Strange that the entwined hybrid costs have lead me to something very generic on 2cc, but I don't know how else to do it. No matter... I wanted to get this guy down so that I didn't forget that I wanted some ion removing... probably even at common.

Oooh, this guy is going to be VERY irritating. As long as he's around (and you're running an ion deck), everything has hexproof. And HE has hexproof. Argleblag I wanna kill it, but it won't DIE. And it's common, so you're running four of him. Argleblagleargh.

He's probably fair, but you're really gonna need some 'not a spell' removal, or there's going to be more than a few tables tipped over in disgust.

I know. I went a little heavy on the good. I've been thinking about to calm him down, but that may not be the right direction. He should probably only get one counter, but being WU, that seems weird. I've been wondering if I should do costs like for 2cc in order to keep the same casting cost identity. If I did, this guy would only get one ion counter, which would go a long way to getting him off the table.

Reminds me of Glimmering Angel. At least this costs 2 to activate. Perhaps the activation cost could go up to 3? Reminds me of Azorius Guildmage, which was fairly irritating but workable-around.

Changed it to make better use of ion counters, and make it not so terrible in the super ionizing deck. Now it's still potent, but you got to keep loading the ion counters on it for it to keep working. Unfortunately, having two clauses on the last ability does make it a bit confusing... and a tad too wordy for flavor text. For posterity's sake, I'm adding the flavor here:

"... and I thought they looked disgusting!" -Grenda, Leonin Scout

Ooh! Does 'Rootwater' imply New Mirrodin is on Rath? :D cool beans!

(For completeness sake, I should mention I cut this card for not following the current design model, and for being too complex a common. Moving on...)

You know Ryan, I never thought of that idea, as silly as it sounds. It wouldn't make much sense anyway, since Rath was destroyed in the Planar Overlay, though, I'm sure someone could imagineer a way out of that.

In Rath, all the creatures that weren't engineered by Volrath were abducted from other planes. That's why we see Kor in Zendikar... it's supposedly where the Kor were abducted from. I just copied Wizards trick and said the Rootwater Merfolk come from Glornica (New Mirrodin), since I needed a blue race that felt alien and familiar.

I do wish I had given some thought, though, to Rath being a New Mirrodin. It's a nice conservation of planes trick, and could have ended up with some very interesting inter-block design. ;)

Rath :( Oh yeah... I always assumed the Stronghold remained behind and is slowly churning out more flowstone... Or did it really escape the Overlay and is doing just that even now? :D DUN DUN DUN

As it turns out, MTG Salvation continues to spoil our fun. Under the heading Stronghold (Location)), we get the story of what happened to the Stronghold during the Planar Overlay:

"Following the overlay, the Stronghold was placed precariously within a dormant volcano in Urborg. The number of troops stationed within the Stonghold reinforced the Phryrexian advance troops already there, and enabled the Phyrexians to gain a dominant position in the region, serving as their central command headquarters. It took a combination of Yavimayan, Metathran, Keldon, elvish, and Talruum forces to successfully besiege the base.

"The Stronghold was ultimately destroyed by the stone dwarves, who used their magic to cause the previously dormant volcano to erupt and consume the fortress with lava. However, the Stronghold's final purpose had already been achieved: The planar portal within its throne room had allowed Yawgmoth to enter Dominaria personally."

Even outside the books, we can see the ruins of The Stronghold in Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.

I'm pretty sure someone could still tell a story in Rath if they wanted... after all, if there was a real (snicker) planar overlay, then everything would be dead on arrival. Sort of like teleporting someone into a brick wall. I'm pretty sure one could infer that Rath was ripped to shreds and pieces of Rath were overlayed onto Dominaria. Of course, it does cheapen the original story a bit, so you'd have to work hard to get people to like your new story (Good thing people already like Rath, eh?). Plus everything important character, the Stronghold and The Predator were removed (Though not the Thalakos, who oddly didn't make an appearance in Invasion or Time Spiral. Weird). You'd need to find a way to use a world that's a swiss cheese wasteland.

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