Gerrard always been a threat to me. All my nostalgic moments in magic pass through his quotes and the battle against phyrexia . But somehow Wizards screwed the card so bad that is almost unplayable.
I bet you guys have the same issue with other cards...wich one?
So this is how (in my opinion ) some cards should have been :
I'll admit that I kind of like that Yawgmoth. IMO, it's not TOO broken given that his casting cost is similar to that of his bargain and makes his Will ability tougher to use. However, I may argue that his Will ability be moved to his ultimate rather than a plus ability. It may seem kind of pointless to use his will to add loyalty counters on him, then go off, probably win by then, then...giving you no opportunity to fully utilize him. Plus, I just realized that there may be some stupidly good synergy overlooked within his own card. Draw a ton of cards the turn he comes into play, discard most of them at end of turn, then use his Will next turn...
yeah , he's a little bit broken. But he's yawgmoth for god sake hahaha
Yeah , bling seer could have been 2UB(tap): Look at target player hand. Choose a nonland card from it .That player discards that card . Just like "seer vision"
I always thought the Sengir family from Homelands was supposed to be really cool, but they all just ended up being so bad. Especially Baron Sengir himself.
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Retrodrome!
Hoi, hoi, u embleer hrair
M'saion ulé hraka vair.
So that urza walker card. The zero and plus ability are WAAAAAAAAAAY better than the ultimate. The ultimate is like a really bad version of tezzeret, agent of bolas' ultimate. But the zero is absurd as is the plus.
That yawgmoth is absolutely disgusting. Yawgmoth wasn't a walker either, but he was more powerful than most walkers. Like yawg's will as a plus ability that you can do each turn? Insane. Or just straight up yawgmoth's bargain activation. His ultimate is also quite bad in comparison to the first 2 abilities he has.
Volrath is just like varolz, except stupid in that you actually just discard death's shadow to him and one shot the opponent in all likelihood. Way too good.
Gerrard capashen is actually just a battlecry trigger with a few keywords tacked on. Meh. Fine, but not great by any stretch by todays' standards although back then he'd be insane because creatures were quite weak back then.
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"Yawgmoth," Freyalise whispered as she set the bomb, "now you will pay for your treachery."
Gerrad: so he loses 1 cmc, 2 toughness, his activated ability to tap down possible creatures, and his ability to keep you healthy for a more aggro strategy with things like battlecry 2.0, first strike, and vigilance? Keep in mind, Gerrard was the embodiment of white's perseverance and heroicness, he is a very defensive member of the Weatherlight hence being a 3/4 who could tap down enemies and keep your life total healthier. Yes Gerrard could be a bit angsty but that is just the trope "Destiny Thrust Upon the Average".
Volrath: so he loses 2 cmc, 2 toughness, and 2 power, and his activated ability is more permanent? Sounds great but not as interesting for someone who is temporarily shapeshifting their body to become temporarily stronger.
Kamahl: For some reason becomes an artifact, -1 cmc, -2 power, and gets first strike. It may work for Jeska, Warrior Adept but her weapons are smaller and nimbler and are one-handed. We are talking about a man who is using a great sword that still takes more of a windup to swing then a one-handed. Jeska has first strike because she is not as reckless like Kamahl. Also Kamahl became Kamahl, Fist of Krosa where he became less reckless and more focused on the preservation of the life of himself and others.
Urza: His 0 is the best thing about him, no reason to use anything else. Although I maybe proven wrong, I still firmly believe Urza himself is UWR while his brother Mishra, Artificer Prodigy is UBR to represent how they are so similar but how they go about their plans are so very different.
Yawgmoth: Yawgmoth's Will as a + ability? Not even Chandra Ablaze is that good. Yawgmoth's 0 ability would have to be more akin to -X. Half his ultimate is purely blue, the ability to take control of creatures with no set time frame of return unlike red (IE Threaten). The other half is Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth which would require the text of "You get an emblem with: "Each land is a swamp in addition to its other land types.""
I definitely agree with the sentiment, OP. I am kind of glad that we never got an Urza, Planeswalker planeswalker card due to how infinitely powerful he actually was. I don't think he could be represented in a way that would balance his power with the general player base's expectations. Also, wasn't there something about Phyrexians not able to become planeswalkers themselves?
When redesigning existing cards, I always have the goal of changing as little as possible to make the card playable. (Otherwise, you you might as well just give the card a whole new name and artwork.) The main places that can be fiddled with are abilities, mana cost, P/T, sometimes card type, and possibly rarity. Usually changes in only a couple of these areas can make a card significantly better. It is very rare that all of these places would be a problem.
It is often enough, especially with creatures, to just add an extra beneficial ability or keyword and everything else can be left alone. If I decide to change an existing ability, I try keep in mind the card's existing flavor, mechanical idea, gameplay role, and possibly even historical significance.
Gerrard Capashen plays a slow control oriented role. It is already borderline playable, so just some slight changes could easily push it over the edge.
- The simplest first change would be lower his activation cost and possibly cut the attacking restriction making it look like Azorius Guildmage's first ability.
- After improving the activated ability, a simple keyword like keyword like first strike would add a lot. First strike would make sense because Master of Arms, which also represents Gerrard, has first strike. That is probably more than enough changes to make it good playable card.
