The war between the great spirit O-Kagachi and the Lord of Eiganjo is now a 100-year-old fable, but the war's repercussions made these years the most violent in Kamigawa's history. Capitalizing on the political weakness of the human Shogunate after the Daimyo's treachery, both the Oni and the Soratami attempted to usurp dominion over Kamigawa from the beseiged Shogun. Both failed. But, while the Soratami fled in shame to places unknown, the Oni took their war to the shadows, and grew ever-stronger. The Second Oni War was nothing short of a genocide against the Orochi, and all of Kamigawa nearly fell alongside the snake tribes. Now, a terrible foe birthed during Konda's War threatens to drag all of Kamigawa into a final confrontation with the Oni. This time, the demon lords will not survive - or else, every creature of Kamigawa, both flesh and spirit, will become slaves to Hell for all eternity.
As banners rise, a Call goes out. But, this Call comes quietly and in the deep of night, to ears that have never heard the din of battle. A force more powerful than the cruelest Oni is seeking champions of both spirit and flesh to fight the most dangerous battle that Kamigawa has ever waged - a plunge into the very mouth of Hell - the counterstrike on Jigoku itself. But, what is the true nature of the demon's realm? And what long-hidden secrets might be uncovered there? Only those who have heard the Call will ever stand a chance to know. And in knowing, these chosen few may change the future of the Multiverse.
Characters
Rin Akayagi is the Fourteenth Shogun of all Kamigawa. Her great-grandfather, Raiden Akayagi, held the embroiled rank of Shogun during Konda's War. This elder Akayagi only barely preserved the Shogunate from other rebellious Daimyos, and did so by a public trial and execution of the imprisoned Takeshi Konda. As the Shogun's crest passed into the hands of other worthy samurai, the Akayagi lineage came to be seen as a lesser family among their noble peers - peers who saved the realm from Oni extermination plagues and from Oboro's soulcarver machinations. So, it was with great surprise that these peers watched Rin Akayagi rapidly ascend the ranks of the Onna-Bugeisha. She soon outgrew those ranks, began to command men of her own, then to command territories as a Daimyo. Within five years of her first command, Akayagi won the Shogunate. Hers was a meteoric rise.
I'm pretty curious about this set... are the only mechanics Bushido and Ninjutsu? I'd like to see one more spread evenly throughout the colors, but I can't say what it'd be. I guess it depends on what your set's flavor background is.
Glad you're interested! This is my "Return to Kamigawa" block. I have big plans for where the three-set arc is going.
Bushido and Ninjutsu are the two returning keyword mechanics that are a lock for the block. There won't be any other returning keywords in the block (whether from Champions of Kamigawa block or any other block.)
There will be many new mechanics as well, but I'm still in the middle of designing them.
I've figured out one of the new secondary mechanics and will be posting cards showcasing it soon. It needs a little critique first.
Do you have some kind of story for the block already? Kamigawa was my first set and I really liked it story-wise, so it would be interesting to know when "Call to Glory" takes place in relation to the previous events on the plane, what's going on etc. ...
"You want to know about the Kami War? Well... which one?
The first one was a small thing, the bloody aftermath to a kidnapping. It began in one frayed end of this world and ended in that same frayed end. Among its casualties were a daimyo and a god. But, the great plane of Kamigawa has always been abundant with both daimyos and gods. Some shrines vanished, but new ones arose. Some that arose were much more terrifying than anything which came before. Consult with the spirits of your great-great-grandfather's great-great-grandfathers. The time after the First Kami War was a dark time, not one of peace.
Shall we speak of Oboro's betrayal? Again... which one? The Soratami were agents in the First War and aggressors in the Second. Now their Gallery of Mirrors lies shattered, and their Soulcarvers fled beyond the clouds, shamed to who-knows-where. Some say that the moon shines darker now, due to their absence. All the more reason to travel by day.
Are these not the legends you wanted to hear? What else can I offer you?
What more can be said about the Oni?
That since the Soratami fled in cowardice, the Oni have tormented us with such ferocious cruelty for so many centuries that even the Shoguns ceased to keep records of the dead from their ranks? That the Oni decimation of the Orochi tribes was so extreme, so near completion, that the snakes now shun names in honor of the countless never-hatched who cannot be named? That, through the vile depredations of the Oni, even the ogres who once served them in blood slavery now rise against them in retribution? What is there that you have not heard?
The Call? Some say it is a child's story.
An immortal young woman and her spirit companion, they say. Two sisters who walk as one, with one foot in the Utsushiyo and one in the Kakuriyo, they say. Hidden saviors who whisper secrets about the Oni, they say. The generals of a clandestine war, traveling Kamigawa in silence, to recruit the truest and most faithful warriors. Warriors who will wage a final battle against the powers of darkness, and right the broken magic of Kamigawa forever. That to hear their call is to believe their cause, whether the listener is made of spirit or flesh.
I say, to know of The Call is to be Called. That is why the Sisters have brought you to me."
You want to know about the Kami War? Well... which one?
The first one was a small thing, the bloody aftermath to a kidnapping. It began in one frayed end of this world and ended in that same frayed end. Among its casualties were a daimyo and a god. But, the great plane of Kamigawa has always been abundant with both daimyos and gods. Some shrines vanished, but new ones arose. Some that arose were much more terrifying than anything which came before. Consult with the spirits of your great-great-grandfather's great-great-grandfathers. The time after the First Kami War was a dark time, not one of peace.
Shall we speak of Oboro's betrayal? Again... which one? The Soratami were agents in the First War and aggressors in the Second. Now their Gallery of Mirrors lies shattered, and their Soulcarvers fled beyond the clouds, shamed to who-knows-where. Some say that the moon shines darker now, due to their absence. All the more reason to travel by day.
Are these not the legends you wanted to hear? What else can I offer you?
