The Lady and Knight trope is a popular one, and often comes in two flavors: The Bright Lady and White Knight, and the Dark Lady and Black Knight. This duo is a mixture of the two, a gallant knight in shining armor protecting his sorcerous and vain, but not necessarily evil, mistress.
Gallus hails from a village where every Knight is expected to pledge their servitude to a master or mistress once they come of age. Vanita, a sorceress of dubious reputation, had helped Gallus protect his village, so he swore to protect and serve her, becoming her protector and companion. Vanita welcomes the handsome knight's servitude and company, and uses her magic to protect him in turn. Over time, a romance between the two has blossomed, though the hedonistic Vanita does find Gallus' conservative personality a bit frustrating at times. She wishes he would relax and enjoy himself, and her, every once in a while.
Gallus, Vanita's Devoted3WW
Legendary Creature - Human Knight
Partner with Vanita, Gallus's Mistress (When this creature enters the battlefield, target player may put Vanita into their hand from their library, then shuffle.)
First strike, vigilance W, T: ~ protects target player or another target permanent until end of turn. (Until end of turn, this creature takes damage instead of that permanent or player and that permanent or player can't be targeted by spells or abilities your opponents control.)
3/4
Like any good knight, Gallus is simple in purpose and strong in morals. First strike and vigilance makes him a solid attacker and blocker, and his tap ability allows him to take damage for a player or another permanent, as well as prevent them from being targeted by spells or abilities your opponents control.
Vanita, Gallus's Mistress2BR
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard
Partner with Gallus, Vanita's Devoted(When this creature enters the battlefield, target player may put Gallus into their hand from their library, then shuffle.)
Whenever a source deals damage to a permanent or player, you may pay R and discard a card. If you do, ~ deals 2 damage to any target. B, Discard a card: Target creature gains indestructible until end of turn. T, Tap another untapped creature you control: Repeat the following process twice. You may discard a card or pay 1 life. If you do, draw a card.
1/3
Vanita is a sorceress with a slightly more protective build than your usual BR legend. She specializes in lightning and healing magic, using lightning to punish an enemy for hurting her or her friends or to increase the damage already being dealt to those enemies, and healing to keep herself and her allies alive, though her magic cannot prevent pain. Her tap ability represents her knack for getting information through a variety of means, some more provocative than others, as well as her desire to simply have a good time.
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.
Protects is a landmine I wouldn't want to step on. Protection has a clear definition and Protects looks an awful lot like it should function in a similar way and yet it doesn't. Gallus sounds like they want to be Shalai, Voice of Plenty and it might be better to just have them be that.
Did you mean for Vanita's red ability to trigger itself allowing you to machine gun targets? Its way too good if you did intend that. If you didn't then it should probably only trigger when your stuff is dealt damage. The low cost of Bdicard a card may be too cheap for indestructible, it seems within acceptable range but with the other abilities it looks pushed. The repeatable draw two is way undercosted add in the fact that there is no risk with the optional benefit of card filtering and her card soars in value. With a slight bump in stats I could see her costing 6 as the obvious heavy hitter of their combo.
Protects is a landmine I wouldn't want to step on. Protection has a clear definition and Protects looks an awful lot like it should function in a similar way and yet it doesn't. Gallus sounds like they want to be Shalai, Voice of Plenty and it might be better to just have them be that.
Did you mean for Vanita's red ability to trigger itself allowing you to machine gun targets? Its way too good if you did intend that. If you didn't then it should probably only trigger when your stuff is dealt damage. The low cost of Bdicard a card may be too cheap for indestructible, it seems within acceptable range but with the other abilities it looks pushed. The repeatable draw two is way undercosted add in the fact that there is no risk with the optional benefit of card filtering and her card soars in value. With a slight bump in stats I could see her costing 6 as the obvious heavy hitter of their combo.
Originally they had a lot of cross-tribal matters effects, much like Sylvia Brightspear and Khorvath Brightflame, but I realized Knight/Wizard tribal wasn't really necessary.
Protect is, for me, a simpler way of phrasing usually wordy effects. Imagine if Palisade Giant had "~ protects you and other permanents you control". I could see Protect one day being a GW effect, as that's the color pair where it feels the most fitting.
