The main theme of the set is wedge allies, with normal allies being a sub theme. (Tribal too)
I wanted green to borrow a little from the blue color pie as part of the set theme because "science" is normally flavored blue but it's green for this set. I would not argue this is a color pie violation, but I would say that sets sometimes violate the color pie for flavor or mechanical reasons. Planer Chaos being the obvious go-to for that point. Similarly, the "cold" effect is often shared with blue and red. For this set I wanted to bleed that a little more, the tapping playing into reds "can't block mechanic."
I hope you guys enjoy it. Let me know if you see any wording or balance issues. We will be drafting this set tonight for play-testing.
After one night of play testing, I've made the following changes
Robot:
Old -> New
It was too good at common for the cost. Making it 3W instead of 1WW also makes it more splashable.
Bathroom Break:
Old -> New
The second creature should also be a student. Having it the other way was kinda silly.
The Mana Acolyte Cycle:
Old -> New
They should have been uncommon to begin with. Not sure what I was thinking here.
Summoning:
Old -> New
It was too good at common for the cost.
Wilderbeast:
Old -> New
This card was MVP of the draft. As a 5/5 it was simply broken.
Teo the Tenacious:
Old -> New
During the daft it was decided a 5 power haste creature for 4 was too good. Other Mythics might have to be nerfed as well, but this one won the tournament. So, it's going to be the first one to be scrutinized.
The Land Cycle:
Old -> New
Again, this was an oversight on my part. They always should have been commons.
Jacque Boyd:
Old -> New
Needed to be more powerful for the cost. She might need to be buffed again.
Card added:
This was meant to be in the first printing, don't know what happened to it.
Anyway, it's time for another: Set update! (I'm using this thread mainly to just keep track of the changes.
We had another day of play testing. This time it was about how "fun" the set was to draft. You know what we learned? Cards that stall the games out aren't very "fun." So, we had to take a close look at some of the cards that were stalling games, as well as other changes. Another problem is with only 3 uncommons per pack it is hard to gauge them. We might need to have a draft with more uncommons per pack just to make sure all of the uncommons get thoroughly tested.
Bandit:
Old -> New
This was hard. Looking at other sets, the card was properly costed. However, having an easy to cast 2/4 was slowing games down. Someone drafted two this time around and was simply no fun. I considered changing the cost to 2U, but that really seemed like it would make the card useless. I hope this change is all I will have to do, but we will see.
The Snow Man:
Old -> New
I want to make him a 3/6 because that feels right for a Snowman. But, this guy was hard to deal with as a 4/5 that frequently could attack in the last draft. I'll see about changing him to a 3/6 later if he's too weak. Yet, I think its easier to see cards that are too strong than identify ones that are too weak.
Decree of Zakk:
Old -> New
Yeah, I knew I was going to have to nerf this one when I made it. It was simply pissing everyone off.
Raven:
Old -> New
Unlike the others so far, this card was ending games too quickly. Everyone said I should "just make it rare." But, that's about the one thing I can't do. I would have to re-balance all of the colors if I changed the rarity. So, this was the fix I came up with. Hopefully, this will work.
Bully:
Old -> New
Another card that was too aggressive. It was the only card with intimidate naturally in the set. The flavor was strong, but it make the card basically unblockable in this set. That's too strong at common, so it needed a change. This should make it more inline with the other cards of the set.
Sternhagen:
Old -> New
I know I'm going to be nerfing a lot of the mythics. This one was slowing games down AND ending them too quickly. Hopefully, it's more balanced now.
Deb:
Old -> New
Simply put: It was too strong. This card will need more watching. I'm not sure if it can be costed properly without making it useless.
Martin the Mysterious:
Old -> New
Another card that was too strong for its cost.
Finals:
Old -> New
This card needed a boost. Hopefully, I will not be nerfing it next time.
Venerable Teacher:
Old -> New
This card was changed for flavor reasons. I like teachers that can only help other creatures.
Here is the set:
http://www.5colorcontrol.com/noshyfts/?p=1445 (I could upload it to the site, but it is easier to just link mine)
The main theme of the set is wedge allies, with normal allies being a sub theme. (Tribal too)
I wanted green to borrow a little from the blue color pie as part of the set theme because "science" is normally flavored blue but it's green for this set. I would not argue this is a color pie violation, but I would say that sets sometimes violate the color pie for flavor or mechanical reasons. Planer Chaos being the obvious go-to for that point. Similarly, the "cold" effect is often shared with blue and red. For this set I wanted to bleed that a little more, the tapping playing into reds "can't block mechanic."
I hope you guys enjoy it. Let me know if you see any wording or balance issues. We will be drafting this set tonight for play-testing.
Robot:
Bathroom Break:
The Mana Acolyte Cycle:
Summoning:
Wilderbeast:
Teo the Tenacious:
The Land Cycle:
Jacque Boyd:
Card added:
This was meant to be in the first printing, don't know what happened to it.
I also made some minor typo-fixing.
We had another day of play testing. This time it was about how "fun" the set was to draft. You know what we learned? Cards that stall the games out aren't very "fun." So, we had to take a close look at some of the cards that were stalling games, as well as other changes. Another problem is with only 3 uncommons per pack it is hard to gauge them. We might need to have a draft with more uncommons per pack just to make sure all of the uncommons get thoroughly tested.
Bandit:
Old -> New
This was hard. Looking at other sets, the card was properly costed. However, having an easy to cast 2/4 was slowing games down. Someone drafted two this time around and was simply no fun. I considered changing the cost to 2U, but that really seemed like it would make the card useless. I hope this change is all I will have to do, but we will see.
The Snow Man:
Old -> New
I want to make him a 3/6 because that feels right for a Snowman. But, this guy was hard to deal with as a 4/5 that frequently could attack in the last draft. I'll see about changing him to a 3/6 later if he's too weak. Yet, I think its easier to see cards that are too strong than identify ones that are too weak.
Decree of Zakk:
Old -> New
Yeah, I knew I was going to have to nerf this one when I made it. It was simply pissing everyone off.
Raven:
Old -> New
Unlike the others so far, this card was ending games too quickly. Everyone said I should "just make it rare." But, that's about the one thing I can't do. I would have to re-balance all of the colors if I changed the rarity. So, this was the fix I came up with. Hopefully, this will work.
Bully:
Old -> New
Another card that was too aggressive. It was the only card with intimidate naturally in the set. The flavor was strong, but it make the card basically unblockable in this set. That's too strong at common, so it needed a change. This should make it more inline with the other cards of the set.
Sternhagen:
Old -> New
I know I'm going to be nerfing a lot of the mythics. This one was slowing games down AND ending them too quickly. Hopefully, it's more balanced now.
Deb:
Old -> New
Simply put: It was too strong. This card will need more watching. I'm not sure if it can be costed properly without making it useless.
Martin the Mysterious:
Old -> New
Another card that was too strong for its cost.
Finals:
Old -> New
This card needed a boost. Hopefully, I will not be nerfing it next time.
Venerable Teacher:
Old -> New
This card was changed for flavor reasons. I like teachers that can only help other creatures.