While C18 recently gave us Varina, Lich Queen, I thought it'd be neat to try a different kind of Zombie queen, a mummy queen.
Nepsis, Mummy Queen2WUB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Wizard
Tap an untapped Zombie you control: Each opponent loses 1 life and you may gain 1 life.
Tap two untapped Zombies you control: Target player draws a card, then discards a card.
Tap three untapped Zombies you control: Exile target creature until ~ leaves the battlefield.
1/4
Her first two abilities represent her servants, well, serving her. The third ability represents capturing creatures by way of wrapping them up, a fairly common tactic mummies use to deal with intruders.
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 think the first ability is too strong. Other than scenarios where you are far behind it is always the right choice to drain the opponent. Also it feels wrong for this to just be a zombie, it might be fine but it feels weird.
The design is in the same vein as Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca, which is a card that plays far worse then it looks. Both in Standard and in Commander, sweepers are common place. Building a big board and delaying the game are inherently contradictory strategies because the reality of the game is that having a big board is a liability... The more turns you take with many creatures in game, more likely is that you will lose the game by getting blow out by sweepers.
Your card incur in less of these problems because white has all the anti-sweeper answers (although playing then is a shore) and because unlike Kumena your first ability is aggressive and meant to finish the game. However in this the design shows it's cracks because of the reasons stated above, you will always want to play the first ability. If you have something like 4 or 5 zombies on the table, you WANT to finish the game as soon as possible and not durdle around looting cards or using very temporary removal.
I think you really need to rework the other two ability and at least one of then must be very strongly oriented to generate CA that won't be taken away by a sweeper at the same time it won't get oppressive against decks that won't play sweepers. I think this is the puzzle you must solve with this card and ultimately you will have a design that is basically Kumena done right.
Nepsis, Mummy Queen2WUB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Wizard
Whenever a Zombie enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a binding counter on target creature or planeswalker. As long as that permanent has a binding counter on it, it loses all abilities and can't attack or block. T: Nepsis deals X damage to target creature or planeswalker and you may gain that much life, where X is the number of binding counters on that permanent. If a creature dealt damage this way would die this turn, instead exile it, then create a token that's a copy of it, except it's white, it's a Zombie in addition to its other types, and it has no mana cost.
Tap an untapped Zombie you control: Untap ~.
1/4
I like the idea of a mummy legend built around mummifying creatures and planeswalkers, and rewards you for putting multiple counters on the same permanent. I also like the idea of untapping her by tapping other Zombies you control to show their servitude.
Also it feels wrong for this to just be a zombie, it might be fine but it feels weird.
I wasn't sure what class would be most fitting for her, though it's probably Wizard, especially since the current version can turn creatures into Zombies.
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 version looks a lot better. Embalming everyone is neat but immediately locking down the creatures and being able to rapid fire down low toughness creatures seems too strong. The way the ability is worded it doesn't need to be on the field to keep its effect active so the binding should only limit attacking or blocking, not both and not remove abilities. It might need to tap two zombies to untap so that it is harder to chain kill small creatures. Also because it is taking straight from Amonkhet it should probably be a cleric instead of a wizard, maybe both?
This version looks a lot better. Embalming everyone is neat but immediately locking down the creatures and being able to rapid fire down low toughness creatures seems too strong. The way the ability is worded it doesn't need to be on the field to keep its effect active so the binding should only limit attacking or blocking, not both and not remove abilities. It might need to tap two zombies to untap so that it is harder to chain kill small creatures. Also because it is taking straight from Amonkhet it should probably be a cleric instead of a wizard, maybe both?
The binding staying in effect works better flavor wise. Originally it locked activated abilities as opposed to removed all abilities outright, but "loses all abilities" better conveys a sense of helplessness and complete neutralization. I see your point about the cheap untap cost.
Amonkhet has Wizards, too. In red and green even! But Clerics are admittedly more closely associated with mummies and there's something resonant about a mummy priestess, so yeah, she could be a Cleric instead.
Nepsis, Mummy Queen2WUB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Cleric
Whenever a Zombie enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a binding counter on target creature or planeswalker. As long as that permanent has a binding counter on it, it loses all abilities and can't attack or block. T: Nepsis deals X damage to target creature or planeswalker and you may gain that much life, where X is the number of binding counters on that permanent. If a creature dealt damage this way would die this turn, instead exile it, then create a token that's a copy of it, except it's white, it's a Zombie in addition to its other types, and it has no mana cost.
