Archester: Frontier of Steam: Recent Activity
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Recent updates to Archester: Frontier of Steam: (Generated at 2025-06-21 18:09:27)
Hahaha! Yes, every set has a few random rares unconnected to the mechanical themes of the set, often aimed at Johnny, and this falls very squarely into that category. I love it. Can do sooo many things, several of them utterly abusable. Keldon Champion to deal someone 15+ damage. Sylvan Primordial to destroy everyone's lands and double your own (the other Primordials are pretty good too). Many things like Shriekmaw or Mulldrifter will turn this into one half or the other of Dregs of Sorrow.
It probably doesn't need to be allowed to hit multiple targets. Ghostway already exists for the "blink everything of mine" approach; this would still do plenty even if it was just "choose one target creature, flicker that creature X times".
...Buh. I... have no idea how I forgot about Vampire Lacerator and Phantasmal Bear. Yeah, okay, that's fine.
Seems odd for "Blink EVERYTHING, or something a lot, or some kinda mix" to appear in white before blue - but yeah, this is a utility rare; I can get behind it.
And it kinda interacts with modular - both to get back the counters (if you found a way to move them early) or (if you remove the self restriction) to undo a creature that got pumped by lots of modules.
This should just be your graveyard.
It's good because everyone who looks at it comes up with something new to do with it. Someone I was showing the set talked about splashing white in a mill deck and going chimney imp/stuttering blink/ glimpse the unthinkable.
Obviously not the most effective use of any of those cards, but he loved it. I would be distraught to see it leave.
Small formatting thing- there should be a semicolon (;) separating the two abilities, not a comma.
This was more of a "random rare" that had a cool effect. People like blink effects, and this lets you blink something multiple times to maximize ETB effects. It doesn't tie in directly to the set mechanics because WotC's said it's good to include a few rares that don't use set mechanics for players who don't like the set's themes.
But taking things from other people's graveyard feels like stealing, which makes it feel black.
Generally speaking, white either returns all artifacts to the battlefield under their owner's control (Open the Vaults, Roar of Reclamation) or returns an artifact card from the graveyard to the hand (Razor Hippogriff, Treasure Hunter). Returning your artifacts from the graveyard to the battlefield is white and blue (each gets one card that does it (Bringer of the White Dawn and Argivian Restoration, respectively) and then there's Protomatter Powder, which needs both). Historically speaking, stealing artifacts from other people's graveyards is unquestionably black (Beacon of Unrest and Geth, Lord of the Vault).
I know these distinctions don't seem like much, but I really think this fine minutiae is part of what keeps the color pie working. The simplest change is to make this only target your graveyard. Otherwise, I'd prefer it in black. I suppose the case could be made for blue, since blue likes to steal things, too.
Finally (sorry for the long post), if you're going to target any graveyard, it needs to say "Put target artifact card..." instead of "Return target artifact card...". You only return things from your own graveyard (Zombify vs. Rise from the Grave).
Changed flavortext
Flavorfully, it's a representitive of the Frontiersmen trope of the set.
Mechanically, it's mana fixing that also fixes for the colorless lands which are very important in the set.
Let's not forget Diregraf Ghoul as well.
Couldn't we also just make this ability cost mana?
It sounds like it should really be a 2/2 for 3.
I don't see the name being dirty.
Changed name
The PW guide has been rewritten. Much has been added but what's there is mostly correct.
Is "loses all other types" not clear?
I assume this was originally in the set to reset your clockwork guys. Now that clockwork has changed to modular, should this be replaced? I mean, it is a cool blink effect, but perhaps something to better work with modular?
Sets can have 1cc 2-power creatures at common. Some fairly recent examples include Vampire Lacerator, War Falcon, Phantasmal Bear, and Bloodcrazed Goblin. If there aren't more 2-power one drops at common in the set, then this is fine.
I like this as is. You either get a colorless 2/1 or a suicide black guy. I'd be wary of making this playable for
without the life loss, as that would make the wording much clunkier for little real gain.
I'm not sure if writing Sci-Fi in the victorian era should really be counted as evidence for steampunk. Unless time travel was really involved :)
But it's clearly "Steampunk is a thing, I wonder what those wacky colonies are up to during it?"
Anyway, drifting way off the point here :) Every set needs some mana fixing; this is a perfectly acceptable mana fixer, and if it's good for the set's theme, I say roll with it.
"A better tomorrow, today."
While Wild Wild West might imply that, I think it might be a little misleading. For example, a lot of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells' writings have a distinctly steampunk feel to them. Wild Wild West might be the first to have made it to screen but it doesn't predate steampunk as a genre.
I note that every 2-power creature for 1 mana so far has been at least uncommon. I have a feeling that a set where drafters can scoop up four or five 2-power 1-drops has problems. (It's fine for there to be multiple 3-power 2-drops at common, like Porcelain Legionnaire or Daring Skyjek. I think it's just the possibility of turn 1 this, turn 2 two more of this, that's problematic.)
Oddly, Wild Wild West infers that there was Cattlepunk before there was Steampunk. At least, I'm hard pressed to think of a TV series from the 60s or before that was themed around overwrought steam-powered Victorian inventions.
I think at the point at which there's a hollywood film containing cowboys and giant mechanical spiders, you can call it a thing :)
Yep...
Link
...Cattlepunk? That's really a thing?
Exploration/Safaris were an important part of Victorian/Gilded age culture and mindset. Likewise, Exploration and venturing intothe unknown is an important part of wild west lore.
Steampunk and Cattlepunk (the western version of Steampunk which we incorporated into the set) both include these traits from thier parent cultures (Victorian/Gilded age for steampunk and the western for Cattlepunk respectively.) Since it's an important trope we felt if should be include in at least some form.
Should be another component really.