I feel like Exploit was a missed opportunity. As it is now, the mechanic is a fairly basic "When this enters, you may sacrifice a creature for *EFFECT*" but I believe with a few minor tweaks to the cards it was printed on, it could have been a much more synergistic and interesting keyword (see the bolded changes):
Sidisi's FaithfulU
Creature - Naga Wizard
Exploit (When this creature enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice another creature.) Whenever you exploit a creature, return target creature to its owner's hand.
0/4
Qarsi Sadist1B
Creature - Human Cleric
Exploit (When this creature enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice another creature.) Whenever you exploit a creature, target player loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
1/3
This way you can play several exploit cards one after another for multiple effects. Play the Sidisi's Faithful for one trigger, then next turn Qarsi Sadist for its own trigger plus the Sidisi's Faithful again. Basically similar to how Alliesworked in terms of stacking ETB effects.
The changes make the mechanic more powerful, so I limited the sacrifice to another creature (which tones down the power while making it more flavorful - how would a creature exploit itself?).
The complexity of the mechanic is also increased, however I think it would be acceptable considering: a) the original Exploit keyword had its commons likely redflagged anyway, and b) the aforementioned Allies had similar ETB multi-triggers printed at common.
I actually suspect that this was how Exploit was originally intended, but perhaps it really was too complex for the Dragons of Tarkir set (considering it had a special Morph variant eating up complexity points). If so, it's a shame and I think the mechanic should have been saved for a less complex environment.
You can still do that, right? Except for the "another" part there is nothing stopping you from expanding the design space of exploit by creating new cards that care about a player exploiting rather than a creature - just cost these accordingly.
It's a play design issue. The reusable and cumulative exploit triggers would have to be cost higher and hence seem less attractive at first glance. I'd expect about half the effect at the same cost would leave players that aren't outright going for a synergy driven linear deck less interested in exploit cards. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be done, but certainly that this different approach is not without its cons.
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Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
I remember feeling like exploit was underwhelming not by the nature of the mechanic itself but because of the implementation. It was mostly used on fairly underwhelming cards and its design space wasn't explored as well as it could have been.
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Sidisi's Faithful U
Creature - Naga Wizard
Exploit (When this creature enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice another creature.)
Whenever you exploit a creature, return target creature to its owner's hand.
0/4
Qarsi Sadist 1B
Creature - Human Cleric
Exploit (When this creature enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice another creature.)
Whenever you exploit a creature, target player loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
1/3
This way you can play several exploit cards one after another for multiple effects. Play the Sidisi's Faithful for one trigger, then next turn Qarsi Sadist for its own trigger plus the Sidisi's Faithful again. Basically similar to how Allies worked in terms of stacking ETB effects.
The changes make the mechanic more powerful, so I limited the sacrifice to another creature (which tones down the power while making it more flavorful - how would a creature exploit itself?).
The complexity of the mechanic is also increased, however I think it would be acceptable considering: a) the original Exploit keyword had its commons likely redflagged anyway, and b) the aforementioned Allies had similar ETB multi-triggers printed at common.
I actually suspect that this was how Exploit was originally intended, but perhaps it really was too complex for the Dragons of Tarkir set (considering it had a special Morph variant eating up complexity points). If so, it's a shame and I think the mechanic should have been saved for a less complex environment.
It's a play design issue. The reusable and cumulative exploit triggers would have to be cost higher and hence seem less attractive at first glance. I'd expect about half the effect at the same cost would leave players that aren't outright going for a synergy driven linear deck less interested in exploit cards. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be done, but certainly that this different approach is not without its cons.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
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