A big problem with the idea of a "legends matter" set is rarity. You can't have legendary creatures at common because it would often result in a bunch of dead cards in limited, not to mention that it just feels weird for a "legend" to be common. And as the saying goes, "If your theme isn't at common, it isn't your theme." So what can you do to get legends at common? Well, you could make cards that make other cards legendary, but that could have some weird rules baggage associated with it (what happens if you have two creatures with the same name, but only one of them is legendary?). But what if you just sidestepped that baggage altogether?
Mantle of DestinyW
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature is distinguished. (It's legendary if no other permanent has the same name.)
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has lifelink. If it's legendary, it gets an additional +1/+1.
So it makes a creature legendary as an all-upside mechanic, and it just stops being legendary when a copy enters the battlefield. Which makes sense, right? Even a humble Elvish Mystic could seem legendary if it's the only one on the board. And if you control four of them and three of them die, then surely the remaining guy is important, being the last of his kind and all. And if you play it on a card that's already legendary, you just get the boost all the time. (Also, it checks permanents controlled by everybody simply because it's an aura, and I absolutely despise the phrase "its controller controls." Euuuuugh.)
Of course, this could maybe work just as well if it was put directly onto a creature card.
Deepshroud Sage2U
Creature - Merfolk Wizard (C)
Distinguished (This creature is legendary if no other permanent has the same name.)
When Deepshroud Sage enters the battlefield, if you control a legendary creature, draw a card.
2/2
Blackridge Vigilante4R
Creature - Minotaur Warrior (C)
Distinguished (This creature is legendary if no other permanent has the same name.)
Legendary creatures you control have haste.
4/3
So you can always benefit from their abilities if they're the only copy you control, but they don't work in multiples unless you have another legend, be it a separate distinguished creature or a proper legendary card. I think that, combined with a fair number of uncommon legends like in Kamigawa, this could be enough to support a legendary theme in limited. Thoughts?
sweet this looks good.. a legendary without the legendary downside of dying when more of it's copy is around
but imo mantle of destiny should cost more than W since most of the time,, it will be a 1 mana for +2/+2 lifelink enchant creature.. although if you check so far most of aura that give lifelink also give other ability like flying etc.. but you can check.. none of them are as cost effective as your common-rarity the mantle.. not even the rare daybreak coronet .. i propose to at least cost it at 2W..the closest i found for aura that give +2/+2 is mark of the vampire which is at 3B...
I really dig the mechanic, it looks like it'll be a blast in limited! I agree with iphanx, Mantle of Destiny should cost 2W to stay common. Compare to Unflinching Courage, which is uncommon for 3 CMC and in two colors. This only sometimes gives +2/+2 though, and doesn't give trample, so it should be okay at 3 CMC in one color. Though I could see you push it at 1W at uncommon...
Rapunzel, locked in a tower.WU Creature - human
Defender, Distinguished (This creature is legendary if no other permanent has the same name.)
When ~ blocks a creature, if ~ is legendary, you may sacrifice it to gain control of each creature it blocked this turn.
0/4
It is an interesting ability. I like the way that it counts all permanents so it plays a little differently from the new legend rule allowing your opponent to play another copy of your distinguished creature to take away your creature's uniqueness.
However, with the M14 legend rule, I think more legendary creatures at uncommon could be pretty reasonable in a legendary themed set, and maybe even a cycle at common could be possible. On MtGO, Masters Edition III had ten vanilla/french vanilla multicolor legendary creatures at common. Since ME3 was a digital product, they could more easily fiddle around with the packaging distribution and they made the common legendary creatures each appear less frequently than any other single common. Since ME3, in printed products they have had things like double-faced cards and Gates that have appeared once per pack, so doing something similar with some legendary creatures could be possible.
Ugh, I always undercost lifelink cards for some reason. I don't know what it is.
Actually, I'll just revise that one to use a mechanic I wanted to cycle out.
Mantle of Destiny1W
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+2 and has flying and distinguished. (It's legendary if no other permanent has the same name.)
When enchanted creature dies, if it was legendary, return Mantle of Destiny to its owner's hand.
