Sundrop Shrine Novice was 2/2 lifelink if you have a fate counter. Now a Suture Priest variant.
Zhavi Insider's second ability changed from sacrifice to destroy a creature it blocks to vigilance when you gain life.
True leadership change from an aura (+2/+2 when ETB eah creature gets +2/+2 if you gained life this turn) to Walltown Protector.
Undercity Prowl now tentatively cantrips if you control a colorless creature instead of a multicolor permanent.
Red and green commons:
Cattle Runner
Creature -- Human (C)
Haste
: Target creature gains haste until end of turn. ({2/r} can be paid with any two mana or with {r})
1/1
Dragonfly Band Guards
Creature -- Viashino Warrior (C)
First strike
When Dragonfly Band Guards enters the battlefield, target creature you control gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
1/1
Grohm Machetist
Creature -- Goblin Scout (C) Bulkmight -- Whenever Grohm Machetist's power or toughness increases, you may have it deal 1 damage to each opponent.
2/1
Clem's Run Band
Creature -- Human Shaman (C)
When Clem's Run Band enters the battlefield, discard your hand. If two or more cards are discarded this way, draw two cards.
3/2
Grove Wanderer
Creature -- Bear Berserker Bulkmight -- Whenever Grove Wanderer's power or toughness increases, you may discard a card. If you do, draw a card.
3/3
Pressing Lunk
Creature -- Giant Warrior
Whenever Pressing Lunk attacks, target creature gets +1/+1 and gains trample until end of turn.
4/2
Inflamed Fury
Sorcery (C)
Target creature gets +2/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn.
Sparks of Memories
Sorcery (C)
Sparks of Memories is colorless.
Sparks of Memories deals 1 damage to target creature. If was spent to cast Sparks of Memories, Sparks of Memories deals 1 damage to that creature's controller.
So-Called Mishap
Instant (C)
So-Called Mishap deals 2 damage to target creature or player. Encore -- If you've cast another instant or sorcery spell this turn, So-Called Mishap deals 4 damage to that creature or player instead.
Mob Justice
Sorcery (C)
Mob Justice deals damage to target player equal to the number of creatures you control.
This is supposed to work with the red token archetype I want to have, but I strongly suspect that an extra mono-R tokenmaker (besides the UR and RG token makers there will be) may be needed...
Stage presence
Enchantment -- Aura (C)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has "Whenever this creature attacks, it can't be blocked by target creature this turn.".
Wrap in Magma
Sorcery (C)
Target creature gets +2/+0. Creatures with power less than that creature can't block this turn.
Summon the Stage Hands
Sorcery (C)
Put two 1/1 red Viashino tokens onto the battlefield. Encore -- Those tokens gain haste if you cast another instant or sorcery spell this turn.
Probably not doable at CMC 2. Naybe Put one token, put 2 with encore?
Reject Reality
Instant (C)
As an additional cost to cast Reject Reality, discard a card.
Counter target instant or sorcery spell.
Draw a card.
I WILL IGNORE any argument about this being color pie breaking other than to say that no, I don't intend to make red counterspells that counter anything but instants and sorceries (duh).
Uncontrolled Slashing
Sorcery (C)
Uncontrolled Slashing deals 4 damage to target creature. When that creature dies this turn, Uncontrolled Slashing deals damage to its controller equal to that creature's power.
Contentious Orphan
Creature -- Human Insect (C)
When Contentious Orphan enters the battlefield, target creature you control fights target creature you don't control. His unknown, but strange parentage meant all the guilds wanted to recruit him.
0/2
Aynsele Scholar
Creature -- Elf Shaman (C)
Aynsele Scholar enters the battlefield with a fate counter on it.
: Add to your mana pool.
, remove a fate counter from Aynsele Scholar: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
1/1
Meek Scribe
Creature -- Human (C)
Whenever your leader attacks, untap Meek Scribe.
2/2
Lifebond Spider
Creature -- Spider Mutant (C)
Reach Bulkmight - Whenever Lifebond Spider's power or toughness increases, you gain 3 life.
2/3
Garden Infiltrator
Creature -- Human (C)
Forestwalk
Whenever Garden Infiltrator attacks and isn't blocked, another target creature you control gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
2/2
Hermland Visitorr
Creature -- Bear (C)
Hermland Explorer is colorless.
