I love designing cards based on fictional series I enjoy. Just recently got into the Guts anime from the late 1990's a few months back after having watched Screw Attack's "Guts vs Nightmare" Death Battle on Youtube. I've known of the anime/manga for years, but never really had an inclination to watch/read it until it now. Loved the series, and am prepping myself to watch the newer 2000's series (although I hear its not as good) in the next couple of days. Anyhoo, decided to make some cards based on the show and am looking for feedback on if I managed to nail down the flavor, abilities, and characters of the series right. Started with just a few to get the juices flowing:
Design Notes
Guts, the Black Swordsman: Aside from being a powerful swordsman and formidable warrior, there was nothing particularly different about Guts as a character, save his tragic childhood, brutal upbringing, and the intense anger he harbors bubbling beneath his surface. He starts off as a selfish and aloof, caring only for increasing his strength and battle prowess. Once he's marked with the Brand of Sacrifice and witnesses the rape of Casca, his rage is released and he desires to extract revenge on all demon apostles and the God Hand. For these reasons, I think he should be BR. His flip (transform) clause represents his escape from the Eclipse brutally beaten before he's rescued by the Skull Knight.
Guts, the Berserk: This is flipped side of Guts, the Black Swordsman. It represents Guts having grown even faster and stronger after the Eclipse. Oftentimes Guts will take damage in order to get in a decisive blow to an enemy, usually with a swipe of his sword Dragon Slayer or a shot from his Cannon Arm. His static ability represents this, while his 1Rt ability represents his Repeater Crossbow, throwing knives, and miniature bombs. I read the Guts wiki and learned that Guts doesn't use his arm cannon or repeater crossbow after he acquires the the Berserk Armor, but I thought a Berserk Armor representation may work better for the card as a whole, and is a more dynamic looking shot.
Berserk Armor: Loved this artwork and modeled it after Darksteel Plate. Design is centered around how the armor actually doesn't heal guts, but pins his broken bones and tendons in places so that he can keep fighting thru his pain. Mechanically, I'm not sure if the card "works," but I personally like the design.
Dragon Slayer: Ah yes, the "original" buster sword of anime. A sword that grows ever more powerful the more demons and supernatural beings it slays. Not much more to say about this aside from being able to tutor it with Guts, the Black Swordsman. Chose this artwork (even tho it's not colored) because it is a cool shot.
Griffith, Commander of Hawks: Before any weeb decides to try and tear me a new one on his name, I know Griffith is leader of the Band of the Falcon, not the Hawk... At least, in the Japanese version. In the English version, the name was changed to Hawk, and even some Japanese supplemental materials and video games refer to the group Griffith leads as the Band of the Hawk. Plus I think hawks are cooler, so there you go. I wanted the card to portray Griffith's cold, calculating nature. His keyword abilities as well as his low power/toughness are meant to display the litheness of his body and speed and precision in battle. His flip (transform) ability represents his sacrifice of the members of Band of the Hawk during the Eclipse to ascend into the ranks of the God Hand as their leader. I made him WB because he cares about the members of the Hawk insomuch that he sees them as mere tools to reach his goals and satisfy his own ambitions.
Femto, of the God Hand: Whew boy, a lot going on here! Essentially, Griffith as Femto is practically unassailable (indestructible, check!). His divinity causes most individuals and armies to cower in fear (hexproof, check!). His unparalleled charisma attracts people to him so strongly it borderlines on devotion and worship. He can warp space/time (3W ability, check!) and can convene with and raise the dead (2BB ability, check!) He needs to be very hard to get rid of because in the rules of his universe, he is nearly OP.
Honestly I think my favorite design of all of these cards is the Berserk Armor. I am only barely familiar with the manga Berserk because my friend raves about it. Some of your designs really reflect some of those themes from the series well, but in terms of their power levels they either seem extremely strong or weak and could use some balancing.
The Berserk Armor is best compared to Darksteel Plate. I think in that respect you should lower the mana cost and equip cost, I also think the creature should get a -1/-1 counter if it takes ANY damage instead of just combat damage (that way things like lightning bolt are still effective).
I hope I don't need to explain why a 3-mana 4/3 that, when it dies, fetches a decent equipment onto the battlefield and also becomes a 6/3 with removal deterrence is hilariously overpowered. That needs to cost at least 6, and in return you could probably remove the tap requirement from the 3 damage activated ability of the reverse side.
That said, very good flavor on Guts, and reasonable mechanics overall if you just increase the cost.
Griffith is much less reasonable. A WB creature shouldn't get hexproof no matter how strong it's intended to be, the exile ability is anti-synergistic with the reanimation ability, and the 2-mana creature that you start with is already very strong for it to also have a relatively easily-achieved 'insta-win' mode.
Honestly I think my favorite design of all of these cards is the Berserk Armor. I am only barely familiar with the manga Berserk because my friend raves about it. Some of your designs really reflect some of those themes from the series well, but in terms of their power levels they either seem extremely strong or weak and could use some balancing.
The Berserk Armor is best compared to Darksteel Plate. I think in that respect you should lower the mana cost and equip cost, I also think the creature should get a -1/-1 counter if it takes ANY damage instead of just combat damage (that way things like lightning bolt are still effective).
Thanks for the response. Originally I had the any damage clause on Berserk Armor and it makes it less OP. The card could have just as easily been at uncommon, and I may change it's rarity to that. Or I could keep it at Rare and maybe make it cost 0 or 1 to be equipped to a Guts creature or planes walker. I'm not sure lowering it's CMC would keep it balanced, only because it can be tutored and most artifact cards and artifact creatures that grant indestructible start at 3 CMC. But, it is Rare... I'll playy with the numbers a bit and see how it works out.
Admittedly, I think Guts and Griffith may be a little too powerful and I could see increasing Guts' CMC to 4 or 5 and include a CMC in Griffith's transform cost.
The flavor of Guts is off as he only becomes the Black Swordsman after the eclipse.
Golden age Guts should be RW. Guts was a very loyal, disciplined and reliable soldier, he has lots of white in him and no black.
I think vanilla 4/3 is not a good representation of Guts character. I think 'whenever ~~ deals combat damage, put a +1/+1 counter on ~~' is very simple and short and represent him very well. If you choose to add something like this, it would be cute that he starts with 2 toughness so that he immediately loses to Griff but with some experience beats him.
You must obey the color pie no matter the flavor. Griff being a 2/2 first strike, vigilance tapper for BB is very off. I think this set of abilities is perfect for him, it just doesn't work in black.
Also flavor wise I think Griff could get away and would work way better as mono white with a black transformation ability.
Femto being 2/2 is also off. I think 5/5+ indestructible with other abilities could work but to do that you need the transformation to be very costly mana-wise like "3BB, Sacrifice 5 creatures:".
I think both legends needs build around abilities to be more exciting and not just top-down stats glue. Guts could fetch any equipment for example. Femto could have 'aristocrats' oriented ability as sacrificing tokens seems to be the theme for Griff's deck.
Berserker Armor is pretty cool, I just don't like how it is so much weaker then Darksteel Armor.
Dragon Slayer should have a ability like "T, Tap equipped creature: The equipped fights target creature". This would convey the Black Swordsman hunting of apostles.
I hope I don't need to explain why a 3-mana 4/3 that, when it dies, fetches a decent equipment onto the battlefield and also becomes a 6/3 with removal deterrence is hilariously overpowered. That needs to cost at least 6, and in return you could probably remove the tap requirement from the 3 damage activated ability of the reverse side.
That said, very good flavor on Guts, and reasonable mechanics overall if you just increase the cost.
Griffith is much less reasonable. A WB creature shouldn't get hexproof no matter how strong it's intended to be, the exile ability is anti-synergistic with the reanimation ability, and the 2-mana creature that you start with is already very strong for it to also have a relatively easily-achieved 'insta-win' mode.
I agree with your first point, but don't think he should cost 6 mana. Maybe 5 at most. Originally, he was priced at 4 CMC, but I thought players would be unsatisfied playing a 4 mana vanilla "do nothing" card that dies to Bolt. But then again, the way he's currently made makes no sense because you want him to die because his flip side is so much better than his front. However, I do think there is a better way to depict his transition from a knight in the Band of the Hawk to the Black Swordsman. As i mentioned above, I've been experimenting with a mechanic involving Brand counters, where meeting certain criteria allows creatures to flip much like the flip walkers of Magic Origins. Haven't quite worked out how I want it to happen just yet, but it is in the works should I pursue this project longer.
I have to disagree with you on Griffith. There has been plenty of president set for small creatures being hexproof. Invisible Stalker (one of my favorite blue cards ever printed) is the first card that sprang to my mind. Plus it only exists on his flip side, not his front side. With all the keyword abilities he's rocking, and his static combat ability, increasing his CMC to 3 might work better. And I will be adding a CMC to activate his flip ability. I don't see his two activated abilities as being mutually exclusive, but they aren't necessarily meant to work in tandem together either. What if I changed them to read:
1WB: Exile target non creature or planeswalker card from the battlefield. BBx: Return target creature or planeswalker from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control, where x equals the casting cost of that card.
The flavor of Guts is off as he only becomes the Black Swordsman after the eclipse.
Golden age Guts should be RW. Guts was a very loyal, disciplined and reliable soldier, he has lots of white in him and no black.
I think vanilla 4/3 is not a good representation of Guts character. I think 'whenever ~~ deals combat damage, put a +1/+1 counter on ~~' is very simple and short and represent him very well. If you choose to add something like this, it would be cute that he starts with 2 toughness so that he immediately loses to Griff but with some experience beats him.
You must obey the color pie no matter the flavor. Griff being a 2/2 first strike, vigilance tapper for BB is very off. I think this set of abilities is perfect for him, it just doesn't work in black.
Also flavor wise I think Griff could get away and would work way better as mono white with a black transformation ability.
Femto being 2/2 is also off. I think 5/5+ indestructible with other abilities could work but to do that you need the transformation to be very costly mana-wise like "3BB, Sacrifice 5 creatures:".
