I can definitely see what you mean, a sliver walker it would have to by it's nature be narrow. Although I don't feel that it would be any narrower than Nissa Revane was.
Was it just that a sliver walker would be too narrow? Or did it also have to do with needing to give support creatures to make a sliver walker viable in standard, and that not fitting into the storyline also have to do with it?
Was it just that a sliver walker would be too narrow? Or did it also have to do with needing to give support creatures to make a sliver walker viable in standard, and that not fitting into the storyline also have to do with it?
Well first and formost design is concerned with "healthy formats" so the story has to match up to what we consider to be a fun, interesting and diversely playable environment. There was an employee (who will remain nameless) who pushed the Sliver planeswalker angle to the point where it saw a first draft card. It seemed fun as all hell but again was narrow and needed a proper sliver environment. You should also know that for the whole time I worked for the company there were certain strategies that development kept bad (or sub-par) on purpose. We spent far too much time making unplayable mill cards, and bad land destruction (which I am on board with). We would test slivers and if they could compete with tier one strategies they would be slightly nerfed down. This came from up top, unfortunately.
Man, I miss land destruction. Look, we don't always get Thoughtseize in standard, but from time to time black gets powerful control elements. No worries. But it's been ages since land destruction was really played in Standard.
Anyway, a sliver planeswalker just seems too "Glee-esque mash-up" to me. Just because you have two good things does not mean you should always put them together.
Man, I miss land destruction. Look, we don't always get Thoughtseize in standard, but from time to time black gets powerful control elements. No worries. But it's been ages since land destruction was really played in Standard.
Anyway, a sliver planeswalker just seems too "Glee-esque mash-up" to me. Just because you have two good things does not mean you should always put them together.
True, ultimately we went in another direction. Hope that's helpful.
What if this sliver walker was tangentially linked to slivers. That way they'll work great in sliver decks, and without. Dropping sliver tokens, or searching for a specific (named) creature type, or even granting abilities from one creature to another of the same type for a short duration can work.
I am curious what ideas came to mind in regards to the sliver walker's abilities would have been, if it made it to draft.
The thing about Slivers to me, is that they're all drones doing the Queens bidding. To suddenly start them off as possible future planeswalkers isn't a good idea in my opinion. I don't like the artistic look they took with M14 and from what I hear, a lot of people didn't either which is why they're swinging the art back with M15. What I would rather see is a planeswalker who works with Slivers. Someone Akin to Sarkhan Vol, maybe slightly crazy. Perhaps a human or other sentient who was wounded or abandoned was a youngling and raised by the slivers?
I don't see slivers adopting anything other than maybe another sliver from a separate hive... Maybe
We know that the Queen is intelligent, Karn was able to reason with her so there is no reason why they wouldn't be able to have a planeswalker, maybe Legion, Overlord, or Hivelord have the same, or greater level of intelligence.
As far as them looking humanoid, they're shapeshifters, it's an aspect that has been a part of them since they were first found on Rath, and it's why they can share abilities, so I mean people can not like it, but that's slivers.
I don't see slivers adopting anything other than maybe another sliver from a separate hive... Maybe
We know that the Queen is intelligent, Karn was able to reason with her so there is no reason why they wouldn't be able to have a planeswalker, maybe Legion, Overlord, or Hivelord have the same, or greater level of intelligence.
As far as them looking humanoid, they're shapeshifters, it's an aspect that has been a part of them since they were first found on Rath, and it's why they can share abilities, so I mean people can not like it, but that's slivers.
Yeah, I'm not too uptight about that part. Just mainly I thought it would be neat to see someone non-sliver become their planeswalker. Sort of like the Vol dragon thing.
i think a sliver planeswalker would not need to be a queen. think of a rogue sliver that learns about other planes and comes back to the hive; dealing with increases sense away from the hive or just being a scout to tell the queen of more abilities out there.
