Pitfall Architect4U
Creature — Surrakar Rogue [C]
Flash
When Pitfall Architect enters the battlefield, creatures your opponents control get -1/-0 until end of turn.
[3/2]
Slave Chains1U
Enchantment — Aura [C]
Enchant creature
When Slave Chains enters the battlefield, draw a card.
Enchanted creature gets -3/-0.
Niktu, Pit Boss5BB
Legendary Creature — Surrakar Rogue [R]
When Niktu, Pit Boss enters the battlefield, gain control of target creature.
At the beginning of your upkeep, each creature you control but don't own deals 1 damage to its owner.
[3/3]
Slave Rebellion3RR
Sorcery [R]
Gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap that creature. Until end of turn, it gets +2/+0 and gains haste.
Rebound (If you cast this spell from your hand, exile it as it resolves. At the beginning of your next upkeep, you may cast this card from exile without paying its mana cost.)
Surrakar Slave Pit
Land [R] T: Add 1 to your mana pool. X, T: Target creature gets -X/-0 until end of turn.
EDIT: bumped Surrakar Slave Pit from uncommon up to rare.
EDIT: changed the wording on Niktu from "permanent" to "creature".
Pitfall Architect - A very nuanced design for common. I think it's balanced perfectly on the razor's edge for that rarity, given his low toughness and casting cost. Very well done.
Slave Chains - This is actually pretty good for 2 mana, depending on your metagame. Sensory Deprivation was already pretty amazing in blue, at least on second printing. You might consider .
Niktu, Pit Boss - This has to be too good, doesn't it? Is it not just a harder-to-break Enslave with a 3/3 body attached that can also cack Planeswalkers (or anything else)? Or is it going to be really hard to hit 7 mana in this format?
Slave Rebellion - God, you are really nailing the flavor side of not just this set, but an almost flavorless mechanic.
Slave Pit - This feels rare to me, since it's basically a slightly more committal Maze of Ith with offensive capabilities. I like the design a lot, so change that rarity!
Pitfall Architect - A very nuanced design for common. I think it's balanced perfectly on the razor's edge for that rarity, given his low toughness and casting cost. Very well done.
Slave Chains - This is actually pretty good for 2 mana, depending on your metagame. Sensory Deprivation was already pretty amazing in blue, at least on second printing. You might consider .
Niktu, Pit Boss - This has to be too good, doesn't it? Is it not just a harder-to-break Enslave with a 3/3 body attached that can also cack Planeswalkers (or anything else)? Or is it going to be really hard to hit 7 mana in this format?
Slave Rebellion - God, you are really nailing the flavor side of not just this set, but an almost flavorless mechanic.
Slave Pit - This feels rare to me, since it's basically a slightly more committal Maze of Ith with offensive capabilities. I like the design a lot, so change that rarity!
Thanks for the compliments! I am really happy that people have been responding positively to the flavor of this set.
I'm 99.9% sure I agree with you about Surrakar Slave Pit, so I will change the rarity. My thinking here was "people don't regard -X/-0 mechanics very highly, so they would be grumpy if they saw this at rare." But then my whole endeavor here was to also make those mechanics very strong. You knew exactly what my inspiration was for this thing (Maze of Ith) and I do agree that it very likely deserves an appropriately higher rarity. Consider it done.
Could Niktu be blue-black instead of monoblack? I get the Enslave reference, but there's a big difference between gaining control of a creature and of any permanent - the latter is a much bigger stretch in black.
Could Niktu be blue-black instead of monoblack? I get the Enslave reference, but there's a big difference between gaining control of a creature and of any permanent - the latter is a much bigger stretch in black.
There's no multicolor in this block, so he needs to be black.
My first pass on this guy was "creatures" and not "permanents". But Enslave on legs didn't feel like it was worthy of a legendary creature, all by itself. That's when I gave it the "permanents" change. I think it's justifiable as a one-time bleed, especially on a legend. It isn't necessarily something that black typically gets to do, but it doesn't violate any commandments about what black can never do.
That said, I'd explore another direction other than the "creatures" --> "permanents" change. I DO want people to look at this and immediately think of Enslave, but I also want it to be bigger than Enslave in a cool way. If you have suggestions for how to do that, I would also consider those.
Black also has far easier ways to recur creatures than enchantments. I'd be concerned about some kind of sac-looping abuse.
The lack of a "...as long as you control CARDNAME" clause is also really making me dislike this design.
Hmmm... maybe the lack of "...as long as you control" IS the thing that makes this bigger than Enslave?
I like the fact that you can cast him multiple times as a Commander, not lose any of the creatures you previously enslaved, and then stack the damage bonuses from each of them. That's probably a cool enough difference.
Pitfall Architecht is neat. At common, people are going to have to play around it whenever you leave five mana up. If you want more opportunities to 'get' the opponent with it, consider making it an uncommon instead, just so that your opponents expect it less. Either common or uncommon rarity would be fine with me, it's just a matter of the effect you want on gameplay.
