The Two Towers: Comments

I'm trying to pin down what happens in the books that makes a person Legendary. Tolkien has full lineages for some rather minor characters. What about them makes them so special? Is it about being able to trace one's lineage? Would this make sense?:

Gorbag's Lineage (As long as there are two cards named 'Orc Hobbitnapper' in your graveyard, this creature gets +2/+2, is Legendary, and is named Gorbag.)

Alternatively, the card could say "As long as you have a card in your sideboard named "Gorbag". Personally, I think that makes for interesting deckbuilding decisions in both limited and constructed. But it assumes that sideboards are important to you, and they may not be. It doesn't convey as much story as two dead orcs do.

@jmgariepy: I like the lineage idea, but maybe it should differ by character, as some characters become legendary not because of any special lineage but simply because of a heroic deed or being in the right place at the right time. Some characters could check cards in graveyard, some could check whether they are enchanted, or whether their controller has X or more life, etc. Is this too complicated, or is it fine as long as the cards at common have relatively simple conditions?

That's a tough call. If you asked me from a purely mechanical perspective, I'd say "Keep it to one type of trigger. At the very least, because making the mechanic less complicated means you can do more complicated things with cards that have the mechanic. The more you front load the mechanic, the less creative you can be before player retention simply runs out."

But you're thinking about this from a flavor perspective, and that can chuck a whole barrel of monkeywrenches into the machine.

Personally, I think if you want to say that Elevate switches "simply because of a heroic deed or being at the right place at the right time," then you should do that exactly. Don't do half-measures by looking for purely mechanical triggers like "X number of creatures in a zone." Put some story in there like:

Elevate -- Whenever a Legendary Elf dealt damage by Orc Marauder dies, if Orc Marauder doesn't have a Legend counter on it, put one on it.
As long as Orc Marauder has a Legend counter on it, it gets first strike, and is a Legendary Creature named "Orfbar, Slayer of Princes".