I think both legends needs build around abilities to be more exciting and not just top-down stats glue. Guts could fetch any equipment for example. Femto could have 'aristocrats' oriented ability as sacrificing tokens seems to be the theme for Griff's deck.
Berserker Armor is pretty cool, I just don't like how it is so much weaker then Darksteel Armor.
Dragon Slayer should have a ability like "T, Tap equipped creature: The equipped fights target creature". This would convey the Black Swordsman hunting of apostles.
You've made some very good points, most of which I agree with. I do want to address your post point by point.
1) You just solved one of the biggest problems I had when creating Guts' card. I went back and forth over what depiction and point in time I wanted to portray Guts in. The Black Swordsman card originally was the one I had for the Berserk card. I think the first depiction I created used artwork I'll post below, and it was titled Guts, the Wandering Knight (or something to that affect). I didn't like the name, which is what made me change it to the Black Swordsman card. Obvious flavor fail on my part, that I WILL remedy shortly.
2) Thoroughly disagree with your assessment of Golden Age Guts. I don't see W being any part of his initial character arc. He is a loner by nature that fights for his own survival and no one else's unless they pay him for it. Until he meets Griffith and the Band of the Hawk, he's never once experienced love or true comradery. He even hates being touched by anyone, only later allowing Casca to become a part of his life right before the Eclipse. Even after the Eclipse, he abandons a broken, mentally fragmented Casca for two years in his pursuit of revenge against Griffith and his demon apostles. Guts VERYMUCH starts out as a B character, but slowly transitions into BRW character in the current place of the story. I'm thinking I may create three depictions of Guts, one card being a flip between Guts, the Wandering Knight (again, not a great name) and Guts, the Black Swordsman, and the other being Guts, the Berserk.
3) I'm not the biggest fan of adding +1/+1 counters to creatures. It seems like the laziest mechanic out there, and is so boring and prevalent throughout the game already, but I get your point. Trust me, I want his front side to be exciting too, I just don't know how to accomplish this just yet. I'm a huge fan of "Top-Down" design, so creating mechanics that fit the flavor of the character is important to me and is a challenge. For me, this is half the fun creating cards in the first place!
4) Well, I did look up whether any B cards in the history of the game have actually had First Strike. Surprisingly, 8% of all cards created with First strike are black. So it's not unheard of, but again, I get your point. It's stronger in W for sure.
5) This... This idea I like. A lot! I still want a little B in his casting cost tho, but I think he should be primarily W.
6) Already ahead of you.
7) Agreed. I added a sacrifice clause to Femto only being able to attack or block if he sacrifices a creature. I'll figure something out with Guts, I'm sure.
8) Agreed. I honestly hadn't realized when creating Berserk Armor that I was making it worse than Darksteel Plate. Again, I was too concerned with flavor more than anything else. I've lowered the CMC and equip cost to make it a bit better.
9) I'm not sure I'm understanding the flavor behind this suggestion. Do you mind explaining?
The flavor of Guts is off as he only becomes the Black Swordsman after the eclipse.
Golden age Guts should be RW. Guts was a very loyal, disciplined and reliable soldier, he has lots of white in him and no black.
I think vanilla 4/3 is not a good representation of Guts character. I think 'whenever ~~ deals combat damage, put a +1/+1 counter on ~~' is very simple and short and represent him very well. If you choose to add something like this, it would be cute that he starts with 2 toughness so that he immediately loses to Griff but with some experience beats him.
You must obey the color pie no matter the flavor. Griff being a 2/2 first strike, vigilance tapper for BB is very off. I think this set of abilities is perfect for him, it just doesn't work in black.
Also flavor wise I think Griff could get away and would work way better as mono white with a black transformation ability.
Femto being 2/2 is also off. I think 5/5+ indestructible with other abilities could work but to do that you need the transformation to be very costly mana-wise like "3BB, Sacrifice 5 creatures:".
I think both legends needs build around abilities to be more exciting and not just top-down stats glue. Guts could fetch any equipment for example. Femto could have 'aristocrats' oriented ability as sacrificing tokens seems to be the theme for Griff's deck.
Berserker Armor is pretty cool, I just don't like how it is so much weaker then Darksteel Armor.
Dragon Slayer should have a ability like "T, Tap equipped creature: The equipped fights target creature". This would convey the Black Swordsman hunting of apostles.
You've made some very good points, most of which I agree with. I do want to address your post point by point.
1) You just solved one of the biggest problems I had when creating Guts' card. I went back and forth over what depiction and point in time I wanted to portray Guts in. The Black Swordsman card originally was the one I had for the Berserk card. I think the first depiction I created used artwork I'll post below, and it was titled Guts, the Wandering Knight (or something to that affect). I didn't like the name, which is what made me change it to the Black Swordsman card. Obvious flavor fail on my part, that I WILL remedy shortly.
