Bolas stealing their sparks makes more sense to me.
He promised to Ral, Vraska, Domri, Dovin, and Kaya positions of power over their guilds. It would make sense that Bolas would play the "guess you won't be needing this anymore" card and steal their sparks, trapping them permanently on Ravnica as legendary creatures.
And then, of course, there's the fact that he plans to lure the Gatewatch to Ravnica too, probably to steal their sparks also.
I am a bit confused about where the Immortal Sun and the Eternal army come into his plan, but whatever.
The Immortal Sun prevents planeswalking away. The immortal army, aside from Nicol Bolas himself, is the threat to those trapped. Think of it like the BBEG making a murder box.
In Abzan having a creature leave the battlefield (or even get countered) is not a hoop any more than playing evasive creatures and counterspells is. In fact, it is a much lower loop.
And your commander doesn't cost you a card. Your commander going back to your command zone is not a -1. It is still available to be cast. At absolute worst, TGB +3s you when it goes back, assuming your opponent didn't use a card and that you didn't in any way avoid actually losing a card in the process. So I guess if you swing it into a 4/4 and they block you get +3. Otherwise it's almost always going to be +4 or better. You would have to specifically build your deck to not have it be abusable.
And being castable once a turn is a joke of a drawback. It is almost implied on most commanders. It going up in cost isn't a draw back, because by the time it balances out, you've already drawn an extra 9 cards, and lost TGB instead of three other things, and didn't really lose anything in the process.
Its a -1 because it doesn't stay on the field. Postitives and negatives in card advantage are based on how many cards you initially had and how many you have on the board and in the hand. Your commander is costing you a card. It always costs you a card. Just because its in the command zone doesn't make it exempt form pluses or minuses. If this was Vanguard you would actually have made a point where the Vanguard has an active or passive ability from that zone. Hate to break it to you, but its still a +2.
Also no, its never implied on most commanders when it comes to "cast once per turn". If you have the mana, you can cast every other commander multiple times in a turn.
You are not winning. You are scraping for counterpoints.
This is a subjective discussion, not something to win or lose. Warning issued.
It's a three cmc creature that in any of like a billion easily achievable scenarios in those colors that is +4 card advantage. +4 card advantage is broken at 3 cmc, well above curve at 5, and almost balanced at 7.
But what you're ignoring is that at the cost, it is broken. The fact that a commander increases in coat balances out the fact that just casting your commander is almost always +1 card advantage. When the card you design is only balanced by the fact that it becomes "fair" after being broken twice is a pretty good indicator that it is not fair. For the same cmc Edric, Spymaster of Trest needs to jump through more hoops and play a niche of what it's colors usually do, and has a drawback, and is considered broken. TGB plays right into basically anything those colors can do, and requires almost no hoop to jump through.
Its +2 advantage not +4. You gained three cards (+3) but you also lost something when it comes to TGB itself (-1), like most commanders. If TGB was still on the field while you also drew three cards, you would be correct in that is a +4. Please use your terms correctly.
Edric, Spymaster of Trest doesn't really need to jump through that many hoops. I don't recall many pilots stating that needing to use creatures with some form of evasion was "many hoops". In fact, if not kept in check, Edric can draw 4+ cards a turn and is not paying an increase in cost unless said creatures have an upkeep cost OR you need to cast spells from your hand at instant speed to keep your creatures alive.
Also this is where I call you out on this: "TGB plays right into basically anything those colors can do, and requires almost no hoop to jump through."
CAN'T BE PLAYED MORE THAN ONCE PER TURN
EFFECT ONLY TRIGGERS WHEN RETURNING TO COMMAND ZONE.
Those are windows of power, those are hoops.
You know for someone wanting to offer advice and criticism about card design, you are a greenhorn to the subject matter. Your counterpoints are weak and your knowledge is lacking.
We are all amateurs here and this discussion is about custom cards, not anyone's experience or qualifications.
Flame warning.
Discarding cards in Abzan is not a draw back with a full hand. It's a bonus. Your scenario I'd draw three and happily discard a bomb to reanimate, a card to dredge, or a card with flashback.
