I think the biggest reason that this set isn't terribly exciting on the surface is that it's a top-down set and we don't get to see flavor text, art, or any other flavor enhancement.
I think you could give the set a large injection of flavor by adding a significant subtheme such as tribal or modular cards related to each god or something like that. Give us johnnys a reason to want to build a certain deck, and make it highly flavorful. I think that would give players like me a big reason to want to play your set. Sorry if this suggestion is vague, I'm just trying to portray what your set is missing without knowing what it actually is.
I'd recommend playing with Forecast. It has VERY similar flavor and is much easier to work with.
Sphinx of the Immersturm 4RU
Creature - Sphinx
Flying
When Sphinx of the Immersturm enters the battlefield, if you forecast it this game, draw four cards and discard two cards.
Forecast UR -- Reveal ~ from your hand: Draw two cards and discard two cards.
5/5
I don't think Wizards would print a top-down Norse mythology set because it isn't popular enough and not enough people know a lot about it. I certainly think they would print a bottom-up Norse mythology set that was supporting some kind of mechanical base, similar to how Khans is an Asian style set. Now that doesn't go against your set at all, I just think people at Wizards would argue that it doesn't have enough mass appeal.
Honorable functions exactly the same with either wording against control decks. If I have a Doom Blade and my opponent has an Honorable creature that is about to attack me, I will kill it at the end of their first main phase to stop my version of Honorable from triggering. I can kill it at the end of their first main phase or at the beginning of combat step and it will stop your version of Honorable from triggering. Very very nearly the same. Now if I had a Devouring Light, I would be forced to kill the creature in combat after it had attacked, so both versions of Honorable would trigger.
On the similarity to Theros, you have to remember that the feel of the set is not very important to showing people that it's different. They have to actually draft it and play it to know that. It has to be different enough on the surface to get them to even play it in the first place. Scry might be fine in the set. But I feel like it lacks a critical mechanic that ties hard into the Norse mythology theme and gives the set its own identity.
The problem with Overwhelm is the variance of the ability in limited. It's either useless because the creature with Overwhelm will get eaten if you drop it (and maybe the triggering attacker will get eaten too) or your current biggest creature AND the next biggest creature will be the best ones on the board, meaning you are at a significant advantage. I don't think the mechanic is terrible, I just think I would argue against it if I was on a design team for the set because there are too many disadvantages and not enough upside.
I don't understand why you would want your gods to be enchantments. The gods in Theros were enchantments and so were their effects on the world around. If you tried to simulate the Norse gods this way, the set would be a 50% replica of Theros. There are thousands of alternative ways to portray your Norse gods. You don't have to put one of your mechanics on each one, that was just a suggestion. But I bet I could show you ways you could do it that would be splashy enough, if you gave me their names and colors.
I really like most of what's going on here. I don't know much about norse mythology, and I don't think Wizards would print a top-down set about norse mythology, but they care about mass appeal and we don't, so I think it's a great theme. I love the terminology and tropes it allows. Unfortunately this set looks a little too similar to Theros, but that's something you are already aware of and are working on so that's good.
I really like Honorable. I would love for the mechanic to be worded: "Whenever this creature dies in combat, effect". It's very easy to grok and understand that way, and it functions the same. The terminology is slightly loose and might bother some people, but functionally it works fine.
I agree that scry helps this set be too similar to Theros. I think a mechanic playing with the top card of the library could be cool.
I don't like Overwhelm because it rewards the player that is already winning far too much. It's also another mechanic that rewards aggressive play. Some players, like myself, enjoy blocking and going long (control) in limited, and I wouldn't like to play a set full of aggressive mechanics. Maybe try a threshold ability that checks the creature with the highest power on the battlefield.
You do need gods, and you definitely don't need to make them enchantment creatures. If you don't have a mechanical identity in mind, you could always just go with something similar to the Praetors: really expensive and really powerful. That's something Magic doesn't do all the time, and I consider it an identity for a cycle like this. You could also put a keyword on each of them (Honorable, Scry, Overwhelm, Mantle, Reinforce) but make sure they are both splashy and pushed power-wise.
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I think you could give the set a large injection of flavor by adding a significant subtheme such as tribal or modular cards related to each god or something like that. Give us johnnys a reason to want to build a certain deck, and make it highly flavorful. I think that would give players like me a big reason to want to play your set. Sorry if this suggestion is vague, I'm just trying to portray what your set is missing without knowing what it actually is.
Sphinx of the Immersturm 4RU
Creature - Sphinx
Flying
When Sphinx of the Immersturm enters the battlefield, if you forecast it this game, draw four cards and discard two cards.
Forecast UR -- Reveal ~ from your hand: Draw two cards and discard two cards.
5/5
Honorable functions exactly the same with either wording against control decks. If I have a Doom Blade and my opponent has an Honorable creature that is about to attack me, I will kill it at the end of their first main phase to stop my version of Honorable from triggering. I can kill it at the end of their first main phase or at the beginning of combat step and it will stop your version of Honorable from triggering. Very very nearly the same. Now if I had a Devouring Light, I would be forced to kill the creature in combat after it had attacked, so both versions of Honorable would trigger.
On the similarity to Theros, you have to remember that the feel of the set is not very important to showing people that it's different. They have to actually draft it and play it to know that. It has to be different enough on the surface to get them to even play it in the first place. Scry might be fine in the set. But I feel like it lacks a critical mechanic that ties hard into the Norse mythology theme and gives the set its own identity.
The problem with Overwhelm is the variance of the ability in limited. It's either useless because the creature with Overwhelm will get eaten if you drop it (and maybe the triggering attacker will get eaten too) or your current biggest creature AND the next biggest creature will be the best ones on the board, meaning you are at a significant advantage. I don't think the mechanic is terrible, I just think I would argue against it if I was on a design team for the set because there are too many disadvantages and not enough upside.
I don't understand why you would want your gods to be enchantments. The gods in Theros were enchantments and so were their effects on the world around. If you tried to simulate the Norse gods this way, the set would be a 50% replica of Theros. There are thousands of alternative ways to portray your Norse gods. You don't have to put one of your mechanics on each one, that was just a suggestion. But I bet I could show you ways you could do it that would be splashy enough, if you gave me their names and colors.
I really like Honorable. I would love for the mechanic to be worded: "Whenever this creature dies in combat, effect". It's very easy to grok and understand that way, and it functions the same. The terminology is slightly loose and might bother some people, but functionally it works fine.
I agree that scry helps this set be too similar to Theros. I think a mechanic playing with the top card of the library could be cool.
I don't like Overwhelm because it rewards the player that is already winning far too much. It's also another mechanic that rewards aggressive play. Some players, like myself, enjoy blocking and going long (control) in limited, and I wouldn't like to play a set full of aggressive mechanics. Maybe try a threshold ability that checks the creature with the highest power on the battlefield.
You do need gods, and you definitely don't need to make them enchantment creatures. If you don't have a mechanical identity in mind, you could always just go with something similar to the Praetors: really expensive and really powerful. That's something Magic doesn't do all the time, and I consider it an identity for a cycle like this. You could also put a keyword on each of them (Honorable, Scry, Overwhelm, Mantle, Reinforce) but make sure they are both splashy and pushed power-wise.