So the upcoming set of "War of the Spark" inspired me to make a card that should represent Bolas as the evil genius at the apex of his power trope. I Imagine that he will win harvesting other planeswalkers sparks in order to be the allmighty divine oldwaker he was once. That's what I come up to:
Nicol Bolas, Omnipotent Mastermind UUBBBRR
+1: Each opponent discard a card, then sacrifice a creature. Draw a card.
0: Remove all Loyalty counters from target planeswalker. Add that many loyalty counters on Nicol Bolas, Omnipotent Mastermind
-10: You control your opponents until your next turn.
-20: Gain control of all permanents.
Starting Loyalty: 7
Not much to say here. Bolas extremely intensive mana cost reflect his seek of perfection (in a similar fashion of the last Niv-Mizzet) and is a kinda nice throwback of his Cruel Ultimatum which is represented also in his +1. Cmc is seven because it must fit based on the Emergency Power, which is, Dovin summoning Bolas.
Second ability I think it's a unique effect that both show how Bolas harvest the power of other planeswalkers sparks while gaining power for himself. Seems perfectly in color pie for the black part too.
third ability is what Bolas should be able to do as the grand Puppeteer par excellence. In 1vs1 is a regular Mindslaver but in multiplayer should be able to take control of all your opponent's turn until your next turn. Not sure is worded right, accept suggestion for fixing.
Finally, a splashy ultimate that should win games and represent the desire of Bolas to dominate the entire multiverse at his will. Cost a lot to gain there, but the more planeswalkers are in game, the faster you go to that ultimate, which could represent well why Bolas need so many PW's on Ravnica to ultimate his masterplan.
so, what do you think?
First of all, the flavor here is great. It definitely feels like a Bolas. The +1 is worthy of that mana cost, but everything else here needs work. The -10 has the charge time of a typical ultimate unless your opponent has a planeswalker to hit with the 0, which won't find a target against many decks. The -20 won't be able to be used ever because you won't be able to use the 0 more than once or twice even against opponents with planeswalkers because players will stop playing 'walkers and start using minus abilities of survivors when Bolas comes out.
[+1]: Each opponent discards...
[0]: Remove all counters from target permanent or player. Put that many loyalty counters on ~.
[-10]: You control your opponents until your next turn.
First of all, the flavor here is great. It definitely feels like a Bolas. The +1 is worthy of that mana cost, but everything else here needs work. The -10 has the charge time of a typical ultimate unless your opponent has a planeswalker to hit with the 0, which won't find a target against many decks. The -20 won't be able to be used ever because you won't be able to use the 0 more than once or twice even against opponents with planeswalkers because players will stop playing 'walkers and start using minus abilities of survivors when Bolas comes out.
Thank you for the reply. Now yes, the -10 definitely feels like an ultimate, and I like the idea of Bolas having the unique feature of a "double ultimate" - one very strong, and another one completely insane. And also one ultimate reasonably reachable for "spike" appeal and another one unreachable but much more appealing for "timmy" feels. Yes, Bolas is very PW punishing, but consider that even if opponents doesn't play walker anymore, the zero ability can still be useful for the -20 because:
- you can absorb energy of your own planeswalkers are already on battlefield or you will cast (not a great sinergy, but great on flavor since doesn't surprise that Bolas use his own pawns in order to gain power at any cost)
- I imagine that this Bolas gives the best of him inside a multiplayer environment where there is a greater chance that more PW's will show up at the same time by different controllers, before Bolas enter the battlefield.
- If you absorb a PW and then cast a Deepglow Skate, Bolas should gain enough loyalty to make the grand ultimate possible the turn after.
But anyway, even if Bolas -20 wouldn't be viable, who cares? PW's power are never judged by their ultimate anyway. Jace, the Mind Sculptor almost never reach his ultimate and is still one of the best PW ever printed. Now this Bolas ultimate is even stronger in multiplayer and it practically ends any game, so a "-20 loyalty: win the game, and if you didn't win is just because you're an idiot" should be fair enough.
But if you suggest different costs for loyalty and abilities I'm all open to hear them.
The word "omnipotent" gets thrown around too often; Bolas might be "kool", but he's not omnipotent.
Well, technically, this is a Bolas that actually manage to gain his oldspark back, his dream come true. So, an immortal being able to destroy and create worlds, like a God. If that's not omnipotent, is a close concept, and sure is something Bolas would want to achieve ultimately.
Ability 1 is a lot of text for a "mediocre" effect, and works against the -20.
Let's say you should do the +1 more for go to the -10 and use the 0 for go to the -20. Also, even if there's a slight anti-sinergy, feels pretty irrelevant. The -20 is so powerful that win the game even if you just steal all the mana and nothing else (also, he protect himself).
0 just feels spiteful; maybe that's what you're doing for?
Unless you suggest a better idea of representing an harvesting of Sparks in order to gain power from them, I think this ability is just perfect to make "feel" that concept in-game.
My suggestion is to take his original Legend's casting cost and try to make something that's fun to play. I don't think you play this to have fun
I have no idea of what is your idea of fun (apparently with your criterias many already printed Planeswalkers would be just plain "unfun" to you), but to me, a single one-shot mind-slaver effect, especially in multiplayer environments, always end up in very hilarious ways (at least for the puppeteer for sure lol).
But it's 7 mana, 3 color, no colorless, and all of the abilities seem unfun to play against
Can you remind me a single Bolas card that shouldn't be "unfun" to play against? Because the very essence of this character seems to bring misery and despair on the opponent. The PW deck version is the less hostile, but this is supposed to be somehow competitive, and with that mana cost, abilities should be absolutely rewarding and "feel" like a Bolas card (that destroy, control things and disrupt hands all the time in his previous incarnations).
On turn 7, +1 either flat out wins you the game, or it does nothing.
What? In the worst case it always draw a card at least, which is far from "nothing". Also, if there's no card to make discard nor creature to make sacrifice, there's a very good chance that you're in a dominant position (so why I should be worried for that scenario?). Between the 0 and the +1 this Bolas is useful practically in any single moment of the game against basically all the decks, and I still think that is much, much less oppressive than the +3 of the original Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker that straight destroy basically anything the opponent got.
0 Assassinates a planeswalker… if your opponent has one.
Same design of Garruk, Apex Predator. A single option gives you the straight opportunity to kill PW's, but if there's none of them around, you can still add loyalty counters for other reasons. Seems good design to me.
if your opponent has one. -10 and -20 are all "big shot" finale things fit for commander, but that raises the question - Is this supposed to be a commander card, or is this for some kind of expert level expansion reflecting a story moment?
I Imagine this card to be in regular booster packs of "War of the Spark" and still I don't find any contradiction to be also great for the commander format. WotC design standard-legal cards with EDH in mind all the time nowadays, so shouldn't feel weird this. Sill the card works perfectly good in 1vs1 though. (Nicol Bolas, God Pharaoh is another one that seems to be designed with being very much effective in multiplayer and commander envinroments in mind)
(Also, is the conclusion of that story Bolas mind controls everyone and rules everything? Yikes!)
No, that's just my selfish wish to be honest LOL. I'm a Bolas fan and I know what Bolas want. This card represent all of Bolas ultimate desires and ambitions finally come true once for all. I hope that harvesting the sparks and returning as an oldwalker will lead to this result, but sadly it's far more likely that the Gatewatch will somehow stop him from that.
[+1]: Each opponent discards...
[0]: Remove all counters from target permanent or player. Put that many loyalty counters on ~.
[-10]: You control your opponents until your next turn.
Thank you. Fixed first and third ability accordingly, but I still think that zero should mention only Planeswalkers. Yes, I know that is more parasitic and much less "lenticular design", but I want that the zero ability strongly suggest the idea of harvesting a planeswalker spark, and that's why it should hose only planeswalkers counters and not other things.
[+1]: Each opponent discards...
[0]: Remove all counters from target permanent or player. Put that many loyalty counters on ~.
[-10]: You control your opponents until your next turn.
Thank you. Fixed first and third ability accordingly, but I still think that zero should mention only Planeswalkers. Yes, I know that is more parasitic and much less "lenticular design", but I want that the zero ability strongly suggest the idea of harvesting a planeswalker spark, and that's why it should hose only planeswalkers counters and not other things.
Sacrificing that much playability in the name of preserving flavor is a mistake imo. That being said, it should probably only be able to remove (any type of) counters from (any type of) permanents your opponents control in order to prevent cheese combos.
That being said, it should probably only be able to remove (any type of) counters from (any type of) permanents your opponents control in order to prevent cheese combos.
That being said, it should probably only be able to remove (any type of) counters from (any type of) permanents your opponents control in order to prevent cheese combos.
Sacrificing that much playability in the name of preserving flavor is a mistake imo. That being said, it should probably only be able to remove (any type of) counters from (any type of) permanents your opponents control in order to prevent cheese combos.
Well, if you are going to spend UUBBBRR and making a 2-card combo, you kinda deserve to have a 20/20 flyer indestructible at that point. The combo is just "cute", very far from game-ending. Even in the best case, I don't see an easy way to cheat Bolas anytime soon on the game, since PW are very hard to reanimate also. Thran Temporal Gateway seems the cheapest way, but why bother about marit lage interaction? You can just pop-out a random eldrazi, praetor or phyrexian colossus at that point. I don't think hitting your counters is really troublesome, I don't see viable and practical ways to be truly troublesome and consistent (compared to other combos).
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Nicol Bolas, Omnipotent Mastermind UUBBBRR
+1: Each opponent discard a card, then sacrifice a creature. Draw a card.
0: Remove all Loyalty counters from target planeswalker. Add that many loyalty counters on Nicol Bolas, Omnipotent Mastermind
-10: You control your opponents until your next turn.
-20: Gain control of all permanents.
Starting Loyalty: 7
Not much to say here. Bolas extremely intensive mana cost reflect his seek of perfection (in a similar fashion of the last Niv-Mizzet) and is a kinda nice throwback of his Cruel Ultimatum which is represented also in his +1. Cmc is seven because it must fit based on the Emergency Power, which is, Dovin summoning Bolas.
Second ability I think it's a unique effect that both show how Bolas harvest the power of other planeswalkers sparks while gaining power for himself. Seems perfectly in color pie for the black part too.
third ability is what Bolas should be able to do as the grand Puppeteer par excellence. In 1vs1 is a regular Mindslaver but in multiplayer should be able to take control of all your opponent's turn until your next turn. Not sure is worded right, accept suggestion for fixing.
Finally, a splashy ultimate that should win games and represent the desire of Bolas to dominate the entire multiverse at his will. Cost a lot to gain there, but the more planeswalkers are in game, the faster you go to that ultimate, which could represent well why Bolas need so many PW's on Ravnica to ultimate his masterplan.
so, what do you think?
[+1]: Each opponent discards...
[0]: Remove all counters from target permanent or player. Put that many loyalty counters on ~.
[-10]: You control your opponents until your next turn.
Thank you for the reply. Now yes, the -10 definitely feels like an ultimate, and I like the idea of Bolas having the unique feature of a "double ultimate" - one very strong, and another one completely insane. And also one ultimate reasonably reachable for "spike" appeal and another one unreachable but much more appealing for "timmy" feels. Yes, Bolas is very PW punishing, but consider that even if opponents doesn't play walker anymore, the zero ability can still be useful for the -20 because:
- you can absorb energy of your own planeswalkers are already on battlefield or you will cast (not a great sinergy, but great on flavor since doesn't surprise that Bolas use his own pawns in order to gain power at any cost)
- I imagine that this Bolas gives the best of him inside a multiplayer environment where there is a greater chance that more PW's will show up at the same time by different controllers, before Bolas enter the battlefield.
- If you absorb a PW and then cast a Deepglow Skate, Bolas should gain enough loyalty to make the grand ultimate possible the turn after.