What more can be said about the Oni?
That since the Soratami fled in cowardice, the Oni have tormented us with such ferocious cruelty for so many centuries that even the Shogun ceased to keep records of the dead from his ranks? That the Oni decimation of the Orochi tribes was so extreme, so near completion, that the snakes now shun names in honor of the never-hatched who cannot be named? That, through the utter vileness of the Oni, even the ogres who once served the Oni in blood slavery now rise against them in retribution? What is there that you have not heard?
The Call? Some say it is a child's story.
An immortal young woman and her spirit companion, they say. Two sisters who walk as one, with one foot in the Utsushiyo and one in the Kakuriyo, they say. Hidden saviors who whisper secrets about the Oni, they say. The generals of a clandestine war, traveling Kamigawa in silence, to recruit the truest and most faithful warriors. Warriors who will wage a final battle against the powers of darkness, and right the broken magic of Kamigawa forever. That to hear their call is to believe their cause, whether the listener is made of spirit or flesh.
I say, to know of The Call is to be Called. The Sisters have reached out to you this day!
Funny how the card is not quotable...
It's weird how the card is not white; one of the sisters is and the other seems likely to be as well, both their fathers were, and what they (used to?) represent is white as well...
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Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
It's weird how the card is not white; one of the sisters is and the other seems likely to be as well, both their fathers were, and what they (used to?) represent is white as well...
Yeah, that was the dilemma I faced.
I originally wanted to make this a white, multicolor deathknell enabler. That was the task I gave myself - represent the Sisters as a mythic rare, where one of the two colors was white, and have it boost deathknell. I tried green/white, white/blue, and white/black designs, and didn't like any of them. Somewhere I was playing with both Archivist and Elvish Piper, and something clicked.
I thought of adding in white as a third color and coming up with some BS mechanical element that would justify that. Ultimately, I figured that where I was going with the story, a lot of time had elapsed, and this wouldn't be the first card to depict a character that shiftedcolors. And this felt more flavorful as a two-color card.
Noriko placed the headless hound's corpse on the stone in the cavern shrine. The corpse was limp and filthy, and the stump of its neck still bled. The creature had been imprisoned in the earth for a week. Only its muzzle had remained above ground, pleading desperately to no one who would listen. Noriko had heard every cry, but then, Noriko had buried the beast there. The decapitating knife lay tucked into her belt and the hound's blood ran down her side.
"Tonight, great oni, deliver me a slave," said Noriko.
The village was far over the next hill, and the night's wind blew from the south. So, as Noriko ground the dung and fingerbones for her ritual, she did not hear the bell ring out. But soon, the northern sky was red. As Noriko looked up to the mouth of the cavern, her young-seeming face pulled taut. She ground the offering more vigorously, the stone of the mortar chewing against the pestel. The walls would hold. The shrine would remain unbreached.
The fire came upon Noriko from behind. Like a dozen crashing boulders, the night-clad goliaths punched through the side of the cave in a blaze of stone and soot. The demon hag barely had time to turn her head before the cleaver of the Imori-gang leader lopped it off with one massive stroke. Noriko's head bounced two times, then rolled to its final rest against the body of the hound. With a thud, her old, wrinkled body fell at the ogre's feet.
"Burn everything," said Gokuhi, "Bring down the roof. She is dead but her master is coming. We leave before he arrives."
Not a minute later, the great mountain collapsed upon the cavern shrine, and the Imori gang disappeared into the night.
"Where did the Shogun send her banners?" asked the rat.
Jirou raised his head high enough to look the taskmaster in his one remaining eye, and then spit a spray of blood and foam into it. As the rat squealed and danced around, Jirou's head sank down again, his gaze settling on the certain death protruding from his chest. The Shogun's expeditionary force had been captured three days ago, for a loss of two-hundred soldiers. Except that most of the soldiers captured still lived, and were now being made to extend the Shogun's recent loss even further. Jirou's trunk-chested sparring partner, Kenta, broke down on the first night, betraying details of the Shogun's supply line in exchange for the promise of a swift death. Jirou could still occasionally hear the traitor's high-pitched screams from a faraway down the burrow.
The rat yanked on a chain and sent Jirou spiraling into the air, the chest hooks of raw black quintessence cracking bones and ripping flesh anew. The taskmaster's foul medicine had robbed Jirou of the gift of unconsciousness for two days now. But while he could no longer black out from the pain, the Nezumi medicine was no cure for his exhaustion. He spun in silence, ripped wide-open from the inside, too tired to scream. There was no longer any reason to scream. There would be no relief, and no escape. And, no worse pain could possibly be inflicted on him beyond what the rats had already done. The taskmaster hissed and shrieked and repeated his question a dozen more times.
"Why did she order her banners to retreat?"
"Why did the Daimyo send no reinforcements from Ei-Ishiko?"
"Why did they travel through the Tsukokatsu Pass and not the Inasai Pass?"
The truth was a shame too great to bear. Jirou had never been so honored as to speak with the Shogun directly, but on the night of the host's retreat, he stood in the room with his superior officers as she told the entire expeditionary force of her plan. But, no talk of movements and strategy could hide the look in the Shogun's eyes. It was a look of abject fear, a fear of something that not even the protection of ten-thousand of Kamigawa's greatest fighters could assuage. As they stood there on the snowy plain watching the great army file slowly back into the mountains, Jirou could hear some of the men whisper what could not be spoken out loud.
One issue I see with this set is that all of your mechanics are creature based, and to a further extreme all care about attacking/blocking. What about Blue? Or 50% of Red? Or other strategies for the other colours? You need two non-creature based mechanics to make other strategies viable.
Bushido is like Flanking (it is fixed Flanking after all), which has never really been very good. It would be great if you could drop this in favor of something new.
