This is a cycle of spells in which the five core members of Gatewatch each adapt aspects of another member's skillset to their own tactics, representing growth in their teamwork skills.
Gideon's Horde4WB
Instant
Create four 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens. Creatures you control gain indestructible until end of turn. "His protective instincts even extend to the undead now. How touching." - Liliana Vess
Jace's Mindblast2UR
Instant
Counter target spell. ~ deals 3 damage to that spell's controller. "Now that's what I call mind magic!" - Chandra Nalaar
Liliana's Harvest1BG
Instant
Each player sacrifices a creature. For each creature sacrificed this way, you may return a creature or land card from your graveyard to your hand. "Even death plays a part in nature's grand design." - Nissa Revane
Chandra's Flare2RW
Instant
~ deals 3 damage to target creature or player. Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. Untap those creatures. "Passion is a virtue when it inspires noble action." - Gideon Jura
Nissa's Vision2GU
Instant
Put up to two land cards from your hand onto the battlefield. Then draw a card for each land you control. "Nissa's connection to nature grants her a perspective I can hardly fathom." - Jace Beleren
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
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.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
While these are fine combinations of opposed color effects, the power level definitely needs some work.
Gideon's Horde is a powerful combat trick, standing at 6 mana prevents it from being a problem, but it's a quite powerful draft rare.
Jace's Mindblast is Suffocating Blast without the flexible targeting for the damage. Could be an uncommon easily.
Liliana's Harvest is too aggressively costed for the amount of card advantage it's generating. The way you have it laid out, you can reclaim the creature that you sacrificed, virtually eliminating the symmetrical downside, plus gaining extra benefit be bringing back another card as well. At four mana I would consider this an aggressive rare.
Chandra's Flare is fairly good, its aggressively costed for either part by themselves, but combined I think it evens out, could maybe be an uncommon.
Nissa's Vision is an instant that draws four cards for just four mana, then on top of that it has the potential to ramp, and draws even more cards if it does or if you play it later in the game. It's laughably overpowered, I don't think that "Draw a card for each land you control" is safe at any cost or rarity. I would dial it WAAAY back, something like so:
Nissa's Vision2GU
Sorcery [R]
You may put up to two land cards from your hand onto the battlefield. Then draw a card for each land that entered the battlefield this turn.
Nissa's Vision seems really undercosted. Normally, it's at least drawing 4, which would normally cost 6 at instant (Opportunity), but it can potentially even be drawing 6 since it lets you play two extra lands first. That's a little bonkers for 4 mana. I would say something more like this:
"GU
Sorcery
You may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield. Then, pay X. You draw X cards."
That way, it's like a Mind Spring that lets you play a land first (and avoids dumping mana into the spell before it resolves, which makes it feel less bad if it's countered).
While these are fine combinations of opposed color effects, the power level definitely needs some work.
Gideon's Horde is a powerful combat trick, standing at 6 mana prevents it from being a problem, but it's a quite powerful draft rare.
Jace's Mindblast is Suffocating Blast without the flexible targeting for the damage. Could be an uncommon easily.
Liliana's Harvest is too aggressively costed for the amount of card advantage it's generating. The way you have it laid out, you can reclaim the creature that you sacrificed, virtually eliminating the symmetrical downside, plus gaining extra benefit be bringing back another card as well. At four mana I would consider this an aggressive rare.
Chandra's Flare is fairly good, its aggressively costed for either part by themselves, but combined I think it evens out, could maybe be an uncommon.
Nissa's Vision is an instant that draws four cards for just four mana, then on top of that it has the potential to ramp, and draws even more cards if it does or if you play it later in the game. It's laughably overpowered, I don't think that "Draw a card for each land you control" is safe at any cost or rarity. I would dial it WAAAY back, something like so:
Nissa's Vision2GU
Sorcery [R]
You may put up to two land cards from your hand onto the battlefield. Then draw a card for each land that entered the battlefield this turn.