But anyway, even if Bolas -20 wouldn't be viable, who cares? PW's power are never judged by their ultimate anyway. Jace, the Mind Sculptor almost never reach his ultimate and is still one of the best PW ever printed. Now this Bolas ultimate is even stronger in multiplayer and it practically ends any game, so a "-20 loyalty: win the game, and if you didn't win is just because you're an idiot" should be fair enough.
But if you suggest different costs for loyalty and abilities I'm all open to hear them.
Well, technically, this is a Bolas that actually manage to gain his oldspark back, his dream come true. So, an immortal being able to destroy and create worlds, like a God. If that's not omnipotent, is a close concept, and sure is something Bolas would want to achieve ultimately.
Let's say you should do the +1 more for go to the -10 and use the 0 for go to the -20. Also, even if there's a slight anti-sinergy, feels pretty irrelevant. The -20 is so powerful that win the game even if you just steal all the mana and nothing else (also, he protect himself).
Unless you suggest a better idea of representing an harvesting of Sparks in order to gain power from them, I think this ability is just perfect to make "feel" that concept in-game.
I have no idea of what is your idea of fun (apparently with your criterias many already printed Planeswalkers would be just plain "unfun" to you), but to me, a single one-shot mind-slaver effect, especially in multiplayer environments, always end up in very hilarious ways (at least for the puppeteer for sure lol).
Can you remind me a single Bolas card that shouldn't be "unfun" to play against? Because the very essence of this character seems to bring misery and despair on the opponent. The PW deck version is the less hostile, but this is supposed to be somehow competitive, and with that mana cost, abilities should be absolutely rewarding and "feel" like a Bolas card (that destroy, control things and disrupt hands all the time in his previous incarnations).
What? In the worst case it always draw a card at least, which is far from "nothing". Also, if there's no card to make discard nor creature to make sacrifice, there's a very good chance that you're in a dominant position (so why I should be worried for that scenario?). Between the 0 and the +1 this Bolas is useful practically in any single moment of the game against basically all the decks, and I still think that is much, much less oppressive than the +3 of the original Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker that straight destroy basically anything the opponent got.
Same design of Garruk, Apex Predator. A single option gives you the straight opportunity to kill PW's, but if there's none of them around, you can still add loyalty counters for other reasons. Seems good design to me.
I Imagine this card to be in regular booster packs of "War of the Spark" and still I don't find any contradiction to be also great for the commander format. WotC design standard-legal cards with EDH in mind all the time nowadays, so shouldn't feel weird this. Sill the card works perfectly good in 1vs1 though. (Nicol Bolas, God Pharaoh is another one that seems to be designed with being very much effective in multiplayer and commander envinroments in mind)
No, that's just my selfish wish to be honest LOL. I'm a Bolas fan and I know what Bolas want. This card represent all of Bolas ultimate desires and ambitions finally come true once for all. I hope that harvesting the sparks and returning as an oldwalker will lead to this result, but sadly it's far more likely that the Gatewatch will somehow stop him from that.
Thank you. Fixed first and third ability accordingly, but I still think that zero should mention only Planeswalkers. Yes, I know that is more parasitic and much less "lenticular design", but I want that the zero ability strongly suggest the idea of harvesting a planeswalker spark, and that's why it should hose only planeswalkers counters and not other things.
Sacrificing that much playability in the name of preserving flavor is a mistake imo. That being said, it should probably only be able to remove (any type of) counters from (any type of) permanents your opponents control in order to prevent cheese combos.
Just makes the cheese a bit more complicated.
I guess it's not really cheese at that point, though.
counters =/= tokens
Well, if you are going to spend UUBBBRR and making a 2-card combo, you kinda deserve to have a 20/20 flyer indestructible at that point. The combo is just "cute", very far from game-ending. Even in the best case, I don't see an easy way to cheat Bolas anytime soon on the game, since PW are very hard to reanimate also. Thran Temporal Gateway seems the cheapest way, but why bother about marit lage interaction? You can just pop-out a random eldrazi, praetor or phyrexian colossus at that point. I don't think hitting your counters is really troublesome, I don't see viable and practical ways to be truly troublesome and consistent (compared to other combos).