Chandra the RevenantWBR
Planeswalker - Chandra
0: You get an emblem with “At the beginning of your upkeep, if Chandra the Revenant is in your graveyard, return her to the battlefield.”
-3: Target opponent sacrifices a permanent of your choice.
-3: Deal 3 Damage to target opponent. The damage can’t be prevented. Until your next turn, that player can’t gain life.
[3]
A Revenant is a form of undead, a visible ghost or animated corpse that is believed to have returned from the grave to terrorize the living. This is always because either the Revenant was murdered or was wrong somehow before its demise when it was alive. Until the task of gaining revenge for those that wronged it has been completed, a Revenant will not cease. Revenants are fast, strong, and intelligent which makes them fearsome opponents. Unlike other undead, they are brought back with their actual soul instead of a fake one. A Revenant also maintains all of its memories from when it was alive. Revenants gorge themselves on blood and are also capable of bleeding if their form still maintains some of their flesh. Revenants have a strong hatred of humans.
The word Revenant is derived from the Latin word Reveniens (Returning) and also the French word Revenir (To Come Back).
Chandra suffered a slow and painful death on Amonkhet while accompanied by the taunting of Nicol Bolas. A fire burned within her as with her last breath she vowed revenge. Nicol Bolas personally didn't heed her words as she was just going to become a mindless zombie for his amusement. What he didn't expect was her to come back as a spirit made of aether that would hunt him relentlessly with eyes that glowed with dutiful malice. No wound or barricade seemed possible of truly slowing her down permanently. When around her fellow Gatewatch members, her old demeanor surfaced. However she has conflicting thoughts of Gideon, Jace and Liliana as part of her hates them more deeply now but her past memories also remember joy and belonging with them. Her friends have mixed feelings of her as well that conflict with their codes and morals, except for Liliana who is just enjoying this.
Q: What does she not syenergize well with?
A: Proliferate and similar effects that only place 1-2 counters on her when she has 3 or more loyalty. On the flip side, their is only benefit to proliferate and similar effects, if she has less than 3 loyalty but is above 0.
Q: So her ultimate is the emblem and your fine with it being a 0-cost?
A: Yes and yes. Its a different approach to how a planeswalker gains their loyalty counters. Rather than a positive loyalty ability or blinking themselves, this one recurs herself from the graveyard.
Q: Why do her other two abilities cost 3 loyalty? Can't they cost less?
A: Because if she takes 1-2 damage she is hamstrung and cannot use her loyalty abilities. No, this is an intentional weakness for her card.
Q: What is her other weakness?
A: If your opponent gives themselves Shroud or Hexproof, Chandra the Revenant can't do anything to them or their board state.
Q: Do you want to know if its balanced?
A: No, I don't want to make it balanced.
Q: What do you want then?
A: I want to make a top-down flavorful card that also functions as intended.
Q: I thought undead couldn't be planeswalkers. Why is she?
A: Because I will it so. If I wanted Jace to be a Lich Planeswalker who still has to deal with being The Guildpact, I would make it so.
Another option to build a deck around it and have its sole purpose be to make that spell work as I've done it with other stuff like undying flames, chance encounter, mortal combat, azor's elocutors just to give some of my past deckbuilding works. It adds another threat to the meta that I have to be prepared for that. It adds more groans and/or cheers to the table amongst friends. It adds creativity to my mind and also my friends minds in the deckbuilding and play phases. Speaking of course as someone whose group has a homebrewed banlist and has had actual experience playing with and against the card on multiple occasions.
Worship (T: Put a loyalty counter on a planeswalker you control. Activate this ability only during your upkeep.)
Mummification - When this creature dies, you may exile it from your graveyard. If you do, [do a thing]. (Example: When Montep the Traitor dies, you may exile him from your graveyard. If you do, put a 3/5 legendary black zombie token with deathtouch named "Montep, the Risen" onto the battlefield.)
Return of Mystic subtype?
"Like clerics, are adept at channeling mana with their faith, but instead of devoting themselves to a religion they learn magic through careful meditation. Mystics often have a special connection with the spirits of the deceased, granting them powers such as flight." (IE: Mystic Enforcer)
Reprinting of Desert? Maybe a cycle of lands like: (Desert Oasis. Land - Desert. Common rarity. "ETB tapped. T: Add G or U to your mana pool.")
A mummy that retains its planeswalker spark? Like a pharaoh or high priest (lady or guy, whichever works).
Since their is a lot of Nicol Bolas-themed architecture, safe bet would be a new Planeswalker card of him with a name like: "Nicol Bolas, The Great Pharaoh" As he is already rocking that Egyptian beard.
Ashiok might make a return or at least be referenced.
Gods? Well I doubt they would be like Theros gods. I could see them having a clause that allows them to be cast from the graveyard (maybe exile?) instead of being indestructible.
Loxodon, Hound, Bird, Cat, Goat, Snake, Crocodile, Insect. Just to list a few race types.
Hmm maybe a return of Clash mechanic (Research the Deep) or the Ordeal mechanic (Ordeal of Thassa) or at least a new spin on them. As one of the unique things apparently to Amonkhet is that if you want to enter the afterlife, you have to pass trials in order to be considered worthy.
Maybe a return of the Trap subtype (Cobra Trap). Whether as Instants or a new spin on it.
Then can you please explain how CV is in any way significantly different from Tooth and Nail?
How exactly does Tooth and Nail interact badly with the structure of Commander? It appears to do exactly the same thing it does in normal Magic.
Well if we want to get all nitty-gritty, T&N plays way better in EDH than regular Magic because it bypasses the singleton structure of the format by virtue of being a tutor.
But like... what? That's the most important criteria here? T&N and CV do functionally the same thing (read: win) when played in a game of EDH. CV being less terrible in EDH than regular M:tG is a frankly ridiculous banning criteria when a better card exists that's still legal.
Not to mention what about literally any other card the combos with a general or even just the rules of EDH? Is Felidar Sovereign up for a ban because it interacts significantly differently in EDH than it does in regular M:tG? Serra Ascendant? Curiosity is a one-mana win the game card when combined with your always avaliable general: ban worthy?
Obviously T&N is abused but a an eye is turned the other way as it would be seen as casual. We always seen the shenaigans caused by it, the usual suspects. Seeing it being abused for massive card draw and tokens (Avenger of Zendikar + Regal Force), as a means to play whack-a-mole with your opponents lands (Khamal, Fist of Krosa + Goblin Sharpshooter/Crovax, Ascendant Hero/ Ascendant Evincar), to unleash some indestructible cthulu-oid monstrosity on the land (Realm Seekers + Vampire Hexmage), to generate infinite mana (Palinchron + Deadeye Navigator), a round-about way to buff your entire army while harming your opponent and yourself (Pestilence Demon + Vigor), to generate an infinite army of hasty tokens (Kiki-Jiki + Zealous Conscripts/Pestermite). I doubt it will even get banned even though it is what enables problems to crop up to begin with.
One of the common arguments I have seen for not putting a card on the banlist for over six years: Its the fault of the opponent for not packing/having "answers" for such threats and because such cards like Serra Ascendant who have no immediate board impact like Primeval Titan which immediately granted two lands upon its entry.
Another is that: Such cards are niche and are not the big ones that warp the format such as Curiosity. Very few decks run it and its relatively easy to counter, thus it is fine. It is fair and as part of a gentlemen's agreement it won't be abused.
Final one is: (EDH/Comander) is a casual game at heart and should be treated as such.
Haste and combining it with Madness cards. That is really what makes Mad Prophet good. Discard a Fiery Temper, pay R to cast, draw a card during the same turn you cast him. I see no downsides here. Bonded Fetch is nice, but you may not have color access to it or other looters.
I'm making a Jeleva deck and while you're not going to use her, there are many similarities. Blatant Thievery is a great way to tip the scale in your favor. Shaman's Trance is also a great card for stealing spells, but it requires you to have more colors in your mana production.
Shaman's Trance is a wonderful idea. Basically a small tweaking of the manabase for a few more lands that produce mana of any color, throw in a chromatic lantern, and you are basically set to go.
You want me to honestly believe its fine to have a "I win " card on the banlist but ignore the dozen others that are free to be used? Like how about a Hive Mind into a Pact of the Titan, if my opponent's cannot produce red mana, they lose .
If we want to keep Coalition Victory banned may I point out a few others that cause the table to concede?
Possibility of Infinite Mana = Table Concedes.
Possibility of Infinite Creatures = Table Concedes.
Possibility of Infinite Turns = Table Concedes.
Possibility of Infinite Combat Steps = Table Concedes.
Possibility of Infinite Milling = Table Concedes.
Possibility of Infinite Damage = Table Concedes.
If I can make a table concede with just a Ezuri, Claw of Progress with five experience counters and a Sage of Hours that is protected by a Cavern of Souls because nobody at the table wants to deal with infinite turn shenanigans, then isn't that a bit of a contradiction to why Coalition Victory is on the banlist? Because it forces an immediate victory? Because many of the "table concedes" methods that I gave examples of will force a victory by a browbeat method onto the rest of the table if not answered.
Its practically the same shenanigans that went on during pro tours with Timespiral where a deck was running around with Dragonstorm and through browbeating their opponents with the threat, not the actual card, of Bogardan Hellkite, they would concede. Only at one point late during the pro tour did the guy running around with that deck get busted because his deck actually didn't have any dragons.
For every one of these "answers" that people love to bring up, there is an answer for an answer. A well built deck will be sturdy and hard to crack, not simply just flimsily croak and die due to one counter spell.
There is quite a few win conditions out there that are basically "I win cards". How about a forced loss? Such as Bojuka Bogging my oppponent's graveyard and then donating to them a Immortal Coil? That does not take much effort to setup either as the Immortal Coil forces a loss on the controller with no graveyard. Could be in a UB, RB or even URB deck.
How about Oloro? Aetherflux Reservoir + Beacon of Immortality. Get your life to 51+ and then double it to 102 and then spend 100 Life and 9W mana to kill two players at the table. If their a chance at repercussions from killing two, like getting pinged for 1-5 damage, I can knock out one player instead and still have 50+ life and then pick my battle later to pick off the second.
One more example of an easy play: My opponent's are tapped out. I cast Biovisionary with mana from a Cavern of Souls. I then kick a Rite of Replication on Biovisionary and finish it with a Savor the Moment for a "I win" moment. My opponent's couldn't respond because their resources are exhausted. The mana isn't hard to come by because I am in green and most green decks tend to have ramp. Shall I go on and list more easy win conditions?
As one might counterpoint about my examples of "Infinite X" and state how EDH/Commander is a Gentlemen's Game, how its a Casual Game and also how it has social contracts against such combos at playgroups. Or how for instance the Oloro example violates a social contract and would be "quite rude to knock a player out that quickly".
To which I answer: Yes I am here for the beer and social interaction when I am at a table with friends like we are playing a poker game... however I shouldn't forget this a game to be won. If I wanted to build a deck that did anything but win, I could easily build a "durdle deck" and waste the time of me and my friends and prolong the inevitability of either losing or winning by default. If a player wins early on in my group, we up picks up our cards and start a fresh game.
Why I remember for the longest time before EDH became Commander that the banlist was listed as an optional rule. As in more like a guideline than a rule at all. If I may also point this out, my playgroup removed the ban from Coalition Victory at our home group as we disagree with the rules committee's choice. My playgroup's banlist takes several cues from the dual commander banlist which actually has a lot more logical choices of why a card might be on the banlist. As that is one of the other things to point out about the banlist in general: Don't like whats on the list at your group that isn't in a sanctioned event? Houserule it.
WUG tokens. I can easily see her getting out of control with a few nudges in the right directions. Doubling Season / Parallel Lives to double the amount of owls. Even in WU you can use the underused Snowfall and some land untapping shenanigans to play the slow game and keep her around. You can also use a Strionic Resonator in response to her dying in order to double the owls.
Ice Cave No really, here me out on this if your deck is for multiplayer. Its a social tool and if you don't mind doing so, all you got to do is have a few lands that allow you to produce mana of any color. If you want to throw in even a Chromatic Lantern. What ends up happening is another player can counter a spell for you and since you control Ice Cave while you also have Baral, Chief of Compliance you get to loot (draw 1, discard 1). If you want added protection against your stuff being countered by your Ice Cave, throw in Cavern of Souls and Boseiju, Who Shelters All. Both of which I would personally kind of expect would be run in a Baral deck in case of enemy counter spells.
Four generals came for a great battle. The first of the four Vorel, weaving roots and obsessed over his pet thallid. The second to join the fray was Daretti, although the artifice he brought was potent he was no match for third general as he became the first to die. This third general was Márton, who easily cleaved the goblin inventor in two with a army of peasants, goblins and fearsome dragons at his command. And finally then their was the fourth, Yasova who simply guarded her lands of iceandsnow with her faithful companion.
She spoke with the spirits of the remora often in search of guidance and the spirits did not disappoint. They guided her to a chasm and told her to wait out the oncoming snowstorm. Márton noticed she had traveled to the chasm, he knew better than to attack her there and so he went after Vorel and his army of saprolings, undeterred for many a dragon flew in the skies overhead. Yet what he didn't know was of the snowstorm that the remora spoke of, he and his army freezing before they even had a chance to charge forward; their fate unknown after the storm's passing. Then only two of the generals remained, Vorel and Yasova.
Vorel prayed to some alien god and his prayers were answered as his forces took flight. He had even injected his fungal army with an offworld substance that made them increasingly lethal what with the poison that dripped forth from them.
He searched and searched until Yasova revealed herself to him and merely requested out of him "Give me a warrior's death by sending forth your whole army to me". Vorel gladly granted what he assumed was her death wish and sent forth his forces to annihilate her... yet he was overconfident and did not know the lay of the land like Yasova or Márton had. Yasova climbing back down into the chasm. Moments passed and then he wondered what was taking so long. As he examined the battle more closely he noticed his forces could not reach Yasova, the saprolings having lost their way. He called back his forces, scheming what he could do next, yet there wasn't going to be a next time. She emerged once more and left the place she hid within, the chasm collapsing. However this time, she left with an army of her own, her faithful companion and a sleuth of bears that followed her into battle.
Needless to say, he had met with a grizzly fate. And that is also how Yasova became victorious of the four generals.
Chandra the Revenant WBR
Planeswalker - Chandra
0: You get an emblem with “At the beginning of your upkeep, if Chandra the Revenant is in your graveyard, return her to the battlefield.”
-3: Target opponent sacrifices a permanent of your choice.
-3: Deal 3 Damage to target opponent. The damage can’t be prevented. Until your next turn, that player can’t gain life.
[3]
The word Revenant is derived from the Latin word Reveniens (Returning) and also the French word Revenir (To Come Back).
Q: What does she synergize well with?
A: Very few cards actually work well with her. Pyromancer's Gauntlet, Rings of Brighthearth, Doubling Season, Pull From Eternity.
Q: What does she not syenergize well with?
A: Proliferate and similar effects that only place 1-2 counters on her when she has 3 or more loyalty. On the flip side, their is only benefit to proliferate and similar effects, if she has less than 3 loyalty but is above 0.
Q: So her ultimate is the emblem and your fine with it being a 0-cost?
A: Yes and yes. Its a different approach to how a planeswalker gains their loyalty counters. Rather than a positive loyalty ability or blinking themselves, this one recurs herself from the graveyard.
Q: Why do her other two abilities cost 3 loyalty? Can't they cost less?
A: Because if she takes 1-2 damage she is hamstrung and cannot use her loyalty abilities. No, this is an intentional weakness for her card.
Q: What is her other weakness?
A: If your opponent gives themselves Shroud or Hexproof, Chandra the Revenant can't do anything to them or their board state.
Q: Do you want to know if its balanced?
A: No, I don't want to make it balanced.
Q: What do you want then?
A: I want to make a top-down flavorful card that also functions as intended.
Q: I thought undead couldn't be planeswalkers. Why is she?
A: Because I will it so. If I wanted Jace to be a Lich Planeswalker who still has to deal with being The Guildpact, I would make it so.
Mummification - When this creature dies, you may exile it from your graveyard. If you do, [do a thing].
(Example: When Montep the Traitor dies, you may exile him from your graveyard. If you do, put a 3/5 legendary black zombie token with deathtouch named "Montep, the Risen" onto the battlefield.)
Land Subtype: Tomb.
(Gates? Fastlands? Temples?)
Return of wastes?
Return of Mystic subtype?
"Like clerics, are adept at channeling mana with their faith, but instead of devoting themselves to a religion they learn magic through careful meditation. Mystics often have a special connection with the spirits of the deceased, granting them powers such as flight."
(IE: Mystic Enforcer)
Reprinting of Desert? Maybe a cycle of lands like:
(Desert Oasis. Land - Desert. Common rarity. "ETB tapped. T: Add G or U to your mana pool.")
A mummy that retains its planeswalker spark? Like a pharaoh or high priest (lady or guy, whichever works).
Since their is a lot of Nicol Bolas-themed architecture, safe bet would be a new Planeswalker card of him with a name like: "Nicol Bolas, The Great Pharaoh" As he is already rocking that Egyptian beard.
Ashiok might make a return or at least be referenced.
Gods? Well I doubt they would be like Theros gods. I could see them having a clause that allows them to be cast from the graveyard (maybe exile?) instead of being indestructible.
Loxodon, Hound, Bird, Cat, Goat, Snake, Crocodile, Insect. Just to list a few race types.
Hmm maybe a return of Clash mechanic (Research the Deep) or the Ordeal mechanic (Ordeal of Thassa) or at least a new spin on them. As one of the unique things apparently to Amonkhet is that if you want to enter the afterlife, you have to pass trials in order to be considered worthy.
Maybe a return of the Trap subtype (Cobra Trap). Whether as Instants or a new spin on it.
EDIT: Oooh. WHat about a Temple of the False God reprint?
EDIT 2: Hmmm for devotion what if it were a slight twist. Like Expensive spells that cost less? Like: The Sun's Gaze 7WW costs 1 less for each.
EDIT 3: Vengeful Pharaoh also has similar headgear to Nicol Bolas.
Mogis, God of Slaughter: Sacrifice or take pain.
Ruric Thar, the Unbowed: Cast noncreature? Take damage.
Ob Nixilis, Unshackled: Tutoring/Ramping? Lose life for heresy.
Nongenerals cards I can think of are stuff like...
Feroz's Ban: I don't like you having army so fast.
Stranglehold: No searching and no extra turns for enemies.
Sphere of Resistance: I am slowing this game down.
City of Solitude and Dosan the Falling Leaf: No, its my turn, you wait.
Bubble Matrix: Not in the mood for getting hurt today.
Wouldn't be a bad idea to go something like RGB as that is where a lot of punishment spells tend to be.
Obviously T&N is abused but a an eye is turned the other way as it would be seen as casual. We always seen the shenaigans caused by it, the usual suspects. Seeing it being abused for massive card draw and tokens (Avenger of Zendikar + Regal Force), as a means to play whack-a-mole with your opponents lands (Khamal, Fist of Krosa + Goblin Sharpshooter/Crovax, Ascendant Hero/ Ascendant Evincar), to unleash some indestructible cthulu-oid monstrosity on the land (Realm Seekers + Vampire Hexmage), to generate infinite mana (Palinchron + Deadeye Navigator), a round-about way to buff your entire army while harming your opponent and yourself (Pestilence Demon + Vigor), to generate an infinite army of hasty tokens (Kiki-Jiki + Zealous Conscripts/Pestermite). I doubt it will even get banned even though it is what enables problems to crop up to begin with.
Serra Ascendant, Curiosity, Felidar Sovereign, not likely to be banned.
One of the common arguments I have seen for not putting a card on the banlist for over six years: Its the fault of the opponent for not packing/having "answers" for such threats and because such cards like Serra Ascendant who have no immediate board impact like Primeval Titan which immediately granted two lands upon its entry.
Another is that: Such cards are niche and are not the big ones that warp the format such as Curiosity. Very few decks run it and its relatively easy to counter, thus it is fine. It is fair and as part of a gentlemen's agreement it won't be abused.
Final one is: (EDH/Comander) is a casual game at heart and should be treated as such.
Shaman's Trance is a wonderful idea. Basically a small tweaking of the manabase for a few more lands that produce mana of any color, throw in a chromatic lantern, and you are basically set to go.
If we want to keep Coalition Victory banned may I point out a few others that cause the table to concede?
Possibility of Infinite Mana = Table Concedes.
Possibility of Infinite Creatures = Table Concedes.
Possibility of Infinite Turns = Table Concedes.
Possibility of Infinite Combat Steps = Table Concedes.
Possibility of Infinite Milling = Table Concedes.
Possibility of Infinite Damage = Table Concedes.
If I can make a table concede with just a Ezuri, Claw of Progress with five experience counters and a Sage of Hours that is protected by a Cavern of Souls because nobody at the table wants to deal with infinite turn shenanigans, then isn't that a bit of a contradiction to why Coalition Victory is on the banlist? Because it forces an immediate victory? Because many of the "table concedes" methods that I gave examples of will force a victory by a browbeat method onto the rest of the table if not answered.
Its practically the same shenanigans that went on during pro tours with Timespiral where a deck was running around with Dragonstorm and through browbeating their opponents with the threat, not the actual card, of Bogardan Hellkite, they would concede. Only at one point late during the pro tour did the guy running around with that deck get busted because his deck actually didn't have any dragons.
For every one of these "answers" that people love to bring up, there is an answer for an answer. A well built deck will be sturdy and hard to crack, not simply just flimsily croak and die due to one counter spell.
There is quite a few win conditions out there that are basically "I win cards". How about a forced loss? Such as Bojuka Bogging my oppponent's graveyard and then donating to them a Immortal Coil? That does not take much effort to setup either as the Immortal Coil forces a loss on the controller with no graveyard. Could be in a UB, RB or even URB deck.
How about Oloro? Aetherflux Reservoir + Beacon of Immortality. Get your life to 51+ and then double it to 102 and then spend 100 Life and 9W mana to kill two players at the table. If their a chance at repercussions from killing two, like getting pinged for 1-5 damage, I can knock out one player instead and still have 50+ life and then pick my battle later to pick off the second.
One more example of an easy play: My opponent's are tapped out. I cast Biovisionary with mana from a Cavern of Souls. I then kick a Rite of Replication on Biovisionary and finish it with a Savor the Moment for a "I win" moment. My opponent's couldn't respond because their resources are exhausted. The mana isn't hard to come by because I am in green and most green decks tend to have ramp. Shall I go on and list more easy win conditions?
As one might counterpoint about my examples of "Infinite X" and state how EDH/Commander is a Gentlemen's Game, how its a Casual Game and also how it has social contracts against such combos at playgroups. Or how for instance the Oloro example violates a social contract and would be "quite rude to knock a player out that quickly".
To which I answer: Yes I am here for the beer and social interaction when I am at a table with friends like we are playing a poker game... however I shouldn't forget this a game to be won. If I wanted to build a deck that did anything but win, I could easily build a "durdle deck" and waste the time of me and my friends and prolong the inevitability of either losing or winning by default. If a player wins early on in my group, we up picks up our cards and start a fresh game.
Why I remember for the longest time before EDH became Commander that the banlist was listed as an optional rule. As in more like a guideline than a rule at all. If I may also point this out, my playgroup removed the ban from Coalition Victory at our home group as we disagree with the rules committee's choice. My playgroup's banlist takes several cues from the dual commander banlist which actually has a lot more logical choices of why a card might be on the banlist. As that is one of the other things to point out about the banlist in general: Don't like whats on the list at your group that isn't in a sanctioned event? Houserule it.
She spoke with the spirits of the remora often in search of guidance and the spirits did not disappoint. They guided her to a chasm and told her to wait out the oncoming snowstorm. Márton noticed she had traveled to the chasm, he knew better than to attack her there and so he went after Vorel and his army of saprolings, undeterred for many a dragon flew in the skies overhead. Yet what he didn't know was of the snowstorm that the remora spoke of, he and his army freezing before they even had a chance to charge forward; their fate unknown after the storm's passing. Then only two of the generals remained, Vorel and Yasova.
Vorel prayed to some alien god and his prayers were answered as his forces took flight. He had even injected his fungal army with an offworld substance that made them increasingly lethal what with the poison that dripped forth from them.
He searched and searched until Yasova revealed herself to him and merely requested out of him "Give me a warrior's death by sending forth your whole army to me". Vorel gladly granted what he assumed was her death wish and sent forth his forces to annihilate her... yet he was overconfident and did not know the lay of the land like Yasova or Márton had. Yasova climbing back down into the chasm. Moments passed and then he wondered what was taking so long. As he examined the battle more closely he noticed his forces could not reach Yasova, the saprolings having lost their way. He called back his forces, scheming what he could do next, yet there wasn't going to be a next time. She emerged once more and left the place she hid within, the chasm collapsing. However this time, she left with an army of her own, her faithful companion and a sleuth of bears that followed her into battle.
Needless to say, he had met with a grizzly fate. And that is also how Yasova became victorious of the four generals.