Rule of Law variants exist occasionally and I've basically reached the conclusion that they help white in the places where it's weak: opponents out ramping it or drawing tons of cards. Opponents will have to commit to playing a ramp spell or playing something more meaningful when they can't do both at the same time, which would hopefully give white time to get its own plays going.
The general problem I have with hatebear-style cards is that they're ultimately weak proactive plays that get killed when the player is ready to play their cards, which doesn't actually allow the card to fill the role it's trying to do. And when unneeded, they tend to just be anemic bodies that never matter. When they work, the opposing deck can't escape the lock until it draws an answer.
I'm interested in seeing hatebear style cards have their effect limited to a single turn cycle but in a way that can be refreshed by attacking, requiring the body to be risked to keep the lock going, which prevents it from being guaranteed. The effect existing independent of the creature prevents an opponent from simply killing it to combo out on the same turn. I think the changes are ultimately a net negative in most cases, which would let the body get pushed a bit more to be more relevant in more situations.
Hawk Warden A | 1W
Creature - Bird (R)
Flash
Flying
Opponents can't cast more than one spell each turn. 2/1
Holding it to cast when it's clear someone is going to be doing a ton seems like it has strong potential, but I feel like forcing someone to skip their turn when they started with a signet will probably feel bad. It looks really sleek, but it has the same problem as Eidolon of Rhetoric: they'll just kill it with their first spell and continue.
Hawk Warden B | 1W
Creature - Bird (R)
Flying
When THIS enters the battlefield or attacks, until your next turn, opponents can't cast more than one spell each turn. 2/1
This has to be used proactively, which is worse overall, but the effect becomes independent of the body so once it applies, you have a window of safety. I'm not sure if this should also include entering the battlefield, but I feel like if I didn't, it wouldn't feel like it did its job. The effect is needed most later in the game when players have access to more overall resources to play with and drawing it at the time it matters most but not doing anything immediately would feel bad. This does introduce the possibility of it being flickered to have the same "skip your turn" effect, but I think this could be solved switching to "cast or attack" if deemed necessary.
It's not yet clear to me which other hatebear designs could work this way since the trigger needs to be something that doesn't scale when duplicated so it's easier to track. Them not being on all the time will likely make the board more complicated to track over all, but I think this is still a space worth investigating, since if all the opponents want it to stop, simply putting up blockers will require more from the player trying to lock everyone down. Requiring that combat damage be dealt to a player would reinforce this intention.
The first design is far too strong; the going rate for a one-sided Rule of Law without the evasive, flying, flash body is four mana. It's not even easy to kill, since playing it after your opponent has already cast a spell means they have limited means to remove the thing until you untap and have Spell Queller mana. Being aggressively costed is bad enough, but flash makes this creature outright broken.
Your second design is more balanced and interactive, but putting casting restrictions on a titan trigger is super clunky and often useless. Your opponent will either cast their spells before the trigger resolves or save their one spell.
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The general problem I have with hatebear-style cards is that they're ultimately weak proactive plays that get killed when the player is ready to play their cards, which doesn't actually allow the card to fill the role it's trying to do. And when unneeded, they tend to just be anemic bodies that never matter. When they work, the opposing deck can't escape the lock until it draws an answer.
I'm interested in seeing hatebear style cards have their effect limited to a single turn cycle but in a way that can be refreshed by attacking, requiring the body to be risked to keep the lock going, which prevents it from being guaranteed. The effect existing independent of the creature prevents an opponent from simply killing it to combo out on the same turn. I think the changes are ultimately a net negative in most cases, which would let the body get pushed a bit more to be more relevant in more situations.
Creature - Bird (R)
Flash
Flying
Opponents can't cast more than one spell each turn.
2/1
Holding it to cast when it's clear someone is going to be doing a ton seems like it has strong potential, but I feel like forcing someone to skip their turn when they started with a signet will probably feel bad. It looks really sleek, but it has the same problem as Eidolon of Rhetoric: they'll just kill it with their first spell and continue.
Creature - Bird (R)
Flying
When THIS enters the battlefield or attacks, until your next turn, opponents can't cast more than one spell each turn.
2/1
This has to be used proactively, which is worse overall, but the effect becomes independent of the body so once it applies, you have a window of safety. I'm not sure if this should also include entering the battlefield, but I feel like if I didn't, it wouldn't feel like it did its job. The effect is needed most later in the game when players have access to more overall resources to play with and drawing it at the time it matters most but not doing anything immediately would feel bad. This does introduce the possibility of it being flickered to have the same "skip your turn" effect, but I think this could be solved switching to "cast or attack" if deemed necessary.
It's not yet clear to me which other hatebear designs could work this way since the trigger needs to be something that doesn't scale when duplicated so it's easier to track. Them not being on all the time will likely make the board more complicated to track over all, but I think this is still a space worth investigating, since if all the opponents want it to stop, simply putting up blockers will require more from the player trying to lock everyone down. Requiring that combat damage be dealt to a player would reinforce this intention.
Older Magic as a Board Game: Panglacial Wurm , Mill
Your second design is more balanced and interactive, but putting casting restrictions on a titan trigger is super clunky and often useless. Your opponent will either cast their spells before the trigger resolves or save their one spell.