Armament Angel (Common) 4W
Creature - Angel
3/3
Flying
Armament Angel has vigilance as long as it’s equipped.
Avenge (Common) 3W
Instant
Destroy target creature that dealt damage this turn.
Bastion Brute (Common) 4W
Creature - Giant
4/5
When Bastion Brute enters the battlefield, untap all creatures you control.
Benevolent Spirit (Common) 3W
Creature - Spirit
3/2 Spectra — When Benevolent Spirit enters the battlefield, you gain X life, where X is the number of colors among cards in your graveyard.
Call of Duty (Common) 1W
Sorcery
Choose one —
• Create a 2/2 white Knight creature token with vigilance.
• Create two 1/1 white Warrior creature tokens with vigilance.
Cheat Death (Common) (W/B)
Instant
When target creature you control dies this turn, return it to the battlefield under your control.
Translocation (Common) (W/U)
Instant
Exile target creature, then return that card to the battlefield under its owner’s control.
Giant Sloth (Common) 3W
Creature - Sloth
2/3 4W: Giant Sloth gets +1/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn.
Holy Vestments (Common) 1W
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
When Holy Vestments enters the battlefield, draw a card.
Enchanted creature gets +1/+2.
Incorporeal Corpse (Common) 3(W/B)
Creature - Spirit Zombie
2/5
*vanilla*
Leap into Battle (Common) W
Instant
Choose one —
• Target creature gets +1/+1 and gains flying until end of turn.
• Target creature can block any number of creatures this turn.
Loyal Squire (Common) 1W
Creature - Human Soldier
2/2
Whenever you cast a multicolored spell, Loyal Squire gets +0/+1 until end of turn.
Merchant Caravan (Common) (W/U)
Creature - Human
0/4
*vanilla*
Moral Fortitude (Common) 2W
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
As long as you control enchanted creature, it gets +2/+2. Otherwise, it can’t attack.
Pearl Monocle (Common) 3
Artifact t: Add W. t, Sacrifice Pearl Monocle: Draw a card.
Spectral Armor (Common) 1W
Instant Spectra — Up to X target creatures gain indestructible until end of turn, where X is the number of colors among cards in your graveyard.
Town Guard (Common) 3W
Creature - Human Soldier
2/4
Town Guard can block an additional creature each combat.
Blade Golem (Common) 4
Artifact Creature - Golem
3/0
Armed 1 (This creature enters the battlefield equipped with a colorless artifact Equipment token. It has “Equip 1” and “Equipped creature gets +1/+1.”)
Many of these commons are clearly intentionally uninteresting, so I think I'll pick out a few that stood out to me:
Call of Duty is very strong for a common. Take the gap between Dragon Fodder at common and Servo Exhibition at uncommon. Color identity is a wash since this mechanic is equally represented in both red and white, so the difference basically boils down to context. Fodder makes expendable tokens for sacrifice, while exhibition tapped into its set's artifact synergies. If this small change was enough to justify a jump to uncommon, then being modal and throwing vigilance into the mix definitely qualifies this card as an uncommon. Rarity aside, the usage of two different creature tokens with vigilance is very clever, and it supports two different tribal archetypes.
I want to give Falcon Familiar a shoutout because my cousin would love this card. He really likes birds. And angels. Anything with feathery wings, really. The one thing he would not like is not being able to use it as his umpteenth Suntail Hawk variant in his Soraya the Falconer EDH deck.
Missionary is strong, but not enough for a rarity upgrade, which strikes a good balance. Will this set have a lifegain subtheme? You have a few good signpost draft commons for something like that.
Pearl Monocle is a hard I would hesitate to even put at uncommon. Just being a 2 CMC mana rock is strong on its own, but the sacrifice ability makes this cycle better than Mind Stone in many cases. Mind Stone is a fantastic mana rock, but it has been uncommon for all of its printings save its initial appearance, one of its commander appearances, and a masters product. It certainly wouldn't be a common in a non-masters/supplemental set under modern design, and the same is more than true for a cycle of cards that would be even stronger.
thank you both. all duly noted. i'll be revisiting all critiques as the set develops. I’ve already made some changes in the set file. Will put them here when the time is right.
The white and blue commons are finally fully updated and the other colors aren't far behind.
Broad Changes:
1 Prisma used to count colors, now it just checks for three colors Threshold and Delirium style.
2 The artifact creatures were vanilla, but now the hybrid creatures are vanilla (their bonus value lies in their contribution to Prisma) and the artifact creatures now bear the Armed mechanic. (Though I'm considering dropping the name but keeping the mechanic as an unnamed mechanic and adding a different named mechanic.)
Incorporeal Corpse has a good name and types for this particular vanilla slot, but the p/t is kind of wrong. 3B 4/2s have a fairly rich history, but 3W ones? ...Loxodon Convert, which was Machine Orthodoxy, which had some unusually aggressive-statted white creatures in general? I think this should perhaps be a 3/4, being in two colors that slightly or greatly favor big toughness.