Then tell me what they are, because as it appears now there don't seem to be any and I can't find what they are and this thread here doesn't really tell me what they could be.
I'll continue posting general set info here as it develops. If you want to see the specific discussions about the different set elements that I've chosen to include, I've linked every card in the set to their corresponding discussions, above.
I'd also like readers to consider the notion that I'm not designing an homage to Kamigawa block. I'm designing my vision for Kamigawa 2. So if you're wondering why you're not seeing some favorite element from Kamigawa 1, it's because it's a sequel, not a retread or a remake. The endpoint of Kamigawa 1 is the starting point for my block.
I'm also not about to go hunt through a hundred different threads for an answer which quite frankly should be the very first thing in this thread, the thread about your set. The central hub of information and the central point of discussion about everything involving your set.
Look - you're not coming in here looking for answers, you're not wanting to talk about specific developments, and you're not offering constructive comments. You're happy to ignore whatever answers I do give you.
Given all that, what makes you think that I owe you anything on an accelerated schedule?
It's also not that you owe me or anybody any answers. I am just interest because I find it so bizarre. But I would question myself if I were designing a set and was unable to actually justify my decisions to the people who come questioning them. That's really the purpose of having a thread in the first place, isn't it?
OK. If you have a specific question, like, "I don't get the green bushido thing. Can you explain that?" I'd be happy to give you an answer. It would probably resemble the answer in one of the two or more green bushido threads I have linked to, above, but I'd answer it again here. No problem. I'd probably even learn something new.
When you come out saying, "Your set looks like garbage. You obviously haven't put any thought into it. Defend yourself," this isn't setting any kind of tone by which I would care to engage you in discussion at all. And I don't have to.
But if you want to talk about some individual decision points, I'm cool with that. Let's go.
As a show of good faith, I'll start by going back to your comment about deathknell in white. I am not currently designing anymore deathknell cards, until I get more of the set locked in. That's because I see deathknell as being pretty flexible about the colors to which it belongs. The color breakdown you see in the OP is the color breakdown from a second draft of the mechanic that was still much more "bounce" focused, and less "reanimation" focused. I like where the mechanic ended up after extensive input from forum-goers. But I realized that I didn't know which colors would get it, anymore. And rather than make that call right then, I decided to wait until I got more of the set locked down. So, there's a possibility that it might end up in white. But until I make that decision, I'm keeping up that second-draft color breakdown as a guide for myself. In the end, we'll see. I probably have another 60-70 cards to lock down before I even touch deathknell again.
I like the set so far, but I also have to agree with chaosof99 here.
What would you say if in their next set, Wizards moved Flying from White or Black into Green? And if you asked why, they would answer "White/Black doesn't need Flying in this set, but Green does. We know what we're doing, now stop complaining."
Its kind of the same with Deathknell in Blue and Red, but not in White. Its just irritating, from a flavor perspective and color-pie wise. White has more creatures that Blue and Red and is more combat-oriented than both colors. Why doesn't it have deathknell? And why doesn't it need it when it is fitting so well?
I know, there is Unearth, which was a reanimation mechanic in Blue and Red and not at all in White, but I feel that Unearth was more of a top-down decision because a shard of Alara only had three colors and Grixis was mainly Black, so having a graveyard-centric mechanic for it was only natural. And even then, it was some kind of exception. Heck, flying could make sense in Green in some weird way someday. But simply ignoring that what came before it and pushing the mechanic into a color because 'it needs to be there' (or the other color 'doesn't need it') wouldn't be a very good way to do it...
Allow me to kill two birds with one stone: if we're saying that mechanics MUST be distributed in a set according to and in proportion with the colors that make the most "sense" for the mechanic, where was green bushido in Kamigawa 1? For a mechanic that was originally green and is just as much a fixed rampage as a fixed flanking, that's a pretty major oversight, right?
For that matter, where's the green lifelink?
While we're on the subject, where's the red unblockability?
Not to flog a dead horse, but why don't blue and white regenerate?
The weird thing is, I'm here in perfect agreement with you that white can get Deathknell in some future set. Maybe even in sets 2 and 3 in this very block. There. Just. Isn't. Any. Room. For. It. In. This. Set. At least, not unless I cut a few big white vertical cycles that I'm planning to do.
If you're going to attack this set-balance decision on flavor grounds (why you would invoke undying here, possibly the most wrongheaded color and flavor decision in the Modern context, is beyond me) I will again simply remind you that I haven't finished designing the set. I haven't established the flavor for the mechanic. As I said previously, I'm not tackling Deathknell until I get further into design. I think you're swinging at shadows, here.
Terugi approached the cliff with his head bowed low. Even blindfolded, he had experienced something extraordinary that only one in a hundred-thousand might ever hope to encounter: he heard the sing-song rasping of the newly-hatched snakes as it glided on the wind. Though he would never see them, or even get close to them, the hatchlings' cries were still a great balm. The orochi did have young, no matter their insistence (or was it deception?) to the contrary. Their generations had not ended. And now Terugi was about to meet their keepers.
Terugi felt the ground vanish, and panic gripped him for a split second as he hurtled blind through the void of the gulch. But, he soon felt the hand of his snake companion on his back. The grip tightened, and the pair swung in a wide arc through the cliff-side canopy. Terugi heard the flutter of leaves and the slapping of scales on vines, and he felt his stomach lurch in every direction. Minutes passed hurtling through the forest before his companion lowered him gently onto his feet, and removed the blindfold. Standing in front of Terugi were seven of the most heavily-armored snakes he had ever seen.
"The Shogun'sss dessserter," said Terugi's companion, "Hisss ssstory ringsss true. The witchesss have ssspoken."
"I am not a deserter," protested Terugi, his long hair reeking and his garments torn, "But a survivor. And I come with news for the metsuke called Susumu."
