Nephilim are ancient and powerful creature with limited intelligence that have often been venerated as the "Old Gods". Unlike the often self-appointed rulers of moddern societies, these entities did not make demands or accept sacrifices. They did not require or answer prayers. They exist only to humble; living, walking examples of the world's vastness, diversity, unpredictability, danger, wonder, horror, and complexity beyond comprehension.
These great monsters are powerful enough to harness 4 colors of mana simultaneously, typically leading to five rare creatures of different appearances. Some are spirit-like, others beast-like, and others simply beyond description.
Nephilim have existed at one time or another on multiple planes. Some societies have been able to suppress or even kill its Nephilim. However, there are yet other planes where the Nephilim reign, roaming free and unopposed. Here is a glimpse of the of one such Quintet:
UBRG
Ishzarule
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Split second
Deathtouch
When Ishzarule enters the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to target creature.
Whenever a creature dealt damage by Ishzarule dies, draw a card.
4/4
BRGW
Ackslah
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Ackslah can't be countered by spells or abilities your opponents control.
Double strike, trample
Whenever Ackslah deals damage to a player, destroy target land. If you do, put a 1/1 colorless Sand creature token onto the battlefield.
4/4
RGWU
Rivkei
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Flash
Fear
Spells and abilities that target Rivkei cost 2 more to cast or activate.
Whenever Rivkei enters the battlefield or attacks, destroy target artifact.
4/4
GWUB
Vibrami
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Suspend 1—GWUB
Lifelink
Whenever a player gains life, put target permanent that player controls on top of its owner library.
4/4
WUBR
Brillevi
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (M)
When you cast Brillevi, destroy all creatures with reach.
Flying, shadow
At the beginning of your end step, Rivkei phases out.
4/4
UBRG
Ishzarule
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Deathtouch, undying
Whenever Ishzarule deals damage, draw a card.
Ishzarule enters the battlefield with an additional -1/-1 counter.
5/5
I think 5/5 is a very strong body. Also, undying plus entering the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter make it so that he essentially has indestructible or regenerate. Why don't you go the simpler route?
BRGW
Ackslah
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Ackslah can't be countered by spells or abilities your opponent's control.
Haste, double strike
Regenerate
Whenever Ackslah deals damage to a player, you may destroy target land. Then, put a 1/1 colorless Sand creature token onto the battlefield.
2/2
Regenerate? What? Himself? With no activation? Regenerate usually has a cost. If you want it to regenerate freely, it should spell "0: Regenerate ~"
Also, with haste+doublestrike, if it connects on it's first turn, it will destroy two lands and hit for 4 damage, plus put two tokens. While the damage plus tokens is good, two lands seems a little too much, since it basically shuts your opponent out of the game.
RGWU
Rivkei
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Flash
Fear, indestructible
Whenever Rivkei enters the battlefield or attacks, you may destroy target artifact. If you do, Rivkei assigns no combat damage this turn.
At the beginning of your end step, Rivkei phases out.
3/3
The weaker of the bunch (which doesn't mean it's not powerful). Also, phase out? Really?
GWUB
Vibrami
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Split second
Hexproof, lifelink
Whenever a player gains life, you may put target permanent that player controls on top of its owner library.
If Vibrami would be destroyed, it is exiled instead. It enters the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.
4/4
Why split second? "Can't be countered" accomplishes the same thing without the rules baggage.
This is easiest the most powerful of the bunch. And by that I mean overpowered. Last clause is basically indestructible, and it also has hexproof and can't be countered. The only way to get rid of him is discard? I don't like it
WUBR
Brillevi
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (M)
When you cast Brillevi, destroy all creatures with reach.
Flying, protection from spells
Creatures your opponent control lose reach.
Whenever Brillevi attacks, you may have creatures you control gain shadow until end of turn. If you do, each opponent may draw a card and discard a card.
Brillevi's power and toughness are equal to the number of creatures with flying on the battlefield plus number of creatures with shadow on the battlefield.
*/*
This is so complicated and has so many abilities it's almost "tl;dr".
Why hate on everything with reach and give him flying and shadow? Can't he just have "this is unblockable" already?
I mean, it's also hard to flavorfully grasp something that destroy only creatures with reach. How do you justify that? I'd thrash this guy and start from scratch.
Overall, your cards are very powerful, but so complicated that's it's hard to evaluate if they're within current power level standards. Also, a few of them look like a mix and match of keywords to justify their 4-coloredness.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
-
YOU ARE SURPRISED BY A MANTICORE! IT QUICKLY SHREDS YOUR FLESH AND DEVOURS YOU!
What were you shooting for with these? All of them have tons of abilities, but there are a couple where one or two colours seem to be more or less left out. What is red about Ishzarule? Ackslah could be strait red/green. Why does Rivkei have Fear when he's not even black? I'm just not seeing the justification for 4 colours.
Otherwise, the power level is too ridiculous. Turn 3 Ackslah probably shuts your opponent out completely. Ishzarule goes infinite with any sac outlet. Overall, most of these are just way too potent and way too hard to kill. Removal needs to work sometimes since interaction is what makes this game fun.