When Hermland Explorer enters the battlefield, if was spent to cast it, you may search your library for a basic land card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you do, shuffle your library.
1/2
Aynsele Overseer
Creature -- Naga Warrior
Leadership (You may have this enter the battlefield with a fate counter on it for each creature with leadership you control. Your creature with the most counters on it is your leader.)
Your leader has " : Regenerate this creature."
3/2
Denraiser
Creature -- Bear Warrior
When Denraiser enters the battlefield, if you control a creature with a fate counter on it, put a 2/2 green bear token onto the battlefield.
3/3
Artin Acolyte
Creature -- Bear Warrior (C)
: Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Activate this ability only once each turn. Bulkmight -- Whenever Artin Acolyte's power or toughness increases, creatures you control gain trample until end of turn.
3/3
There are currently 2 creatures in both red and green that can trigger Bulkmight, plus one aura in each. I have a sneaking suspicion this is too many such creatures on top of the instant/sorceries and I only need one in each color plus a multicolor one at most.
Aynsele Leader
Creature -- Rhino Cleric (C)
Leadership (You may have this enter the battlefield with a fate counter on it for each creature with leadership you control. Your creature with the most counters on it is your leader.)
Your leader gets +2/+2 and can't be blocked by more than one creature.
3/3
Accede to Fate
Instant (C)
Choose one -- Regenerate target creature; or regenerate two target creatures with fate counters on them.
Garden Stroll
Instant (C)
Target creature you control gets +2/+2. If there's a fate counter on that creature, it gets +4/+4 instead. Aynsele champions never truly leave the temple gardens.
Call of the Wildwood
Enchantment -- Aura (C)
Enchant permanent
Enchanted permanent gets +1/+1 and has "Untap this during each other player's untap step."
Pacifying Pollen
Instant (C)
Prevent all damage creatures without fate counters on them would deal this turn.
This was "creatures without reach or deathtouch", but since I no longer have a common monogreen deathtoucher... (there will be a RG one though).
CG15 This slot is reserved for a cmc4+ noncreature spell, and I'm somewhat stuck as to what to put here. Currently it's a Reclaim variant, but I don't like it.
Any suggestion for multicolor cards and the high-end problematic red and green cards?
I have not been working a whole lot on this set for a long time. Mostly my problem was that if I do not have a fate-counter mechanic in Castes, then I need to change the mechanic in Threads of Fate, and that mechanic is one of my favorites. Additionally, I wasn't entirely happy with Interdict triggering off opponent spells cast during your turn, since in many cases, you're probably not going to trigger them more than once or twice a game. I finally figured out a better idea for leadership, and revising Interdict led me to a neat theme in White which I call "Small is beautiful" (i.e. "power 2 or less matters").
The new mechanics
Leadership (At the beginning of your combat, put a fate counter on a creature you control. That creature is your champion until your next turn. Champions attack and block alone.)
Interdict (Whenever a creature with power higher than this enters the battlefield under an opponent's control, that player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.)
Sadly it seems like I can't avoid explicitly stating the "you control" part (otherwise I could write "designate a champion") to avoid people designating an opponent's creature.
By allowing any creature to be a leader, the new leadership also interacts with Bulkmight through creatures that give your leader boosts.
I really like how inderdict loses in value as the creature's power increases.
Monocolor themes
: "Small is beautiful"
: Colorless matters
: Self-mill
: Tokens/aggro
: Fate counters
Individual card changes
Sundrop Novice: Was a non-draining Suture Priest. Now can use fate counters.
Pious Cupbearers: New white vanilla bear
Squad Savior: Was 1/1 and gave your leader +1/+1
Soup Kitchen Squad: New card for the Small is Beautiful theme. Replaced a life gain matters card.
Courthouse Warden: Removed the lifegain clause
Revoker of Absolutions: Used to be 1/3 1W, Replaced a 2/5 creatures with double block that gained vigilance on lifegain
Bask in the Sun: New small is beautiful card replacing a protection spell.
Solarium Stroll: Used to be a slowblink+life gain spell.
Training Session: was +2/+2 and first strike UEOT and Prevent all damage.
Voidminded Lieutenant: Now has prowess.
