Three years ago, I started posting a set that I envisioned as a set themed on alternate win conditions. Based on the plane of Excellion, the set was in a world of treasure hunters, adventure-seekers, ancient ruins and hostile natives. It started the story of Picaro Makama, a roguish planeswalker who had come to Excellion to find the Pyxis of Ages, an ancient relic purported to hold vast amounts of power. Through his hunt across the plane, he made allies and enemies and discovered his search for fortune and glory may very well determine the fate of countless planes.
On the mechanical side, the biggest story in Excellion was Treasure - artifacts with a stated value that would win the game for you if the combined treasure values of treasures you control is 20 or more. They were well received and the design space still had a lot to offer. In addition, poisonous saw a return, as did retrace. Other new mechanics included peril (an artifact-morph variant that triggered when you're attacked) and innervate (my answer to using creatures and tapping for more than just combat) while other returning mechanics included Allies and Quests (now with subtype support).
As I posted the set, we realized it was huge and covered far more mechanical ground than it needed to. So I began moving cards over to a potential second set, unsure if the card ideas would ever be used. As time went on, I added to that card file and expanded on ideas, now I'm ready to start revealing the results.
But first, a brief recap of the story to set the scene. Picaro came to Excellion looking for the Pyxis, a mythological relic long thought to be a Multiverse Holy Grail and a lost cause dozens had wasted their lives on over the centuries. He tracked it to Excellion, a plane that had been devastated in a cataclysm a millennia ago that left its great empires in ruins. Picaro teamed up with Azella Kinneas, an Excellion native and researcher who helped him in his search. Along the way, they crossed paths with two dangerous planeswalkers: Stellmarria Jonnell, a self-styled god and leader of a cult who wants the Pyxis to spread her gospel; and N'Longo Ugo, an elven witchdoctor and fearsome bloodmage who now wants the Pyxis to spread his empire across the multiverse. While searching one of Excellion's ancient ruins for clues about the Pyxis' location, Picaro stumbled upon a time capsule of sorts, and it showed him visions of the destruction the Pyxis brought to the old empires of Excellion. Now understanding what will happen if the Pyxis is found by the wrong person, Picaro is more determined than ever to find the lost relic before his enemies.
Which leads him and Azella to the Key of the Forsaken. A priceless relic in its own right, Azella informs Picaro that it's purported to be able to show its holder images of what they seek, perhaps even enough to point them in the right direction and race their competitors to the Pyxis. But they need to hurry, while they seek another ancient treasure, their enemies are using their followers to comb the plane for the Pyxis. N'Longo's agents are infiltrating Bel Arvadran and smaller guildhouses, using torture and blood magic to extract information from scholars and treasure hunters to narrow the search. Stellmarria's cultists are turning to prophetic means, entering trances to divine the Pyxis' location. And Picaro unknowingly has a third planeswalker competing for the prize: an old associate named Kir Navrone. The same organization that employed Picaro to raid the reliquary that led him to clues to the Pyxis' location on Excellion had also hired Kir Navrone in the past. Kir and Picaro have crossed paths before and she is everything he is not. Where he is charismatic, she is cold and severe. When he hunts for treasure for the thrill, she does it to survive. She is greedy and underhanded so their relationship has always been one of bitter rivalry. Now Kir wants to best Picaro at his own game and snatch the discovery of the Pyxis from him. Dispatched to Excellion to track him, Kir will stop at nothing to find the Pyxis before Picaro and their desperate confrontation will change the course of Excellion's future.
As a planeswalker card, Kir Navrone is stifling and envious. She shuts others down and takes what they had for themselves. Her card displays her nature as someone who doesn't work towards her own success, she spitefully steals success from others.
Kir Navrone the Covetous 2WB
Planeswalker - Kir (M)
+1: Name a nonland card. Until your next turn, the named card can’t be cast and if the named card would enter the battlefield, exile it instead.
-3: Destroy target creature. Gain control of all equipment that were attached to that creature.
-7: For each artifact target player controls and each artifact card in his or her graveyard, put a token copy of that artifact onto the battlefield under your control.
{3}
In the coming days, I'll post more from the set, including cards to show how Excellion's mechanics have evolved from set to set. Alternate win conditions are one of my favorite mechanics, and it was a lot of fun playing in that sandbox again.
I'm sorry, I don't believe I explained Kir's personality very well.
She exemplifies WB's philosophies more than blue's. Ultimately, her loyalties are to herself first and foremost and also to her employers, who she acts as an emissary and procurer for. She seeks the betterment for her chosen group because advancing the organization's goals in turn progresses her own ambitions. But outside herself and the organization she chooses to be loyal to, Kir is apathetic to most people to the point of being willing to control and use others to further her pursuits of her employers' directions for her. Kir's modus operandi is to secure deals and bargains to obtain high-value targets, using people like pawns to achieve her ends. She believes in hierarchy and order as well as exploiting both as a means to an end. She excels in keeping people in the places she needs by feeding them lies and half-truths to secure their temporary loyalty long enough to gt them to do her dirty work for her. In a pinch, Kir silences and shuts people down, and will even get her own hands dirty and eliminate people that stand in her way or won't buy into her game.