2) Thoroughly disagree with your assessment of Golden Age Guts. I don't see W being any part of his initial character arc. He is a loner by nature that fights for his own survival and no one else's unless they pay him for it. Until he meets Griffith and the Band of the Hawk, he's never once experienced love or true comradery. He even hates being touched by anyone, only later allowing Casca to become a part of his life right before the Eclipse. Even after the Eclipse, he abandons a broken, mentally fragmented Casca for two years in his pursuit of revenge against Griffith and his demon apostles. Guts VERYMUCH starts out as a B character, but slowly transitions into BRW character in the current place of the story. I'm thinking I may create three depictions of Guts, one card being a flip between Guts, the Wandering Knight (again, not a great name) and Guts, the Black Swordsman, and the other being Guts, the Berserk.
3) I'm not the biggest fan of adding +1/+1 counters to creatures. It seems like the laziest mechanic out there, and is so boring and prevalent throughout the game already, but I get your point. Trust me, I want his front side to be exciting too, I just don't know how to accomplish this just yet. I'm a huge fan of "Top-Down" design, so creating mechanics that fit the flavor of the character is important to me and is a challenge. For me, this is half the fun creating cards in the first place!
4) Well, I did look up whether any B cards in the history of the game have actually had First Strike. Surprisingly, 8% of all cards created with First strike are black. So it's not unheard of, but again, I get your point. It's stronger in W for sure.
5) This... This idea I like. A lot! I still want a little B in his casting cost tho, but I think he should be primarily W.
6) Already ahead of you.
7) Agreed. I added a sacrifice clause to Femto only being able to attack or block if he sacrifices a creature. I'll figure something out with Guts, I'm sure.
8) Agreed. I honestly hadn't realized when creating Berserk Armor that I was making it worse than Darksteel Plate. Again, I was too concerned with flavor more than anything else. I've lowered the CMC and equip cost to make it a bit better.
9) I'm not sure I'm understanding the flavor behind this suggestion. Do you mind explaining?
1) I think a good point to portray Guts character is himself when he was part of the Band of the Falcon and then the Black Swordsman / Berserk. The first two arcs 'Black Swordsman' and the 'Golden Age' is a lot about the transition of Guts, the brave loyal mercenary to Guts the ruthless homicidal demon killer. I think 'Guts, the Thousand Man Slayer' / 'Guts, the Black Swordsman' is a good choice. 'Thousand Man Slayer is actually a title Guts hold at least in the manga, don't remember if it is ever mentioned in the anime. Pre-Eclipse guts also should be Human Soldier type as Guts defines himself as a soldier first and foremost. Flipside Guts could be Human Warrior but I think Human Berserk is more fitting.
2) When I'm referring to 'Golden Age' Guts I talk about his time in the Band of the Falcon. There I think he was very WR. He cares a lot about his personal freedom, it's not very social and it's totally battle hungry (R). But he is utterly loyal to Griff and the band of the Falcon, who he considers to be his family. Before he join all he wants is to survive and none can really blame him of that seen how brutal his upbringing was. But after he joins, all he wants is ti protect his new family and serv his leader, which makes the events of the eclipse even more tragic.
3) The +1/+1 counter mechanic was sort of top down, to demonstrate Guts boundless potential as a warrior. Of course, it's up to you too pick whenever trait of the character you see to fit in order to develop your card !
4) In your research you should definitely drop older cards because the color pie is a evolving construct and it changes a lot. Black still got first strike recently in Knight of Malice but even that it's a sort of exception and Dominaria gimmick to the old mirrored White Knight and Black Knight. Griff has no black ability aside from the transformation, so it doesn't make any sense to ask for black mana.
...
9) Sometimes in top-down design (not just MTG, in any card game) we give abilities to equipment that represent characteristics of their owners. This is because the objective is to have exciting cards and if we are too strict about cards doing exactly what they depict do, the cards would be boring. Every sword would have to restrict itself to +X/+Y and maybe first strike, unless it's a crazy magical weapon. In this case I giving Dragonslayer a ability that could belong to Guts, the ability to 'Fight' instead of attack, since this is what Guts do. He cannot face the God Hand, instead he keeps fighting their minions one by one. "t: Fight target creature." should be something Guts do a lot, but that's a green ability and Guts can't have it. So maybe it would be good to add it to a artifact connected to him.
I agree with your assessment of Guts' character now. If I ever decide to make a set or take my creations from this universe further (just for fun), I could see making to two sets with 4 different depictions of Guts during his life. I see Guts as follows:
Before the Golden Age Arc: I think Guts was definitely B, with traces of W and R. He was selfish to a point, but didn't know that he was just looking for someone who would/could care about him. The Golden Age Arc (joining the Band of the Hawk): W and R like you said, with a little bit of B left in him. He does see the Hawks as his family, and cares for Griffith and Casca more than anyone else. But, he also wishes to pursue his own dream/goals not unlike Griffith, and is willing to leave the Hawks for this. He was even angry/sad when Gaston, his second in command, died (really sad moment for me too, Gaston was such a great guy). The Black Swordsman Arc (After Eclipse ): I think Guts is full on Mardu RWB at this point. Had to look up what/just started watching what happens during this arc. Conviction Arc and Beyond: Don't know enough yet to determine what Guts color alignment is at this point. I've read synopses of what happens, but none of them really give a comprehensive explanation of Gut's emotional state. I think I'd have to read the manga myself to properly do Guts justice at this point.
