What I'd really like to see in Ral Zarek is a card with some teeth that isn't completely broken (JtMS) or practically worthless (Nissa) - what a Planeswalker should be.
The 'best' casting cost would be 2CD. At 3CD, the power can be higher, but it'll likely be a "too late to help" card in most cases. At 1CD, its "+" ability would have to be weaker than Electrolyze (direct damage doesn't appear on a PW with CMC under 4).
I would love to see "1 damage, draw a card" for +1 as the first ability.
The second ability could tutor for an Instant or Sorcery based on CMC, similar to Tezzeret's, except it exiles the card under Ral and you get to cast a free copy.
The third ability (dreaming here) could be an Emblem with a Panoptic Mirror effect.
Other abilities that I wouldn't mind seeing come to pass on a UR Planeswalker:
- Next instant/sorcery you cast this turn can't be countered.
- Put target nonland permanent you do/don't control on the top/bottom of its owner's library.
- Make token copy of target/each creature on battlefield; token(s) has/have haste; exile token(s) EoT. (Could be second/third ability).
- Emblem: "Whenever you cast instant/sorcery, this emblem deals 1 damage to each creature you don't control and each opponent."
Unless WotC feels generous (or we have another worker from a printing company do something unintelligent), we won't know until some time in April.
3cmc, 2 loyalty
+2 Target creature gets -2/0 and haste until end of turn.
-X Ral deals X damage divided between any number of target creatures.
-X Put X 3/1 blue and red Weird Elemental creatures onto the battlefield. They have haste, trample and "At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice this creature."
Consider the following:
-R&D said they want to keep the design space used up by each planeswalker to a minimum...
-He seems to have to do with elementals/weirds in the book, and certainly in DOTP 2012 deck. Chandra may do Phoenixes, Sarkhan Dragons, Jeice Illusions.
-Ral has a theme of electricity. Not fire like Chandra or lava like Koth.
The first ability, I think, shows Ral as a kind of power generator. And the power's gotta come from somewhere, right?
The abilities are purposely not complimentary. He charges himself from a creature, -2/-0 for numbness, haste for a tingle.
It can be used to hinder an opponent's defense or to help your own offense.
The -2/-0 here also helps to curb stompy creatures like Hound of Griselbrand. They're not what Ral's really about, anyway.
It's better for helping out pinging creatures like Prodigal Pyromancer.
His other abilities are hogs. He's ready to dump all of his energy at a moment's notice.
Ral suits having a -X. Bringing out a swarm of Elementals is pretty cool.
It's louder, flashier and a big blowout.
His second ability is more versatile, but you're getting 1 point of damage for each loyalty point, and you can't hit face.
The ultimate can hit face for 3 damage per loyalty, but can be dealt with much easier.
You don't call "dying to removal" if the removal is more expensive in resources than the creature. If you have to spend BG (Abrupt Decay), or W + basic land (PtE) to remove a 1G, that is not "dying to removal". Strictly speaking Goyf dies to removal, but actually your removal is dying to Goyf.
Considering Emblems have been popular in recent sets, I wouldn't be surprised to see a spell friendly emblem. Maybe one that reverberates spells you cast twice or something. That's OP; but, it's something to consider.
Seems pretty tame for an ultimate considering the spells are random. I could see searching your library for 3 sorcery or instant cards and playing them without paying their mana costs though.
Hm...tell me what you think of this. It may be too weird, but i think it has the weird, lighningtbased izzet silly planeswalker feel.
Ral Zarek, reverberator
3
+2: until your next upkeep, the next time an instant or sorcery spell would go to your graveyard, exile it onto ral zarek instead.
0: until your next upkeep, the next time a source would deal damage to ral zarek, ral zarek deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the number of spells exiled onto ral zarek.
-4: Draw X cards, where X is the number of cards exiled onto ral ral zarek. Ral zarek deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the number of cards exile onto Ral zarek.
hes a damage dealer with a re usuable ult. What do you think?
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I fear I won't have much time to play Magic these days.
I get to watch worlds develop around me.
I get to watch great leaders, terrible oppressors, and trend setters rise and fall.
Limited, Standard, Modern, everything is a different playing field I feel I can observe, but will not actually touch.
I look forward to the stories I will hear.
And more so to the ones I will watch unfold first hand.
Isn't the unknown exciting?
Hm...tell me what you think of this. It may be too weird, but i think it has the weird, lighningtbased izzet silly planeswalker feel.
Ral Zarek, reverberator
3
+2: until your next upkeep, the next time an instant or sorcery spell would go to your graveyard, exile it onto ral zarek instead.
0: until your next upkeep, the next time a source would deal damage to ral zarek, ral zarek deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the number of spells exiled onto ral zarek.
