I don't agree with you there. I think a "balanced" wedge flavor, as opposed to ones heavily leaning on one of the allied colors in them (which resulted in a number of oddbal designs that didn't fit one of the color), is an interesting (if very difficult) challenge to tackle. What will make or break this concept is finding the right mechanic.
Personally I really liked the UWR description we have here, though I'm at a bit of a loss as to the mechanic that might come out of such a world. A bolster variant that puts counters on a random creature you control (as opposed to the smallest) is the closest I got.
I was thinking that they could continue the trend of having creatures that synergize with non-creature spells, but with a much higher emphasis on artifacts, specifically artifact creatures. An idea I had was an artifact that transformed into a creature until the end of the turn any time you played a non-creature spell.
I know Khans of Tarkir recently came out and that was all about wedges, but there's still plenty more to explore regarding wedges, specifically wedges that have entire worlds to themselves, instead of all fighting over on small worlds. There's only so many possible color combinations, so I'm sure WotC will come back to wedges eventually, so here's my take on them.
Disclaimers: I see myself as highly Blue/Red with a tinge of White, so these factions will be pretty biased in that light, I'm sorry. I'm awful with names, so for now I'll just refer to the wedges by their colors.
Metra WUR PERFECT CHAOS
The world of Metra is dominated by winding, maze-like streets; pillars of mismatched buildings; and signs that only seem to disorient, rather than direct. To a passing observer, the infrastructure of Metra seems completely random, without any sense or purpose, but any city planner will be quick to tell you that ever minute detail is 100% intentional, even if she has forgotten what that intention originally was. For the frantic, busy lives of Metra's citizens there is but one constant: Construction. Buildings are always being built, remodeled, refurbished, or demolished to make room for new schools, museums, hospitals, and etc. You can never count on your route to work being the same today as it was yesterday, or even as it was this morning. If you want to live in Metra, there are 2 rules you need to survive: 1: Make sure you keep your belongings light and portable. Having to move is a common occurrence. 2: Always read the daily newspaper. You never know what sort of time-saving new development (FOR THE PEOPLE!) from the city will inevitably effect your sad, sorry life in ways you hadn't imagined.
The interior of most buildings tell a very different story than the frantic energy of the streets. Each room is designed to promote a calm and relaxing environment where people can unload their built up stress and reflect on the day. Some buildings even have walls designed to filter out the noise of the city completely, though many citizens actually prefer to hear the muffled noise of industry just outside their bedroom. It calms them in the same way hearing rain pour down onto the sidewalk while you're sitting on the couch is calming, and they begin to feel anxious in any any environment where the noise is absent.
Almost all of the property on Metra is ultimately owned by the government, though apart from needing dozens of lots to house its ambitious projects, they're happy to let their citizens do whatever they want with the property the government gives them, provided that it's not blatantly illegal. The government of Metra functions much in the same way that most businesses or studios in Metra run. Instead of individual offices, officials work in large, open rooms where they are free to move around and form groups in order to discuss new laws and make plans for new projects. No one is officially anyone else's boss, there are no titles, and what any one person's job is tends to fluctuate depending on where they're needed. This helps promote creativity, but also causes confusion, as nobody's really sure who's currently in charge of what, or who to report to. Not to mention it can cause a big, hot mess when one group inevitably wants to build a swimming pool right where another group was planning on making a public librar-HEY! YOU! YES, YOU! THE CITY OF Metra IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE OUR LATEST ADDITION: THE POOL OF KNOWLEDGE! NOW FREE! FOR EVERYONE! NOTHING EMULATES THE VISCERAL FEELING OF EXPLORING THE HIGH SEAS QUITE LIKE READING YOUR FAVORITE PIRATE ADVENTURE NOVEL WHILE SAILING AWAY ON YOUR OWN SEAWORTHY INNERTUBE! IMPROVE YOUR WILLPOWER AND READING SKILLS BY CHALLENGING YOURSELF TO FINISH AN ENTIRE PAGE OF THE ENCYCLOPEDIA WHILE UNDERWATER BEFORE COMING UP FOR AIR! BRING YOUR KIDS! NOW YOU CAN FINALLY CONVINCE THEM THAT LEARNING REALLY IS FUN! IN THE CASE OF AN EMERGENCY YOUR LIBRARY CARD MAY BE USED AS A FLOTATION DEVICE! HAVING TROUBLE LEARNING HOW TO ICE SKATE? WHO THE FLYING FRICK DOESN'T? NOW YOU CAN READ UP ON THE MASTERS WHILE YOU INJURE YOURSELF WITH YOUR LOVED ONE! THE FUN LASTS YEAR ROUND! *ahem* -Just as it is constantly changing its infrastructure, Metra is also constantly making new laws and tweaking and abolishing old ones. This constant passing of legislation is often bound to make a lot of people upset whenever they don't agree or feel they are getting the short end of the stick, thus protests break out frequently. Metra is perfectly fine with letting these protests rage unchecked until their conclusion as long as they remain relatively harmless, as it sees them as a good way for citizens to let out their pent up frustration at them, rather than towards their fellow citizens. The government, however, rarely changes its mind about legislation that it feels is justified.