Also, my example is just one of many using staples of those colors. Even just a 3/3 for 3 that draws 3 when it dies is insane. Having 2 other options is just flavor text 99% of the time. It doesn't really matter much that it doesn't do anything when in play or If you have to pay commander tax. It's +4 card advantage every time you cast it. For three mana. In those colors needing to go back to the command zone is easier than a death trigger, since leyline of the void no longer shuts it down.
3 mana first time, 5 on the second, 7 on the third, 9 on the fourth, 11 on the fifth.
You seem very wrapped up on the initial cast/death based on your wording and are acting like its always 3m for +3 draw.
Draw three for three mana with no drawback is overpowered. Especially without blue. And the fact that you can only cast it once a turn is almost irrelevant, since you'll just load your hand up every time and have plenty of other things to do with your mana. It only stops TGB from going infinite. That's not really a draw back. Each commander should be fair at it's initial cost. Commander tax is not a penalty; it's to balance out the card advantage that you gain when casting your 8th card from your hand. This guy gets fair around the second cast, contrary to you sayong otherwise.
Also, with the new wording, it won't matter where it goes to the command zone from. Now you can skullclamp it into a nether void and draw 5 cards. It's really just not a good design, tbh.
Draw three for having your commander sent back as one of three options. Blue is not the end-all-be-all for card draw. Skullclamp is only +1/-1. If you have Nether Void out, you need to pay an additional 2 for it to be successfully cast if you want to equip it with a Skullclamp. Even at Commander Tax of 4, you have the option for 4GWB of getting a 3/3 body that technically does nothing while present but when sent back to the command zone you get either "+3 cards, or +9 Life, or +3 1/1 counters".
With your hypothetical thing of Skullclamp and Nether Void, you would need to spend 3 + GWB or 6 mana to draw 5 cards on the first go which is actually a mathematically reasonable price for such draw. With such draw, you probably don't want to play anything for several turns as you must have better options to be spending your mana on.
What I make, I design what I want and what I want is a commander who does something besides being a body but also doesn't do something at the same time. That its windows of power are clearer than water.
Also consider that unless you have something like a Reliquary Tower out, you would need to wait before casting it again for more card draw.
You would have 7 cards in hand. If you cast no other creatures and this were to be sent back you would have the option of 9 lifegain, potentially overfilling your hand at 11 cards, OR playing politically and giving an opponents creature +3/+3 in exchange for them not going after you.
That wording won't work because it won't die and then go to the command zone. It'll do one or the other.
Also, it seems really, really overpowered. All of the effects except for the +1/+1 counters are way too high.
Except there is clear windows of power that are very hard to break, that diminishing returns for investment are a thing, that TGB is strong in the early-mid game but falls off later on even with infinite mana being a potential factor. The benefits needed to be strong despite the drawbacks, otherwise they would diminish at a faster rate. Such as 2 cards, +2/+2 or 6 life would start to lose value around the third cast for such meager value at 4GWB as even the life gain is now less valuable at such a return.
When I design, I avoid designing like those who design the yearly C1X products, as even though they get paid they also design some of the most obnoxious commanders ever to grace the format.
The only thing I edited about the original card was the wording.
The Great BuffaloBGW Legendary Ceature - Beast (MR)
You cannot cast The Great Buffalo more than once per a turn from your command zone.
When The Great Buffalo would be sent to your command zone, Choose One —
Put three +1/+1 counters on target creature.
Draw three cards.
You gain 9 life.
3/3
I based it on many myths about Buffalo. Such as with the White Buffalo which is considered sacred life and a good omen. That Buffalo also represented medicine and abundance. They were viewed as symbols of honor and generosity. Yet other myths viewed them less for those aspects and more for strength, endurance and protection.
I like the expansion of the partner system used. Gives more of a tagteam feel to them, aside from maybe Korrus. The only one I would say is underpowered is maybe Konn, Tel-Jilad Ascetic.
Well I don't think I've ever seen a 3/8 before so that's something. Seems weak to me. What's the story behind the 8 toughness here? Dats a big' ol butt
As for Peyt, I actually get whats going on here. The 8 toughness lets him tank most stuff, the fact he forces your opponents commanders to sacrifice non-commander permanents potentially can be very good.
From a character growth standpoint? Yes it does make her unimportant because her mind got wiped by Jace. Thats why its dumb, thats why I dislike it, that is why I think that plot point is hack writing.
