Clash of Loyalties is a 45-card set that adds customizable planeswalker commanders to any draft set. You begin with a base planeswalker (2 mana for 1 loyalty and no abilities.) Through the draft, you may pick 'Knacks' that add mana, loyalty and abilities to your commander (each booster is loaded with two knacks, they don't go in a deck, and you may choose your active knacks before each game.)
See the complete set here: Imgur album (the drafting pool is made from 3 of each uncommon, 2 of each rare, 1 of each mythic.)
But onto the support cards...
In a limited game with Clash, every player is able to play a planeswalker almost every game (unless the player customized it into a late game powerhouse, which is possible.) So here are some cards that are designed to make drafting an efficient planeswalker more attractive (making good knacks higher picks.) These cards are not part of Clash (which keeps its as-fan of 2) but would be mixed in the regular pool of cards.
These cards would also be great for a Commander product that featured planeswalker commanders.
Projected Spark1R
Instant (C)
Choose one --
* Projected Spark deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
* Target planeswalker you control deals damage equal to its current loyalty to target creature or player.
Grove Ambush2G
Instant (U)
Choose one --
* Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn.
* Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn by creatures attacking a planeswalker.
Foul EssenceB
Instant (U)
Choose one --
* Target creature gets -2/-1 until end of turn.
* Destroy target creature that dealt damage to a planeswalker this turn.
Signature SpellU
Instant (C)
You may activate an ability from a planeswalker you control with cost +1 or higher (don't add its cost as loyalty.)
Draw a card.
Ringleader's Call2RR
Sorcery (U)
Choose one --
* Put three 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens onto the battlefield.
* Put X 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens with haste onto the battlefield, where X is the highest current loyalty among planeswalkers you control.
Hunter's ShowdownG
Sorcery (R)
Choose target creature or planeswalker you control, and target creature or planeswalker you don't control.
Each of those creatures deals damage equal to its power to the other target.
Each of those planeswalkers deals damage equal to its current loyalty to the other target.
Shared Spark3W
Enchantment - Aura (R)
Enchant planeswalker you control
Having 0 loyalty doesn't cause enchanted planeswalker to be put into your graveyard.
You can't lose the game and opponents can't win the game as long as enchanted planeswalker has 1 or more current loyalty.
EnergizeXXR
Sorcery (R)
Choose one --
* Energize deals X damage to target player and each creature he or she controls.
* Activate each ability from a planeswalker you control with cost -X or higher (don't pay their loyalty costs.)
This is still one of the best ideas I've seen in a long time. I can't get it out of my mind. The prospect of "I wonder what my Planeswalker will be like" is so exciting!
Lords of Ravnica is lacking a hook, and I think "build your own Planeswalker" would be an awesome hook that really gets across the vying for power/guild leadership vibe that I want in the block.
Would it be logistically possible to make it fair in standard draft?
These are my thoughts so far:
1. First of all, I'd call them "Talents". "Knack" sounds to Lorwyn cutesy for my taste. No offense, JuanCu.
2. There would be a set of 10 or 20 fixed-rarity DFC Talents with the a variable Talent on one side and the stock Planeswalker on the back.
3. There would be one fixed-rarity DFC Talent in every pack so in draft every player would be guaranteed a stock Planeswalker and at least three monocolor Talents to choose from with which to make their Planeswalker. Due to the fact that one of the DFC Talents would be needed for its Planeswalker side, each player would only get to use two of his or her three fixed-rarity Talents, which is perfect because it would (hopefully) encourage players to play exactly two colors, which is one thing Rav is supposed to do above all else.
4. The drafter automatically gets the fixed-rarity DFC Talent/Planeswalker when he opens his or her pack and also gets to draft a card from the pack.
5. In addition to the fixed-rarity Talents, there would be a variety of uncommon, rare, and mythic Talents as well which would not be DFCs and that could be drafted normally.
Other than that, the Planeswalkers would play from the command zone as JuanCu described. Thoughts?
Sounds great, you have my blessing for whatever. And no offense taken, I named them 'knacks' because I had just read The Kraken by China Mieville and that is how they called a person's magics, haha. He writes kinda dark, so it didn't sound cutesy.
After tinkering with this for a bit, I've decided that I'm going to do a version that better suits the needs of Lords of Ravnica. Instead of "build your own planeswalker", I'm going to make it so drafters can "build your own legendary commander" instead, with commanders representing powerful individuals vying for leadership of their respective guilds during the unexplained absence of Jace, the Living Guildpact.
