This is a top-down design for Daxos, representing the classic "tied to the tracks" peril that goes hand-in-hand with Western stories. Traditionally it's a damsel being tied to the tracks by a mustache-twirling villain, but modern sensibilities and game play design encourages more flexible flavor.
Tied to the TracksB
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant tapped creature or planeswalker
Enchanted permanent doesn't untap during its controller's untap step and its activated abilities can't be activated.
At the beginning of each end step, if a Vehicle attacked this turn, destroy enchanted permanent.
Black on its own almost never has the ability to tap creatures down and it doesn't get the ability to stop creatures from attacking outright, but it does get to care about tapped creatures, and preventing creatures from untapping isn't exactly a break in black's color pie.
Originally TttT gave the creature's controller a single round to save their creature before it died a la Parasitic Implant. However, with the introduction of Vehicles and the likelihood that a Western plane would involve Vehicles, chiefly in the form of trains, the Vehicle clause seems like a reasonable hoop to jump through to destroy the enchanted creature, not to mention quite flavorful. I eventually added the ability to enchant tapped planeswalkers as well since flavorwise they're basically creatures, and most of them could be tied to tracks just as easily.
To create the feeling of the tied creature or planeswalker being helpless, they also can't activate any abilities. Better get to rescuing them! Untapping them works too since TttT can only enchant tapped permanents.
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.
Your color pie break is well-justified here. Other than being a flavor homerun, blue's characteristic tapping mechanics have already bled to white, so being in black isn't really that much of a stretch, and the flavor puts it squarely in black. The only issue here would be the prevalence of vehicles in your set. Caught in the Brights worked well with Kaladesh block's large number of vehicles as well as a specific boros vehicles draft archetype, while still being a flavor homerun on par with your card here. A number of vehicles equivalent to, say, Ixalan might not be enough mechanically.
Balance-wise, it needs work. Ice Over was a premium piece of removal for blue in its limited format, and color pie bends should be accompanied by a cost increase anyways. If you really want the card to keep its cost, a tax mechanic to remove the aura would work, if make an already wordy card even more so. Otherwise, this card has zero business being a 1-drop.
There is a tiny bit of precedent for this effect in black, but Paralyze is ancient and Melancholy is from Planar Chaos. On that basis, and since it's Planeswalker removal, I think you'll need to put this at Rare. Even at rare, the effect being a pie-break is going to require you to up the cost. The precedent for monoblack creature/'walker removal is three mana. You really can't go below 2B with this, and it probably wants to be 1BB in line with Ruinous Path.
A quick little reminder of color pie bend vs. break:
Color Pie Bend is when a color does something it doesn't normally do, but which doesn't undermine its weaknesses either, thus it's allowed to do it when it makes sense. Black producing one-shot mana tokens like in Ixalan, for example.
Color Pie Break is when a color does something it isn't supposed to do ever, because that undermines its weaknesses. Black destroying noncreature artifacts or enchantments is a color pie break (Daring Demolition skirted dangerously close).
The "can't activate abilities" effect is as recent as Viper's Kiss in Theros, so that at least has modern precedent. I'd thought that the "doesn't untap" part had been done more recently, but it's not a break per se as it still neutralizes the creature, something black is supposed to do. And since it does neutralize the creature anyway, I suppose 2B would be reasonable? Just remember that the Aura doesn't cause the permanent to become tapped on its own, it can only enchant a permanent that's already tapped, and it falls off if the permanent becomes untapped. And if it's too expensive, a destroy sorcery is simply more effective, so it shouldn't cost more than three mana total. You have to jump through a couple hoops to get it to work, so it shouldn't cost as much as straight removal.
Before I added the ability to enchant and destroy planeswalkers, I intended it to be uncommon, simply because of the hoop jumping required to get it to stick and to destroy the enchanted permanent. With the planeswalker removal added in, it definitely qualifies as rare.
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.
I would change it to "Enchant planeswalker or tapped creature". Usually creature is mentioned first, but avoiding the confusion about how the planeswalker is supposed to get tapped in the first place is worth refining the ordering.
I also think generally it would be fine to e. g. not affect planeswalkers - unless you want to represent the important storyline moment of Jace getting tied to the tracks.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
Well, Daxas could have more planeswalker tapping than usual. Plus maybe effects that prevent the tapped permanent's abilities from being activated a la Deadlock Trap. For example, the Lawkeeper variant for Daxas could read as follows:
Lassoing Ranch-Hand1W
Creature - Human Scout 1W, T: Tap target creature or planeswalker. That permanent's abilities can't be activated this turn.
1/1
Roped and Wrangled3W
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature or planeswalker
When ~ enters the battlefield, tap enchanted permanent.
Enchanted permanent can't untap and its activated abilities can't be activated.
The game has rarely enforced a strict "no untapping" rule, but as it functions very similarly to "can't attack or block" it doesn't seem like an outright color pie break for white. Incidentally I was thinking Daxas would have a "tapped creatures matter" theme in WU expressed through various outlets including Vehicles and tapdown, so designs like the above would serve the set well.
However, I could see RaW being moved to blue if it fit the color pie better. But blue typically doesn't get as much "can't activate abilities" as white does. At any rate, blue would need to get some tapdown options too. Like this:
Aven Rustler1UU
Creature - Bird
Flying
When ~ enters, tap target creature an opponent controls. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
2/2
Of course, it isn't planeswalker tapping, but tapping creatures is the main priority of WU's theme. In the end, maybe you're right, and TttT need not have the planeswalker be tapped.
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.
In the end, maybe you're right, and TttT need not have the planeswalker be tapped.