I agree Slave Chains is pretty good at two mana. It's a good mechanic to flavor match.
It's too bad the Pit Boss doesn't interact with act of treason effects. Can it trigger at end step instead?
Slave Rebellion is an excellent use of Rebound. It puts your opponent in a tight spot. Do they block and kill the one you steal? Or let it through, just so you can take it again next turn?
The Slave Pit also reminds me of a scalable Prahv, Spires of Order. That was Uncommon but always cost 6 to activate. The Pit will usually cost much less, so I think Rare is the right place for it.
Hmmm... maybe the lack of "...as long as you control" IS the thing that makes this bigger than Enslave? Thoughts on that?
IMO it's a combination of all of these things:
1) You keep the permanent even after the guy goes away [biggest one]
2) You get any permanent past the end of turn, something that no color other than blue has ever been allowed to do, and while I do agree blue needs to be taken down a peg, I'm not sure that cheating black's inability to destroy artifacts and enchantments by stealing them instead is the solution
3) In combination with 1), black is the best color at tutoring, sacrificing, and reanimating
4) Black has multiplemeans to cheat the mana costs of expensive creatures
If this card was released in a Commander-legal set, I guarantee you it would become the next SylvPrime. Getting to steal your opponent's best thing permanently is so good that you could probably change the enslave ability to make YOU lose the life and no one would care.
"especially on a legend" OH GOD THIS THING CAN BE YOUR COMMANDER. WHY.
To be fair Enslave is not that great (not even confiscate is). The issue is the color "bleed" that makes the card much more costing.
I think it would be a good thing for the pit boss to return the permanent once he leaves the battlefield. He could even cost 3BB and/or have a more menacing body. It makes the card more interactive and builds in synergy in black sacrifice outlets (sac the permanent before it returns).
Liking the cards so far. Pitfall Architect is my favorite as well, it's the kind of card blue needs to be a force in limited (outside of it being a good support color or the color for wind drake & friends).
Well, Commander is the format of big plays! Compared to similarly-costed Sylvan Primordial or Sheoldred, this is a much more surgical and political card, anyway.
And if you pick him as a Commander, everybody knows it, and can dogpile you accordingly. He's priced high enough that your opponents will have enough time to administer a gang-beating before you can drop him into a combo, regardless of Cabal Coffers or whatever.
Well, Commander is the format of big plays! Compared to similarly-costed Sylvan Primordial or Sheoldred, this is a much more surgical and political card, anyway.
Sylvan Primordial is banned in EDH, SHeoldred doesn't do anything particularly powerful until it comes al the way back around to your turn. There is a huge difference between any removal spell answering a commander and only counterspells answering the commander. I'd bet that your card would be banned in Commander. On the off chance that it wasn't banned, many/most playgroups would ban it.
Private Mod Note
():
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Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
- Manite
Okay, but what if Niktu just grabbed creatures but also had an activated ability like "5BB, T: You gain control of target creature [as long as you control Niktu]."
Oh, looks like I forgot to comment on the other cards.
Architect is sweet, and squeaks by at common. Feels very blue, so I might put it at 3UU to reward blue drafters a little.
Slave chains looks really strong. I'm wondering how it ranks relative to Murder and Lightning Strike for limited.
I like rebellion, although I wonder if it really needs to be rare.
Slave pit is a less fun, much more flexible, and probably more powerful version of a card which defined standard. How about UX? 2X? I guess it's probably testable at 1X?
Private Mod Note
():
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I primarily play limited, so most of my spoiler season comments view cards through that lens.
Slave pit is a less fun, much more flexible, and probably more powerful version of a card which defined standard. How about UX? 2X? I guess it's probably testable at 1X?
XU could be interesting, as it suggests the idea of a rare land cycle to me. I'll mull that over a bit.
Death Is Too Good For You, Barbarian!
Creature — Surrakar Rogue [C]
Flash
When Pitfall Architect enters the battlefield, creatures your opponents control get -1/-0 until end of turn.
[3/2]
Slave Chains 1U
Enchantment — Aura [C]
Enchant creature
When Slave Chains enters the battlefield, draw a card.
Enchanted creature gets -3/-0.
Niktu, Pit Boss 5BB
Legendary Creature — Surrakar Rogue [R]
When Niktu, Pit Boss enters the battlefield, gain control of target creature.
At the beginning of your upkeep, each creature you control but don't own deals 1 damage to its owner.
[3/3]
Slave Rebellion 3RR
Sorcery [R]
Gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap that creature. Until end of turn, it gets +2/+0 and gains haste.
Rebound (If you cast this spell from your hand, exile it as it resolves. At the beginning of your next upkeep, you may cast this card from exile without paying its mana cost.)
Surrakar Slave Pit
Land [R]
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
X, T: Target creature gets -X/-0 until end of turn.
EDIT: bumped Surrakar Slave Pit from uncommon up to rare.
