Call to Glory is now just over the 1/3 completion mark, and as planned, I'm revisiting all of my design decisions before plowing ahead with the next 1/3 of the set. While I'm happy to send most of my designs to the development process, some have become obsolete, and others just aren't jelling the way I was hoping that they would. Without further ado, here's what's in, what's merely safe (for now,) and what's out.
Click the spoiler tags to see my new card versions:
IN
The central mechanical theme of Call to Glory emerged very early on in the design process, and I'm excited to say - so far, so good. My design rule is that every card in Call to Glory has to have an explicit mechanical connection to the combat phase. There have been a few exceptions to this rule in the higher rarities, but they will almost certainly be revised by the end of this design process. 104 cards in, and I feel like there's still a lot of untapped potential, here. At this point, my only question is whether to keep pushing "combat" as the central block theme, or to find another overarching theme into which Call to Glory's set focus can fit.
There was never really any question about bushido. It [U]had[/U] to be an element of this set. My two big challenges were: move bushido into another color (green,) and find fresh designs in the returning colors (white and black.) The first part was pretty easy - bushido is a great mechanical fit for green, even if the flavor requires some craftsmanship. The second part was less easy, but I was very happy with my "remove from combat" vertical cycle in white, so bushido stays. Black will still get bushido, but it needs some TLC. Here are a few revisions to the Samurai contingent:
Hatchling PupilG
Creature - Snake Samurai [U]
Trample
At the beginning of combat each turn, you may pay :xmana:. If you do, Hatchling Pupil gains bushido X until end of turn.
[1/1]
Stinkfoot Samurai1BB
Creature - Rat Samurai [U]
Stinkfoot Samurai has bushido X, where X is the number of cards on the battlefield named Stinkfoot Samurai.
A deck may have any number of cards named Stinkfoot Samurai.
[3/1]
Pit General4B
Creature - Rat Samurai [U]
Bushido 2
:symtap:: Search your library for a card named Kuro Unchained and put it onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. Activate this ability only during the declare attackers step and only if you control four or more attacking creatures.
[2/2]
Like bushido, ninjutsu was basically a must-do mechanic for a Return to Kamigawa set. And the design process mirrored that of bushido - move it into another color (red,) and find something fresh for the returning colors (blue and black.) My choices here have been among the most controversial in the set so far. But, in big-picture terms, I feel like I've mined a few exciting new veins for ninjutsu, so I feel like it falls squarely the success column. In a final similarity to bushido, black is proving the toughest nut to crack. I may ultimately take the black ninjas in a different direction. For now, one revision to the black ninjutsu contingent appears below:
Hidetsugu's Elite3BB
Creature - Human Ninja [U]
Ninjutsu 1BB
Whenever Hidetsugu's Elite deals combat damage to a player, you may sacrifice it. If you do, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
[4/2]
The set's first original mechanic, Tactics has turned out to be everything I wanted and more. Strangely enough, this success has convinced me that I can go back and revise my Tactics cards pretty extensively - instead of hedging my bets by creating designs going in every direction, I can really focus on my favorite designs with the mechanic. See below for a couple new replacements:
Thresh the Cut Grain3B
Instant [C]
Tactics (This spell costs less to cast for each attacking or blocking creature you control.)
Thresh the Cut Grain deals 2 damage to target creature and you gain 2 life.
Feed the Flames3R
Instant [U]
Tactics (This spell costs less to cast for each attacking or blocking creature you control.)
Feed the flames deals 1 damage to each creature your opponents control.
Ki strike was my big design discovery. I did not begin the design process thinking that I would do a mechanic like ki strike. But, some discussions about Omnath mana prompted me to think about using a different kind of counter in Call to Glory block. And that decision sticks - ki counters will be the primary permanent-based counter of the block, rather than +1/+1's or -1/-1's. Ki strike is the mechanic that will enable it all. I'm across-the-board happy with how this has turned out so far, so no revisions here. Expect a lot more cards with ki strike in the second 1/3 of the set design.
The Deflect vertical cycle is a lock. The punch-through vertical cycle is a lock. The Favorable Winds uncommon cycle is a lock. Intimidate is a lock as the "Oni mechanic." Tsukumogami are a lock (and will get both uncommon and rare representatives in the next 1/3 of the set.) Any other 1-off card that isn't explicitly called out elsewhere in this thread can be considered a lock (such as this, this, and this.) The only 1-off that I want to revise is as follows:
Rainbow Kaijin2U
Creature - Spirit [C]
Rainbow Kaijin can't attack unless defending player controls a creature that shares a color with it.
:1mana:: Rainbow Kaijin becomes the color of the mana spent on this activation cost until end of turn. Spend only colored mana this way.
