I find myself doubting that Embalm will make it into HOD given that set's focus on the Hekma being torn down and Naktamun going to sandy hell as the creatures of the wasteland fall upon the city; the people aren't going to have a lot of time for anointment rituals. However, I don't think HOD will want to abandon the Zombie creature token theme either. In fact, Amonkhet is distinguished as a world where creatures automatically come back as undead when they die.
So, I theorize that a new mechanic will take Embalm's place, based on the flavor of "natural" undeath that occurs on the plane. This mechanic will work similar to Embalm in that it replaces the dying creature with a Zombified version of itself in token form. But where Embalm was like Unearth, this mechanic will be like Undying, in that it triggers automatically. And where Embalm turned the creature into a white Zombie, this new mechanic will turn the creature into a black Zombie. I won't post card designs here, but here's how I picture the mechanic looking:
Undeath (When this creature dies, if it isn't a token, exile it and create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a black Zombie -whatever other types it has- with no mana cost.)
I could see Undeath appearing in all five colors with black as the obvious main color. White or blue would probably be the secondary color to ensure Undeath plays well with Embalm; my guess would be white since SOI already did UB Zombies and Amonkhet had WU Embalm, thus WB Undeath completes the Standard Esper Zombies trio.
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.
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I noticed the schemes in the Nicol Bolas archenemy set have a lot of amonkhet flavor in them, and many use 3/3 black horror creature tokens. Perhaps this is a new mechanic or some theme we will see?
It's an interesting theory and I could definitely see it, though after the outcry over Investigate leaving SOI for the second set, I don't think WotC is going to be so quick to cull a mainstay mechanic like this.
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Doesn´t it still make sense that the people of Amonkeht wants to die even when Bolas show up? I hope so because I like embalm but it was a bit boring in the set
The other reason that Embalm might or might not be in the set would be that the story certainly implies that Razaketh is a big part of the embalming process, and if he's dealt with...
Really, though, why not use Unearth? Already exists and does what you want. I see two main issues with Undeath, one general and one specific:
1) The general issue is that the cards have to be ... not so good to get a free second copy.
2) Specifically, Undeath cannot be used while in the graveyard. Amonkhet's graveyard theme revolves around graveyard as a resource, and this isn't it.
I may also point out in passing that this is (with the singular exception of it being a zombie) exactly the Penumbra mechanic, is it not? So you at least have a starting idea about power level.
Unearth would be too similar to Embalm mechanically. Undeath is more like Undying or Persist, being automatic which works with Amonkhet's flavor. They were considering Persist, but decided it wasn't what they wanted, most likely because it didn't play well with the other -1/-1 counter mechanics they were trying. You can put -1/-1 counters on creatures with Embalm or Undeath and still have them come back from the dead.
Undeath would probably be developed similarly to Persist or Undying, taking into account the fact that the creature's power and toughness won't change. A 1-drop Undeath creature is easier to balance than a 1-drop Undying creature; basically the difference between Tukatongue Thallid and Young Wolf.
I think the bigger problem is that Undeath doesn't play as well with Cycling as Embalm does; Undeath only triggers if the creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield. Embalm plays nicely with both Cycling and -1/-1 counters.
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.
Well, again, the main issue with all of these abilities is that, for lack of better words, they are SOI graveyard abilities and not AKH graveyard abilities. If you are looking for mechanics that fit AKH, it needs to be an ability that works from the graveyard. I realize that Unearth is very similar to Embalm, but we are looking for mechanics that are at least similar to it in that sense.
They experimented with Persist, but found it wasn't what they wanted, most likely because it didn't work well with their "put -1/-1 counters on your creatures" theme. My guess is that's part of why we got Embalm; you can put -1/-1 counters on creatures with that ability and still have them come back.
The flavor behind Undeath is because the creature wasn't embalmed, it comes back automatically, per Amonkhet's flavor.
I gotta say, that aspect of Amonkhet seems like a good basis for a revisit story; there's still a curse lingering on the plane that causes undeath in anything that dies there, like a classic Egyptian adventure story. This is provided of course that Nissa doesn't break the curse during this trip.
I just realized that the way Undeath is currently worded makes it so it can stack; if a creature has two instances of Undeath on it, it creates two tokens that are copies of it. I imagine Wizards would catch that and fix it like so:
Undeath (When this creature dies, if it isn’t a token, exile it. When you do, create a token that’s a copy of it except it’s a black Zombie -creature types here- with no mana cost.)
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.
They experimented with Persist, but found it wasn't what they wanted, most likely because it didn't work well with their "put -1/-1 counters on your creatures" theme. My guess is that's part of why we got Embalm; you can put -1/-1 counters on creatures with that ability and still have them come back.
