With Shadows over Innistrad looming over the horizon, I have again been thinking off and on about the "legendary Werewolf problem". I woke up this morning with a possible answer that is both mechanically relevant in a way that hides that it is an answer and is oozing with flavor.
[Ordinary Bloke, Don't Mind Me] 2RG Legendary Creature -- Human Werewolf (MR)
Hexproof
If you control a transformed Werewolf, CARDNAME enters the battlefield transformed.
At the beginning of each upkeep, if no spells were cast last turn, transform CARDNAME.
3/3
//////////
[Rawr! You're Surrounded!] (color indicator: Red/Green) Legendary Creature -- Werewolf (MR)
Trample, haste
Other werewolf creatures you control enter the battlefield transformed and have trample and haste.
At the beginning of each upkeep, if a player cast two or more spells last turn, transform this CARDNAME.
5/5
- Transforming other Werewolves might make it too tribal oriented. The other Innistrad legendary creatures all played well in tribal decks, but were not outright tribal enablers.
- No name yet. There were three Innistrad story candidates for possible legendary Werewolves, but I'm unsure if any of them fit this flavor.
- Needs a CR definition for a transformed permanent.
- Huntmaster of the Fells gets a ruling that entering transformed either does or does not trigger Ravager of the Fells' transform triggered ability.
That is something I would like better something like
John not a Wolfe RG
Legendary creature-hooman wizard
GR1: transform another target creature and then put a Prime Blood counter on it
0:transform _____, activate this ability only if two or more creatures transformed this turn
1/3
John now a wolf
First strike
If a creature you control would transform, you may choose to ignore it
Creatures with Prime Blood counters get +1\+1 and have lifelink
5/3
He supports other transformations by allowing you the option to trans them for mana, and then just not have to trans them at all. It was a throw up between lifelink and trample I also don't know if I want the flip to allow you to not transform pb or just ñottrans anything.
The problem with a legendary Werewolf has always been potentially having two copies (one transformed and the other not) on the battlefield at the same time.
There were three alpha Werewolves mentioned in the Planeswalker's Guide flavor article. (I haven't read the book, but since there is not much detail in the wiki I'm guessing it doesn't talk about them much.)
Tovolar - Alpha of the Mondronen howlpack. He has never been seen to transform into human. That does not necessarily mean that he never actually transforms though.
Skaharra - Alpha of the Leeraug howlpack. She tends to kills entire families, but leaves unrelated farmhands and servants unharmed.
Ulrich - Alpha of the Krallenhorde howlpack. He continues running with the howlpack even while in human form.
Most custom legendary Werewolf designs I've seen are either double-sided cards that just ignore this, or single-sided Tovolar designs. I think the single-sided designs are a bit of a cop out that ignores the main flavor drive of trying to make a legendary Werewolf work.
they could just put a thing at the bottom like "if you control "other face's cardname" then apply the legend rule to this card.
and we already ave a double faced legend
elbrus/withengar
Or to use a variant of Pardic Firecat's wording, "Treat cards named ~A/~B as though they were cards named ~B/~A."
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
If yyou really wanted to make Torvolar double sided you could have his normal side be the wolf and he transforms into a human under special circumstances. I find think makk g him single sided is a cop out at all though. The largest portion of the dfcs is flavor. I mean mechanically it's a huge pain in the ass and is hard to do because of printing restrictions. So overall it's a flavor thing. And if it's a flavor thing then why would you use it when a normal card is more flavorful for the character?
With Shadows over Innistrad looming over the horizon, I have again been thinking off and on about the "legendary Werewolf problem". I woke up this morning with a possible answer that is both mechanically relevant in a way that hides that it is an answer and is oozing with flavor.
[Ordinary Bloke, Don't Mind Me] 2RG Legendary Creature -- Human Werewolf (MR)
Hexproof
If you control a transformed Werewolf, CARDNAME enters the battlefield transformed.
At the beginning of each upkeep, if no spells were cast last turn, transform CARDNAME.
3/3
//////////
[Rawr! You're Surrounded!] (color indicator: Red/Green) Legendary Creature -- Werewolf (MR)
Trample, haste
Other werewolf creatures you control enter the battlefield transformed and have trample and haste.
At the beginning of each upkeep, if a player cast two or more spells last turn, transform this CARDNAME.
5/5
- Transforming other Werewolves might make it too tribal oriented. The other Innistrad legendary creatures all played well in tribal decks, but were not outright tribal enablers.
- No name yet. There were three Innistrad story candidates for possible legendary Werewolves, but I'm unsure if any of them fit this flavor.
- Needs a CR definition for a transformed permanent.
- Huntmaster of the Fells gets a ruling that entering transformed either does or does not trigger Ravager of the Fells' transform triggered ability.