Vanita's red ability started out as a revenge mechanic similar to Boros Reckoner, only extended to Knights you control, later creatures you control, and eventually it morphed into what it is now. It can be used to punish damage, or it can add to it, encouraging you to run a bunch of burn effects as befits a sorceress. I could raise the cost if that would help balance it.
As for the card draw, I'm open to alternatives, though I'd prefer keeping the "tap this and another creature" part of the cost as, combined with Gallus' vigilance and tap ability, it helps convey certain aspects of Gallus and Vanita's relationship, as well as Vanita's personality.
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 like the idea of keywording that ability even if it isn't used nearly enough to warrant, but using protect when protection exists seems far from ideal. Try other similar words; like shield, cover, or guard.
Vanita's red ability actually discourages running burn because with her all of your cards are already burn which allows you to cut burn in favor of more variety. Keeping the trigger and damage the same it should cost at least 1R so you can't dump your hand easily for damage, RR might be a better option.
If you drop the card filtering option so it is just draw two lose 2 it would help a lot as it adds risk back to the ability. I understand wanting to make it a hybrid of black and red draw but being the hybrid adds way too much choice and power. If you want to keep it the split then don't give options. Just flat out discard lose a life, draw two. Options are very valuable.
You could also leave her abilities the same and bump her to 2BBRR to balance.
Considering the purpose of the draw ability is to draw more cards to fuel her other two abilities, I'd say paying life is the better cost. Though I could drop the life payment and card draw down to one, just to make it less ridiculous. I guess her damage ability could trigger off noncombat damage specifically? That way you at least have to run pingers and actual burn spells to trigger it. I could also raise the cost of the indestructible ability by 1 to make it feel safer development wise.
With those changes, could she cost 1BR?
Vanita, Gallus's Mistress1BR
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard
Partner with Gallus, Vanita's Devoted(When this creature enters the battlefield, target player may put Gallus into their hand from their library, then shuffle.)
Whenever a source deals noncombat damage to a permanent or player, you may pay 1R and discard a card. If you do, ~ deals 2 damage to any target. 1B, Discard a card: Target creature gains indestructible until end of turn. T, Tap another untapped creature you control, Pay 1 life: Draw a card.
1/3
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.
Should it be "whenever a source you control deals noncombat damage (...)"? The current wording isn't wrong, but feels a bit too general, and would for example trigger off of things like your opponent's Mana Crypt.
Alternatively, you could just plain have it be "Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell", although that feels a touch more UR. Or if it's supposed to trigger off of things damaging your knight buddy, it could be "Whenever a source an opponent controls deals damage to you or a permanent you control, you may (...)".
I think 'protects' is a good mechanic, but should probably be renamed to avoid confusion with 'protection from'. Maybe 'guards'?
So, "When Selfless Redshirt enters the battlefield, it guards target creature, player, or planeswalker until your next upkeep."
Or "Empyrial Archangel guards you." in place of its current third ability.
Also you might just want 'guards' to mean that it takes damage for you, and have the hexproof be an ability of this specific card.
"Gallus, Vanita's Devoted guards target player or another target permanent until end of turn. That player or permanent gains hexproof until end of turn."
Guard Duty, the other one - 1W
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature you control
Enchanted creature guards you.
Guardianship - 2WW
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature you control
Enchanted creature gets +1/+4 and guards you.
You have hexproof.
Accountability - 1B
Instant
Target opponent guards target creature they control until end of turn.
"Sarcastic evil flavor text"
This poor Knight... he is in such a bad relationship and he has no idea lol
Well, it's not like she necessarily enjoys him being in pain while protecting her (though since she is his mistress, you can imagine there might be some subtext there... ). But I could see the story tackle the subject of whether or not Vanita truly cares about Gallus, and have another character, likely one of Gallus' friends or family members, remind her not to take advantage of his kind and loyal nature. On the flip side, Gallus also frustrates Vanita because he's rarely willing to drop his guard long enough to indulge in decadence with her, preferring to stand guard at her side while she dines rather than have a glass of wine with her. She can't blame him for it, he's doing his job as her Knight after all, but she wishes he would loosen up once in a while.
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.