Metra is a huge Proponent for science and culture, often supporting the construction of large museums and universities dedicated to both art and science alike. Individuals who gain wealth and stature are strongly encouraged to become patrons for other aspiring experts so they can become masters in their field as well. Metra believes that you should become a master of a certain craft not for power or wealth, but for a love of the craft itself and a desire to use your craft for the betterment of society. Metra also has a deep love for artifacts, not just an appreciation for the services they provide, but a passionate, almost irrational love, in the same way that a mother loves her child. Artificers will often give their creations actual people names and imagine that their artifacts have personalities with little quirks and emotions. Perhaps because of this strong desire for companionship, or perhaps out of some incredible coincidence, the high amounts of Red Mana present in the plane began to cause irregularities within certain artifacts. They began to act in ways that completely contradicted their strict coding, and soon developed a mind of their own, complete with free will. Artificers were perplexed by this at first, but soon welcomed this change wholeheartedly. The city then celebrated the artifacts' new found sentience the best way they knew how: By giving them full citizenship, complete with every last right that any organic citizen enjoyed.
What Metra was like before it was completely covered by civilization is known only by depictions in history museums, and its portrayal isn't very pretty. Metra is not too fond of the cycle of life and death, in fact Metra's ultimate goal is to break the cycle of life and death completely and have all of its citizens become immortal to enjoy the wonders of the multiverse indefinitely. People from other worlds claim that this would be unnatural, and that such a naive goal would never work, because there wouldn't be enough resources. Metra just sees this concern as just another great problem to be solved.
URG I'M SENSING A CONNECTION
To the unobservant, the world of GUR seems like an untamed wilderness, but look again- this time really look, and you can clearly make out the outlines of civilization hidden within the dense foliage and jagged cliffs. While GUR's architecture is far less obtrusive than Metra's, it's still every bit as sophisticated. Villages bend and curve to the rolling hillsides, their roofs becoming gardens for new plant life that in turn help prevent erosion. The golden ratio is seen everywhere in GUR settlements, everything is built to either blend in or compliment the surrounding landscape.
When the people of GUR looks at the world around them, what they see are patterns. Patterns on a caterpillar's back. Patterns in the trajectory of comets orbiting their stars. Patterns that explain why everything in the multiverse can be so strange and bazaar yet all feel connected. GUR is deeply intuitive. They never take anything at face value, and will instead dive right into trying to understand the underlying science and principles that make it tick. To GUR, science and art are one and the same, and there is no greater artist than nature itself, being able to effortlessly make brush strokes of stars and galaxies over the course of eons. Much of GUR scientific advancement is driven by a desire to find the ultimate multiversal mathematic formula. A law from which all other scientific laws and creeds of magic originate. A law that could spell out the entire fate of the multiverse.
GUR are avid astronomers. They believe the stars hold spiritual significance, and that all worlds and living beings originate from them and will eventually return to them. GUR's people are also strongly telepathic, being able to not only sense the thoughts of others, but also being able sense their feelings as well. They can even experience emotions through other living beings such as joy, pain, or sorrow.