-4: Draw X cards, where X is the number of cards exiled onto ral ral zarek. Ral zarek deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the number of cards exile onto Ral zarek.
hes a damage dealer with a re usuable ult. What do you think?
3CMC. Has a +2 with starting loyalty 3 and a -4 ult. >_>
and his 0 ability is a spitemare. Bad design is bad.
I'm thinkin 4CMC. Electrolyze in there somewhere. His plus being a "+1/+1 haste/flying to target creature. And [insert silly ult here] for his ultimate ability.
Hm...tell me what you think of this. It may be too weird, but i think it has the weird, lighningtbased izzet silly planeswalker feel.
Ral Zarek, reverberator
3
+2: until your next upkeep, the next time an instant or sorcery spell would go to your graveyard, exile it onto ral zarek instead.
0: until your next upkeep, the next time a source would deal damage to ral zarek, ral zarek deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the number of spells exiled onto ral zarek.
-4: Draw X cards, where X is the number of cards exiled onto ral ral zarek. Ral zarek deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the number of cards exile onto Ral zarek.
hes a damage dealer with a re usuable ult. What do you think?
I like the idea you've got here with exiling spells. The problem: the 0 ability is very odd and counterintuitive, since it absolutely requires you to hit it with your own (situational, as it's otherwise useless) damage spell, since your opponent can just ignore him, as he isn't growing any. It places a weird restriction on deckbuilding with little reward. The other two abilities are pretty sweet, though.
I'd change it to
Ral Zarek, Reverberator
3
+2: Until your next upkeep, the next time an instant or sorcery spell cast from your hand would go to your graveyard, you may exile it instead.
-2: You may copy target instant or sorcery spell exiled with Ral Zarek without paying its mana cost until the beginning of your next upkeep. If you do, put it into your graveyard.
-5: Draw X cards, where X is the number of cards exiled with Ral Zarek. Ral Zarek deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the number of cards exiled onto Ral Zarek.
3CMC. Has a +2 with starting loyalty 3 and a -4 ult. >_>
and his 0 ability is a spitemare. Bad design is bad.
I'm thinkin 4CMC. Electrolyze in there somewhere. His plus being a "+1/+1 haste/flying to target creature. And [insert silly ult here] for his ultimate ability.
its not bad design. If you plus him, and then immdiately ult him, then youll have drawn.....one card. His ult is meant to be used up much later. But i agree, i think his 0 is wonky. So, how about this:
-X: copy target spell exiled with ral zarek, where X is the converted mana cost of the copied spell.
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I fear I won't have much time to play Magic these days.
I get to watch worlds develop around me.
I get to watch great leaders, terrible oppressors, and trend setters rise and fall.
Limited, Standard, Modern, everything is a different playing field I feel I can observe, but will not actually touch.
I look forward to the stories I will hear.
And more so to the ones I will watch unfold first hand.
Isn't the unknown exciting?
Eating spells could very well be done. It'd just work like this:
+0: Exile an Instant or Sorcery card from your hand. Put X loyalty counters on Ral Zarek, where X is the converted mana cost of the exiled card.
Electrolyze would be awesome at a -2, and it would actually make a whole lot of sense
And, because it'd totally make sense for Izzet to:
-10 (Or some other relatively high number): You get an emblem with "At the beginning of each main phase on your turn, you may cast any number of instants and/or sorceries exiled by Ral Zarek without paying their mana cost."
And yes, absolutely would that emblem be stackable and yes on both main phases. =P
Or at least something along those lines. If Ral Zarek ate spells, I can only imagine that they'd be sure to make it so that they're reusable. That's just the best way I can think of making that happen.
ultimate: "You gain an emblem which reads: Spells you cast has overload equall to their converted mana cost"
Maybe an extra line to make it not target your stuff or only target your stuff (as overloads worded weirdly like that)
ultimate: "You gain an emblem which reads: Spells you cast has overload equall to their converted mana cost"
Maybe an extra line to make it not target your stuff or only target your stuff (as overloads worded weirdly like that)
Eating spells could very well be done. It'd just work like this:
+0: Exile an Instant or Sorcery card from your hand. Put X loyalty counters on Ral Zarek, where X is the converted mana cost of the exiled card.
Electrolyze would be awesome at a -2, and it would actually make a whole lot of sense
And, because it'd totally make sense for Izzet to:
-10 (Or some other relatively high number): You get an emblem with "At the beginning of each main phase on your turn, you may cast any number of instants and/or sorceries exiled by Ral Zarek without paying their mana cost."
And yes, absolutely would that emblem be stackable and yes on both main phases. =P
Or at least something along those lines. If Ral Zarek ate spells, I can only imagine that they'd be sure to make it so that they're reusable. That's just the best way I can think of making that happen.