"Then you come with newsss for no one," said one of the snakes, "We have no namesss here. You are misssled."
Terugi had heard tales of the snakes' customs, but he never imagined them to be more than legend. When the old warrior tribes fell to the demon Kuro and his rat hordes, the snakes' decimation was said to be so complete that they foresook not only their old warrior code, but also the privilege of bearing a name, as atonement to their patron kami for their failure to protect their young from slaughter. The snakes then took up the way of the bushi. While Terugi had met many of these samurai when they attended the Shogun's court, he realized that all the names he knew had been given to them by humans, out of convenience. Unwillingly, it would seem. Now that he was in the snakes' court, he found himself at a loss.
"Nevertheless, I come with news," said Terugi, "For those who would listen."
"We will lisssten," said another of the many snakes, "Ssspeak your wordsss."
The tale was almost too much for Terugi to bear. First, he told the snakes of the Shogun's retreat, mustering every ounce of his will to praise its glorious purpose, and refusing to betray the suspicions of cowardice which tormented his thoughts. He told them how he served the Shogun as part of her expeditionary force, that continued on through the blighted expanse towards the Oni pits. Terugi and five of his companions had formed a special strike team to travel at the flank of the main force, and to scout ahead for danger. The second night of the expedition, a storm erupted from nowhere, driving a wedge between Terugi's squad and the main force. When the black clouds parted, the main force was gone. Terugi and his men scouted for three days trying to locate the taken, but found only a lethal ambush at the hands of the demon rats. None but Terugi escaped with his life.
"It would have been a sssamurai's death," said a snake, "To die ssslaying the ratsss. You dishonor your companionsss by your refusssal to join their sssacrifice."
"No." said Terugi, "I live for one purpose. The purpose for which I have come. My master sent my companions and I to infiltrate the Oni and return to Ei-Ishiko having scouted their position and strength. All of the others sent forth on this task have died. My plea is for your aid. Return with me to the demon pits, so that I may fulfill my task, or die there alongside you. I beg you for the strength of your swords, so that I may honor my sworn oath."
"Imposssible." said a voice from behind.
With his blindfold on, Terugi had never caught a glimpse of the companion who had taken him on his journey through the trees. Now he stood there, wearing garments that were peculiar to Terugi, but light, flowing, and unlike anything worn by the seven great metsukes that stood near him. This snake looked younger, more full of life, and unburdened with the heavy purpose of the other snakes. Behind that appearance, however, the snake's eyes radiated with an impossible wisdom and age. Terugi felt himself looking back in time as he peered into them. Then the snake spoke again.
"The metsssukesss will not leave the canyon," said the monk, "Their charge isss here, keeping watch over the hatchlingsss. But I will join you, sssamurai."
Terugi choked. "We need more. The demons are..."
"More are coming," said the monk, "The Call hasss been sssounded."
So, I have a couple questions about ki strike. But first, I'd like to talk about the templating of it on the cards. So far, every instance of the ability has a attack/block clause. Is there any foreseen creatures who don't pick up ki counters through combat? If not, this should be an actual keyword instead of an ability word. If there are other triggers, that's an obvious problem for keywording it, but then I suppose that opens up another question:
Why is the ability word applied to a trigger that always appears to work the same, and not the actual activated ability?
I like how the ki counter mechanic works, but the way its formatted really just adds words to your cards without much value. If either half of the ki strike dudes needs an ability word, it should be the second half, which always activates the same way (remove N ki counters from ~) but creates various effects (like the laundry list of different things landfall can do). As far as the cards with ki strike themselves, I like the ones I've seen but I keep wondering what can be achieved with the templating this way.
My next question is simply out of curiosity: did you ever consider putting a timing restriction on the ki strike ability? It's not that I can't see the value of having these effects at instant speed, but like unearth and level up, it tends to make the larger pool of decisions less relevant. There's almost always one or two specific points during the turn cycle which are obviously the safest or most productive to use activated abilities, but my gut says forcing them to be activated during a main phase or at your upkeep or whatever makes the decisions more skill-testing.
To be honest, though I think there's been an unnecessary amount of harsh tone and critique in this thread for reasons of personal preference or opinion instead of fact, one thing has been said that I think really needs to be addressed: I, too, am not going to go through a couple dozen threads to track down card comments and catch up on all the designs you have put together so far. If there isn't a post with the cards sorted into some kind of drop-down spoiler, I'm probably not going to have that much interest in keeping up on all the new comments of every micro thread you post in the custom card forum, plus checking back here to get updates on macro-type decisions for the set's direction.
I, too, am not going to go through a couple dozen threads to track down card comments and catch up on all the designs you have put together so far. If there isn't a post with the cards sorted into some kind of drop-down spoiler, I'm probably not going to have that much interest in keeping up on all the new comments of every micro thread you post in the custom card forum, plus checking back here to get updates on macro-type decisions for the set's direction.
Understood. I will try to throw people a bone and organize this a little bit better. Maybe I'll also do an FAQ.
Right now the structure of this thread is serving the purpose of helping me keep track of things. And it's doing that very well. But not everybody is following my mental shorthand, nor should they be expected to do so. I'll try to upgrade the storefront, so to speak. But it may take a little time.
As for ki strike, I could very well end up changing it to a straight-up keyword. I originally wanted it as an ability word because I was thinking of a few different variations on it. But the more I'm designing ki strike creatures, the more I like the "1 attack or block = 1 ki counter on this creature" balance of the mechanic, so I might just standardize it that way. Originally, I was thinking that I might have it add multiple counters, might have it add counters only for attacking or only for blocking, might have it put counters to other permanents, might have it add or remove counters (the original Brinkwalker design,) and so forth. But I'm more and more pleased with the simplicity of the standard version. So, we'll see. It depends on whether I really love any of the alternative ki strike ideas as they come up.
this is really fantastic! nice job, cant wait to see it finished! will report back with feedback
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The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginning-less time, darkness thrives in the void but always yields to purifying light.