This aint your daddy's Magic, so I'd appreciate any insights.
These are my thoughts so far:
1. The card type will be "Legendary Ability". They're kind of like Auras in that they grant Aura like abilities to a single creature, but aren't permanents on the battlefield. Nor are they in exile like Haunt cards. I guess you could say, like phased out permanents, that Legendary Ability cards themselves are treated as though they don't exist, yet they add their effects and abilities to your commander.
2. Legendary Ability cards will only be playable in Limited and Commander. They are not intended for any other formats and are therefore effectively banned in every format other than LoR Limited and Commander.
3. There will be 10 or 20 fixed common Legendary Ability cards.
4. There will be one fixed common Legendary Ability card in every pack so in draft every player will be guaranteed at least three Legendary Ability cards to choose from with which to make his or her commander.
5. Each drafter gets the fixed common Legendary Ability card from his or her pack in addition to his or her normal draft pick.
6. In addition to the fixed common Legendary Ability cards, there will be a variety of uncommon, rare, and mythic Legendary Ability cards as well, which can be drafted normally.
7. Every Legendary Ability card has the reminder text "(You may begin each game with this card in your command zone. If you do, add its mana cost, color, and abilities to your commander.)"
NOTE: The "starting loyalty" in the card image is actually a p/t buff.
8. At the beginning of each game, each player may choose any creature card that he or she drafted to be his or her commander. It may be a legendary creature card but does not have to be legendary because the chosen card will be granted the legendary supertype and all that it entails by virtue of its Legendary Ability cards.
9. In LoR draft, even if the chosen creature card is already legendary, it must have at least one Legendary Ability card in order to serve as a commander.
10. In LoR draft, commanders must have exactly two color identities. This means for example, if a drafter were to choose Court Hussar as his commander, he can only give it white and/or blue Legendary Ability cards. If he were to choose Haazda Snare Squad as his commander, he could use any white Legendary Ability card plus any one of the other four colors at a time.
11. In LoR draft, the commander is not considered part of the minimum deck size of 40 cards.
12. There will be token cards explaining basic Commander commander rules such as color identity, what the command zone is, commander damage, and cumulative additional casting cost from the command zone.
I'm referring to the OP and the support cards posted there. For that purpose the cards that care about planeswalkers make a lot of sense and do some cool things for the format. In your variant, it might be better to have cards that provide additional bonus if they target a legendary creature.
See the complete set here: Imgur album (the drafting pool is made from 3 of each uncommon, 2 of each rare, 1 of each mythic.)
But onto the support cards...
In a limited game with Clash, every player is able to play a planeswalker almost every game (unless the player customized it into a late game powerhouse, which is possible.) So here are some cards that are designed to make drafting an efficient planeswalker more attractive (making good knacks higher picks.) These cards are not part of Clash (which keeps its as-fan of 2) but would be mixed in the regular pool of cards.
These cards would also be great for a Commander product that featured planeswalker commanders.
Projected Spark 1R
Instant (C)
Choose one --
* Projected Spark deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
* Target planeswalker you control deals damage equal to its current loyalty to target creature or player.
Grove Ambush 2G
Instant (U)
Choose one --
* Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn.
* Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn by creatures attacking a planeswalker.
Foul Essence B
Instant (U)
Choose one --
* Target creature gets -2/-1 until end of turn.
* Destroy target creature that dealt damage to a planeswalker this turn.
Signature Spell U
Instant (C)
You may activate an ability from a planeswalker you control with cost +1 or higher (don't add its cost as loyalty.)
Draw a card.
Ringleader's Call 2RR
Sorcery (U)
Choose one --
* Put three 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens onto the battlefield.
* Put X 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens with haste onto the battlefield, where X is the highest current loyalty among planeswalkers you control.
Hunter's Showdown G
Sorcery (R)
Choose target creature or planeswalker you control, and target creature or planeswalker you don't control.
Each of those creatures deals damage equal to its power to the other target.
Each of those planeswalkers deals damage equal to its current loyalty to the other target.
Shared Spark 3W
Enchantment - Aura (R)
Enchant planeswalker you control
Having 0 loyalty doesn't cause enchanted planeswalker to be put into your graveyard.
You can't lose the game and opponents can't win the game as long as enchanted planeswalker has 1 or more current loyalty.
Energize XXR
Sorcery (R)
Choose one --
* Energize deals X damage to target player and each creature he or she controls.
* Activate each ability from a planeswalker you control with cost -X or higher (don't pay their loyalty costs.)