She made Jace grow as a character which is something that was needed a long time ago, if she only served as a stepping stone for that, then yeah it is cheap writing, but the thing is we haven’t seen the actual writing. All we got is a roundup of things, from a source that we know isn’t that accurate when it comes to that stuff. The actual writing could be great, they made the Jace/Vraska “couple” grow on us, having Vraska ask Jace to manipulate her memory could be a great and impactful story, like the undoing of Avacyn, okay maybe not that impactful, but you get the point.
I can understand that the current state may upset you, I was indifferent on Vraska as a character before Ixalan, now I really like her and it makes me sad to see her “go”, but that’s also something a writer needs to invoke from time to time, sadness. It’s a sadness we could only feel if we lose something we care, which Vraska wasn’t before those stories. Is it cheap writing? I don’t know I haven’t seen the story yet, if he only seals her memories then she has a chance of remembering everything after she is done with Bolas, which is better than seeing her die or get the Tezzeret “Puppy” treatment.
I agree in that we haven't seen all of the story. I don't want to see Jace just slip back into his old self. I'll also agree that I wasn't that enthusiastic about Vraska at first, but I grew to like her and how she interacted with Jace. With a plot point like "Jace gets flung onto Ixalan, a place he can't planeswalk away, he has no memories and becomes friends with an unlikely person" that can help serve as the means to help him grow.
Vraska might as well not have existed on Ixalan in the first place.
this is a dumb comment for several reasons. first of all, jace will go forward with the memory of their relationship on ixalan. secondly, we learned a lot about vraska's character. lastly, and perhaps most importantly, vraska stole the immortal sun and delivered it to nicol bolas who will likely use it to dominate the multiverse with his army of super zombies.
so the fact that she had her memory of jace wiped doesn't make her presence completely unimportant.
From a character growth standpoint? Yes it does make her unimportant because her mind got wiped by Jace. Thats why its dumb, thats why I dislike it, that is why I think that plot point is hack writing.
There is no conesquence to be had from Bolas because Jace wiping her memory. Sure she delivered the immortal sun and is a minion of Bolas, but that is all you get. This same role could be fulfilled by any other minion of Bolas and get that same result. If Jace hadn't wiped her memory, it would have made Vraska that much more important to the story. He didn't even make a mental shield for her so that any thoughts or memories of Jace or betraying/scheming against Bolas. That some of her thoughts could become undetectable to Nicol Bolas. That in my opinion would count as a victory for the Gatewatch if he could turn Vraska into a double agent by allowing himself to trust someone.
The one sided fight mechanic feels green but also a bit red honestly. And that is the thing, it is/was a very thing, going as far back as The Dark for green and Mirage for red.
Well I didn't add his activated ability or other static ability, mostly because I thought it was too strong with him. Also yes, I've edited the original post with Denzai based on feedback.
I hate to say this, but what hack wrote that? Its so absolutely terrible from a story standpoint. Its like any feelings or thoughts the two might have had about each other after going through all of that just got thrown out the window as they go back to the status quo.
Why would it go back to status quo? Just because Jace gets his memories back doesn't mean what happened on Ixalan and what he learned of Vraska and how the Azorius truly work. If they meet again he will, most likely, act less like she's a criminal and someone he cared for, which will probably confuse her.
There doesn't seem to be a reason to believe those two will go back to the same thing they did years ago with RTR block.
Jace might act different, but Vraska might as well not have existed on Ixalan in the first place. Even if he acts differently to her, he locked those memories away, making Vraska's mindset pre-Ixalan of Jace.
I hate to say this, but what hack wrote that? Its so absolutely terrible from a story standpoint. Its like any feelings or thoughts the two might have had about each other after going through all of that just got thrown out the window as they go back to the status quo. I was hoping a romp through meso-pirate land with a blank slate for memory would make Jace a better character, apparently nope. You are dead to me Jace.
EDIT: The more I think about this, the more dumb it is. If Jace doesn't state where hes going, all Vraska has to tell Nicol Bolas is that Jace escaped from Ixalan and regained his memory. No amount of telepathy is going to get Bolas a different answer. In fact why would Bolas care? He would be more busy trying to conqueror a plane with his brand spanking new army than deal with some pest of a planeswalker.