Drainpipe Vermin: Reprint replacing a 0/3 lifedrain interdict creature
Sewer Stalker: Was a 1/1 swampwalk lifelink with regenerate.
Split Skulls: Was 2B
Courthouse Brood: Was a 1/1 hasty flier that drain on ETB
Blanker of Minds: Used to be a 3/2 giving painful truths off your colorless creatures, but two draw spells in voidmind is bad. Perfect place for Menace.
Grohm Machetist: Gained prowess and moved from dealing damage.
Grove Wanderer: From red looting to tokenmaking. I already have two red spells that can loot (Clem's Run Band and Reject Reality)
Skynet Warden: Renamed and gained a tap ability to justify the untap one.
I've slotted in multicolor cards and suppressed the colorless cycle at common. This has freed a monocolor spot in each colors and caused some shuffling around of effects.
News cards:
Messy card shuffle: For whom the Bell Toll (2w Celestial Flare) moved to WB multicolor with lifedrain. Decided I didn't want that much lifedrain outside Interdict and deleted it for Castigate instead. Solarium Stroll's cost went up by one and it became an instant in its place, then Azorius Reparation was brought in to fit the 2-mana spot. (I may still make castigate a removal or rename it because of the Doom Bell flavor)
Soup Kitchen Squad goes from giving vigilance and lifelink to indestructible.
Uncontrolled Slashing had an effect (creature deals to controller equal to its power) too close to Banish into the Sun for comfort. I needed a land destruction card and an extra red tokenmaker, so it's replaced by a CMC6 Survey the Wreckage that puts a 2/2 bear into play.
More realization about what I wanted from the set are prompting some revisions:
I wanted the block to explore the reversed guilds. I specifically didn't want it to be, as it was during the Ravnica blocks, a multicolor set where 3+ colors is the right play to make. Clearly I'd rather want players assembling 2-colors decks much like in a regular set, and so the design need to lose a lot of multicolor to bring it closer to a regular set.
As such I will be reducing the amount of multicolor cards (by dropping two or three of them in each combinations) and removing the common and uncommon dual land cycles, this will free up to 4 spots in each colors at common, some of which may be repurposed for additional artifacts and/or weaker color fixers (Unknown Shores and Crumbling Vestiges are both flavorful fits to the creative I've brewed for Suvnica and Telengor).
I will thus have more multicolor commons (10) than in tarkir (5), but less than in Ravnica (20), and less multicolor (20) uncommon than either sets (30), not to mention that these uncommons will be far less spread in colors than the tarkir ones.
I hope these extra spots will help me with:
Toning down the overly strong colorless theme in blue
Adding some more fate counters card across the board, and especially in green
COMMONS UPDATED. A thorough list of changes will be posted tomorrow. Some shuffling probably remains to be done to make sure I got my keywords and removal about right, but I want to post this update now.
Multicolor card brought down by half to add more monocolor commons.
Leadership remidner text was adjusted.
The distribution of creature types among the guilds was mostly worked out (not type appears in more than three guilds), but is still unreflected in the current cards.
Introduced hödekins, a race of lares-like spirits native to Telengor who adapted very well to the urban Suvnican ecosystem and keep the usually mad spirits of the Suvnican dead at bay.
Added a cycle of off-color activated cards: Barkcaller, Shushing Hödekin, Liftoff Viashino. Zeftelen's Favorites and Skynet Warden (was tap to ping a flier, untap when leader attacks) were improved to complete it.
The "remove a fate counter" cards were extended into a full cycle to make sure there was at least one such card in each color of common. This mostly involved alterations to Cattle Runner (was haste, to give target crit haste ), Aynsele Scholar (was 1g ETB with a counter, add green or remove that counter for any color) and Street Philosopher (was a colorless matter card that looted when ETB-ing)
New monocolor space allowed shuffling of effects and creation of some vanilla cards. With the preexisting Voidminded Rushdagger and Reined Wurm, there are in practice vanillas in all colors.
Pious Cupbearer became a Hödekins and Forgotten Pioneers became Chilling Ancients.
The original Training Session design (your crits get +1/+2, indestructible if power 2 or less) was dropped because of Peal of the Doombell and the name moved to a combat trick previously called "Bask in the Sun". Punching Light was created to fill Training Session's former spot (see below about that) since white lacked a hard removal.
