Set Name: Siege of Ravnica Three letter code: SOR Set size: 225 Flavor: This one goes to eleven! Mechanics: Entrench, Breach, Guildpact, Consume, Planeswalkers
Ravnica is a popular setting, as are the Eldrazi. So, combining the two has always been one of the ideas out there. That's what I try to do with Siege of Ravnica. An epic sequel to the Eldrazi storyline, where the guilds of Ravnica combine their forces to combat the overworldly invaders, who have escaped from Zendikar after having drained it of all life. But the Ravnicans don't have to fight this war alone: Ugin, the spirit dragon, called out to other planeswalkers to help fight the Eldrazi. This set off an avalanche and planeswalkers from all over the multiverse answered to Ugin's rallying call.
I have to trust here that the Khans of Tarkir storyline will resolve in Ugin being alive again. Why did the Eldrazi come to Ravnica? Probably the same reason as always: Nicol Bolas.
Themes & Mechanics
Entrench(You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
The limited gameplay of Siege of Ravnica is supposed to feel like a siege. You build impenetrable barricades and bust the opponent's defenses with an all-out attack. Entrench helps you build those barricades.
Breach - If you cast this spell during your main phase, {effect}.
Breach is a weird name for an ability word with that effect. The name comes from the fact that Breach spells are always instant pump spells that have a more powerful effect when cast during the main phase with the intent of busting through the opponent's defenses.
Guildpact - {effect} equal to the number of colors among permanents you control.
The guilds don't get their own mechanic. They work together as best as they can, represented by the Guildpact mechanic.
Consume - When you cast ~ or whenever it attacks, {effect}
The Eldrazi mechanic replacing Annihilator. Each Eldrazi "consumes" something, such as life or cards, when you cast it or whenever it attacks. For example, the effect could be "target opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life."
Planeswalkers: Planeswalkers appear in a large quantity in Siege of Ravnica, even at common. Those planeswalkers don't have a unique name or planeswalker type and are generally simpler than their mythic counterparts.
Spawn {number}(Put {number} colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature tokens onto the battlefield. They have "Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.)
The Eldrazi spawn tokens from Rise of the Eldrazi return. However, the Eldrazi have evolved their brood to generate mana of any color instead of only colorless mana. Eldrazi spawn are more used for color fixing and less for ramping.
The pyromancer stared across the starlit fields of Vryn. A few months ago, she set out to find the Trail of the Mage Rings, a mysterious superstructure that was built on this plane a long time ago by a group of planeswalkers, so the records said. But she made barely any progress lately and was forced to accept mundane tasks just to make ends meet. This time, she went out to gather lowland cougar femurs for the oracle of a nearby village. A quest not fitting for a shaman of her skills, but she needed the gold to buy new adventuring gear. She sighed and started hurling fireballs at the cougars nearby.
The hours went by excruciatingly slow, but eventually she had gathered enough femurs for the oracle. The pyromancer started her trip back to the village, when she was ripped out of her lethargy as all off a sudden someone else appeared from the AEther right in front of her. She looked upon a white-fured leonin, robed in tribal clothes, and with a big scar over his left eye. Although she never met him before, she could tell that he is a planeswalker like her.
Muraganda Pyromancer
Caught by surprise, the pyromancer readied her defenses. Her hands conjured spheres of fire, ready to hurl it at the other planeswalker. But the leonin signaled that he was not intending to attack. Slowly, the pyromancer relaxed her muscles and instead went on to greet her visitor.
"Greetings, fellow traveler," she began. "I'm afraid you caught me a bit off-guard. My name is..." The leonin interrupted her: "There is no time. The Eldrazi have escaped from their prison and have arrived on Ravnica. These monsters are ravaging the city as we speak. I set out to gather all planeswalkers who are willing to help us fight against the Eldrazi. If you are one of them, follow me to Ravnica. Please, make haste!" Not a moment later, the leonin disappeared as he planeswalked away. For several minutes, the pyromancer stared across the starlit fields of Vryn, completely puzzled by the event that just transpired. But eventually she composed herself and continued her trip back to finish the quest.
Rallying Call
On her way back, she tried to make sense of the few words the leonin had spoken. She never heard of these Eldrazi before, but Ravnica was well known to her; she even spent many of her days following her ascension on the city plane. And now monsters from another plane are attacking it? That sounds... exciting! Bored with her current quest, she threw the lowland cougar femurs onto the ground and planeswalked away to Ravnica.
The pyromancer arrived in a great guildhall. From the architecture, she could tell that it belonged to the Azorius guild. The hall was crowded and the atmosphere agitated. From outside the hall, she could here the action going on already. Constant cannon fire raised the overall noise level, sometimes accompanied by more powerful concussions. And then there were screams. Some clearly human and other so alien, they could not have been released by a being of this world.
She looked around the guildhall and identified members of many different guilds. The Azorius lawmages with their runic inscriptions, the Boros soldiers in their brilliant armor, and the dryads of the Selesnya guild. But many others clearly belonged to no guild at all. They were clearly no civilians, so they had to be planeswalkers like her. She approached an elven woman standing next to her who seemed to be just as lost as she was. "Greetings, my name is..." Before she could introduce herself, a Boros soldier walked up to the group and interrupted her. "Alright, here's the situation," he shouted. "The Eldrazi have breached the northern gates. If they continue to advance this fast, they will reach the Tenth District by nightfall. The Izzet are preparing for an aerial assault, but our soldiers cannot hold the line much longer. What we need is more time. Go out there and kill as many Eldrazi as you can. When you're done, report to Aurelia and wait for further instructions. She is the large angel in the northeast. And bring her severed Eldrazi tentacles as proof. Dismissed, soldiers!"
Aurelia, Ravnica's Shield
The pyromancer would have complained about his manners, but for whatever reason, she decided to let it be. She stepped outside guildhall and finally saw the extent of the chaos on Ravnica. The streets were littered with debris, the buildings were aflame, civilians were fleeing to safe havens, and the guild forces entrenched behind massive barricades, only for an Eldrazi to charge into it, causing heavy damage before being finally taken down. And the Eldrazi? They were more monstrous, more nightmarish, than she could have ever imagined.
Excitement arose within the planeswalker. She gathered her mana, conjuring runes to further amplify her pyromancy. She ran out onto the streets and a symphony of fire, destruction, and otherworldly screams ensued. After a short while, every Eldrazi in the area was reduced to ash. Too late did the pyromancer remember that she was supposed to not only kill the Eldrazi, but to collect tentacles from their corpses. She looked back at the remains of her carnage, and found no Eldrazi tentacle that could still be identified as such. She searched for more foes on a plaza further in the north, intending to be more careful this time. Eventually, the pyromancer had gathered a bag full of severed Eldrazi tentacles and was ready to deliver them to the angel Aurelia. But since she started the quest, she had sheered far away from the guildhall and could no longer make out the angel on the horizon. She pulled out the map that the Boros soldier had given her and started looking for a point of reference.
While the pyromancer was pondering over the map, she did not notice Kozilek approaching her across the plaza. Before she could react, the Eldrazi titan killed her with a single swipe. The bag of severed Eldrazi tentacles fell to the ground. No one would ever know of her exploits.
Emrakul, Devourer of Worlds9
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M)
When you cast Emrakul, Devourer of Worlds, it deals 7 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures.
Flying
Consume (Whenever a creature dealt damage by this this turn dies, that creature’s controller loses life equal to its power and you gain that much life.)
When Emrakul is put into your graveyard from anywhere, shuffle your graveyard into your library.
Ulamog’s Siegebreaker6
Creature — Eldrazi (C)
Whenever Ulamog’s Siegebreaker attacks, it gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Consume (Whenever a creature dealt damage by this this turn dies, that creature’s controller loses life equal to its power and you gain that much life.)
4/5
Belenon Paladin3W
Planeswalker (C)
+1: Creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
-3: Put two 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield. “Together, we will send these monstrosities back to the void from where they came.”
{4}
Court Street Guard1W
Creature — Human Soldier (C)
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.) “I don’t see why the court house is an important location at this point, but orders are orders.”
2/2
Gideon’s Confederate4WW
Creature — Angel (U)
Flying
All damage that would be dealt to planeswalkers you control is dealt to Gideon’s Confederate instead. “Aurelia has sent her most trusted soldier to protect you, Lord Gideon, for she believes that we will face certain defeat without your lead.”
—Razov, Boros messenger
4/6
Glory of the Legion3W
Instant (C)
Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. Breach — If you cast Glory of the Legion during your main phase, creatures you control get +2/+2 until end of turn instead. Not only Boros were cheering in the crowd.
Sheltering Angel3W
Creature — Angel (C)
Flying
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.) “Whatever happens, stay with me. I’ll look after you.”
2/3
Ugin’s Ward1WW
Enchantment (R)
Creatures can’t attack you or a planeswalker you control unless their controller pays 2 for each of those creatures. Although the hedrons couldn’t keep the Eldrazi from advancing, they provided valuable time to regroup the guild’s forces.
Coral Strider4U
Creature — Leviathan Crab (C)
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.) “It was designed to withstand tornadoes and earthquakes, but the Eldrazi unleash an even greater force.”
—Gulistan, Simic biomancer
3/5
Eldritch Spawning2U
Instant (C)
Put a 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature token onto the battlefield. It has “Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.”
Draw a card. “Tell the public we have lost Duskmantle.”
—Lazav
Ir Mesmerist3U
Planeswalker (C)
+1: Target player puts the top three cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
-3: Tap up to two target creatures. Those creatures don’t untap during their controller’s next untap step. “Whoever brought the Eldrazi to Ravnica has to have an agenda we don’t know yet.”
{4}
Synchronous ResponseU
Instant (C)
As an additional cost to cast Synchronous Response, tap X untapped creatures you control.
Counter target spell unless its controller pays X. Lawmages synchronize their countermagic to easily deal with spellcasting suspects.
Ugin’s Counsel2U
Sorcery (U)
Put two loyalty counters on each planeswalker you control. “Ugin is as old as time, and about as easy to argue with.”
—Sorin Markov
Vedalken Cryptologist3U
Creature — Vedalken Wizard (C) Guildpact — When Vedalken Cryptologist enters the battlefield, look at the top X cards of your library, where X is the number of colors among permanents you control. Put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
1/4
Affluent Nihilist1B
Creature — Human (C)
Affluent Nihilist can’t block. “My neighbors all fled with the Boros escorts. I for one embrace the end — with a glass of wine and Azor’s seventh symphony.”
2/3
Annihilation3BB
Sorcery (R)
Destroy all colored creatures. Most of Ravnica’s streets were littered with rubble and corpses. On others, even those had been leveled to dust.
Bloodbolt Sniper1B
Creature — Human Assassin (U)
Deathtouch
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.) “I don’t care about history of the Eldrazi. Just tell me where their heart is.”
1/2
Breach of Emrakul5BB
Sorcery (C)
Target opponent sacrifices a creature, a land, and a planeswalker. “We’ve lost the Forum of Azor. The guildpact is no more. Work together not because an ethereal contract binds you, but because of sheer necessity.”
—Jace
Clinging Shadow2B
Creature — Shade (C)
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.) 2B: Clinging Shadow gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Countless Eldrazi are caught inside its cloud, distorting its appearance.
0/4
Innistrad Bloodmage5B
Planeswalker (C)
+1: Target player loses 3 life and you gain 3 life.
-3: You draw three cards and you lose 3 life. “Finally, a chance to indulge in my craft. Innistrad has become too boring lately.”
{4}
Kozilek’s Chrysalis4B
Creature — Eldrazi Drone (C)
When Kozilek’s Chrysalis enters the battlefield, put two 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature tokens onto the battlefield. They have “Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.” Unbeknown to the Golgari, the Eldrazi proliferated their brood in the sewers of Ravnica.
3/3
Liliana’s Disdain2B
Instant (C)
Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn. You gain 2 life. “Normally I would reanimate you, but I’ll make an exception this time . . . please just stay dead.”
Mobilize the Undercity3BB
Sorcery (U)
Put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token onto the battlefield tapped for each creature card in your graveyard. “I am joyful that we have an army of this size, but it pains me that it overshadows anything the Boros can ever contribute.”
—Dars Gostok, firefist captain
Skeletal Charge1B
Instant (C)
Target creature gets +1/+1 and gains lifelink until end of turn. Breach — If you cast Skeletal Charge during your main phase, that creature gets +3/+3 and gains lifelink until end of turn instead. “Charging heads on into an Eldrazi infested district . . . easier when you’re already dead.”
Cobble Rager4R
Creature — Elemental (C)
Trample Realizing that nothing they could evoke would withstand a titan’s attack, the geomancers focused on doing as much damage as possible before their assault was wiped out.
6/2
Goblin ArsonistR
Creature — Goblin Shaman (C)
When Goblin Arsonist dies, you may have it deal 1 damage to target creature or player. “Their complete disregard for their own survival might come in handy here.”
—Lavinia of the Tenth
1/1
Legion’s OffensiveR
Instant (C)
Target creature gets +1/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn. Breach — If you cast Legion’s Offensive during your main phase, instead creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain first strike until end of turn.
Muraganda Pyromancer4R
Planeswalker (C)
+1: Add RR to your mana pool.
-3: Muraganda Pyromancer deals 3 damage to target creature and 3 damage to target player. “Man, beast, or otherworldly monster . . . all things made of flesh burn just the same.”
{4}
Barkskin Dryad2G
Creature — Dryad (C)
Reach
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.) They’ve protected the grove of Vitu-Ghazi. Now they protect all of Ravnica.
2/3
Ergamon Primalist2G
Planeswalker (C)
+1: Up to one target creature gets +1/+1 and gains trample until end of turn.
