When Llanowar Outlander enters the battlefield, if RG was spent to cast it, target creature gets +4/+2 and gains trample until end of turn.
[1/3]
Femeref Outlander2B
Creature - Vampire Scout [C]
Haste
When Femeref Outlander enters the battlefield, if GW was spent to cast it, target player gains 5 life.
[2/1]
Tolarian Outlander2R
Creature - Goblin Wizard [C]
When Tolarian Outlander enters the battlefield, if WU was spent to cast it, put target artifact or enchantment on top of its owner's library.
[3/1]
Aphetto Outlander2G
Creature - Treefolk Rogue [C]
Reach
When Aphetto Outlander enters the battlefield, if UB was spent to cast it, target player discards a card and you draw a card.
[0/4]
Multicolor in this set focuses on ally color pairs and enemy color triads. Enemy pairs and ally triads are in Icefall, although this cycle is not guaranteed to continue there.
I like what you're doing here and I like what I've seen of DOM so far.
These cards look pretty balanced.
The Tolarian could probably be a straight up disenchant at that cost, but putting the card on top is more powerful in some ways and it does get blue more involved with the ability, so I'm not sure if that would be the right thing to do.
A treefolk rouge is too weird for me. I'm not saying treefolk can't be devious, but I think they are too cumbersome and noticeable to skulk around in alleys the way I picture U/ rogues doing. I think an elf would be a better creative fit here.
I don't know what level you're trying to hit for the non-empowered versions, but the stats on a few of them look a little low. Llanowar Outlander could get an extra point of toughness for 3 mana to bring it to Horned Turtle stats. Femeref Outlander could easily pick up a second point of toughness. I'd like to see Aphetto Outlander getting a point of power somehow, it might have to cost a point of toughness but I could go either way on him.
Is there a precedent for a 5/5 hasty trampler for RGU. It might be alright even if there isn't, but it seems rather potent.
A Treefolk Rogue is weird but I can imagine a shady tree hiding alongside the forest trail, reaching into an unwary traveler's satchel with an extremely long thin branch to adroitly extract a coinpurse or document.
A treefolk rouge is too weird for me. I'm not saying treefolk can't be devious, but I think they are too cumbersome and noticeable to skulk around in alleys the way I picture U/ rogues doing. I think an elf would be a better creative fit here.
My art description would read something like:
Location: A dark road on the outskirts of a village.
Action: We see a tall, thin treefolk reaching its spindly fingers into the packs of two oblivious travelers. From their casual mannerisms, these travelers clearly paid no mind to this ordinary tree as they walked right by it. Maybe the treefolk thief even keeps some loot from its previous pickpocketing scattered about its roots and branches.
Mood: You'll never suspect where you lost your stuff.
I don't know what level you're trying to hit for the non-empowered versions, but the stats on a few of them look a little low. Llanowar Outlander could get an extra point of toughness for 3 mana to bring it to Horned Turtle stats. Femeref Outlander could easily pick up a second point of toughness. I'd like to see Aphetto Outlander getting a point of power somehow, it might have to cost a point of toughness but I could go either way on him.
I'm looking for the non-triggered versions to be consolation-prize level powerful. Bad, but not insultingly bad.
Basically, I want each of these card to be high-picked if you are already in that triad, mid-picked if you're thinking about diversifying into that triad, but still borderline playable if you are forced to low-pick it when only the body is in your colors. I definitely want the triggered abilities to be front-and-center, here, rather than the creature's stats and combat abilities.
I'm worried that the effect of Heroes' Reunion is too big and its cost too cheap for common. Angel's Mercy seems to be the correct price point for common life gain of that magnitude.
I really, really like these. I was a big fan of the shadowmoor Firespout cycle as well, but these serve a clear purpose in the set as opposed to being just "hey, look what we can do." The sharper distinction between "off" and "on" is also a plus, giving the satisfying feeling of having kicked a spell but without needing any more mana. Spellcasting creature flavor is also sweet.
I would definitely like to see this continued in Icefall, and I think a counterpart cycle at uncommon would be cool without being oversaturating. Something like
Men o' War2RG
Creature - Human Berserker [U]
Haste
When Men o' War enters the battlefield, if UU was spent to cast it, return up to two other target creatures to their owner's hands.
[2/2]
Edit: Added haste, which was always intended but forgotten at first. On the subject of 5 life vs. 7, I agree that the Heroes' Reunion throwback is desirable if the powerlevel would be okay, and I think that mostly comes down to the quality of manafixing in limited
Both are instants which provide a strategic advantage. Angel's Mercy is monocolor and even Hero's Reunion is only two [allied] colors - not an enemy wedge. Even so, 7 life is too swingy here. I thought Hero's Reunion was common. 5 life is probably perfect.