Everybody loves Rancor, right? Could it give +1/+3? That might be edging in on Divine Favor, but that one at least gives you the life up front.
While I like that this can replicate the 'older' Legendary rules, I also think that it should probably still operate like Legendary rules do for the sake of newbies. No need to be different for the sake of being different.
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Lead Tesla, a community set designed by everyone and led by me, over at Goblin Artisans. Index of articles here!
While I like that this can replicate the 'older' Legendary rules, I also think that it should probably still operate like Legendary rules do for the sake of newbies. No need to be different for the sake of being different.
It was less about trying to emulate the old legend rules and more about wording on things that grant it (like Auras). It'd end up being like "(It's legendary as long as its controller controls no other permanents with the same name.)" Other than that one little issue, though, I probably like the permanents-you-control version better. (Though a sadistic part of me wants to leave it the way it is to give new players a taste of the Jitte wars of old...)
the new mantle is ok i guess.. many flying gained at 2 mana especially in white and blue... blue even have +2/+2 and flying at the same time.. which i guess since white is the second colour for flying we can get away with the returning to hand
Other than that one little issue, though, I probably like the permanents-you-control version better.
Ah, I'm glad to hear that! I definitely think it'll play better that way.
Now, another thing is that uncommon Distinguished cards are going to be much better in Draft, as you're less likely to see multiples. And rare Distinguished cards would basically only be meaningful in competitive Constructed. This means that there's essentially no 'condition' for Distinguished abilities at higher rarities (IE, they'll always be on). So balancing these simultaneously for Draft and Constructed could be a bit tricky.
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Lead Tesla, a community set designed by everyone and led by me, over at Goblin Artisans. Index of articles here!
Rare 'distinguished' cards don't seem super necessary in this hypothetical set. You could just make normal legendary permanents instead.
Yes, that was the idea. I think a set could have a larger than average proportion of legendary cards at rare without causing major issues with constructed, especially post-legend rule change. (And obviously it won't have much effect in limited.) Distinguished is just a way to make a "legends matter" theme have a presence at lower rarities. Common would have all distinguished creatures and no legends, uncommon would have a mix of both, and rare and mythic would be almost all proper legends. (This is excluding cards that aren't either, of course.) I could see there being a few rare distinguished creatures, but in order to justify playing more than one in constructed, they'd need to have big, splashy effects that stack with multiple copies. Maybe something like...
Timberfell Ravager2GG
Creature - Rhox Warrior (R)
Distinguished (This creature is legendary if you control no other permanent with the same name.)
Trample
Legendary creatures you control get +3/+3.
3/3
Is that overpowered? It's probably overpowered. But anyway, the point is that the two abilities create a tension between just playing one as a 6/6 trampler for 4 that boosts your other legends, or playing multiples as kinda mediocre 3/3 dudes that give completely absurd boosts to your other legends. While in limited, it will just be, "Oh damn, a 6/6 trampler for 4 that boosts my other guys??? YES give that here."
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Mantle of Destiny W
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature is distinguished. (It's legendary if no other permanent has the same name.)
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has lifelink. If it's legendary, it gets an additional +1/+1.
So it makes a creature legendary as an all-upside mechanic, and it just stops being legendary when a copy enters the battlefield. Which makes sense, right? Even a humble Elvish Mystic could seem legendary if it's the only one on the board. And if you control four of them and three of them die, then surely the remaining guy is important, being the last of his kind and all. And if you play it on a card that's already legendary, you just get the boost all the time. (Also, it checks permanents controlled by everybody simply because it's an aura, and I absolutely despise the phrase "its controller controls." Euuuuugh.)
Of course, this could maybe work just as well if it was put directly onto a creature card.
Deepshroud Sage 2U
Creature - Merfolk Wizard (C)
Distinguished (This creature is legendary if no other permanent has the same name.)
When Deepshroud Sage enters the battlefield, if you control a legendary creature, draw a card.
2/2
Blackridge Vigilante 4R
Creature - Minotaur Warrior (C)
Distinguished (This creature is legendary if no other permanent has the same name.)
Legendary creatures you control have haste.