-3: Search your library for a basic land card, and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Then shuffle your library. “Ravnica has been my home for many years. I came as soon as I heard the rallying call.”
{4}
Ground Pierce3G
Instant (U)
Target creature gets +3/+3 and gains trample until end of turn. Breach — If you cast Ground Pierce during your main phase, that creature gets +6/+6 and gains trample until end of turn instead. The evacuation plans didn’t account for the Eldrazi making a surprise attack.
IvopusG
Creature — Plant Octopus (C) 1G, T: Put a +1/+1 counter on Ivopus. “If it continues to grow at this rate, in about 26000 years it will be strong enough to kill an Eldrazi titan.”
—Zija, Simic mutationist
1/2
Nature’s Reclamation1G
Sorcery (C)
Search your library for up to two basic land cards, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then shuffle your library. The leveled districts were quickly retaken by nature.
Rubblebelt Outriders3G
Creature — Human Warrior (C)
When Rubblebelt Outriders enters the battlefield, target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Not all Ravnicans saw the Eldrazi as an alien menace, but as gods crushing the city to reclaim the wild.
3/3
Equilor Galecaller3WU
Planeswalker (U)
+1: Up to two target creatures each get +1/+1 and gain flying until end of turn.
-2: Return target creature to its owner’s hand. You gain life equal to that creature’s toughness. “I bring word from the great sages of Equilor. Ugin is always our welcome guest.”
{4}
Intrusive Medication4UB
Sorcery (U)
Choose target creature. Its controller reveals his or her hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card. That creature gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the converted mana cost of the discarded card.
Envoys of the Conclave2GW
Creature — Centaur Warrior (C) Guildpact — When Envoys of the Conclave enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life for each color among permanents you control. “For the first time in the history of Ravnica, the conclave is a welcome sight.”
—Lavinia of the Tenth
3/4
Teysa, Swayer of the Dead2WB
Legendary Creature — Human Advisor (M)
Whenever one or more creatures attack you or a planeswalker you control, put a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying onto the battlefield. WB, Sacrifice another creature: Exile target blocking creature. “The dead will be ready for war.”
3/4
Mizzium Flash2UR
Sorcery (C)
Draw two cards. Mizzium Flash deals 2 damage to target player. “We always need more ideas, more thoughts, more power. Now more than ever.”
—Niv-Mizzet
Gaze of Vraska3BG
Sorcery (C)
Destroy target nonland permanent. Vraska wondered if one day she could sell the petrified Eldrazi as abstract art.
Vraska, Granite Queen3BG
Planeswalker — Vraska (M)
+1: Up to one target creature gains defender until your next turn.
+1: Reveal the top two cards of your library. Put a creature or land card from among them into your hand. Put the rest into your graveyard.
-5: Put a 1/1 black and green Snake creature token onto the battlefield for each creature card in your graveyard.
{3}
Violent Backlash1RW
Instant (U)
Until end of turn, target creature gets +0/+3 and gains “Whenever this creature is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to target creature or player.” “Never underestimate their urge to scapegoat somebody.
—Chandra, to Gideon
Simic Dreamweaver3GU
Creature — Human Plant Wizard (R) Guildpact — When Simic Dreamweaver enters the battlefield, draw a card for each color among permanents you control. Some simic mages have evolved their minds so far that they can connect to the leylines of Ravnica at will.
2/2
Agent of the Senate2(W/B)U
Creature — Human Rogue (U)
Lifelink
Agent of the Senate can’t be blocked. “I’ll accept any job as long as it’s payed well. That I’ll get to save the world is just a nice bonus.”
2/2
Legion Dragonknight3(W/U)R
Creature — Human Knight (U)
Flying 1R: Legion Dragonknight gets +2/+0 until end of turn. Acquiring dragons from the Izzet greatly increased the potency of the Boros aerial force.
1/6
Vitu-Ghazi Escort(G/U)W
Creature — Elf Cleric (U) 1, T: Another target creature gains hexproof until end of turn. With the consent of Trostani, Lavinia had the refugees from the tenth district transfered to the grove of Vitu-Ghazi.
2/2
A different suggestion for Entrench:
Entrench (At the beginning of your upkeep, you may add or remove a +1/+1 counter from this creature. It can’t attack as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
Entrench seems like a miserable mechanic to actually play games with. It just makes massive board stalls where combat math starts to become crazy, and I don't really think anyone enjoys those games, despite the Breach cards around to help it out.
Well, I actually do enjoy those games . In all seriousness though, I don't think that early game stalls are bad for the game as long as there are enough ways to break them later or go over the top of whatever your opponent is doing. Having a bunch of planeswalkers in play gives you inevitability. As does casting 8+ mana spells, although I'm not yet sure how they should look like. Having a mana sink mechanic also helps, but I don't have that either. So, I think it's better to tackle this issue: Should Consume be the Eldrazi mechanic or rather something that goes more over the top? Something like Monstrosity perhaps?
I'm also not sure common or uncommon Planeswalkers is a good idea (uncommon could possibly slide in with a single cycle), because they really shape the games around them even with two loyalty abilities (and the fact that you can sit them behind a massive stack of Entreach dudes and stop the opponent from killing them).
I will refrain from making planeswalkers that generate value with their plus ability, and most won't have an ultimate either, so they will be much less "kill it with fire or lose" than mythic planeswalkers. If developed properly, I think they should work.
I love the creative though; war sets always interest me, and this looks really sweet (although there is perhaps a slight amount of throwing too much cool stuff in people's faces with Ravnica and loads of 'walkers and Eldrazi and Ugin, etc).
A different suggestion for Entrench:
Entrench (At the beginning of your upkeep, you may add or remove a +1/+1 counter from this creature. It can’t attack as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
Did you intend that the creature could grow more and more every turn? Wouldn't that make it worse?
Keep in mind that the entrench creatures give you the option to play them as a normal beater, and you only entrench them when you're behind. Therefore, you won't run into the situation that you don't have any way to kill the opponent left in your deck, unlike the case where there are a bunch of Ogre Sentrys left in your deck. Again, formats that encourage board stalls can work if there are enough ways to break the stall in the late game.
I'm not sold on consume... it doesn't feel Eldrazi enough. The name of the mechanic is appropriate for Eldrazi, but the effect just feels mono-black. Do you remember the consume mechanic I used for the eldrazin in the Caeia block? The flavor there (devauring the mana of the plane itself) feels pretty Eldrazi, and color hosing could be pretty interesting in a Ravnica set. Something like:
Consume X (Put a consumption counter on up to X target lands. Mana produced by lands with consumption counters can only be used to pay colorless mana costs.)
There are other routes to take as well, but I do think that the mechanic should be re-worked to feel more Eldrazi-ish.
Entrench
I love this mechanic. I know you and I are both finds of 'battlecruiser magic' and this fits that theme brilliantly, I think. What kind of room is there in the set for 'wall tribal' ala ROE? Seems like a great opportunity for an Overgrown Battlement reprint.
Breach
Hmm. This is interesting. I'm not sure how it will fit here, it might just make decks tend towards a more aggressive style, but it's a fun idea.
Guildpact
I really like this, but I do hate that the name is so closely tied Ravnica, because it's a mechanic that's got a lot of room elsewhere as well.
Planeswalkers
You know I'm a huge fan of planeswalkers at lower rarities. However bringing them down to common is a bold move. Having that many walkers available in all rarities will make for a very walker centric limited game, and outside of the idea that planeswalkers are cool, and this set seems to have a theme of 'cranking it up to 11' as you put it, there's not a lot that's keeping the planeswalkers tied to the set, mechanically speaking. I'm not sure I have a suggestion here, just an observation at this point.
Have you considered any kind of counter manipulation subtheme? Could be interesting with entrench and planeswalkers.
I'm not sold on consume... it doesn't feel Eldrazi enough. The name of the mechanic is appropriate for Eldrazi, but the effect just feels mono-black. Do you remember the consume mechanic I used for the eldrazin in the Caeia block? The flavor there (devauring the mana of the plane itself) feels pretty Eldrazi, and color hosing could be pretty interesting in a Ravnica set. Something like:
Consume X (Put a consumption counter on up to X target lands. Mana produced by lands with consumption counters can only be used to pay colorless mana costs.)
There are other routes to take as well, but I do think that the mechanic should be re-worked to feel more Eldrazi-ish.
The reactions to Consume seem to range from negative to mixed, so I'm going to replace it. I don't like messing with lands, though, especially not in a multicolored set. How do you feel about Monstrosity?
I love this mechanic. I know you and I are both finds of 'battlecruiser magic' and this fits that theme brilliantly, I think. What kind of room is there in the set for 'wall tribal' ala ROE? Seems like a great opportunity for an Overgrown Battlement reprint.
I will definitely make cards similar to Overgrown Battlement, but I won't reprint it. It was too good back then, and here it would be even better.
Hmm. This is interesting. I'm not sure how it will fit here, it might just make decks tend towards a more aggressive style, but it's a fun idea.
The main idea is that you can do bursts of damage to kill off opposing planeswalkers. Trample will be valued much higher in this set as it would be normally, as chump blocking with Eldrazi spawn tokens is a big problem, when you're trying to kill planeswalkers. Of course, you could also just use these spells as simple burn and build an aggressive deck that way, and I think that's fine. There will be enough walls to soak the damage.
You know I'm a huge fan of planeswalkers at lower rarities. However bringing them down to common is a bold move. Having that many walkers available in all rarities will make for a very walker centric limited game, and outside of the idea that planeswalkers are cool, and this set seems to have a theme of 'cranking it up to 11' as you put it, there's not a lot that's keeping the planeswalkers tied to the set, mechanically speaking. I'm not sure I have a suggestion here, just an observation at this point.
Have you considered any kind of counter manipulation subtheme? Could be interesting with entrench and planeswalkers.
I wanted the other mechanics to work in an interesting way with attacking and defending planeswalkers. Entrench and Eldrazi spawn are mechanics intended to help you defend your planeswalkers, and breach is a mechanic intended to help you kill off planeswalkers. Counter-manipulation could be a theme for Simic cards. I also have a blue uncommon that puts loyalty counters on planeswalkers.
Hey a new set!!
It's funny I was actually working this idea in my mind lately.
Entrench seems pretty solid and a great limited mechanic. I can't see any constructed worthy cards unless it gets some support though.
Consume. Honestly I like Advent's Consume better XD. And anyways I believe annihilator could make a comeback.
Breach. I don't know how I feel about this. It seems too simple for the likes of me, like keywording the "Fated" cards of BNG. I guess it can work though.
Guildpact. I like this so much. The name fits the flavor greatly and it can have many more applications than the previous take at this kind of mechanics (I'm looking at you Domain).
We all love planeswalkers
I'm glad Entrench got some positive reactions. I'm cutting Consume; I'm open to suggestions for a replacement mechanic. A mana-sink would be preferable. I want to try without Annihilator for now.
As always, thanks for the feedback!
While I'm at it, here is a new planeswalker:
Valla Battlemaster2RG
Planeswalker (U)
+1: Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature you control. That creature gains haste until end of turn.
-6: Put three +1/+1 counters on any number of target creatures you control. "I face a formidable foe, but nothing a warrior who fought in the Immersturm can’t overcome."
{3}
The cross here between the Eldrazi and Ravnica sound fun and very interesting. Players are excited to see the Eldrazi come back and terrorize a plane, and what plane better suited to tear down in a grandiose fashion than Ravnica?
I agree that consume is probably not the best answer for a new Eldrazi direction.
I like the Guildpact mechanic and agree with a name change. Perhaps something like Alliance, Concord, or Unite.
I like the direction of entrench and breach as counter points to each other. It could creature some interesting blow out moments.
I'm really not a fan of Planeswalkers at such low rarities though, but moreso for mechanical concerns. Having a bunch of planeswalkers be easily accessible sets up players with a huge toolbox of options that creates a lot of complexity, decision making, and really easy card advantage scenarios making most of them automatic redflags at common and leaving very little room for any other distinct directions. I realize you want battlecruiser style mechanics going on, but I feel low rarity planeswalkers will stall the game horrendously long for limited as players will be taking a lot of their attack turns killing them instead of their opponents. Also, introducing planeswalkers at lower rarities introduces the need for lower rarities to have answers to them, which may be acceptable within the set/block itself, but would muddle the useful of other planeswalkers and there distinct place as rarer permanents that are harder to remove then normal.
With what you're proposing, it feels like your cranking it up to 15, not an 11, and that's not necessarily a good thing. Do you want this set to be about a war between Ravnica and the Eldrazi, or a Planeswalker set? I'm not confident 1 set can do both well at the same time, not the extrent I think you're aiming for. Maybe planeswalkers should be kept out of commons. Fate reforged has a heavy dragon theme as a mechanic but still only has 13 (as a smaller set granted, but still.) How many planewalkers are you planning for?
I'm really not a fan of Planeswalkers at such low rarities though, but moreso for mechanical concerns. Having a bunch of planeswalkers be easily accessible sets up players with a huge toolbox of options that creates a lot of complexity, decision making, and really easy card advantage scenarios making most of them automatic redflags at common and leaving very little room for any other distinct directions. I realize you want battlecruiser style mechanics going on, but I feel low rarity planeswalkers will stall the game horrendously long for limited as players will be taking a lot of their attack turns killing them instead of their opponents. Also, introducing planeswalkers at lower rarities introduces the need for lower rarities to have answers to them, which may be acceptable within the set/block itself, but would muddle the useful of other planeswalkers and there distinct place as rarer permanents that are harder to remove then normal.
I understand your concerns, but keep in mind that every set has room for at least one really complex mechanic. For Khans of Tarkir, these were Morphs, for Rise of the Eldrazi, it was Level up. These are on the same complexity level as planeswalkers, and like those sets, I don't have any other overly complex mechanics. Regarding the answers to planeswalkers: Answers to planeswalkers already exist in Hero's Downfall, Oblivion Ring etc. Of course, I have to bring those down in rarity, which I did for example with Gaze of Vraska:
Gaze of Vraska3BG
Sorcery (C)
Destroy target nonland permanent.
This card fills its role in the limited format but wouldn't have any impact on other formats because it's too bad.
With what you're proposing, it feels like your cranking it up to 15, not an 11, and that's not necessarily a good thing. Do you want this set to be about a war between Ravnica and the Eldrazi, or a Planeswalker set? I'm not confident 1 set can do both well at the same time, not the extrent I think you're aiming for. Maybe planeswalkers should be kept out of commons. Fate reforged has a heavy dragon theme as a mechanic but still only has 13 (as a smaller set granted, but still.) How many planewalkers are you planning for?
Maybe it would be useful to explain how I arrived at this idea. I wanted to do a "siege-style" limited format for a long time. I tried to design a type of enchantment that behaved like a planeswalker in that it could be attacked, and in the format you're building up your defenses to defend these "sanctuaries." But I never could get them right. When I started with the idea for this set, I knew this had to be the "siege-style" limited format I envisioned. But the sanctuaries just wouldn't work, so I decided to go into a different direction and have planeswalkers be what you're defending in this set, and tie that into the flavor: Ravnica is a hub for planeswalkers, and it would make sense that many of them show up to defend it. So, for me it was different pieces coming together naturally, instead of an "Alien vs. Predator" kind-of thing.
Regarding your last question: I have already backpadeled a bit. I started with the intention of doing >5 common named planeswalkers with three abilities, and many more at uncommon. Since then, first the planeswalkers lost their unique name, and their third abilities. Now I'm at that point where I'm very happy with the common cycle I have, but don't think I should do any more at common. So, I'll have five at common and about six to seven more at uncommon.
It might be useful to discuss the individual designs instead.
Ergamon Primalist2G
Planeswalker (C)
+1: Up to one target creature gets +1/+1 and gains trample until end of turn.
-3: Search your library for a basic land card, and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Then shuffle your library. “Ravnica has been my home for many years. I came as soon as I heard the rallying call.”
{4}
This planeswalker for example is how I want the common ones to be. They can generate some value, but they won't ever break the game in half if they can't be removed. Now, is that requirement fulfilled for all of them or are some too powerful when lasting multiple turns?
No one wants to tackle the issues/questions I brought up throughout the thread?
Light of Mat’Selesnya
Instant (C)
Target creature you control gains indestructible until end of turn. Breach — If you cast Light of Mat’Selesnya during your main phase, instead creatures you control gain indestructible until end of turn.
Theros Artisan5WW
Planeswalker (U)
+1: Put a 3/3 colorless Golem artifact creature token onto the battlefield.
-4: Destroy target creature with toughness 4 or greater. “The city itself will rise against the intruders. I will shape it stone by stone.”
{6}
Denied Rest2B
Sorcery (C)
Choose one or both —
Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
Return target planeswalker card from your graveyard to your hand.
“Oh no, you won’t take the easy way out.”
—Liliana Vess
Ruin Breeder2R
Creature — Eldrazi Drone (C)
When Ruin Breeder enters the battlefield, put a 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature tokens onto the battlefield. It has “Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.” “Don’t return to the tenth district. Your mind won’t fathom what has become of it.”
2/2
Ruinscour Dragon5RR
Creature — Dragon (U)
Flying Guildpact — When Ruinscour Dragon enters the battlefield, it deals damage to target creature or player equal to the number of colors among permanents you control. A dragon’s destructive power can truly unfold once collateral damage is no concern.
5/5
Bloom Hatching
Sorcery (C)
You gain 3 life. Put a 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature token onto the battlefield. It has “Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.” Amidst the destruction, the dryad found a single blossom, its beauty untouched. Then it tore open and another monster birthed from it.
Skyknight Patrol1WU
Creature — Human Knight (C)
Flying, vigilance “The streets of Ravnica may have fallen to the enemy, but its skies still belong to us.”
—Isperia
2/2
Exava, Slayer of Countless3BR
Legendary Creature — Human Cleric (M)
Double strike, deathtouch, trample
All creatures able to block Exava, Slayer of Countless do so.
Whenever Exava, Slayer of Countless attacks, sacrifice it at end of combat. “And carnage shall follow.”
3/4
Valla Battlemaster2RG
Planeswalker (U)
+1: Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature you control. That creature gains haste until end of turn.
-6: Put three +1/+1 counters on each creature you control. “I face a formidable foe, but nothing a warrior who fought in the Immersturm can’t overcome.”
{3}
Cathedral Guard1WB
Creature — Human Knight (C)
Lifelink
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.) Even now, the Orzhov are only interested in preserving their own property.
2/2
Nivix Blastmage3UR
Creature — Goblin Wizard (R)
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, if Nivix Blastmage is on the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to each creature and you draw a card. Every run of the experiment yielded valuable results and destroyed the results of the previous run.
2/2
Blade of the First LineRW
Creature — Human Soldier (U)
Whenever Blade of the First Line attacks, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each creature with defender you control. “The Selesnya and the Azorius evacuate the civilians. The Izzet muster for an aerial attack. We alone must hold the front line.”
—Tajic, blade of the legion
2/2
Thunderstorm Helix4RW
Instant (C)
Thunderstorm Helix deals 5 damage to target creature or player and you gain 5 life. “If that doesn’t kill it, we’re out of options.”
—Aurelia
Unleash the Omega6UG
Instant (U)
Put two 4/4 green and blue Leviathan creature tokens with flying and trample onto the battlefield. For many years, Barvisa tried to uncover the secret Simic experiment codenamed ‘Omega.’ Now she was glad that she remained unsuccessful.
Spires of the Senate(etc.)
Land (C)
Spires of the Senate enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add or to your mana pool. “In times of chaos, upholding the law is of the uttermost importance.”
—Isperia
I have two major problems with this set:
Why put Ravnica and Eldrazi together? I understand it's possible, but just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should. I don't see the merit in using Ravnica to return the Eldrazi when both are easily returnable on their own. It seems like they will distract from each other and the set overall, to me at least, feels wrong.
Planeswalkers at common and uncommon is a terrible idea in practice. It has problems in every area of R&D
Creatively, why are planeswalkers, who are supposed to be very unique and powerful, showing up at common? It makes no sense in the current lore. You would have to do some story event similar to the mending for this to work at all and that wouldn't be a very good idea because it would ruin the whole point of planeswalkers.
Design-wise, planeswalkers are a card type newer players are supposed to not really see, only learning more about them as the become more enfranchised. Planeswalkers are the card type with the least rules explanation on their card and are therefore game-breakingly complex when they show up that low.
Developmentally, planeswalkers are the most difficult card type to balance, as they have a lot of things to consider and often work quite differently card-to-card.
There is a good reason planeswalkers are only mythic, and putting them at anything lower than rare, in my belief and at least a good portion of wizards as well, is completely wrong.
This set has some interest, but, to be honest, I don't really like anything you have here in the larger sense.
[quote from="IcariiFA »" url="http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/creativity/custom-card-creation/custom-set-creation-and/592612-sor-siege-of-ravnica-50-cards?comment=9"]Regarding your last question: I have already backpadeled a bit. I started with the intention of doing >5 common named planeswalkers with three abilities, and many more at uncommon. Since then, first the planeswalkers lost their unique name, and their third abilities. Now I'm at that point where I'm very happy with the common cycle I have, but don't think I should do any more at common. So, I'll have five at common and about six to seven more at uncommon.
It might be useful to discuss the individual designs instead.
Ergamon Primalist2G
Planeswalker (C)
+1: Up to one target creature gets +1/+1 and gains trample until end of turn.
-3: Search your library for a basic land card, and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Then shuffle your library. “Ravnica has been my home for many years. I came as soon as I heard the rallying call.”
{4}
This planeswalker for example is how I want the common ones to be. They can generate some value, but they won't ever break the game in half if they can't be removed. Now, is that requirement fulfilled for all of them or are some too powerful when lasting multiple turns?
I think something like this is fair. Obviously, the numbers will change during development, but outside of the complexity of choice and the complexity of the planeswalker rules, this is fair at common. In some ways, it's easier to do that something I've been working on - legendary creatures at common.
In regards to using Monstrosity on the Eldrazi... I dunno. I feel that the Eldrazi should always be big and mean, not come out and become big and mean as a mana sink (although, mechanically, monstrosity works great for siege-style gameplay as a way to break over the mid-game stall). I don't know that I have any other suggestions at the moment for Eldrazi, outside of messing with lands, but I'll give it some thought.
I have two major problems with this set:
Why put Ravnica and Eldrazi together? I understand it's possible, but just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should. I don't see the merit in using Ravnica to return the Eldrazi when both are easily returnable on their own. It seems like they will distract from each other and the set overall, to me at least, feels wrong.
Planeswalkers at common and uncommon is a terrible idea in practice. It has problems in every area of R&D
Creatively, why are planeswalkers, who are supposed to be very unique and powerful, showing up at common? It makes no sense in the current lore. You would have to do some story event similar to the mending for this to work at all and that wouldn't be a very good idea because it would ruin the whole point of planeswalkers.
Design-wise, planeswalkers are a card type newer players are supposed to not really see, only learning more about them as the become more enfranchised. Planeswalkers are the card type with the least rules explanation on their card and are therefore game-breakingly complex when they show up that low.
Developmentally, planeswalkers are the most difficult card type to balance, as they have a lot of things to consider and often work quite differently card-to-card.
There is a good reason planeswalkers are only mythic, and putting them at anything lower than rare, in my belief and at least a good portion of wizards as well, is completely wrong.
This set has some interest, but, to be honest, I don't really like anything you have here in the larger sense.
Can't 'because' be a good enough answer to why? A project like this is interesting to me because it's a break from the norm - this is very obviously not something that would see print from WotC because of the reasons you mentioned. However, as a custom fan-set, sometimes it's fun to simply 'crank it up to 11' and play around with something as big and wonky as this. Something I'd recommend to Apoquallyp is play that up - don't let the set take itself too seriously. It's like a Godzilla movie, but as a MtG set, which isn't a bad thing.
I have two major problems with this set:
Why put Ravnica and Eldrazi together? I understand it's possible, but just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should. I don't see the merit in using Ravnica to return the Eldrazi when both are easily returnable on their own. It seems like they will distract from each other and the set overall, to me at least, feels wrong.
Planeswalkers at common and uncommon is a terrible idea in practice. It has problems in every area of R&D
Creatively, why are planeswalkers, who are supposed to be very unique and powerful, showing up at common? It makes no sense in the current lore. You would have to do some story event similar to the mending for this to work at all and that wouldn't be a very good idea because it would ruin the whole point of planeswalkers.
Design-wise, planeswalkers are a card type newer players are supposed to not really see, only learning more about them as the become more enfranchised. Planeswalkers are the card type with the least rules explanation on their card and are therefore game-breakingly complex when they show up that low.
Developmentally, planeswalkers are the most difficult card type to balance, as they have a lot of things to consider and often work quite differently card-to-card.
There is a good reason planeswalkers are only mythic, and putting them at anything lower than rare, in my belief and at least a good portion of wizards as well, is completely wrong.
This set has some interest, but, to be honest, I don't really like anything you have here in the larger sense.
I think it has no use to discuss differences of opinion, so I won't argue in favor of the set idea. It's unfortunate that you don't like it, but as long as there are people who find the idea of Eldrazi in Ravnica exciting, that's fine. The development aspects of planeswalkers at common I have discussed already at length previously in the thread, so I don't want to go over it again. That leaves us with the lore concerns with planeswalkers at common. And here I argue with the rule: You can break any rule as long as you have a good reason to do it. The setup is that planeswalkers from all over the multiverse are called upon to help in the fight against the Eldrazi, and many answer the call. From among them, there are some planeswalkers we already met, and others we haven't met yet, and probably will never meet. They haven't played a big role in a story yet, or ever will. No one outside their homeworld knows them, and although they are powerful, in the face of this dire threat, they are merely reduced to soldiers. They might have a backstory, but so the soldiers that aren't planeswalkers. Still, I try to give each of those planeswalkers a bit of a unique idenity by naming their homeworld and with a quote in the third ability row.
Can't 'because' be a good enough answer to why? A project like this is interesting to me because it's a break from the norm - this is very obviously not something that would see print from WotC because of the reasons you mentioned. However, as a custom fan-set, sometimes it's fun to simply 'crank it up to 11' and play around with something as big and wonky as this. Something I'd recommend to Apoquallyp is play that up - don't let the set take itself too seriously. It's like a Godzilla movie, but as a MtG set, which isn't a bad thing.
I try to not take any of my sets too seriously, but it's a good point you make. The first course of action I'll do is to change the flavor in the OP from "Another world consumed" to "This one goes to eleven!"
Just came to my mind. I think it would be a good idea to include Wakestone Gargoyle in the set. It would fit nicely with Entrench and you would have a powerful limited deck. If not the gargoyle, perhaps something else that would enable the defenders to attack.
That's a good reprint. Usually, block specific rares aren't reprinted in another story block, but since it's from Ravnica it should be fine and we don't know yet what the reprint conventions will be once core sets are removed. I made a card already that encourages the same playstyle, but maybe less so because it's just a ridiculous bomb and you don't have to build around it to make it good:
Aurelia, Ravnica’s Shield5RW
Legendary Creature — Angel (M)
Flying, lifelink, indestructible
Whenever Aurelia, Ravnica’s Shield deals combat damage to player, each nonattacking creature you control deals damage equal to its toughness to that player. You gain life equal to the damage dealt this way.