Not the "set". The cycle. Aphetto has reach and really doesn't even need that and Femeref has haste but doesn't need it. The creatures should all be vanilla unless you pay the right mana cost imo to keep the cycle tight. Reach and haste can go to something else.
Nah.. the keyword help to differentiate the bodies. There's nothing worse then a cycle of creatures cross colors that have the same body imo. Imo the bodies should be:
Those are all bodies of relatively weak 2 cmc creatures.
About the abilities, some are WAY stronger then others. Destroy target creature is much, much better then any of the other 4 effects. Terminate is crazy limited first pick that would surely be uncommon at those days, while Heroes's Reunion have that uncommon rarity for the sole reason of making selesnya stronger by putting strong cards at the common slots (Centaur Healer, etc).
Imo Llanowar and Aphetto are balanced, while Tolarian and Femeref are too weak for the effort involved in playing those and Shivan are way to good for a common.
About the flavor, I think you missed in some cards. Llanowar is not a RG place and Shivan is not RB either. A better RG place could be Yavimaya (as it least it is connected to the mostly RG race of Kavu). I think Keldon is also a better RB place, because they have necropolis there. Tolaria could be WU as there are some W tolarian flavored creatures in urza's block but I think Benalia fits the bill better.
About the creature types, there's no Kithkin in Dominaria. The white one should be a Human.
I agree that Femeref's trigger feels too low-impact compared to the others. It would be fine if it unambiguously had the best body, but it doesn't.
Tolarian should have an "up to one" clause just in case you want your 3/1 without being punished for controlling the only artifact/enchantment on the field. (Shivan doesn't have this problem because you're more likely to sandbag it as creature removal anyway. It's good enough that it's the only one I can see being cast only for the body precisely 0% of the time, unless you're mana screwed and desperate.)
Llanowar is not a RG place and Shivan is not RB either. A better RG place could be Yavimaya (as it least it is connected to the mostly RG race of Kavu). I think Keldon is also a better RB place, because they have necropolis there. Tolaria could be WU as there are some W tolarian flavored creatures in urza's block but I think Benalia fits the bill better.
An important distinction of this block that I'm trying to achieve is that it's not a fan service / nostalgia block. It is the continuation forward of the story of Dominaria.
A big part of doing this is exploring new aspects of old characters and places. In the cases of Llanowar and Shiv, I'm doing this by giving them each a color pairing that we haven't really seen before. It's not a revisionist thing - I'm not saying that Llanowar isn't :symgw:... just not the parts of it that I'm planning to explore this block.
There are waaaaayy too many characters and places in the plane of Dominaria for me to be able to do them all justice on these cards. So I had to make tough decisions. If I made Benalia a major player in this story, I would have to squeeze out either Femeref or Tolaria. But Femeref and Tolaria are central to the story I'm constructing. So Benalia had to give. You aren't going to see all that much of it in this block.
Creature - Kithkin Warrior [C]
When Shivan Outlander enters the battlefield, if BR was spent to cast it, destroy target creature.
[2/2]
Creature - Cephalid Shaman [C]
When Llanowar Outlander enters the battlefield, if RG was spent to cast it, target creature gets +4/+2 and gains trample until end of turn.
[1/3]
Creature - Vampire Scout [C]
Haste
When Femeref Outlander enters the battlefield, if GW was spent to cast it, target player gains 5 life.
[2/1]
Creature - Goblin Wizard [C]
When Tolarian Outlander enters the battlefield, if WU was spent to cast it, put target artifact or enchantment on top of its owner's library.
[3/1]
Creature - Treefolk Rogue [C]
Reach
When Aphetto Outlander enters the battlefield, if UB was spent to cast it, target player discards a card and you draw a card.
[0/4]
These cards look pretty balanced.
The Tolarian could probably be a straight up disenchant at that cost, but putting the card on top is more powerful in some ways and it does get blue more involved with the ability, so I'm not sure if that would be the right thing to do.
A treefolk rouge is too weird for me. I'm not saying treefolk can't be devious, but I think they are too cumbersome and noticeable to skulk around in alleys the way I picture U/ rogues doing. I think an elf would be a better creative fit here.
A Treefolk Rogue is weird but I can imagine a shady tree hiding alongside the forest trail, reaching into an unwary traveler's satchel with an extremely long thin branch to adroitly extract a coinpurse or document.
