I designed this combat mechanic for a joke, but after a bit of reworking, I think I got to something simple, flavorful, and interesting.
Cleaving Warrior3R
Creature - Human Warrior
Cleave (This creature assigns combat damage to the first blocker alone, and again as if ignoring that blocker.)
3/2
Rules:
- A blocked creature with cleave assigns damage twice. First to the first blocker, all by itself (it must assign its full power, even if it attacks with Trample.) And a second time as if ignoring the first blocker (this time Trample would apply over the extra blockers.)
- Both assignments are executed simultaneously (not like First Strike / Regular combat damage.)
- If a creature has both Cleave and Double Strike, the 'First Blocker' may change during each damage step. It has no memory between damage steps.
And that's it. Its a bit like Double Strike (in that it can deal two times its power, but never to the same thing), a bit like Menace (in that it needs two blockers to prevent face damage) and a bit like Trample (in that it can go over a creature. But just one creature.)
The design constraints on such a powerful ability makes me question its validity. Being a pseudo fusion of doublestrike and trample means it can't be used in large numbers and is expensive. I feel it will often work closer to unblockable than you expect with the added bonus of working as super trample when the opponent actually has something larger.
While it defintly can support a handful of unique and interesting designs I don't think it can support even a single set worth of designs.
Well, yes, this shouldn't be as ubiquitous as Menace, but it could appear like Double Strike, as a big payoff for pump spells.
In many ways this compares very disfavourably to Double Strike. For starters, it kills you half as quickly if ignored, and the creature that Cleaves is a actually touchable in combat. And one the smaller scale, a 2/2 Cleaver doesn't trade if blocked by two 3/3, while a double striker kills the best one. And it even compares disfavourably to menace, if I have a single big blocker, I only get hit once. It's only better than menace if I send two blockers to a creature on the same scale, as I may lose the two blockers instead of just one of the two, but that is quite usual with menace and removal.
I don't mean it to be a set mechanic, but it's just an ability that could sprinkled around to make combats more interesting.
The problem is I don't think it makes combat more interesting outside of edge cases in limited. Thinking about the possibilities this ends up feeling like an awkward menace. Its actively bad to chump instead of impossible meaning it will occasionally cause feel bad loses. And once outsized it doesn't even have the actual evasion of menace so its eaten by a single large creature.
Cleaving Warrior 3R
Creature - Human Warrior
Cleave (This creature assigns combat damage to the first blocker alone, and again as if ignoring that blocker.)
3/2
Rules:
- A blocked creature with cleave assigns damage twice. First to the first blocker, all by itself (it must assign its full power, even if it attacks with Trample.) And a second time as if ignoring the first blocker (this time Trample would apply over the extra blockers.)
- Both assignments are executed simultaneously (not like First Strike / Regular combat damage.)
- If a creature has both Cleave and Double Strike, the 'First Blocker' may change during each damage step. It has no memory between damage steps.
And that's it. Its a bit like Double Strike (in that it can deal two times its power, but never to the same thing), a bit like Menace (in that it needs two blockers to prevent face damage) and a bit like Trample (in that it can go over a creature. But just one creature.)
While it defintly can support a handful of unique and interesting designs I don't think it can support even a single set worth of designs.
In many ways this compares very disfavourably to Double Strike. For starters, it kills you half as quickly if ignored, and the creature that Cleaves is a actually touchable in combat. And one the smaller scale, a 2/2 Cleaver doesn't trade if blocked by two 3/3, while a double striker kills the best one. And it even compares disfavourably to menace, if I have a single big blocker, I only get hit once. It's only better than menace if I send two blockers to a creature on the same scale, as I may lose the two blockers instead of just one of the two, but that is quite usual with menace and removal.
I don't mean it to be a set mechanic, but it's just an ability that could sprinkled around to make combats more interesting.
Possibly, True Strike (adaptation).
What if it's a Rapier?