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CardName: Frozen Pandemic Cost: B Type: Snow Creature - Germ Pow/Tgh: 0/1 Rules Text: *Thawing*- Whenever you cast a nonsnow spell for the first time each turn, target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn. Flavour Text: The most terrifying things trapped in the ice can't be seen. Set/Rarity: Ulaqat Common

Frozen Pandemic
{b}
 
 C 
Snow Creature – Germ
Thawing- Whenever you cast a nonsnow spell for the first time each turn, target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
The most terrifying things trapped in the ice can't be seen.
0/1
Updated on 16 Apr 2018 by Sorrow

History: [-]

2018-04-14 01:36:26: Sorrow created and commented on the card Frozen Pandemic

Inspired by that X-Files episode.

Wut? Is it just me or this mechanic really confusing?

When is it frozen? Does it enter frozen?

When you cast a nonsnow spell it thaws UEOT... Is it then unfrozen? Will it / can it later on be refrozen? Is there no marker to keep this state in memory?

When does "Whenever thaws" trigger? When the nonsnow spell is cast or at the end of that turn when the spell was cast?

If I'm getting this right, I would trim it into

> This enters frozen. When you cast a nonsnow, noncreature spell, it unfreezes.

Unfreezing (I'd rather go with thaws) is only until the end of turn. How would you include that in your wording?

It's pretty rough. I kinda wished there was some better flavor to wrap it around to express the states and how and when they switch.

From mechanical standpoint, I would not have a state that is temporarily turned off, but rather one that comes online temporarily. Ie. prowess.

So I would consider some simplified version such as:

> Name — Whenever you cast a nonsnow spell, (effect).

Have you also considered / are you aware of "Snowfall"? See Lady of the Snow for example.

I mean, it's pretty weird that currently the snow mechanic encourages playing it with large amount of nonsnow stuff.

Frozen was a top-down mechanic, going off of the idea of something freezing and thawing. At least since Frozen checks for nonsnow it's not parasitic (the other snow mechanic checks to see if you played another snow spell, which is more in-set, but worse out of set).

Snowfall is a fine design, but conveys the opposite flavor (it could replace Avalanche though).

I could adjust to your most recent suggestion. It removes the fun word change from Frozen to Thaws, but would be simpler. I guess my worry then becomes repeatability.

Edit: Putting a "the first time you cast a nonsnow spell..." would clear that up.

2018-04-16 00:48:08: Sorrow edited Frozen Pandemic:

Edited to follow Tahazzar's suggestion. Currently, the frozen mechanic name clashes with the flavor idea. The name will be changed to Thawing at this iteration. I added first time each turn because I would rather have abilities like this at common than be repeatable and pushed up in rarity.

I was kind of wondering what you meant by repeatability being an issue, but now I think I got it. I don't think the keyword is an problem here, it's the effect you attached to it. Think landfall for example; you pretty much made a Caustic Crawler here that's attached to a small body that you can play anytime and is of lower rarity. For comparison, Surrakar Marauder / Hagra Crocodile were done as black common landfall dudes.

With this composition of flavor and mechanics, it makes me think that something kin to Exemplar of Strength / Channeler Initiate could be a fit.

Ie

> Thawing X (This enters with X -1/-1 counter(s) on it. Whenever you cast a nonsnow spell, remove a -1/-1 counter from this if it has any.)

It's a drawback though...

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