I've wanted to make a saproling deck, but the currently available options just don't have the same tempo. Compare Thallid Devourer to, say , Thraben doomsayer. I'm going to post a couple ideas I had here, then maybe when I know how this place works better, move to a full set based around saprolings and fungal growth in general.
Saproling Farm
Land
Saproling Farm enters the battlefield tapped.
At the beginning of your upkeep add a spore counter to ~
Remove 3 spore counters from ~ : Create a 1/1 green saproling creature token
: add G
Legendary Elvish Farmer1GG
(I need a cool name for this guy - little help?)
At the beginning of your upkeep add a spore counter to a land you control.
: Remove 2 spore counters from a permanent you control : Create a 1/1 green saproling creature token.
2/3
Spreading Fungus2G
Enchantment
Enchant target forest you control.
At the beginning of your upkeep, add a spore counter to the enchanted forest.
Remove 3 spore counters from ~ : Create a 1/1 green saproling creature token. Choose target forest you control. Remove all counters from that land. Create a copy of this and attach it to that land.
Evolution of BarkGG
Enchantment
Level up : 1G
1 Saprolings you control get +0/+2
-------
2 Saprolings you control get +0/+3
-------
4 Saprolings you control get +0/+4
Evolution of Web [mana]
Level up GG
Saprolings you control have reach (this ability is permanent)
------
2 Creatures blocked by saprolings you control loose trample and can't gain trample until end of turn.
-------
4 Creatures blocked by saprolings you control loose first strike, double strike, trample, and deathtouch and can't gain these abilities until end of turn.
Saproling Farm is busted. It's a fetchable land that makes tokens without any kind of mana investment needed, and that's without getting into proliferate and the synergies you have here.
What's the mana cost on Legendary Elvish Farmer? I think 1GG sounds about right for that body and ability. He's a pretty cool card in the context of just the Fallen Empires/Time Spiral block fungi, though he pushes the already-ridiculous Saproling Farm further into broken territory.
The first 3 lines of text in Spreading Fungus are fine for the CMC you have. You pay an extra G for something much harder to remove than Thallid. Then I got to the bit where your thallid turns other lands into thallids, which is way too strong for an aura that only costs you two mana. The potential for exponential growth alone should raise the cost.
Your level-up lord enchantments are very interesting, though I'd up the level thresholds of Evolution of Bark because of how easy it is to dump mana into 1 mana level up cards. I'd put Evolution of Web at the same CMC, but its thresholds can stay the same due to being niche and costing 2 mana per level. You might want to change the wording of the latter one to match with Archetype of Aggression and its cycle, which covers its bases when it comes to effects that make creatures lose abilities vs. effects that make creatures gain them.
There's not a whole lot of reason for Saproling Farm to be a forest. Not all nonbasics need to be fetch-able. The ability is fine though. 1 free saproling per 3 turns isn't going to break anything even on a land.
The elvish farmer should probably cost GG, maybe have only 3 toughness. Thematically it's very similar to Thelon of Havenwood, so why not him?
Spreading Fungus is fine. It's much slower than, say, Spawnwrithe, which is appropriate for also being more difficult to remove.
- adjusted mana costs
- adjusted the numbers on evolution of bark.
BlazingRagnarok, I'm not sure how you would apply archetype of aggression's wording to evolution of web. Could you clarify that?
Also, are the clauses on level up cumulative, or does each level replace the original. (I want my saprolings to keep their reach ability when it levels up)
- adjusted mana costs
- adjusted the numbers on evolution of bark.
BlazingRagnarok, I'm not sure how you would apply archetype of aggression's wording to evolution of web. Could you clarify that?
"Creatures blocked by saprolings you control lose first strike, double strike, trample, and deathtouch and can't have or gain first strike, double strike, trample, and deathtouch."
Also, are the clauses on level up cumulative, or does each level replace the original. (I want my saprolings to keep their reach ability when it levels up)
Abilities within levels get replaced by the next level (see 710.2), but none of the leveler creatures in Rise of the Eldrazi have abilities other than level up outside of their level striations. Since leveler creature always have level up, which is located outside of level striations, my guess is that any abilities outside of level-up boxes will be kept. Also, 710.4 indicates this as well.
710.2. A level symbol is a keyword ability that represents a static ability. The level symbol includes either a range of numbers, indicated here as “N1-N2,” or a single number followed by a plus sign, indicated here as “N3+.” Any abilities printed within the same text box striation as a level symbol are part of its static ability. The same is true of the power/toughness box printed within that striation, indicated here as “[P/T].”
710.2a “{LEVEL N1-N2} [Abilities] [P/T]” means “As long as this creature has at least N1 level counters on it, but no more than N2 level counters on it, it has base power and toughness [P/T] and has [abilities].”
710.2b “{LEVEL N3+} [Abilities] [P/T]” means “As long as this creature has N3 or more level counters on it, it has base power and toughness [P/T] and has [abilities].”
710.4. Any ability a leveler card has that isn’t preceded by a level symbol is treated normally. In particular, each leveler permanent has its level up ability (see rule 702.86) at all times; it may be activated regardless of how many level counters are on that permanent.
