Soulcarved Hierarch3WW
Creature — Elephant Cleric Spirit [R]
As Soulcarved Hierarch enters the battlefield, choose a number.
Creatures your opponents control with converted mana cost equal to the chosen number can't attack or block, and their activated abilities can't be activated.
[3/3]
Soulcarved SlagwurmGG
Creature — Wurm Spirit [R]
Trample
When Soulcarved Slagwurm enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless you sacrifice any number of creatures with total power and toughness 9 or greater.
[9/9]
Moonlit Kakashi4
Artifact Creature — Scarecrow Spirit [C]
Moonlit Kakashi can't be blocked except by artifact creatures.
[2/2]
Shisa of the East Shore5
Artifact Creature — Gargoyle Spirit [U]
Flying, deathtouch
If you control exactly one creature named Shisa of the West Shore, that creature gets +2/+3 and has deathtouch and indestructible.
[2/3]
Shisa of the West Shore5
Artifact Creature — Gargoyle Spirit [U]
Flying, lifelink
If you control exactly one creature named Shisa of the East Shore, that creature gets +3/+2 and has lifelink and indestructible.
[3/2]
EDIT: Upped the mana cost of Soulcarved Hierarch from 2WW to 3WW.
EDIT: Upped the mana cost of Soulcarved Slagwurm from 8,8,8 to 10,10,10, then back down to 9,9,9.
I think intimidate actually being printed on colorless creatures is potentially confusing (hence why none have yet been printed).
I have designated intimidate as the "Oni mechanic" for this block, so only Demons and Demon-related things have it.
I am treating Call to Glory block as the last hurrah for both defender and intimidate as keywords in my custom sets entirely, and the last hurrah for landwalk as an evergreen mechanic. So Moonlit Kakashi is acting as a bridge, of sorts, between the intimidate and post-intimidate landscapes.
What's wrong with defender? Makes it much easier to have a card alternate between states of "can attack" and "can't attack" if it's keyworded.
Offender (This creature can't block.)
Besides, you know... the above ability sort of revealing the logical absurdity of defender's flavor... defender is a downside mechanic. Downside mechanics have an important place in Magic, but they don't fit into the milieu of modern keyword abilities, which could all be described more-or-less as "cool things that my creature can do." It's a relic. I feel like WotC has tried to make defender matter for so long, from the beginning of Magic to the present, and I would argue that it has just never clicked, despite being given opportunity after opportunity to do so. It's time to stop waiting for it to be cool, because it never will be.
I think the right thing to do with both defender and intimidate is to deprecate them, like shroud. They aren't going to ever stop existing, or stop working how they work. Some key cards with those abilities could even be reprinted in stuff like Commander or Planechase, but they just shouldn't be eating up the premium psychological space that keywords occupy in this game.
Also, there's nothing more elegant than just saying "~NAME~ can't attack." Those are two little words that carry so much weight. Keywording them just makes it messier. The converse has become a very successful workhorse for black / red, and has no shortage of interestingpermutations. Defender just gets in the way of similar designs for "can't attack."
"Can't block" only really appears in two colors and doesn't let you do funky things to creature stats as much as "Can't attack" does, since attacking is much more powerful than blocking. "Can't attack" variants also seem to be alive and well even in the defender era.
What would your design philosophy make of Manor Gargoyle?
What would your design philosophy make of Manor Gargoyle?
In my post-defender world, I would probably go with:
Manor Gargoyle5
Artifact Creature — Gargoyle [R]
Indestructible
Manor Gargoyle can't attack unless it has flying. 1: Until end of turn, Manor Gargoyle loses indestructible and gains flying.
[4/4]
But again, to be clear, I would not actually errata Manor Gargoyle. If it were being printed for the first time, though, that's what I'd go with.
Soulcarved Hierarch - Is the combo with choosing 0 and playing a card like Nature's Revolt a problem? I don't think there are any of those cards in modern, but it is still a scenario to consider since it might limit future design of mass land animation.
- Two answers could be "... choose a number other than zero", which is not good if you want to be able to stop token swarms, or Damping Matrix's "unless they're mana abilities", which is obviously not good if you are particularly concerned about creatures with mana abilities.
Soulcarved Slagwurm - Nice weakened Phyrexian Dreadnought. Watch this if there are any cards like Pandemonium in the environment.
- Flavorwise, is this somehow related to slagwurms from Mirrodin? If not, might want a different name.