My art description would read something like:
Action: We see a tall, thin treefolk reaching its spindly fingers into the packs of two oblivious travelers. From their casual mannerisms, these travelers clearly paid no mind to this ordinary tree as they walked right by it. Maybe the treefolk thief even keeps some loot from its previous pickpocketing scattered about its roots and branches.
Mood: You'll never suspect where you lost your stuff.
I'm looking for the non-triggered versions to be consolation-prize level powerful. Bad, but not insultingly bad.
Basically, I want each of these card to be high-picked if you are already in that triad, mid-picked if you're thinking about diversifying into that triad, but still borderline playable if you are forced to low-pick it when only the body is in your colors. I definitely want the triggered abilities to be front-and-center, here, rather than the creature's stats and combat abilities.
For Llanowar Outlander, what if I nix the haste but keep everything else?
i.e., force you to either have another creature on the board, or an independent way of giving haste to the Outlander itself.
[EDIT]: I liked that change, so I made it in the OP.
Or make the Vamp's ability a Hero's Reunion.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
And drop haste, which would actually fit the set better.
I'm worried that the effect of Heroes' Reunion is too big and its cost too cheap for common. Angel's Mercy seems to be the correct price point for common life gain of that magnitude.
How so?
I would definitely like to see this continued in Icefall, and I think a counterpart cycle at uncommon would be cool without being oversaturating. Something like
Creature - Human Berserker [U]
Haste
When Men o' War enters the battlefield, if UU was spent to cast it, return up to two other target creatures to their owner's hands.
[2/2]
Edit: Added haste, which was always intended but forgotten at first. On the subject of 5 life vs. 7, I agree that the Heroes' Reunion throwback is desirable if the powerlevel would be okay, and I think that mostly comes down to the quality of manafixing in limited
Interested in Custom Card Creation.
My Cube:Cardinal Custom Cube
A custom version of a third modern masters: MM2019
(filter->rarity to see in set rarity).
Not the "set". The cycle. Aphetto has reach and really doesn't even need that and Femeref has haste but doesn't need it. The creatures should all be vanilla unless you pay the right mana cost imo to keep the cycle tight. Reach and haste can go to something else.
2W - 2/2
2U - 1/3
2B - 1/2 Lifelink
2R - 3/1
2G - 0/4 Reach
Those are all bodies of relatively weak 2 cmc creatures.
About the abilities, some are WAY stronger then others. Destroy target creature is much, much better then any of the other 4 effects. Terminate is crazy limited first pick that would surely be uncommon at those days, while Heroes's Reunion have that uncommon rarity for the sole reason of making selesnya stronger by putting strong cards at the common slots (Centaur Healer, etc).
Imo Llanowar and Aphetto are balanced, while Tolarian and Femeref are too weak for the effort involved in playing those and Shivan are way to good for a common.
About the flavor, I think you missed in some cards. Llanowar is not a RG place and Shivan is not RB either. A better RG place could be Yavimaya (as it least it is connected to the mostly RG race of Kavu). I think Keldon is also a better RB place, because they have necropolis there. Tolaria could be WU as there are some W tolarian flavored creatures in urza's block but I think Benalia fits the bill better.
About the creature types, there's no Kithkin in Dominaria. The white one should be a Human.
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
Tolarian should have an "up to one" clause just in case you want your 3/1 without being punished for controlling the only artifact/enchantment on the field. (Shivan doesn't have this problem because you're more likely to sandbag it as creature removal anyway. It's good enough that it's the only one I can see being cast only for the body precisely 0% of the time, unless you're mana screwed and desperate.)
@italofoca, There are kithkin on Dominaria. They're called the //gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=+[amrou">||text=+[amrou]"]Amrou.
Avatar by Numotflame96 of Maelstrom Graphics
Sig banner thanks to DarkNightCavalier of Heroes of the Plane Studios!
An important distinction of this block that I'm trying to achieve is that it's not a fan service / nostalgia block. It is the continuation forward of the story of Dominaria.
A big part of doing this is exploring new aspects of old characters and places. In the cases of Llanowar and Shiv, I'm doing this by giving them each a color pairing that we haven't really seen before. It's not a revisionist thing - I'm not saying that Llanowar isn't :symgw:... just not the parts of it that I'm planning to explore this block.
There are waaaaayy too many characters and places in the plane of Dominaria for me to be able to do them all justice on these cards. So I had to make tough decisions. If I made Benalia a major player in this story, I would have to squeeze out either Femeref or Tolaria. But Femeref and Tolaria are central to the story I'm constructing. So Benalia had to give. You aren't going to see all that much of it in this block.