2/7
On another note, I'd like to move away from the discussion about planeswalkers in the set and so on. I think we've exhausted the topic. The bottom line is that this is not a set you would see printed, but I still want to do it this way, because it's a hell lot of fun to design, and it's hopefully also very fun to draft. I would appreciate any single card comments you have, for example, here are some of my current Eldrazi designs. Since I didn't find a mechanic that can compete with Annihilator, I just went with Annihilator for now:
Harbinger of Ulamog9
Creature — Eldrazi (U)
Vigilance
Annihilator 3 (Whenever this creature attacks, defending player sacrifices three permanents.) For the fourth time, Emmara was sure that this Eldrazi, more colossal than all before it, was one of the titans Jace had told about.
5/9
Herald of Kozilek8
Creature — Eldrazi (U)
When you cast Herald of Kozilek, each opponent loses 3 life and you gain 3 life.
Annihilator 2 (Whenever this creature attacks, defending player sacrifices two permanents.) “There is no escape . . . for any of us.”
—Mirela, Azorius hussar
7/7
Spawn of Emrakul6
Creature — Eldrazi (C)
Flying
Annihilator 1 (Whenever this creature attacks, defending player sacrifices a permanent.) “They see the emergence of the Eldrazi as some form of divine reckoning. How could they not?”
—Sorin Markov
3/3
Ulamog’s Siegebreaker7
Creature — Eldrazi (C)
Trample
Annihilator 1 (Whenever this creature attacks, defending player sacrifices a permanent.)
Whenever Ulamog’s Siegebreaker attacks, it gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Destruction is the only language it speaks.
5/5
Emrakul’s Overseer3B
Creature — Eldrazi Drone (C)
Flying
When Emrakul’s Overseer enters the battlefield, put a 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature token onto the battlefield. It has “Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.”
2/2
Maddening Tendrils2B
Sorcery (U)
Target opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card. Put a 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature token onto the battlefield. It has “Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.”
Here are some more rares and mythics...
Jace, the Illusionist2UU
Planeswalker — Jace (M)
+1: Choose up to one target creature. Whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player this turn, draw a card.
-2: Put two 1/1 blue Illusion creature tokens with flying onto the battlefield.
-7: You get an emblem with “Creatures and planeswalkers you control have protection from your opponents.”
{3}
Lord of Mayhem5RR
Creature — Elemental (R)
Trample
Prevent all damage that Lord of Mayhem would deal to blocking creatures. The Rakdos cultists imprinted only one command into the chaotic elemental: “Kill the source!”
13/6
Worldspine Turtle7GG
Creature — Turtle (R) The arrival of the Eldrazi awakened forces so ancient, they were long forgotten to exist. Forces so powerful, it was wise to have them be forgotten.
10/20
Fiora Master ThiefUB
Planeswalker (R)
0: Exile the top card of target opponent’s library. Until your next turn, creatures can’t attack Fiora Master Thief.
0: You may cast an artifact or creature card exiled with Fiora Master Thief and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast that spell. “Alright, I’ll help with your situation. But first, I always wanted to visit the Orzhov treasuries.”
{1}
Aurelia, Ravnica’s Shield5RW
Legendary Creature — Angel (M)
Flying, lifelink, indestructible
Whenever Aurelia, Ravnica’s Shield deals combat damage to player, each nonattacking creature you control deals damage equal to its toughness to that player. You gain life equal to the damage dealt this way.
2/7
...and here the rest of the new cards:
Selesnya Vanguard1W
Creature — Centaur Soldier (C)
Vigilance “The Conclave welcomes all who enter as friends, but smites down anyone who disturbs our blessed harmony.”
—Suniel the Woodwise
2/2
Devour Reality2U
Instant (C)
Counter target colored spell. The fireball left the pyromancer’s hand, but it would not hit the Eldrazi. The spell unraveled and then the world around her.
Ethereal Watchtower2U
Creature — Spirit Wall (C)
Defender, flying It sends out pulses of magical energy that lure the Eldrazi to a place of no strategical importance, far away from any populated area.
0/6
Galvanic Alchemy4U
Instant (U)
Look at the top five cards of your library. Put two of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. “Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.”
—Trivaz, Izzet mage
Simic Biosplicer1U
Creature — Merfolk Mutant (U) U, T: Move a +1/+1 counter from another target creature you control to Simic Biosplicer. Some biomancers try to breed the perfect species. Others are only concerned with their own perfection.
1/3
Ogre Warden3B
Creature — Ogre Warrior (C)
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.) He could release the prisoners, or he could leave them to die. He hasn’t made up his mind yet.
3/3
Aerial Strike2R
Sorcery (U)
Aerial Strike deals 2 damage to each creature and each player. “Give our airships to the Boros? They’ll end up doing more damage than the Eldrazi.”
—Juzba, izzet tinkerer
Wojek Convoy2R
Creature — Human Soldier (C)
First strike
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.) “Yes, we have sworn to smite down our enemies, but above all else, we have sworn to protect.”
—Aurelia
2/2
Bloom HatchingG
Sorcery (C)
You gain 3 life. Put a 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature token onto the battlefield. It has “Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.” Amidst the destruction, the dryad found a single blossom, its beauty untouched. Then it tore open and another monster birthed from it.
VoidknitUB
Instant (C)
Counter target noncreature spell. Its controller puts the top three cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard. “Let me share with you what it’s like not to exist.”
—Lazav
Stolen Immortality2WB
Instant (U)
Your life total becomes 10. Target opponent loses life equal to the life you gained this way. “It’s time to collect our debts.”
—Milana, Orzhov prelate
Burning-Tree Flayer3R
Creature — Viashino Berserker (U)
Double strike 1(B/G): Burning-Tree Flayer gets +1/+1 until end of turn. “You’ve learned to channel your rage. Now learn to succumb to pure bloodlust.”
—Exava
2/2
Korozda Revenants1B
Creature — Spirit (U)
Flying, vigilance, deathtouch Teysa found many unfortunate souls in the undercity that had evaded the grasp of the Orzhov in the past.
1/3
I really like a lot of those rares. Worldspine Turtle and Lord of Mayhem especially.
Can you at least make the planeswalkers only be at uncommon+? Even if you put aside the flavor issues I feel that a huge chunk of your complexity budget and red flag allocation will be sucked up by these when the real coolness should be between the conflict between the eldrazi and ravnica.
Annihilator is gonna be super painful to develop. I know, I've tried.
Have you taken a look at the eldrazi mechanics I explored in my unfinished Exodus of Zendikar set?
I'm convinced there has to be a way to do annihilator style mechanic without being as difficult to develop.
Can you at least make the planeswalkers only be at uncommon+? Even if you put aside the flavor issues I feel that a huge chunk of your complexity budget and red flag allocation will be sucked up by these when the real coolness should be between the conflict between the eldrazi and ravnica.
What about "If your theme isn't at common, it isn’t your theme?" There will only be five planeswalkers at common, so these would be ~1/4 of the allowed red flags.
Annihilator is gonna be super painful to develop. I know, I've tried.
Have you taken a look at the eldrazi mechanics I explored in my unfinished Exodus of Zendikar set?
I'm convinced there has to be a way to do annihilator style mechanic without being as difficult to develop.
I've looked at your Eradicate mechanic. Did you explore any others? The problem I have with Eradicate is that, while it works well in limited, it's power is basically capped at "~ can't be blocked", and it doesn't translate well into constructed, unlike Annihilator. I don't think a strictly worse Annihilator is the solution.
I think it has no use to discuss differences of opinion, so I won't argue in favor of the set idea. It's unfortunate that you don't like it, but as long as there are people who find the idea of Eldrazi in Ravnica exciting, that's fine. …(shortened)… Still, I try to give each of those planeswalkers a bit of a unique idenity by naming their homeworld and with a quote in the third ability row.
I will conced my point about the Eldrazi/Ravnica. It's your set, and you should be able to make it work for your, at least.
About Planeswalkers at common/uncommon, particularly common, you haven't properly addressed the most important issue, as MaRo put it: 'legendary things should not be common. If you’re common, you’re not legendary!'. And planeswalkers are basically legendary, if not more (in a flavour sense). Planeswalkers are by design SUPPOSED TO BE UNIQUE! They are the rarest card type not because they thought it made the best gameplay, because they could have changed that relatively easily, but because they are representing a literally rare being!
It doesn't matter if there is a large gathering of them, common is still common. A very large gathering of planeswalkers would still be easily less than a dozen. Most inhabitants of the multiverse not only never see one, but don't even know they exist at all, that's how rare they are. Even if many planeswalkers came to a world, they should be at a higher percentage at higher rarities than at a common and uncommon.
Planeswalkers at rare however, while something the game doesn’t currently do, is a lot less of a stretch than uncommon and especially common. So if you want to do a ‘lots-of-planeswalkers theme’ then I suggest you do this as a one-off for the set/block instead. It won’t allow the same level of thematic support, but more importantly, it won’t break the meaning of planeswalkers.
Can't 'because' be a good enough answer to why? A project like this is interesting to me because it's a break from the norm - this is very obviously not something that would see print from WotC because of the reasons you mentioned. However, as a custom fan-set, sometimes it's fun to simply 'crank it up to 11' and play around with something as big and wonky as this. Something I'd recommend to Apoquallyp is play that up - don't let the set take itself too seriously. It's like a Godzilla movie, but as a MtG set, which isn't a bad thing.
I try to not take any of my sets too seriously, but it's a good point you make. The first course of action I'll do is to change the flavor in the OP from "Another world consumed" to "This one goes to eleven!"[/quote]
Rules are made for a reason. While the defence of 'I can do whatever I like' is perfectly valid, keep in mind that R&D don't do things without the belief that it WILL do good things for their game. When designing from their creation, the best resource for how to make it work and how to make it good is them, because it's their job to make it good. Being a bit more experimental and doing things a little differently in your custom sets is completely fine considering the lack of business-related pressures.
However, deviating from these rules drastically will more often than not result in poorer quality sets. It's a lot harder to make something good when you don't know how it will actually work. Again, if you want to do this with your set, go ahead, just be aware that you are going to have to work harder to make it the same sort of quality and will end up making more changes to the core of the gameplay than you would probably expect so I certainly wouldn’t recommend it.
All of the above points relate mostly to making a set for the purposes of it being a well-designed playable set (I am slightly biased in this sense as this is how I design sets, as if I were actually R&D). As mentioned above, if you want to make it more of a just-for-fun sort of design, that’s fine, but
I have given my thoughts on how to make it a more realistic idea if that is more what you want (obviously, as you said before, not highly seriously though).
Good luck with your set, however you end up making it!
I tried a planeswalker theme for a set, as I'm sure many others have. It just doesn't work. The card type breaks limited unless you make extremely weak planeswalkers, which ruins the specialness of the card type.
The most success I had with a planeswalker theme was a pseudo-tribal theme based around 5 planeswalkers. Cards like [card]Jace's
Archivist[/card] and Gideon's Lawkeeper but with cards that refer to them and add synergy, to make you want to draft a Jace deck or Gideon deck. This might not be what you're looking for, but this is the way that led me to the most success when I put work into a planeswalker themed set.
What about just having the Titans have Annihilator, then the rest of the Eldrazi are just big colorless beaters without annihilator, or colored spawn makers that work on the spawn tribal theme a bit?
What about just having the Titans have Annihilator, then the rest of the Eldrazi are just big colorless beaters without annihilator, or colored spawn makers that work on the spawn tribal theme a bit?
Mhm, I thought about something like that. But I have difficulties making the Eldrazi titans feel different enough from the originals using Annihilator, while on the lesser Eldrazi it's not that big of a deal if they feel similar. I'm currently thinking about two templates:
For lesser Eldrazi: "Whenever ~ attacks, {effect}."
For Eldrazi titans: "Whenever you cast ~ or it attacks, {effect}."
Examples: Ulamog's Siegebreaker7
Creature — Eldrazi (C)
Trample Consume — Whenever Ulamog's Siegebreaker attacks, target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn and Ulamog's Siegebreaker gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
5/5
Kozilek, Bane of Sanity12
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M) Consume — Whenever you cast Kozilek, Bane of Sanity or it attacks, target player discards two cards and you draw two cards.
Hexproof
When Kozilek, Bane of Sanity is put into your graveyard from anywhere, shuffle your graveyard into your library.
10/10
You should definitely design a new Eldrazi mechanic. Annihilator wasn't very successful. I think your new Consume has potential, though the name doesn't really make sense for it.
After some iterations of the Eldrazi, I arrived at the following bunch:
Devourer of Etrelur
Creature — Eldrazi (U)
Flying Consume — When you cast Devourer of Etrelur or whenever it attacks, target opponent sacrifices a land. Search your library for a basic land card, and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Then shuffle your library.
3/3
Emrakul, Devourer of Worlds
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Flying Consume — When you cast Emrakul, Devourer of Worlds or whenever it attacks, target creature an opponent controls gets -5/-5 until end of turn and Emrakul gets +5/+5 until end of turn.
When Emrakul is put into a graveyard from anywhere, its owner shuffles it into his or her library.
7/7
Emrakul’s Ravager
Creature — Eldrazi (C) Consume — When you cast Emrakul’s Ravager or whenever it attacks, target opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life. “They see the emergence of the Eldrazi as some form of divine reckoning. How could they not?”