Yeah, I'm not sure whether these want to be uncommon or rare. I see your points about Harvest and Vision though.
Suffocating Blast bugs me in that the counterspell and bolt aren't linked. It feels disjointed, like "I'll counter your spell while shooting one of your dudes." If it was flavored as two spells in one (like as a split card for example), it wouldn't bug me as much. Originally Jace's Mindblast was straight-up burn with added mill, meant to be a throwback to the days of Psionic Blast when blue still got burn spells flavored as psionic attacks. I even considered making it a "hit all opponents" spell like Molten Psyche. But using a counterspell as an opportunity to hurt an opponent felt like something Jace might do if he's of the mind to use red methods.
Although I'm sure Liliana would be perfectly happy with one-sided advantage, perhaps the retrieval effect is scaled to the number of creatures your opponents sacrifice?
The idea behind Nissa's Vision was essentially land ramp + Divination. Perhaps playing into untap would work better? Should it use Scry? I realize the card draw need not be tied to land as the effects don't have to be linked. It feels better if they are, to underline the teamwork theme, but Chandra's Flare isn't linked mechanically either.
Nissa's Vision2GU
Instant
Put up to two land cards from your hand onto the battlefield, then draw a card for each land put onto the battlefield this way. "Nissa's connection to nature grants her a perspective I can hardly fathom." - Jace Beleren
I like the idea that you essentially replace the lands you play by drawing cards.
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
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.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Call of Grace and Death2WB
Instant (R)
Creatures you control gain lifelink and deathtouch until end of turn.
If you control a Gideon Planeswalker, you may discard a card. If you do, create two 1/1 white solider creature tokens.
If you control a Liliana Planeswalker, you may exile a creature card from a graveyard. If you do, create a 2/2 black zombie token.
So what you have is a mediocre limited combat trick that, if you have the appropriate planeswalkers, gives you some additional pressure on the board.
I mean, at the end of the day "So and so's something something" is a nice way to make an unreprintable card with odd flavor. Why is Gideon hanging out with zombies? Oh, Liliana? Why isn't it named Gideon and Liliana Go on Holiday?
I'd argue that these names make the cards more reprintable. The teamwork flavor is there, but depending on the set's flavor Chandra could be using a Flare or Jace using a Mindblast without having influence from a fellow GW. Nissa certainly was able to get visions without direct influence from Jace, and she even went GU herself in Amonkhet. The idea here is that each of the GW are learning to use another member's means once in a while; Gideon's used to leading the charge in front of armies; an army of Zombies is still an army. Chandra's not really the leader type, but actions speak louder than words, and sometimes shooting the bad guy in the face is enough to inspire your allies.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
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.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Gideon's Horde - It's too good. Create three tokens or (preferably) drop the cost by 2 and create two tokens in order to make the card better and the cycle tight.
Jace's Mindblast - This saddens me. Must deal 4 damage to be any good.
Liliana's Harvest - Increase by 1 instead to round out the tight cycle.
I do like the idea of a parallel between land ramp and card draw, but what if it was double Explore instead?
Nissa's Vision2GU
Sorcery
You may play up to two additional lands this turn.
Draw two cards.
Although, I might as well go big for this cycle.
Nissa's VisionXGU
Sorcery
You may play up to X additional lands this turn.
Draw X cards.
Hey, nothing like an X-cost spell to reward a ramp deck, right? Speaking of X-cost spells...
Jace's MindblastXUR
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller pays X. ~ deals X damage to that spell's controller.
Hey, a functional reprint of Mindswipe works, right? Basically Clash of Wills meets the player burning half of Blaze. It may not be new, but it's a proven concept that can be re-worked to suit the flavor of Jace learning how to use his mind to actually hurt people. If I wasn't trying so hard to put the effects in color order, I'd probably just make it a burn spell that also mills. Or go for something Cerebral Eruption-esque.