Kir's relationship to Picaro is one of friction. She sees him as a chaotic X factor, one that doesn't respect the system she represents and cares deeply about. Where she plays into the power structure that employs them both, he couldn't care less. And she's deeply bitter that his notoriety and success record have put him on a faster track in the eyes of their bosses than her years of consistent work. It burns her that moving up in the hierarchy isn't even on Picaro's mind and yet he's beating her at it. So Kir has developed a significant envy of Picaro and will stop at nothing to undermine him and pluck 'wins' from his grasp. What Kir Navrone wants is to remove Picaro from the equation, secure her place in their organization and restore order in her world.
and all and colored cards that copy artifacts are exclusively blue.
The initial effect was to simply steal artifacts from an opponent and his/her graveyard, but that felt too similar to Picaro's ultimate in set one. I wanted Kir to have a similar end goal as Picaro (since their jobs are the same and they essentially want to do the same thing), but have it feel more unique to her vulturous nature. In this case, she lets someone else do all the dirty work and then swoops in and gets the better of them.
Token copies of things is blue's domain, absolutely, but bleed in situations like this to fit a specific storyline mythic isn't something I balk at. Especially since black and white have both touched upon playing with artifacts in related ways, particularly pulling them out of graveyards or libraries. I think as long as the effect feels in keeping with Kir's character and the bleed isn't drastically outside her colors if only philosophically, a one-off effect isn't a dealbreaker.
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Excellion took the adventuring spirit of Zendikar and spun it in its own way while keeping elements from the real set I thought still fit well with the new themes. One important carry over was the Quest mechanic, which I adopted and gave subtype support to as I felt Quests in Zendikar were shortchanged mechanically and a subtype opened a lot of doors and design space.
So now for QotF, we see more cards that care about Quests and quest counters as well as another spin on the theme: creatures that have their own personal quests. These cards feel like their own minigame with tensions and goals to work towards, very fitting in an alternate win condition block. In some ways, these cards feel like simpler versions of Planeswalkers since that card type is defined by acting as their own themed win con that asks players to play the way the Planeswalker wants.
Glorious Ascension
Enchantment — Aura Quest (C)
Enchant creature
Whenever enchanted creature blocks, put a quest counter on Glorious Ascension.
Enchanted creature gets +3/+3, has flying and is indestructible if Glorious Ascension has four or more quest counters on it.
Journeyman's Mount :2mana::symw:
Creature — Griffin (C)
Journeyman’s Mount has flying as long as you control a Quest. “Kyfalan here is as loyal as any hound or arm-for-hire. She has walked beside me as I traversed Hylonia and when I was tasked with rescuing a group of relic hunters from Miracuff, she flew us there in the knick of time.” -Jerada, Azaadha journeyman
2/3
Caller of the Void :3mana::symu::symu:
Creature — Human Wizard (R)
Whenever a spell an opponent controls is countered by a spell or ability, put a quest counter on Caller of the Void. Then you win the game if there are five or more quest counters on Caller of the Void.
Whenever a spell an opponent controls resolves, remove a quest counter from Caller of the Void.
:2mana::symu:: Counter target spell unless its controller pays 2.
2/4
Eldergorge Traitor :3mana::symb:
Creature — Ogre Rogue Mercenary (U)
Remove a quest counter from a permanent you control: Eldergorge Traitor gets +1/+1 and gains first strike until end of turn. The ogres make for appealing muscle on any expedition, but the addition of such power comes at the price of progress.
3/2
Picaro’s Crisis :1mana::symr:
Enchantment — Quest (U)
Whenever a spell or ability an opponent controls counters a spell you control, put a quest counter on Picaro’s Crisis.
When Picaro’s Crisis has six or more quest counters on it, you may sacrifice it. If you do, cast any number of red cards in your graveyard without paying their mana costs.
Depth of Progress :3mana::symg:
Sorcery (C)
You gain 2 life for each quest counter on permanents you control. “We seek only to know of our ancestors, of where our kind originated. Your kind takes such things for granted, but every clue of our past we uncover brings the frogling nation one step closer to home.” -Krokas, Fanholt homeseeker
Speaker of the Journey :3mana::symg::symg:
Creature — Frog Shaman (M)
At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, that player’s life total becomes equal to the number of quest counters on permanents he or she controls.
3/3
I like the expansive design space that you're using with Quests
My only concern is that Speaker of the Journey is potentially an instant win. If your opponent doesn't have any quest counters on their field when you cast Speaker don't you instantly win if they can't respond to it?
