Koshak Flamebringer more like "what's this X for"
Shifting Thoughts has no need for the "until end of turn" clause. Does need to have "can't be countered by spells or abilities" instead, because game rules still need to counter spells when all of their targets have become illegal. I don't know how I feel about the card overall.
Mountaintop Sage is too strong for a 3-drop. Izzet Chronarch.
Stormcloud Ranger - "instant or sorcery spell" Probably more of an uncommon with that kind of damage output.
Tablet of the Harbinger also doesn't feel common. Opens up a lot of strategies to any color as an artifact, might be a bit degenerate?
Ulgorak Wurmling - only one instance of devour in the set? Needs at least 5-6 cards to be worth it.
Untameable Fury - no capitals on trample. I like it though.
I find it funny that you called this Stop because it looks like this format would be filled with aggro decks trying to race each other in awkward fashion. It would be less aggressive if you made some mechanics that didn't revolve around attacking or power in some way.
It would be less aggressive if you made some mechanics that didn't revolve around attacking or power in some way.
Yeah, second this. It needs some more combo potential and more possibilities in the creature section than just Creatures Whose Primary Function Is To Turn Sideways. Red's got some really interesting stuff going for it in a lot of the older sets, this is a good opportunity to revisit that.
For starters, thank you highly, this is the kinda feedback I've been needing overall. I'm going to address this piecemeal as well.
Fanatical is odd, looks a bit too strong on Almadhi Fanatic. Seems really easy to hit them for 4 damage for 2 mana. On second glance, most of the cards this is on are far too strong at common.
This is an issue I've been trying to address, I like the idea of the keyword (its based on Furnace Scamp). However I'm tempted to change it to be Fanatical # where # is the damage they deal, thus with effects that trigger on damage (Lifelink for instance) would work better, and pumping them in some way wouldn't cause some absurdly broken near-1-shot.
Relentless is pretty cool, actually. I think it's a keeper. Put it on more cards if it's gonna be a keyword, give it some room to breathe.
As was stated, Black literally only has one card so far in the skeleton, there's a lot more still to do and I intend on filling it out. Its going to be a pain to balance however (I've put a few hate cards for it already in there at common).
White and red Spirit tokens is strange. Not feelin' it so much.
Not even really angry spirits? They're supposed to be the angry spirits of their ancestors returning for vengeance against their enemies.
Empower doesn't seem keywordable, it's a bit narrow.
I can agree wholeheartedly here, it was my attempt to keyword Kiln Fiend, but once I got to designing I realized I need more design space out of their keyword. I'd prefer something spell related, just haven't figured out what.
Why can a pureblood creature stick around if I have a monocolored permanent that produces multicolored tokens? Or a card that reanimates a multicolored permanent?
The idea is that there are a race of Viashino who worship Dragons and the Red Sun, they are under the belief that Red is the only color of mana and that all others are inferior. They sacrifice creatures of other colors to the sun in the hopes that one day their dragon gods will return and wreak havoc among the inferior races/colors. I was hoping to signify this in some way in the set so that way you can draft a viashino/mono-red deck with some multi-color hate. Which is proving to be difficult.
Mirage Warrior isn't really blue. Spark Elemental weakened and common shouldn't add any blue to the card.
Was thinking about this last night when looking at it, I'm considering changing a bit about it and doing a bounce to hand at EOT instead, which would be more blue/red.
Enraged Soul - 2/1 lifelink is mono white even if it's a Warrior.
Hard to decide on something red to do to him, I guess I need to add some sort of red-like effect, maybe a sacrifice outlet or something or an on death "deal 1 damage" thing.
What's the flavor behind a land etb untapped if a creature died? A bit of flavortext might be in order.
It was the idea that they are lands that feed on the unhindered ferocity of the red mana surge. That sacrifice causes them to expunge extra red mana to pull. Mechanically it plays well with how much DD is being thrown around and how often players will be swinging/sacrificing.
Pureblood Altar shouldn't capitalize the color words. Don't know what it has to do with the pureblood mechanic, with that name they should be related somehow.
I actually had named this before I named the mechanic, so it will be getting renamed. I hadn't realized how unplayable it would be in a "pureblood" deck. Also the color names issue is important to point out =P thanks.
Not sure why Ulgorak Rusher is anything but red.
Classes fit both RG, keyword fits both RG. I could see it as either mono-red or RG.
Unhindered Ferocity - name's too similar to Untameable Fury.