Soup Kitchen Squad (was "can ETB tapped, if you do your crits with power<2 gain indestructible") now instead has vigilance and gives the same creatures vigilance (idea taken from Herald of Dromoka).
Azorius Reparations first became "Angelic Presence", then gained its colorless trinket text and was renamed into Revoke Caste., making the previous change even more necessary.
Solarium Stroll was renamed to Call for Juries.
Blue
Rimid Investigations was created out of the effect that used to be Fate Sealer's ETB ability.
For the longest time there was a "colorless creature matter" counterspell for called Overextend, but that made four common counterspells because of the red Reject Reality, and so after a lot of fiddling (I already had several card filtering effects) I came up with the cute Frantic Glances.
Card name shuffle: Tezzi Freethinker (3/1 flier) -> Fate sealer (1/3 vanilla) -> Shushing Hödekin (2/2 off-color cycle) -> Freethinker Because blue spirits should really fly.
Clash of Egos is now Clash of Minds
Black
Soul Warden required a little soul searching before the SOI prerelease inspired me to make it a self-mill reward.
The new card Soothcloud Hödekin features an idea for a potential UB evergreen mechanic. Could easily become a skulk card.
Corrupt Advocate went from 1/2 to 2/1 because it was too close to Dutiful Attendant.
Blanker of Minds went from to .
Home Invasion is now a sorcery instead of an instant
Red
Dragonfly Band Guards gained 1 toughness but lost its ETB effect of +1/+0 to target creature
Tried to improve the remaining multicolor commons somewhat so they are strong reasons to go into those colors. Changes were made to Artin Riverwarden (+1 power) and Memory Sipper (was 3/3 flying, turn a creature to allow block or attack) to that effect.
Barkcaller Shaman's flavor was moved to the white off-color activation card, freeing back a GW name to mention angels (which are associated with GW in this block)." This was very needed after the oss of Angelic Presence.
Alright. About 90+% of the cards are designed. What's missing is mostly rares and mythics, both areas where I tend to be a poor designer. I still need to rework over the creature type and flavors (I lost the document with my notes on creature types), but the basic designs are mostly done. I've started working on set #2 in the block, Threads of Fate, and already a few card movements have occurred between the sets.
All - Have you playtested your mechanics? If so, what were the results?
Interdict – Have you considered having this check any creature (including yours) and not just opponents? I think it would give drafters and deckbuilders some direction rather than “I hope my opponents play lots of big creatures.” This is also a VERY good candidate for an ability word (landfall style) rather than a keyword ability (evolve style). That would be fun and open up design space.
Interdict – Whenever a creature with greater power than ~ power enters the battlefield (under your control?), something special happens.
Voidmind –Does it become just an upside down, nameless, typeless, colorless permanent (not a 2/2 colorless creature)?
Encore – Is this only on instants and sorceries for Izzet-like guild flavor reasons?
Leadership – I really, really like this and long considered a version of it for Boros. A couple of things. It seems like a needlessly complicated version of Exalted, and it’s using the word “champion”, which can’t be used because it’s already a keyword. The tracking for this is very simple, so the counter isn’t necessary. Imo, when it comes to reminder text, grockability is paramount (even if an extremely simple one time explanation is required). “Leadership” flavor is ultra-generic that could mean nearly anything and be in any color, and yet manages to not feel GW or “priestly”, not even “battle-priestly”. It doesn’t evoke any emotion whatsoever. Anyways, I have a suggestion.
Valiance (At the beginning of combat [of each?] on your turn, choose a creature you control to be your vanguard until your next turn.)
Your vanguard gets +1/+1 and/or has stuff.
Invigorate – I really, really like this so so much. The flavor is perfect. My only “criticism” is that it looks parasitic in the Heroic sense, but more narrow. Of course, narrow is fine for guild mechanics and parasitic can be managed through clever set design.
All - Have you playtested your mechanics? If so, what were the results?
I really wish I could say I have the social skill to assemble people for playtesting this, but being Asperger, I don't have enough close friends either on- or offline for that (plus I utterly lack the patience required to get card images which seem to be an important prerequisite to get people on board these things).