Obviously there wouldn't necessarily be a lack of quest counters pertaining to any player, as suggested by the cards you've created. But I think you should change Speaker to read 'equal to the number of quest counters on permanents he or she controls plus 1.' Just in case?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
STANDARD DECKS
URB Dragons BRU
EDH W Darien, King of Kjeldor W URG Maelstrom Wanderer GRU RG Wort, the Raidmother GR RWU Zedruu, the Greathearted UWR
I like the expansive design space that you're using with Quests
My only concern is that Speaker of the Journey is potentially an instant win. If your opponent doesn't have any quest counters on their field when you cast Speaker don't you instantly win if they can't respond to it?
Obviously there wouldn't necessarily be a lack of quest counters pertaining to any player, as suggested by the cards you've created. But I think you should change Speaker to read 'equal to the number of quest counters on permanents he or she controls plus 1.' Just in case?
I still don't think the nerf is enough. Here's how I would change Speaker to make it less of an "oops, I win" card:
-Change the trigger to make it affect all player's life totals on your upkeep. As written, you can cast this in a deck with 0 Quests, shred your opponent's life total, then sacrifice it at instant speed to negate the drawback. This change also leaves open a one-turn window to cast removal on it, and makes it far more balanced in multiplayer games, where win conditions that don't cost additional resources to kill additional opponents are disproportionately advantaged.
-Up the mana cost to between 7 and 10. This is an alternate win condition that requires 0 effort on your part aside from casting it, and it ought to be costed like one.
Picaro's Crisis: A sideboard hoser to the blue draw-go deck being pushed with Caller of the Void?
Depth of Progress feels overcosted. You need four quest counters on your permanents to make it better than Angel's Mercy, which is already a bad card (and an instant to DoP's sorcery).
I still don't think the nerf is enough. Here's how I would change Speaker to make it less of an "oops, I win" card:
-Change the trigger to make it affect all player's life totals on your upkeep. As written, you can cast this in a deck with 0 Quests, shred your opponent's life total, then sacrifice it at instant speed to negate the drawback. This change also leaves open a one-turn window to cast removal on it, and makes it far more balanced in multiplayer games, where win conditions that don't cost additional resources to kill additional opponents are disproportionately advantaged.
-Up the mana cost to between 7 and 10. This is an alternate win condition that requires 0 effort on your part aside from casting it, and it ought to be costed like one.
Speaker of the Journey4GGG
Creature — Frog Shaman (M)
At the beginning of you upkeep, each player’s life total becomes equal to the number of quest counters on permanents he or she controls plus 1.
3/3
?
Though judging what I will mention about the Quest theme in a moment, do you think Speaker should also include blue and/or red?
Picaro's Crisis: A sideboard hoser to the blue draw-go deck being pushed with Caller of the Void?
And beyond. Several cards throughout the block support a permission-based deck, Caller is simply a marquee card that sells the concept. Unlike past environments where permission was a viable strategy, the Excellion Block as a whole is lacking a traditional big blue finisher to push any potential decks away from the typical control and swing with one finisher style and more towards alternate win conditions. For mono-blue, the biggest options would be milling or treasures, though I included Caller as well to provide another option. I wanted to see if a set could support creatureless or creature-light combo and/or control decks so many cards in the block de-emphasize aggressive combat. Permission was an archetype I felt could thrive in that sort of environment and also serve to keep combo in check.
Depth of Progress feels overcosted. You need four quest counters on your permanents to make it better than Angel's Mercy, which is already a bad card (and an instant to DoP's sorcery).
I'm okay with that, I do agree with MaRo that not every card needs to be pushed to its optimum power level. I like having some subpar cards to fill out the set for Limited. DoP will easily gain 10+ life in Limited without a whole lot of investment as green is one of the colors most focused on Quests (along with blue and red) and a deck with key Quests will easily get 5 or more quest counters by turn four or five. The common Trek to the Eye of Iskendrun from set one comes down on turn two and gets a counter when you play a land and the green Ascension aura (a common cycle) from QftF is one mana and gets a counter when its creature hits a player. Factoring in support from red and/or blue, quest counters will stack up fairly readily without a lot of investment. DoP may not be a good card, but it will gladly gain a lot of life in the sort of deck that can exploit it.
Another of the block's major themes are Treasures, the whole block revolves around the search for one powerful treasure called the Pyxis of Ages and this set is about the race for a lost treasure that will point the way to the Pyxis: the Key of the Forsaken. The Key will point its holder toward what they've lost and seek to find and Azella believes this will lead her and Picaro to the Pyxis before their enemies discover it.
Amidst this hunt, Excellion still teems with relics to discover and adventuring bands of hunters eager for the next big find. Quest for the Forsaken has about the tenth of the set as Treasures with several cards that refer back to them.
Divider of Spoils
Creature — Kithkin Cleric (C)
Whenever a Treasure enters the battlefield under your control, gain 1 life. No adventuring party is without one all joiners can trust to fairly parcel out each man’s take of the bounty.
1/1
Shield of Lineage :3mana::symw:
Artifact — Equipment Treasure (U) (At end of turn, if the total combined treasure value of Treasures you control is 20 or more, you win the game.)
Whenever equipped creature dies, you may put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield and attach Shield of Lineage to it.