I was aiming for each to have notable, often evergreen keywords that were flavorfully within all of its colors and/or fully excluded from the one color it is not. This includes things like Hexproof, leading to a need for the others to get bumped up (to compensate). I also find the original Nephilim set disgustingly boring, underpowered and "not Legendary," so I'm probably overcompensating a bit.
I think the pseudo-regen on top of hexproof was actually a typo, as I know full well that those abilities needn't be on the same body. Still, I stand by the design philosophy at work here (err on the side of pushed).
Modification:
UBRG
Ishzarule
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Undying, wither
Whenever Ishzarule deals damage to a creature, draw a card.
When Ishzarule enters the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to target creature.
5/5
BRGW
Ackslah
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Ackslah can't be countered by spells or abilities your opponents control.
Haste, double strike
If Ackslah would be destroyed, regenerate it.
Whenever Ackslah deals damage to a player, destroy target land. If you do, put a 1/1 colorless Sand creature token onto the battlefield.
2/2
RGWU
Rivkei
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Flash
Fear, indestructible
Whenever Rivkei enters the battlefield or attacks, destroy target artifact. If you do, Rivkei assigns no combat damage this turn.
3/3
GWUB
Vibrami
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Split second
Hexproof, lifelink
Whenever a player gains life, put target permanent that player controls on top of its owner library.
4/4
WUBR
Brillevi
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (M)
When you cast Brillevi, destroy all creatures with reach.
Flying, shadow
Whenever Brillevi attacks, you may have creatures you control gain shadow until end of turn. If you do, each opponent may draw a card and discard a card.
Brillevi's power and toughness are equal to the number of attacking creatures, plus 1.
At the beginning of your end step, Rivkei phases out.
1+*/1+*
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
I think your goal should be to really cut these guys apart and make them elegant. The more simple your cards are, in terms of wording, usually the more fun they are too. Really figure out what each Nephilim should be doing and why it's missing a color, then make them from there. Try to give them 1-2 evergreen keywords and 1-2 special abilities as well. Once you get down to that, I think you should be on the right path.
They should have cognomen in addition to their names to define their flavor better.
Mechanical they are already carrying unnecessary extravagance e. g. the first could lose undying and the -1/-1 counter ability and just have a single ability to return it to the battlefield.
I'm not saying that's balanced, but at least it's cleaner.
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]
I want to avoid subtitles or cognomen simply because I want these to have a truly "old Legend" feel. I also find Cognomen unnecessarily boastful and indulgent.
Second modification:
UBRG
Ishzarule
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Split second
Deathtouch
When Ishzarule enters the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to target creature.
Whenever a creature dealt damage by Ishzarule dies, draw a card.
4/4
BRGW
Ackslah
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Ackslah can't be countered by spells or abilities your opponents control.
Double strike, trample
Whenever Ackslah deals damage to a player, destroy target land. If you do, put a 1/1 colorless Sand creature token onto the battlefield.
4/4
RGWU
Rivkei
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Flash
Fear
Spells and abilities that target Rivkei cost 2 more to cast or activate.
Whenever Rivkei enters the battlefield or attacks, destroy target artifact.
4/4
GWUB
Vibrami
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Suspend 1—GWUB
Lifelink
Whenever a player gains life, put target permanent that player controls on top of its owner library.
4/4
WUBR
Brillevi
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (M)
When you cast Brillevi, destroy all creatures with reach.
Flying, shadow
At the beginning of your end step, Rivkei phases out.
4/4
Everyone gets 2 mechanic words, period. The text has been cut significantly. All of them still have cast-related abilities (which was important to me), but they feel more balanced. All have standardized P/T that only passes the vanilla test. All die to removal (to varying degrees). Some are easier to recast than others.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
These great monsters are powerful enough to harness 4 colors of mana simultaneously, typically leading to five rare creatures of different appearances. Some are spirit-like, others beast-like, and others simply beyond description.
Nephilim have existed at one time or another on multiple planes. Some societies have been able to suppress or even kill its Nephilim. However, there are yet other planes where the Nephilim reign, roaming free and unopposed. Here is a glimpse of the of one such Quintet:
UBRG
Ishzarule
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Split second
Deathtouch
When Ishzarule enters the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to target creature.
Whenever a creature dealt damage by Ishzarule dies, draw a card.
4/4
BRGW
Ackslah
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Ackslah can't be countered by spells or abilities your opponents control.
Double strike, trample
Whenever Ackslah deals damage to a player, destroy target land. If you do, put a 1/1 colorless Sand creature token onto the battlefield.
4/4
RGWU
Rivkei
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Flash
Fear
Spells and abilities that target Rivkei cost 2 more to cast or activate.
Whenever Rivkei enters the battlefield or attacks, destroy target artifact.
4/4
GWUB
Vibrami
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Suspend 1—GWUB
Lifelink
Whenever a player gains life, put target permanent that player controls on top of its owner library.