All in all, thank you for your responses and suggestions! They've been very helpful, and I hope you will continue visiting this post in the future.
So after almost a years' time, I decided to revisit the Guts Universe and design more cards! I erased a couple of posts in this thread prior because I want to showcase the newer versions of the cards and hopefully get more feed back on them. But first, some tasty new cards have been added to the set... Namely, the God Hand!!!
Ubik, of the God Hand(B/G)
Legendary Creature-Demon Apostle God Mythic
Haste, Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, scry 1. 1BBT: Target opponent sacrifices a permanent under their control and gain one treasure token artifact. GXT: Ubik of the God Hand gains +X/+X until end of turn.
At the beginning of your end step, exile Ubik of the God Hand until the beginning of your next upkeep.
1/1
Slan, of the God Hand(B/R)(B/R)
Legendary Creature-Demon Apostle God Mythic
Haste, Flying, Prowess
At the beginning of your upkeep, scry 1.
You may sacrifice any number of creatures under your control. If you do, Slan of the God Hand deals damage to target creature or player equal to the number creatures sacrificed this way and gains +1/+1 for each creature destroyed this way until end of turn.
At the beginning of your end step, exile Slan of the God Hand until the beginning of your next upkeep.
2/2
Femto, of the God Hand
Legendary Creature-Demon Apostle God Mythic
Haste, Vigilance, First Strike
1WB: Exile target permanent from the battlefield until end of turn. BBX: Return target creature or planeswalker from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control, where X equals the converted mana cost of that card.
At the beginning of your end step, exile Femto of the God Hand until the beginning of your next upkeep.
3/3
Conrad, of the God Hand1BBB
Legendary Creature-Demon Apostle God Mythic
Haste, Deathtouch, Swampwalk
At the beginning of your upkeep, scry 1. B: Create a 1/1 Rat creature token with deathtouch. For each rat creature created this way, put a -1/-1 counter on target creature an opponent controls. Conrad of the God Hand gets +1/+1 for each rat creature under your control.
At the beginning of your end step, exile Conrad of the God Hand until the beginning of your next upkeep.
4/4
Void, of the God Hand 3(U/B)(U/B)
Legendary Creature-Demon Apostle God Mythic
Haste, Protection from creatures.
At the beginning of your upkeep, scry 1. UBXT: You gain control of target creature or planeswalker an opponent controls, where X equals the converted mana cost of that card. Put a Brand counter on that card.
At the beginning of your end step, exile Void of the God Hand until the beginning of your next upkeep.
5/5
A running theme throughout the Guts Manga/Anime is Causality: 1)the relationship between cause and effect. 2)the principle that everything has a cause. The God Hand is able to manipulate causality to such a degree that it borders on omniscience. And I thought, what better way to depict this on a card than Scry, which happens to be one of my most favorite mechanics in Magic ever! Initially, I had each member of the God Hand being able to scry according to their mana cost. For instance, Slan would be to scry 2 because she costs two mana to cast. But I quickly saw how broken a mechanic that would be. So instead, I've come up with a card (which I'll post at a later date) that can increase the God Hands' ability to scry.
In my mind, I felt like there is a hierarchy to the God Hand as far as which Apostle of the God Hand is strongest. It is known that Void is the most powerful, the leader, and the oldest of the God Hand being over at least a 1000 years-old. Griffith may one day exceed him, but in the depictions of the God Hand in the cards I've thus far created (during the Eclipse), Void is in charge. Apostles in general are many times stronger than most humans, so I tried to think of way to depict that on the cards without making the cards too OP. Mechanically, each God Hand member (with the exception of Void and Femto) has a way of increasing their P/T and can potentially exceed every creature card on the battlefield in this respect. Void has protection from creatures which pretty much makes him a powerhouse and creature strategies somewhat useless against him.
Lastly, we have the exile clause on each God Hand card. This represents the God Hands inability to completely exist in the Corporeal Plane at this point in the story/set, and reside mostly in the Astral Plane. It also makes them even more unassailable flavor-wise and mechanically, because you or your opponent has to waste/hold up mana during your/their turn getting rid of the God Hand cards.
Design-wise the God Hand cards are meant to be played together but are powerful and versatile enough to be played on their own. I don't want to spoil what some of those synergies are but I'm sure you guys can figure them out! All in all, I'm very happy with where the cards are now, and hope to develop them a bit farther in the coming days.
EDIT: Gave all God Hand cards Haste. Also changed my mind on Femto's keyword abilities and gave him Vigilance and First Strike as per his Griffith side. Will change the text on Femto as per his keyword abilities on his card image during my next edit.
Design Notes
Guts, the Black Swordsman: Aside from being a powerful swordsman and formidable warrior, there was nothing particularly different about Guts as a character, save his tragic childhood, brutal upbringing, and the intense anger he harbors bubbling beneath his surface. He starts off as a selfish and aloof, caring only for increasing his strength and battle prowess. Once he's marked with the Brand of Sacrifice and witnesses the rape of Casca, his rage is released and he desires to extract revenge on all demon apostles and the God Hand. For these reasons, I think he should be BR. His flip (transform) clause represents his escape from the Eclipse brutally beaten before he's rescued by the Skull Knight.