Equip 3
[4]
Soul of Naloa Tor :4mana::symw::symw:
Creature — Spirit Warrior (M)
Lifelink
Soul of Naloa Tor gets +3/+3 for each Treasure equipping it.
:2mana::symw:: Return target Equipment Treasure card in your graveyard to the battlefield equipping Soul of Naloa Tor.
3/3
White favors ancient equipment, combining its love of equipment with the block's themes. Several of its cards are either Equipment Treasures or care about them.
Fall of the Hoarder :2mana::symb:
Sorcery (C)
Target player loses life equal to the highest treasure value amongst Treasures he or she controls. “The king with the most toys does not triumph, he merely dies a rich man.” -Stelmarria Jonnell
Nightskull Relic :1mana::symb::symb::symb:
Artifact — Treasure (R) (At end of turn, if the total combined treasure value of Treasures you control is 20 or more, you win the game.)
Pay 2 life: Draw a card. “Long ago when I was still human, my wife claimed it scared our children. She said it was the relic or my family. I believe I chose wisely.” -Bolbaska, Zehaan baron
[4]
Azella’s Quill
Artifact — Treasure (C) (At end of turn, if the total combined treasure value of Treasures you control is 20 or more, you win the game.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, shuffle your library and scry 2. “Passed down through her family for generations, as she unknowingly made notes of her present, it rewrote her future.” -Chronicles of the Pyxis
[2]
Hood of Echoes
Artifact — Equipment Treasure (M)
Whenever equipped creature becomes tapped, you may pay 4. If you do, put a token copy of it onto the battlefield tapped.
Equip 4
[5]
But not everyone who searches for treasure is on the up and up. Some of Excellion's inhabitants are more likely to pillage adventuring parties' camps than actually venture into ancient ruins to get the treasure themselves. In that vein, I present a new mechanic for QftF.
Trinket Snatcher :1mana::symr:
Creature — Goblin Pirate (C)
Plunder 1 (When this creature deals combat damage to an opponent, you may gain control of target Treasure he or she controls with a treasure value of one or less.)
2/1
Plunder is a simple mechanic that allows a player a way to disrupt an opponent's gameplan. And with enough plundering, you can even steal a win away from a dedicated treasure player.
But who's leading all these pirates? The Lodos is a ship of infamy, passed from captain to captain. Adventurers everywhere know to hide from its flags, everyone knowing the stories of what fate awaits any adventurer unlucky enough to fall prey to the Lodos and her crew.
The Lodos' new captain is relentless in his pursuit of riches. But he isn't driven by greed. Unknown to the rest of the Excellion, being the captain of the Lodos comes at a terrible price: a curse placed upon it years ago draws the life out of its captain and only when its coffers are filled is that hunger sated. And Drusil is eager to fill those coffers for as long as he can.
Drusil, Captain of the Lodos :2mana::symr::symr:
Legendary Creature — Human Pirate (R)
Plunder 3 (When this creature deals combat damage to an opponent, you may gain control of target Treasure he or she controls with a treasure value of three or less.)
Whenever a treasure is plundered, untap Drusil, Captain of the Lodos and there is another combat phase followed by another main phase.
3/3
Drusil has begun to believe that only truly rare relics, ones with immense power, may hold the key to ending the Lodos' curse once and for all. If only Excellion had any relics that fit that bill ....
Key of the Forsaken
Legendary Artifact — Treasure (M)
:4mana:, :symtap:: Reveal an exiled card you own. If it’s a nonland card, you may cast it this turn. Otherwise, put it onto the battlefield tapped.
[8]
New Speaker looks good. I don't think it needs to include U/R because Green is "the quest color" and making a card that rewards monocolor commitment seems reasonable.
Some of these cards seem to push the Treasure theme a bit too hard. Why can't Soul of Naloa Tor retrieve any Equipment from the 'yard, but only get a bonus for Treasures? Would make it much more flexible and a higher pick in Limited. I don't like plunder on principle because it references another custom keyword in the block and does nothing against 4/5 of the alternate win conditions. How many cards do you expect this keyword to fit on? Maybe just a vertical cycle particular to this one in-story faction?
Does Drusil trigger when an opponent plunders one of your Treasures?
I get that Azella's Quill needs a drawback to compensate for its cost, but take it from a Legacy player -- shuffling the deck almost every single turn for the entire game is really annoying.
Should Key of the Forsaken say "face-down exiled card"? I think it would flow better to say "If it's a land, put it....Otherwise, you may cast..."
Some of these cards seem to push the Treasure theme a bit too hard. Why can't Soul of Naloa Tor retrieve any Equipment from the 'yard, but only get a bonus for Treasures? Would make it much more flexible and a higher pick in Limited.
I don't think Limited is much of a concern for a Mythic Rare.
SoNT functions virtually the same regardless since all Equipment in the set are also Treasures. And the block thus far has only a few Equipment that aren't.