Gerrard Capashen 3WW Legendary Creature - Human Soldier (R)
First strike
At the beginning of your upkeep, you gain 1 life for each card in target opponent’s hand. 2W: Tap target creature.
3/4
Volrath the Fallen is already a decent Craw Wurm sized body with a Shade-like ability that can be used to fuel Zombify effects.
- Something a little bit more flavorful would be to make it +X/+Y based on P/T like Bioplasm, but that would usually not be an upgrade.
- Maybe, basing off the flavor as a Shapeshifter, something like Cairn Wanderer? Although even if it is limited to the keywords that existed at the time that Volrath was printed (the same as Escaped Shapeshifter) it is still super wordy.
1B, Discard a creature card: Volrath the Fallen gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the discarded card’s converted mana cost. If the discarded card has flying, Volrath gains flying until end of turn. The same is true for first strike, protection, and trample.
- Maybe the simpler and better change would be to just allow you to discard any card type?
Volrath the Fallen 3BBB Legendary Creature - Shapeshifter (R) 1B, Discard a card: Volrath the Fallen gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the discarded card’s converted mana cost. “I stepped out. I did not step down.”
6/4
Kamahl, Pit Fighter could probably just be bumped up to 6/3 and be significantly better.
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I bet you guys have the same issue with other cards...wich one?
So this is how (in my opinion ) some cards should have been :
Karona, False God - seriously, what was Wizards thinking with this abomination?
(btw, Yawgmoth doesn't actually have a card)
Yeah , bling seer could have been 2UB(tap): Look at target player hand. Choose a nonland card from it .That player discards that card . Just like "seer vision"
Standard
RWUAmerica TempoUWR
& More...
Modern
URXGrixis/Tarmo/Tempo TwinURX
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That yawgmoth is absolutely disgusting. Yawgmoth wasn't a walker either, but he was more powerful than most walkers. Like yawg's will as a plus ability that you can do each turn? Insane. Or just straight up yawgmoth's bargain activation. His ultimate is also quite bad in comparison to the first 2 abilities he has.
Volrath is just like varolz, except stupid in that you actually just discard death's shadow to him and one shot the opponent in all likelihood. Way too good.
Gerrard capashen is actually just a battlecry trigger with a few keywords tacked on. Meh. Fine, but not great by any stretch by todays' standards although back then he'd be insane because creatures were quite weak back then.
Currently Playing:
Retired
Volrath: so he loses 2 cmc, 2 toughness, and 2 power, and his activated ability is more permanent? Sounds great but not as interesting for someone who is temporarily shapeshifting their body to become temporarily stronger.
Kamahl: For some reason becomes an artifact, -1 cmc, -2 power, and gets first strike. It may work for Jeska, Warrior Adept but her weapons are smaller and nimbler and are one-handed. We are talking about a man who is using a great sword that still takes more of a windup to swing then a one-handed. Jeska has first strike because she is not as reckless like Kamahl. Also Kamahl became Kamahl, Fist of Krosa where he became less reckless and more focused on the preservation of the life of himself and others.
Urza: His 0 is the best thing about him, no reason to use anything else. Although I maybe proven wrong, I still firmly believe Urza himself is UWR while his brother Mishra, Artificer Prodigy is UBR to represent how they are so similar but how they go about their plans are so very different.
Yawgmoth: Yawgmoth's Will as a + ability? Not even Chandra Ablaze is that good. Yawgmoth's 0 ability would have to be more akin to -X. Half his ultimate is purely blue, the ability to take control of creatures with no set time frame of return unlike red (IE Threaten). The other half is Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth which would require the text of "You get an emblem with: "Each land is a swamp in addition to its other land types.""
It is often enough, especially with creatures, to just add an extra beneficial ability or keyword and everything else can be left alone. If I decide to change an existing ability, I try keep in mind the card's existing flavor, mechanical idea, gameplay role, and possibly even historical significance.
Gerrard Capashen plays a slow control oriented role. It is already borderline playable, so just some slight changes could easily push it over the edge.
- The simplest first change would be lower his activation cost and possibly cut the attacking restriction making it look like Azorius Guildmage's first ability.
- After improving the activated ability, a simple keyword like keyword like first strike would add a lot. First strike would make sense because Master of Arms, which also represents Gerrard, has first strike. That is probably more than enough changes to make it good playable card.
Legendary Creature - Human Soldier (R)
First strike
At the beginning of your upkeep, you gain 1 life for each card in target opponent’s hand.
2W: Tap target creature.
3/4
Volrath the Fallen is already a decent Craw Wurm sized body with a Shade-like ability that can be used to fuel Zombify effects.
- Something a little bit more flavorful would be to make it +X/+Y based on P/T like Bioplasm, but that would usually not be an upgrade.
- Maybe, basing off the flavor as a Shapeshifter, something like Cairn Wanderer? Although even if it is limited to the keywords that existed at the time that Volrath was printed (the same as Escaped Shapeshifter) it is still super wordy.
Legendary Creature - Shapeshifter (R)
1B, Discard a card: Volrath the Fallen gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the discarded card’s converted mana cost.
“I stepped out. I did not step down.”
6/4
Kamahl, Pit Fighter could probably just be bumped up to 6/3 and be significantly better.