The flavor and mechanics fit amazingly well, painting a vivid picture. I have to admit that I was thrown for a second by the British "programme" though. I also wonder whether it might be slightly overpowered for White, with three total power for three.

Thank you :) And I'm afraid I'm not going to apologise for using British English :)

White does occasionally get three power for three, but not normally at common. In a sense this is more vulnerable than a single 3/3 would be, because it can be killed by a 2/3 rather than killing it. I'd be interested to hear others' thoughts.

In general, I think I would consider Ambassador Oak more powerful than a vanilla 4/4 for 3G; the same logic applies here.

Hmm. The standard common vanilla for 3G is Order of the Sacred Bell at 4/3 (or some Portal things at 3/4), though. So do you think 3 (1 of it flying) is too good for 2W at common?

I think it is, by a shade. Put it like this; this card is exactly Silvercoat Lion + Suntail Hawk. I lack hard evidence, but I think you don't generally get pure addition in cards without some kind of "cost".

On the other hand, 4 mana seems excessive. Perhaps 1WW or Uncommon at this cost? 1WW seems to get a 2/2 body with a bonus fairly regularly - http://bit.ly/dmYm7g

Correction to me last comment. This is Silvercoat Lion + Suntail Hawk, but less mana intensive. I think 1WW common would probably be fair.

Addition of mana costs is a tricky matter, as we know from the Generator MCM. With certain instants, you can get A+B for less than A+B (e.g. Prophetic Bolt = Impulse + Lightning Blast - 1 mana). It's rarer with creatures to find pure additions... I guess Flametongue Kavu = vanilla 4/2 + Flame Slash? Nekrataal - Terror implies a 2/1 first striker is 1B, which seems undercosted. But in white, the "army of little dudes" colour, I think getting 2 standard weenies for the sum of their costs is probably fine. I'll make it 1WW.

I'm no good at judging power levels. But there have also been several 1C two 1/1 token spells, some with a bonus as well. My guess would be that this was better-than-average but within parameters, but that's just a guess, I'd think it needs playtesting.

Well, Raise the Alarm exists, but so does Ashcoat Bear. I think I agree 2W would be fine, as would 1WW. It's the kind of thing that could be tweaked to fine-tune the colours' strength in limited, if we played enough draft/sealed to be able to do that.

Heh. Two years later, Attended Knight (image) comes along, and shows I might have been fine at after all :)

"Oh hey, here, have first strike too. Just because."

Mudflation truly has set in.

Well, they get a 2/2 first strike and a 1/1; this card gives you a 2/2 and a 1/1 flyer. I figure the two balance out.