4/3
So you can always benefit from their abilities if they're the only copy you control, but they don't work in multiples unless you have another legend, be it a separate distinguished creature or a proper legendary card. I think that, combined with a fair number of uncommon legends like in Kamigawa, this could be enough to support a legendary theme in limited. Thoughts?
but imo mantle of destiny should cost more than W since most of the time,, it will be a 1 mana for +2/+2 lifelink enchant creature.. although if you check so far most of aura that give lifelink also give other ability like flying etc.. but you can check.. none of them are as cost effective as your common-rarity the mantle.. not even the rare daybreak coronet .. i propose to at least cost it at 2W..the closest i found for aura that give +2/+2 is mark of the vampire which is at 3B...
Rapunzel, locked in a tower.WU
Creature - human
Defender, Distinguished (This creature is legendary if no other permanent has the same name.)
When ~ blocks a creature, if ~ is legendary, you may sacrifice it to gain control of each creature it blocked this turn.
0/4
Leafcaller 1G
Creature - Elf Shaman (U)
Distinguished
Legendary green creatures you control have "T: Add G to your mana pool."
However, with the M14 legend rule, I think more legendary creatures at uncommon could be pretty reasonable in a legendary themed set, and maybe even a cycle at common could be possible. On MtGO, Masters Edition III had ten vanilla/french vanilla multicolor legendary creatures at common. Since ME3 was a digital product, they could more easily fiddle around with the packaging distribution and they made the common legendary creatures each appear less frequently than any other single common. Since ME3, in printed products they have had things like double-faced cards and Gates that have appeared once per pack, so doing something similar with some legendary creatures could be possible.
Actually, I'll just revise that one to use a mechanic I wanted to cycle out.
Mantle of Destiny 1W
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+2 and has flying and distinguished. (It's legendary if no other permanent has the same name.)
When enchanted creature dies, if it was legendary, return Mantle of Destiny to its owner's hand.
Everybody loves Rancor, right? Could it give +1/+3? That might be edging in on Divine Favor, but that one at least gives you the life up front.
Lead Tesla, a community set designed by everyone and led by me, over at Goblin Artisans. Index of articles here!
It was less about trying to emulate the old legend rules and more about wording on things that grant it (like Auras). It'd end up being like "(It's legendary as long as its controller controls no other permanents with the same name.)" Other than that one little issue, though, I probably like the permanents-you-control version better. (Though a sadistic part of me wants to leave it the way it is to give new players a taste of the Jitte wars of old...)
Ah, I'm glad to hear that! I definitely think it'll play better that way.
Now, another thing is that uncommon Distinguished cards are going to be much better in Draft, as you're less likely to see multiples. And rare Distinguished cards would basically only be meaningful in competitive Constructed. This means that there's essentially no 'condition' for Distinguished abilities at higher rarities (IE, they'll always be on). So balancing these simultaneously for Draft and Constructed could be a bit tricky.
Lead Tesla, a community set designed by everyone and led by me, over at Goblin Artisans. Index of articles here!
Yes, that was the idea. I think a set could have a larger than average proportion of legendary cards at rare without causing major issues with constructed, especially post-legend rule change. (And obviously it won't have much effect in limited.) Distinguished is just a way to make a "legends matter" theme have a presence at lower rarities. Common would have all distinguished creatures and no legends, uncommon would have a mix of both, and rare and mythic would be almost all proper legends. (This is excluding cards that aren't either, of course.) I could see there being a few rare distinguished creatures, but in order to justify playing more than one in constructed, they'd need to have big, splashy effects that stack with multiple copies. Maybe something like...
Timberfell Ravager 2GG
Creature - Rhox Warrior (R)
Distinguished (This creature is legendary if you control no other permanent with the same name.)
Trample
Legendary creatures you control get +3/+3.
3/3
Is that overpowered? It's probably overpowered. But anyway, the point is that the two abilities create a tension between just playing one as a 6/6 trampler for 4 that boosts your other legends, or playing multiples as kinda mediocre 3/3 dudes that give completely absurd boosts to your other legends. While in limited, it will just be, "Oh damn, a 6/6 trampler for 4 that boosts my other guys??? YES give that here."