Oh, you wanted the planeswalker to be tapped? Well, in that case the wording is doubly unfortunate, because I expected you to explicitly repeat "tapped" forplaneswalkers - especially since it's so unusual.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
Considering how rare it is to tap PWs and even more so that it matters, I'm thinking your suggestion will work better.
Tied to the TracksB
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant planeswalker or tapped creature
Enchanted permanent doesn't untap during its controller's untap step and its activated abilities can't be activated.
At the beginning of each end step, if a Vehicle attacked this turn, destroy enchanted permanent.
Kinda ironic that a planeswalker actually has a harder time getting free than a creature, though.
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.
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Tied to the Tracks B
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant tapped creature or planeswalker
Enchanted permanent doesn't untap during its controller's untap step and its activated abilities can't be activated.
At the beginning of each end step, if a Vehicle attacked this turn, destroy enchanted permanent.
Black on its own almost never has the ability to tap creatures down and it doesn't get the ability to stop creatures from attacking outright, but it does get to care about tapped creatures, and preventing creatures from untapping isn't exactly a break in black's color pie.
Originally TttT gave the creature's controller a single round to save their creature before it died a la Parasitic Implant. However, with the introduction of Vehicles and the likelihood that a Western plane would involve Vehicles, chiefly in the form of trains, the Vehicle clause seems like a reasonable hoop to jump through to destroy the enchanted creature, not to mention quite flavorful. I eventually added the ability to enchant tapped planeswalkers as well since flavorwise they're basically creatures, and most of them could be tied to tracks just as easily.
To create the feeling of the tied creature or planeswalker being helpless, they also can't activate any abilities. Better get to rescuing them! Untapping them works too since TttT can only enchant tapped permanents.
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.
Balance-wise, it needs work. Ice Over was a premium piece of removal for blue in its limited format, and color pie bends should be accompanied by a cost increase anyways. If you really want the card to keep its cost, a tax mechanic to remove the aura would work, if make an already wordy card even more so. Otherwise, this card has zero business being a 1-drop.
There is a tiny bit of precedent for this effect in black, but Paralyze is ancient and Melancholy is from Planar Chaos. On that basis, and since it's Planeswalker removal, I think you'll need to put this at Rare. Even at rare, the effect being a pie-break is going to require you to up the cost. The precedent for monoblack creature/'walker removal is three mana. You really can't go below 2B with this, and it probably wants to be 1BB in line with Ruinous Path.
Color Pie Bend is when a color does something it doesn't normally do, but which doesn't undermine its weaknesses either, thus it's allowed to do it when it makes sense. Black producing one-shot mana tokens like in Ixalan, for example.
Color Pie Break is when a color does something it isn't supposed to do ever, because that undermines its weaknesses. Black destroying noncreature artifacts or enchantments is a color pie break (Daring Demolition skirted dangerously close).
The "can't activate abilities" effect is as recent as Viper's Kiss in Theros, so that at least has modern precedent. I'd thought that the "doesn't untap" part had been done more recently, but it's not a break per se as it still neutralizes the creature, something black is supposed to do. And since it does neutralize the creature anyway, I suppose 2B would be reasonable? Just remember that the Aura doesn't cause the permanent to become tapped on its own, it can only enchant a permanent that's already tapped, and it falls off if the permanent becomes untapped. And if it's too expensive, a destroy sorcery is simply more effective, so it shouldn't cost more than three mana total. You have to jump through a couple hoops to get it to work, so it shouldn't cost as much as straight removal.
Before I added the ability to enchant and destroy planeswalkers, I intended it to be uncommon, simply because of the hoop jumping required to get it to stick and to destroy the enchanted permanent. With the planeswalker removal added in, it definitely qualifies as rare.
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 also think generally it would be fine to e. g. not affect planeswalkers - unless you want to represent the important storyline moment of Jace getting tied to the tracks.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO
Lassoing Ranch-Hand 1W
Creature - Human Scout
1W, T: Tap target creature or planeswalker. That permanent's abilities can't be activated this turn.
1/1
There could also be a Suppression Bonds variant:
Roped and Wrangled 3W
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature or planeswalker
When ~ enters the battlefield, tap enchanted permanent.
Enchanted permanent can't untap and its activated abilities can't be activated.
The game has rarely enforced a strict "no untapping" rule, but as it functions very similarly to "can't attack or block" it doesn't seem like an outright color pie break for white. Incidentally I was thinking Daxas would have a "tapped creatures matter" theme in WU expressed through various outlets including Vehicles and tapdown, so designs like the above would serve the set well.
However, I could see RaW being moved to blue if it fit the color pie better. But blue typically doesn't get as much "can't activate abilities" as white does. At any rate, blue would need to get some tapdown options too. Like this:
Aven Rustler 1UU
Creature - Bird
Flying
When ~ enters, tap target creature an opponent controls. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
2/2
Of course, it isn't planeswalker tapping, but tapping creatures is the main priority of WU's theme. In the end, maybe you're right, and TttT need not have the planeswalker be tapped.
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.
Oh, you wanted the planeswalker to be tapped? Well, in that case the wording is doubly unfortunate, because I expected you to explicitly repeat "tapped" forplaneswalkers - especially since it's so unusual.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO
Tied to the Tracks B
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant planeswalker or tapped creature
Enchanted permanent doesn't untap during its controller's untap step and its activated abilities can't be activated.
At the beginning of each end step, if a Vehicle attacked this turn, destroy enchanted permanent.
Kinda ironic that a planeswalker actually has a harder time getting free than a creature, though.
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.