Tap two untapped Zombies you control: Untap ~.
1/4
In a bizarre way, Nepsis also functions as a flicker commander, since you can bind a creature you control, kill it with Nepsis, and then get the token, even if the creature is already a token.
Given how wordy the first two abilities are though, I wonder if I shouldn't just drop the untap effect altogether at this point? I really like the idea of tapping Zombies to serve Nepsis in some way, but at this point I consider the binding counters to be a bigger priority. Plus it makes Nepsis less likely to combo off.
Maybe I could design a second WUB mummy that captures the aspects of serving a mummy queen that I couldn't fit on Nepsis' own card?
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 agree with you, you could simplify her a bit. Personally I think "Tap an untapped zombie you control: Tap target creature. Put a binding counter on it." is more balanced then the current ETB ability and gives the flavor of zombies serving her.
I totally agree with @user_938036 giving her a machine gun ability is way too much.
The ETB trigger was designed to key off stuff like Embalm, reanimation, and tokens, not to mention being able to tap Zombies to bind repeatedly would make the design far more oppressive unless some manner of restriction is imposed. I do however see a point in reducing word count, and for that purpose, I can leave planeswalkers out of the range.
Nepsis, Mummy Queen2WUB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Cleric
Whenever a Zombie enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a binding counter on target creature. As long as that creature has a binding counter on it, it loses all abilities and can't attack or block. T: Nepsis deals X damage to target creature and you may gain that much life, where X is the number of binding counters on that creature. If that creature dies this turn, you may exile it, then create a token that's a copy of it, except it's white, it's a Zombie in addition to its other types, and it has no mana cost.
1/4
Should the second ability be redesigned to simply reanimate the creature rather than exile it, though?
Nepsis, Mummy Queen2WUB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Cleric
Whenever a Zombie enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a binding counter on target creature. As long as that creature has a binding counter on it, it loses all abilities and can't attack or block. T: Nepsis deals X damage to target creature and you may gain that much life, where X is the number of binding counters on that creature. If that creature dies this turn, you may return it to the battlefield under your control. It's a Zombie in addition to its other types.
1/4
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.
Nepsis, Mummy Queen2WUB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Cleric
Whenever a Zombie enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a binding counter on target creature. As long as that creature has a binding counter on it, it loses all abilities and can't attack or block. T: Nepsis deals X damage to target creature and you may gain that much life, where X is the number of binding counters on that creature. If that creature dies this turn, you may exile it, then create a token that's a copy of it, except it's white, it's a Zombie in addition to its other types, and it has no mana cost.
1/4
Should the second ability be redesigned to simply reanimate the creature rather than exile it, though?
You clearly want to emulate embalm, so you should do what God-Pharaoh's Gift and The Scarab God do and actually emulate embalm i. e. create a token copy. I like that you actually go all out on this and take care of the mana cost (an unfortunate (though certainly deliberate) inaccuracy in the two aforementioned cards).
If you feel emulating embalm if not actually desirable, then the alternate wording is preferable. Earlier posts imply though that you are making a deliberate effort to connect the Mummy Queen to the pre-existing mummies.
I personally feel the incentives on distributing binding counters are all over the place. The base incentive is to distribute the counters since each creature with a counter on it is removal. The next level is stacking up counters since it gains you life, but at the threshold you decide between having a repeatable source of life gain and taking over a creature. A more straightforward solution might be to change the activated abilities effect to: "You may put a binding counter on target creature with a binding counter on it. Then, you gain life equal to the number of binding counters on that creature. Then, if there are three or more binding counters on that creature, 'embalm it'."
Is keying of toughness (via damage) more flavorful? Aye, from a certain perspective. But is the alternative not thematically appropriate? I think, it's doing fine and it creates a more consistent idea behind what different "levels" of binding mean.
I personally even feel the life gain is an optional aspect of the ability as well, and would consider going straight to: "T: Put a binding counter on target creature with a binding counter on it. If it has three or more binding counters on it, 'embalm it'." Now you have a nice incentive to "doubly bind" something, but that's basically all the interasting levels of complexity: not bound, single bondage (Pacifism), double bondage (can be taken over with a single activation) - and it's the same for all creatures.