EDIT: changed the wording on Niktu from "permanent" to "creature".
Slave Chains - This is actually pretty good for 2 mana, depending on your metagame. Sensory Deprivation was already pretty amazing in blue, at least on second printing. You might consider .
Niktu, Pit Boss - This has to be too good, doesn't it? Is it not just a harder-to-break Enslave with a 3/3 body attached that can also cack Planeswalkers (or anything else)? Or is it going to be really hard to hit 7 mana in this format?
Slave Rebellion - God, you are really nailing the flavor side of not just this set, but an almost flavorless mechanic.
Slave Pit - This feels rare to me, since it's basically a slightly more committal Maze of Ith with offensive capabilities. I like the design a lot, so change that rarity!
I'm 99.9% sure I agree with you about Surrakar Slave Pit, so I will change the rarity. My thinking here was "people don't regard -X/-0 mechanics very highly, so they would be grumpy if they saw this at rare." But then my whole endeavor here was to also make those mechanics very strong. You knew exactly what my inspiration was for this thing (Maze of Ith) and I do agree that it very likely deserves an appropriately higher rarity. Consider it done.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
The lack of a "...as long as you control CARDNAME" clause is also really making me dislike this design.
Avatar by Numotflame96 of Maelstrom Graphics
Sig banner thanks to DarkNightCavalier of Heroes of the Plane Studios!
My first pass on this guy was "creatures" and not "permanents". But Enslave on legs didn't feel like it was worthy of a legendary creature, all by itself. That's when I gave it the "permanents" change. I think it's justifiable as a one-time bleed, especially on a legend. It isn't necessarily something that black typically gets to do, but it doesn't violate any commandments about what black can never do.
That said, I'd explore another direction other than the "creatures" --> "permanents" change. I DO want people to look at this and immediately think of Enslave, but I also want it to be bigger than Enslave in a cool way. If you have suggestions for how to do that, I would also consider those.
Hmmm... maybe the lack of "...as long as you control" IS the thing that makes this bigger than Enslave?
I like the fact that you can cast him multiple times as a Commander, not lose any of the creatures you previously enslaved, and then stack the damage bonuses from each of them. That's probably a cool enough difference.
So... consider it changed back to "creature".
I agree Slave Chains is pretty good at two mana. It's a good mechanic to flavor match.
It's too bad the Pit Boss doesn't interact with act of treason effects. Can it trigger at end step instead?
Slave Rebellion is an excellent use of Rebound. It puts your opponent in a tight spot. Do they block and kill the one you steal? Or let it through, just so you can take it again next turn?
The Slave Pit also reminds me of a scalable Prahv, Spires of Order. That was Uncommon but always cost 6 to activate. The Pit will usually cost much less, so I think Rare is the right place for it.
IMO it's a combination of all of these things:
1) You keep the permanent even after the guy goes away [biggest one]
2) You get any permanent past the end of turn, something that no color other than blue has ever been allowed to do, and while I do agree blue needs to be taken down a peg, I'm not sure that cheating black's inability to destroy artifacts and enchantments by stealing them instead is the solution
3) In combination with 1), black is the best color at tutoring, sacrificing, and reanimating
4) Black has multiple means to cheat the mana costs of expensive creatures
If this card was released in a Commander-legal set, I guarantee you it would become the next SylvPrime. Getting to steal your opponent's best thing permanently is so good that you could probably change the enslave ability to make YOU lose the life and no one would care.
"especially on a legend" OH GOD THIS THING CAN BE YOUR COMMANDER. WHY.
Avatar by Numotflame96 of Maelstrom Graphics
Sig banner thanks to DarkNightCavalier of Heroes of the Plane Studios!
I think it would be a good thing for the pit boss to return the permanent once he leaves the battlefield. He could even cost 3BB and/or have a more menacing body. It makes the card more interactive and builds in synergy in black sacrifice outlets (sac the permanent before it returns).
Liking the cards so far. Pitfall Architect is my favorite as well, it's the kind of card blue needs to be a force in limited (outside of it being a good support color or the color for wind drake & friends).
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
Well, Commander is the format of big plays! Compared to similarly-costed Sylvan Primordial or Sheoldred, this is a much more surgical and political card, anyway.
And if you pick him as a Commander, everybody knows it, and can dogpile you accordingly. He's priced high enough that your opponents will have enough time to administer a gang-beating before you can drop him into a combo, regardless of Cabal Coffers or whatever.
- Manite
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).
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Architect is sweet, and squeaks by at common. Feels very blue, so I might put it at 3UU to reward blue drafters a little.
Slave chains looks really strong. I'm wondering how it ranks relative to Murder and Lightning Strike for limited.
I like rebellion, although I wonder if it really needs to be rare.
Slave pit is a less fun, much more flexible, and probably more powerful version of a card which defined standard. How about UX? 2X? I guess it's probably testable at 1X?
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).