The main reason for the restriction, apart from flavor themes, was to limit how often the card would be impacted by the two kinds of Equipment equipping it. Remembering which ones give a bonus and which don't would be a pain and I wanted to limit that. Besides, to play with SoNT optimally, you wouldn't be including basic equipment anyway.
I don't like plunder on principle because it references another custom keyword in the block and does nothing against 4/5 of the alternate win conditions. How many cards do you expect this keyword to fit on? Maybe just a vertical cycle particular to this one in-story faction?
Plunder came about after a discussion for the first set turned to disrupting a stagnant treasure-based gamestate. Commenters felt I needed ways aside from basic destruction to disrupt a treasure plan in Limited, and plunder was suggested. I felt it fit thematically as well as functionally as a way to counter treasure in Limited.
Plunder is found on seven cards between blue and red, all commons aside from Drusil and another rare in blue. It's a small mechanic for Limited purposes.
Does Drusil trigger when an opponent plunders one of your Treasures?
As currently worded, yes.
I get that Azella's Quill needs a drawback to compensate for its cost, but take it from a Legacy player -- shuffling the deck almost every single turn for the entire game is really annoying.
Think it's significant enough to alter the card? If so, how?
Should Key of the Forsaken say "face-down exiled card"? I think it would flow better to say "If it's a land, put it....Otherwise, you may cast..."
Not all cards you own that would be exiled would be face down, correct? I want the Key to fetch anything exiled.
You second wording fix does make it flow better, thank you.
On the mechanical side, the biggest story in Excellion was Treasure - artifacts with a stated value that would win the game for you if the combined treasure values of treasures you control is 20 or more. They were well received and the design space still had a lot to offer. In addition, poisonous saw a return, as did retrace. Other new mechanics included peril (an artifact-morph variant that triggered when you're attacked) and innervate (my answer to using creatures and tapping for more than just combat) while other returning mechanics included Allies and Quests (now with subtype support).
As I posted the set, we realized it was huge and covered far more mechanical ground than it needed to. So I began moving cards over to a potential second set, unsure if the card ideas would ever be used. As time went on, I added to that card file and expanded on ideas, now I'm ready to start revealing the results.
But first, a brief recap of the story to set the scene. Picaro came to Excellion looking for the Pyxis, a mythological relic long thought to be a Multiverse Holy Grail and a lost cause dozens had wasted their lives on over the centuries. He tracked it to Excellion, a plane that had been devastated in a cataclysm a millennia ago that left its great empires in ruins. Picaro teamed up with Azella Kinneas, an Excellion native and researcher who helped him in his search. Along the way, they crossed paths with two dangerous planeswalkers: Stellmarria Jonnell, a self-styled god and leader of a cult who wants the Pyxis to spread her gospel; and N'Longo Ugo, an elven witchdoctor and fearsome bloodmage who now wants the Pyxis to spread his empire across the multiverse. While searching one of Excellion's ancient ruins for clues about the Pyxis' location, Picaro stumbled upon a time capsule of sorts, and it showed him visions of the destruction the Pyxis brought to the old empires of Excellion. Now understanding what will happen if the Pyxis is found by the wrong person, Picaro is more determined than ever to find the lost relic before his enemies.
Which leads him and Azella to the Key of the Forsaken. A priceless relic in its own right, Azella informs Picaro that it's purported to be able to show its holder images of what they seek, perhaps even enough to point them in the right direction and race their competitors to the Pyxis. But they need to hurry, while they seek another ancient treasure, their enemies are using their followers to comb the plane for the Pyxis. N'Longo's agents are infiltrating Bel Arvadran and smaller guildhouses, using torture and blood magic to extract information from scholars and treasure hunters to narrow the search. Stellmarria's cultists are turning to prophetic means, entering trances to divine the Pyxis' location. And Picaro unknowingly has a third planeswalker competing for the prize: an old associate named Kir Navrone. The same organization that employed Picaro to raid the reliquary that led him to clues to the Pyxis' location on Excellion had also hired Kir Navrone in the past. Kir and Picaro have crossed paths before and she is everything he is not. Where he is charismatic, she is cold and severe. When he hunts for treasure for the thrill, she does it to survive. She is greedy and underhanded so their relationship has always been one of bitter rivalry. Now Kir wants to best Picaro at his own game and snatch the discovery of the Pyxis from him. Dispatched to Excellion to track him, Kir will stop at nothing to find the Pyxis before Picaro and their desperate confrontation will change the course of Excellion's future.
As a planeswalker card, Kir Navrone is stifling and envious. She shuts others down and takes what they had for themselves. Her card displays her nature as someone who doesn't work towards her own success, she spitefully steals success from others.
Kir Navrone the Covetous 2WB
Planeswalker - Kir (M)
+1: Name a nonland card. Until your next turn, the named card can’t be cast and if the named card would enter the battlefield, exile it instead.
-3: Destroy target creature. Gain control of all equipment that were attached to that creature.
-7: For each artifact target player controls and each artifact card in his or her graveyard, put a token copy of that artifact onto the battlefield under your control.