Note: I probably would sing a different song if the design would acknowledge Amonkhet's presence of -1/-1 counters (as well as playing off the embalm mechanic) and use those counters rather than mechanically agnostic binding counters since -1/-1 counters naturally flow into a mechanical design space that cares about toughness and creature death. Not that either version is inherently preferable to the other IMO - they just exert different (equally valid) influences upon where to take the design.
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]
Hmm...what if you could tap Zombies to bind tapped creatures? That way you can't just tap a Zombie to lock down an opponent's creature every time one enters the battlefield, unless you force them to enter tapped, of course. That would make Binding Mummy's tapping ability highly useful in Nepsis' deck, as now it makes it easier to bind creatures while rewarding your commitment to the tribe.
The three layers suggestion is interesting, though I think part of the appeal would be the ability to pile a bunch of binding counters on a single creature.
What if the embalming part was a death trigger rather than a result of Nepsis' activated ability in specific? That way destroy and sacrifice effects also play into her deck, as they should.
Nepsis, Mummy Queen2WUB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Cleric
Tap an untapped Zombie you control: Put a binding counter on target tapped creature. As long as that creature has a binding counter on it, it loses all abilities and can't attack or block. T: Nepsis deals X damage to target creature and you may gain that much life, where X is the number of binding counters on that creature.
Whenever a creature with a binding counter on it dies, you may exile it. If you do, create a token that's a copy of it, except it's white, it's a Zombie in addition to its other types, and it has no mana cost.
1/4
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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Nepsis, Mummy Queen 2WUB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Wizard
Tap an untapped Zombie you control: Each opponent loses 1 life and you may gain 1 life.
Tap two untapped Zombies you control: Target player draws a card, then discards a card.
Tap three untapped Zombies you control: Exile target creature until ~ leaves the battlefield.
1/4
Her first two abilities represent her servants, well, serving her. The third ability represents capturing creatures by way of wrapping them up, a fairly common tactic mummies use to deal with intruders.
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.
Your card incur in less of these problems because white has all the anti-sweeper answers (although playing then is a shore) and because unlike Kumena your first ability is aggressive and meant to finish the game. However in this the design shows it's cracks because of the reasons stated above, you will always want to play the first ability. If you have something like 4 or 5 zombies on the table, you WANT to finish the game as soon as possible and not durdle around looting cards or using very temporary removal.
I think you really need to rework the other two ability and at least one of then must be very strongly oriented to generate CA that won't be taken away by a sweeper at the same time it won't get oppressive against decks that won't play sweepers. I think this is the puzzle you must solve with this card and ultimately you will have a design that is basically Kumena done right.
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
Nepsis, Mummy Queen 2WUB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Wizard
Whenever a Zombie enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a binding counter on target creature or planeswalker. As long as that permanent has a binding counter on it, it loses all abilities and can't attack or block.
T: Nepsis deals X damage to target creature or planeswalker and you may gain that much life, where X is the number of binding counters on that permanent. If a creature dealt damage this way would die this turn, instead exile it, then create a token that's a copy of it, except it's white, it's a Zombie in addition to its other types, and it has no mana cost.
Tap an untapped Zombie you control: Untap ~.
1/4
I like the idea of a mummy legend built around mummifying creatures and planeswalkers, and rewards you for putting multiple counters on the same permanent. I also like the idea of untapping her by tapping other Zombies you control to show their servitude.
I wasn't sure what class would be most fitting for her, though it's probably Wizard, especially since the current version can turn creatures into Zombies.
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.
The binding staying in effect works better flavor wise. Originally it locked activated abilities as opposed to removed all abilities outright, but "loses all abilities" better conveys a sense of helplessness and complete neutralization. I see your point about the cheap untap cost.
Amonkhet has Wizards, too. In red and green even! But Clerics are admittedly more closely associated with mummies and there's something resonant about a mummy priestess, so yeah, she could be a Cleric instead.
Nepsis, Mummy Queen 2WUB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Cleric
Whenever a Zombie enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a binding counter on target creature or planeswalker. As long as that permanent has a binding counter on it, it loses all abilities and can't attack or block.
T: Nepsis deals X damage to target creature or planeswalker and you may gain that much life, where X is the number of binding counters on that permanent. If a creature dealt damage this way would die this turn, instead exile it, then create a token that's a copy of it, except it's white, it's a Zombie in addition to its other types, and it has no mana cost.