But Hour of Devastation will change the limited environment, so it's possible this may push things in favour of persist.
Maybe so, but it still has to draft well with Amonkhet.
I will say that the nonbo with Cycling is probably the biggest mark against Undeath's chances of replacing Embalm; Embalm simply plays better in the format. Trouble is, I just can't see flavor justifying Embalm's presence in HoD; "Our city's under attack by Horrors from the wasteland, but lemme finish wrapping this mummy real quick".
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.
I find myself doubting that Embalm will make it into HOD given that set's focus on the Hekma being torn down and Naktamun going to sandy hell as the creatures of the wasteland fall upon the city; the people aren't going to have a lot of time for anointment rituals.
I pretty much agree here. Though I expect the alternate mechanic to be less close. Creating two very similar mechanics in the same block is one aspect that hurt megamorph.
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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]
Confirmed with Eternalize. From what we've seen so far, Eternalize works exactly like Embalm, except the token is bigger and it's black instead of white. I did at least call the switch to black tokens. It makes sense that it'd be a tweak on Embalm, as Embalm already worked so well with the -1/-1 counter and Cycling themes.
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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.
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So, I theorize that a new mechanic will take Embalm's place, based on the flavor of "natural" undeath that occurs on the plane. This mechanic will work similar to Embalm in that it replaces the dying creature with a Zombified version of itself in token form. But where Embalm was like Unearth, this mechanic will be like Undying, in that it triggers automatically. And where Embalm turned the creature into a white Zombie, this new mechanic will turn the creature into a black Zombie. I won't post card designs here, but here's how I picture the mechanic looking:
Undeath (When this creature dies, if it isn't a token, exile it and create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a black Zombie -whatever other types it has- with no mana cost.)
I could see Undeath appearing in all five colors with black as the obvious main color. White or blue would probably be the secondary color to ensure Undeath plays well with Embalm; my guess would be white since SOI already did UB Zombies and Amonkhet had WU Embalm, thus WB Undeath completes the Standard Esper Zombies trio.
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.
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Really, though, why not use Unearth? Already exists and does what you want. I see two main issues with Undeath, one general and one specific:
1) The general issue is that the cards have to be ... not so good to get a free second copy.
2) Specifically, Undeath cannot be used while in the graveyard. Amonkhet's graveyard theme revolves around graveyard as a resource, and this isn't it.
I may also point out in passing that this is (with the singular exception of it being a zombie) exactly the Penumbra mechanic, is it not? So you at least have a starting idea about power level.
Undeath would probably be developed similarly to Persist or Undying, taking into account the fact that the creature's power and toughness won't change. A 1-drop Undeath creature is easier to balance than a 1-drop Undying creature; basically the difference between Tukatongue Thallid and Young Wolf.
I think the bigger problem is that Undeath doesn't play as well with Cycling as Embalm does; Undeath only triggers if the creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield. Embalm plays nicely with both Cycling and -1/-1 counters.
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.
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I'm here to tell you that all your set mechanics are bad
#Defundthepolice
They experimented with Persist, but found it wasn't what they wanted, most likely because it didn't work well with their "put -1/-1 counters on your creatures" theme. My guess is that's part of why we got Embalm; you can put -1/-1 counters on creatures with that ability and still have them come back.
The flavor behind Undeath is because the creature wasn't embalmed, it comes back automatically, per Amonkhet's flavor.
I gotta say, that aspect of Amonkhet seems like a good basis for a revisit story; there's still a curse lingering on the plane that causes undeath in anything that dies there, like a classic Egyptian adventure story. This is provided of course that Nissa doesn't break the curse during this trip.
I just realized that the way Undeath is currently worded makes it so it can stack; if a creature has two instances of Undeath on it, it creates two tokens that are copies of it. I imagine Wizards would catch that and fix it like so:
Undeath (When this creature dies, if it isn’t a token, exile it. When you do, create a token that’s a copy of it except it’s a black Zombie -creature types here- with no mana cost.)
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.
But Hour of Devastation will change the limited environment, so it's possible this may push things in favour of persist.
RUNIN: Norse mythology set (awaiting further playtesting)
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I'm here to tell you that all your set mechanics are bad
#Defundthepolice
I will say that the nonbo with Cycling is probably the biggest mark against Undeath's chances of replacing Embalm; Embalm simply plays better in the format. Trouble is, I just can't see flavor justifying Embalm's presence in HoD; "Our city's under attack by Horrors from the wasteland, but lemme finish wrapping this mummy real quick".
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.
Case closed.
I pretty much agree here. Though I expect the alternate mechanic to be less close. Creating two very similar mechanics in the same block is one aspect that hurt megamorph.
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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Not really as we don't yet know what Eternalize does.
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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.