{3}
In the coming days, I'll post more from the set, including cards to show how Excellion's mechanics have evolved from set to set. Alternate win conditions are one of my favorite mechanics, and it was a lot of fun playing in that sandbox again.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
Avatar by Numotflame96 of Maelstrom Graphics
Sig banner thanks to DarkNightCavalier of Heroes of the Plane Studios!
I'm sorry, I don't believe I explained Kir's personality very well.
She exemplifies WB's philosophies more than blue's. Ultimately, her loyalties are to herself first and foremost and also to her employers, who she acts as an emissary and procurer for. She seeks the betterment for her chosen group because advancing the organization's goals in turn progresses her own ambitions. But outside herself and the organization she chooses to be loyal to, Kir is apathetic to most people to the point of being willing to control and use others to further her pursuits of her employers' directions for her. Kir's modus operandi is to secure deals and bargains to obtain high-value targets, using people like pawns to achieve her ends. She believes in hierarchy and order as well as exploiting both as a means to an end. She excels in keeping people in the places she needs by feeding them lies and half-truths to secure their temporary loyalty long enough to gt them to do her dirty work for her. In a pinch, Kir silences and shuts people down, and will even get her own hands dirty and eliminate people that stand in her way or won't buy into her game.
Kir's relationship to Picaro is one of friction. She sees him as a chaotic X factor, one that doesn't respect the system she represents and cares deeply about. Where she plays into the power structure that employs them both, he couldn't care less. And she's deeply bitter that his notoriety and success record have put him on a faster track in the eyes of their bosses than her years of consistent work. It burns her that moving up in the hierarchy isn't even on Picaro's mind and yet he's beating her at it. So Kir has developed a significant envy of Picaro and will stop at nothing to undermine him and pluck 'wins' from his grasp. What Kir Navrone wants is to remove Picaro from the equation, secure her place in their organization and restore order in her world.
The initial effect was to simply steal artifacts from an opponent and his/her graveyard, but that felt too similar to Picaro's ultimate in set one. I wanted Kir to have a similar end goal as Picaro (since their jobs are the same and they essentially want to do the same thing), but have it feel more unique to her vulturous nature. In this case, she lets someone else do all the dirty work and then swoops in and gets the better of them.
Token copies of things is blue's domain, absolutely, but bleed in situations like this to fit a specific storyline mythic isn't something I balk at. Especially since black and white have both touched upon playing with artifacts in related ways, particularly pulling them out of graveyards or libraries. I think as long as the effect feels in keeping with Kir's character and the bleed isn't drastically outside her colors if only philosophically, a one-off effect isn't a dealbreaker.
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Excellion took the adventuring spirit of Zendikar and spun it in its own way while keeping elements from the real set I thought still fit well with the new themes. One important carry over was the Quest mechanic, which I adopted and gave subtype support to as I felt Quests in Zendikar were shortchanged mechanically and a subtype opened a lot of doors and design space.
So now for QotF, we see more cards that care about Quests and quest counters as well as another spin on the theme: creatures that have their own personal quests. These cards feel like their own minigame with tensions and goals to work towards, very fitting in an alternate win condition block. In some ways, these cards feel like simpler versions of Planeswalkers since that card type is defined by acting as their own themed win con that asks players to play the way the Planeswalker wants.
Glorious Ascension
Enchantment — Aura Quest (C)
Enchant creature
Whenever enchanted creature blocks, put a quest counter on Glorious Ascension.
Enchanted creature gets +3/+3, has flying and is indestructible if Glorious Ascension has four or more quest counters on it.
Journeyman's Mount :2mana::symw:
Creature — Griffin (C)
Journeyman’s Mount has flying as long as you control a Quest.
“Kyfalan here is as loyal as any hound or arm-for-hire. She has walked beside me as I traversed Hylonia and when I was tasked with rescuing a group of relic hunters from Miracuff, she flew us there in the knick of time.” -Jerada, Azaadha journeyman
2/3
Caller of the Void :3mana::symu::symu:
Creature — Human Wizard (R)
Whenever a spell an opponent controls is countered by a spell or ability, put a quest counter on Caller of the Void. Then you win the game if there are five or more quest counters on Caller of the Void.
Whenever a spell an opponent controls resolves, remove a quest counter from Caller of the Void.
:2mana::symu:: Counter target spell unless its controller pays 2.
2/4
Eldergorge Traitor :3mana::symb:
Creature — Ogre Rogue Mercenary (U)
Remove a quest counter from a permanent you control: Eldergorge Traitor gets +1/+1 and gains first strike until end of turn.
The ogres make for appealing muscle on any expedition, but the addition of such power comes at the price of progress.
3/2
Picaro’s Crisis :1mana::symr:
Enchantment — Quest (U)
Whenever a spell or ability an opponent controls counters a spell you control, put a quest counter on Picaro’s Crisis.
When Picaro’s Crisis has six or more quest counters on it, you may sacrifice it. If you do, cast any number of red cards in your graveyard without paying their mana costs.