—Sorin Markov
7/6
Herald of Kozilek
Creature — Eldrazi (U) Consume — When you cast Herald of Kozilek or whenever it attacks, target opponent discards a card and you draw a card. “There is no escape . . . for any of us.”
—Mirela, Azorius hussar
7/9
Kozilek, Bane of Sanity12
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Hexproof Consume — When you cast Kozilek, Bane of Sanity or whenever it attacks, target opponent sacrifices a creature and you return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
When Kozilek is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner’s library.
11/11
Ulamog’s Siegebreaker
Creature — Eldrazi (C) Consume — When you cast Ulamog’s Siegebreaker or whenever it attacks, target creature an opponent controls gets -2/-2 until end of turn and Ulamog’s Siegebreaker gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Destruction is the only language it speaks.
6/6
We're missing two rare Eldrazi and some Eldrazi-flavored cards like Not of this World and Eldrazi Conscription. Also, Ulamog's Siegebreaker might become uncommon later. Ulamog, as well as a new titan, Etrelur, I'll hold back for a potential second set.
Continuing my crusade to bring back characters that were severely mistreated by Dragon's Maze:
Emmara of the Concord3GW
Legendary Creature — Elf Cleric (M)
Vigilance, lifelink T: Add X mana in any combination of colors to your mana pool, where X is the amount of life you gained this turn. “The Boros must fight at the frontlines. Our role in this war is a different one.”
2/5
Originally a design for my set Overworld, but I thought that it would fit here better.
I've changed the dual land cycle by giving them the "Cluestone" ability.
Spires of the Senate
Land (C)
Spires of the Senate enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add or to your mana pool. 2WU, T, Sacrifice Spires of the Senate: Draw a card.
Territory of the Clans
Land (C)
Territory of the Clans enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add or to your mana pool. 2RG, T, Sacrifice Territory of the Clans: Draw a card.
etc.
Next to this ten card cycle, there will be two or three five-color fixing lands at uncommon.
Desperate Defense3W
Instant (U)
Creatures you control get +0/+4 until end of turn.
Draw a card “When Kozilek emerged, the civilians made a token attempt at resistance.”
—Mirela, Azorius hussar
Pontiff of Ghosts5W
Creature — Human Cleric (U) Guildpact — When Pontiff of Ghosts enters the battlefield, put a 1/1 white Spirit creature token onto the battlefield for each color among permanents you control. “I demand this final act of servitude. Fight now, and I see your debt as paid.”
—Teysa Karlov
1/2
Rallying CallXW
Sorcery (R)
Search your library for a planeswalker card with converted mana cost X or less and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. Rapidly, the rallying call spread across the multiverse, from the starlit fields of Vryn, to the primal jungles of Ergamon.
Crippling Insertion3U
Enchantment — Aura (C)
Enchant nonland permanent
Enchanted permanent doesn’t untap during its controller untap step and its activated abilities can’t be activated. “The best part is that the victim still remains susceptible to all forms of pain.”
—Strava, Dimir mage
Cauterize3R
Sorcery (C)
Cauterize deals 4 damage to target creature or player. The illusionist from Iquatana summoned a network of decoys to lure the Eldrazi away from the civilian population. Then Chandra had her fun.
Fire Servant3RR
Creature — Elemental (U)
If a red instant or sorcery spell you control would deal damage, it deals double that damage instead. Ithar wondered whether the fire-haired pyromancer had her inferno under control. He erred on the side of caution and put five blocks between him and her.
4/3
Bloom Tender1G
Creature — Elf Druid (R) Guildpact — T: For each color among permanents you control, add one mana of that color to your mana pool. “While the other guilds face extinction, our commune grows every day.”
—Trostani
1/1
Faunaforming3GG
Sorcery (U)
Search your library for a basic land card and a creature card and reveal those cards. Put the land card onto the battlefield tapped and the creature card into your hand. Then shuffle your library. “Invasive species incompatible with any known ecosystem. Coexistence impossible.”
—Simic research notes
Synthetic Burst1G
Instant (C)
Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Breach — If you cast Synthetic Burst during your main phase, put two +1/+1 counters on that creature instead. “Giant monsters destroy the city . . . How is this day any different from the rest?”
Hoarding Gorgon3BG
Creature — Gorgon (U)
Defender
When Hoarding Gorgon enters the battlefield, return target card from your graveyard to your hand. The more a Gorgon amasses a collection, the more obsessive she becomes about protecting it.
0/4
Ardent Druid(R/W)G
Creature — Human Druid (U) T: Add to your mana pool. When Skarrg was under attack, the Conclave did not hesitate to offer their support. Not out of benevolence, but to protect the last wild places of Ravnica.
3/1
For entrench I would probably do something along the lines of paying less mana to cast an entrench creature (to reward not being able to ever attack with the creature) along with having more creatures that benefit from being entrenched (if this creature has a +1/+1 counter on it, it gains "X") or cards that give you something for every entrenched card you have.
I'm planning on making cards that synergize with defenders, but not creatures with entrench specifically. There will also be defenders that don't have entrench, and this way you achieve the same synergy with entrench while staying less narrow.
Unnamed Lifegain GW
Sorcery - (C)
You gain 4 life. If creatures you control have total toughness 8 or greater, you gain 8 life instead.
Kind of a reverse formidable that rewards entrench strategies and synergizes well with that Emmara. I know lifegain spells are typically regarded poorly, but I'm a sucker for cards like this
Introduction
Set Name: Siege of Ravnica
Three letter code: SOR
Set size: 225
Flavor: This one goes to eleven!
Mechanics: Entrench, Breach, Guildpact, Consume, Planeswalkers
Ravnica is a popular setting, as are the Eldrazi. So, combining the two has always been one of the ideas out there. That's what I try to do with Siege of Ravnica. An epic sequel to the Eldrazi storyline, where the guilds of Ravnica combine their forces to combat the overworldly invaders, who have escaped from Zendikar after having drained it of all life. But the Ravnicans don't have to fight this war alone: Ugin, the spirit dragon, called out to other planeswalkers to help fight the Eldrazi. This set off an avalanche and planeswalkers from all over the multiverse answered to Ugin's rallying call.
I have to trust here that the Khans of Tarkir storyline will resolve in Ugin being alive again. Why did the Eldrazi come to Ravnica? Probably the same reason as always: Nicol Bolas.
Themes & Mechanics
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
The limited gameplay of Siege of Ravnica is supposed to feel like a siege. You build impenetrable barricades and bust the opponent's defenses with an all-out attack. Entrench helps you build those barricades.
Breach - If you cast this spell during your main phase, {effect}.
Breach is a weird name for an ability word with that effect. The name comes from the fact that Breach spells are always instant pump spells that have a more powerful effect when cast during the main phase with the intent of busting through the opponent's defenses.
Guildpact - {effect} equal to the number of colors among permanents you control.
The guilds don't get their own mechanic. They work together as best as they can, represented by the Guildpact mechanic.
Consume - When you cast ~ or whenever it attacks, {effect}
The Eldrazi mechanic replacing Annihilator. Each Eldrazi "consumes" something, such as life or cards, when you cast it or whenever it attacks. For example, the effect could be "target opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life."
Planeswalkers: Planeswalkers appear in a large quantity in Siege of Ravnica, even at common. Those planeswalkers don't have a unique name or planeswalker type and are generally simpler than their mythic counterparts.
Spawn {number} (Put {number} colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature tokens onto the battlefield. They have "Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.)
The Eldrazi spawn tokens from Rise of the Eldrazi return. However, the Eldrazi have evolved their brood to generate mana of any color instead of only colorless mana. Eldrazi spawn are more used for color fixing and less for ramping.
Cards
Story
The hours went by excruciatingly slow, but eventually she had gathered enough femurs for the oracle. The pyromancer started her trip back to the village, when she was ripped out of her lethargy as all off a sudden someone else appeared from the AEther right in front of her. She looked upon a white-fured leonin, robed in tribal clothes, and with a big scar over his left eye. Although she never met him before, she could tell that he is a planeswalker like her.
Caught by surprise, the pyromancer readied her defenses. Her hands conjured spheres of fire, ready to hurl it at the other planeswalker. But the leonin signaled that he was not intending to attack. Slowly, the pyromancer relaxed her muscles and instead went on to greet her visitor.
"Greetings, fellow traveler," she began. "I'm afraid you caught me a bit off-guard. My name is..." The leonin interrupted her: "There is no time. The Eldrazi have escaped from their prison and have arrived on Ravnica. These monsters are ravaging the city as we speak. I set out to gather all planeswalkers who are willing to help us fight against the Eldrazi. If you are one of them, follow me to Ravnica. Please, make haste!" Not a moment later, the leonin disappeared as he planeswalked away. For several minutes, the pyromancer stared across the starlit fields of Vryn, completely puzzled by the event that just transpired. But eventually she composed herself and continued her trip back to finish the quest.
On her way back, she tried to make sense of the few words the leonin had spoken. She never heard of these Eldrazi before, but Ravnica was well known to her; she even spent many of her days following her ascension on the city plane. And now monsters from another plane are attacking it? That sounds... exciting! Bored with her current quest, she threw the lowland cougar femurs onto the ground and planeswalked away to Ravnica.
The pyromancer arrived in a great guildhall. From the architecture, she could tell that it belonged to the Azorius guild. The hall was crowded and the atmosphere agitated. From outside the hall, she could here the action going on already. Constant cannon fire raised the overall noise level, sometimes accompanied by more powerful concussions. And then there were screams. Some clearly human and other so alien, they could not have been released by a being of this world.
She looked around the guildhall and identified members of many different guilds. The Azorius lawmages with their runic inscriptions, the Boros soldiers in their brilliant armor, and the dryads of the Selesnya guild. But many others clearly belonged to no guild at all. They were clearly no civilians, so they had to be planeswalkers like her. She approached an elven woman standing next to her who seemed to be just as lost as she was. "Greetings, my name is..." Before she could introduce herself, a Boros soldier walked up to the group and interrupted her. "Alright, here's the situation," he shouted. "The Eldrazi have breached the northern gates. If they continue to advance this fast, they will reach the Tenth District by nightfall. The Izzet are preparing for an aerial assault, but our soldiers cannot hold the line much longer. What we need is more time. Go out there and kill as many Eldrazi as you can. When you're done, report to Aurelia and wait for further instructions. She is the large angel in the northeast. And bring her severed Eldrazi tentacles as proof. Dismissed, soldiers!"
The pyromancer would have complained about his manners, but for whatever reason, she decided to let it be. She stepped outside guildhall and finally saw the extent of the chaos on Ravnica. The streets were littered with debris, the buildings were aflame, civilians were fleeing to safe havens, and the guild forces entrenched behind massive barricades, only for an Eldrazi to charge into it, causing heavy damage before being finally taken down. And the Eldrazi? They were more monstrous, more nightmarish, than she could have ever imagined.
Excitement arose within the planeswalker. She gathered her mana, conjuring runes to further amplify her pyromancy. She ran out onto the streets and a symphony of fire, destruction, and otherworldly screams ensued. After a short while, every Eldrazi in the area was reduced to ash. Too late did the pyromancer remember that she was supposed to not only kill the Eldrazi, but to collect tentacles from their corpses. She looked back at the remains of her carnage, and found no Eldrazi tentacle that could still be identified as such. She searched for more foes on a plaza further in the north, intending to be more careful this time. Eventually, the pyromancer had gathered a bag full of severed Eldrazi tentacles and was ready to deliver them to the angel Aurelia. But since she started the quest, she had sheered far away from the guildhall and could no longer make out the angel on the horizon. She pulled out the map that the Boros soldier had given her and started looking for a point of reference.
While the pyromancer was pondering over the map, she did not notice Kozilek approaching her across the plaza. Before she could react, the Eldrazi titan killed her with a single swipe. The bag of severed Eldrazi tentacles fell to the ground. No one would ever know of her exploits.
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M)
When you cast Emrakul, Devourer of Worlds, it deals 7 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures.
Flying
Consume (Whenever a creature dealt damage by this this turn dies, that creature’s controller loses life equal to its power and you gain that much life.)
When Emrakul is put into your graveyard from anywhere, shuffle your graveyard into your library.
Ulamog’s Siegebreaker 6
Creature — Eldrazi (C)
Whenever Ulamog’s Siegebreaker attacks, it gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Consume (Whenever a creature dealt damage by this this turn dies, that creature’s controller loses life equal to its power and you gain that much life.)
4/5
Belenon Paladin 3W
Planeswalker (C)
+1: Creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
-3: Put two 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield.
“Together, we will send these monstrosities back to the void from where they came.”
{4}
Court Street Guard 1W
Creature — Human Soldier (C)
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
“I don’t see why the court house is an important location at this point, but orders are orders.”
2/2
Gideon’s Confederate 4WW
Creature — Angel (U)
Flying
All damage that would be dealt to planeswalkers you control is dealt to Gideon’s Confederate instead.
“Aurelia has sent her most trusted soldier to protect you, Lord Gideon, for she believes that we will face certain defeat without your lead.”
—Razov, Boros messenger
4/6
Glory of the Legion 3W
Instant (C)
Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
Breach — If you cast Glory of the Legion during your main phase, creatures you control get +2/+2 until end of turn instead.
Not only Boros were cheering in the crowd.
Sheltering Angel 3W
Creature — Angel (C)
Flying
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
“Whatever happens, stay with me. I’ll look after you.”
2/3
Ugin’s Ward 1WW
Enchantment (R)
Creatures can’t attack you or a planeswalker you control unless their controller pays 2 for each of those creatures.
Although the hedrons couldn’t keep the Eldrazi from advancing, they provided valuable time to regroup the guild’s forces.