Having the first and last abilities would get your version of Ral insta-banned in EDH and Modern. Drop it, then exile one of the following 8+ CMC spells:
You can easily pop an emblem the turn after you drop Ral, keep him on the board, and exile another card each turn, making it into an obscenely overpowered Panoptic Mirror. Both main phases? Be serious. Beacon, Annihilation, Oblit and Stretch are soft-locks; Curse and Denying are attrition cards; and Scramble and Warp will cause people to scoop.
The idea of a Panoptic Mirror emblem is great (I mentioned it myself), but printing it has to be balanced out against a drawback. I'd much rather see a good, balanced card for Ral than have it be a design mistake like JtMS and Snapcaster.
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May your games be chaotic and your decks be Rogue.
The main problem with Ral eating spells is that, if he leaves play for any reason, the spells are no longer treated as being exiled with Ral Zarek. An emblem that keys off of spells exiled with Ral Zarek would also be non-functional, since it wouldn't have any way of specifying which Ral Zarek it's talking about.
To be honest, I'll be a bit disappointed if he eats spells. Aside from the mechanical issues, I like casting instants and sorceries, not throwing them into a pit.
I could see Forked Bolt, but the draw a card part would look awkward and forced imo. I don't think it'd be too strong if it was on there tho, it would have to be a minus ability that isn't able to be used 2 turns in a row imo. Maybe 4 loyalty and it's a -3, or 3 loyalty and it's a -2.
Perhaps an actual loot type effect....draw, then discard or discard, then draw. probably the most likely scenario imo.
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Standard:
Bident Layers B Devotion RG Devotion UW Control Modern:
Jund
UW Control
Combo Pod Legacy: DeathBlade RUG Delver BUG Control
I would think something like this, considering what he does in the book:
Ral Zarek 2UR
Planeswalker - Ral
+1: Draw a card, then discard a card.
-2: Target player draws two cards, then Ral Zarek deals damage to that player equal to the number of cards he or she has drawn this turn.
-5: Put X 3/1 blue and red elemental creature tokens with trample and haste onto the battlefield, where X is the number of cards in your hand. Sacrifice those tokens at the end of turn.
A UR planeswalker seems like the perfect time to try a toolbox template rather than simply power.
The 'best' casting cost would be 2CD. At 3CD, the power can be higher, but it'll likely be a "too late to help" card in most cases. At 1CD, its "+" ability would have to be weaker than Electrolyze (direct damage doesn't appear on a PW with CMC under 4).
I would love to see "1 damage, draw a card" for +1 as the first ability.
The second ability could tutor for an Instant or Sorcery based on CMC, similar to Tezzeret's, except it exiles the card under Ral and you get to cast a free copy.
The third ability (dreaming here) could be an Emblem with a Panoptic Mirror effect.
Other abilities that I wouldn't mind seeing come to pass on a UR Planeswalker:
- Next instant/sorcery you cast this turn can't be countered.
- Put target nonland permanent you do/don't control on the top/bottom of its owner's library.
- Make token copy of target/each creature on battlefield; token(s) has/have haste; exile token(s) EoT. (Could be second/third ability).
- Emblem: "Whenever you cast instant/sorcery, this emblem deals 1 damage to each creature you don't control and each opponent."
Unless WotC feels generous (or we have another worker from a printing company do something unintelligent), we won't know until some time in April.
+2 Target creature gets -2/0 and haste until end of turn.
-X Ral deals X damage divided between any number of target creatures.
-X Put X 3/1 blue and red Weird Elemental creatures onto the battlefield. They have haste, trample and "At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice this creature."
Consider the following:
-R&D said they want to keep the design space used up by each planeswalker to a minimum...
-He seems to have to do with elementals/weirds in the book, and certainly in DOTP 2012 deck. Chandra may do Phoenixes, Sarkhan Dragons, Jeice Illusions.
-Ral has a theme of electricity. Not fire like Chandra or lava like Koth.
The first ability, I think, shows Ral as a kind of power generator. And the power's gotta come from somewhere, right?
The abilities are purposely not complimentary. He charges himself from a creature, -2/-0 for numbness, haste for a tingle.
It can be used to hinder an opponent's defense or to help your own offense.
The -2/-0 here also helps to curb stompy creatures like Hound of Griselbrand. They're not what Ral's really about, anyway.
It's better for helping out pinging creatures like Prodigal Pyromancer.
His other abilities are hogs. He's ready to dump all of his energy at a moment's notice.
Ral suits having a -X. Bringing out a swarm of Elementals is pretty cool.
It's louder, flashier and a big blowout.
His second ability is more versatile, but you're getting 1 point of damage for each loyalty point, and you can't hit face.
The ultimate can hit face for 3 damage per loyalty, but can be dealt with much easier.
"OH GOD MY BRAIN IS EXPLOADING AT HOW BAD THE ART IS ON MY OWN CARD"
-A friend's first impression of Ancestral Recall
10/10, I tapped.
