Trying to make some custom Walkers for my own 2-set block. And I came up with an Idea that I'm unsure would be possible/balanced with current precedents.
He fills a similar function to Gideon, makes tokens and becomes a Walker Creature, but I want his creature ability to last through the opponents turn, since he is thematically a "protector" of the people.
Here is how I have him currently:
Hektor, Knight-Protector 2GW
Legendary Planeswalker - Hektor [M]
+1 Create a 2/2 white Human Knight creature token with Vigilance.
0 Hektor becomes a 4/4 Human Knight creature with Lifelink, Hexproof, and Vigilance until your next turn. Prevent all damage dealt to him while he is a creature.
-6 You get an Emblem with "Creatures you control get +1/+1 and have Lifelink and Hexproof."
<3>
Does his 0 ability work as intended with that wording? Or do I need to reword/change it to something? I for sure want to keep him as the 'becomes a dude' Walker, and his ultimate/emblem be something that makes our own guys tough as nails(hard to get rid of), but I'm willing to adjust how he goes about doing that.
The two precedents are the Gideons, which remain a planeswalker while also becoming a creature for the duration; I would write thusly:
"0: Until your next turn, Hektor becomes a 4/4 Human Knight creature with Lifelink, Hexproof, and Vigilance that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to Hektor until your next turn."
And Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker, which becomes a creature instead of a planeswalker for the duration; I would write as thus:
"0: Until your next turn, Hektor becomes a 4/4 Human Knight creature with Lifelink, Hexproof, and Vigilance. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to Hektor until your next turn."
In the case of the Sarkhan-style transformation, the damage prevention isn't strictly necessary, since non-planeswalkers don't lose loyalty from damage, though some protection is still warranted to prevent it from dying in combat, which is why Sarkhan gains indestructible.
You've got one hell of a strong middle ability there either way. A difficult-to-kill vigilant lifelinker will be able to recover from a bad situation and win from a good one quite quickly, and for just 4 mana! The other abilities work well with each other, but seem superfluous next to that main-event transformation ability.
I forgot about Sarkhan, I might go with that line of transformation, but it feels like I'm packing too many keywords onto him. Maybe make his Emblem JUST the Keywords, and make it cheaper to activate, then focus more on his transform and token making abilities, or swap out the Token maker for something else suitable, like a mini-fog similar to Gideon, or a Fight activation.
I'm thinking I want him to be closer to Sorin, Lord of Innistrad with a creature transform effect.
EDIT--I think I figured out a balancing point for his stronger Activation to turn into a dude.
Hektor, Knight-Protector 2GW
Legendary Planeswalker-Hektor [M]
+1 Make a 2/2 white Human Knight
-1 Until your next turn, Hektor becomes a 4/4 Human Knight creature with Lifelink, Hexproof, Vigilance, and Indestructible.
-6 You get an Emblem with “Creatures you control get +1/+1 and have Vigilance, Lifelink, Hexproof, and Indestructible.”
<4>
Well, I would say pulling Lifelink, Hexproof, and Vigilance off of his middle ability would encourage building towards that emblem to get those keywords for him to use.
Since you're also making his transformation until your next turn rather than until end of turn, indestructible is actually really important to prevent him from being caught by a board wipe. And in that case, I would go with the Sarkhan-type transformation both to slim the text a tad, and to differentiate him a little from Gideon.
So:
+1: Create a 2/2 white Human Knight creature token.
0: Until your next turn, Hektor becomes a 4/4 Human Knight creature with indestructible.
-6: You get an emblem with "Creatures you control have Lifelink, Vigilance, and Hexproof."
Then, rather than lowering the cost for the emblem, I would raise the starting loyalty to 4.
There are problems with transformation until next turn, both Gideon and Sarkhan style.
For Sarkhan style, it means you cannot attack the planeswalker. With 0 suggested by saneatali, it means that it's indestructible creature 4/4 for 4 indefinitely, if its controller so chooses. I also think damage prevention on Creature Planeswalker is a good custom, as it prevents many rules questions.