Jace's MindblastXUR
Sorcery
Choose target creature or player. Draw X cards, then discard a card. ~ deals damage equal to the discarded card's converted mana cost to that creature or player.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
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.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
At this point, I feel like rare works best, though I gotta admit I do love the idea of simple uncommons like Chandra's Flare; there's just something so satisfying about the idea of a Bolt + Charge spell.
In truth, all five of these spells could probably be simple stuff like Lightning Bolt + Divination or Blazing Volley + Glorious Charge. I'm just looking for flavorful combinations that answer the question, "How would this planeswalker adapt aspects of another planeswalker's skillset"?
For example, Gideon is a natural leader in battle. He leads the charge and protects his allies. He may not be fond of Zombies, but their strength in numbers can compliment him well, and he doesn't have to be as concerned about protecting them since they're already dead. (I acknowledge that Gideon's Horde could use better flavor text.)
But you know, there are several cycles one could make using this theme. Perhaps I should design two cycles, one uncommon and one rare? There's also the potential for ally pairs, like Gideon using some aspect of Jace's skillset or Chandra borrowing some Elemental know-how from Nissa.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
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.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
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Gideon's Horde 4WB
Instant
Create four 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens. Creatures you control gain indestructible until end of turn.
"His protective instincts even extend to the undead now. How touching." - Liliana Vess
Jace's Mindblast 2UR
Instant
Counter target spell. ~ deals 3 damage to that spell's controller.
"Now that's what I call mind magic!" - Chandra Nalaar
Liliana's Harvest 1BG
Instant
Each player sacrifices a creature. For each creature sacrificed this way, you may return a creature or land card from your graveyard to your hand.
"Even death plays a part in nature's grand design." - Nissa Revane
Chandra's Flare 2RW
Instant
~ deals 3 damage to target creature or player. Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. Untap those creatures.
"Passion is a virtue when it inspires noble action." - Gideon Jura
Nissa's Vision 2GU
Instant
Put up to two land cards from your hand onto the battlefield. Then draw a card for each land you control.
"Nissa's connection to nature grants her a perspective I can hardly fathom." - Jace Beleren
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.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Gideon's Horde is a powerful combat trick, standing at 6 mana prevents it from being a problem, but it's a quite powerful draft rare.
Jace's Mindblast is Suffocating Blast without the flexible targeting for the damage. Could be an uncommon easily.
Liliana's Harvest is too aggressively costed for the amount of card advantage it's generating. The way you have it laid out, you can reclaim the creature that you sacrificed, virtually eliminating the symmetrical downside, plus gaining extra benefit be bringing back another card as well. At four mana I would consider this an aggressive rare.
Chandra's Flare is fairly good, its aggressively costed for either part by themselves, but combined I think it evens out, could maybe be an uncommon.
Nissa's Vision is an instant that draws four cards for just four mana, then on top of that it has the potential to ramp, and draws even more cards if it does or if you play it later in the game. It's laughably overpowered, I don't think that "Draw a card for each land you control" is safe at any cost or rarity. I would dial it WAAAY back, something like so:
Nissa's Vision 2GU
Sorcery [R]
You may put up to two land cards from your hand onto the battlefield. Then draw a card for each land that entered the battlefield this turn.
"GU
Sorcery
You may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield. Then, pay X. You draw X cards."
That way, it's like a Mind Spring that lets you play a land first (and avoids dumping mana into the spell before it resolves, which makes it feel less bad if it's countered).
Phalanx was in fact the inspiration.
Yeah, I'm not sure whether these want to be uncommon or rare. I see your points about Harvest and Vision though.
Suffocating Blast bugs me in that the counterspell and bolt aren't linked. It feels disjointed, like "I'll counter your spell while shooting one of your dudes." If it was flavored as two spells in one (like as a split card for example), it wouldn't bug me as much. Originally Jace's Mindblast was straight-up burn with added mill, meant to be a throwback to the days of Psionic Blast when blue still got burn spells flavored as psionic attacks. I even considered making it a "hit all opponents" spell like Molten Psyche. But using a counterspell as an opportunity to hurt an opponent felt like something Jace might do if he's of the mind to use red methods.
