More complex than just a bear with Exalted, but we need something to showcase the Psi mechanic. I have mixed feelings toward this creature. On one hand, it feels like it has "two lives", much like a persist or undying creature, which is great. On the other hand, it's easy to be scared of blocking this thing (but that may not necessarily be a bad thing). I also wonder if this can be knocked down to . It's pretty hard to cast this on turn 2.

tuxdev mentioned possibly making this double strike. For testing. Might be too scary of a creature if I make it as such.

Lastly: While MTG artifacts use charge counters, this Zealot has a charge counter. wwwoooooooooooooo

playtest results: 2/2 -> 2/1. This may seem like a very small change, but the way this changes the dynamic is INCREDIBLE. before, Zealots were unfun, annoying, overpowered pieces of -. Now they still have two lives, but they get hit by Firebats, and get hurt by anything. They're MUCH more reasonable now, but still fun to play.

previously:

Zealot
Psionic 1 (This creature enters the battlefield with a psi counter on it.)
­, Remove a psi counter from Zealot: Prevent all damage that would be dealt to Zealot this turn.
2/1

"psionic" doesnt actually DO anything and we've never had a keyword that doesnt do anything by itself. this is an attempt to tighten up the Protoss mechanic-- more flavorful while maintaining the blink synergy and their "more powerful" units. totally untested.

this ability seems really unpleasant, it basically says "this creature takes damage as though sources had infect"

who wants to play that?

Yep, that's the point. It's a negative keyword, but wouldn't it be compensated by it being a 3/3 for 2CMC?

It might read a little cleaner (though it's much more powerful) if we set the base P/T to a reasonable level:

Zealot
Shield 1 (This creature enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. Damage is dealt to it by removing +1/+1 counters first if able.)
2/2

Downside mechanics are generally viewed negatively, even though it makes the creature have better stats for its cost. What if shield was like the ability of Undergrowth Champion?

due1818: Some variations have been tried for those, but none that would make it to common. Plus, it's very powerful.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

that mechanic is basically just the phantom mechanic, which was on commons in judgment (Phantom Nomad)

but i don't necessarily think it's ideal either

what's the flavour of the mechanic exactly? what makes it feel protoss-like? i've never played starcraft so i'm not familiar with the source material