You're right.. I'm going to have to change this lol
In general, it kind of feels like a bit of a blur - I feel like there wasn't a strong distinction between the cards of different hybrid colors, it sort of ran together. To be draft and limited playable, you need to encourage the player to draft Certain Types of Decks which means the color pairs need to be very distinctive and do very different things, especially at common since those are the cards that a player will see the most of.
Its an important point, I haven't had too much design practice or experience with Hybrid cards in Standard or otherwise, so my design in them is lacking (as you can tell). This is one of those things where the Red-based block is coming back to bite me. I want RG to be all about the Goblins, you throw them into the mix, then when you get higher mana you drop in a Devour creature and create-a-fatty basically. RB will be heavy burn and heavy swing in, constantly turning sideways and removing your creatures to clear the way. RU will be tossing spells to untap/do special effects with their creatures and playing off the interactions between them. RW will constantly be using tricks and sacrificing their creatures to keep their opponents on their toes. Mono-R will have hate for the other colors but also potent creatures of its own, however its focus is more narrow if drafted alone, as a whole though it'll provide the core group of burn spells to the player to run.
Cool cards: Geoshift, Goblin Skybreaker, CHAIN LIGHTNING..., Interruption (what does a creature dying have to do with an interruption though? flavor), Savage Growth (easier to format as "2 damage to that permanent's controller"), Noble Sacrifice (PRINT IN GATECRASH PLEASE), Static Charge, Viashino Bladescout, Wurm Food.
Geoshift - I love this card, I show it to people and they're like "it sucks", then they realize it lacks "comes in tapped". Its a simple R-based Rampant Growth that fits the block.
Goblin Skybreaker - I needed more flyer hate at common, and the idea just worked =P
Chain Lightning - Not my creation, a reprint, but too freaking cool to not reprint in a red set.
Interruption - Think of it like you're throwing a goblin at another planeswalker to interupt their spell mid-cast.
Savage Growth - Can fix the wording.
Noble Sacrifice - Figured it fit RW's philosophy.
Static Charge - Printed as Relentless hate, though it'd be a solid piece.
Viashino Bladescout - Another reprint, but combat tricks are awesome in red.
Wurm Food - Who doesn't love eating goblins? Printed as a lesser Thatcher's Revolt that can work with Devour.
Hakuur Warrior -3/1 first strike for RR at common?
Yea.. I'll fix this.
Harbinger of the Red - I'm just gonna straight out say: this can't be a common. The only common-rarity dragon is Dragon Hatchling and it's literally a baby.
I wasn't aware of no Dragons at Common, I'll fix this.
Koshak Flamebringer more like "what's this X for"
Err.. mistake.
Shifting Thoughts has no need for the "until end of turn" clause. Does need to have "can't be countered by spells or abilities" instead, because game rules still need to counter spells when all of their targets have become illegal. I don't know how I feel about the card overall.
Will fix wordings. I'd shift it to RU to make it less playable by mono-red and more blue instead of hybrid. Which was a consideration, however at RU it just seems to expensive. What if it was a cantrip at RU? Would fit the flavor more.
Mountaintop Sage is too strong for a 3-drop. Izzet Chronarch.
Point taken. Archaeomancer was the basis, thought since he used a second color he'd be fine. I'll bump him to 2UR.
Stormcloud Ranger - "instant or sorcery spell" Probably more of an uncommon with that kind of damage output.
Was kinda comparing him with Guttersnipe for that.
Tablet of the Harbinger also doesn't feel common. Opens up a lot of strategies to any color as an artifact, might be a bit degenerate?
Yea.. I wanted some sort of draw engine at common and the issue with Red is that typically it doesn't generate much card advantage. I need to remake the card as a whole.
Ulgorak Wurmling - only one instance of devour in the set? Needs at least 5-6 cards to be worth it.
Ah crud, missing another card (Gorger Wurm reprint). There's also another medium slot I may put in another devour with a special effect.
Untameable Fury - no capitals on trample. I like it though.
I find it funny that you called this Stop because it looks like this format would be filled with aggro decks trying to race each other in awkward fashion. It would be less aggressive if you made some mechanics that didn't revolve around attacking or power in some way.
Code names are unrelated to the blocks, just wanted to go with a fire theme for it.
Yeah, second this. It needs some more combo potential and more possibilities in the creature section than just Creatures Whose Primary Function Is To Turn Sideways. Red's got some really interesting stuff going for it in a lot of the older sets, this is a good opportunity to revisit that.
Its something I want to work on, right now I'm trying to find ways to slow the block down some, I want it to have a lot of combat and swinging in, but I want it to be meaningful thinking combat like RTR tends to have as opposed to the "swing in haphazardly and see what sticks" that most people think combat is.
Empower - Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, {effect}.
That way, you can put it onto other things, like this:
Charged Ruby3
Artifact 1, :symtap:: Add R and one mana of the color of your choice to your mana pool. Empower - Whenever you cast an instant or corcery spell, Charged Ruby deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
EDIT:
Could Jungle Flailer have Haste and Devour 1?
Also, not liking Pureblood Altar at common. Is it reading as, "Sacrifice a nonred creature" or as, "Sacrifice a white, blue, black or green creature" to activate?
Almadhi Fanatic seems really strong for its cost.
Archer of the Sands is fine.
Empowered - I was considering something along these lines, but I'm not sure that'd need to be keyworded. I'm trying to think of something I could potentially put on creatures or spells. (Maybe something where you can pay extra mana to charge them, making them deal more damage or have counters or something).
Jungle Flailer - I don't know how a goblin would have devour 1 necessarily, nor am I sure it fits the card specifically. I'm privy to a 2 drop 2/2 haste enough already.
Pureblood Altar (Altar of the Red) is basically "Sacrifice a creature that has a color other than red in it".
Almadhi Fanatic will be addressed soon, I'm still messing with Fanatical. I may remove his Haste at the very least (as it doesn't fit White).
Private Mod Note
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I don't like the concept of the set, and I don't like Empowered, but your other keyword mechanics look great.
I figured you'd be one to not like the concept, but yea.. Empowered is lackluster heavily, I'm not liking it as I'm trying to work with it particularly. There's nothing creative/reactionary I can do with it.
With Relentless I can create spells that interact with it, I can create things to counter it or work against it. With Empowered its just.. there.
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...What about using Vanishing as the Djinni mechanic? It could perhaps represent them losing their abilities over the long-term, due to the Blood-Sun.
I don't know, I never really was a fan of the Vanishing mechanic, and design wise I'd have to change a lot to work around it.
I'd almost go with something +1/+1 counter related, there's some hate for counters going in at uncommon, so maybe the ability to charge your creatures for more counters or spells for more power.
Edit: Think I found my mechanic.
Charge <cost> (You may pay <cost> as an additional cost to cast ~. ~ enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters, where X is the number of times the Charge cost was paid. At the end of your turn remove a +1/+1 counter from it.)
Then I can do things like..
If ~ has a +1/+1 counter, it has Haste.
Meaning if you charge it, it has Haste the turn you play it, or I could have things that let you remove counters to deal damage, or add counters if you cast spells, etc.
Bathe in Blood1BR C
Instant
~ deals 1 damage to each creature you control.
Creatures you control gain Lifelink until end of turn.
I understand Lifelink isn't in Red's color pie, but it is in Black's, and I figured flavorfuly you're effectively having your units hurt themselves to start a bloodbath and incite a blood rage. There could also be synergy with creatures that when they take damage do special effects, etc.
-
As a note, the blue stuff has been overhauled with their new keyword in the skeleton.
New Keyword:
Charge X (When you cast ~ you may pay X multiple times. If you do, ~ comes into play with that many +1/+1 counters on it. At the beginning of each upkeep, remove a +1/+1 counter from ~.)
Interaction examples: Djinn Stormblade1UR C
Creature - Djinn Warrior
Charge
If ~ has a +1/+1 counter on it, it has Haste.
3/1
Stormfire MagiUR C
Creature - Human Wizard
Charge UR
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery, put a +1/+1 counter on ~.
1/1
Reservoir of Power
Enchantment
Charge :symur:.
At the beginning of your upkeep, instead of removing a +1/+1 counter from ~, you may move a +1/+1 counter from it and put it on a creature you control. When ~ has zero counters on it, sacrifice it.
To clarify, before someone gets all holy on my behind. I realize its a ludicrous endeavor to create an entire block that's based around a single color of mana. I've had to debate, argue, and such with people about it already a few times, just know its my goal and project and that will not be changing.
The end goal for the entire set is for it to be limited-playable with a draft environment, and to be balanced and playable in and of itself.
So here's (most) of the Common Set, I need balancing critique and help with some of the cards available in it, as well as potential ideas to fill in the gaps. There are some reprints in there (quite a few actually) so keep that in mind as well. There will be basic lands for each color as well when all is said and done.
Album
http://imgur.com/a/Yh8or#0
Document (Some missing info on details for cards)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApPr023YHYR0dGQwZmRvZ3RVeDZULTVTYzRGWE1vM0E#gid=1
Main Thread
Story, flavor, etc. here.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=8744799
Notes
-My Rare dual land set is also in the file, I can take feedback on those but don't jump the gun and assume they're supposed to be common.
-Red-Blue is missing a bit, Red-Black only has one card so far, and there's a slot for Mono Red still to fill. Blue's keyword is up for change to something else, and I'm considering bringing Flashback in as my spell mechanic.
-I realize Pureblood in and of itself is a negative mechanic, flavorfully its supposed to be, and I'll be keeping it as such. The idea is that you can draft a pure mono-red deck with other color hate as well as multicolored if you wish.
Errata
-Hakuur Warrior power/toughness changed from 3/1 to 2/1
-Harbinger of the Red changed from Dragon to Viashino, removed flying, changed P/T to 5/3, effect "When Harbinger of the Red attacks, Viashino you control get +2/+0 until end of turn."
-Koshak Flamebringer ability fixed, had X instead of 1.
-Savage Growth wording changed to "Destroy target artifact or enchantment. Savage Growth deals 2 damage to that permanent's controller."
-Interuption received flavor text "Its much harder to cast a spell with a screaming goblin hurdling towards you."
-Mountaintop Sage bumped to 2UR
-Shifting Thoughts changed to UR, added Cantrip
-Wording on Stormcloud Rager, now states "Instant or Sorcery Spell"
-Enraged Soul dropped to 1/1, given "When Enraged Soul dies, it deals 1 damage to target creature or player."
-Untameable Fury just renamed Untameable
-Mirage Warrior changed from sacrifice at end of turn to return to hand at end of turn, power/toughness changed to 2/1.
-Pureblood Altar renamed Altar of the Red, uncapitalized color names.
-Tablet of the Harbinger effect changed to "3, T: Draw a card".
-Gorger Wurm Reprint added (Forgot the bastard)
-Ulgorak Tunneler bumped up to 2(R/G)(R/G), made 4/2.
-Blessings of the Red Sun shifted to Enchantment, made RR, Red creatures you control get +1/+0, shifted to UC
-Ulgorak Rusher changed to Ulgorak Fodder and lost haste, gained "When this creature dies put a +1/+1 counter on target creature."
RRR Khorenthos - The Red Block (Feedback needed!) RRR
On keywords and mechanics:
Relentless is pretty cool, actually. I think it's a keeper. Put it on more cards if it's gonna be a keyword, give it some room to breathe.
White and red Spirit tokens is strange. Not feelin' it so much.
Empower doesn't seem keywordable, it's a bit narrow.
Pureblood just isn't worth keywording, see below:
Flavor and color checks:
Mirage Warrior isn't really blue. Spark Elemental weakened and common shouldn't add any blue to the card.
Enraged Soul - 2/1 lifelink is mono white even if it's a Warrior.
What's the flavor behind a land etb untapped if a creature died? A bit of flavortext might be in order.
Pureblood Altar shouldn't capitalize the color words. Don't know what it has to do with the pureblood mechanic, with that name they should be related somehow.
Not sure why Ulgorak Rusher is anything but red.
Unhindered Ferocity - name's too similar to Untameable Fury.
In general, it kind of feels like a bit of a blur - I feel like there wasn't a strong distinction between the cards of different hybrid colors, it sort of ran together. To be draft and limited playable, you need to encourage the player to draft Certain Types of Decks which means the color pairs need to be very distinctive and do very different things, especially at common since those are the cards that a player will see the most of.
Individual cards:
Hakuur Warrior -3/1 first strike for RR at common? //gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&text=+[first">+[strike]&color=|[R]&cmc=+=[2]&sort=rating-"]TOO STRONG
Harbinger of the Red - I'm just gonna straight out say: this can't be a common. The only common-rarity dragon is Dragon Hatchling and it's literally a baby.
Koshak Flamebringer more like "what's this X for"
Shifting Thoughts has no need for the "until end of turn" clause. Does need to have "can't be countered by spells or abilities" instead, because game rules still need to counter spells when all of their targets have become illegal. I don't know how I feel about the card overall.
Mountaintop Sage is too strong for a 3-drop. Izzet Chronarch.
Stormcloud Ranger - "instant or sorcery spell" Probably more of an uncommon with that kind of damage output.
Tablet of the Harbinger also doesn't feel common. Opens up a lot of strategies to any color as an artifact, might be a bit degenerate?
Ulgorak Wurmling - only one instance of devour in the set? Needs at least 5-6 cards to be worth it.
Untameable Fury - no capitals on trample. I like it though.
Yeah, second this. It needs some more combo potential and more possibilities in the creature section than just Creatures Whose Primary Function Is To Turn Sideways. Red's got some really interesting stuff going for it in a lot of the older sets, this is a good opportunity to revisit that.
This is an issue I've been trying to address, I like the idea of the keyword (its based on Furnace Scamp). However I'm tempted to change it to be Fanatical # where # is the damage they deal, thus with effects that trigger on damage (Lifelink for instance) would work better, and pumping them in some way wouldn't cause some absurdly broken near-1-shot.
As was stated, Black literally only has one card so far in the skeleton, there's a lot more still to do and I intend on filling it out. Its going to be a pain to balance however (I've put a few hate cards for it already in there at common).
Not even really angry spirits? They're supposed to be the angry spirits of their ancestors returning for vengeance against their enemies.
I can agree wholeheartedly here, it was my attempt to keyword Kiln Fiend, but once I got to designing I realized I need more design space out of their keyword. I'd prefer something spell related, just haven't figured out what.
The idea is that there are a race of Viashino who worship Dragons and the Red Sun, they are under the belief that Red is the only color of mana and that all others are inferior. They sacrifice creatures of other colors to the sun in the hopes that one day their dragon gods will return and wreak havoc among the inferior races/colors. I was hoping to signify this in some way in the set so that way you can draft a viashino/mono-red deck with some multi-color hate. Which is proving to be difficult.
Was thinking about this last night when looking at it, I'm considering changing a bit about it and doing a bounce to hand at EOT instead, which would be more blue/red.
Hard to decide on something red to do to him, I guess I need to add some sort of red-like effect, maybe a sacrifice outlet or something or an on death "deal 1 damage" thing.
It was the idea that they are lands that feed on the unhindered ferocity of the red mana surge. That sacrifice causes them to expunge extra red mana to pull. Mechanically it plays well with how much DD is being thrown around and how often players will be swinging/sacrificing.
I actually had named this before I named the mechanic, so it will be getting renamed. I hadn't realized how unplayable it would be in a "pureblood" deck. Also the color names issue is important to point out =P thanks.
Classes fit both RG, keyword fits both RG. I could see it as either mono-red or RG.
You're right.. I'm going to have to change this lol
Its an important point, I haven't had too much design practice or experience with Hybrid cards in Standard or otherwise, so my design in them is lacking (as you can tell). This is one of those things where the Red-based block is coming back to bite me. I want RG to be all about the Goblins, you throw them into the mix, then when you get higher mana you drop in a Devour creature and create-a-fatty basically. RB will be heavy burn and heavy swing in, constantly turning sideways and removing your creatures to clear the way. RU will be tossing spells to untap/do special effects with their creatures and playing off the interactions between them. RW will constantly be using tricks and sacrificing their creatures to keep their opponents on their toes. Mono-R will have hate for the other colors but also potent creatures of its own, however its focus is more narrow if drafted alone, as a whole though it'll provide the core group of burn spells to the player to run.
Geoshift - I love this card, I show it to people and they're like "it sucks", then they realize it lacks "comes in tapped". Its a simple R-based Rampant Growth that fits the block.
Goblin Skybreaker - I needed more flyer hate at common, and the idea just worked =P
Chain Lightning - Not my creation, a reprint, but too freaking cool to not reprint in a red set.
Interruption - Think of it like you're throwing a goblin at another planeswalker to interupt their spell mid-cast.
Savage Growth - Can fix the wording.
Noble Sacrifice - Figured it fit RW's philosophy.
Static Charge - Printed as Relentless hate, though it'd be a solid piece.
Viashino Bladescout - Another reprint, but combat tricks are awesome in red.
Wurm Food - Who doesn't love eating goblins? Printed as a lesser Thatcher's Revolt that can work with Devour.
Yea.. I'll fix this.
I wasn't aware of no Dragons at Common, I'll fix this.
Err.. mistake.
