I've been toying around with an idea for a set: "Viking world" meets "sky world" i.e. there is a giant floating tree, with different regions on different branches, and vikings use the levitating wood of the tree to make flying long-ships i.e. FLYING VIKINGS!
I'm looking for ideas and opinions on the organizing principles for a set like this. For example, Theros was built on the triad of Heroes, Gods, and Monsters. How would a Norse set be organized? I have some ideas for mechanics and themes that I want, but I need a few more ideas to fill in the gaps.
Here is what I have so far:
Auramancy(When this creature enters the battlefield, you may cast an Aura on it from your graveyard)
Auramancy shows up in all colors but is primarily in white, green, and red. Functionally, it's kicker. It's presence means that the set has more Auras, particularly ones that can replace instant and sorcery effects in limited decks.
Keyword Action: Levitate(Until your next turn, you can't be attacked unless half the attackers have flying.)
Levitate is in white and blue, and it's an iffy mechanic. Originally it was just a temporary moat effect, but I'm worried that is too powerful. I'm trying to find a way to make flies significant without warping the limited format around them.
Other structural notes:
There are a couple of flying longship vehicles to make sure all colors have a bit of access to flying.
I noticed that there are a lot of animal pairs in Norse mythology, and I became interested in a small theme around pairs of duplicate cards. Blue/Green seems like the natural home for this.
I'm messing around with Bird tribal in blue/black.
As a concept this is A+. People tend to set their Viking themed custom sets on Valla and the theme is never as high-concept as this. Flying tribal as a set theme is very obvious - flying is the simplest combat keyword there is and it's been around as long as Magic, and just about everyone loves it.
Auramancy has potential and I think it's pretty balanced, if not even underpowered - sure it's recursion but it requires you to pay costs and all, and it requires a fair density of Auras in your deck to be useful. Hopefully there's some self-mill action for Limited, maybe for GU, and you could even make it something like "Auramancy N (When this enters the battlefield, you may return an Aura card with converted mana cost N or less from your graveyard to the battlefield attached to it.)"
Levitate needs work; it's unintuitive, feel-bad, and the flavor is off - why can a bunch of nonflyers attack you if some flyers do? Maybe something like "Target (something) levitates (Prevent all damage that would be dealt to it by creatures (sources?) without flying until your next turn.)"
Oh this sounds like a set that would have amazing art. I like Auramancy but doesn't the Auramancy N suggestion seem like it could be busted? Mainly I'm talking about the "or less" part. Levitate is in its beginning stages but I get what is trying to be done and so it'll come to you or us.
what are your bird tribal ideas? Like Bird Beasts or doves?
Perhaps Soulbond can return in this set. I suggest it as a starting point for the norse animal combos you mention. I really liked soulbond and think there may be lots of room there.
As far as organization, I'm positive you're thinking about it more than us already. Plenty of stories to tell in this setting me thinks.
I don't think auramancy with a parameter would be overpowered; it's not as though there are super-strong Auras with no mana cost like the mandatorysuspenders that could be cheated out due to having CMC 0. Auramancy existing would be a concern in making cards like that in the future, but that's such a narrow category of design that I don't think it would even be worth worrying about. In any case, I think it'd be okay to have a combo like that exist in non-Standard Constructed formats, but we're so deep in hypothetical territory here that I think I should move on.
One thing to think about is the amount of color bleed in green (and to a much lesser extent, small creatures in red) that would be necessary so that everyone gets some flying love.
Just because flying is a major theme doesn't mean red or green need to actually fly. They have their own way of interacting with flying creatures so you just need to play up those aspects. Something wizards has regularly failed on is having enough hate in conjunction with their theme. They usually want a sets theme to over power previous sets so the new set gets hate for the old set and there is little are for the new set. With a custom set you sent sculpting a standard environment but a stand alone item so you can play up red and green's hate to convey how they function in this world.
@void_nothing You are correct that Auramancy is by default not very cost efficient. I started out by making a 2G 2/3 Auramancy, but I realized that Oakenform just makes it a Vastwood Gorger, which isn't even common rate these days. The trick I've found is to pair Auramancy with keywords that scale well with power, like flying and first strike. This is convenient since the other pressure on auramancy creatures is text box space. So most of my auramancers are french vanillas. I don't put the same evergreen keywords on the Auras themselves to avoid overlap. Instead, the Auras buff p/t, and many have etb effects, so you are rewarded if you can recurse them multiple times.
As for Levitate, here is what I was going for: White/Blue is a tempo deck that tries to race in the air, while slowing down enemy attackers on the ground. Instead of getting a 2/5 creature to block on the ground, it slows its opponents down by restricting their ability to attack every few turns with levitate. Enemy decks can get around this by running their own flyers and by using their ground creatures to crew flying vehicles. The whole "half the attackers must have flying" is sort of a nod to the Pegasus Courser effect, where your fliers help airlift some of your non-fliers, but it's probably not worth the added complexity.