Creature — Leviathan Crab (C)
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
“It was designed to withstand tornadoes and earthquakes, but the Eldrazi unleash an even greater force.”
—Gulistan, Simic biomancer
3/5
Eldritch Spawning 2U
Instant (C)
Put a 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature token onto the battlefield. It has “Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.”
Draw a card.
“Tell the public we have lost Duskmantle.”
—Lazav
Ir Mesmerist 3U
Planeswalker (C)
+1: Target player puts the top three cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
-3: Tap up to two target creatures. Those creatures don’t untap during their controller’s next untap step.
“Whoever brought the Eldrazi to Ravnica has to have an agenda we don’t know yet.”
{4}
Synchronous Response U
Instant (C)
As an additional cost to cast Synchronous Response, tap X untapped creatures you control.
Counter target spell unless its controller pays X.
Lawmages synchronize their countermagic to easily deal with spellcasting suspects.
Ugin’s Counsel 2U
Sorcery (U)
Put two loyalty counters on each planeswalker you control.
“Ugin is as old as time, and about as easy to argue with.”
—Sorin Markov
Vedalken Cryptologist 3U
Creature — Vedalken Wizard (C)
Guildpact — When Vedalken Cryptologist enters the battlefield, look at the top X cards of your library, where X is the number of colors among permanents you control. Put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
1/4
Creature — Human (C)
Affluent Nihilist can’t block.
“My neighbors all fled with the Boros escorts. I for one embrace the end — with a glass of wine and Azor’s seventh symphony.”
2/3
Annihilation 3BB
Sorcery (R)
Destroy all colored creatures.
Most of Ravnica’s streets were littered with rubble and corpses. On others, even those had been leveled to dust.
Bloodbolt Sniper 1B
Creature — Human Assassin (U)
Deathtouch
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
“I don’t care about history of the Eldrazi. Just tell me where their heart is.”
1/2
Breach of Emrakul 5BB
Sorcery (C)
Target opponent sacrifices a creature, a land, and a planeswalker.
“We’ve lost the Forum of Azor. The guildpact is no more. Work together not because an ethereal contract binds you, but because of sheer necessity.”
—Jace
Clinging Shadow 2B
Creature — Shade (C)
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
2B: Clinging Shadow gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Countless Eldrazi are caught inside its cloud, distorting its appearance.
0/4
Innistrad Bloodmage 5B
Planeswalker (C)
+1: Target player loses 3 life and you gain 3 life.
-3: You draw three cards and you lose 3 life.
“Finally, a chance to indulge in my craft. Innistrad has become too boring lately.”
{4}
Kozilek’s Chrysalis 4B
Creature — Eldrazi Drone (C)
When Kozilek’s Chrysalis enters the battlefield, put two 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature tokens onto the battlefield. They have “Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.”
Unbeknown to the Golgari, the Eldrazi proliferated their brood in the sewers of Ravnica.
3/3
Liliana’s Disdain 2B
Instant (C)
Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn. You gain 2 life.
“Normally I would reanimate you, but I’ll make an exception this time . . . please just stay dead.”
Mobilize the Undercity 3BB
Sorcery (U)
Put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token onto the battlefield tapped for each creature card in your graveyard.
“I am joyful that we have an army of this size, but it pains me that it overshadows anything the Boros can ever contribute.”
—Dars Gostok, firefist captain
Skeletal Charge 1B
Instant (C)
Target creature gets +1/+1 and gains lifelink until end of turn.
Breach — If you cast Skeletal Charge during your main phase, that creature gets +3/+3 and gains lifelink until end of turn instead.
“Charging heads on into an Eldrazi infested district . . . easier when you’re already dead.”
Creature — Elemental (C)
Trample
Realizing that nothing they could evoke would withstand a titan’s attack, the geomancers focused on doing as much damage as possible before their assault was wiped out.
6/2
Goblin Arsonist R
Creature — Goblin Shaman (C)
When Goblin Arsonist dies, you may have it deal 1 damage to target creature or player.
“Their complete disregard for their own survival might come in handy here.”
—Lavinia of the Tenth
1/1
Legion’s Offensive R
Instant (C)
Target creature gets +1/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn.
Breach — If you cast Legion’s Offensive during your main phase, instead creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain first strike until end of turn.
Muraganda Pyromancer 4R
Planeswalker (C)
+1: Add RR to your mana pool.
-3: Muraganda Pyromancer deals 3 damage to target creature and 3 damage to target player.
“Man, beast, or otherworldly monster . . . all things made of flesh burn just the same.”
{4}
Creature — Dryad (C)
Reach
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
They’ve protected the grove of Vitu-Ghazi. Now they protect all of Ravnica.
2/3
Ergamon Primalist 2G
Planeswalker (C)
+1: Up to one target creature gets +1/+1 and gains trample until end of turn.
-3: Search your library for a basic land card, and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Then shuffle your library.
“Ravnica has been my home for many years. I came as soon as I heard the rallying call.”
{4}
Ground Pierce 3G
Instant (U)
Target creature gets +3/+3 and gains trample until end of turn.
Breach — If you cast Ground Pierce during your main phase, that creature gets +6/+6 and gains trample until end of turn instead.
The evacuation plans didn’t account for the Eldrazi making a surprise attack.
Ivopus G
Creature — Plant Octopus (C)
1G, T: Put a +1/+1 counter on Ivopus.
“If it continues to grow at this rate, in about 26000 years it will be strong enough to kill an Eldrazi titan.”
—Zija, Simic mutationist
1/2
Nature’s Reclamation 1G
Sorcery (C)
Search your library for up to two basic land cards, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
The leveled districts were quickly retaken by nature.
Rubblebelt Outriders 3G
Creature — Human Warrior (C)
When Rubblebelt Outriders enters the battlefield, target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Not all Ravnicans saw the Eldrazi as an alien menace, but as gods crushing the city to reclaim the wild.
3/3
Planeswalker (U)
+1: Up to two target creatures each get +1/+1 and gain flying until end of turn.
-2: Return target creature to its owner’s hand. You gain life equal to that creature’s toughness.
“I bring word from the great sages of Equilor. Ugin is always our welcome guest.”
{4}
Intrusive Medication 4UB
Sorcery (U)
Choose target creature. Its controller reveals his or her hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card. That creature gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the converted mana cost of the discarded card.
Envoys of the Conclave 2GW
Creature — Centaur Warrior (C)
Guildpact — When Envoys of the Conclave enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life for each color among permanents you control.
“For the first time in the history of Ravnica, the conclave is a welcome sight.”
—Lavinia of the Tenth
3/4
Teysa, Swayer of the Dead 2WB
Legendary Creature — Human Advisor (M)
Whenever one or more creatures attack you or a planeswalker you control, put a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
WB, Sacrifice another creature: Exile target blocking creature.
“The dead will be ready for war.”
3/4
Mizzium Flash 2UR
Sorcery (C)
Draw two cards. Mizzium Flash deals 2 damage to target player.
“We always need more ideas, more thoughts, more power. Now more than ever.”
—Niv-Mizzet
Gaze of Vraska 3BG
Sorcery (C)
Destroy target nonland permanent.
Vraska wondered if one day she could sell the petrified Eldrazi as abstract art.
Vraska, Granite Queen 3BG
Planeswalker — Vraska (M)
+1: Up to one target creature gains defender until your next turn.
+1: Reveal the top two cards of your library. Put a creature or land card from among them into your hand. Put the rest into your graveyard.
-5: Put a 1/1 black and green Snake creature token onto the battlefield for each creature card in your graveyard.
{3}
Violent Backlash 1RW
Instant (U)
Until end of turn, target creature gets +0/+3 and gains “Whenever this creature is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to target creature or player.”
“Never underestimate their urge to scapegoat somebody.
—Chandra, to Gideon
Simic Dreamweaver 3GU
Creature — Human Plant Wizard (R)
Guildpact — When Simic Dreamweaver enters the battlefield, draw a card for each color among permanents you control.
Some simic mages have evolved their minds so far that they can connect to the leylines of Ravnica at will.
2/2
Agent of the Senate 2(W/B)U
Creature — Human Rogue (U)
Lifelink
Agent of the Senate can’t be blocked.
“I’ll accept any job as long as it’s payed well. That I’ll get to save the world is just a nice bonus.”
2/2
Legion Dragonknight 3(W/U)R
Creature — Human Knight (U)
Flying
1R: Legion Dragonknight gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
Acquiring dragons from the Izzet greatly increased the potency of the Boros aerial force.
1/6
Vitu-Ghazi Escort (G/U)W
Creature — Elf Cleric (U)
1, T: Another target creature gains hexproof until end of turn.
With the consent of Trostani, Lavinia had the refugees from the tenth district transfered to the grove of Vitu-Ghazi.
2/2
Basic Land — Plains (C)
Island
Basic Land — Island (C)
Swamp
Basic Land — Swamp (C)
Mountain
Basic Land — Mountain (C)
Forest
Basic Land — Forest (C)
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Entrench (At the beginning of your upkeep, you may add or remove a +1/+1 counter from this creature. It can’t attack as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
Are you designing commons? Check out my primer on NWO.
Interested in making a custom set? Check out my Set skeleton and archetype primer.
I also write articles about getting started with custom card creation.
Go and PLAYTEST your designs, you will learn more in a single playtests than a dozen discussions.
My custom sets:
Dreamscape
Coins of Mercalis [COMPLETE]
Exodus of Zendikar - ON HOLD
Well, I actually do enjoy those games . In all seriousness though, I don't think that early game stalls are bad for the game as long as there are enough ways to break them later or go over the top of whatever your opponent is doing. Having a bunch of planeswalkers in play gives you inevitability. As does casting 8+ mana spells, although I'm not yet sure how they should look like. Having a mana sink mechanic also helps, but I don't have that either. So, I think it's better to tackle this issue: Should Consume be the Eldrazi mechanic or rather something that goes more over the top? Something like Monstrosity perhaps?
I will refrain from making planeswalkers that generate value with their plus ability, and most won't have an ultimate either, so they will be much less "kill it with fire or lose" than mythic planeswalkers. If developed properly, I think they should work.
... This one goes to eleven!
Did you intend that the creature could grow more and more every turn? Wouldn't that make it worse?
Keep in mind that the entrench creatures give you the option to play them as a normal beater, and you only entrench them when you're behind. Therefore, you won't run into the situation that you don't have any way to kill the opponent left in your deck, unlike the case where there are a bunch of Ogre Sentrys left in your deck. Again, formats that encourage board stalls can work if there are enough ways to break the stall in the late game.
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
I'm not sold on consume... it doesn't feel Eldrazi enough. The name of the mechanic is appropriate for Eldrazi, but the effect just feels mono-black. Do you remember the consume mechanic I used for the eldrazin in the Caeia block? The flavor there (devauring the mana of the plane itself) feels pretty Eldrazi, and color hosing could be pretty interesting in a Ravnica set. Something like:
Consume X (Put a consumption counter on up to X target lands. Mana produced by lands with consumption counters can only be used to pay colorless mana costs.)
There are other routes to take as well, but I do think that the mechanic should be re-worked to feel more Eldrazi-ish.
Entrench
I love this mechanic. I know you and I are both finds of 'battlecruiser magic' and this fits that theme brilliantly, I think. What kind of room is there in the set for 'wall tribal' ala ROE? Seems like a great opportunity for an Overgrown Battlement reprint.
Breach
Hmm. This is interesting. I'm not sure how it will fit here, it might just make decks tend towards a more aggressive style, but it's a fun idea.
Guildpact
I really like this, but I do hate that the name is so closely tied Ravnica, because it's a mechanic that's got a lot of room elsewhere as well.
Planeswalkers
You know I'm a huge fan of planeswalkers at lower rarities. However bringing them down to common is a bold move. Having that many walkers available in all rarities will make for a very walker centric limited game, and outside of the idea that planeswalkers are cool, and this set seems to have a theme of 'cranking it up to 11' as you put it, there's not a lot that's keeping the planeswalkers tied to the set, mechanically speaking. I'm not sure I have a suggestion here, just an observation at this point.
Have you considered any kind of counter manipulation subtheme? Could be interesting with entrench and planeswalkers.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
The reactions to Consume seem to range from negative to mixed, so I'm going to replace it. I don't like messing with lands, though, especially not in a multicolored set. How do you feel about Monstrosity?
I will definitely make cards similar to Overgrown Battlement, but I won't reprint it. It was too good back then, and here it would be even better.
The main idea is that you can do bursts of damage to kill off opposing planeswalkers. Trample will be valued much higher in this set as it would be normally, as chump blocking with Eldrazi spawn tokens is a big problem, when you're trying to kill planeswalkers. Of course, you could also just use these spells as simple burn and build an aggressive deck that way, and I think that's fine. There will be enough walls to soak the damage.
Any ideas for alternative names?
I wanted the other mechanics to work in an interesting way with attacking and defending planeswalkers. Entrench and Eldrazi spawn are mechanics intended to help you defend your planeswalkers, and breach is a mechanic intended to help you kill off planeswalkers. Counter-manipulation could be a theme for Simic cards. I also have a blue uncommon that puts loyalty counters on planeswalkers.
I'm glad Entrench got some positive reactions. I'm cutting Consume; I'm open to suggestions for a replacement mechanic. A mana-sink would be preferable. I want to try without Annihilator for now.
As always, thanks for the feedback!
While I'm at it, here is a new planeswalker:
Valla Battlemaster 2RG
Planeswalker (U)
+1: Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature you control. That creature gains haste until end of turn.
-6: Put three +1/+1 counters on any number of target creatures you control.
"I face a formidable foe, but nothing a warrior who fought in the Immersturm can’t overcome."