Moonlit Kakashi - Colorless and partially unblockable is interesting at common. Only concerns would be how many other artifact creatures are there at common that can reliably block it and how much pump is there to make it really scary.
- Regarding this wording over intimidate... I'm assuming that there is probably not a lot of color changing effects like Crimson Wisps in this set. If there were, that would be a good reason to use intimidate and adjust the flavor so that maybe this is an statue of an Oni or a sacrifical idol or something else Demon-y. (Making this a Demon would help enable cards like Villainous Ogre at common.) Otherwise it is fine to occasionally have odd cards like Dread Warlock.
Shisa of the East/West Shore - The modified wording of Brothers Yamazaki doesn't make as much sense on a non-legendary creature. It is odd that controlling two shuts its ability down. I understand it is creates a balancing act with the indestructible, but that just makes it even odder that you could control four of one side and one of the other, and the four get nothing but the one would still get a massive boost from the four. Unless you make these legendary (in which case you could probably drop the "exactly one"), it might be better to just switch the abilities around, make it "one or more", and drop indestructible.
Shisa of the East Shore5
Artifact Creature — Gargoyle Spirit [U]
Flying, deathtouch
As long as you control one or more creatures named Shisa of the West Shore, CARDNAME gets +3/+2 and has lifelink.
[2/3]
Shisa of the West Shore5
Artifact Creature — Gargoyle Spirit [U]
Flying, lifelink
As long as you control one or more creatures named Shisa of the East Shore, CARDNAME gets +2/+3 and has deathtouch.
[3/2]
Those have a NWO problem of being able to easily change toughness midcombat if one is killed, but, other than that, I think they read cleaner by giving the pump and ability to themselves and have a much simpler on/off state for their abilities.
Flavorwise, is this somehow related to slagwurms from Mirrodin? If not, might want a different name.
Indeed, Soulcarved Slagwurm is related to Mirrodin. And Soulcarved Hierarch also has an extraplanar flavor connection.
The Shisa are flavor-driven, in that in Okinawan mythology, they appear in pairs and derive their power from the balance of energy between the two. I could go with "equal number" wording, or something like that, but I felt like the Brothers Yamazaki mechanics did actually have a place outside of modifying the "legend rule". Because you can still cast as many of either of these as you like, and they'll all still live, unlike the Brothers. They just won't be as powerful.
Also, thinking to Limited, how many of these are you going to see, realistically? I figured that there was a decent enough chance that you might see one of each passed around the table. I feel like the decision to pick or pass the first one you see is fairly complex and interesting. I feel like the chance of snagging the pair gets better the more people have seen one and passed on it. Getting two or more of each seemed like a far-fetched possibility.
And so, this moonlit journey ends
Creature — Elephant Cleric Spirit [R]
As Soulcarved Hierarch enters the battlefield, choose a number.
Creatures your opponents control with converted mana cost equal to the chosen number can't attack or block, and their activated abilities can't be activated.
[3/3]
Soulcarved Slagwurm GG
Creature — Wurm Spirit [R]
Trample
When Soulcarved Slagwurm enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless you sacrifice any number of creatures with total power and toughness 9 or greater.
[9/9]
Moonlit Kakashi 4
Artifact Creature — Scarecrow Spirit [C]
Moonlit Kakashi can't be blocked except by artifact creatures.
[2/2]
Shisa of the East Shore 5
Artifact Creature — Gargoyle Spirit [U]
Flying, deathtouch
If you control exactly one creature named Shisa of the West Shore, that creature gets +2/+3 and has deathtouch and indestructible.
[2/3]
Shisa of the West Shore 5
Artifact Creature — Gargoyle Spirit [U]
Flying, lifelink
If you control exactly one creature named Shisa of the East Shore, that creature gets +3/+2 and has lifelink and indestructible.
[3/2]
EDIT: Upped the mana cost of Soulcarved Hierarch from 2WW to 3WW.
EDIT: Upped the mana cost of Soulcarved Slagwurm from 8,8,8 to 10,10,10, then back down to 9,9,9.
Why doesn't the Scarecrow have intimidate?
The Gargoyles might need to be tested for Limited problematicness, but their mana costs probably preclude that more or less.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Avatar by Numotflame96 of Maelstrom Graphics
Sig banner thanks to DarkNightCavalier of Heroes of the Plane Studios!