Interdict – Have you considered having this check any creature (including yours) and not just opponents? I think it would give drafters and deckbuilders some direction rather than “I hope my opponents play lots of big creatures.” This is also a VERY good candidate for an ability word (landfall style) rather than a keyword ability (evolve style). That would be fun and open up design space.
Interdict – Whenever a creature with greater power than ~ power enters the battlefield (under your control?), something special happens.
Originally the Zhavi had a law mechanic (pretty much as in the Tesla project). I accept that Interdict is not a mechanic that you specifically build your deck around. Besides, it interacts well with the Sorba mechanic and a white theme surrounding creatures with base power 2 or less.
Besides, this block already has 4 ability words, three of which are in this set, and I'm not thrilled by the idea of making 4 out of 5 faction mechanics ability words.
Voidmind –Does it become just an upside down, nameless, typeless, colorless permanent (not a 2/2 colorless creature)?
I have reminder text on several of the cards. They are 2/2 colorless creatures because the rules define them as such (707.2a)
Encore – Is this only on instants and sorceries for Izzet-like guild flavor reasons?
Indeed. If you're going to have 10 mechanics, at least one is going to end up being an instant/sorcery one, just like one will end up being a graveyard one (It's the on in my case)
Leadership – I really, really like this and long considered a version of it for Boros. A couple of things. It seems like a needlessly complicated version of Exalted, and it’s using the word “champion”, which can’t be used because it’s already a keyword. The tracking for this is very simple, so the counter isn’t necessary. Imo, when it comes to reminder text, grockability is paramount (even if an extremely simple one time explanation is required). “Leadership” flavor is ultra-generic that could mean nearly anything and be in any color, and yet manages to not feel GW or “priestly”, not even “battle-priestly”. It doesn’t evoke any emotion whatsoever. Anyways, I have a suggestion.
Valiance (At the beginning of combat [of each?] on your turn, choose a creature you control to be your vanguard until your next turn.)
Your vanguard gets +1/+1 and/or has stuff.
It's not supposed to be priestly. Champions are not (at least not inherently. Creature types still need a lot of working out) priests. They're, well, champions of the Aynsele. Representatives backed by the strength of their entire caste.
I'll admit that Leadership is on its face possibly the fiddliest part of the design. I can't honestly justify fate counters if they're not used in at least two mechanics, and Leadership was the one it fell upon. I do honestly believe the mechanic leads to some interesting designs, and I am especially fond of Champion's Attendant in this regard.
Invigorate – I really, really like this so so much. The flavor is perfect. My only “criticism” is that it looks parasitic in the Heroic sense, but more narrow. Of course, narrow is fine for guild mechanics and parasitic can be managed through clever set design.
Originally more of the cards at uncommon and rare were intended to have the capability to self-trigger. They ended up dwindling to the sole Rumgarr for (fairly obvious, I hope) complexity reasons.
Taking away Wrap in Magma for the Hostile Realm reprint may prove after testing to be a mistake in this regard, but I'm not sure if plotwise Realm fits in Threads of Fate.
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But they do work in others. Probably something on my end then.
Are you designing commons? Check out my primer on NWO.
Interested in making a custom set? Check out my Set skeleton and archetype primer.
I also write articles about getting started with custom card creation.
Go and PLAYTEST your designs, you will learn more in a single playtests than a dozen discussions.
My custom sets:
Dreamscape
Coins of Mercalis [COMPLETE]
Exodus of Zendikar - ON HOLD
Red and green commons:
Creature -- Human (C)
Haste
: Target creature gains haste until end of turn. ({2/r} can be paid with any two mana or with {r})
1/1
Creature -- Viashino Warrior (C)
First strike
When Dragonfly Band Guards enters the battlefield, target creature you control gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
1/1
Creature -- Goblin Scout (C)
Bulkmight -- Whenever Grohm Machetist's power or toughness increases, you may have it deal 1 damage to each opponent.
2/1
Creature -- Human Shaman (C)
When Clem's Run Band enters the battlefield, discard your hand. If two or more cards are discarded this way, draw two cards.
3/2
Creature -- Bear Berserker
Bulkmight -- Whenever Grove Wanderer's power or toughness increases, you may discard a card. If you do, draw a card.
3/3
Creature -- Giant Warrior
Whenever Pressing Lunk attacks, target creature gets +1/+1 and gains trample until end of turn.