I invision a future where one is not mighty when he can silence a crowd with brutality,
but when he leaves them speechless with wisdom.
Big fan of the set, you did an amazing job on the story!
Let me know what I can do to help, if anything.
Edit:
I for one, enjoy the fact that this set does not simply re-hash Kamigawa mechanics/types and instead develops new ones for a very different setting. Keeping everything combat oriented opens up a lot of unexplored design opportunities. I do hope to see Moonfolk return from wherever it is they went, as they are probably my favourite blue tribe ever and the merfolk do seem somewhat tacked-on... (i suppose we know where one of the sorotami went at least).
As of DGM, you may want to rename Wear//Tear as well... =)
Big fan of the set, you did an amazing job on the story!
Thanks for the compliments, guys!
I especially like that you're enjoying the story. I have a lot more planned for it... what I've presented here is just sketches / outlines / expository stuff. I can't even talk about some of the direction I have planned, but it all implies big changes for the setting. And that's only saying the half of it.
I do hope to see Moonfolk return from wherever it is they went, as they are probably my favourite blue tribe ever
Believe me when I say that everything... everything you've seen so far in this set exists beneath the long shadow of the Soratami. And that's all I'm gonna say.
Set 1 of 3 in Call to Glory block
Logo design by .Rai
- Agile Metsuke; Aid of the Ancestors; Ancient Uba; Bastion of Strength; Battle Mastery; Clever Yoriki; Close the Stone Gates; General's Discipline; Genju of the Valleys; Kuruwa Builder; Meticulous Uba; Mothrider General; Myobu's Accord; Nobori Mothrider; Nomi, Strange Throwback; Onna-Bugeisha; Pacifism; Pale-Eyes, Myobu of Jukai; Pale-Eyes' Pupils; Scour the Hanging Clouds; Scouting Party; Shogun's Presence; ~SPOILER~; Thrust//Parry; Uba Brinkwalker; Vow of Peace
- Barricade; Cast Nets to the Sea; Conceal in Mist; Countervail; Deflect; Eel Dancers; Expeditious Maneuver; Favorable Winds; Genju of the Atolls; Kakuriyo Squall; Leap*; Meditating Budoka; Ningyo Brinkwalker; Numbing-Toxin Ninja; Rainbow Kaijin; School of Shinobi; Sink//Swim; Spearbender; Streaming-Paper Kami; Tidestalker; Typhoon's Eye; Umiya Illusionists
- Burrow Network; Dark-Moon Kami; Genju of the Caves; Hell-Sworn Kunoichi; Hidetsugu's Elite; Kuro's Hatamoto; Mask of Mortality; Nezumi Brinkwalker; Nezumi Infiltrator; Obedience Hooks; Oni-Possessed Stinkfoot; Pit General; Sawaki-Tribe Elder; Scum//Villainy; Stinkfoot Samurai; Thresh the Cut Grain; Vile Onmitsu; Walk the Paths Unspoken
- Akki Brinkwalker; Akki Engineers; Akki Oxherd; Akki Rockjumper; Avalanche Kami; Blood-Mad Shinobi; Desolation Oni; Feed the Flames; Frozen-Geyser Kami; Furious Reikenden; Genju of the Cliffs; Gokuhi, the Spreading Fire; Hou-Ou; Imori-Gang Pet; Jigoku Fugitive; Oni Chattel; Pepperfish Breeder; Pierce Hell's Heart;
Raid Bombardment; Smoke Walks as Flesh; Speed Drill; Strike as the Crimson Sun; Warlord's Discipline; Wear//Tear
- Awakener Sensei; Battle Seer; Blade of Autumn; Command the Seasons; Flowing-Sap Kami; Frenzy of Devotion; Genju of the Oaks; Great Wild One; Hatchling Pupil; Kami of Fallen Cedars; Kitsune Ratstalker; Matsu-Tribe Bushi; Needle of the Lone Pine; Orchard Spirit; Order of the Falling Leaf; Orochi Nemesis; Orochi Brinkwalker; Pound the Earth; Push//Pull; Rootbender; Senka Seed-Born; Wax Great as the Full Moon; Wild Crush
Multi - Sisters of Flesh and Spirit
Artifact - Bake-Zori; Hundred-Year Lantern; Jar of Jizake; Nunchaku; O-Yoroi; Tattered Karakasa
Lands - Mouth of Jigoku; Plains; Island; Swamp; Mountain; Forest
Mechanics
Bushido - (40%) / (40%) / (20%)
Ninjutsu - (40%) / (40%) / (20%)
Deathknell - (40%) / (30%) / (20%) / (10%)
"Wall Makers" - (40%) / (30%) / (20%) / (10%)
Tactics - (20%) / (20%) / (20%) / (20%) / (20%)
Ki strike - (20%) / (20%) / (20%) / (20%) / (20%)
Story
Shogun Akayagi is a stern and inspiring leader.
Bushido and Ninjutsu are the two returning keyword mechanics that are a lock for the block. There won't be any other returning keywords in the block (whether from Champions of Kamigawa block or any other block.)
There will be many new mechanics as well, but I'm still in the middle of designing them.
I've figured out one of the new secondary mechanics and will be posting cards showcasing it soon. It needs a little critique first.
Do you have some kind of story for the block already? Kamigawa was my first set and I really liked it story-wise, so it would be interesting to know when "Call to Glory" takes place in relation to the previous events on the plane, what's going on etc. ...
"You want to know about the Kami War? Well... which one?