Also no, its never implied on most commanders when it comes to "cast once per turn". If you have the mana, you can cast every other commander multiple times in a turn.
You are not winning. You are scraping for counterpoints.
This is a subjective discussion, not something to win or lose. Warning issued.
Edric, Spymaster of Trest doesn't really need to jump through that many hoops. I don't recall many pilots stating that needing to use creatures with some form of evasion was "many hoops". In fact, if not kept in check, Edric can draw 4+ cards a turn and is not paying an increase in cost unless said creatures have an upkeep cost OR you need to cast spells from your hand at instant speed to keep your creatures alive.
Also this is where I call you out on this: "TGB plays right into basically anything those colors can do, and requires almost no hoop to jump through."
- CAN'T BE PLAYED MORE THAN ONCE PER TURN
- EFFECT ONLY TRIGGERS WHEN RETURNING TO COMMAND ZONE.
Those are windows of power, those are hoops.You know for someone wanting to offer advice and criticism about card design, you are a greenhorn to the subject matter. Your counterpoints are weak and your knowledge is lacking.
We are all amateurs here and this discussion is about custom cards, not anyone's experience or qualifications.
Flame warning.
You seem very wrapped up on the initial cast/death based on your wording and are acting like its always 3m for +3 draw.
With your hypothetical thing of Skullclamp and Nether Void, you would need to spend 3 + GWB or 6 mana to draw 5 cards on the first go which is actually a mathematically reasonable price for such draw. With such draw, you probably don't want to play anything for several turns as you must have better options to be spending your mana on.
What I make, I design what I want and what I want is a commander who does something besides being a body but also doesn't do something at the same time. That its windows of power are clearer than water.
Also consider that unless you have something like a Reliquary Tower out, you would need to wait before casting it again for more card draw.
As even if the turn sequence just went:
T1: Command Tower
T2: ETBT multicolor land.
T3: Basic, Buffalo.
You would have 7 cards in hand. If you cast no other creatures and this were to be sent back you would have the option of 9 lifegain, potentially overfilling your hand at 11 cards, OR playing politically and giving an opponents creature +3/+3 in exchange for them not going after you.
That is why its a fair design.
When I design, I avoid designing like those who design the yearly C1X products, as even though they get paid they also design some of the most obnoxious commanders ever to grace the format.
The only thing I edited about the original card was the wording.
Legendary Ceature - Beast (MR)
You cannot cast The Great Buffalo more than once per a turn from your command zone.
When The Great Buffalo would be sent to your command zone, Choose One —
- Put three +1/+1 counters on target creature.
- Draw three cards.
- You gain 9 life.
3/3I based it on many myths about Buffalo. Such as with the White Buffalo which is considered sacred life and a good omen. That Buffalo also represented medicine and abundance. They were viewed as symbols of honor and generosity. Yet other myths viewed them less for those aspects and more for strength, endurance and protection.
As for Peyt, I actually get whats going on here. The 8 toughness lets him tank most stuff, the fact he forces your opponents commanders to sacrifice non-commander permanents potentially can be very good.
There is no conesquence to be had from Bolas because Jace wiping her memory. Sure she delivered the immortal sun and is a minion of Bolas, but that is all you get. This same role could be fulfilled by any other minion of Bolas and get that same result. If Jace hadn't wiped her memory, it would have made Vraska that much more important to the story. He didn't even make a mental shield for her so that any thoughts or memories of Jace or betraying/scheming against Bolas. That some of her thoughts could become undetectable to Nicol Bolas. That in my opinion would count as a victory for the Gatewatch if he could turn Vraska into a double agent by allowing himself to trust someone.
I hate to say this, but what hack wrote that? Its so absolutely terrible from a story standpoint. Its like any feelings or thoughts the two might have had about each other after going through all of that just got thrown out the window as they go back to the status quo. I was hoping a romp through meso-pirate land with a blank slate for memory would make Jace a better character, apparently nope. You are dead to me Jace.
EDIT: The more I think about this, the more dumb it is. If Jace doesn't state where hes going, all Vraska has to tell Nicol Bolas is that Jace escaped from Ixalan and regained his memory. No amount of telepathy is going to get Bolas a different answer. In fact why would Bolas care? He would be more busy trying to conqueror a plane with his brand spanking new army than deal with some pest of a planeswalker.