Depth of Progress :3mana::symg:
Sorcery (C)
You gain 2 life for each quest counter on permanents you control.
“We seek only to know of our ancestors, of where our kind originated. Your kind takes such things for granted, but every clue of our past we uncover brings the frogling nation one step closer to home.” -Krokas, Fanholt homeseeker
Speaker of the Journey :3mana::symg::symg:
Creature — Frog Shaman (M)
At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, that player’s life total becomes equal to the number of quest counters on permanents he or she controls.
3/3
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
My only concern is that Speaker of the Journey is potentially an instant win. If your opponent doesn't have any quest counters on their field when you cast Speaker don't you instantly win if they can't respond to it?
Obviously there wouldn't necessarily be a lack of quest counters pertaining to any player, as suggested by the cards you've created. But I think you should change Speaker to read 'equal to the number of quest counters on permanents he or she controls plus 1.' Just in case?
URB Dragons BRU
EDH
W Darien, King of Kjeldor W
URG Maelstrom Wanderer GRU
RG Wort, the Raidmother GR
RWU Zedruu, the Greathearted UWR
I think that's a good idea. Thank you!
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
-Change the trigger to make it affect all player's life totals on your upkeep. As written, you can cast this in a deck with 0 Quests, shred your opponent's life total, then sacrifice it at instant speed to negate the drawback. This change also leaves open a one-turn window to cast removal on it, and makes it far more balanced in multiplayer games, where win conditions that don't cost additional resources to kill additional opponents are disproportionately advantaged.
-Up the mana cost to between 7 and 10. This is an alternate win condition that requires 0 effort on your part aside from casting it, and it ought to be costed like one.
Picaro's Crisis: A sideboard hoser to the blue draw-go deck being pushed with Caller of the Void?
Depth of Progress feels overcosted. You need four quest counters on your permanents to make it better than Angel's Mercy, which is already a bad card (and an instant to DoP's sorcery).
Avatar by Numotflame96 of Maelstrom Graphics
Sig banner thanks to DarkNightCavalier of Heroes of the Plane Studios!
Speaker of the Journey 4GGG
Creature — Frog Shaman (M)
At the beginning of you upkeep, each player’s life total becomes equal to the number of quest counters on permanents he or she controls plus 1.
3/3
?
Though judging what I will mention about the Quest theme in a moment, do you think Speaker should also include blue and/or red?
And beyond. Several cards throughout the block support a permission-based deck, Caller is simply a marquee card that sells the concept. Unlike past environments where permission was a viable strategy, the Excellion Block as a whole is lacking a traditional big blue finisher to push any potential decks away from the typical control and swing with one finisher style and more towards alternate win conditions. For mono-blue, the biggest options would be milling or treasures, though I included Caller as well to provide another option. I wanted to see if a set could support creatureless or creature-light combo and/or control decks so many cards in the block de-emphasize aggressive combat. Permission was an archetype I felt could thrive in that sort of environment and also serve to keep combo in check.
I'm okay with that, I do agree with MaRo that not every card needs to be pushed to its optimum power level. I like having some subpar cards to fill out the set for Limited. DoP will easily gain 10+ life in Limited without a whole lot of investment as green is one of the colors most focused on Quests (along with blue and red) and a deck with key Quests will easily get 5 or more quest counters by turn four or five. The common Trek to the Eye of Iskendrun from set one comes down on turn two and gets a counter when you play a land and the green Ascension aura (a common cycle) from QftF is one mana and gets a counter when its creature hits a player. Factoring in support from red and/or blue, quest counters will stack up fairly readily without a lot of investment. DoP may not be a good card, but it will gladly gain a lot of life in the sort of deck that can exploit it.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
Amidst this hunt, Excellion still teems with relics to discover and adventuring bands of hunters eager for the next big find. Quest for the Forsaken has about the tenth of the set as Treasures with several cards that refer back to them.
Divider of Spoils
Creature — Kithkin Cleric (C)
Whenever a Treasure enters the battlefield under your control, gain 1 life.
No adventuring party is without one all joiners can trust to fairly parcel out each man’s take of the bounty.
1/1
Shield of Lineage :3mana::symw:
Artifact — Equipment Treasure (U)
(At end of turn, if the total combined treasure value of Treasures you control is 20 or more, you win the game.)
Whenever equipped creature dies, you may put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield and attach Shield of Lineage to it.
Equip 3
[4]
Soul of Naloa Tor :4mana::symw::symw:
Creature — Spirit Warrior (M)
Lifelink
Soul of Naloa Tor gets +3/+3 for each Treasure equipping it.
:2mana::symw:: Return target Equipment Treasure card in your graveyard to the battlefield equipping Soul of Naloa Tor.
3/3
White favors ancient equipment, combining its love of equipment with the block's themes. Several of its cards are either Equipment Treasures or care about them.
Fall of the Hoarder :2mana::symb:
Sorcery (C)
Target player loses life equal to the highest treasure value amongst Treasures he or she controls.