The first one was a small thing, the bloody aftermath to a kidnapping. It began in one frayed end of this world and ended in that same frayed end. Among its casualties were a daimyo and a god. But, the great plane of Kamigawa has always been abundant with both daimyos and gods. Some shrines vanished, but new ones arose. Some that arose were much more terrifying than anything which came before. Consult with the spirits of your great-great-grandfather's great-great-grandfathers. The time after the First Kami War was a dark time, not one of peace.
Shall we speak of Oboro's betrayal? Again... which one? The Soratami were agents in the First War and aggressors in the Second. Now their Gallery of Mirrors lies shattered, and their Soulcarvers fled beyond the clouds, shamed to who-knows-where. Some say that the moon shines darker now, due to their absence. All the more reason to travel by day.
Are these not the legends you wanted to hear? What else can I offer you?
What more can be said about the Oni?
That since the Soratami fled in cowardice, the Oni have tormented us with such ferocious cruelty for so many centuries that even the Shoguns ceased to keep records of the dead from their ranks? That the Oni decimation of the Orochi tribes was so extreme, so near completion, that the snakes now shun names in honor of the countless never-hatched who cannot be named? That, through the vile depredations of the Oni, even the ogres who once served them in blood slavery now rise against them in retribution? What is there that you have not heard?
The Call? Some say it is a child's story.
An immortal young woman and her spirit companion, they say. Two sisters who walk as one, with one foot in the Utsushiyo and one in the Kakuriyo, they say. Hidden saviors who whisper secrets about the Oni, they say. The generals of a clandestine war, traveling Kamigawa in silence, to recruit the truest and most faithful warriors. Warriors who will wage a final battle against the powers of darkness, and right the broken magic of Kamigawa forever. That to hear their call is to believe their cause, whether the listener is made of spirit or flesh.
I say, to know of The Call is to be Called. That is why the Sisters have brought you to me."
Funny how the card is not quotable...
It's weird how the card is not white; one of the sisters is and the other seems likely to be as well, both their fathers were, and what they (used to?) represent is white as well...
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
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Yeah, that was the dilemma I faced.
I originally wanted to make this a white, multicolor deathknell enabler. That was the task I gave myself - represent the Sisters as a mythic rare, where one of the two colors was white, and have it boost deathknell. I tried green/white, white/blue, and white/black designs, and didn't like any of them. Somewhere I was playing with both Archivist and Elvish Piper, and something clicked.
I thought of adding in white as a third color and coming up with some BS mechanical element that would justify that. Ultimately, I figured that where I was going with the story, a lot of time had elapsed, and this wouldn't be the first card to depict a character that shifted colors. And this felt more flavorful as a two-color card.
Noriko placed the headless hound's corpse on the stone in the cavern shrine. The corpse was limp and filthy, and the stump of its neck still bled. The creature had been imprisoned in the earth for a week. Only its muzzle had remained above ground, pleading desperately to no one who would listen. Noriko had heard every cry, but then, Noriko had buried the beast there. The decapitating knife lay tucked into her belt and the hound's blood ran down her side.
"Tonight, great oni, deliver me a slave," said Noriko.
The village was far over the next hill, and the night's wind blew from the south. So, as Noriko ground the dung and fingerbones for her ritual, she did not hear the bell ring out. But soon, the northern sky was red. As Noriko looked up to the mouth of the cavern, her young-seeming face pulled taut. She ground the offering more vigorously, the stone of the mortar chewing against the pestel. The walls would hold. The shrine would remain unbreached.
The fire came upon Noriko from behind. Like a dozen crashing boulders, the night-clad goliaths punched through the side of the cave in a blaze of stone and soot. The demon hag barely had time to turn her head before the cleaver of the Imori-gang leader lopped it off with one massive stroke. Noriko's head bounced two times, then rolled to its final rest against the body of the hound. With a thud, her old, wrinkled body fell at the ogre's feet.
"Burn everything," said Gokuhi, "Bring down the roof. She is dead but her master is coming. We leave before he arrives."
Not a minute later, the great mountain collapsed upon the cavern shrine, and the Imori gang disappeared into the night.
"Where did the Shogun send her banners?" asked the rat.
Jirou raised his head high enough to look the taskmaster in his one remaining eye, and then spit a spray of blood and foam into it. As the rat squealed and danced around, Jirou's head sank down again, his gaze settling on the certain death protruding from his chest. The Shogun's expeditionary force had been captured three days ago, for a loss of two-hundred soldiers. Except that most of the soldiers captured still lived, and were now being made to extend the Shogun's recent loss even further. Jirou's trunk-chested sparring partner, Kenta, broke down on the first night, betraying details of the Shogun's supply line in exchange for the promise of a swift death. Jirou could still occasionally hear the traitor's high-pitched screams from a faraway down the burrow.
The rat yanked on a chain and sent Jirou spiraling into the air, the chest hooks of raw black quintessence cracking bones and ripping flesh anew. The taskmaster's foul medicine had robbed Jirou of the gift of unconsciousness for two days now. But while he could no longer black out from the pain, the Nezumi medicine was no cure for his exhaustion. He spun in silence, ripped wide-open from the inside, too tired to scream. There was no longer any reason to scream. There would be no relief, and no escape. And, no worse pain could possibly be inflicted on him beyond what the rats had already done. The taskmaster hissed and shrieked and repeated his question a dozen more times.
"Why did she order her banners to retreat?"
"Why did the Daimyo send no reinforcements from Ei-Ishiko?"
"Why did they travel through the Tsukokatsu Pass and not the Inasai Pass?"
The truth was a shame too great to bear. Jirou had never been so honored as to speak with the Shogun directly, but on the night of the host's retreat, he stood in the room with his superior officers as she told the entire expeditionary force of her plan. But, no talk of movements and strategy could hide the look in the Shogun's eyes. It was a look of abject fear, a fear of something that not even the protection of ten-thousand of Kamigawa's greatest fighters could assuage. As they stood there on the snowy plain watching the great army file slowly back into the mountains, Jirou could hear some of the men whisper what could not be spoken out loud.