Guts, the Berserk: This is flipped side of Guts, the Black Swordsman. It represents Guts having grown even faster and stronger after the Eclipse. Oftentimes Guts will take damage in order to get in a decisive blow to an enemy, usually with a swipe of his sword Dragon Slayer or a shot from his Cannon Arm. His static ability represents this, while his 1Rt ability represents his Repeater Crossbow, throwing knives, and miniature bombs. I read the Guts wiki and learned that Guts doesn't use his arm cannon or repeater crossbow after he acquires the the Berserk Armor, but I thought a Berserk Armor representation may work better for the card as a whole, and is a more dynamic looking shot.
Berserk Armor: Loved this artwork and modeled it after Darksteel Plate. Design is centered around how the armor actually doesn't heal guts, but pins his broken bones and tendons in places so that he can keep fighting thru his pain. Mechanically, I'm not sure if the card "works," but I personally like the design.
Dragon Slayer: Ah yes, the "original" buster sword of anime. A sword that grows ever more powerful the more demons and supernatural beings it slays. Not much more to say about this aside from being able to tutor it with Guts, the Black Swordsman. Chose this artwork (even tho it's not colored) because it is a cool shot.
Griffith, Commander of Hawks: Before any weeb decides to try and tear me a new one on his name, I know Griffith is leader of the Band of the Falcon, not the Hawk... At least, in the Japanese version. In the English version, the name was changed to Hawk, and even some Japanese supplemental materials and video games refer to the group Griffith leads as the Band of the Hawk. Plus I think hawks are cooler, so there you go. I wanted the card to portray Griffith's cold, calculating nature. His keyword abilities as well as his low power/toughness are meant to display the litheness of his body and speed and precision in battle. His flip (transform) ability represents his sacrifice of the members of Band of the Hawk during the Eclipse to ascend into the ranks of the God Hand as their leader. I made him WB because he cares about the members of the Hawk insomuch that he sees them as mere tools to reach his goals and satisfy his own ambitions.
Femto, of the God Hand: Whew boy, a lot going on here! Essentially, Griffith as Femto is practically unassailable (indestructible, check!). His divinity causes most individuals and armies to cower in fear (hexproof, check!). His unparalleled charisma attracts people to him so strongly it borderlines on devotion and worship. He can warp space/time (3W ability, check!) and can convene with and raise the dead (2BB ability, check!) He needs to be very hard to get rid of because in the rules of his universe, he is nearly OP.
The Berserk Armor is best compared to Darksteel Plate. I think in that respect you should lower the mana cost and equip cost, I also think the creature should get a -1/-1 counter if it takes ANY damage instead of just combat damage (that way things like lightning bolt are still effective).
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
That said, very good flavor on Guts, and reasonable mechanics overall if you just increase the cost.
Griffith is much less reasonable. A WB creature shouldn't get hexproof no matter how strong it's intended to be, the exile ability is anti-synergistic with the reanimation ability, and the 2-mana creature that you start with is already very strong for it to also have a relatively easily-achieved 'insta-win' mode.
- Rabid Wombat
Thanks for the response. Originally I had the any damage clause on Berserk Armor and it makes it less OP. The card could have just as easily been at uncommon, and I may change it's rarity to that. Or I could keep it at Rare and maybe make it cost 0 or 1 to be equipped to a Guts creature or planes walker. I'm not sure lowering it's CMC would keep it balanced, only because it can be tutored and most artifact cards and artifact creatures that grant indestructible start at 3 CMC. But, it is Rare... I'll playy with the numbers a bit and see how it works out.
Admittedly, I think Guts and Griffith may be a little too powerful and I could see increasing Guts' CMC to 4 or 5 and include a CMC in Griffith's transform cost.
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
I agree with your first point, but don't think he should cost 6 mana. Maybe 5 at most. Originally, he was priced at 4 CMC, but I thought players would be unsatisfied playing a 4 mana vanilla "do nothing" card that dies to Bolt. But then again, the way he's currently made makes no sense because you want him to die because his flip side is so much better than his front. However, I do think there is a better way to depict his transition from a knight in the Band of the Hawk to the Black Swordsman. As i mentioned above, I've been experimenting with a mechanic involving Brand counters, where meeting certain criteria allows creatures to flip much like the flip walkers of Magic Origins. Haven't quite worked out how I want it to happen just yet, but it is in the works should I pursue this project longer.
I have to disagree with you on Griffith. There has been plenty of president set for small creatures being hexproof. Invisible Stalker (one of my favorite blue cards ever printed) is the first card that sprang to my mind. Plus it only exists on his flip side, not his front side. With all the keyword abilities he's rocking, and his static combat ability, increasing his CMC to 3 might work better. And I will be adding a CMC to activate his flip ability. I don't see his two activated abilities as being mutually exclusive, but they aren't necessarily meant to work in tandem together either. What if I changed them to read:
1WB: Exile target non creature or planeswalker card from the battlefield.
BBx: Return target creature or planeswalker from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control, where x equals the casting cost of that card.
You've made some very good points, most of which I agree with. I do want to address your post point by point.