This poor Knight... he is in such a bad relationship and he has no idea lol
Well, it's not like she necessarily enjoys him being in pain while protecting her (though since she is his mistress, you can imagine there might be some subtext there... ). But I could see the story tackle the subject of whether or not Vanita truly cares about Gallus, and have another character, likely one of Gallus' friends or family members, remind her not to take advantage of his kind and loyal nature. On the flip side, Gallus also frustrates Vanita because he's rarely willing to drop his guard long enough to indulge in decadence with her, preferring to stand guard at her side while she dines rather than have a glass of wine with her. She can't blame him for it, he's doing his job as her Knight after all, but she wishes he would loosen up once in a while.
I wish WotC put this kind of flavor into their legends. It's perfect!
This poor Knight... he is in such a bad relationship and he has no idea lol
Well, it's not like she necessarily enjoys him being in pain while protecting her (though since she is his mistress, you can imagine there might be some subtext there... ). But I could see the story tackle the subject of whether or not Vanita truly cares about Gallus, and have another character, likely one of Gallus' friends or family members, remind her not to take advantage of his kind and loyal nature. On the flip side, Gallus also frustrates Vanita because he's rarely willing to drop his guard long enough to indulge in decadence with her, preferring to stand guard at her side while she dines rather than have a glass of wine with her. She can't blame him for it, he's doing his job as her Knight after all, but she wishes he would loosen up once in a while.
I wish WotC put this kind of flavor into their legends. It's perfect!
Thank you.
I wonder if maybe I should try some other color/enemy pairs? While they wouldn't all necessarily have to be couples like Gallus and Vanita, admittedly I like the idea of exploring "opposites attract" for each color.
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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Gallus hails from a village where every Knight is expected to pledge their servitude to a master or mistress once they come of age. Vanita, a sorceress of dubious reputation, had helped Gallus protect his village, so he swore to protect and serve her, becoming her protector and companion. Vanita welcomes the handsome knight's servitude and company, and uses her magic to protect him in turn. Over time, a romance between the two has blossomed, though the hedonistic Vanita does find Gallus' conservative personality a bit frustrating at times. She wishes he would relax and enjoy himself, and her, every once in a while.
Gallus, Vanita's Devoted 3WW
Legendary Creature - Human Knight
Partner with Vanita, Gallus's Mistress (When this creature enters the battlefield, target player may put Vanita into their hand from their library, then shuffle.)
First strike, vigilance
W, T: ~ protects target player or another target permanent until end of turn. (Until end of turn, this creature takes damage instead of that permanent or player and that permanent or player can't be targeted by spells or abilities your opponents control.)
3/4
Like any good knight, Gallus is simple in purpose and strong in morals. First strike and vigilance makes him a solid attacker and blocker, and his tap ability allows him to take damage for a player or another permanent, as well as prevent them from being targeted by spells or abilities your opponents control.
Vanita, Gallus's Mistress 2BR
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard
Partner with Gallus, Vanita's Devoted(When this creature enters the battlefield, target player may put Gallus into their hand from their library, then shuffle.)
Whenever a source deals damage to a permanent or player, you may pay R and discard a card. If you do, ~ deals 2 damage to any target.
B, Discard a card: Target creature gains indestructible until end of turn.
T, Tap another untapped creature you control: Repeat the following process twice. You may discard a card or pay 1 life. If you do, draw a card.
1/3
Vanita is a sorceress with a slightly more protective build than your usual BR legend. She specializes in lightning and healing magic, using lightning to punish an enemy for hurting her or her friends or to increase the damage already being dealt to those enemies, and healing to keep herself and her allies alive, though her magic cannot prevent pain. Her tap ability represents her knack for getting information through a variety of means, some more provocative than others, as well as her desire to simply have a good time.
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.
Did you mean for Vanita's red ability to trigger itself allowing you to machine gun targets? Its way too good if you did intend that. If you didn't then it should probably only trigger when your stuff is dealt damage. The low cost of Bdicard a card may be too cheap for indestructible, it seems within acceptable range but with the other abilities it looks pushed. The repeatable draw two is way undercosted add in the fact that there is no risk with the optional benefit of card filtering and her card soars in value. With a slight bump in stats I could see her costing 6 as the obvious heavy hitter of their combo.