Here's my ideas on black cards for saprolings. The idea is that in the swamp, they grow a particularly virulent strain of saprolings that can be harvested for their poisonous properties.
Nightshade Farmer2GB
Creature - Elf
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a spore counter on a land you control.
Tap a land you control and remove 3 spore counters from it : Create a 1/1 black and green saproling token.
2/2
Legendary Nightshade Farmer 2GB
Creature elf assassin
(need a cool name and story for this guy)
At the beginning of your upkeep put a spore counter on up to 2 lands you control.
Tap a land you control and remove 3 spore counters : Create a 1/1 black and green saproling token.
Sacrifice a saproling : create an equipment token with "equipped creature gains +1/+1 and deathtouch" and "equip: B"
3/3
Evolution of nightshade3GB
Enchantment
Level Up GB
------
1 Saprolings you control gain wither
------
3 Saprolings you control gain infect
Engulf in Rot 2BG
instant
Destroy target creature. Distribute a number of spore counters onto permanents you control equal to that creature's power
Spreading NightshadeBG
Enchantment
Enchant target land you control
Whenever a creature dies, puta a spore counter on enchanted land.
Remove 2 spore counters from the enchanted swamp: create a 1/1 black and green nightshade saproling token, then choose target land. Create a copy of this and attach it to that land.
As a fan of the Fungus and Saproling types, I like your ideas.
Spreading Fungus seems excessively wordy and convoluted to me, mostly because is tries to do two different (interesting) things at once: Putting counters on lands for later token creation, and self-replication. Maybe it would be better to do these on two different cards (your legendary Farmer already does the "counters on lands" thing, so you could slim it down to the self-replication effect, maybe combined with token creation upon ETB and a less wordier condition).
Saproling Farm (as of now) doesn't tap for mana. Wizards has stopped printing lands like that, so it would at least have to tap for C. I like the counter idea since it references the original Thallid, but it too seems to amount to too much text on the card (if you add another line of text for the mana-producing ability). How about a ETB tapped land that taps for G and and activated ability that removes three counters (of any kind) from among permanents you control to make a Saproling?
As for the Nightshade batch ... I don't think there's a reason for making "Nightshade" a creature type as the concept could be conveyed in the art. I also think there's no reason to limit the targetable lands to Swamps, except for flavor reasons. Since you also did the 'counters on lands' thing in the first batch, I think it could be good to figure out a relatively standard 'land template' for the ability that always stays the same no matter what card it is on (similar to the original Thallid ability).
Conversely, I think it'd be cute if you put some light restrictions on Engulf in Rot in order to up the flavor a bit, something like "Distribute X spore counters among any number of lands, Fungus creatures or Elf creatures you control [...]".
i kind of like these cards, kind of feals like a saproling themed commander deck wizards could sell
as for the name of the elvish farmer card, i kind of like the idea of making him a younger version of nemata (so a treefolk, not elf)
a treefolk helping to spread the spores and make the forest grow sounds kind of right, doesnt it ?
it would also allow u to diversify ur creature types and not make it all about elves and saprolings/fungi. with other creature types around saprolings/fungi they become the focus
Saproling Farm
Land
Saproling Farm enters the battlefield tapped.
At the beginning of your upkeep add a spore counter to ~
Remove 3 spore counters from ~ : Create a 1/1 green saproling creature token
: add G
Legendary Elvish Farmer1GG
(I need a cool name for this guy - little help?)
At the beginning of your upkeep add a spore counter to a land you control.
: Remove 2 spore counters from a permanent you control : Create a 1/1 green saproling creature token.
2/3
Spreading Fungus 2G
Enchantment
Enchant target forest you control.
At the beginning of your upkeep, add a spore counter to the enchanted forest.
Remove 3 spore counters from ~ : Create a 1/1 green saproling creature token. Choose target forest you control. Remove all counters from that land. Create a copy of this and attach it to that land.
Evolution of Bark GG
Enchantment
Level up : 1G
1 Saprolings you control get +0/+2
-------
2 Saprolings you control get +0/+3
-------
4 Saprolings you control get +0/+4
Evolution of Web [mana]
Level up GG
Saprolings you control have reach (this ability is permanent)
------
2 Creatures blocked by saprolings you control loose trample and can't gain trample until end of turn.
-------
4 Creatures blocked by saprolings you control loose first strike, double strike, trample, and deathtouch and can't gain these abilities until end of turn.
What's the mana cost on Legendary Elvish Farmer? I think 1GG sounds about right for that body and ability. He's a pretty cool card in the context of just the Fallen Empires/Time Spiral block fungi, though he pushes the already-ridiculous Saproling Farm further into broken territory.
The first 3 lines of text in Spreading Fungus are fine for the CMC you have. You pay an extra G for something much harder to remove than Thallid. Then I got to the bit where your thallid turns other lands into thallids, which is way too strong for an aura that only costs you two mana. The potential for exponential growth alone should raise the cost.