Besides, you know... the above ability sort of revealing the logical absurdity of defender's flavor... defender is a downside mechanic. Downside mechanics have an important place in Magic, but they don't fit into the milieu of modern keyword abilities, which could all be described more-or-less as "cool things that my creature can do." It's a relic. I feel like WotC has tried to make defender matter for so long, from the beginning of Magic to the present, and I would argue that it has just never clicked, despite being given opportunity after opportunity to do so. It's time to stop waiting for it to be cool, because it never will be.
I think the right thing to do with both defender and intimidate is to deprecate them, like shroud. They aren't going to ever stop existing, or stop working how they work. Some key cards with those abilities could even be reprinted in stuff like Commander or Planechase, but they just shouldn't be eating up the premium psychological space that keywords occupy in this game.
Also, there's nothing more elegant than just saying "~NAME~ can't attack." Those are two little words that carry so much weight. Keywording them just makes it messier. The converse has become a very successful workhorse for black / red, and has no shortage of interesting permutations. Defender just gets in the way of similar designs for "can't attack."
What would your design philosophy make of Manor Gargoyle?
Avatar by Numotflame96 of Maelstrom Graphics
Sig banner thanks to DarkNightCavalier of Heroes of the Plane Studios!
Manor Gargoyle 5
Artifact Creature — Gargoyle [R]
Indestructible
Manor Gargoyle can't attack unless it has flying.
1: Until end of turn, Manor Gargoyle loses indestructible and gains flying.
[4/4]
But again, to be clear, I would not actually errata Manor Gargoyle. If it were being printed for the first time, though, that's what I'd go with.
- Two answers could be "... choose a number other than zero", which is not good if you want to be able to stop token swarms, or Damping Matrix's "unless they're mana abilities", which is obviously not good if you are particularly concerned about creatures with mana abilities.
Soulcarved Slagwurm - Nice weakened Phyrexian Dreadnought. Watch this if there are any cards like Pandemonium in the environment.
- Flavorwise, is this somehow related to slagwurms from Mirrodin? If not, might want a different name.
Moonlit Kakashi - Colorless and partially unblockable is interesting at common. Only concerns would be how many other artifact creatures are there at common that can reliably block it and how much pump is there to make it really scary.
- Regarding this wording over intimidate... I'm assuming that there is probably not a lot of color changing effects like Crimson Wisps in this set. If there were, that would be a good reason to use intimidate and adjust the flavor so that maybe this is an statue of an Oni or a sacrifical idol or something else Demon-y. (Making this a Demon would help enable cards like Villainous Ogre at common.) Otherwise it is fine to occasionally have odd cards like Dread Warlock.
Shisa of the East/West Shore - The modified wording of Brothers Yamazaki doesn't make as much sense on a non-legendary creature. It is odd that controlling two shuts its ability down. I understand it is creates a balancing act with the indestructible, but that just makes it even odder that you could control four of one side and one of the other, and the four get nothing but the one would still get a massive boost from the four. Unless you make these legendary (in which case you could probably drop the "exactly one"), it might be better to just switch the abilities around, make it "one or more", and drop indestructible.
Artifact Creature — Gargoyle Spirit [U]
Flying, deathtouch
As long as you control one or more creatures named Shisa of the West Shore, CARDNAME gets +3/+2 and has lifelink.
[2/3]
Artifact Creature — Gargoyle Spirit [U]
Flying, lifelink
As long as you control one or more creatures named Shisa of the East Shore, CARDNAME gets +2/+3 and has deathtouch.
[3/2]
Those have a NWO problem of being able to easily change toughness midcombat if one is killed, but, other than that, I think they read cleaner by giving the pump and ability to themselves and have a much simpler on/off state for their abilities.
The Shisa are flavor-driven, in that in Okinawan mythology, they appear in pairs and derive their power from the balance of energy between the two. I could go with "equal number" wording, or something like that, but I felt like the Brothers Yamazaki mechanics did actually have a place outside of modifying the "legend rule". Because you can still cast as many of either of these as you like, and they'll all still live, unlike the Brothers. They just won't be as powerful.
Also, thinking to Limited, how many of these are you going to see, realistically? I figured that there was a decent enough chance that you might see one of each passed around the table. I feel like the decision to pick or pass the first one you see is fairly complex and interesting. I feel like the chance of snagging the pair gets better the more people have seen one and passed on it. Getting two or more of each seemed like a far-fetched possibility.