Originally they had a lot of cross-tribal matters effects, much like Sylvia Brightspear and Khorvath Brightflame, but I realized Knight/Wizard tribal wasn't really necessary.
Protect is, for me, a simpler way of phrasing usually wordy effects. Imagine if Palisade Giant had "~ protects you and other permanents you control". I could see Protect one day being a GW effect, as that's the color pair where it feels the most fitting.
Vanita's red ability started out as a revenge mechanic similar to Boros Reckoner, only extended to Knights you control, later creatures you control, and eventually it morphed into what it is now. It can be used to punish damage, or it can add to it, encouraging you to run a bunch of burn effects as befits a sorceress. I could raise the cost if that would help balance it.
As for the card draw, I'm open to alternatives, though I'd prefer keeping the "tap this and another creature" part of the cost as, combined with Gallus' vigilance and tap ability, it helps convey certain aspects of Gallus and Vanita's relationship, as well as Vanita's personality.
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.
Vanita's red ability actually discourages running burn because with her all of your cards are already burn which allows you to cut burn in favor of more variety. Keeping the trigger and damage the same it should cost at least 1R so you can't dump your hand easily for damage, RR might be a better option.
If you drop the card filtering option so it is just draw two lose 2 it would help a lot as it adds risk back to the ability. I understand wanting to make it a hybrid of black and red draw but being the hybrid adds way too much choice and power. If you want to keep it the split then don't give options. Just flat out discard lose a life, draw two. Options are very valuable.
You could also leave her abilities the same and bump her to 2BBRR to balance.
With those changes, could she cost 1BR?
Vanita, Gallus's Mistress 1BR
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard
Partner with Gallus, Vanita's Devoted(When this creature enters the battlefield, target player may put Gallus into their hand from their library, then shuffle.)
Whenever a source deals noncombat damage to a permanent or player, you may pay 1R and discard a card. If you do, ~ deals 2 damage to any target.
1B, Discard a card: Target creature gains indestructible until end of turn.
T, Tap another untapped creature you control, Pay 1 life: Draw a card.
1/3
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.
Alternatively, you could just plain have it be "Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell", although that feels a touch more UR. Or if it's supposed to trigger off of things damaging your knight buddy, it could be "Whenever a source an opponent controls deals damage to you or a permanent you control, you may (...)".
I think 'protects' is a good mechanic, but should probably be renamed to avoid confusion with 'protection from'. Maybe 'guards'?
So, "When Selfless Redshirt enters the battlefield, it guards target creature, player, or planeswalker until your next upkeep."
Or "Empyrial Archangel guards you." in place of its current third ability.
Also you might just want 'guards' to mean that it takes damage for you, and have the hexproof be an ability of this specific card.
"Gallus, Vanita's Devoted guards target player or another target permanent until end of turn. That player or permanent gains hexproof until end of turn."
Guard Duty, the other one - 1W
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature you control
Enchanted creature guards you.
Guardianship - 2WW
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature you control
Enchanted creature gets +1/+4 and guards you.
You have hexproof.
Accountability - 1B
Instant
Target opponent guards target creature they control until end of turn.
"Sarcastic evil flavor text"
Seems to work, for the most part.
- Rabid Wombat
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
Well, it's not like she necessarily enjoys him being in pain while protecting her (though since she is his mistress, you can imagine there might be some subtext there... ). But I could see the story tackle the subject of whether or not Vanita truly cares about Gallus, and have another character, likely one of Gallus' friends or family members, remind her not to take advantage of his kind and loyal nature. On the flip side, Gallus also frustrates Vanita because he's rarely willing to drop his guard long enough to indulge in decadence with her, preferring to stand guard at her side while she dines rather than have a glass of wine with her. She can't blame him for it, he's doing his job as her Knight after all, but she wishes he would loosen up once in a while.
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 wish WotC put this kind of flavor into their legends. It's perfect!
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
Thank you.
I wonder if maybe I should try some other color/enemy pairs? While they wouldn't all necessarily have to be couples like Gallus and Vanita, admittedly I like the idea of exploring "opposites attract" for each color.
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.