I'll probably remove levitate as a keyword and just put the effect on one or two efficient commons, so its becomes a factor in the draft format but you can't build a turbo fog deck with it. My goal is to make flying be something players think about more without doing anything super heavy-handed or format warping. I definitely don't want to give red and green flyers they aren't supposed to have. They would need to use colorless vehicles with flying (because those have historically been fair and balanced amirite). Red can occasionally get a flier at uncommon. What I really want to know is, can green have this:
On its own, it's basically Wall of Vines. However if levitate is in effect, you can attack with it to airlift one of your big green ground creatures. Is this okay? Probably not, especially in a set with multiple Aura buffs. I just like the idea of a crusty old elf sitting on his floating log and yelling at passing air-traffic.
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I'm looking for ideas and opinions on the organizing principles for a set like this. For example, Theros was built on the triad of Heroes, Gods, and Monsters. How would a Norse set be organized? I have some ideas for mechanics and themes that I want, but I need a few more ideas to fill in the gaps.
Here is what I have so far:
Auramancy(When this creature enters the battlefield, you may cast an Aura on it from your graveyard)
Auramancy shows up in all colors but is primarily in white, green, and red. Functionally, it's kicker. It's presence means that the set has more Auras, particularly ones that can replace instant and sorcery effects in limited decks.
Keyword Action: Levitate(Until your next turn, you can't be attacked unless half the attackers have flying.)
Levitate is in white and blue, and it's an iffy mechanic. Originally it was just a temporary moat effect, but I'm worried that is too powerful. I'm trying to find a way to make flies significant without warping the limited format around them.
Other structural notes:
Auramancy has potential and I think it's pretty balanced, if not even underpowered - sure it's recursion but it requires you to pay costs and all, and it requires a fair density of Auras in your deck to be useful. Hopefully there's some self-mill action for Limited, maybe for GU, and you could even make it something like "Auramancy N (When this enters the battlefield, you may return an Aura card with converted mana cost N or less from your graveyard to the battlefield attached to it.)"
Levitate needs work; it's unintuitive, feel-bad, and the flavor is off - why can a bunch of nonflyers attack you if some flyers do? Maybe something like "Target (something) levitates (Prevent all damage that would be dealt to it by creatures (sources?) without flying until your next turn.)"
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
what are your bird tribal ideas? Like Bird Beasts or doves?
Perhaps Soulbond can return in this set. I suggest it as a starting point for the norse animal combos you mention. I really liked soulbond and think there may be lots of room there.
As far as organization, I'm positive you're thinking about it more than us already. Plenty of stories to tell in this setting me thinks.
One thing to think about is the amount of color bleed in green (and to a much lesser extent, small creatures in red) that would be necessary so that everyone gets some flying love.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
@void_nothing You are correct that Auramancy is by default not very cost efficient. I started out by making a 2G 2/3 Auramancy, but I realized that Oakenform just makes it a Vastwood Gorger, which isn't even common rate these days. The trick I've found is to pair Auramancy with keywords that scale well with power, like flying and first strike. This is convenient since the other pressure on auramancy creatures is text box space. So most of my auramancers are french vanillas. I don't put the same evergreen keywords on the Auras themselves to avoid overlap. Instead, the Auras buff p/t, and many have etb effects, so you are rewarded if you can recurse them multiple times.
As for Levitate, here is what I was going for: White/Blue is a tempo deck that tries to race in the air, while slowing down enemy attackers on the ground. Instead of getting a 2/5 creature to block on the ground, it slows its opponents down by restricting their ability to attack every few turns with levitate. Enemy decks can get around this by running their own flyers and by using their ground creatures to crew flying vehicles. The whole "half the attackers must have flying" is sort of a nod to the Pegasus Courser effect, where your fliers help airlift some of your non-fliers, but it's probably not worth the added complexity.
I'll probably remove levitate as a keyword and just put the effect on one or two efficient commons, so its becomes a factor in the draft format but you can't build a turbo fog deck with it. My goal is to make flying be something players think about more without doing anything super heavy-handed or format warping. I definitely don't want to give red and green flyers they aren't supposed to have. They would need to use colorless vehicles with flying (because those have historically been fair and balanced amirite). Red can occasionally get a flier at uncommon. What I really want to know is, can green have this:
Skybranch Hermit G
Creature - Elf Druid {C}
Flying
0/3
On its own, it's basically Wall of Vines. However if levitate is in effect, you can attack with it to airlift one of your big green ground creatures. Is this okay? Probably not, especially in a set with multiple Aura buffs. I just like the idea of a crusty old elf sitting on his floating log and yelling at passing air-traffic.