One of the more fun creature types, at least among my playgroup, is Imps. Everyone loves making fun of Chimney Imp (still... somehow...) and the tribe is just very... quirky. Since I managed to find decent art for Imps, I've made some tribal cards for the Imps to build with. Some of the cards continue my "Keyword Tribute" attempts to get at least 1 instance of most keywords into the cube.
Halo Imp
Creature - Imp (C)
Amplify 1 (As this creature enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on it for each Imp card you reveal in your hand.)
As long as Halo Imp’s power is 3 or higher, it has flying.
1/1
Covetous Imp
Creature - Imp Warrior (C)
At the beginning of your upkeep, Covetous Imp deals 1 damage to you unless you control a Demon.
2/2
Unholy Pact
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +2/+1. If it is a Imp, it has flying. If it is a Demon, it has lifelink.
Cespenar, Imp Aspirant :1mana::symb:
Legendary Creature - Imp (R)
:3mana::symb::symb:: Imp creatures you control become 5/5 Demon creatures and gains flying until end of turn.
3/1
Hellbound Imp :1mana::symr:
Creature - Imp
Haste
At the beginning of the end step, return Hellbound Imp to its owner’s hand.
Madness (If you discard this card, you may cast it for its madness cost instead of putting it into your graveyard.)
3/3
Hmm, you have a point. Only 4 out of the existing 32 Imp creatures can't fly, which means I need to focus more on having them fly in some fashion. I think I'd like to leave my red imps pretty flightless (without help from Cespenar) but I could definitely see giving the black ones some activatable flying abilities.
I realize you're probably not making these with standard in mind but that Hellbound Imp is way over standard's power as is Halo imp. And covetous imp wouldn't be out at that power level either.
However, I do like the idea of Imp tribal, and the play on imps "growing up" to be demons in a sense is a cool concept to toy with. The "lord" is a nice standout.
I love imps as a fantasy race. I think there's so much potential there that generally goes untapped. So, I have no problem with your creative direction here, Piar, in terms of the fantasy genre in general.
Specifically relating to Magic, however, I think it's very clear that the Imp creature type stands for small, generallybad, blackcreatureswithflying. Evidently that identity is important enough to Magic's creative team that they would rather create an entirely new creature type rather than allow imps to be red and not have flying.
Now, if you're positioning this as a revisionist bit of creative work, awesome. I don't think you have to be beholden to WotC's creative precedent if you feel like you have a great idea. But if you're trying to meld it with existing Imps in Magic, you should maybe consider what has come before.
Now, if you're positioning this as a revisionist bit of creative work, awesome. I don't think you have to be beholden to WotC's creative precedent if you feel like you have a great idea. But if you're trying to meld it with existing Imps in Magic, you should maybe consider what has come before.
I suppose that's the real question, isn't it? This cube is primarily for people who don't do custom mtg design to get a taste of it. Part of what that means is that I want the cards to mostly hit notes that players expect... while still being different enough to provide a new and unique experience.
I guess I'd say that my take on Imps by necessity is revisionist. I see Imps as being baby demons, waiting to grow up. In this vein, I could see making an Imp with level up - sac a creature, with the final form being a big bad demon (for example). That's a pretty different vision for the tribe than Wizard's existing vision. And still, the players who only experience "normal" magic will have something of an expectation for Imps to fly and some may even expect them to be bad (all the better for the person drafting them?).
Impatient Imp :2mana::symb:
Creature - Imp (U)
Level up - Sacrifice a creature. 2/2
Level 1-3: Flying 3/3
Level 4+: Flying, other black creatures you control get +2/+2 and have flying. 7/7
Without a high density of Imps, Halo Imp will be underpowered. I'm not sure Unholy Pact is good enough for cube. Buff auras just usually aren't worth it.
I approve of the amazing lord and I can see Hellbound Imps cost be 2R and 1R for madness.
Here are relevant designs of mine:
Hellfire Imp2R
Creature - Imp Wizard
Flying
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may have ~ deal 2 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
Fire Imp with a flying update, small, but makes a big difference to me.
Unholy BladeB
Artifact Enchantment - Aura
Enchanted creature gains +2/+1 and lifelink.
