Takeshi Konda of Golden Era 1W(U/B)(R/G)
Legendary Creature - Human Lord Samurai
4/4
Spirit spells you cast have affinity for cleric, monk, ninja, samurai, shaman, and wizard.
Non-Spirit creatures you control have bushido X, where X is the number of spirits you control. (If a creature has multiple instances of bushido, each triggers separately.) 3, sacrifice a spirit: target creature gains indestructible until end of turn.
Takeshi Konda, benevolent Lord of Eiganjo, the plane of Kamigawa achieved peace and balance under his rule. May his wisdom grow with his days.
———————
Flavor
An obvious lore-based creation. The card was designed to show a harmonious Kamigawa where all races joined hand in honoring Kami, while Konda’s activation hinted his betrayal. Takeshi Konda was said to be a great ruler who brought harmony to his land… until he went mad and desecrated the balance between mortals and Kami, all to gain immortality for himself; with good intention of course (so he believed). We all know what happened after that.
The mechanics of this card is a play on the lore: To achieve “balance” of the plane, you need to have roughly the same number of spirits and non-spirits for both sides to function well.
There are a few reasons why Konda here has five colors. In the lore, Konda ruled over vast part of Kamigawa (much like Kenrith, the Returned King), and his scheme of stealing That Which Was Taken involved members of several major factions. His core color is W so that’s required of his cost, (U/B) is the darker side of his persona, (R/G) is his battle prowess and original reverence towards Kami. Konda could probably go without green, but most of the monks on Kamigawa are green, so it’d be strange to skip the color.
W: Core color identity, bushido, lordship, and Kami worship.
U: Minamo advisors, scheming.
B: Darkness within himself.
R: Combat prowess.
G: Relationship with Kami and worldly balance.
Gameplay
Aside from needing spirits, Konda could go with any of the tribal listed. You could of course play mostly spirits since they benefit from Konda’s samurai presence alone, and then you’d have no trouble sacrificing them to give Konda indestructible (I’m sure he’d love that).
Trample is a great keyword to add to bushido since creatures get bigger when blocked, and trample would then add extra damage through the blocker. Voltron is definitely a consideration with Konda.
I'm not understanding the unnecessary colors. Konda was deeply rooted in monowhite standing—seeking balance between all things.
He wasn't a very malleable or manipulable character. Immovable. Stern—stoic. You realize this bend on the colors breaks his character entirely?
The effects aren't very functional either. Typically, you want to do one thing and do it very well. This guy is all over the place. Doing a lot of different things that is going to detract from interactivity, in the sense that you are relying on a single resource to do the job that is naturally desired by many (or a few key) resources instead, to breed interactivity in the game. This interactivity is what fuels the primary fun factor of the game. It's a team effort. You don't want one card hogging the ball like this. It's even a bad example of a Timmy card, in that its hogging up interactivity, and not just being a standalone powerhouse. You really just want to do one of these things, then transverse the abilities (indestructible and bushido) into his own character, so that he can hold his own as an offensive/defensive resource.
Sacrificing spirits isn't likely going to be a very hopeful endeavor either, as they're not likely to be as prominently available as one would need them to be. You'll be lucky to have maybe one you can spare, and then you're probably just be using the ability to save him, so you mine as well just give him indestructible and not bother going out of way like this. Eight-and-a-Half-Tails has a pretty similar effect, only less demanding, and still wasn't as self-sufficient as it needed to be to see any alpha potential. Costs like this are simply too demanding.
I notice how you're trying to blend the co-existence line between spirits and humans, but actually trying to build a deck with a sufficient number of both is a disaster waiting to happen. Commander if you're lucky, but there's still tons of room for improvement/optimization. For spirits, you'll want to use one drops or two drops, rendering affinity useless. It'd be better off the other way around, giving humans affinity for spirits (which makes more sense as well). Then you could bridge around other supportive core-essential content (such as removal) which is designedto create spiritsin addition to their primary functions.
I really liked affinity too, but it's awkward for me to see it outside of Mirrodin (or Mirrodin styled cards). Just feels out of place. Kamigawa had offering, which was introvertly similar to champion in Lorwyn. I don't really feel either of those are a better replacement for affinity, but why not just work a custom ability instead?
"Non-Spirit creature spells and activated abilities of non-Spirit creatures cost 1 less to cast for each Spirit you control".
It's more dynamic and unique, and more of does a single thing and does it well.
He probably really just wants to be able to summon a spirit, along the lines of Living Wish.
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may choose a Spirit creature card you own with a converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of creatures you control and put it onto the battlefield."
or even
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may choose a Spirit creature card you own with a converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of creatures on the battlefield and put it onto the battlefield."
Now you're really getting dynamic and self-sufficient, and freeing up all that resource dependency so that you can freely use Spirit intuitive content as I mentioned above (removal, disruption, etc.) to keep stride with the game pace (flow of the cards, hand advantage, board advantage).
For starter, I mentioned this was created as a lore card, depicting the ideal Kamigawa and Konda before he fell to his own obsession, as a wise ruler instead of a nonmalleable madman. In the Golden Era when everyone worships spirits, they receive their blessing in return, they were the core of Kamigawa's momentum.
Saccing spirit being counterproductive, that was intended, because Konda did it for temporary power and never came back from that route, personally I enjoy cards with a lot of choice making. This version of Konda would no doubt be a creature-based deck, that too was intended, because it's a plane where people and spirits mingle, Konda's position as Shindo's chosen cannot be as aloof as King Kenrith is.