Incorporeal Corpse has a good name and types for this particular vanilla slot, but the p/t is kind of wrong. 3B 4/2s have a fairly rich history, but 3W ones? ...Loxodon Convert, which was Machine Orthodoxy, which had some unusually aggressive-statted white creatures in general? I think this should perhaps be a 3/4, being in two colors that slightly or greatly favor big toughness.
Spot on. I’ll change it on the final tweak of the whole of the commons. Thanks.
black
red
green
golems
rocks
Armament Angel (Common)
4W
Creature - Angel
3/3
Flying
Armament Angel has vigilance as long as it’s equipped.
Avenge (Common)
3W
Instant
Destroy target creature that dealt damage this turn.
Bastion Brute (Common)
4W
Creature - Giant
4/5
When Bastion Brute enters the battlefield, untap all creatures you control.
Benevolent Spirit (Common)
3W
Creature - Spirit
3/2
Spectra — When Benevolent Spirit enters the battlefield, you gain X life, where X is the number of colors among cards in your graveyard.
Call of Duty (Common)
1W
Sorcery
Choose one —
• Create a 2/2 white Knight creature token with vigilance.
• Create two 1/1 white Warrior creature tokens with vigilance.
Cheat Death (Common)
(W/B)
Instant
When target creature you control dies this turn, return it to the battlefield under your control.
Translocation (Common)
(W/U)
Instant
Exile target creature, then return that card to the battlefield under its owner’s control.
Giant Sloth (Common)
3W
Creature - Sloth
2/3
4W: Giant Sloth gets +1/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn.
Halcyon Hawk (Common)
W
Creature - Bird
1/1
Flying
Sacrifice Halcyon Hawk: Exile target enchantment.
Holy Vestments (Common)
1W
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
When Holy Vestments enters the battlefield, draw a card.
Enchanted creature gets +1/+2.
Incorporeal Corpse (Common)
3(W/B)
Creature - Spirit Zombie
2/5
*vanilla*
Leap into Battle (Common)
W
Instant
Choose one —
• Target creature gets +1/+1 and gains flying until end of turn.
• Target creature can block any number of creatures this turn.
Loyal Squire (Common)
1W
Creature - Human Soldier
2/2
Whenever you cast a multicolored spell, Loyal Squire gets +0/+1 until end of turn.
Merchant Caravan (Common)
(W/U)
Creature - Human
0/4
*vanilla*
Moral Fortitude (Common)
2W
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
As long as you control enchanted creature, it gets +2/+2. Otherwise, it can’t attack.
Noble Griffin (Common)
2W
Creature - Griffin
1/4
Flying
Pearl Monocle (Common)
3
Artifact
t: Add W.
t, Sacrifice Pearl Monocle: Draw a card.
Spectral Armor (Common)
1W
Instant
Spectra — Up to X target creatures gain indestructible until end of turn, where X is the number of colors among cards in your graveyard.
Town Guard (Common)
3W
Creature - Human Soldier
2/4
Town Guard can block an additional creature each combat.
Blade Golem (Common)
4
Artifact Creature - Golem
3/0
Armed 1 (This creature enters the battlefield equipped with a colorless artifact Equipment token. It has “Equip 1” and “Equipped creature gets +1/+1.”)
Call of Duty is very strong for a common. Take the gap between Dragon Fodder at common and Servo Exhibition at uncommon. Color identity is a wash since this mechanic is equally represented in both red and white, so the difference basically boils down to context. Fodder makes expendable tokens for sacrifice, while exhibition tapped into its set's artifact synergies. If this small change was enough to justify a jump to uncommon, then being modal and throwing vigilance into the mix definitely qualifies this card as an uncommon. Rarity aside, the usage of two different creature tokens with vigilance is very clever, and it supports two different tribal archetypes.
I want to give Falcon Familiar a shoutout because my cousin would love this card. He really likes birds. And angels. Anything with feathery wings, really. The one thing he would not like is not being able to use it as his umpteenth Suntail Hawk variant in his Soraya the Falconer EDH deck.
Missionary is strong, but not enough for a rarity upgrade, which strikes a good balance. Will this set have a lifegain subtheme? You have a few good signpost draft commons for something like that.
Pearl Monocle is a hard I would hesitate to even put at uncommon. Just being a 2 CMC mana rock is strong on its own, but the sacrifice ability makes this cycle better than Mind Stone in many cases. Mind Stone is a fantastic mana rock, but it has been uncommon for all of its printings save its initial appearance, one of its commander appearances, and a masters product. It certainly wouldn't be a common in a non-masters/supplemental set under modern design, and the same is more than true for a cycle of cards that would be even stronger.
Broad Changes:
1 Prisma used to count colors, now it just checks for three colors Threshold and Delirium style.
2 The artifact creatures were vanilla, but now the hybrid creatures are vanilla (their bonus value lies in their contribution to Prisma) and the artifact creatures now bear the Armed mechanic. (Though I'm considering dropping the name but keeping the mechanic as an unnamed mechanic and adding a different named mechanic.)
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Spot on. I’ll change it on the final tweak of the whole of the commons. Thanks.