Tap two untapped Zombies you control: Untap ~.
1/4
In a bizarre way, Nepsis also functions as a flicker commander, since you can bind a creature you control, kill it with Nepsis, and then get the token, even if the creature is already a token.
Given how wordy the first two abilities are though, I wonder if I shouldn't just drop the untap effect altogether at this point? I really like the idea of tapping Zombies to serve Nepsis in some way, but at this point I consider the binding counters to be a bigger priority. Plus it makes Nepsis less likely to combo off.
Maybe I could design a second WUB mummy that captures the aspects of serving a mummy queen that I couldn't fit on Nepsis' own card?
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.
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
I totally agree with @user_938036 giving her a machine gun ability is way too much.
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
Nepsis, Mummy Queen 2WUB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Cleric
Whenever a Zombie enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a binding counter on target creature. As long as that creature has a binding counter on it, it loses all abilities and can't attack or block.
T: Nepsis deals X damage to target creature and you may gain that much life, where X is the number of binding counters on that creature. If that creature dies this turn, you may exile it, then create a token that's a copy of it, except it's white, it's a Zombie in addition to its other types, and it has no mana cost.
1/4
Should the second ability be redesigned to simply reanimate the creature rather than exile it, though?
Nepsis, Mummy Queen 2WUB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Cleric
Whenever a Zombie enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a binding counter on target creature. As long as that creature has a binding counter on it, it loses all abilities and can't attack or block.
T: Nepsis deals X damage to target creature and you may gain that much life, where X is the number of binding counters on that creature. If that creature dies this turn, you may return it to the battlefield under your control. It's a Zombie in addition to its other types.
1/4
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.
You clearly want to emulate embalm, so you should do what God-Pharaoh's Gift and The Scarab God do and actually emulate embalm i. e. create a token copy. I like that you actually go all out on this and take care of the mana cost (an unfortunate (though certainly deliberate) inaccuracy in the two aforementioned cards).
If you feel emulating embalm if not actually desirable, then the alternate wording is preferable. Earlier posts imply though that you are making a deliberate effort to connect the Mummy Queen to the pre-existing mummies.
I personally feel the incentives on distributing binding counters are all over the place. The base incentive is to distribute the counters since each creature with a counter on it is removal. The next level is stacking up counters since it gains you life, but at the threshold you decide between having a repeatable source of life gain and taking over a creature. A more straightforward solution might be to change the activated abilities effect to: "You may put a binding counter on target creature with a binding counter on it. Then, you gain life equal to the number of binding counters on that creature. Then, if there are three or more binding counters on that creature, 'embalm it'."
Is keying of toughness (via damage) more flavorful? Aye, from a certain perspective. But is the alternative not thematically appropriate? I think, it's doing fine and it creates a more consistent idea behind what different "levels" of binding mean.
I personally even feel the life gain is an optional aspect of the ability as well, and would consider going straight to: "T: Put a binding counter on target creature with a binding counter on it. If it has three or more binding counters on it, 'embalm it'." Now you have a nice incentive to "doubly bind" something, but that's basically all the interasting levels of complexity: not bound, single bondage (Pacifism), double bondage (can be taken over with a single activation) - and it's the same for all creatures.
Note: I probably would sing a different song if the design would acknowledge Amonkhet's presence of -1/-1 counters (as well as playing off the embalm mechanic) and use those counters rather than mechanically agnostic binding counters since -1/-1 counters naturally flow into a mechanical design space that cares about toughness and creature death. Not that either version is inherently preferable to the other IMO - they just exert different (equally valid) influences upon where to take the design.
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
The three layers suggestion is interesting, though I think part of the appeal would be the ability to pile a bunch of binding counters on a single creature.
What if the embalming part was a death trigger rather than a result of Nepsis' activated ability in specific? That way destroy and sacrifice effects also play into her deck, as they should.
Nepsis, Mummy Queen 2WUB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Cleric
Tap an untapped Zombie you control: Put a binding counter on target tapped creature. As long as that creature has a binding counter on it, it loses all abilities and can't attack or block.
T: Nepsis deals X damage to target creature and you may gain that much life, where X is the number of binding counters on that creature.
Whenever a creature with a binding counter on it dies, you may exile it. If you do, create a token that's a copy of it, except it's white, it's a Zombie in addition to its other types, and it has no mana cost.
1/4
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.