I like the idea of a card that has your Human Werewolves transform when they enter the battlefield. Perhaps an enchantment?
Night of the Full Moon2G
Enchantment
Whenever a Human Werewolf enters the battlefield under your control, transform it.
Non-Human Werewolves you control can't transform.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Or to use a variant of Pardic Firecat's wording, "Treat cards named ~A/~B as though they were cards named ~B/~A."
That is the answer that other custom double-sided legendary Werewolves I have seen have done, but it is a purely downside mechanic and boring for gameplay. One small step up from that is not just to treat it as if it had the same name as the transformed side, but to outright make it the transformed side.
<Dude> enters the battlefield transformed if you control a permanent named <Dude Transformed>.
If you control a <Dude Transformed> but it is Arrested, then thanks to the M14 rules update creating design space that wasn't around during Innistrad you can play a second copy of <Dude> and he immediately becomes the transformed side. You can choose to let the original Arrested <Dude Transformed> die to the legend rule and you keep your fresh new unhindered <Dude Transformed>.
The next step up is to not care specifically about the name, but reference a characteristic that <Dude Transformed> has and other creatures can have also. Looking for other transformed Werewolves is a good joining of both mechanic and flavor. It is already night and your werewolves are already going on a rampage, so he gets to jump in ready to join the fun. It turns the purely downside highly technical answer to the name problem into something that has beneficial gameplay value.
There's the flavor weirdness of the two legends getting to coexist until one transforms and suddenly has the same name as the other, causing the legend rule to kick in. One can see why Maro would love to do away with the legend rule, as if it didn't exist then a Werewolf legend would have happened already.
Silvercut's got me thinking: There should be a way for a Werewolf to transform when it enters the battlefield as long as the proper condition has been met. If we revisit the "two or more spells" condition from last time, we could add a new trigger window where the Werewolf transforms when it enters the battlefield and at the beginning of each upkeep. This also allows Werewolves to be flickered without losing the transformation until the next upkeep.
"When ~ enters the battlefield or at the beginning of each upkeep, if no spells were cast last turn, transform it."
Of course, Surge's presence in the current Standard makes it tricky to reuse the previous iteration of the Werewolf trigger, as players will be encouraged not only to cast spells but also to cast multiple spells a turn. Perhaps a new condition? Instead of tying the transform trigger to any one player's upkeep, which could cause some Werewolves to be transformed and others not, what if it was the first player's upkeep that serves as the trigger? If enough cards care about it, players will keep track of who the first player is for that game, and it shouldn't be too hard to do so.
"At the beginning of the first player's upkeep, transform all Human Werewolves. Until that player's next turn, whenever a Human Werewolf enters the battlefield, its controller transforms it."
"At the beginning of the first player's upkeep, transform all non-Human Werewolves."
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
There's the flavor weirdness of the two legends getting to coexist until one transforms and suddenly has the same name as the other, causing the legend rule to kick in. One can see why Maro would love to do away with the legend rule, as if it didn't exist then a Werewolf legend would have happened already.
Silvercut's got me thinking: There should be a way for a Werewolf to transform when it enters the battlefield as long as the proper condition has been met. If we revisit the "two or more spells" condition from last time, we could add a new trigger window where the Werewolf transforms when it enters the battlefield and at the beginning of each upkeep. This also allows Werewolves to be flickered without losing the transformation until the next upkeep.
"When ~ enters the battlefield or at the beginning of each upkeep, if no spells were cast last turn, transform it."
Of course, Surge's presence in the current Standard makes it tricky to reuse the previous iteration of the Werewolf trigger, as players will be encouraged not only to cast spells but also to cast multiple spells a turn. Perhaps a new condition? Instead of tying the transform trigger to any one player's upkeep, which could cause some Werewolves to be transformed and others not, what if it was the first player's upkeep that serves as the trigger? If enough cards care about it, players will keep track of who the first player is for that game, and it shouldn't be too hard to do so.
"At the beginning of the first player's upkeep, transform all Human Werewolves. Until that player's next turn, whenever a Human Werewolf enters the battlefield, its controller transforms it."
"At the beginning of the first player's upkeep, transform all non-Human Werewolves."
Again withengar has the same wonk, he can wield himself to trigger his own ability for Christ's sake.
That shouldn't really be a reason man, I feel like its kinda like how you can have both nivs or teysas on the field at the same time, ya know?
Legend rule really means that two specific characters from the exact same moment in time can't exist at the same time.
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Legendary Creature -- Human Werewolf (MR)
Hexproof
If you control a transformed Werewolf, CARDNAME enters the battlefield transformed.
At the beginning of each upkeep, if no spells were cast last turn, transform CARDNAME.