This is so cool and out of the box. I love it. It's raw and could probably benefit from some development, but is a truly novel idea. Very M2050.
Lords of Ravnica is lacking a hook, and I think "build your own Planeswalker" would be an awesome hook that really gets across the vying for power/guild leadership vibe that I want in the block.
Would it be logistically possible to make it fair in standard draft?
These are my thoughts so far:
1. First of all, I'd call them "Talents". "Knack" sounds to Lorwyn cutesy for my taste. No offense, JuanCu.
2. There would be a set of 10 or 20 fixed-rarity DFC Talents with the a variable Talent on one side and the stock Planeswalker on the back.
3. There would be one fixed-rarity DFC Talent in every pack so in draft every player would be guaranteed a stock Planeswalker and at least three monocolor Talents to choose from with which to make their Planeswalker. Due to the fact that one of the DFC Talents would be needed for its Planeswalker side, each player would only get to use two of his or her three fixed-rarity Talents, which is perfect because it would (hopefully) encourage players to play exactly two colors, which is one thing Rav is supposed to do above all else.
4. The drafter automatically gets the fixed-rarity DFC Talent/Planeswalker when he opens his or her pack and also gets to draft a card from the pack.
5. In addition to the fixed-rarity Talents, there would be a variety of uncommon, rare, and mythic Talents as well which would not be DFCs and that could be drafted normally.
Other than that, the Planeswalkers would play from the command zone as JuanCu described. Thoughts?
Anyways, I had posted these on reddit and someone requested the mse file, so here is the link in case you want to reuse any of them:
https://mega.co.nz/#!11A1wa5A!lY2RDN5Ze1HrwulfrYiGnLkxePUSAQud7yrLq7FPiYE
I downloaded the file. It's been a huge help.
After tinkering with this for a bit, I've decided that I'm going to do a version that better suits the needs of Lords of Ravnica. Instead of "build your own planeswalker", I'm going to make it so drafters can "build your own legendary commander" instead, with commanders representing powerful individuals vying for leadership of their respective guilds during the unexplained absence of Jace, the Living Guildpact.
This aint your daddy's Magic, so I'd appreciate any insights.
These are my thoughts so far:
1. The card type will be "Legendary Ability". They're kind of like Auras in that they grant Aura like abilities to a single creature, but aren't permanents on the battlefield. Nor are they in exile like Haunt cards. I guess you could say, like phased out permanents, that Legendary Ability cards themselves are treated as though they don't exist, yet they add their effects and abilities to your commander.
2. Legendary Ability cards will only be playable in Limited and Commander. They are not intended for any other formats and are therefore effectively banned in every format other than LoR Limited and Commander.
3. There will be 10 or 20 fixed common Legendary Ability cards.
4. There will be one fixed common Legendary Ability card in every pack so in draft every player will be guaranteed at least three Legendary Ability cards to choose from with which to make his or her commander.
5. Each drafter gets the fixed common Legendary Ability card from his or her pack in addition to his or her normal draft pick.
6. In addition to the fixed common Legendary Ability cards, there will be a variety of uncommon, rare, and mythic Legendary Ability cards as well, which can be drafted normally.
7. Every Legendary Ability card has the reminder text "(You may begin each game with this card in your command zone. If you do, add its mana cost, color, and abilities to your commander.)"
NOTE: The "starting loyalty" in the card image is actually a p/t buff.
8. At the beginning of each game, each player may choose any creature card that he or she drafted to be his or her commander. It may be a legendary creature card but does not have to be legendary because the chosen card will be granted the legendary supertype and all that it entails by virtue of its Legendary Ability cards.
9. In LoR draft, even if the chosen creature card is already legendary, it must have at least one Legendary Ability card in order to serve as a commander.
10. In LoR draft, commanders must have exactly two color identities. This means for example, if a drafter were to choose Court Hussar as his commander, he can only give it white and/or blue Legendary Ability cards. If he were to choose Haazda Snare Squad as his commander, he could use any white Legendary Ability card plus any one of the other four colors at a time.
11. In LoR draft, the commander is not considered part of the minimum deck size of 40 cards.
12. There will be token cards explaining basic Commander commander rules such as color identity, what the command zone is, commander damage, and cumulative additional casting cost from the command zone.
I don't know what a support card is. How is a Legendary Ability card any more of a support card than an Aura with enchant creature?
In fact, now that I think about it, maybe Legendary Abilities could fill slots that would normally be filled by Auras with enchant creature?
A subtheme of legendary matters would be apropos indeed.