[3/4]
SAFE
I'm satisfied with the current shape of my deathknell mechanic, but I have deliberately not put it through its design paces yet. Much debate has taken place over which colors should get deatknell. Frankly, the proof will either be in the pudding or it won't, so I will go ahead with my initial plan of doing deathknell primarily in black and green with a few pick-ups in red and blue. If the designs work, I'm confident that these are the right colors for deathknell in the context of Call to Glory. If not, we will re-evaluate it at the 2/3 mark.
I'm pretty psyched for this mechanic - I think it's going to be the mortar that binds the whole set together. But, like deathknell, I have deliberately reserved this mechanic for the middle stages of the design process. It's a counterintuitive mechanic - something that makes defenders for the secret purpose of balancing out the aggressive creatures on which it will mostly appear. At least that's the plan. The next 100-or-so cards will be the proving grounds for this.
I'm not 100% in love with my designs for the split cards in this set. But I still want to do split cards, both as a callback to Kamigawa's flip cards, and as a way to enshrine the "attacking / blocking" dichotomy in a very visual way. But I'm going to need some big ideas. While I'm not totally happy with what I have here, I don't have any immediate revisions, and neither am I ready to just cut the cards entirely. They'll just have to hover in limbo until I crack the concept, or until the 2/3 completion marker, whichever comes first.
OUT
Although I'm confident that my original idea could be viable in the right context, as soon as I discovered ki strike, I knew that Call to Glory was no longer that context. Expect to see the long-term mana storage idea transposed onto future ki-strikers.
OK, tribal is not completely out, but I've decided that the answer to "Can this be a tribal design?" is going to be a very loud "NO" in ~99% of cases. My black cards are going to be hit the hardest by this change, which is fine, because I was planning to change a lot of them anyway. Expect to see no more tribal effects in this set than you can count on one hand.
Does anybody have any big-picture suggestions on where to go from here? Specific comments about individual revised cards?
In regards to ki strike, is it always going to be "Whenever this creature attacks or blocks, put a ki counter on it"? If so, it might do better being a proper keyword rather than a pseudo. Ki Strike (Whenever this creature attacks or blocks, put a ki counter on it.) Typically pseudos are reserved for things that have the same condition, but different reactions.
I think you're right to hold off on Omnath mana, and to limit your tribal influences. In my personal opinion, you've done a good job proving your red ninjas concepts, but still have a lot to prove in the set - Deathknell especially is where I'll be watching most attentively.
In regards to ki strike, is it always going to be "Whenever this creature attacks or blocks, put a ki counter on it"? If so, it might do better being a proper keyword rather than a pseudo. Ki Strike (Whenever this creature attacks or blocks, put a ki counter on it.) Typically pseudos are reserved for things that have the same condition, but different reactions.
I don't know yet. This is going to be one of my first targets for the middle phase of the design process, so I should know soon. The answer is probably yes, it will always look that way. If that's the case, I will follow your advice and keyword it. But I need to let the mechanic stretch a bit and see if it would instead benefit from the flexibility that an italicized ability word would provide. Soon, soon.
As for deathknell, I know this is where I have the most to prove. Time to hike up my boots and get going on this...
Click the spoiler tags to see my new card versions:
IN
Creature - Snake Samurai [U]
Trample
At the beginning of combat each turn, you may pay :xmana:. If you do, Hatchling Pupil gains bushido X until end of turn.
[1/1]
Creature - Rat Samurai [U]
Stinkfoot Samurai has bushido X, where X is the number of cards on the battlefield named Stinkfoot Samurai.
A deck may have any number of cards named Stinkfoot Samurai.
[3/1]
Creature - Rat Samurai [U]
Bushido 2
:symtap:: Search your library for a card named Kuro Unchained and put it onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. Activate this ability only during the declare attackers step and only if you control four or more attacking creatures.
[2/2]
Creature - Human Ninja [U]
Ninjutsu 1BB
Whenever Hidetsugu's Elite deals combat damage to a player, you may sacrifice it. If you do, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
[4/2]
Instant [C]
Tactics (This spell costs less to cast for each attacking or blocking creature you control.)
Thresh the Cut Grain deals 2 damage to target creature and you gain 2 life.
Instant [U]
Tactics (This spell costs less to cast for each attacking or blocking creature you control.)
Feed the flames deals 1 damage to each creature your opponents control.
Creature - Spirit [C]
Rainbow Kaijin can't attack unless defending player controls a creature that shares a color with it.
:1mana:: Rainbow Kaijin becomes the color of the mana spent on this activation cost until end of turn. Spend only colored mana this way.
[3/4]
I think you're right to hold off on Omnath mana, and to limit your tribal influences. In my personal opinion, you've done a good job proving your red ninjas concepts, but still have a lot to prove in the set - Deathknell especially is where I'll be watching most attentively.
As for deathknell, I know this is where I have the most to prove. Time to hike up my boots and get going on this...