3/3
//////////
[Rawr! You're Surrounded!]
(color indicator: Red/Green) Legendary Creature -- Werewolf (MR)
Trample, haste
Other werewolf creatures you control enter the battlefield transformed and have trample and haste.
At the beginning of each upkeep, if a player cast two or more spells last turn, transform this CARDNAME.
5/5
- Transforming other Werewolves might make it too tribal oriented. The other Innistrad legendary creatures all played well in tribal decks, but were not outright tribal enablers.
- No name yet. There were three Innistrad story candidates for possible legendary Werewolves, but I'm unsure if any of them fit this flavor.
- Needs a CR definition for a transformed permanent.
- Huntmaster of the Fells gets a ruling that entering transformed either does or does not trigger Ravager of the Fells' transform triggered ability.
John not a Wolfe RG
Legendary creature-hooman wizard
GR1: transform another target creature and then put a Prime Blood counter on it
0:transform _____, activate this ability only if two or more creatures transformed this turn
1/3
John now a wolf
First strike
If a creature you control would transform, you may choose to ignore it
Creatures with Prime Blood counters get +1\+1 and have lifelink
5/3
He supports other transformations by allowing you the option to trans them for mana, and then just not have to trans them at all. It was a throw up between lifelink and trample I also don't know if I want the flip to allow you to not transform pb or just ñottrans anything.
There were three alpha Werewolves mentioned in the Planeswalker's Guide flavor article. (I haven't read the book, but since there is not much detail in the wiki I'm guessing it doesn't talk about them much.)
Tovolar - Alpha of the Mondronen howlpack. He has never been seen to transform into human. That does not necessarily mean that he never actually transforms though.
Skaharra - Alpha of the Leeraug howlpack. She tends to kills entire families, but leaves unrelated farmhands and servants unharmed.
Ulrich - Alpha of the Krallenhorde howlpack. He continues running with the howlpack even while in human form.
Most custom legendary Werewolf designs I've seen are either double-sided cards that just ignore this, or single-sided Tovolar designs. I think the single-sided designs are a bit of a cop out that ignores the main flavor drive of trying to make a legendary Werewolf work.
and we already ave a double faced legend
elbrus/withengar
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
I like the idea of a card that has your Human Werewolves transform when they enter the battlefield. Perhaps an enchantment?
Night of the Full Moon 2G
Enchantment
Whenever a Human Werewolf enters the battlefield under your control, transform it.
Non-Human Werewolves you control can't transform.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
If you control a <Dude Transformed> but it is Arrested, then thanks to the M14 rules update creating design space that wasn't around during Innistrad you can play a second copy of <Dude> and he immediately becomes the transformed side. You can choose to let the original Arrested <Dude Transformed> die to the legend rule and you keep your fresh new unhindered <Dude Transformed>.
The next step up is to not care specifically about the name, but reference a characteristic that <Dude Transformed> has and other creatures can have also. Looking for other transformed Werewolves is a good joining of both mechanic and flavor. It is already night and your werewolves are already going on a rampage, so he gets to jump in ready to join the fun. It turns the purely downside highly technical answer to the name problem into something that has beneficial gameplay value.
Anyway, what's the problem with having a flipped and non flipped legend? Is it that big of a deal?
Silvercut's got me thinking: There should be a way for a Werewolf to transform when it enters the battlefield as long as the proper condition has been met. If we revisit the "two or more spells" condition from last time, we could add a new trigger window where the Werewolf transforms when it enters the battlefield and at the beginning of each upkeep. This also allows Werewolves to be flickered without losing the transformation until the next upkeep.
"When ~ enters the battlefield or at the beginning of each upkeep, if no spells were cast last turn, transform it."
Of course, Surge's presence in the current Standard makes it tricky to reuse the previous iteration of the Werewolf trigger, as players will be encouraged not only to cast spells but also to cast multiple spells a turn. Perhaps a new condition? Instead of tying the transform trigger to any one player's upkeep, which could cause some Werewolves to be transformed and others not, what if it was the first player's upkeep that serves as the trigger? If enough cards care about it, players will keep track of who the first player is for that game, and it shouldn't be too hard to do so.
"At the beginning of the first player's upkeep, transform all Human Werewolves. Until that player's next turn, whenever a Human Werewolf enters the battlefield, its controller transforms it."
"At the beginning of the first player's upkeep, transform all non-Human Werewolves."
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
Again withengar has the same wonk, he can wield himself to trigger his own ability for Christ's sake.
That shouldn't really be a reason man, I feel like its kinda like how you can have both nivs or teysas on the field at the same time, ya know?
Legend rule really means that two specific characters from the exact same moment in time can't exist at the same time.