{3}
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
I agree that consume is probably not the best answer for a new Eldrazi direction.
I like the Guildpact mechanic and agree with a name change. Perhaps something like Alliance, Concord, or Unite.
I like the direction of entrench and breach as counter points to each other. It could creature some interesting blow out moments.
I'm really not a fan of Planeswalkers at such low rarities though, but moreso for mechanical concerns. Having a bunch of planeswalkers be easily accessible sets up players with a huge toolbox of options that creates a lot of complexity, decision making, and really easy card advantage scenarios making most of them automatic redflags at common and leaving very little room for any other distinct directions. I realize you want battlecruiser style mechanics going on, but I feel low rarity planeswalkers will stall the game horrendously long for limited as players will be taking a lot of their attack turns killing them instead of their opponents. Also, introducing planeswalkers at lower rarities introduces the need for lower rarities to have answers to them, which may be acceptable within the set/block itself, but would muddle the useful of other planeswalkers and there distinct place as rarer permanents that are harder to remove then normal.
With what you're proposing, it feels like your cranking it up to 15, not an 11, and that's not necessarily a good thing. Do you want this set to be about a war between Ravnica and the Eldrazi, or a Planeswalker set? I'm not confident 1 set can do both well at the same time, not the extrent I think you're aiming for. Maybe planeswalkers should be kept out of commons. Fate reforged has a heavy dragon theme as a mechanic but still only has 13 (as a smaller set granted, but still.) How many planewalkers are you planning for?
I understand your concerns, but keep in mind that every set has room for at least one really complex mechanic. For Khans of Tarkir, these were Morphs, for Rise of the Eldrazi, it was Level up. These are on the same complexity level as planeswalkers, and like those sets, I don't have any other overly complex mechanics. Regarding the answers to planeswalkers: Answers to planeswalkers already exist in Hero's Downfall, Oblivion Ring etc. Of course, I have to bring those down in rarity, which I did for example with Gaze of Vraska:
Gaze of Vraska 3BG
Sorcery (C)
Destroy target nonland permanent.
This card fills its role in the limited format but wouldn't have any impact on other formats because it's too bad.
Maybe it would be useful to explain how I arrived at this idea. I wanted to do a "siege-style" limited format for a long time. I tried to design a type of enchantment that behaved like a planeswalker in that it could be attacked, and in the format you're building up your defenses to defend these "sanctuaries." But I never could get them right. When I started with the idea for this set, I knew this had to be the "siege-style" limited format I envisioned. But the sanctuaries just wouldn't work, so I decided to go into a different direction and have planeswalkers be what you're defending in this set, and tie that into the flavor: Ravnica is a hub for planeswalkers, and it would make sense that many of them show up to defend it. So, for me it was different pieces coming together naturally, instead of an "Alien vs. Predator" kind-of thing.
Regarding your last question: I have already backpadeled a bit. I started with the intention of doing >5 common named planeswalkers with three abilities, and many more at uncommon. Since then, first the planeswalkers lost their unique name, and their third abilities. Now I'm at that point where I'm very happy with the common cycle I have, but don't think I should do any more at common. So, I'll have five at common and about six to seven more at uncommon.
It might be useful to discuss the individual designs instead.
Ergamon Primalist 2G
Planeswalker (C)
+1: Up to one target creature gets +1/+1 and gains trample until end of turn.
-3: Search your library for a basic land card, and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Then shuffle your library.
“Ravnica has been my home for many years. I came as soon as I heard the rallying call.”
{4}
This planeswalker for example is how I want the common ones to be. They can generate some value, but they won't ever break the game in half if they can't be removed. Now, is that requirement fulfilled for all of them or are some too powerful when lasting multiple turns?
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Instant (C)
Target creature you control gains indestructible until end of turn.
Breach — If you cast Light of Mat’Selesnya during your main phase, instead creatures you control gain indestructible until end of turn.
Theros Artisan 5WW
Planeswalker (U)
+1: Put a 3/3 colorless Golem artifact creature token onto the battlefield.
-4: Destroy target creature with toughness 4 or greater.
“The city itself will rise against the intruders. I will shape it stone by stone.”
{6}
Denied Rest 2B
Sorcery (C)
Choose one or both —
—Liliana Vess
Ruin Breeder 2R
Creature — Eldrazi Drone (C)
When Ruin Breeder enters the battlefield, put a 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature tokens onto the battlefield. It has “Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.”
“Don’t return to the tenth district. Your mind won’t fathom what has become of it.”
2/2
Ruinscour Dragon 5RR
Creature — Dragon (U)
Flying
Guildpact — When Ruinscour Dragon enters the battlefield, it deals damage to target creature or player equal to the number of colors among permanents you control.
A dragon’s destructive power can truly unfold once collateral damage is no concern.
5/5
Bloom Hatching
Sorcery (C)
You gain 3 life. Put a 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature token onto the battlefield. It has “Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.”
Amidst the destruction, the dryad found a single blossom, its beauty untouched. Then it tore open and another monster birthed from it.
Skyknight Patrol 1WU
Creature — Human Knight (C)
Flying, vigilance
“The streets of Ravnica may have fallen to the enemy, but its skies still belong to us.”
—Isperia
2/2
Exava, Slayer of Countless 3BR
Legendary Creature — Human Cleric (M)
Double strike, deathtouch, trample
All creatures able to block Exava, Slayer of Countless do so.
Whenever Exava, Slayer of Countless attacks, sacrifice it at end of combat.
“And carnage shall follow.”
3/4
Valla Battlemaster 2RG
Planeswalker (U)
+1: Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature you control. That creature gains haste until end of turn.
-6: Put three +1/+1 counters on each creature you control.
“I face a formidable foe, but nothing a warrior who fought in the Immersturm can’t overcome.”
{3}
Cathedral Guard 1WB
Creature — Human Knight (C)
Lifelink
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
Even now, the Orzhov are only interested in preserving their own property.
2/2
Nivix Blastmage 3UR
Creature — Goblin Wizard (R)
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, if Nivix Blastmage is on the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to each creature and you draw a card.
Every run of the experiment yielded valuable results and destroyed the results of the previous run.
2/2
Blade of the First Line RW
Creature — Human Soldier (U)
Whenever Blade of the First Line attacks, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each creature with defender you control.
“The Selesnya and the Azorius evacuate the civilians. The Izzet muster for an aerial attack. We alone must hold the front line.”
—Tajic, blade of the legion
2/2
Thunderstorm Helix 4RW
Instant (C)
Thunderstorm Helix deals 5 damage to target creature or player and you gain 5 life.
“If that doesn’t kill it, we’re out of options.”
—Aurelia
Unleash the Omega 6UG
Instant (U)
Put two 4/4 green and blue Leviathan creature tokens with flying and trample onto the battlefield.
For many years, Barvisa tried to uncover the secret Simic experiment codenamed ‘Omega.’ Now she was glad that she remained unsuccessful.
Spires of the Senate (etc.)
Land (C)
Spires of the Senate enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add or to your mana pool.
“In times of chaos, upholding the law is of the uttermost importance.”
—Isperia
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Why put Ravnica and Eldrazi together? I understand it's possible, but just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should. I don't see the merit in using Ravnica to return the Eldrazi when both are easily returnable on their own. It seems like they will distract from each other and the set overall, to me at least, feels wrong.
Planeswalkers at common and uncommon is a terrible idea in practice. It has problems in every area of R&D
Creatively, why are planeswalkers, who are supposed to be very unique and powerful, showing up at common? It makes no sense in the current lore. You would have to do some story event similar to the mending for this to work at all and that wouldn't be a very good idea because it would ruin the whole point of planeswalkers.
Design-wise, planeswalkers are a card type newer players are supposed to not really see, only learning more about them as the become more enfranchised. Planeswalkers are the card type with the least rules explanation on their card and are therefore game-breakingly complex when they show up that low.
Developmentally, planeswalkers are the most difficult card type to balance, as they have a lot of things to consider and often work quite differently card-to-card.
There is a good reason planeswalkers are only mythic, and putting them at anything lower than rare, in my belief and at least a good portion of wizards as well, is completely wrong.
This set has some interest, but, to be honest, I don't really like anything you have here in the larger sense.
RUNIN: Norse mythology set (awaiting further playtesting)
FATE of ALARA: Multicolour factions (currently on hiatus)
Contibutor to the Pyrulea community set
I'm here to tell you that all your set mechanics are bad
#Defundthepolice
I think something like this is fair. Obviously, the numbers will change during development, but outside of the complexity of choice and the complexity of the planeswalker rules, this is fair at common. In some ways, it's easier to do that something I've been working on - legendary creatures at common.
In regards to using Monstrosity on the Eldrazi... I dunno. I feel that the Eldrazi should always be big and mean, not come out and become big and mean as a mana sink (although, mechanically, monstrosity works great for siege-style gameplay as a way to break over the mid-game stall). I don't know that I have any other suggestions at the moment for Eldrazi, outside of messing with lands, but I'll give it some thought.
Can't 'because' be a good enough answer to why? A project like this is interesting to me because it's a break from the norm - this is very obviously not something that would see print from WotC because of the reasons you mentioned. However, as a custom fan-set, sometimes it's fun to simply 'crank it up to 11' and play around with something as big and wonky as this. Something I'd recommend to Apoquallyp is play that up - don't let the set take itself too seriously. It's like a Godzilla movie, but as a MtG set, which isn't a bad thing.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
I think it has no use to discuss differences of opinion, so I won't argue in favor of the set idea. It's unfortunate that you don't like it, but as long as there are people who find the idea of Eldrazi in Ravnica exciting, that's fine. The development aspects of planeswalkers at common I have discussed already at length previously in the thread, so I don't want to go over it again. That leaves us with the lore concerns with planeswalkers at common. And here I argue with the rule: You can break any rule as long as you have a good reason to do it. The setup is that planeswalkers from all over the multiverse are called upon to help in the fight against the Eldrazi, and many answer the call. From among them, there are some planeswalkers we already met, and others we haven't met yet, and probably will never meet. They haven't played a big role in a story yet, or ever will. No one outside their homeworld knows them, and although they are powerful, in the face of this dire threat, they are merely reduced to soldiers. They might have a backstory, but so the soldiers that aren't planeswalkers. Still, I try to give each of those planeswalkers a bit of a unique idenity by naming their homeworld and with a quote in the third ability row.
I try to not take any of my sets too seriously, but it's a good point you make. The first course of action I'll do is to change the flavor in the OP from "Another world consumed" to "This one goes to eleven!"
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Legendary Creature — Angel (M)
Flying, lifelink, indestructible
Whenever Aurelia, Ravnica’s Shield deals combat damage to player, each nonattacking creature you control deals damage equal to its toughness to that player. You gain life equal to the damage dealt this way.
2/7
On another note, I'd like to move away from the discussion about planeswalkers in the set and so on. I think we've exhausted the topic. The bottom line is that this is not a set you would see printed, but I still want to do it this way, because it's a hell lot of fun to design, and it's hopefully also very fun to draft. I would appreciate any single card comments you have, for example, here are some of my current Eldrazi designs. Since I didn't find a mechanic that can compete with Annihilator, I just went with Annihilator for now:
Creature — Eldrazi (U)
Vigilance
Annihilator 3 (Whenever this creature attacks, defending player sacrifices three permanents.)
For the fourth time, Emmara was sure that this Eldrazi, more colossal than all before it, was one of the titans Jace had told about.
5/9
Herald of Kozilek 8
Creature — Eldrazi (U)
When you cast Herald of Kozilek, each opponent loses 3 life and you gain 3 life.
Annihilator 2 (Whenever this creature attacks, defending player sacrifices two permanents.)
“There is no escape . . . for any of us.”
—Mirela, Azorius hussar
7/7
Spawn of Emrakul 6
Creature — Eldrazi (C)
Flying
Annihilator 1 (Whenever this creature attacks, defending player sacrifices a permanent.)
“They see the emergence of the Eldrazi as some form of divine reckoning. How could they not?”
—Sorin Markov
3/3
Ulamog’s Siegebreaker 7
Creature — Eldrazi (C)
Trample
Annihilator 1 (Whenever this creature attacks, defending player sacrifices a permanent.)
Whenever Ulamog’s Siegebreaker attacks, it gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Destruction is the only language it speaks.
5/5
Emrakul’s Overseer 3B
Creature — Eldrazi Drone (C)
Flying
When Emrakul’s Overseer enters the battlefield, put a 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature token onto the battlefield. It has “Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.”
2/2
Maddening Tendrils 2B
Sorcery (U)
Target opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card. Put a 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature token onto the battlefield. It has “Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.”
Here are some more rares and mythics...
Planeswalker — Jace (M)
+1: Choose up to one target creature. Whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player this turn, draw a card.
-2: Put two 1/1 blue Illusion creature tokens with flying onto the battlefield.
-7: You get an emblem with “Creatures and planeswalkers you control have protection from your opponents.”
{3}
Lord of Mayhem 5RR
Creature — Elemental (R)
Trample
Prevent all damage that Lord of Mayhem would deal to blocking creatures.
The Rakdos cultists imprinted only one command into the chaotic elemental: “Kill the source!”
13/6
Worldspine Turtle 7GG
Creature — Turtle (R)
The arrival of the Eldrazi awakened forces so ancient, they were long forgotten to exist. Forces so powerful, it was wise to have them be forgotten.
10/20
Fiora Master Thief UB
Planeswalker (R)
0: Exile the top card of target opponent’s library. Until your next turn, creatures can’t attack Fiora Master Thief.
0: You may cast an artifact or creature card exiled with Fiora Master Thief and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast that spell.