4/2
Sorcery (C)
Target creature gets +2/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn.
Sorcery (C)
Sparks of Memories is colorless.
Sparks of Memories deals 1 damage to target creature. If was spent to cast Sparks of Memories, Sparks of Memories deals 1 damage to that creature's controller.
Instant (C)
So-Called Mishap deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Encore -- If you've cast another instant or sorcery spell this turn, So-Called Mishap deals 4 damage to that creature or player instead.
Sorcery (C)
Mob Justice deals damage to target player equal to the number of creatures you control.
Enchantment -- Aura (C)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has "Whenever this creature attacks, it can't be blocked by target creature this turn.".
Sorcery (C)
Target creature gets +2/+0. Creatures with power less than that creature can't block this turn.
Sorcery (C)
Put two 1/1 red Viashino tokens onto the battlefield.
Encore -- Those tokens gain haste if you cast another instant or sorcery spell this turn.
Instant (C)
As an additional cost to cast Reject Reality, discard a card.
Counter target instant or sorcery spell.
Draw a card.
Sorcery (C)
Uncontrolled Slashing deals 4 damage to target creature. When that creature dies this turn, Uncontrolled Slashing deals damage to its controller equal to that creature's power.
Creature -- Human Insect (C)
When Contentious Orphan enters the battlefield, target creature you control fights target creature you don't control.
His unknown, but strange parentage meant all the guilds wanted to recruit him.
0/2
Creature -- Elf Shaman (C)
Aynsele Scholar enters the battlefield with a fate counter on it.
: Add to your mana pool.
, remove a fate counter from Aynsele Scholar: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
1/1
Creature -- Human (C)
Whenever your leader attacks, untap Meek Scribe.
2/2
Creature -- Spider Mutant (C)
Reach
Bulkmight - Whenever Lifebond Spider's power or toughness increases, you gain 3 life.
2/3
Creature -- Human (C)
Forestwalk
Whenever Garden Infiltrator attacks and isn't blocked, another target creature you control gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
2/2
Creature -- Bear (C)
Hermland Explorer is colorless.
When Hermland Explorer enters the battlefield, if was spent to cast it, you may search your library for a basic land card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you do, shuffle your library.
1/2
Creature -- Naga Warrior
Leadership (You may have this enter the battlefield with a fate counter on it for each creature with leadership you control. Your creature with the most counters on it is your leader.)
Your leader has " : Regenerate this creature."
3/2
Creature -- Bear Warrior
When Denraiser enters the battlefield, if you control a creature with a fate counter on it, put a 2/2 green bear token onto the battlefield.
3/3
Creature -- Bear Warrior (C)
: Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Activate this ability only once each turn.
Bulkmight -- Whenever Artin Acolyte's power or toughness increases, creatures you control gain trample until end of turn.
3/3
Creature -- Rhino Cleric (C)
Leadership (You may have this enter the battlefield with a fate counter on it for each creature with leadership you control. Your creature with the most counters on it is your leader.)
Your leader gets +2/+2 and can't be blocked by more than one creature.
3/3
Instant (C)
Choose one -- Regenerate target creature; or regenerate two target creatures with fate counters on them.
Instant (C)
Target creature you control gets +2/+2. If there's a fate counter on that creature, it gets +4/+4 instead.
Aynsele champions never truly leave the temple gardens.
Enchantment -- Aura (C)
Enchant permanent
Enchanted permanent gets +1/+1 and has "Untap this during each other player's untap step."
Instant (C)
Prevent all damage creatures without fate counters on them would deal this turn.
CG15 This slot is reserved for a cmc4+ noncreature spell, and I'm somewhat stuck as to what to put here. Currently it's a Reclaim variant, but I don't like it.
Any suggestion for multicolor cards and the high-end problematic red and green cards?
The new mechanics
Leadership (At the beginning of your combat, put a fate counter on a creature you control. That creature is your champion until your next turn. Champions attack and block alone.)
Interdict (Whenever a creature with power higher than this enters the battlefield under an opponent's control, that player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.)