1) You just solved one of the biggest problems I had when creating Guts' card. I went back and forth over what depiction and point in time I wanted to portray Guts in. The Black Swordsman card originally was the one I had for the Berserk card. I think the first depiction I created used artwork I'll post below, and it was titled Guts, the Wandering Knight (or something to that affect). I didn't like the name, which is what made me change it to the Black Swordsman card. Obvious flavor fail on my part, that I WILL remedy shortly.
2) Thoroughly disagree with your assessment of Golden Age Guts. I don't see W being any part of his initial character arc. He is a loner by nature that fights for his own survival and no one else's unless they pay him for it. Until he meets Griffith and the Band of the Hawk, he's never once experienced love or true comradery. He even hates being touched by anyone, only later allowing Casca to become a part of his life right before the Eclipse. Even after the Eclipse, he abandons a broken, mentally fragmented Casca for two years in his pursuit of revenge against Griffith and his demon apostles. Guts VERY MUCH starts out as a B character, but slowly transitions into BRW character in the current place of the story. I'm thinking I may create three depictions of Guts, one card being a flip between Guts, the Wandering Knight (again, not a great name) and Guts, the Black Swordsman, and the other being Guts, the Berserk.
3) I'm not the biggest fan of adding +1/+1 counters to creatures. It seems like the laziest mechanic out there, and is so boring and prevalent throughout the game already, but I get your point. Trust me, I want his front side to be exciting too, I just don't know how to accomplish this just yet. I'm a huge fan of "Top-Down" design, so creating mechanics that fit the flavor of the character is important to me and is a challenge. For me, this is half the fun creating cards in the first place!
4) Well, I did look up whether any B cards in the history of the game have actually had First Strike. Surprisingly, 8% of all cards created with First strike are black. So it's not unheard of, but again, I get your point. It's stronger in W for sure.
5) This... This idea I like. A lot! I still want a little B in his casting cost tho, but I think he should be primarily W.
6) Already ahead of you.
7) Agreed. I added a sacrifice clause to Femto only being able to attack or block if he sacrifices a creature. I'll figure something out with Guts, I'm sure.
8) Agreed. I honestly hadn't realized when creating Berserk Armor that I was making it worse than Darksteel Plate. Again, I was too concerned with flavor more than anything else. I've lowered the CMC and equip cost to make it a bit better.
9) I'm not sure I'm understanding the flavor behind this suggestion. Do you mind explaining?
1) I think a good point to portray Guts character is himself when he was part of the Band of the Falcon and then the Black Swordsman / Berserk. The first two arcs 'Black Swordsman' and the 'Golden Age' is a lot about the transition of Guts, the brave loyal mercenary to Guts the ruthless homicidal demon killer. I think 'Guts, the Thousand Man Slayer' / 'Guts, the Black Swordsman' is a good choice. 'Thousand Man Slayer is actually a title Guts hold at least in the manga, don't remember if it is ever mentioned in the anime. Pre-Eclipse guts also should be Human Soldier type as Guts defines himself as a soldier first and foremost. Flipside Guts could be Human Warrior but I think Human Berserk is more fitting.
2) When I'm referring to 'Golden Age' Guts I talk about his time in the Band of the Falcon. There I think he was very WR. He cares a lot about his personal freedom, it's not very social and it's totally battle hungry (R). But he is utterly loyal to Griff and the band of the Falcon, who he considers to be his family. Before he join all he wants is to survive and none can really blame him of that seen how brutal his upbringing was. But after he joins, all he wants is ti protect his new family and serv his leader, which makes the events of the eclipse even more tragic.
3) The +1/+1 counter mechanic was sort of top down, to demonstrate Guts boundless potential as a warrior. Of course, it's up to you too pick whenever trait of the character you see to fit in order to develop your card !
4) In your research you should definitely drop older cards because the color pie is a evolving construct and it changes a lot. Black still got first strike recently in Knight of Malice but even that it's a sort of exception and Dominaria gimmick to the old mirrored White Knight and Black Knight. Griff has no black ability aside from the transformation, so it doesn't make any sense to ask for black mana.
...
9) Sometimes in top-down design (not just MTG, in any card game) we give abilities to equipment that represent characteristics of their owners. This is because the objective is to have exciting cards and if we are too strict about cards doing exactly what they depict do, the cards would be boring. Every sword would have to restrict itself to +X/+Y and maybe first strike, unless it's a crazy magical weapon. In this case I giving Dragonslayer a ability that could belong to Guts, the ability to 'Fight' instead of attack, since this is what Guts do. He cannot face the God Hand, instead he keeps fighting their minions one by one. "t: Fight target creature." should be something Guts do a lot, but that's a green ability and Guts can't have it. So maybe it would be good to add it to a artifact connected to him.
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
I agree with your assessment of Guts' character now. If I ever decide to make a set or take my creations from this universe further (just for fun), I could see making to two sets with 4 different depictions of Guts during his life. I see Guts as follows:
Before the Golden Age Arc: I think Guts was definitely B, with traces of W and R. He was selfish to a point, but didn't know that he was just looking for someone who would/could care about him.