“The king with the most toys does not triumph, he merely dies a rich man.” -Stelmarria Jonnell
Nightskull Relic :1mana::symb::symb::symb:
Artifact — Treasure (R)
(At end of turn, if the total combined treasure value of Treasures you control is 20 or more, you win the game.)
Pay 2 life: Draw a card.
“Long ago when I was still human, my wife claimed it scared our children. She said it was the relic or my family. I believe I chose wisely.” -Bolbaska, Zehaan baron
[4]
Azella’s Quill
Artifact — Treasure (C)
(At end of turn, if the total combined treasure value of Treasures you control is 20 or more, you win the game.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, shuffle your library and scry 2.
“Passed down through her family for generations, as she unknowingly made notes of her present, it rewrote her future.” -Chronicles of the Pyxis
[2]
Hood of Echoes
Artifact — Equipment Treasure (M)
Whenever equipped creature becomes tapped, you may pay 4. If you do, put a token copy of it onto the battlefield tapped.
Equip 4
[5]
But not everyone who searches for treasure is on the up and up. Some of Excellion's inhabitants are more likely to pillage adventuring parties' camps than actually venture into ancient ruins to get the treasure themselves. In that vein, I present a new mechanic for QftF.
Trinket Snatcher :1mana::symr:
Creature — Goblin Pirate (C)
Plunder 1 (When this creature deals combat damage to an opponent, you may gain control of target Treasure he or she controls with a treasure value of one or less.)
2/1
Plunder is a simple mechanic that allows a player a way to disrupt an opponent's gameplan. And with enough plundering, you can even steal a win away from a dedicated treasure player.
But who's leading all these pirates? The Lodos is a ship of infamy, passed from captain to captain. Adventurers everywhere know to hide from its flags, everyone knowing the stories of what fate awaits any adventurer unlucky enough to fall prey to the Lodos and her crew.
The Lodos' new captain is relentless in his pursuit of riches. But he isn't driven by greed. Unknown to the rest of the Excellion, being the captain of the Lodos comes at a terrible price: a curse placed upon it years ago draws the life out of its captain and only when its coffers are filled is that hunger sated. And Drusil is eager to fill those coffers for as long as he can.
Drusil, Captain of the Lodos :2mana::symr::symr:
Legendary Creature — Human Pirate (R)
Plunder 3 (When this creature deals combat damage to an opponent, you may gain control of target Treasure he or she controls with a treasure value of three or less.)
Whenever a treasure is plundered, untap Drusil, Captain of the Lodos and there is another combat phase followed by another main phase.
3/3
Drusil has begun to believe that only truly rare relics, ones with immense power, may hold the key to ending the Lodos' curse once and for all. If only Excellion had any relics that fit that bill ....
Legendary Artifact — Treasure (M)
:4mana:, :symtap:: Reveal an exiled card you own. If it’s a nonland card, you may cast it this turn. Otherwise, put it onto the battlefield tapped.
[8]
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
Some of these cards seem to push the Treasure theme a bit too hard. Why can't Soul of Naloa Tor retrieve any Equipment from the 'yard, but only get a bonus for Treasures? Would make it much more flexible and a higher pick in Limited. I don't like plunder on principle because it references another custom keyword in the block and does nothing against 4/5 of the alternate win conditions. How many cards do you expect this keyword to fit on? Maybe just a vertical cycle particular to this one in-story faction?
Does Drusil trigger when an opponent plunders one of your Treasures?
I get that Azella's Quill needs a drawback to compensate for its cost, but take it from a Legacy player -- shuffling the deck almost every single turn for the entire game is really annoying.
Should Key of the Forsaken say "face-down exiled card"? I think it would flow better to say "If it's a land, put it....Otherwise, you may cast..."
Avatar by Numotflame96 of Maelstrom Graphics
Sig banner thanks to DarkNightCavalier of Heroes of the Plane Studios!
I don't think Limited is much of a concern for a Mythic Rare.
SoNT functions virtually the same regardless since all Equipment in the set are also Treasures. And the block thus far has only a few Equipment that aren't.
The main reason for the restriction, apart from flavor themes, was to limit how often the card would be impacted by the two kinds of Equipment equipping it. Remembering which ones give a bonus and which don't would be a pain and I wanted to limit that. Besides, to play with SoNT optimally, you wouldn't be including basic equipment anyway.
Plunder came about after a discussion for the first set turned to disrupting a stagnant treasure-based gamestate. Commenters felt I needed ways aside from basic destruction to disrupt a treasure plan in Limited, and plunder was suggested. I felt it fit thematically as well as functionally as a way to counter treasure in Limited.
Plunder is found on seven cards between blue and red, all commons aside from Drusil and another rare in blue. It's a small mechanic for Limited purposes.
As currently worded, yes.
Think it's significant enough to alter the card? If so, how?
Not all cards you own that would be exiled would be face down, correct? I want the Key to fetch anything exiled.
You second wording fix does make it flow better, thank you.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains