You got the wrong comparison for Sting. It's not a Pyromatics. It's somewhere halfway between Twin Bolt and Geistflame.
The Mechanic is good, but the card designs are underwhelming. And I mean underwhelming as in, "only one of the commons I'd be happy to have anywhere near my 23 playables", because if I do, geeze the rest of my cards suck. I mean, one of your flagship commons is literally worse than Tome Scour. How does that happen?
I love this. Stick it onto onto simple as possible designs (you hardly need cards that care about mutation. the mechanic rewards itself already) and you probably have a real winner.
I liked and still like the original version. Sweet and simple does the trick. This whole nonmechanical token types stuff is just overdoing it for no reason at all.
I thought that just meant "lands we can reprint in any expert expansion". But then I had forgotten about the explicit mention of the toolkit. (since I haven't played constructed formats in a while)
I liked the wording with a replacement effect better (I like the idea it lets you have a few creatures that go "whenever a creature you control worships") than the "inspired riff" version. Nothing to criticize about 1.0 either, though.
Thanks guys! I think I've come up with better terminology. I'm not sure what is meant by nonstandard timing.
You choose targets for Auras as you cast the spell since Aura spells/enchant abilities target. But this ability does not target, so the creature is chosen on resolution. This will be not intuitive to players used to the way Auras work.
So you're saying it should target (if it's to be intuitive)?
Probably. I'm not exactly a beginner and I was still assuming there was probably some implied targeting somewhere.
The reminder text seems really unclear to me what happens if you try to embed but the creature is killed while the embedded on is on the stack.
The name also doesn't quite get there for me, but sadly we have just lost "meld" as an option...
Otherwise the mechanic does feel strongly Simic. It's the embodiment of the krasis concept after all (hey, could that be a potential name?). I'm not sure if a window-redressed bestow is satisfying from a design standpoint, but that's a decision for you to take.
I think you've got something really interesting here. The whole "finding a way to tap first" is far more interesting (but then I did have a bit of a fondness for Inspired) to me than the suggested "activate at upkeep only". If you can always just safely activate, you have significantly less flexibility for your commons it seems to me.
I do believe you're being unnecessarily fancy with the alternate costs, especially for a common, but I'm never entirely clear how complex this block is supposed to be, so that may well be a misplaced criticism on my part.
Deranged (You may discard a card as you cast this creature. If you do, it enters the battlefield with haste and indestructible until end of turn.)
"Kicker - Discard a a card" doesn't seem fun for Timmy, Johnny, or Spike. Plus it has limited sustainability.
"Limited sustainability" is not an issue if the mechanic is intended to be aggressive. Rakdos is not exactly flavored as a control guild. If you mean "few card designs", again, a feature and not a bug. Faction mechanics specifically don't need to sustain a lot of design space.
Second: discarding for bonus is classic johnny and spike stuff (see also: madness blocks, flashback and almost any graveyard block ever). That's the point: powering up by mitigating the discard e.g. by discarding cards that you can activate in the graveyard, duh. (I'm pretty sure you have a mechanic in the block that an be activated in the graveyard.)
Third: they just stated that some players don't like discarding even for cycling of all things, so Exhume, which requires a whole lot more work only to give opponents aura-like two-for-one chances, would be even more troublesome to get working.
ETA: I notice that they never actually did a card with "Kicker—Discard a card". Seems to me R&D may have wanted to specifically keep that space open.
Okay, I see several issues here:
1) Ridiculous amount of graveyard returning.
2) Most of them are not creatures, this means you can't even use it to feed later uses.
3) "Illuminate" effect: each of these cards count as all the creature cards in your graveyard.
4) While nothing says Rakdos can't be a graveyard guild, as a mechanic, this doesn't really feel Rakdos.
5) Not feeling Rakdos means the fact it's not red is an issue.
I feel a simple "discard as extra cost for some set bonus" could do the trick.
Deranged (You may discard a card as you cast this creature. If you do, it enters the battlefield with haste and indestructible until end of turn.)
You can do anything as the bonus, this is just one idea based off the traditional aggressive recklessness of the guild
Maybe it just puts +1/+1 counters on it (or instead of the indestructible).
Maybe it causes life loss.
Maybe it goes all in on the discard: the creatures all get the Ravenous Rats treatment. (that one is probably too oppressive though)
Maybe it's just a general hook that you can trigger off of, like Extort (in which case int goes on creatures or spells).
Boros Bivouac's effect has never been on a NWO card (You're going to oppose Veteran Armorsmith, but that says "soldier", and even that may well be considered not proper at common given Tide Drifter, Steelform Sliver, Gallows Warden and cheif of the scale were all shoved up to uncommon). Of course assuming you're trying for NWO may well be an improper assumption on my part.
I have virtually no issue whatsoever with the concept (heck, I came up with what's basically the reverse version a long time ago). Just the effects involved.
Have you considered one-shot activated abilities instead, i.e. some variants on the fonts or vessels (or the implements, even)? I believe the choice of trigger is the biggest issue. Repeated effects at common (at least the type of triggers these cards need) tend to trigger off spells being cast or permanents entering the battlefield. One-shot spell effects are also possible. i.e. you either get Falter, or Seismic Elemental (which, yes, I believe could exist at common in some form), or the choice of crush/erase vs Manic Vandal/silverchase fox.
I'm not sure what you mean by "auras being the right call". I mean, my first thought is "it's gonna be a tall order making it distinct enough from bestow". (you're referring to the earlier version that was living weapon for auras)
I think two important question to ask may be:
What flavor of Boros do you want to emphasize? Are you looking for the righteous army that assault the enemy? The standing army staunchly training and awaiting the need for them? The furious explosion when they charge? Steadfast comradery?
By extension, what should the mechanic encourage? Attacking? Having creature? Having mana? This particular mechanic
Looking back you've had mechanics that were aggressive (Tactical, Assault), combat-focused (Warcraft) and flavor-focused on the angels (Ascend).
Now Mobilize (in all its versions) seems to be focusing on enchantment, which does seem an odd choice. As in, I'm not entirely sure why the mechanic needs to involve enchantments. I think it would help us to help you is you explained why you abandoned previous versions.
For example I think Tactical showed promise. It seems very fitting flavorwise, and its somewhat restricted space seems exactly what you want for a guild mechanic, especially since it had a potential "default" along the lines of
Battle-Hardened Sergeant1WR
Creature—Minotaur Tactical— ~ enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each creature that attacked this turn.
0/0
I consider myself good at iterating (or at least producing a bunch of variations on an idea), but it's hard to know which direction to iterate in without knowing why you want to go in a certain direction.
I like the mechanic, but I'm a little confused as to what your trying to accomplish. Why is Boros suddenly the enchantment guild? That was originally Azorius.
I don't get where you think Azorius is "the enchantment guild" (other than some generic association of oblivion ring effects with law enforcement). The whole of ravnica/return had a secondary enchantment theme, which naturally pooled in white, but flavorwise (or even mechanicalwise) there is nothing enchantment focused about azorius
My major concern would be more about how not a single of those common enchantment has an effect that's currently possible at common. Literally all of them are uncommon effects.
It's kind of hard to see a vanilla Mythic rare. I guess being vanilla makes it kinda bad. I do like having a legendary wurm.
Mythic? Looks like a regular rare to me. Although unusual at rare (this sort of stuff is usually at uncommon), but R&D are known to enjoy doing that sort of stuff from time to time (Isamaru, Indomitable Ancients).
Possibly, depending on the speed of the format. Cumber Stone and Dampening Pulse were playable, and incredibly taxing on your opponent in multiples. This costs 1 more and that is the lynch pin. The fact that it prevents damage from non-creature sources seems mostly irrelevant.
I thought Daxos was a champion (or was it oracle?) of all gods? Or did I misremember that?
There's a lot of link issues, especially, for some reason, in the Zendikar section. I'm not sure why several links seem to be intended for story articles only in that section, so for those I listed both the story and fixed card link.
You got Elspeth's family name misspelled in the Scars sction.
The Mechanic is good, but the card designs are underwhelming. And I mean underwhelming as in, "only one of the commons I'd be happy to have anywhere near my 23 playables", because if I do, geeze the rest of my cards suck. I mean, one of your flagship commons is literally worse than Tome Scour. How does that happen?
Probably. I'm not exactly a beginner and I was still assuming there was probably some implied targeting somewhere.
The name also doesn't quite get there for me, but sadly we have just lost "meld" as an option...
Otherwise the mechanic does feel strongly Simic. It's the embodiment of the krasis concept after all (hey, could that be a potential name?). I'm not sure if a window-redressed bestow is satisfying from a design standpoint, but that's a decision for you to take.
I do believe you're being unnecessarily fancy with the alternate costs, especially for a common, but I'm never entirely clear how complex this block is supposed to be, so that may well be a misplaced criticism on my part.
"Limited sustainability" is not an issue if the mechanic is intended to be aggressive. Rakdos is not exactly flavored as a control guild. If you mean "few card designs", again, a feature and not a bug. Faction mechanics specifically don't need to sustain a lot of design space.
Second: discarding for bonus is classic johnny and spike stuff (see also: madness blocks, flashback and almost any graveyard block ever). That's the point: powering up by mitigating the discard e.g. by discarding cards that you can activate in the graveyard, duh. (I'm pretty sure you have a mechanic in the block that an be activated in the graveyard.)
Third: they just stated that some players don't like discarding even for cycling of all things, so Exhume, which requires a whole lot more work only to give opponents aura-like two-for-one chances, would be even more troublesome to get working.
ETA: I notice that they never actually did a card with "Kicker—Discard a card". Seems to me R&D may have wanted to specifically keep that space open.
1) Ridiculous amount of graveyard returning.
2) Most of them are not creatures, this means you can't even use it to feed later uses.
3) "Illuminate" effect: each of these cards count as all the creature cards in your graveyard.
4) While nothing says Rakdos can't be a graveyard guild, as a mechanic, this doesn't really feel Rakdos.
5) Not feeling Rakdos means the fact it's not red is an issue.
I feel a simple "discard as extra cost for some set bonus" could do the trick.
Deranged (You may discard a card as you cast this creature. If you do, it enters the battlefield with haste and indestructible until end of turn.)
You can do anything as the bonus, this is just one idea based off the traditional aggressive recklessness of the guild
Veteran Armorsmith, but that says "soldier", and even that may well be considered not proper at common given Tide Drifter, Steelform Sliver, Gallows Warden and cheif of the scale were all shoved up to uncommon). Of course assuming you're trying for NWO may well be an improper assumption on my part.
I have virtually no issue whatsoever with the concept (heck, I came up with what's basically the reverse version a long time ago). Just the effects involved.
Have you considered one-shot activated abilities instead, i.e. some variants on the fonts or vessels (or the implements, even)? I believe the choice of trigger is the biggest issue. Repeated effects at common (at least the type of triggers these cards need) tend to trigger off spells being cast or permanents entering the battlefield. One-shot spell effects are also possible. i.e. you either get Falter, or Seismic Elemental (which, yes, I believe could exist at common in some form), or the choice of crush/erase vs Manic Vandal/silverchase fox.
I'm not sure what you mean by "auras being the right call". I mean, my first thought is "it's gonna be a tall order making it distinct enough from bestow".(you're referring to the earlier version that was living weapon for auras)I think two important question to ask may be:
Looking back you've had mechanics that were aggressive (Tactical, Assault), combat-focused (Warcraft) and flavor-focused on the angels (Ascend).
Now Mobilize (in all its versions) seems to be focusing on enchantment, which does seem an odd choice. As in, I'm not entirely sure why the mechanic needs to involve enchantments. I think it would help us to help you is you explained why you abandoned previous versions.
For example I think Tactical showed promise. It seems very fitting flavorwise, and its somewhat restricted space seems exactly what you want for a guild mechanic, especially since it had a potential "default" along the lines of
Battle-Hardened Sergeant 1WR
Creature—Minotaur
Tactical— ~ enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each creature that attacked this turn.
0/0
I consider myself good at iterating (or at least producing a bunch of variations on an idea), but it's hard to know which direction to iterate in without knowing why you want to go in a certain direction.
I don't get where you think Azorius is "the enchantment guild" (other than some generic association of oblivion ring effects with law enforcement). The whole of ravnica/return had a secondary enchantment theme, which naturally pooled in white, but flavorwise (or even mechanicalwise) there is nothing enchantment focused about azorius
My major concern would be more about how not a single of those common enchantment has an effect that's currently possible at common. Literally all of them are uncommon effects.
Mythic? Looks like a regular rare to me. Although unusual at rare (this sort of stuff is usually at uncommon), but R&D are known to enjoy doing that sort of stuff from time to time (Isamaru, Indomitable Ancients).
It may well depend on the existence of a repeatable player pinger. Commons like Reckless Fireweaver, Thermo-Alchemist, Nettle Drone and Impact Tremors tend to be relevant in limited formats where they exist.