You may cast ~ from your graveyard.
Evidently that identity is important enough to Magic's creative team that they would rather create an entirely new creature type rather than allow imps to be red and not have flying.
Except Devil is not a new creature type, but almost as old as Magic itself - introduced in the games first expansion Arabian Nights on Stone-Trowing Devils.
It's return in larger quantity is not dissimilar to the ascension of Kithkin which for the longest time was only represented by Amrou Kithkin (which I thought for the longest time was a proper name like on Ali Baba and other old nonlegendary cards representing characters :D) or the recent reintroduction of Gremlin after it was previously (much to my dismay) cleansed in the Great Creature Type Genocide/Update.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
Halo Imp
Creature - Imp (C)
Amplify 1 (As this creature enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on it for each Imp card you reveal in your hand.)
As long as Halo Imp’s power is 3 or higher, it has flying.
1/1
Covetous Imp
Creature - Imp Warrior (C)
At the beginning of your upkeep, Covetous Imp deals 1 damage to you unless you control a Demon.
2/2
Unholy Pact
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +2/+1. If it is a Imp, it has flying. If it is a Demon, it has lifelink.
Cespenar, Imp Aspirant :1mana::symb:
Legendary Creature - Imp (R)
:3mana::symb::symb:: Imp creatures you control become 5/5 Demon creatures and gains flying until end of turn.
3/1
Hellbound Imp :1mana::symr:
Creature - Imp
Haste
At the beginning of the end step, return Hellbound Imp to its owner’s hand.
Madness (If you discard this card, you may cast it for its madness cost instead of putting it into your graveyard.)
3/3
The cards themselves look okay, although Hellbound Imp seems a bit strong. It would probably see Legacy play as is.
"A Plague on All Your Houses!" - Thespian's Stage Pox
However, I do like the idea of Imp tribal, and the play on imps "growing up" to be demons in a sense is a cool concept to toy with. The "lord" is a nice standout.
Specifically relating to Magic, however, I think it's very clear that the Imp creature type stands for small, generally bad, black creatures with flying. Evidently that identity is important enough to Magic's creative team that they would rather create an entirely new creature type rather than allow imps to be red and not have flying.
Now, if you're positioning this as a revisionist bit of creative work, awesome. I don't think you have to be beholden to WotC's creative precedent if you feel like you have a great idea. But if you're trying to meld it with existing Imps in Magic, you should maybe consider what has come before.
I guess I'd say that my take on Imps by necessity is revisionist. I see Imps as being baby demons, waiting to grow up. In this vein, I could see making an Imp with level up - sac a creature, with the final form being a big bad demon (for example). That's a pretty different vision for the tribe than Wizard's existing vision. And still, the players who only experience "normal" magic will have something of an expectation for Imps to fly and some may even expect them to be bad (all the better for the person drafting them?).
Impatient Imp :2mana::symb:
Creature - Imp (U)
Level up - Sacrifice a creature. 2/2
Level 1-3: Flying 3/3
Level 4+: Flying, other black creatures you control get +2/+2 and have flying. 7/7
Without a high density of Imps, Halo Imp will be underpowered. I'm not sure Unholy Pact is good enough for cube. Buff auras just usually aren't worth it.
I approve of the amazing lord and I can see Hellbound Imps cost be 2R and 1R for madness.
Here are relevant designs of mine:
Hellfire Imp 2R
Creature - Imp Wizard
Flying
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may have ~ deal 2 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
Fire Imp with a flying update, small, but makes a big difference to me.
Unholy Blade B
Artifact Enchantment - Aura
Enchanted creature gains +2/+1 and lifelink.
You may cast ~ from your graveyard.
Except Devil is not a new creature type, but almost as old as Magic itself - introduced in the games first expansion Arabian Nights on Stone-Trowing Devils.
It's return in larger quantity is not dissimilar to the ascension of Kithkin which for the longest time was only represented by Amrou Kithkin (which I thought for the longest time was a proper name like on Ali Baba and other old nonlegendary cards representing characters :D) or the recent reintroduction of Gremlin after it was previously (much to my dismay) cleansed in the Great Creature Type Genocide/Update.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
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