"Hidetsugu," they had said.
The next night they were in his clutches.
Bushido is like Flanking (it is fixed Flanking after all), which has never really been very good. It would be great if you could drop this in favor of something new.
GWU Rafiq
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Every choice I have made in designing this set has been for a very specific and considered reason.
I'll continue posting general set info here as it develops. If you want to see the specific discussions about the different set elements that I've chosen to include, I've linked every card in the set to their corresponding discussions, above.
I'd also like readers to consider the notion that I'm not designing an homage to Kamigawa block. I'm designing my vision for Kamigawa 2. So if you're wondering why you're not seeing some favorite element from Kamigawa 1, it's because it's a sequel, not a retread or a remake. The endpoint of Kamigawa 1 is the starting point for my block.
Look - you're not coming in here looking for answers, you're not wanting to talk about specific developments, and you're not offering constructive comments. You're happy to ignore whatever answers I do give you.
Given all that, what makes you think that I owe you anything on an accelerated schedule?
I will post additional details as I design them.
OK. If you have a specific question, like, "I don't get the green bushido thing. Can you explain that?" I'd be happy to give you an answer. It would probably resemble the answer in one of the two or more green bushido threads I have linked to, above, but I'd answer it again here. No problem. I'd probably even learn something new.
When you come out saying, "Your set looks like garbage. You obviously haven't put any thought into it. Defend yourself," this isn't setting any kind of tone by which I would care to engage you in discussion at all. And I don't have to.
But if you want to talk about some individual decision points, I'm cool with that. Let's go.
As a show of good faith, I'll start by going back to your comment about deathknell in white. I am not currently designing anymore deathknell cards, until I get more of the set locked in. That's because I see deathknell as being pretty flexible about the colors to which it belongs. The color breakdown you see in the OP is the color breakdown from a second draft of the mechanic that was still much more "bounce" focused, and less "reanimation" focused. I like where the mechanic ended up after extensive input from forum-goers. But I realized that I didn't know which colors would get it, anymore. And rather than make that call right then, I decided to wait until I got more of the set locked down. So, there's a possibility that it might end up in white. But until I make that decision, I'm keeping up that second-draft color breakdown as a guide for myself. In the end, we'll see. I probably have another 60-70 cards to lock down before I even touch deathknell again.
Provide a tl;dr next time.
What would you say if in their next set, Wizards moved Flying from White or Black into Green? And if you asked why, they would answer "White/Black doesn't need Flying in this set, but Green does. We know what we're doing, now stop complaining."
Its kind of the same with Deathknell in Blue and Red, but not in White. Its just irritating, from a flavor perspective and color-pie wise. White has more creatures that Blue and Red and is more combat-oriented than both colors. Why doesn't it have deathknell? And why doesn't it need it when it is fitting so well?
I know, there is Unearth, which was a reanimation mechanic in Blue and Red and not at all in White, but I feel that Unearth was more of a top-down decision because a shard of Alara only had three colors and Grixis was mainly Black, so having a graveyard-centric mechanic for it was only natural. And even then, it was some kind of exception. Heck, flying could make sense in Green in some weird way someday. But simply ignoring that what came before it and pushing the mechanic into a color because 'it needs to be there' (or the other color 'doesn't need it') wouldn't be a very good way to do it...
For that matter, where's the green lifelink?
While we're on the subject, where's the red unblockability?
Not to flog a dead horse, but why don't blue and white regenerate?
The weird thing is, I'm here in perfect agreement with you that white can get Deathknell in some future set. Maybe even in sets 2 and 3 in this very block. There. Just. Isn't. Any. Room. For. It. In. This. Set. At least, not unless I cut a few big white vertical cycles that I'm planning to do.
If you're going to attack this set-balance decision on flavor grounds (why you would invoke undying here, possibly the most wrongheaded color and flavor decision in the Modern context, is beyond me) I will again simply remind you that I haven't finished designing the set. I haven't established the flavor for the mechanic. As I said previously, I'm not tackling Deathknell until I get further into design. I think you're swinging at shadows, here.
Terugi approached the cliff with his head bowed low. Even blindfolded, he had experienced something extraordinary that only one in a hundred-thousand might ever hope to encounter: he heard the sing-song rasping of the newly-hatched snakes as it glided on the wind. Though he would never see them, or even get close to them, the hatchlings' cries were still a great balm. The orochi did have young, no matter their insistence (or was it deception?) to the contrary. Their generations had not ended. And now Terugi was about to meet their keepers.
Terugi felt the ground vanish, and panic gripped him for a split second as he hurtled blind through the void of the gulch. But, he soon felt the hand of his snake companion on his back. The grip tightened, and the pair swung in a wide arc through the cliff-side canopy. Terugi heard the flutter of leaves and the slapping of scales on vines, and he felt his stomach lurch in every direction. Minutes passed hurtling through the forest before his companion lowered him gently onto his feet, and removed the blindfold. Standing in front of Terugi were seven of the most heavily-armored snakes he had ever seen.
"The Shogun'sss dessserter," said Terugi's companion, "Hisss ssstory ringsss true. The witchesss have ssspoken."
"I am not a deserter," protested Terugi, his long hair reeking and his garments torn, "But a survivor. And I come with news for the metsuke called Susumu."
"Then you come with newsss for no one," said one of the snakes, "We have no namesss here. You are misssled."