Gideon style is even worse, as then opponent can attack Hektor - planeswalker, and it can be blocked by Hektor - creature, which is very strange. With damage prevention, no damage can be dealt to planeswalker, either.
It's kind of a bummer that the -6 has no synergy with the 0; it'd be nice to see something like "Whenever a Knight you control attacks, creatures you control get +1/+1 until your next turn." which tracks along the same timeline as the 0 ability and has synergies with both Knights and vigilance without being too on thenose about it.
He fills a similar function to Gideon, makes tokens and becomes a Walker Creature, but I want his creature ability to last through the opponents turn, since he is thematically a "protector" of the people.
Here is how I have him currently:
Hektor, Knight-Protector 2GW
Legendary Planeswalker - Hektor [M]
+1 Create a 2/2 white Human Knight creature token with Vigilance.
0 Hektor becomes a 4/4 Human Knight creature with Lifelink, Hexproof, and Vigilance until your next turn. Prevent all damage dealt to him while he is a creature.
-6 You get an Emblem with "Creatures you control get +1/+1 and have Lifelink and Hexproof."
<3>
Does his 0 ability work as intended with that wording? Or do I need to reword/change it to something? I for sure want to keep him as the 'becomes a dude' Walker, and his ultimate/emblem be something that makes our own guys tough as nails(hard to get rid of), but I'm willing to adjust how he goes about doing that.
"0: Until your next turn, Hektor becomes a 4/4 Human Knight creature with Lifelink, Hexproof, and Vigilance that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to Hektor until your next turn."
And Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker, which becomes a creature instead of a planeswalker for the duration; I would write as thus:
"0: Until your next turn, Hektor becomes a 4/4 Human Knight creature with Lifelink, Hexproof, and Vigilance. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to Hektor until your next turn."
In the case of the Sarkhan-style transformation, the damage prevention isn't strictly necessary, since non-planeswalkers don't lose loyalty from damage, though some protection is still warranted to prevent it from dying in combat, which is why Sarkhan gains indestructible.
You've got one hell of a strong middle ability there either way. A difficult-to-kill vigilant lifelinker will be able to recover from a bad situation and win from a good one quite quickly, and for just 4 mana! The other abilities work well with each other, but seem superfluous next to that main-event transformation ability.
I'm thinking I want him to be closer to Sorin, Lord of Innistrad with a creature transform effect.
EDIT--I think I figured out a balancing point for his stronger Activation to turn into a dude.
Hektor, Knight-Protector 2GW
Legendary Planeswalker-Hektor [M]
+1 Make a 2/2 white Human Knight
-1 Until your next turn, Hektor becomes a 4/4 Human Knight creature with Lifelink, Hexproof, Vigilance, and Indestructible.
-6 You get an Emblem with “Creatures you control get +1/+1 and have Vigilance, Lifelink, Hexproof, and Indestructible.”
<4>
Toughts on v2.0?
Since you're also making his transformation until your next turn rather than until end of turn, indestructible is actually really important to prevent him from being caught by a board wipe. And in that case, I would go with the Sarkhan-type transformation both to slim the text a tad, and to differentiate him a little from Gideon.
So:
+1: Create a 2/2 white Human Knight creature token.
0: Until your next turn, Hektor becomes a 4/4 Human Knight creature with indestructible.
-6: You get an emblem with "Creatures you control have Lifelink, Vigilance, and Hexproof."
Then, rather than lowering the cost for the emblem, I would raise the starting loyalty to 4.
For Sarkhan style, it means you cannot attack the planeswalker. With 0 suggested by saneatali, it means that it's indestructible creature 4/4 for 4 indefinitely, if its controller so chooses. I also think damage prevention on Creature Planeswalker is a good custom, as it prevents many rules questions.
Gideon style is even worse, as then opponent can attack Hektor - planeswalker, and it can be blocked by Hektor - creature, which is very strange. With damage prevention, no damage can be dealt to planeswalker, either.