Monocolor themes
Individual card changes
News cards:
Other card adjustments:
I wanted the block to explore the reversed guilds. I specifically didn't want it to be, as it was during the Ravnica blocks, a multicolor set where 3+ colors is the right play to make. Clearly I'd rather want players assembling 2-colors decks much like in a regular set, and so the design need to lose a lot of multicolor to bring it closer to a regular set.
As such I will be reducing the amount of multicolor cards (by dropping two or three of them in each combinations) and removing the common and uncommon dual land cycles, this will free up to 4 spots in each colors at common, some of which may be repurposed for additional artifacts and/or weaker color fixers (Unknown Shores and Crumbling Vestiges are both flavorful fits to the creative I've brewed for Suvnica and Telengor).
I will thus have more multicolor commons (10) than in tarkir (5), but less than in Ravnica (20), and less multicolor (20) uncommon than either sets (30), not to mention that these uncommons will be far less spread in colors than the tarkir ones.
I hope these extra spots will help me with:
[see beginning of thread for a full spoiler]
General changes:
Multicolor, corloless and hybrid
Just the mechanics before work.
All - Have you playtested your mechanics? If so, what were the results?
Interdict – Have you considered having this check any creature (including yours) and not just opponents? I think it would give drafters and deckbuilders some direction rather than “I hope my opponents play lots of big creatures.” This is also a VERY good candidate for an ability word (landfall style) rather than a keyword ability (evolve style). That would be fun and open up design space.
Interdict – Whenever a creature with greater power than ~ power enters the battlefield (under your control?), something special happens.
Voidmind –Does it become just an upside down, nameless, typeless, colorless permanent (not a 2/2 colorless creature)?
Encore – Is this only on instants and sorceries for Izzet-like guild flavor reasons?
Leadership – I really, really like this and long considered a version of it for Boros. A couple of things. It seems like a needlessly complicated version of Exalted, and it’s using the word “champion”, which can’t be used because it’s already a keyword. The tracking for this is very simple, so the counter isn’t necessary. Imo, when it comes to reminder text, grockability is paramount (even if an extremely simple one time explanation is required). “Leadership” flavor is ultra-generic that could mean nearly anything and be in any color, and yet manages to not feel GW or “priestly”, not even “battle-priestly”. It doesn’t evoke any emotion whatsoever. Anyways, I have a suggestion.
Valiance (At the beginning of combat [of each?] on your turn, choose a creature you control to be your vanguard until your next turn.)
Your vanguard gets +1/+1 and/or has stuff.
Invigorate – I really, really like this so so much. The flavor is perfect. My only “criticism” is that it looks parasitic in the Heroic sense, but more narrow. Of course, narrow is fine for guild mechanics and parasitic can be managed through clever set design.
I really wish I could say I have the social skill to assemble people for playtesting this, but being Asperger, I don't have enough close friends either on- or offline for that (plus I utterly lack the patience required to get card images which seem to be an important prerequisite to get people on board these things).
Originally the Zhavi had a law mechanic (pretty much as in the Tesla project). I accept that Interdict is not a mechanic that you specifically build your deck around. Besides, it interacts well with the Sorba mechanic and a white theme surrounding creatures with base power 2 or less.
Besides, this block already has 4 ability words, three of which are in this set, and I'm not thrilled by the idea of making 4 out of 5 faction mechanics ability words.
I have reminder text on several of the cards. They are 2/2 colorless creatures because the rules define them as such (707.2a)
Indeed. If you're going to have 10 mechanics, at least one is going to end up being an instant/sorcery one, just like one will end up being a graveyard one (It's the on in my case)
It's not supposed to be priestly. Champions are not (at least not inherently. Creature types still need a lot of working out) priests. They're, well, champions of the Aynsele. Representatives backed by the strength of their entire caste.
I'll admit that Leadership is on its face possibly the fiddliest part of the design. I can't honestly justify fate counters if they're not used in at least two mechanics, and Leadership was the one it fell upon. I do honestly believe the mechanic leads to some interesting designs, and I am especially fond of Champion's Attendant in this regard.
Originally more of the cards at uncommon and rare were intended to have the capability to self-trigger. They ended up dwindling to the sole Rumgarr for (fairly obvious, I hope) complexity reasons.
Taking away Wrap in Magma for the Hostile Realm reprint may prove after testing to be a mistake in this regard, but I'm not sure if plotwise Realm fits in Threads of Fate.