Treading new ground in terms of PW design.
That, or a planeswalker that kills creatures and/or draws me cards, because god forbid a good planeswalker do something other than that.
That'd be super sweet!
Heroes and Villains Comics and Games
Watch "The Giant Sharkgate Chronicles"
Watch "Eating Made Easy"
Ral Zarek, reverberator
3
+2: until your next upkeep, the next time an instant or sorcery spell would go to your graveyard, exile it onto ral zarek instead.
0: until your next upkeep, the next time a source would deal damage to ral zarek, ral zarek deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the number of spells exiled onto ral zarek.
-4: Draw X cards, where X is the number of cards exiled onto ral ral zarek. Ral zarek deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the number of cards exile onto Ral zarek.
hes a damage dealer with a re usuable ult. What do you think?
I get to watch great leaders, terrible oppressors, and trend setters rise and fall.
Limited, Standard, Modern, everything is a different playing field I feel I can observe, but will not actually touch.
I look forward to the stories I will hear.
And more so to the ones I will watch unfold first hand.
Isn't the unknown exciting?
Pauper: UR some horrible homebrew izzet deck
3CMC. Has a +2 with starting loyalty 3 and a -4 ult. >_>
and his 0 ability is a spitemare. Bad design is bad.
I'm thinkin 4CMC. Electrolyze in there somewhere. His plus being a "+1/+1 haste/flying to target creature. And [insert silly ult here] for his ultimate ability.
Executive Infiltrator of [House Dimir].
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I like the idea you've got here with exiling spells. The problem: the 0 ability is very odd and counterintuitive, since it absolutely requires you to hit it with your own (situational, as it's otherwise useless) damage spell, since your opponent can just ignore him, as he isn't growing any. It places a weird restriction on deckbuilding with little reward. The other two abilities are pretty sweet, though.
I'd change it to
Cubetutor Link
its not bad design. If you plus him, and then immdiately ult him, then youll have drawn.....one card. His ult is meant to be used up much later. But i agree, i think his 0 is wonky. So, how about this:
-X: copy target spell exiled with ral zarek, where X is the converted mana cost of the copied spell.
I get to watch great leaders, terrible oppressors, and trend setters rise and fall.
Limited, Standard, Modern, everything is a different playing field I feel I can observe, but will not actually touch.
I look forward to the stories I will hear.
And more so to the ones I will watch unfold first hand.
Isn't the unknown exciting?
Perfect
Maybe an extra line to make it not target your stuff or only target your stuff (as overloads worded weirdly like that)
Change the each of each spell with a single each.
No.
Having the first and last abilities would get your version of Ral insta-banned in EDH and Modern. Drop it, then exile one of the following 8+ CMC spells:
Beacon of Tomorrows; Blasphemous Act; Curse of the Cabal; Decree of Annihilation; Decree of Pain; Denying Wind; Insurrection; Obliterate; Plague Wind; Scrambleverse; Time Stretch; Warp World; or Worldfire.
You can easily pop an emblem the turn after you drop Ral, keep him on the board, and exile another card each turn, making it into an obscenely overpowered Panoptic Mirror. Both main phases? Be serious. Beacon, Annihilation, Oblit and Stretch are soft-locks; Curse and Denying are attrition cards; and Scramble and Warp will cause people to scoop.
The idea of a Panoptic Mirror emblem is great (I mentioned it myself), but printing it has to be balanced out against a drawback. I'd much rather see a good, balanced card for Ral than have it be a design mistake like JtMS and Snapcaster.
To be honest, I'll be a bit disappointed if he eats spells. Aside from the mechanical issues, I like casting instants and sorceries, not throwing them into a pit.
I could see Forked Bolt, but the draw a card part would look awkward and forced imo. I don't think it'd be too strong if it was on there tho, it would have to be a minus ability that isn't able to be used 2 turns in a row imo. Maybe 4 loyalty and it's a -3, or 3 loyalty and it's a -2.
Perhaps an actual loot type effect....draw, then discard or discard, then draw. probably the most likely scenario imo.
Bident Layers
B Devotion
RG Devotion
UW Control
Modern:
Jund
UW Control
Combo Pod
Legacy:
DeathBlade
RUG Delver
BUG Control
Ral Zarek 2UR
Planeswalker - Ral
+1: Draw a card, then discard a card.
-2: Target player draws two cards, then Ral Zarek deals damage to that player equal to the number of cards he or she has drawn this turn.
-5: Put X 3/1 blue and red elemental creature tokens with trample and haste onto the battlefield, where X is the number of cards in your hand. Sacrifice those tokens at the end of turn.
Loyalty: 3
"Each reality is but the dream of another, and each sleeper a god unknowing."