1W(U/B)(R/G)
Legendary Creature - Human Lord Samurai
4/4
Spirit spells you cast have affinity for cleric, monk, ninja, samurai, shaman, and wizard.
Non-Spirit creatures you control have bushido X, where X is the number of spirits you control. (If a creature has multiple instances of bushido, each triggers separately.)
3, sacrifice a spirit: target creature gains indestructible until end of turn.
Takeshi Konda, benevolent Lord of Eiganjo, the plane of Kamigawa achieved peace and balance under his rule. May his wisdom grow with his days.
———————
Flavor
An obvious lore-based creation. The card was designed to show a harmonious Kamigawa where all races joined hand in honoring Kami, while Konda’s activation hinted his betrayal. Takeshi Konda was said to be a great ruler who brought harmony to his land… until he went mad and desecrated the balance between mortals and Kami, all to gain immortality for himself; with good intention of course (so he believed). We all know what happened after that.
The mechanics of this card is a play on the lore: To achieve “balance” of the plane, you need to have roughly the same number of spirits and non-spirits for both sides to function well.
There are a few reasons why Konda here has five colors. In the lore, Konda ruled over vast part of Kamigawa (much like Kenrith, the Returned King), and his scheme of stealing That Which Was Taken involved members of several major factions. His core color is W so that’s required of his cost, (U/B) is the darker side of his persona, (R/G) is his battle prowess and original reverence towards Kami. Konda could probably go without green, but most of the monks on Kamigawa are green, so it’d be strange to skip the color.
W: Core color identity, bushido, lordship, and Kami worship.
U: Minamo advisors, scheming.
B: Darkness within himself.
R: Combat prowess.
G: Relationship with Kami and worldly balance.
Gameplay
Aside from needing spirits, Konda could go with any of the tribal listed. You could of course play mostly spirits since they benefit from Konda’s samurai presence alone, and then you’d have no trouble sacrificing them to give Konda indestructible (I’m sure he’d love that).
Trample is a great keyword to add to bushido since creatures get bigger when blocked, and trample would then add extra damage through the blocker. Voltron is definitely a consideration with Konda.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
It should be a transforming card? I wonder if they would use that in the next Kamigawa. I think it fits a lot of youkai concepts very well.
They are enveloping or unfolding characture.
He wasn't a very malleable or manipulable character. Immovable. Stern—stoic. You realize this bend on the colors breaks his character entirely?
The effects aren't very functional either. Typically, you want to do one thing and do it very well. This guy is all over the place. Doing a lot of different things that is going to detract from interactivity, in the sense that you are relying on a single resource to do the job that is naturally desired by many (or a few key) resources instead, to breed interactivity in the game. This interactivity is what fuels the primary fun factor of the game. It's a team effort. You don't want one card hogging the ball like this. It's even a bad example of a Timmy card, in that its hogging up interactivity, and not just being a standalone powerhouse. You really just want to do one of these things, then transverse the abilities (indestructible and bushido) into his own character, so that he can hold his own as an offensive/defensive resource.
Sacrificing spirits isn't likely going to be a very hopeful endeavor either, as they're not likely to be as prominently available as one would need them to be. You'll be lucky to have maybe one you can spare, and then you're probably just be using the ability to save him, so you mine as well just give him indestructible and not bother going out of way like this. Eight-and-a-Half-Tails has a pretty similar effect, only less demanding, and still wasn't as self-sufficient as it needed to be to see any alpha potential. Costs like this are simply too demanding.
I notice how you're trying to blend the co-existence line between spirits and humans, but actually trying to build a deck with a sufficient number of both is a disaster waiting to happen. Commander if you're lucky, but there's still tons of room for improvement/optimization. For spirits, you'll want to use one drops or two drops, rendering affinity useless. It'd be better off the other way around, giving humans affinity for spirits (which makes more sense as well). Then you could bridge around other supportive core-essential content (such as removal) which is designed to create spirits in addition to their primary functions.
I really liked affinity too, but it's awkward for me to see it outside of Mirrodin (or Mirrodin styled cards). Just feels out of place. Kamigawa had offering, which was introvertly similar to champion in Lorwyn. I don't really feel either of those are a better replacement for affinity, but why not just work a custom ability instead?
"Non-Spirit creature spells and activated abilities of non-Spirit creatures cost 1 less to cast for each Spirit you control".
It's more dynamic and unique, and more of does a single thing and does it well.
He probably really just wants to be able to summon a spirit, along the lines of Living Wish.
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may choose a Spirit creature card you own with a converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of creatures you control and put it onto the battlefield."
or even
"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may choose a Spirit creature card you own with a converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of creatures on the battlefield and put it onto the battlefield."
Now you're really getting dynamic and self-sufficient, and freeing up all that resource dependency so that you can freely use Spirit intuitive content as I mentioned above (removal, disruption, etc.) to keep stride with the game pace (flow of the cards, hand advantage, board advantage).
For starter, I mentioned this was created as a lore card, depicting the ideal Kamigawa and Konda before he fell to his own obsession, as a wise ruler instead of a nonmalleable madman. In the Golden Era when everyone worships spirits, they receive their blessing in return, they were the core of Kamigawa's momentum.
Saccing spirit being counterproductive, that was intended, because Konda did it for temporary power and never came back from that route, personally I enjoy cards with a lot of choice making. This version of Konda would no doubt be a creature-based deck, that too was intended, because it's a plane where people and spirits mingle, Konda's position as Shindo's chosen cannot be as aloof as King Kenrith is.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs