Nunchaku's two abilities don't look like they work very well together. Boosting power by two means that the creature will probably kill most blockers, so the tapping ability won't come up as often.
Nunchaku's two abilities don't look like they work very well together. Boosting power by two means that the creature will probably kill most blockers, so the tapping ability won't come up as often.
I agree - there's not a whole lot of synergy between those two abilities. It's the Orochi Ranger problem in Equipment form.
But "not a whole lot of synergy" isn't the same as "no synergy," and that's where my reasoning enters the picture. When your opponent has a big blocker that you can't kill, the good tension in this card suddenly appears. Either they take extra damage, or their big blocker gets knocked out for a couple turns. In a set with lots of bushido going around, I think the Nunchaku will be very useful in taking out pesky big blockers in Limited.
To be clear, I'm not bringing the Orochi poison ability back in any wider form - just this one card.
You're right, having Bushido in the set does make the tapping more relevant. A quick check shows that in Kamigawa, 'snake poison' appeared on creatures with 1 or 2 power, except for one 3-power snake at uncommon. Given that, I'd want to playtest the Nunchaku at both +2/+0 and at +1/+1 to see which winds up actually playing better.
You're right, having Bushido in the set does make the tapping more relevant. A quick check shows that in Kamigawa, 'snake poison' appeared on creatures with 1 or 2 power, except for one 3-power snake at uncommon. Given that, I'd want to playtest the Nunchaku at both +2/+0 and at +1/+1 to see which winds up actually playing better.
A totally reasonable suggestion that I intend to follow. A lot of numbers in this set will change during development. These design versions are just my best guess as to where things might end up.
Heck, a lot of things will still change during design. I'm not even a third of the way through yet, and I'm already questioning some of my earlier choices. Fun process!
If you wanted O-Yoroi to be a true mirror to O-Naginata, you'd make it uncommon.
Comparing Greatsword to Kite Shield, the toughness boost is worth less mana to cast + equip than the power boost, so the two O-Equipment shouldn't have the same cast + equip costs. Even if O-Yoroi is easier to equip, most creatures with 3 or more toughness tend to be walls anyway, on which vigilance wouldn't be especially useful.
If you wanted O-Yoroi to be a true mirror to O-Naginata, you'd make it uncommon.
Comparing Greatsword to Kite Shield, the toughness boost is worth less mana to cast + equip than the power boost, so the two O-Equipment shouldn't have the same cast + equip costs. Even if O-Yoroi is easier to equip, most creatures with 3 or more toughness tend to be walls anyway, on which vigilance wouldn't be especially useful.
Definitely good suggestions, and I'll keep the costing advice in mind in particular.
Regarding rarity, Kamigawa existed in the weird post-Mirrodin gap where all Equipment was at uncommon-or-higher rarity. Since WotC has since eased that restriction, I felt it might be appropriate to bump the O-Yoroi down to common (props for getting the O-Naginata reference.) For an Expert-level set, the complexity is not too great for common rarity.
But, you know, things could change!
It's the peculiar situation of this set that every Wall creature is a 0/2 artifact creature token with defender, and there are very few non-Wall creatures with defender. That latter number might even change from "very few" to "zero" as I regroup at the 1/3-of-the-way design point. So, most or all of the big-butt creatures in the set will be able to attack. But for the average set, your point certainly stands.
Artifact - Equipment [C]
Equipped creature gets +2/+0.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a creature, tap that creature and it doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
Equip
Artifact - Equipment [C]
O-Yoroi can be attached only to a creature with 3 or more toughness.
Equipped creature gets +0/+3 and has vigilance.
Equip
I know O-Yoroi compares poorly to Accorder's Shield, but I still think it's Limited playable.
I agree - there's not a whole lot of synergy between those two abilities. It's the Orochi Ranger problem in Equipment form.
But "not a whole lot of synergy" isn't the same as "no synergy," and that's where my reasoning enters the picture. When your opponent has a big blocker that you can't kill, the good tension in this card suddenly appears. Either they take extra damage, or their big blocker gets knocked out for a couple turns. In a set with lots of bushido going around, I think the Nunchaku will be very useful in taking out pesky big blockers in Limited.
To be clear, I'm not bringing the Orochi poison ability back in any wider form - just this one card.
A totally reasonable suggestion that I intend to follow. A lot of numbers in this set will change during development. These design versions are just my best guess as to where things might end up.
Heck, a lot of things will still change during design. I'm not even a third of the way through yet, and I'm already questioning some of my earlier choices. Fun process!
Comparing Greatsword to Kite Shield, the toughness boost is worth less mana to cast + equip than the power boost, so the two O-Equipment shouldn't have the same cast + equip costs. Even if O-Yoroi is easier to equip, most creatures with 3 or more toughness tend to be walls anyway, on which vigilance wouldn't be especially useful.
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Definitely good suggestions, and I'll keep the costing advice in mind in particular.
Regarding rarity, Kamigawa existed in the weird post-Mirrodin gap where all Equipment was at uncommon-or-higher rarity. Since WotC has since eased that restriction, I felt it might be appropriate to bump the O-Yoroi down to common (props for getting the O-Naginata reference.) For an Expert-level set, the complexity is not too great for common rarity.
But, you know, things could change!
It's the peculiar situation of this set that every Wall creature is a 0/2 artifact creature token with defender, and there are very few non-Wall creatures with defender. That latter number might even change from "very few" to "zero" as I regroup at the 1/3-of-the-way design point. So, most or all of the big-butt creatures in the set will be able to attack. But for the average set, your point certainly stands.