4/4
WUBR
Brillevi
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (M)
When you cast Brillevi, destroy all creatures with reach.
Flying, shadow
At the beginning of your end step, Rivkei phases out.
4/4
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
Cubes:
Modern Banlist Cube
Monocolor Budget Cube
I think 5/5 is a very strong body. Also, undying plus entering the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter make it so that he essentially has indestructible or regenerate. Why don't you go the simpler route?
Regenerate? What? Himself? With no activation? Regenerate usually has a cost. If you want it to regenerate freely, it should spell "0: Regenerate ~"
Also, with haste+doublestrike, if it connects on it's first turn, it will destroy two lands and hit for 4 damage, plus put two tokens. While the damage plus tokens is good, two lands seems a little too much, since it basically shuts your opponent out of the game.
The weaker of the bunch (which doesn't mean it's not powerful). Also, phase out? Really?
Why split second? "Can't be countered" accomplishes the same thing without the rules baggage.
This is easiest the most powerful of the bunch. And by that I mean overpowered. Last clause is basically indestructible, and it also has hexproof and can't be countered. The only way to get rid of him is discard? I don't like it
This is so complicated and has so many abilities it's almost "tl;dr".
Why hate on everything with reach and give him flying and shadow? Can't he just have "this is unblockable" already?
I mean, it's also hard to flavorfully grasp something that destroy only creatures with reach. How do you justify that? I'd thrash this guy and start from scratch.
Overall, your cards are very powerful, but so complicated that's it's hard to evaluate if they're within current power level standards. Also, a few of them look like a mix and match of keywords to justify their 4-coloredness.
Otherwise, the power level is too ridiculous. Turn 3 Ackslah probably shuts your opponent out completely. Ishzarule goes infinite with any sac outlet. Overall, most of these are just way too potent and way too hard to kill. Removal needs to work sometimes since interaction is what makes this game fun.
I think the pseudo-regen on top of hexproof was actually a typo, as I know full well that those abilities needn't be on the same body. Still, I stand by the design philosophy at work here (err on the side of pushed).
Modification:
UBRG
Ishzarule
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Undying, wither
Whenever Ishzarule deals damage to a creature, draw a card.
When Ishzarule enters the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to target creature.
5/5
BRGW
Ackslah
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Ackslah can't be countered by spells or abilities your opponents control.
Haste, double strike
If Ackslah would be destroyed, regenerate it.
Whenever Ackslah deals damage to a player, destroy target land. If you do, put a 1/1 colorless Sand creature token onto the battlefield.
2/2
RGWU
Rivkei
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Flash
Fear, indestructible
Whenever Rivkei enters the battlefield or attacks, destroy target artifact. If you do, Rivkei assigns no combat damage this turn.
3/3
GWUB
Vibrami
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Split second
Hexproof, lifelink
Whenever a player gains life, put target permanent that player controls on top of its owner library.
4/4
WUBR
Brillevi
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (M)
When you cast Brillevi, destroy all creatures with reach.
Flying, shadow
Whenever Brillevi attacks, you may have creatures you control gain shadow until end of turn. If you do, each opponent may draw a card and discard a card.
Brillevi's power and toughness are equal to the number of attacking creatures, plus 1.
At the beginning of your end step, Rivkei phases out.
1+*/1+*
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
Cubes:
Modern Banlist Cube
Monocolor Budget Cube
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
Mechanical they are already carrying unnecessary extravagance e. g. the first could lose undying and the -1/-1 counter ability and just have a single ability to return it to the battlefield.
I'm not saying that's balanced, but at least it's cleaner.
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."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO
Second modification:
UBRG
Ishzarule
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Split second
Deathtouch
When Ishzarule enters the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to target creature.
Whenever a creature dealt damage by Ishzarule dies, draw a card.
4/4
BRGW
Ackslah
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Ackslah can't be countered by spells or abilities your opponents control.
Double strike, trample
Whenever Ackslah deals damage to a player, destroy target land. If you do, put a 1/1 colorless Sand creature token onto the battlefield.
4/4
RGWU
Rivkei
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Flash
Fear
Spells and abilities that target Rivkei cost 2 more to cast or activate.
Whenever Rivkei enters the battlefield or attacks, destroy target artifact.
4/4
GWUB
Vibrami
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (Mythic)
Suspend 1—GWUB
Lifelink
Whenever a player gains life, put target permanent that player controls on top of its owner library.
4/4
WUBR
Brillevi
Legendary Creature – Nephilim (M)
When you cast Brillevi, destroy all creatures with reach.
Flying, shadow
At the beginning of your end step, Rivkei phases out.
4/4
Everyone gets 2 mechanic words, period. The text has been cut significantly. All of them still have cast-related abilities (which was important to me), but they feel more balanced. All have standardized P/T that only passes the vanilla test. All die to removal (to varying degrees). Some are easier to recast than others.
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
Cubes:
Modern Banlist Cube
Monocolor Budget Cube