Terugi had heard tales of the snakes' customs, but he never imagined them to be more than legend. When the old warrior tribes fell to the demon Kuro and his rat hordes, the snakes' decimation was said to be so complete that they foresook not only their old warrior code, but also the privilege of bearing a name, as atonement to their patron kami for their failure to protect their young from slaughter. The snakes then took up the way of the bushi. While Terugi had met many of these samurai when they attended the Shogun's court, he realized that all the names he knew had been given to them by humans, out of convenience. Unwillingly, it would seem. Now that he was in the snakes' court, he found himself at a loss.
"Nevertheless, I come with news," said Terugi, "For those who would listen."
"We will lisssten," said another of the many snakes, "Ssspeak your wordsss."
The tale was almost too much for Terugi to bear. First, he told the snakes of the Shogun's retreat, mustering every ounce of his will to praise its glorious purpose, and refusing to betray the suspicions of cowardice which tormented his thoughts. He told them how he served the Shogun as part of her expeditionary force, that continued on through the blighted expanse towards the Oni pits. Terugi and five of his companions had formed a special strike team to travel at the flank of the main force, and to scout ahead for danger. The second night of the expedition, a storm erupted from nowhere, driving a wedge between Terugi's squad and the main force. When the black clouds parted, the main force was gone. Terugi and his men scouted for three days trying to locate the taken, but found only a lethal ambush at the hands of the demon rats. None but Terugi escaped with his life.
"It would have been a sssamurai's death," said a snake, "To die ssslaying the ratsss. You dishonor your companionsss by your refusssal to join their sssacrifice."
"No." said Terugi, "I live for one purpose. The purpose for which I have come. My master sent my companions and I to infiltrate the Oni and return to Ei-Ishiko having scouted their position and strength. All of the others sent forth on this task have died. My plea is for your aid. Return with me to the demon pits, so that I may fulfill my task, or die there alongside you. I beg you for the strength of your swords, so that I may honor my sworn oath."
"Imposssible." said a voice from behind.
With his blindfold on, Terugi had never caught a glimpse of the companion who had taken him on his journey through the trees. Now he stood there, wearing garments that were peculiar to Terugi, but light, flowing, and unlike anything worn by the seven great metsukes that stood near him. This snake looked younger, more full of life, and unburdened with the heavy purpose of the other snakes. Behind that appearance, however, the snake's eyes radiated with an impossible wisdom and age. Terugi felt himself looking back in time as he peered into them. Then the snake spoke again.
"The metsssukesss will not leave the canyon," said the monk, "Their charge isss here, keeping watch over the hatchlingsss. But I will join you, sssamurai."
Terugi choked. "We need more. The demons are..."
"More are coming," said the monk, "The Call hasss been sssounded."
Why is the ability word applied to a trigger that always appears to work the same, and not the actual activated ability?
I like how the ki counter mechanic works, but the way its formatted really just adds words to your cards without much value. If either half of the ki strike dudes needs an ability word, it should be the second half, which always activates the same way (remove N ki counters from ~) but creates various effects (like the laundry list of different things landfall can do). As far as the cards with ki strike themselves, I like the ones I've seen but I keep wondering what can be achieved with the templating this way.
My next question is simply out of curiosity: did you ever consider putting a timing restriction on the ki strike ability? It's not that I can't see the value of having these effects at instant speed, but like unearth and level up, it tends to make the larger pool of decisions less relevant. There's almost always one or two specific points during the turn cycle which are obviously the safest or most productive to use activated abilities, but my gut says forcing them to be activated during a main phase or at your upkeep or whatever makes the decisions more skill-testing.
To be honest, though I think there's been an unnecessary amount of harsh tone and critique in this thread for reasons of personal preference or opinion instead of fact, one thing has been said that I think really needs to be addressed: I, too, am not going to go through a couple dozen threads to track down card comments and catch up on all the designs you have put together so far. If there isn't a post with the cards sorted into some kind of drop-down spoiler, I'm probably not going to have that much interest in keeping up on all the new comments of every micro thread you post in the custom card forum, plus checking back here to get updates on macro-type decisions for the set's direction.
Understood. I will try to throw people a bone and organize this a little bit better. Maybe I'll also do an FAQ.
Right now the structure of this thread is serving the purpose of helping me keep track of things. And it's doing that very well. But not everybody is following my mental shorthand, nor should they be expected to do so. I'll try to upgrade the storefront, so to speak. But it may take a little time.
As for ki strike, I could very well end up changing it to a straight-up keyword. I originally wanted it as an ability word because I was thinking of a few different variations on it. But the more I'm designing ki strike creatures, the more I like the "1 attack or block = 1 ki counter on this creature" balance of the mechanic, so I might just standardize it that way. Originally, I was thinking that I might have it add multiple counters, might have it add counters only for attacking or only for blocking, might have it put counters to other permanents, might have it add or remove counters (the original Brinkwalker design,) and so forth. But I'm more and more pleased with the simplicity of the standard version. So, we'll see. It depends on whether I really love any of the alternative ki strike ideas as they come up.
I invision a future where one is not mighty when he can silence a crowd with brutality,
but when he leaves them speechless with wisdom.
Let me know what I can do to help, if anything.
Edit:
I for one, enjoy the fact that this set does not simply re-hash Kamigawa mechanics/types and instead develops new ones for a very different setting. Keeping everything combat oriented opens up a lot of unexplored design opportunities. I do hope to see Moonfolk return from wherever it is they went, as they are probably my favourite blue tribe ever and the merfolk do seem somewhat tacked-on... (i suppose we know where one of the sorotami went at least).
As of DGM, you may want to rename Wear//Tear as well... =)
Thanks for the compliments, guys!
I especially like that you're enjoying the story. I have a lot more planned for it... what I've presented here is just sketches / outlines / expository stuff. I can't even talk about some of the direction I have planned, but it all implies big changes for the setting. And that's only saying the half of it.
Believe me when I say that everything... everything you've seen so far in this set exists beneath the long shadow of the Soratami. And that's all I'm gonna say.