GUR's inhabitants are known to inhale the smoke from a substance made from the leaves of a wild mountain flower known for its striking lavender hue for both personal and recreational purposes. They claim that the substance "increases one's creativity and heightens one's senses". If exposed to a large amount of this substance, individuals can enter a trance like state where many say they can feel the connection to the multiverse, and are just a hair's breadth away from it revealing it's secrets to them.
Because they believe that everything is connected, GUR has no concept of rights, boundaries, or properties. The idea that a group or individual can claim ownership over a piece of the multiverse seems childish and petty. No one owes anyone else "favors" or needs "justice". What happens happens, and the universe will go on regardless of what some king or merchant says or wants. GUR knows this will bring conflict, but with conflict comes understanding.
RWB
Coming Soon!
BGW
Coming Soon!
GBU
Coming Soon!
Relations
Coming Soon!
Mechanics
Metra RUW:
New mechanic: Spellcharge:m
Whenever you play an artifact or a noncreature spell of any specified color(s), put a charge counter on this card.
Cards:
Dormant Defender3
Artifact {C}
Spellcharge: RWU
Remove a charge: This card becomes a 4/4 creature until end of turn.
It is still an artifact.
Fire Orb Crawler2
Artifact Creature{U}
Spellcharge: R
When this creature dies, you may deal damage equal to the number charges
on this creature to target creature or player. "I've decided to keep my rage bottled up." -Rax, artifcer
1/1
Construction Blockade3
Artifact Creature - Wall{U}
Spellcharge: WU
Sacrifice this: Search your library for an artifact with a mana cost
less or equal to the number of charges on this card and play it for free.
0/5
The Heart of Metra2
Legendary Artifact{MR}
Spellcharge: RWU
Remove 8 charge tokens: Move all creatures and artifacts from your graveyard onto the battlefield.
Creatures put onto the battlefield this way are now artifacts in addition to their other types.
Until the end of turn, creatures you control have haste. Hidden within this machine are the dreams and imperfections of every citizen in Metra.
Our civilization rises or falls with its survival.
RUG:
New mechanic: Empathy
When a spell or ability would target a creature with empathy, it instead effects every creature on the battlefield. (I know this has giant holes in its design, but it's kind of the direction I want RUG to go in.)
Sure
I was thinking that they could continue the trend of having creatures that synergize with non-creature spells, but with a much higher emphasis on artifacts, specifically artifact creatures. An idea I had was an artifact that transformed into a creature until the end of the turn any time you played a non-creature spell.
Disclaimers: I see myself as highly Blue/Red with a tinge of White, so these factions will be pretty biased in that light, I'm sorry. I'm awful with names, so for now I'll just refer to the wedges by their colors.
Metra
WUR
PERFECT CHAOS
The world of Metra is dominated by winding, maze-like streets; pillars of mismatched buildings; and signs that only seem to disorient, rather than direct. To a passing observer, the infrastructure of Metra seems completely random, without any sense or purpose, but any city planner will be quick to tell you that ever minute detail is 100% intentional, even if she has forgotten what that intention originally was. For the frantic, busy lives of Metra's citizens there is but one constant: Construction. Buildings are always being built, remodeled, refurbished, or demolished to make room for new schools, museums, hospitals, and etc. You can never count on your route to work being the same today as it was yesterday, or even as it was this morning. If you want to live in Metra, there are 2 rules you need to survive: 1: Make sure you keep your belongings light and portable. Having to move is a common occurrence. 2: Always read the daily newspaper. You never know what sort of time-saving new development (FOR THE PEOPLE!) from the city will inevitably effect your sad, sorry life in ways you hadn't imagined.
The interior of most buildings tell a very different story than the frantic energy of the streets. Each room is designed to promote a calm and relaxing environment where people can unload their built up stress and reflect on the day. Some buildings even have walls designed to filter out the noise of the city completely, though many citizens actually prefer to hear the muffled noise of industry just outside their bedroom. It calms them in the same way hearing rain pour down onto the sidewalk while you're sitting on the couch is calming, and they begin to feel anxious in any any environment where the noise is absent.
