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CardName: Siege Angel Cost: 22/W Type: Artifact Creature - Construct Pow/Tgh: 2/2 Rules Text: Whenever you cast your second spell in a turn, create a colorless Scrip artifact token. {1}{2/R}, Sacrifice two artifacts: Siege Angel gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Flavour Text: Set/Rarity: Name That Card Common

Siege Angel
{2}{2/w}
 
 C 
Artifact Creature – Construct
Whenever you cast your second spell in a turn, create a colorless Scrip artifact token.
{1}{2/r}, Sacrifice two artifacts: Siege Angel gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
2/2
Updated on 22 Nov 2020 by jmgariepy

History: [-]

2020-11-11 08:45:21: jmgariepy created the card Siege Angel

Welcome back to Name That Card! For #50, I figured it would be fun to take a look at a previous card and build around it. Company Store is an interesting card in a vacuum, spitting out 'valueless' Scrip tokens (or substitute legal tender. Think IOUs, coupons, and arcade tokens.) But we never really explored what that world looks like.

(Oh, and for those who haven't seen a twobrid mana symbol before, you pay for that mana symbol by either paying two generic mana, or one mana of the color indicated. So to cast (((NTC #050))), you could either pay {2}{w} or {4}. To activate the ability, you could pay {1}{r} or {3}.)

I wanted an easy to process creature that uses those scrip tokens. But I didn't want the card to be too straightforward, since that would lead to some straightforward names. What is this card's name? And what is its creature type?

2020-11-11 08:46:33: jmgariepy edited Siege Angel

­Overseer Bot 2000 (Construct)

Following space western theme I've used elsewhere. Hinting at semi indentured labour, mining, maybe gold or food tokens. It's not QUITE right, that didn't explain why paying the overseer back makes them bigger, but I think it conveys the general impression :)

This is a Overcharged Fullbore, which I guess makes it creature type Construct, but that's so boring... we probably can't justify the introduction of a new type Drill, but I think Juggernaut might do.

Ooh, I finally arrived at an NTC in time :)

So, continuing and extrapolating on the proposed theme of 'overlord working people ragged' I came up with this:

Siege Angel

The art is some sort of clockwork/steampunk angelic construct... It should be unsettling, so maybe add some Lovecraftian-esque design to it... Anyway, the flavor text is "The Overlord's Conscripts worship these entities as religious icons, rather than as war machines"

I know angels aren't supposed to be common rarity, but the creature type would be 'Construct' anyway, and also these are only angels visually, and in the eyes of the deeply-pacified populace.

I strongly believe that this is appropriate for this card, because {w}{r} is a color pair strongly associated with angels (from the Boros guild, to Radiant (a Serra archangel IIRC) from the old lore... Oh also Akroma is in {w}{r} IIRC)

The fact that this uses twobrid really makes me want to lean heavily into the "Eldritch Machinery" flavor... maybe eldritch isn't quite the right term, since this entity certainly isn't extraplanar nor astral in nature, but the trope is so heavily filled with implications of "unfathomability" and "the fear of the unknown" that it fits so well into some sort of oppressed populace ruled with fear by a powerful overlord.

Also, I couldn't help but come up with some background lore for this Overlord character. I feel like if we're going with a sort of 'space' setting, then I really want to lean into the 'Galactic Emperor' trope, rather than just a 'Planetary Ruler' trope.

However, after some serious thinking, it makes very little sense that a humanoid being could muster enough influence to control land and people over distances anything close to what's found in space.

Hence, I propose that the entity known as 'Overlord', is instead simply known as "Lord". The flavor text would change for the better, now reading as "The Lord's Conscripts [...]"

Whether or not this figure is actually a god in terms of it's metaphysical existence is actually sneakily irrelevant, because as long as it is powerful, being known as the monotheistic god really only matters to them so that they have another facet through which they can control the populace.

I'm also fond of the idea that this entity maybe has some sort of way to see more than a normal non-God being should (so that all dissidents know they are always under The Lord's Gaze)

This may be a lot more backstory than is warranted for this card, but since the flavor text mentions the Lord's Conscripts (that could compose a {w}{r} ( & {c} ? ) faction in this world) whom I see as a sort of 'Holy Army', controlled through both religious pressure and enforcement of military service, I think it's fine.

~~~

I should admit that I just finished reading Mistborn Era 1 by Brandon Sanderson (I highly recommend it), so a fair bit more than 'some' of the idea for this take on an overlord was inspired by his 'Lord Ruler' character. Most of the surrounding ideas (like a holy army and siege angels) were my take on the possible trope of 'God-Emperor', so don't fret spoilers.

Actually, now that I think of it, we've seen Nicol Bolas act as God-Emperor before, and his way of doing it was to be worshipped but not seen... Maybe this 'space nazi' setting could actually fit decently into a MTG Plane, haha. Definitely something I could see them exploring, in the future (we already know multiple planets exist in a single plane, it's not a stretch that they may explore it someday).

I don't think I can turn this into a black bordered entry but I'm imagining a pay as you go coin operated war machine, with a couple of goblins frantically scrabbling in their pockets for tokens to activate it when it stalls out in the middle of a charge and a horde of screaming enemy are bearing down on it :)

That's a glorious mental image, haha

2020-11-20 02:45:27: jmgariepy edited Siege Angel

Froggychum takes this one with Siege Angel. See everybody in (((NTC #051)))!

Oh yeah, nice concept.

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