The Golden Age Arc (joining the Band of the Hawk): W and R like you said, with a little bit of B left in him. He does see the Hawks as his family, and cares for Griffith and Casca more than anyone else. But, he also wishes to pursue his own dream/goals not unlike Griffith, and is willing to leave the Hawks for this. He was even angry/sad when Gaston, his second in command, died (really sad moment for me too, Gaston was such a great guy).
The Black Swordsman Arc (After Eclipse ): I think Guts is full on Mardu RWB at this point. Had to look up what/just started watching what happens during this arc.
Conviction Arc and Beyond: Don't know enough yet to determine what Guts color alignment is at this point. I've read synopses of what happens, but none of them really give a comprehensive explanation of Gut's emotional state. I think I'd have to read the manga myself to properly do Guts justice at this point.
All in all, thank you for your responses and suggestions! They've been very helpful, and I hope you will continue visiting this post in the future.
Ubik, of the God Hand (B/G)
Legendary Creature-Demon Apostle God Mythic
Haste, Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, scry 1.
1BBT: Target opponent sacrifices a permanent under their control and gain one treasure token artifact.
GXT: Ubik of the God Hand gains +X/+X until end of turn.
At the beginning of your end step, exile Ubik of the God Hand until the beginning of your next upkeep.
1/1
Slan, of the God Hand (B/R)(B/R)
Legendary Creature-Demon Apostle God Mythic
Haste, Flying, Prowess
At the beginning of your upkeep, scry 1.
You may sacrifice any number of creatures under your control. If you do, Slan of the God Hand deals damage to target creature or player equal to the number creatures sacrificed this way and gains +1/+1 for each creature destroyed this way until end of turn.
At the beginning of your end step, exile Slan of the God Hand until the beginning of your next upkeep.
2/2
Femto, of the God Hand
Legendary Creature-Demon Apostle God Mythic
Haste, Vigilance, First Strike
1WB: Exile target permanent from the battlefield until end of turn.
BBX: Return target creature or planeswalker from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control, where X equals the converted mana cost of that card.
At the beginning of your end step, exile Femto of the God Hand until the beginning of your next upkeep.
3/3
Conrad, of the God Hand 1BBB
Legendary Creature-Demon Apostle God Mythic
Haste, Deathtouch, Swampwalk
At the beginning of your upkeep, scry 1.
B: Create a 1/1 Rat creature token with deathtouch. For each rat creature created this way, put a -1/-1 counter on target creature an opponent controls. Conrad of the God Hand gets +1/+1 for each rat creature under your control.
At the beginning of your end step, exile Conrad of the God Hand until the beginning of your next upkeep.
4/4
Void, of the God Hand 3(U/B)(U/B)
Legendary Creature-Demon Apostle God Mythic
Haste, Protection from creatures.
At the beginning of your upkeep, scry 1.
UBXT: You gain control of target creature or planeswalker an opponent controls, where X equals the converted mana cost of that card. Put a Brand counter on that card.
At the beginning of your end step, exile Void of the God Hand until the beginning of your next upkeep.
5/5
A running theme throughout the Guts Manga/Anime is Causality: 1)the relationship between cause and effect. 2)the principle that everything has a cause. The God Hand is able to manipulate causality to such a degree that it borders on omniscience. And I thought, what better way to depict this on a card than Scry, which happens to be one of my most favorite mechanics in Magic ever! Initially, I had each member of the God Hand being able to scry according to their mana cost. For instance, Slan would be to scry 2 because she costs two mana to cast. But I quickly saw how broken a mechanic that would be. So instead, I've come up with a card (which I'll post at a later date) that can increase the God Hands' ability to scry.
In my mind, I felt like there is a hierarchy to the God Hand as far as which Apostle of the God Hand is strongest. It is known that Void is the most powerful, the leader, and the oldest of the God Hand being over at least a 1000 years-old. Griffith may one day exceed him, but in the depictions of the God Hand in the cards I've thus far created (during the Eclipse), Void is in charge. Apostles in general are many times stronger than most humans, so I tried to think of way to depict that on the cards without making the cards too OP. Mechanically, each God Hand member (with the exception of Void and Femto) has a way of increasing their P/T and can potentially exceed every creature card on the battlefield in this respect. Void has protection from creatures which pretty much makes him a powerhouse and creature strategies somewhat useless against him.
Lastly, we have the exile clause on each God Hand card. This represents the God Hands inability to completely exist in the Corporeal Plane at this point in the story/set, and reside mostly in the Astral Plane. It also makes them even more unassailable flavor-wise and mechanically, because you or your opponent has to waste/hold up mana during your/their turn getting rid of the God Hand cards.
Design-wise the God Hand cards are meant to be played together but are powerful and versatile enough to be played on their own. I don't want to spoil what some of those synergies are but I'm sure you guys can figure them out! All in all, I'm very happy with where the cards are now, and hope to develop them a bit farther in the coming days.
EDIT: Gave all God Hand cards Haste. Also changed my mind on Femto's keyword abilities and gave him Vigilance and First Strike as per his Griffith side. Will change the text on Femto as per his keyword abilities on his card image during my next edit.