Almost all of the property on Metra is ultimately owned by the government, though apart from needing dozens of lots to house its ambitious projects, they're happy to let their citizens do whatever they want with the property the government gives them, provided that it's not blatantly illegal. The government of Metra functions much in the same way that most businesses or studios in Metra run. Instead of individual offices, officials work in large, open rooms where they are free to move around and form groups in order to discuss new laws and make plans for new projects. No one is officially anyone else's boss, there are no titles, and what any one person's job is tends to fluctuate depending on where they're needed. This helps promote creativity, but also causes confusion, as nobody's really sure who's currently in charge of what, or who to report to. Not to mention it can cause a big, hot mess when one group inevitably wants to build a swimming pool right where another group was planning on making a public librar-HEY! YOU! YES, YOU! THE CITY OF Metra IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE OUR LATEST ADDITION: THE POOL OF KNOWLEDGE! NOW FREE! FOR EVERYONE! NOTHING EMULATES THE VISCERAL FEELING OF EXPLORING THE HIGH SEAS QUITE LIKE READING YOUR FAVORITE PIRATE ADVENTURE NOVEL WHILE SAILING AWAY ON YOUR OWN SEAWORTHY INNERTUBE! IMPROVE YOUR WILLPOWER AND READING SKILLS BY CHALLENGING YOURSELF TO FINISH AN ENTIRE PAGE OF THE ENCYCLOPEDIA WHILE UNDERWATER BEFORE COMING UP FOR AIR! BRING YOUR KIDS! NOW YOU CAN FINALLY CONVINCE THEM THAT LEARNING REALLY IS FUN! IN THE CASE OF AN EMERGENCY YOUR LIBRARY CARD MAY BE USED AS A FLOTATION DEVICE! HAVING TROUBLE LEARNING HOW TO ICE SKATE? WHO THE FLYING FRICK DOESN'T? NOW YOU CAN READ UP ON THE MASTERS WHILE YOU INJURE YOURSELF WITH YOUR LOVED ONE! THE FUN LASTS YEAR ROUND! *ahem* -Just as it is constantly changing its infrastructure, Metra is also constantly making new laws and tweaking and abolishing old ones. This constant passing of legislation is often bound to make a lot of people upset whenever they don't agree or feel they are getting the short end of the stick, thus protests break out frequently. Metra is perfectly fine with letting these protests rage unchecked until their conclusion as long as they remain relatively harmless, as it sees them as a good way for citizens to let out their pent up frustration at them, rather than towards their fellow citizens. The government, however, rarely changes its mind about legislation that it feels is justified.
Metra is a huge Proponent for science and culture, often supporting the construction of large museums and universities dedicated to both art and science alike. Individuals who gain wealth and stature are strongly encouraged to become patrons for other aspiring experts so they can become masters in their field as well. Metra believes that you should become a master of a certain craft not for power or wealth, but for a love of the craft itself and a desire to use your craft for the betterment of society. Metra also has a deep love for artifacts, not just an appreciation for the services they provide, but a passionate, almost irrational love, in the same way that a mother loves her child. Artificers will often give their creations actual people names and imagine that their artifacts have personalities with little quirks and emotions. Perhaps because of this strong desire for companionship, or perhaps out of some incredible coincidence, the high amounts of Red Mana present in the plane began to cause irregularities within certain artifacts. They began to act in ways that completely contradicted their strict coding, and soon developed a mind of their own, complete with free will. Artificers were perplexed by this at first, but soon welcomed this change wholeheartedly. The city then celebrated the artifacts' new found sentience the best way they knew how: By giving them full citizenship, complete with every last right that any organic citizen enjoyed.
What Metra was like before it was completely covered by civilization is known only by depictions in history museums, and its portrayal isn't very pretty. Metra is not too fond of the cycle of life and death, in fact Metra's ultimate goal is to break the cycle of life and death completely and have all of its citizens become immortal to enjoy the wonders of the multiverse indefinitely. People from other worlds claim that this would be unnatural, and that such a naive goal would never work, because there wouldn't be enough resources. Metra just sees this concern as just another great problem to be solved.