I think the main argument for the queen is the fact that no other sliver has the required sapience to have a spark. Any other sliver thus far are less likely to have this level of intelligence.
I think the main argument for the queen is the fact that no other sliver has the required sapience to have a spark. Any other sliver thus far are less likely to have this level of intelligence.
so the point therein is that a leonin is sentient enough to have a spark whereas other cats in the game are not.
i just wonder if they are sentient and the will of the queen overrides it with her will. i think they are; surely overlords and hivelords have 'more' free will than the other slivers (lore-wise, not mechanically) which would denote their own intelligence. it could be possible a sliver of that level could obtain a spark.
Reading through this thread I have come to the conclusion that I would love to see a sliver planeswalker. I don't think it has to be a queen if the Shandalarian slivers are sentient enough for a individual to have a spark although flavor wise it is more consistent. I can't recall if it was ever stated how there are a bunch of humans, elves, leonine on almost every world. Say all the species had a origin plane then planeswalking, powerful magic, or a mcguven artifact are the ways for a species to spread. A planes walking queen makes sense in this regard but the only 2 things that concern me are abilities and cost. I think the plus one should put 2-3 1/1 tokens into play like Elspeth does with her tokens. Now cost wise it would make sense for it to be hybrid cost for every colored mana you can pay 2 colorless instead. She would need mana rocks and decks would likely be based in green if the land base doesn't support her. In conclusion I like non human walkers but I would love for some of the other species to get some love. Goblins, orcs, minotaur's, centaurs, zombies ect. The top two would be a sliver or zombie walker.
my thought was for the slivers to encounter a planes walker and them to copy their spark or just brute force adapt their way into the blind eterniteys and basicly become the eldrazi being sent back in time as a result
I can definitely see what you mean, a sliver walker it would have to by it's nature be narrow. Although I don't feel that it would be any narrower than Nissa Revane was.
Was it just that a sliver walker would be too narrow? Or did it also have to do with needing to give support creatures to make a sliver walker viable in standard, and that not fitting into the storyline also have to do with it?
Well first and formost design is concerned with "healthy formats" so the story has to match up to what we consider to be a fun, interesting and diversely playable environment. There was an employee (who will remain nameless) who pushed the Sliver planeswalker angle to the point where it saw a first draft card. It seemed fun as all hell but again was narrow and needed a proper sliver environment. You should also know that for the whole time I worked for the company there were certain strategies that development kept bad (or sub-par) on purpose. We spent far too much time making unplayable mill cards, and bad land destruction (which I am on board with). We would test slivers and if they could compete with tier one strategies they would be slightly nerfed down. This came from up top, unfortunately.
Anyway, a sliver planeswalker just seems too "Glee-esque mash-up" to me. Just because you have two good things does not mean you should always put them together.
True, ultimately we went in another direction. Hope that's helpful.
I am curious what ideas came to mind in regards to the sliver walker's abilities would have been, if it made it to draft.
We know that the Queen is intelligent, Karn was able to reason with her so there is no reason why they wouldn't be able to have a planeswalker, maybe Legion, Overlord, or Hivelord have the same, or greater level of intelligence.
As far as them looking humanoid, they're shapeshifters, it's an aspect that has been a part of them since they were first found on Rath, and it's why they can share abilities, so I mean people can not like it, but that's slivers.
Yeah, I'm not too uptight about that part. Just mainly I thought it would be neat to see someone non-sliver become their planeswalker. Sort of like the Vol dragon thing.
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so the point therein is that a leonin is sentient enough to have a spark whereas other cats in the game are not.
i just wonder if they are sentient and the will of the queen overrides it with her will. i think they are; surely overlords and hivelords have 'more' free will than the other slivers (lore-wise, not mechanically) which would denote their own intelligence. it could be possible a sliver of that level could obtain a spark.
i mean as long as we are theory crafting right
My Blog - contains my decklists
Uril, The Miststalker
Frankie Peanuts - needs to move to multiplayer.
*squints*
Oh wait.
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