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Recent updates to Xianlu: (Generated at 2025-05-01 11:04:04)
Given the fact that you can bequeath Flying and First strike onto this in
or 
, this may be hidden strong.
Yup, colorshifted and better. Personally I didn't find Deranged Whelp that strong (probably due to the abundance of tokens in SOI), but this should be quite strong.
Deranged Whelp?
—CF
I've decided that downside Bequeath abilities will almost entirely appear at uncommon or above.
“The one change that was made in development (due to a lot of feedback from Kaladesh block) was a global R&D decision that Vehicles are complex enough that we no longer wanted to do them at common (Ixalan has two uncommon Vehicles and three rare ones).” From here: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/making-magic/just-ixalan-part-3-2017-09-18
And I agree that haste is more interesting than menace/first strike/hexproof/vigilance/etc, — but it is more interesting precisely because of the unusual play pattern which nudges things slightly away from common.
—CF
A stronger Deadeye Tormentor with a less-relevant creature type and harder casting cost.
Name change because multiple cards at the same color/rarity with the same starting letter is a big issue for me.
Not a big fan of it having menace, since being able to go this -> sequence spell -> attack is a big part of its proposed use. I'll leave it in this slot for now, but flag it for a bump up to uncommon once I get some other designs down and figure out what decks need in the colorless slot.
In regards to vehicles, since there's only been one set with vehicles so far outside of Kaladesh, I'd say that they're just a deciduous mechanic with some complexity issues in general tied to the Crew mechanic. I'm not sure if there's a specific statement by WOTC regarding vehicles being uncommon+ only from now on. Glint Hawk Idol was a design that was specifically pushed for aggressive artifact-based decks, which is kind of the thing I'm going for here (a card that's specifically for noncreature-spell-based decks), so I'd argue that it's acceptable at common, though probably not at the power level. One thing that I've noticed that hasn't been brought up yet is that it dodges all sorcery-based removal in a set with the bulk of its removal at sorcery speed, which could prove a problem power-level wise.
I love glint hawk idol, but it and vehicles are the only self animating commons in modern, and they’ve since decided not to do vehicles at common. Haste is also a uniquely complex choice of mechanical here. Maaaybe it would be common appropriate with menace or something.
Angel's Tomb says uncommon, but since its an interaction I want to push, Glint Hawk Idol, being a common, can be used as an example as well.
Don't know why the previous Angel's Tomb autolink didn't work, but here's another.
Note: Angel's Tomb has flying. I suppose this has haste, though one is clearly more valuable than the other for this type of card. If you want to keep this common, though, maybe adding something equivalent to a 3/3 flyer is a bit much? Maybe not cause of power creep? You be the judge!
I don't think this needs to be uncommon, though. To me, this feels about as complicated as Glaze Fiend. Maybe less so, because the activations don't stack.
Mirror of Angel’s Tomb. Uncommon is also the place to go based on complexity/oddness.
—CF
Common for now, but likely shifted to uncommon based on power level alone. Gave it the animation clause so that it counts itself as a noncreature spell for sequence cards.
"My guys keep getting arrested, plz help" "say no more"