MTG Salvation

Quote from Trancebam

The problem I see with that is also twofold:

1: That's extremely similar to Transfigure.
2: Because of that similarity, that reminder text is going to take up a majority of the text box, making a bunch of cards that have nothing on them except Mutate.

Not to mention, it also kind of feels like Evoke, in a sense. We could always just use Evoke.

I was going for something like a hand-based Transfigure. Perhaps, taking a page from Transmute...

Mutate GUB (GUB, Discard this card: Search your library for a creature card with the same converted mana cost and cast it without paying its mana cost. Shuffle your library afterwards.)

Quote from Trancebam

The -1/-1 counters graft was suggested very early on, and then shot down very early on. It really doesn't get across the idea that we've developed for Essya at all, and encourages slow (read: boring) play. A mechanic similar to spiritcraft would fit Essya's concept and give far more player interaction. We could simply reuse spiritcraft, but change it to be [type]craft, and the type can be any creature type. Something like:

Spore Flinger :3mana::symg::symg:
Creature - Fungus
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a spore counter on Spore Flinger.
Remove three spore counters from Spore Flinger: Put a 1/1 green Saproling creature token onto the battlefield.
Funguscraft (When this creature dies, return a Fungus card with a converted mana cost less than this card's mana cost from your graveyard to your hand.)
3/4

My issues with this are:

1) I think anything that involves recycling from the graveyard should more properly go in Neter. Essya's not really about reuse, as much as it is about adaptation and predation. Grave-cycling-type things tend to indicate slow, relentless stagnation, which is the part of Neter that Essya disagrees with.

2) If Essya's a place of biological, mutating diversity, anything that encourages tribal play should be discouraged.

What if we do a Mental Magic-style mechanic?

Evolving Luk 2G
Creature - Plant
Mutate 3G (You may cast this spell for its mutate cost. If you do, when it enters the battlefield, it's sacrificed and you may search your library for a creature card with the same converted mana cost and put it onto the battlefield. Shuffle your library afterwards.)
3/2

Araz, Malach of Victory 1RGWU
Legendary Creature - Human Angel Knight
Flying, vigilance, haste, exalted
Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, all damage that would be dealt to it this turn is dealt to target creature instead.
5/4

Next: Riku of Two Reflections and Sisters of Stone Death (THAT'S some interesting fan fiction right there)

They're both men, but because I love this thread so much. D:

Magea, the Bleak Prophet XWB
Legendary Creature - Human Mystic
Magea, the Bleak Prophet enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
T: Put a +1/+1 counter on Magea. You gain 1 life.
T, Remove a +1/+1 counter from Magea: Put a +1/+1 counter on each other creature you control. Each player loses 1 life.
0/0

Next: Olivia Voldaren and Val Kish, Blood Arbiter

Shadow of the Glass-Glade + Disintegrate

Eliza's Rage XUBR
Sorcery
Eliza's Rage deals X damage to target creature or player. That creature can't be regenerated this turn. When the creature dies this turn, you may return a creature card from your graveyard to your hand.

Quote from Trancebam

Sure, and at that point we may as well just reuse Graft.

I'm actually okay with that. Or a version that uses -1/-1 counters, if you want something more toxic.

Apologies for disappearing again; school's kind of been hell recently.

Regarding the descendency mechanics, I actually think they're a better fit for Neter than for Essya, at least phrased that way--W has a greater appreciation for the past and tradition than U. But that's just me.

Essya's U would, IMO, slant its BG away from its cycle-of-life-and-death-obsession-with-the-past side, and more towards its adaptability and focus on self-improvement. Less graveyard tricks, more +1/+1 counters.

What about a Modular variant?

Adapt N (This enters the battlefield with N +1/+1 counters on it. When it dies, you may put its +1/+1 counters on target creature.)

And then we treat Essya's creature menagerie like a cross between the Arcbound creatures and Shadowmoor/Eventide's counters-matter creatures.

Strength of the Lhurgoyf + Branching Bolt

Graveswarm 1BRG
Sorcery
Exile all cards from target player's graveyard, then choose one or both--Target creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn for each card exiled this way; and/or Graveswarm deals damage to target creature equal to the number of cards exiled this way.

Wall of Instability + Quickening Licid

Shatterblood Licid 1RW
Creature - Licid
1:symrw:, T: Quickening Licid loses this ability and becomes an Aura enchantment with enchant creature. Attach it to target creature. You may pay to end this effect.
:symrw:: Shatterblood Licid or enchanted creature gets +1/-1 and gains first strike until end of turn.
When Shatterblood Licid or enchanted creature dies, it deals damage equal to its power to each player and each creature.
1/1

I'm a bit hesitant to have a mechanic that cares about card names; feels kind of parasitic. What if we made it care about card types (so you can learn from the dead of other species as well), and then made it just an on/off toggle rather than a scaling effect to counter the increased ease of achieving Legacy?