URG
I'M SENSING A CONNECTION
To the unobservant, the world of GUR seems like an untamed wilderness, but look again- this time really look, and you can clearly make out the outlines of civilization hidden within the dense foliage and jagged cliffs. While GUR's architecture is far less obtrusive than Metra's, it's still every bit as sophisticated. Villages bend and curve to the rolling hillsides, their roofs becoming gardens for new plant life that in turn help prevent erosion. The golden ratio is seen everywhere in GUR settlements, everything is built to either blend in or compliment the surrounding landscape.
When the people of GUR looks at the world around them, what they see are patterns. Patterns on a caterpillar's back. Patterns in the trajectory of comets orbiting their stars. Patterns that explain why everything in the multiverse can be so strange and bazaar yet all feel connected. GUR is deeply intuitive. They never take anything at face value, and will instead dive right into trying to understand the underlying science and principles that make it tick. To GUR, science and art are one and the same, and there is no greater artist than nature itself, being able to effortlessly make brush strokes of stars and galaxies over the course of eons. Much of GUR scientific advancement is driven by a desire to find the ultimate multiversal mathematic formula. A law from which all other scientific laws and creeds of magic originate. A law that could spell out the entire fate of the multiverse.
GUR are avid astronomers. They believe the stars hold spiritual significance, and that all worlds and living beings originate from them and will eventually return to them. GUR's people are also strongly telepathic, being able to not only sense the thoughts of others, but also being able sense their feelings as well. They can even experience emotions through other living beings such as joy, pain, or sorrow.
GUR's inhabitants are known to inhale the smoke from a substance made from the leaves of a wild mountain flower known for its striking lavender hue for both personal and recreational purposes. They claim that the substance "increases one's creativity and heightens one's senses". If exposed to a large amount of this substance, individuals can enter a trance like state where many say they can feel the connection to the multiverse, and are just a hair's breadth away from it revealing it's secrets to them.
Because they believe that everything is connected, GUR has no concept of rights, boundaries, or properties. The idea that a group or individual can claim ownership over a piece of the multiverse seems childish and petty. No one owes anyone else "favors" or needs "justice". What happens happens, and the universe will go on regardless of what some king or merchant says or wants. GUR knows this will bring conflict, but with conflict comes understanding.
RWB
Coming Soon!
BGW
Coming Soon!
GBU
Coming Soon!
Relations
Coming Soon!
Mechanics
Metra
RUW:
New mechanic: Spellcharge: m
Whenever you play an artifact or a noncreature spell of any specified color(s), put a charge counter on this card.
Cards:
Dormant Defender 3
Artifact {C}
Spellcharge: RWU
Remove a charge: This card becomes a 4/4 creature until end of turn.
It is still an artifact.
Fire Orb Crawler 2
Artifact Creature{U}
Spellcharge: R
When this creature dies, you may deal damage equal to the number charges
on this creature to target creature or player.
"I've decided to keep my rage bottled up." -Rax, artifcer
1/1
Construction Blockade 3
Artifact Creature - Wall{U}
Spellcharge: WU
Sacrifice this: Search your library for an artifact with a mana cost
less or equal to the number of charges on this card and play it for free.
0/5
The Heart of Metra 2
Legendary Artifact{MR}
Spellcharge: RWU
Remove 8 charge tokens: Move all creatures and artifacts from your graveyard onto the battlefield.
Creatures put onto the battlefield this way are now artifacts in addition to their other types.
Until the end of turn, creatures you control have haste.
Hidden within this machine are the dreams and imperfections of every citizen in Metra.
Our civilization rises or falls with its survival.
RUG:
New mechanic: Empathy
When a spell or ability would target a creature with empathy, it instead effects every creature on the battlefield.
(I know this has giant holes in its design, but it's kind of the direction I want RUG to go in.)
Post your ideas in the comments!