Here is a reprise of a design that another came up with on another forum, . There were a number of crucial flaws I noticed about the design, and did my best to use the design as a teaching tool to elaborate on some schematics of good development and design.
Here is the original design.
Draconian Vanguard4RRR Creature — Dragon Knight
Flying, trample R: Draconian Vanguard deals 3 damage to target creature or player. Activate this ability once per turn.
Whenever a creature an opponent controls blocks or gets blocked, Draconian Vanguard fights that creature.
3/6
Here is an excerpt of my elaboration, slightly abridged and edited.
This one is overcost—especially for a Mythic Rare.
If I were to scrunch this down into my design schematics, it be something like a 6/6 for 6—or a 3/5 for 5 (retaining all abilities).
The abilities themselves are kind of bland. In my experience, I'm kind of stuck in the mode of seeking to innovate, improvise, and deploy ingenuity in a majority of the effects I implement. This means effects that do something new, or do them in a new way, or are otherwise uniquely interactive with the gaming environment.
If I were to re-work that first ability, I would probably have it do something like, "Whenever an opponent attacks, Draconian Vanguard deals 3 damage to that player and 3 damage to target attacking creature that player controls."
It's not exactly innovative...but it looks innovative. And it's bundled up in a graceful, interactive form—that works autonomously (chaining off other interactions) to add hostility to the gaming environment (and force interactive pressure).
As for the second ability, I would have to adapt it to something stand-alone (such as a tap effect) and have it fight target creature, that possibly meets some special condition. The special conditions helps to make it more unique, and that helps the design rise above the crowd (which is an important attribute that every mythic rare should have).
And now for the reprise,
Draconian Knight2RRR Creature — Dragon Knight
Flying
Whenever an opponent attacks, Draconian Knight deals 3 damage to that player and 3 damage to target attacking creature that player controls.
: Draconian Knight fights target tapped creature. "The most fearsome warrior is one who fights to uphold their creed, and their creed is among one of the most fearsome of all: Domination, hostility, supremacy."
3/5
Template question, are players ever considered to be attacking? It's clear what you are going for though.
It seems too much for me. What about:
Whenever an opponent attacks with one or more creatures, Draconian Knight fights one of them.
When Draconian Knight deals damage to a creature, it deals that much damage to that creature's opponent
Sorry about that, there was supposed to be a link to the original post in the OP. I just went ahead and added the original design instead of fix the link. As far as wording composure goes, you might be right. It might require, "Whenever an opponent declares an attack..." as the opening clause. Just going to leave it as it is for now.
As for the design, do you see how my version strives to be more intuitive with the dynamics of the mana cost/turn exchange/playability factor? You also see how although the first main ability isn't entirely innovative...it looks innovative? And for the third ability, I went along can worked it into something that provides contrast to the design. Meaning, it provides some alternative potential to the majority, that creates alternative strategic options for the player. As a damage source, it can also extend upon (or bridge off) the potential of the first ability, making it synergistic in addition to providing contrast to the design.
These are the qualities that a Mythic Rare desperately needs to properly support the classification.
Here is the original design.
Draconian Vanguard 4RRR
Creature — Dragon Knight
Flying, trample
R: Draconian Vanguard deals 3 damage to target creature or player. Activate this ability once per turn.
Whenever a creature an opponent controls blocks or gets blocked, Draconian Vanguard fights that creature.
3/6
Here is an excerpt of my elaboration, slightly abridged and edited.
And now for the reprise,
Draconian Knight 2RRR
Creature — Dragon Knight
Flying
Whenever an opponent attacks, Draconian Knight deals 3 damage to that player and 3 damage to target attacking creature that player controls.
: Draconian Knight fights target tapped creature.
"The most fearsome warrior is one who fights to uphold their creed, and their creed is among one of the most fearsome of all: Domination, hostility, supremacy."
3/5
That would definitely help.
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
It seems too much for me. What about:
Whenever an opponent attacks with one or more creatures, Draconian Knight fights one of them.
When Draconian Knight deals damage to a creature, it deals that much damage to that creature's opponent
As for the design, do you see how my version strives to be more intuitive with the dynamics of the mana cost/turn exchange/playability factor? You also see how although the first main ability isn't entirely innovative...it looks innovative? And for the third ability, I went along can worked it into something that provides contrast to the design. Meaning, it provides some alternative potential to the majority, that creates alternative strategic options for the player. As a damage source, it can also extend upon (or bridge off) the potential of the first ability, making it synergistic in addition to providing contrast to the design.
These are the qualities that a Mythic Rare desperately needs to properly support the classification.
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!