Although I'm sure Liliana would be perfectly happy with one-sided advantage, perhaps the retrieval effect is scaled to the number of creatures your opponents sacrifice?
The idea behind Nissa's Vision was essentially land ramp + Divination. Perhaps playing into untap would work better? Should it use Scry? I realize the card draw need not be tied to land as the effects don't have to be linked. It feels better if they are, to underline the teamwork theme, but Chandra's Flare isn't linked mechanically either.
Nissa's Vision 2GU
Instant
Put up to two land cards from your hand onto the battlefield, then draw a card for each land put onto the battlefield this way.
"Nissa's connection to nature grants her a perspective I can hardly fathom." - Jace Beleren
I like the idea that you essentially replace the lands you play by drawing cards.
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.
Call of Grace and Death 2WB
Instant (R)
Creatures you control gain lifelink and deathtouch until end of turn.
If you control a Gideon Planeswalker, you may discard a card. If you do, create two 1/1 white solider creature tokens.
If you control a Liliana Planeswalker, you may exile a creature card from a graveyard. If you do, create a 2/2 black zombie token.
So what you have is a mediocre limited combat trick that, if you have the appropriate planeswalkers, gives you some additional pressure on the board.
I mean, at the end of the day "So and so's something something" is a nice way to make an unreprintable card with odd flavor. Why is Gideon hanging out with zombies? Oh, Liliana? Why isn't it named Gideon and Liliana Go on Holiday?
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.
Gideon's Horde - It's too good. Create three tokens or (preferably) drop the cost by 2 and create two tokens in order to make the card better and the cycle tight.
Jace's Mindblast - This saddens me. Must deal 4 damage to be any good.
Liliana's Harvest - Increase by 1 instead to round out the tight cycle.
Nissa's Vision - This is always either too good or too bad. How about Explosive Vegetation + Inspiration instead?
Nissa's Vision 2GU
Sorcery
You may play up to two additional lands this turn.
Draw two cards.
Although, I might as well go big for this cycle.
Nissa's Vision XGU
Sorcery
You may play up to X additional lands this turn.
Draw X cards.
Hey, nothing like an X-cost spell to reward a ramp deck, right? Speaking of X-cost spells...
Jace's Mindblast XUR
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller pays X. ~ deals X damage to that spell's controller.
Hey, a functional reprint of Mindswipe works, right? Basically Clash of Wills meets the player burning half of Blaze. It may not be new, but it's a proven concept that can be re-worked to suit the flavor of Jace learning how to use his mind to actually hurt people. If I wasn't trying so hard to put the effects in color order, I'd probably just make it a burn spell that also mills. Or go for something Cerebral Eruption-esque.
Or, how about an X-cost Blast of Genius?
Jace's Mindblast XUR
Sorcery
Choose target creature or player. Draw X cards, then discard a card. ~ deals damage equal to the discarded card's converted mana cost to that creature or player.
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.
In truth, all five of these spells could probably be simple stuff like Lightning Bolt + Divination or Blazing Volley + Glorious Charge. I'm just looking for flavorful combinations that answer the question, "How would this planeswalker adapt aspects of another planeswalker's skillset"?
For example, Gideon is a natural leader in battle. He leads the charge and protects his allies. He may not be fond of Zombies, but their strength in numbers can compliment him well, and he doesn't have to be as concerned about protecting them since they're already dead. (I acknowledge that Gideon's Horde could use better flavor text.)
But you know, there are several cycles one could make using this theme. Perhaps I should design two cycles, one uncommon and one rare? There's also the potential for ally pairs, like Gideon using some aspect of Jace's skillset or Chandra borrowing some Elemental know-how from Nissa.
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.