“Alright, I’ll help with your situation. But first, I always wanted to visit the Orzhov treasuries.”
{1}
Aurelia, Ravnica’s Shield 5RW
Legendary Creature — Angel (M)
Flying, lifelink, indestructible
Whenever Aurelia, Ravnica’s Shield deals combat damage to player, each nonattacking creature you control deals damage equal to its toughness to that player. You gain life equal to the damage dealt this way.
2/7
...and here the rest of the new cards:
Creature — Centaur Soldier (C)
Vigilance
“The Conclave welcomes all who enter as friends, but smites down anyone who disturbs our blessed harmony.”
—Suniel the Woodwise
2/2
Devour Reality 2U
Instant (C)
Counter target colored spell.
The fireball left the pyromancer’s hand, but it would not hit the Eldrazi. The spell unraveled and then the world around her.
Ethereal Watchtower 2U
Creature — Spirit Wall (C)
Defender, flying
It sends out pulses of magical energy that lure the Eldrazi to a place of no strategical importance, far away from any populated area.
0/6
Galvanic Alchemy 4U
Instant (U)
Look at the top five cards of your library. Put two of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
“Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.”
—Trivaz, Izzet mage
Simic Biosplicer 1U
Creature — Merfolk Mutant (U)
U, T: Move a +1/+1 counter from another target creature you control to Simic Biosplicer.
Some biomancers try to breed the perfect species. Others are only concerned with their own perfection.
1/3
Ogre Warden 3B
Creature — Ogre Warrior (C)
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
He could release the prisoners, or he could leave them to die. He hasn’t made up his mind yet.
3/3
Aerial Strike 2R
Sorcery (U)
Aerial Strike deals 2 damage to each creature and each player.
“Give our airships to the Boros? They’ll end up doing more damage than the Eldrazi.”
—Juzba, izzet tinkerer
Wojek Convoy 2R
Creature — Human Soldier (C)
First strike
Entrench (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It has defender as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
“Yes, we have sworn to smite down our enemies, but above all else, we have sworn to protect.”
—Aurelia
2/2
Bloom Hatching G
Sorcery (C)
You gain 3 life. Put a 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature token onto the battlefield. It has “Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.”
Amidst the destruction, the dryad found a single blossom, its beauty untouched. Then it tore open and another monster birthed from it.
Voidknit UB
Instant (C)
Counter target noncreature spell. Its controller puts the top three cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
“Let me share with you what it’s like not to exist.”
—Lazav
Stolen Immortality 2WB
Instant (U)
Your life total becomes 10. Target opponent loses life equal to the life you gained this way.
“It’s time to collect our debts.”
—Milana, Orzhov prelate
Burning-Tree Flayer 3R
Creature — Viashino Berserker (U)
Double strike
1(B/G): Burning-Tree Flayer gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
“You’ve learned to channel your rage. Now learn to succumb to pure bloodlust.”
—Exava
2/2
Korozda Revenants 1B
Creature — Spirit (U)
Flying, vigilance, deathtouch
Teysa found many unfortunate souls in the undercity that had evaded the grasp of the Orzhov in the past.
1/3
Card images are in the original post.
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Can you at least make the planeswalkers only be at uncommon+? Even if you put aside the flavor issues I feel that a huge chunk of your complexity budget and red flag allocation will be sucked up by these when the real coolness should be between the conflict between the eldrazi and ravnica.
Annihilator is gonna be super painful to develop. I know, I've tried.
Have you taken a look at the eldrazi mechanics I explored in my unfinished Exodus of Zendikar set?
I'm convinced there has to be a way to do annihilator style mechanic without being as difficult to develop.
Are you designing commons? Check out my primer on NWO.
Interested in making a custom set? Check out my Set skeleton and archetype primer.
I also write articles about getting started with custom card creation.
Go and PLAYTEST your designs, you will learn more in a single playtests than a dozen discussions.
My custom sets:
Dreamscape
Coins of Mercalis [COMPLETE]
Exodus of Zendikar - ON HOLD
Thanks! Everyone likes turtles. A huge mistake by Wizards not to make more.
What about "If your theme isn't at common, it isn’t your theme?" There will only be five planeswalkers at common, so these would be ~1/4 of the allowed red flags.
I've looked at your Eradicate mechanic. Did you explore any others? The problem I have with Eradicate is that, while it works well in limited, it's power is basically capped at "~ can't be blocked", and it doesn't translate well into constructed, unlike Annihilator. I don't think a strictly worse Annihilator is the solution.
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
I will conced my point about the Eldrazi/Ravnica. It's your set, and you should be able to make it work for your, at least.
About Planeswalkers at common/uncommon, particularly common, you haven't properly addressed the most important issue, as MaRo put it: 'legendary things should not be common. If you’re common, you’re not legendary!'. And planeswalkers are basically legendary, if not more (in a flavour sense). Planeswalkers are by design SUPPOSED TO BE UNIQUE! They are the rarest card type not because they thought it made the best gameplay, because they could have changed that relatively easily, but because they are representing a literally rare being!
It doesn't matter if there is a large gathering of them, common is still common. A very large gathering of planeswalkers would still be easily less than a dozen. Most inhabitants of the multiverse not only never see one, but don't even know they exist at all, that's how rare they are. Even if many planeswalkers came to a world, they should be at a higher percentage at higher rarities than at a common and uncommon.
Planeswalkers at rare however, while something the game doesn’t currently do, is a lot less of a stretch than uncommon and especially common. So if you want to do a ‘lots-of-planeswalkers theme’ then I suggest you do this as a one-off for the set/block instead. It won’t allow the same level of thematic support, but more importantly, it won’t break the meaning of planeswalkers.
I try to not take any of my sets too seriously, but it's a good point you make. The first course of action I'll do is to change the flavor in the OP from "Another world consumed" to "This one goes to eleven!"[/quote]
Rules are made for a reason. While the defence of 'I can do whatever I like' is perfectly valid, keep in mind that R&D don't do things without the belief that it WILL do good things for their game. When designing from their creation, the best resource for how to make it work and how to make it good is them, because it's their job to make it good. Being a bit more experimental and doing things a little differently in your custom sets is completely fine considering the lack of business-related pressures.
However, deviating from these rules drastically will more often than not result in poorer quality sets. It's a lot harder to make something good when you don't know how it will actually work. Again, if you want to do this with your set, go ahead, just be aware that you are going to have to work harder to make it the same sort of quality and will end up making more changes to the core of the gameplay than you would probably expect so I certainly wouldn’t recommend it.
All of the above points relate mostly to making a set for the purposes of it being a well-designed playable set (I am slightly biased in this sense as this is how I design sets, as if I were actually R&D). As mentioned above, if you want to make it more of a just-for-fun sort of design, that’s fine, but
I have given my thoughts on how to make it a more realistic idea if that is more what you want (obviously, as you said before, not highly seriously though).
Good luck with your set, however you end up making it!
RUNIN: Norse mythology set (awaiting further playtesting)
FATE of ALARA: Multicolour factions (currently on hiatus)
Contibutor to the Pyrulea community set
I'm here to tell you that all your set mechanics are bad
#Defundthepolice
The most success I had with a planeswalker theme was a pseudo-tribal theme based around 5 planeswalkers. Cards like [card]Jace's
Archivist[/card] and Gideon's Lawkeeper but with cards that refer to them and add synergy, to make you want to draft a Jace deck or Gideon deck. This might not be what you're looking for, but this is the way that led me to the most success when I put work into a planeswalker themed set.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
Mhm, I thought about something like that. But I have difficulties making the Eldrazi titans feel different enough from the originals using Annihilator, while on the lesser Eldrazi it's not that big of a deal if they feel similar. I'm currently thinking about two templates:
For lesser Eldrazi: "Whenever ~ attacks, {effect}."
For Eldrazi titans: "Whenever you cast ~ or it attacks, {effect}."
Examples:
Ulamog's Siegebreaker 7
Creature — Eldrazi (C)
Trample
Consume — Whenever Ulamog's Siegebreaker attacks, target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn and Ulamog's Siegebreaker gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
5/5
Kozilek, Bane of Sanity 12
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Consume — Whenever you cast Kozilek, Bane of Sanity or it attacks, target player discards two cards and you draw two cards.
Hexproof
When Kozilek, Bane of Sanity is put into your graveyard from anywhere, shuffle your graveyard into your library.
10/10
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Creature — Eldrazi (U)
Flying
Consume — When you cast Devourer of Etrelur or whenever it attacks, target opponent sacrifices a land. Search your library for a basic land card, and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Then shuffle your library.
3/3
Emrakul, Devourer of Worlds
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Flying
Consume — When you cast Emrakul, Devourer of Worlds or whenever it attacks, target creature an opponent controls gets -5/-5 until end of turn and Emrakul gets +5/+5 until end of turn.
When Emrakul is put into a graveyard from anywhere, its owner shuffles it into his or her library.
7/7
Emrakul’s Ravager
Creature — Eldrazi (C)
Consume — When you cast Emrakul’s Ravager or whenever it attacks, target opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
“They see the emergence of the Eldrazi as some form of divine reckoning. How could they not?”
—Sorin Markov
7/6
Herald of Kozilek
Creature — Eldrazi (U)
Consume — When you cast Herald of Kozilek or whenever it attacks, target opponent discards a card and you draw a card.
“There is no escape . . . for any of us.”
—Mirela, Azorius hussar
7/9
Kozilek, Bane of Sanity 12
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Hexproof
Consume — When you cast Kozilek, Bane of Sanity or whenever it attacks, target opponent sacrifices a creature and you return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
When Kozilek is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner’s library.
11/11
Ulamog’s Siegebreaker
Creature — Eldrazi (C)
Consume — When you cast Ulamog’s Siegebreaker or whenever it attacks, target creature an opponent controls gets -2/-2 until end of turn and Ulamog’s Siegebreaker gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Destruction is the only language it speaks.
6/6
Continuing my crusade to bring back characters that were severely mistreated by Dragon's Maze:
Legendary Creature — Elf Cleric (M)
Vigilance, lifelink
T: Add X mana in any combination of colors to your mana pool, where X is the amount of life you gained this turn.
“The Boros must fight at the frontlines. Our role in this war is a different one.”
2/5
I've changed the dual land cycle by giving them the "Cluestone" ability.
Land (C)
Spires of the Senate enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add or to your mana pool.
2WU, T, Sacrifice Spires of the Senate: Draw a card.
Territory of the Clans
Land (C)
Territory of the Clans enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add or to your mana pool.
2RG, T, Sacrifice Territory of the Clans: Draw a card.
etc.
Instant (U)
Creatures you control get +0/+4 until end of turn.
Draw a card
“When Kozilek emerged, the civilians made a token attempt at resistance.”
—Mirela, Azorius hussar
Pontiff of Ghosts 5W
Creature — Human Cleric (U)
Guildpact — When Pontiff of Ghosts enters the battlefield, put a 1/1 white Spirit creature token onto the battlefield for each color among permanents you control.
“I demand this final act of servitude. Fight now, and I see your debt as paid.”
—Teysa Karlov
1/2
Rallying Call XW
Sorcery (R)
Search your library for a planeswalker card with converted mana cost X or less and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
Rapidly, the rallying call spread across the multiverse, from the starlit fields of Vryn, to the primal jungles of Ergamon.
Crippling Insertion 3U
Enchantment — Aura (C)
Enchant nonland permanent
Enchanted permanent doesn’t untap during its controller untap step and its activated abilities can’t be activated.
“The best part is that the victim still remains susceptible to all forms of pain.”
—Strava, Dimir mage
Cauterize 3R
Sorcery (C)
Cauterize deals 4 damage to target creature or player.
The illusionist from Iquatana summoned a network of decoys to lure the Eldrazi away from the civilian population. Then Chandra had her fun.
Fire Servant 3RR
Creature — Elemental (U)
If a red instant or sorcery spell you control would deal damage, it deals double that damage instead.
Ithar wondered whether the fire-haired pyromancer had her inferno under control. He erred on the side of caution and put five blocks between him and her.
4/3
Bloom Tender 1G
Creature — Elf Druid (R)
Guildpact — T: For each color among permanents you control, add one mana of that color to your mana pool.
“While the other guilds face extinction, our commune grows every day.”
—Trostani
1/1
Faunaforming 3GG
Sorcery (U)
Search your library for a basic land card and a creature card and reveal those cards. Put the land card onto the battlefield tapped and the creature card into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
“Invasive species incompatible with any known ecosystem. Coexistence impossible.”
—Simic research notes
Synthetic Burst 1G
Instant (C)
Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Breach — If you cast Synthetic Burst during your main phase, put two +1/+1 counters on that creature instead.
“Giant monsters destroy the city . . . How is this day any different from the rest?”
Hoarding Gorgon 3BG
Creature — Gorgon (U)
Defender
When Hoarding Gorgon enters the battlefield, return target card from your graveyard to your hand.
The more a Gorgon amasses a collection, the more obsessive she becomes about protecting it.
0/4
Ardent Druid (R/W)G
Creature — Human Druid (U)
T: Add to your mana pool.
When Skarrg was under attack, the Conclave did not hesitate to offer their support. Not out of benevolence, but to protect the last wild places of Ravnica.
3/1
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
If you have any comments, or notice any mistakes, please let me know.
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Here's a weird card that may fit:
Unnamed Lifegain GW
Sorcery - (C)
You gain 4 life. If creatures you control have total toughness 8 or greater, you gain 8 life instead.
Kind of a reverse formidable that rewards entrench strategies and synergizes well with that Emmara. I know lifegain spells are typically regarded poorly, but I'm a sucker for cards like this
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)