Your level-up lord enchantments are very interesting, though I'd up the level thresholds of Evolution of Bark because of how easy it is to dump mana into 1 mana level up cards. I'd put Evolution of Web at the same CMC, but its thresholds can stay the same due to being niche and costing 2 mana per level. You might want to change the wording of the latter one to match with Archetype of Aggression and its cycle, which covers its bases when it comes to effects that make creatures lose abilities vs. effects that make creatures gain them.
The elvish farmer should probably cost GG, maybe have only 3 toughness. Thematically it's very similar to Thelon of Havenwood, so why not him?
Spreading Fungus is fine. It's much slower than, say, Spawnwrithe, which is appropriate for also being more difficult to remove.
- Rabid Wombat
- adjusted the numbers on evolution of bark.
BlazingRagnarok, I'm not sure how you would apply archetype of aggression's wording to evolution of web. Could you clarify that?
"Creatures blocked by saprolings you control lose first strike, double strike, trample, and deathtouch and can't have or gain first strike, double strike, trample, and deathtouch."
Abilities within levels get replaced by the next level (see 710.2), but none of the leveler creatures in Rise of the Eldrazi have abilities other than level up outside of their level striations. Since leveler creature always have level up, which is located outside of level striations, my guess is that any abilities outside of level-up boxes will be kept. Also, 710.4 indicates this as well.
710.2. A level symbol is a keyword ability that represents a static ability. The level symbol includes either a range of numbers, indicated here as “N1-N2,” or a single number followed by a plus sign, indicated here as “N3+.” Any abilities printed within the same text box striation as a level symbol are part of its static ability. The same is true of the power/toughness box printed within that striation, indicated here as “[P/T].”
710.2a “{LEVEL N1-N2} [Abilities] [P/T]” means “As long as this creature has at least N1 level counters on it, but no more than N2 level counters on it, it has base power and toughness [P/T] and has [abilities].”
710.2b “{LEVEL N3+} [Abilities] [P/T]” means “As long as this creature has N3 or more level counters on it, it has base power and toughness [P/T] and has [abilities].”
710.4. Any ability a leveler card has that isn’t preceded by a level symbol is treated normally. In particular, each leveler permanent has its level up ability (see rule 702.86) at all times; it may be activated regardless of how many level counters are on that permanent.
added the "and can't gain ..." wording as well as 'until end of turn' wording for clarity.
Nightshade Farmer2GB
Creature - Elf
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a spore counter on a land you control.
Tap a land you control and remove 3 spore counters from it : Create a 1/1 black and green saproling token.
2/2
Legendary Nightshade Farmer 2GB
Creature elf assassin
(need a cool name and story for this guy)
At the beginning of your upkeep put a spore counter on up to 2 lands you control.
Tap a land you control and remove 3 spore counters : Create a 1/1 black and green saproling token.
Sacrifice a saproling : create an equipment token with "equipped creature gains +1/+1 and deathtouch" and "equip: B"
3/3
Evolution of nightshade3GB
Enchantment
Level Up GB
------
1 Saprolings you control gain wither
------
3 Saprolings you control gain infect
Engulf in Rot 2BG
instant
Destroy target creature. Distribute a number of spore counters onto permanents you control equal to that creature's power
Spreading Nightshade BG
Enchantment
Enchant target land you control
Whenever a creature dies, puta a spore counter on enchanted land.
Remove 2 spore counters from the enchanted swamp: create a 1/1 black and green nightshade saproling token, then choose target land. Create a copy of this and attach it to that land.
Hands to the sky
Give a round of applause
For the great Miss Y!
Spreading Fungus seems excessively wordy and convoluted to me, mostly because is tries to do two different (interesting) things at once: Putting counters on lands for later token creation, and self-replication. Maybe it would be better to do these on two different cards (your legendary Farmer already does the "counters on lands" thing, so you could slim it down to the self-replication effect, maybe combined with token creation upon ETB and a less wordier condition).
Saproling Farm (as of now) doesn't tap for mana. Wizards has stopped printing lands like that, so it would at least have to tap for C. I like the counter idea since it references the original Thallid, but it too seems to amount to too much text on the card (if you add another line of text for the mana-producing ability). How about a ETB tapped land that taps for G and and activated ability that removes three counters (of any kind) from among permanents you control to make a Saproling?
As for the Nightshade batch ... I don't think there's a reason for making "Nightshade" a creature type as the concept could be conveyed in the art. I also think there's no reason to limit the targetable lands to Swamps, except for flavor reasons. Since you also did the 'counters on lands' thing in the first batch, I think it could be good to figure out a relatively standard 'land template' for the ability that always stays the same no matter what card it is on (similar to the original Thallid ability).
Conversely, I think it'd be cute if you put some light restrictions on Engulf in Rot in order to up the flavor a bit, something like "Distribute X spore counters among any number of lands, Fungus creatures or Elf creatures you control [...]".
as for the name of the elvish farmer card, i kind of like the idea of making him a younger version of nemata (so a treefolk, not elf)
a treefolk helping to spread the spores and make the forest grow sounds kind of right, doesnt it ?
it would also allow u to diversify ur creature types and not make it all about elves and saprolings/fungi. with other creature types around saprolings/fungi they become the focus