Devourer Luk 1GU
Creature - Plant Vampire
ToggleLegacy - Whenever Devourer Luk deals combat damage to a player, if there are at least four creature cards in graveyards, that player puts the top three cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
2/2

Other than the hassle of always having to bring sleeves around (because as a Timmy/slight!Johnny/general-flavor-goob-with-both-Vorthos-and-Melvin elements, the checklist cards don't look nearly as cool), my only real complaints with them are these:

1) More difficult to teach to new players, but this has been gone over already.
2) The fact that the physical design of the cards makes them immune to things like Ixidron for no particular in-game reason. If morph shenanigans work on changelings, nameless races, and even other werewolves from different planes, why should Innistrad's werewolves (and possessed little girls, and Jekyll/Hyde scholars, and angry mobs, and lab-wrecking lizard monsters, and shapeshifting vampires, etc) be any different? It's a pet peeve, yes, but one that does irk me, albeit irrationally.

Quote from Trancebam

We could keyword the ambush ability on Qasali Ambusher for Valheim.

Ambush - Whenever one or more creatures attack you, as long as you control <something> and <something>, you may put CARDNAME from your hand onto the battlefield.

Although that's a lot of text. Perhaps not.

Bit too defensive for Valheim, IMO.

I like Battleflash, but still kind of prefer Bloodthirst.

Quote from SecretInfiltrator

Your hunting party isn't a bunch of friends:
Scapegoat (When this creature dies, you may sacrifice another creature. If you do, return this to the battlefield.)

More Neter, for me. I think Essya, given the presence of blue, wouldn't want to set up game states where it wins through stagnant endurance.

Quote from SecretInfiltrator

There is strength in numbers:
Procreate (When this enters the battlefield, if it was cast, you may put a creature card with the same name from your hand or graveyard onto the battlefield.)

Bit too parasitic for me.

Quote from SecretInfiltrator

In the murky waters there is always something worse:
Reemerge (You may cast this card from your graveyard by sacrificing a creature and paying the difference in mana costs between this and the sacrificed creature. Mana cost includes color.)

In general I'm not exactly a fan of reanimation mechanics for Essya, if only because the flavor seems against undead at the moment.

Quote from SecretInfiltrator

The only real winner is the bloodstained mire:
Fertilizer (When this dies, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a land/creature card. If you do, put it into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.)

I can see nothing wrong with this, but I don't love it. Not sure why, ignore me.

Quote from SecretInfiltrator

I'm growing some more teeth now:
Improve <number>-<cost> (<cost>: Put <number> +1/+1 counter(s) on this. Activate this ability only once each turn.)

Nice, but I kind of want something meaner.

DeadlyImprove N (Whenever this deals lethal damage, put N +1/+1 counter/s on it.)

SneakyImprove N (At end of turn, if [a card]/[at least N cards] was/were put into graveyards from anywhere, put N +1/+1 counters on this.)

Quote from SecretInfiltrator

Darwin was right:
Evolve <number>-<cost> (<cost>, Sacrifice this: Search your library for a creature card with converted mana cost <number> and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.)

I like.

Quote from SecretInfiltrator

Learn from failure a. k. a. another take on evolution:
Ancestor (Whenever a creature with greater converted mana cost enters the battlefield under your control, you may exile this card from your graveyard.)
The descendant creature has hexproof.

Kind of a more limited Haunt. Not that I necessarily mind, but it seems to fit more for Neter, IMO, even name-wise.

My two cents:

Adapt/Mutate - Whenever <trigger condition>, put N +1/+1 counters on this creature.

Fair enough. In line with that, how's this for an Essya theme: subterfuge and guile as means towards development?

(Short response is short; am also working on schoolwork ATM.)

As much as I'd like to go with CMC-matters, it seems to go against the idea of improvement on a per-creature basis, since CMC can't change. It does allow for shardwide improvement a la Birthing Pod, as generations of creatures die and get replaced by more expensive ones, so if that's what we're going for, then cool.

What if it's a counter-matters shard, backed up by a counter-giving mechanic? What matters isn't your original strength, but how much you were able to mutate and improve over others.

(For Neter: I think counter-matters is more Essya than Neter. If we're going for Neter not being a graveyard shard, my best solutions would be either life-matters, which is, as stated, difficult to balance, or perhaps something to do with the exiled zone, flavored as the spiritual afterlife? Or maybe even "sacrifice matters," specifically, although that brings it close to Jund. Tokens?)