A lot of people are unsatisfied with Boros' cards in this set, and while I don't typically play Boros, I can sympathize. Especially seeing how many playable cards Dimir is getting. So I decided to come up with better designs for the Boros rares of the set. These cards aren't in any way based on the existing rares.
Flare Angel3RW
Creature - Angel (R)
5/4
Flying, first strike
When ~ enters the battlefield, tap target creature an opponent controls. That creature attacks during its controller's next turn if able.
This one is meant to be a generic midrange beater that can push through and possibly trade with a Lyra in standard.
Next:
Feigned Death2RW
Sorcery (R)
Return to the battlefield all creature and artifact cards in your graveyard that were put their from the battlefield since your last turn. Those permanents gain haste.
At its worst, this card is boardwipe recovery for nontoken creatures. At its best, I think it can be a build-around piece for a Goblin Sacrifice deck in standard using things like Siege-Gang Commander and Dark-Dweller Oracle. Might also have some uses outside of standard, but not likely. Also throws a bone to decks that play Vehicles in any format.
Next:
Arcane Tactician2RW
Creature - Human Wizard (R)
2/2
Whenever ~ enters the battlefield or attacks, exile up to one target instant, sorcery, or enchantment card with converted mana cost 3 or less from a graveyard. Until your next turn, you may cast that card without paying its mana cost. If that card would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead.
This guy is aimed at competitive control decks in both standard and modern, which a lot of people have complained about Boros lacking. Yes, it's way more aggressively costed than Goblin Dark-Dwellers, which is very similar. It's also way more versatile, being able to hit any graveyard and hit enchantments. The trade-off that makes keeps this card from being strictly better is its stats and the multicolored mana cost, which is why I think it's probably okay to print. The small stats also happen to play well with mentor.
Lastly:
Projection of the Heart4RW
Enchantment - Aura (M)
Enchant creature or planeswalker
Enchanted permanent has "T: Create a token that's a copy of this permanent, except it's not legendary if this permanent is legendary. That token has haste. When that token leaves the battlefield, move any counters that were put on it this turn to this permanent. Exile the token at the beginning of the next end step."
Okay this one is sort of a wall of text, but it should fit on a card. Anyway, this one is aimed at Commander and build-around standard decks. It could technically count as some extra Splinter Twins in modern Twin decks, but I don't think that deck would play this. In the context of GRN limited, it's meant to allow a fragile creature to attack without fear of death whike reaping the benefits of mentor triggers.
I like these all, but I am mostly satisfied with Boros in Guilds, and two of these - Feigned Death and Projection of the Heart - don't actually feel like the Boros guild even though they're in-color for red-white.
Flare Angel is a fine Chinese-menu Limited bomb and I like the dual utility of the ETB trigger.
Feigned Death is probably fine; Faith's Reward is a good design and sidegrading it is reasonable. Haste is a great add with the red.
Arcane Tactician is way way too much if it triggers on ETB. The card is an absolute bomb if it's just an attack trigger; I'd make it a little sturdier in compensation but frankly 2RW for Sun Titan's even more abuseable variant cousin is tough to swallow.
Projection of the Heart is a pretty wild way to get to a PW ultimate, let me tell you. I like the card a lot but I feel like somehow white is not the first possible choice for the color besides red here. Reyhan, Last of the Abzan suggests it's... green, maybe?
I like these all, but I am mostly satisfied with Boros in Guilds, and two of these - Feigned Death and Projection of the Heart - don't actually feel like the Boros guild even though they're in-color for red-white.
I think "feeling like Boros" is part of the problem. Boros has been cornered into having only one strategy: attack with all your stuff. That's what people don't like, and while cards like "Final Bortune" and Deafening Clarion play the role well enough, they still leave a lot of people underwhelmed. I think it's time to broaden just what sorts of things Boros is allowed to do. I did make sure that all of these cards work well in an aggressive, combat-centric strategy, so the limited archetype is still there. I just wanted these cards to be a bit less surface-level aggro and more open-ended or competitively-minded.
As for the color identity of cards like Projection, I agree the affect could show up in green as well, especially with the counter-moving stuff, but I also think it's undefined enough that it could be in white as well. As this was designed as a red-white card first, that's good enough for me.
Feigned Death2RW
Sorcery (R)
Return to the battlefield all creature and artifact cards in your graveyard that were put their from the battlefield since your last turn. Those permanents gain haste.
Second Sunrise did this and got banned from modern. It causes mean recursion things to happen, and ends up breaking the game.
In standard, this would probably be fairly safe, but not so much in other formats.
Quote from Watchwolf » »
Arcane Tactician2RW
Creature - Human Wizard (R)
2/2
Whenever ~ enters the battlefield or attacks, exile up to one target instant, sorcery, or enchantment card with converted mana cost 3 or less from a graveyard. Until your next turn, you may cast that card without paying its mana cost. If that card would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead.
Nice!
I like that it has an immediate effect (Which warrants the 4CMC) and is an ongoing threat if its not dealt with. It's a fairly fragile creature, but the spells it can potentially be throwing around make it dangerous.
From a flavor perspective, I'd consider restricting it to your own graveyard and only hitting red/white cards (Sunforger style). I'd also prefer to see it only allow you to cast until end of turn (instead of until your next turn) - Allowing it to recast Counterspell and similar cards on your opponent's turn could get pretty out of hand.
As for Tactitian, one of my goals with the card is to really push the power-level of a 4-cmc RW creature past what players would expect to come out of WotC. I know his ability to hit an opponent's counterspell and hold it up for an entire turn cycle is pretty potent, but I'm not convinced it would be too good. Especially considering the card is revealed to all players, giving the opponent enough information to play around it.
As for Tactitian, one of my goals with the card is to really push the power-level of a 4-cmc RW creature past what players would expect to come out of WotC. I know his ability to hit an opponent's counterspell and hold it up for an entire turn cycle is pretty potent, but I'm not convinced it would be too good. Especially considering the card is revealed to all players, giving the opponent enough information to play around it.
Faith's Reward didn't take an entire extra turn into consideration.
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Flare Angel 3RW
Creature - Angel (R)
5/4
Flying, first strike
When ~ enters the battlefield, tap target creature an opponent controls. That creature attacks during its controller's next turn if able.
This one is meant to be a generic midrange beater that can push through and possibly trade with a Lyra in standard.
Next:
Feigned Death 2RW
Sorcery (R)
Return to the battlefield all creature and artifact cards in your graveyard that were put their from the battlefield since your last turn. Those permanents gain haste.
At its worst, this card is boardwipe recovery for nontoken creatures. At its best, I think it can be a build-around piece for a Goblin Sacrifice deck in standard using things like Siege-Gang Commander and Dark-Dweller Oracle. Might also have some uses outside of standard, but not likely. Also throws a bone to decks that play Vehicles in any format.
Next:
Arcane Tactician 2RW
Creature - Human Wizard (R)
2/2
Whenever ~ enters the battlefield or attacks, exile up to one target instant, sorcery, or enchantment card with converted mana cost 3 or less from a graveyard. Until your next turn, you may cast that card without paying its mana cost. If that card would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead.
This guy is aimed at competitive control decks in both standard and modern, which a lot of people have complained about Boros lacking. Yes, it's way more aggressively costed than Goblin Dark-Dwellers, which is very similar. It's also way more versatile, being able to hit any graveyard and hit enchantments. The trade-off that makes keeps this card from being strictly better is its stats and the multicolored mana cost, which is why I think it's probably okay to print. The small stats also happen to play well with mentor.
Lastly:
Projection of the Heart 4RW
Enchantment - Aura (M)
Enchant creature or planeswalker
Enchanted permanent has "T: Create a token that's a copy of this permanent, except it's not legendary if this permanent is legendary. That token has haste. When that token leaves the battlefield, move any counters that were put on it this turn to this permanent. Exile the token at the beginning of the next end step."
Okay this one is sort of a wall of text, but it should fit on a card. Anyway, this one is aimed at Commander and build-around standard decks. It could technically count as some extra Splinter Twins in modern Twin decks, but I don't think that deck would play this. In the context of GRN limited, it's meant to allow a fragile creature to attack without fear of death whike reaping the benefits of mentor triggers.
So what do yall think?
Flare Angel is a fine Chinese-menu Limited bomb and I like the dual utility of the ETB trigger.
Feigned Death is probably fine; Faith's Reward is a good design and sidegrading it is reasonable. Haste is a great add with the red.
Arcane Tactician is way way too much if it triggers on ETB. The card is an absolute bomb if it's just an attack trigger; I'd make it a little sturdier in compensation but frankly 2RW for Sun Titan's even more abuseable variant cousin is tough to swallow.
Projection of the Heart is a pretty wild way to get to a PW ultimate, let me tell you. I like the card a lot but I feel like somehow white is not the first possible choice for the color besides red here. Reyhan, Last of the Abzan suggests it's... green, maybe?
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
As for the color identity of cards like Projection, I agree the affect could show up in green as well, especially with the counter-moving stuff, but I also think it's undefined enough that it could be in white as well. As this was designed as a red-white card first, that's good enough for me.
Second Sunrise did this and got banned from modern. It causes mean recursion things to happen, and ends up breaking the game.
In standard, this would probably be fairly safe, but not so much in other formats.
Nice!
I like that it has an immediate effect (Which warrants the 4CMC) and is an ongoing threat if its not dealt with. It's a fairly fragile creature, but the spells it can potentially be throwing around make it dangerous.
From a flavor perspective, I'd consider restricting it to your own graveyard and only hitting red/white cards (Sunforger style). I'd also prefer to see it only allow you to cast until end of turn (instead of until your next turn) - Allowing it to recast Counterspell and similar cards on your opponent's turn could get pretty out of hand.
As for Tactitian, one of my goals with the card is to really push the power-level of a 4-cmc RW creature past what players would expect to come out of WotC. I know his ability to hit an opponent's counterspell and hold it up for an entire turn cycle is pretty potent, but I'm not convinced it would be too good. Especially considering the card is revealed to all players, giving the opponent enough information to play around it.
Faith's Reward didn't take an entire extra turn into consideration.