Will fix wordings. I'd shift it to RU to make it less playable by mono-red and more blue instead of hybrid. Which was a consideration, however at RU it just seems to expensive. What if it was a cantrip at RU? Would fit the flavor more.
Point taken. Archaeomancer was the basis, thought since he used a second color he'd be fine. I'll bump him to 2UR.
Was kinda comparing him with Guttersnipe for that.
Yea.. I wanted some sort of draw engine at common and the issue with Red is that typically it doesn't generate much card advantage. I need to remake the card as a whole.
Ah crud, missing another card (Gorger Wurm reprint). There's also another medium slot I may put in another devour with a special effect.
Once again, important feedback lol
Code names are unrelated to the blocks, just wanted to go with a fire theme for it.
Its something I want to work on, right now I'm trying to find ways to slow the block down some, I want it to have a lot of combat and swinging in, but I want it to be meaningful thinking combat like RTR tends to have as opposed to the "swing in haphazardly and see what sticks" that most people think combat is.
RRR Khorenthos - The Red Block (Feedback needed!) RRR
Empowered - I was considering something along these lines, but I'm not sure that'd need to be keyworded. I'm trying to think of something I could potentially put on creatures or spells. (Maybe something where you can pay extra mana to charge them, making them deal more damage or have counters or something).
Jungle Flailer - I don't know how a goblin would have devour 1 necessarily, nor am I sure it fits the card specifically. I'm privy to a 2 drop 2/2 haste enough already.
Pureblood Altar (Altar of the Red) is basically "Sacrifice a creature that has a color other than red in it".
Almadhi Fanatic will be addressed soon, I'm still messing with Fanatical. I may remove his Haste at the very least (as it doesn't fit White).
RRR Khorenthos - The Red Block (Feedback needed!) RRR
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApPr023YHYR0dGQwZmRvZ3RVeDZULTVTYzRGWE1vM0E#gid=1
Black now filled.
RRR Khorenthos - The Red Block (Feedback needed!) RRR
I figured you'd be one to not like the concept, but yea.. Empowered is lackluster heavily, I'm not liking it as I'm trying to work with it particularly. There's nothing creative/reactionary I can do with it.
With Relentless I can create spells that interact with it, I can create things to counter it or work against it. With Empowered its just.. there.
RRR Khorenthos - The Red Block (Feedback needed!) RRR
I don't know, I never really was a fan of the Vanishing mechanic, and design wise I'd have to change a lot to work around it.
I'd almost go with something +1/+1 counter related, there's some hate for counters going in at uncommon, so maybe the ability to charge your creatures for more counters or spells for more power.
Edit: Think I found my mechanic.
Charge <cost> (You may pay <cost> as an additional cost to cast ~. ~ enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters, where X is the number of times the Charge cost was paid. At the end of your turn remove a +1/+1 counter from it.)
Then I can do things like..
If ~ has a +1/+1 counter, it has Haste.
Meaning if you charge it, it has Haste the turn you play it, or I could have things that let you remove counters to deal damage, or add counters if you cast spells, etc.
RRR Khorenthos - The Red Block (Feedback needed!) RRR
Bathe in Blood 1BR C
Instant
~ deals 1 damage to each creature you control.
Creatures you control gain Lifelink until end of turn.
I understand Lifelink isn't in Red's color pie, but it is in Black's, and I figured flavorfuly you're effectively having your units hurt themselves to start a bloodbath and incite a blood rage. There could also be synergy with creatures that when they take damage do special effects, etc.
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As a note, the blue stuff has been overhauled with their new keyword in the skeleton.
New Keyword:
Charge X (When you cast ~ you may pay X multiple times. If you do, ~ comes into play with that many +1/+1 counters on it. At the beginning of each upkeep, remove a +1/+1 counter from ~.)
Interaction examples:
Djinn Stormblade 1UR C
Creature - Djinn Warrior
Charge
If ~ has a +1/+1 counter on it, it has Haste.
3/1
Stormfire Magi UR C
Creature - Human Wizard
Charge UR
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery, put a +1/+1 counter on ~.
1/1
Reservoir of Power
Enchantment
Charge :symur:.
At the beginning of your upkeep, instead of removing a +1/+1 counter from ~, you may move a +1/+1 counter from it and put it on a creature you control. When ~ has zero counters on it, sacrifice it.
RRR Khorenthos - The Red Block (Feedback needed!) RRR