Trying out a new keyword to capture the flavor of long range attacks, such as archery and spellcasting. I'm testing the keyword in each color to figure out which colors are the best fit:
StoneslingerW
Creature - Human Soldier
Long range (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with long range.)
1/1
Harpoon HunterU
Creature - Merfolk Warrior
Long range (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with long range.)
1/1
SniperB
Creature - Human Assassin
Long range (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with long range.)
1/1
Sparkshooter MageR
Creature - Human Shaman
Long range (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with long range.)
1/1
Sylvan ArcherG
Creature - Elf Archer
Long range (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with long range.)
1/1
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
And first strike in more than one case. Like literally archery being represented by long range and doing pretty similar a thing - except the interplay between first strike and toughness is more interesting.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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]
Trying out a new keyword to capture the flavor of long range attacks, such as archery and spellcasting. I'm testing the keyword in each color to figure out which colors are the best fit:
StoneslingerW
Creature - Human Soldier
Long range (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with long range.)
1/1
Harpoon HunterU
Creature - Merfolk Warrior
Long range (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with long range.)
1/1
SniperB
Creature - Human Assassin
Long range (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with long range.)
1/1
Sparkshooter MageR
Creature - Human Shaman
Long range (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with long range.)
1/1
Sylvan ArcherG
Creature - Elf Archer
Long range (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with long range.)
1/1
I think I can see what you aren't going for:
Not Pole-arms, Bows/Crossbows/Ballista, or Flying/Shadow/Horsemanship. So it shouldn't feel like you're evading, or like you're firing into the sky at fliers, or like you're firing into combat to pick off enemies, or like you're in the fray with long handled melee weapons, or like you're hurling boulders at a planeswalker.
I think I can see what you're going for:
A combat mechanic that "behaves" (and hence, feels) more like real life combat/war, in which you have close range and long range combat. In contrast to Magic's poetically flavorful attempts at telling such a story of combat, but not really panning out that way in practice because no matter how "long ranged" a creature is flavored, it's still always subject to regular "in-the-fray-melee". This mechanic should feel more like you're firing over and across the fray to hit a target on the other side of the battlefield - presumably your opponent's long range forces which are similarly aiming at yours. If that's the case, maybe open it up a little so it wouldn't be quite so narrow and so it would have backwards compatibility.
Ranged (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with defender, ranged, or reach.)
Actually, Long Range was inspired by "Rangestrike", which appears on the white cards you listed. It was also inspired by Afflict, of all things. But I feel Rangestrike as it's currently executed discourages attacking and thus stalls the game, hence my attempt at defining ranged attacks a different way. Reach is usually defined more by height than distance.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Actually, Long Range was inspired by "Rangestrike", which appears on the white cards you listed. It was also inspired by Afflict, of all things. But I feel Rangestrike as it's currently executed discourages attacking and thus stalls the game, hence my attempt at defining ranged attacks a different way. Reach is usually defined more by height than distance.
What if Long Range only worked while attacking? Flavor imperfections are to be expected, but a creature blocking an attacker that isn't even in the same zip code is a bit of a stretch.
Though your Long Range design is going to stall even harder than the Crossbow Infantry implementation, especially if it's on a bunch of one-drops, since they can effortlessly chump anything without trample or this new keyword.
I think it should only apply while attacking, and as mentioned should factor in reach. e.g. "Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to this by blocking creatures without reach."
That way it can attack safely (i.e. from a distance), but isn't some bizarrely unstoppable force on the defense even if it's just a 1/1.
It also doesn't feel like it belongs in all five colors. I would make it primarily white.
I like this mechanic. It came to mind for me as a possible UB evergreen keyword too. I think I would let reach interact with it too, just due to flavor and in order to make reach a bit more relevant.
I might also make it purely offensive to address the chump blocker issue.
Range (Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to this creature by blocking creatures without range or reach.)
Damage prevention feels wrong in range. It's more like they flat out don't deal damage - which is why I think first strike is already the correct expression of this mechanic.
The flavor disconnect is that declaring attackers itself is, as Legend put it, entering "in-the-fray-melee". Once you declare it an attacker you are no longer using the creature as artillery/sniper and ranged weapons are only longer useful to get the first hit rather than to avoid combat altogether.
From a gameplay perspective it's no surprise either that it's preferable to have a Fresh-Faced Recruit version of this mechanic than being able to use this "super first strike" on the defense.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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]
Stoneslinger W
Creature - Human Soldier
Long range (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with long range.)
1/1
Harpoon Hunter U
Creature - Merfolk Warrior
Long range (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with long range.)
1/1
Sniper B
Creature - Human Assassin
Long range (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with long range.)
1/1
Sparkshooter Mage R
Creature - Human Shaman
Long range (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with long range.)
1/1
Sylvan Archer G
Creature - Elf Archer
Long range (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with long range.)
1/1
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
Hands to the sky
Give a round of applause
For the great Miss Y!
And first strike in more than one case. Like literally archery being represented by long range and doing pretty similar a thing - except the interplay between first strike and toughness is more interesting.
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."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO
I think I can see what you aren't going for:
Not Pole-arms, Bows/Crossbows/Ballista, or Flying/Shadow/Horsemanship. So it shouldn't feel like you're evading, or like you're firing into the sky at fliers, or like you're firing into combat to pick off enemies, or like you're in the fray with long handled melee weapons, or like you're hurling boulders at a planeswalker.
I think I can see what you're going for:
A combat mechanic that "behaves" (and hence, feels) more like real life combat/war, in which you have close range and long range combat. In contrast to Magic's poetically flavorful attempts at telling such a story of combat, but not really panning out that way in practice because no matter how "long ranged" a creature is flavored, it's still always subject to regular "in-the-fray-melee". This mechanic should feel more like you're firing over and across the fray to hit a target on the other side of the battlefield - presumably your opponent's long range forces which are similarly aiming at yours. If that's the case, maybe open it up a little so it wouldn't be quite so narrow and so it would have backwards compatibility.
Ranged (This creature can't be dealt combat damage except by creatures with defender, ranged, or reach.)
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
What if Long Range only worked while attacking? Flavor imperfections are to be expected, but a creature blocking an attacker that isn't even in the same zip code is a bit of a stretch.
Though your Long Range design is going to stall even harder than the Crossbow Infantry implementation, especially if it's on a bunch of one-drops, since they can effortlessly chump anything without trample or this new keyword.
I think it should only apply while attacking, and as mentioned should factor in reach. e.g. "Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to this by blocking creatures without reach."
That way it can attack safely (i.e. from a distance), but isn't some bizarrely unstoppable force on the defense even if it's just a 1/1.
It also doesn't feel like it belongs in all five colors. I would make it primarily white.
- Rabid Wombat
I might also make it purely offensive to address the chump blocker issue.
Range (Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to this creature by blocking creatures without range or reach.)
The flavor disconnect is that declaring attackers itself is, as Legend put it, entering "in-the-fray-melee". Once you declare it an attacker you are no longer using the creature as artillery/sniper and ranged weapons are only longer useful to get the first hit rather than to avoid combat altogether.
From a gameplay perspective it's no surprise either that it's preferable to have a Fresh-Faced Recruit version of this mechanic than being able to use this "super first strike" on the defense.
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."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO