It's simple, just one ability, but endless possibilities.
He buries the dead and gives them a tasteful monument, with which you can remember how they were in life.
Farald, Cemetery KeeperWB
Legendary Creature - Human Citizen
, T: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Create a colorless Tombstone artifact token with all of the exiled card's abilities.
2/2
Except you need to outline how your ability-copying template works. It's neither an actual copy effect nor one of the abilities that takes from a list of keywords. Is this supposed to be like Unstable's text box transplant, just with only rules text? You might as well just make a token copy that is a noncreature artifact, which does the same thing and actually exists.
I'm not sure I understand your objection there. I thought that "with all of the exiled card's abilities" is pretty straightforward and clear. The Tombstone created by Farald's ability has each ability that the exiled card has. This is how it's phrased on Experiment Kraj, Dark Imposter, Havengul Lich, Mairsil, the Pretender, Necrotic Ooze, Quicksilver Elemental, Skill Borrower, but with the "activated" descriptor removed, meaning that the Tombsone gains all abilities of all types, activated, triggered, and static that are printed on the exiled card. If "loses abilities" is a valid phrase that clears a permanent's text, then surely "gains abilities", (or here "has abilities") should be an equally valid phrase that populates a permanents text box.
I'm not sure I understand your objection there. I thought that "with all of the exiled card's abilities" is pretty straightforward and clear. The Tombstone created by Farald's ability has each ability that the exiled card has. This is how it's phrased on Experiment Kraj, Dark Imposter, Havengul Lich, Mairsil, the Pretender, Necrotic Ooze, Quicksilver Elemental, Skill Borrower, but with the "activated" descriptor removed, meaning that the Tombsone gains all abilities of all types, activated, triggered, and static that are printed on the exiled card. If "loses abilities" is a valid phrase that clears a permanent's text, then surely "gains abilities", (or here "has abilities") should be an equally valid phrase that populates a permanents text box.
I'm sure this works fine in the rules, but it creates a ton of strange interactions, particularly with effects like imprint. That's probably the reason WotC has never printed a card that simply gains all abilities of another card.
I don't agree. Functionally, I could rephrase the ability as:
"Create a token that's a copy of the exiled card, except its a colorless artifact named Tombstone."
And get the same result: a colorless noncreature artifact token, named Tombstone, that has the text box of the exiled card.
I don't see how having all abilities of a card is problematic, where being a copy except for card type and color is fine.
I don't agree. Functionally, I could rephrase the ability as:
"Create a token that's a copy of the exiled card, except its a colorless artifact named Tombstone."
And get the same result: a colorless noncreature artifact token, named Tombstone, that has the text box of the exiled card.
I don't see how having all abilities of a card is problematic, where being a copy except for card type and color is fine.
I should have made it more clear, but I was referring to the weirdness of transferring static and triggered abilities for the most part. All of the cards you refer to take activated abilities, which are generally pretty straightforward, but they still cause a lot of confusion even so. Triggered and activated abilities are much more complex in nature. Cards that take static abilities, in particular, need to be very strictly worded to prevent the type of craziness that was intended in Unstable, such as multiple characteristic-defining abilities or contradictory abilities.
Honestly the biggest advantage of using a token copy over an undefined, blank token is that the whole point of non-copy tokens is that they're supposed to be uniform. Even tokens with variable P/T get to have CDA asterisks, but the tokens for your card can't even do that. Every time you use the ability, you either have to whip out your pen-and-paper or the original anyways. Logistically speaking, copies make more sense.
Lastly, and unrelated to the points I've been making, your card is broken. Pick a praetor. Any praetor. Even friggin' Urabrask. On turn 3. Gross. Crank that CMC way up.
Ok, I understand your objection now. But I really dislike having to tack "except" clauses onto the copy.I would like to just copy a part of the card, not copy the whole thing, then strip away the features I don't want copied.
Lastly, and unrelated to the points I've been making, your card is broken. Pick a praetor. Any praetor. Even friggin' Urabrask. On turn 3. Gross. Crank that CMC way up.
That's a good point and I was considering some interactions in that vein myself after I posted, it's an easy fix though.
Farald, Cemetery KeeperWB
Legendary Creature - Human Citizen X , T: Exile target creature card with converted mana cost X from a graveyard. Create a token that's a copy of that card, except it's a colorless noncreature artifact named Tombstone and isn't legendary.
2/2
That should address all of the voiced concerns, preventing overly-cheap access to powerful abilities and making copies rather than adopting the text. I don't think that it's any easier or harder to track than creating an artifact token named Tombstone with all the abilities, but it does make the ability more wordy. Either way, each time you make a token you need to track which abilities it is copying.
My preferred form remains:
Farald, Cemetery KeeperWB
Legendary Creature - Human Citizen X , T: Exile target creature card with converted mana cost X from a graveyard. Create a colorless Tombstone artifact token with the exiled card's abilities.
2/2
He buries the dead and gives them a tasteful monument, with which you can remember how they were in life.
Farald, Cemetery Keeper WB
Legendary Creature - Human Citizen
, T: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Create a colorless Tombstone artifact token with all of the exiled card's abilities.
2/2
"Create a token that's a copy of the exiled card, except its a colorless artifact named Tombstone."
And get the same result: a colorless noncreature artifact token, named Tombstone, that has the text box of the exiled card.
I don't see how having all abilities of a card is problematic, where being a copy except for card type and color is fine.
I should have made it more clear, but I was referring to the weirdness of transferring static and triggered abilities for the most part. All of the cards you refer to take activated abilities, which are generally pretty straightforward, but they still cause a lot of confusion even so. Triggered and activated abilities are much more complex in nature. Cards that take static abilities, in particular, need to be very strictly worded to prevent the type of craziness that was intended in Unstable, such as multiple characteristic-defining abilities or contradictory abilities.
Honestly the biggest advantage of using a token copy over an undefined, blank token is that the whole point of non-copy tokens is that they're supposed to be uniform. Even tokens with variable P/T get to have CDA asterisks, but the tokens for your card can't even do that. Every time you use the ability, you either have to whip out your pen-and-paper or the original anyways. Logistically speaking, copies make more sense.
Lastly, and unrelated to the points I've been making, your card is broken. Pick a praetor. Any praetor. Even friggin' Urabrask. On turn 3. Gross. Crank that CMC way up.
That's a good point and I was considering some interactions in that vein myself after I posted, it's an easy fix though.
Farald, Cemetery Keeper WB
Legendary Creature - Human Citizen
X , T: Exile target creature card with converted mana cost X from a graveyard. Create a token that's a copy of that card, except it's a colorless noncreature artifact named Tombstone and isn't legendary.
2/2
That should address all of the voiced concerns, preventing overly-cheap access to powerful abilities and making copies rather than adopting the text. I don't think that it's any easier or harder to track than creating an artifact token named Tombstone with all the abilities, but it does make the ability more wordy. Either way, each time you make a token you need to track which abilities it is copying.
My preferred form remains:
Farald, Cemetery Keeper WB
Legendary Creature - Human Citizen
X , T: Exile target creature card with converted mana cost X from a graveyard. Create a colorless Tombstone artifact token with the exiled card's abilities.
2/2
Art is life itself.