You can't have a hex lord if it's not a keyword. That's all I can think of. The current reminder text shouldn't say "this creature has"; it's already printed on the card.
Oh, fair enough. What design space do you miss out on by making hex a keyword action (I used the wrong term before). I'm just curious here, and not trying to seem critical.
Allowing the creature to enter with a -1/-1 counter does help the mechanic a lot. As for feeling cursed originally it was meant for the opponent to feel cursed dealing with the creature, when it came to drawing-up creatures, some didn't turn out that I way.
I do like the clause of the second suggestion, though I don't feel keen on Hex being an ability word. I miss out on some design space, as a sorcery or instant in the style you suggest wouldn't work (the enchantment still would).
I think hex is interesting, but as Alex said, I'd rather see it grant a counter. In fact, I would rather turn it into a keyword action. Then you could have a creature with ": Hex target creature," a sorcery with "Hex target creature, then draw a card," and an enchantment with "Whenever a creature becomes hexed, it's controller loses 1 life."
Brainstorming here: maybe change hex even further. ": Hex. (Put a -1/-1 counter on target creature without a -1/-1 counter on it.)" Could that be an option? It would interact nicely with my suggestion for cursed, and also make the power level of adding a counter a bit more acceptable.
I have three problems with "cursed" in its current implementation.
• It requires other cards to do anything at all, since the creatures don't gain -1/-1 counters naturally.
• The creatures don't seem to be cursed, because they are actually gaining a benefit.
• Cursed by itself doesn't do anything. It's just a marker for the card it's on, and possibly other cards in the set, to refer to.
You could fix two of those problems by changing cursed's functionality to "You may have this creature ETB with a -1/-1 counter on it." Then, presumably, all the creatures with that ability make up for it with some other bonus. This still has the problem of not really feeling like a curse, of course. Arguably, cursed still wouldn't do anything (by itself) except make the creature weaker, but it wound be more pay because it gives the illusion of doing something by giving you a choice.
Do you think it should have one?
I'll admit when I thought of Cursed I didn't know how to get the -1/-1 counters on the creature, which I why I included wither in the set (I was in need of another mechanic and I have trouble creating my own).
Additionally, Alex suggested that the Hex mechanic put a -1/-1 counter on a creature instead of giving a creature -1/-1 UEOT.
If I went with your suggestion, how would you suggest I word it?
"You may have Nnikivi Stalker ETB with a -1/-1 counter. If you do Nnikvi Stalker must be blocked."
That's my first thought, though this takes away the mechanic name (which is what happened with fetish) and then I worry if it doesn't seem like I have an actual mechanic going on.
My instinct says this should cost 4 mana (cf Zombify, Vigor Mortis) and should say "You may have that creature gain wither UEOT and fight target creature."
You can't have a hex lord if it's not a keyword. That's all I can think of. The current reminder text shouldn't say "this creature has"; it's already printed on the card.
Oh, fair enough. What design space do you miss out on by making hex a keyword action (I used the wrong term before). I'm just curious here, and not trying to seem critical.
I simply want hex to be tied to coming from a creature.
Allowing the creature to enter with a -1/-1 counter does help the mechanic a lot. As for feeling cursed originally it was meant for the opponent to feel cursed dealing with the creature, when it came to drawing-up creatures, some didn't turn out that I way.
Why not? It would be just life Populate our proliferate. See Wake the Reflections and Tezzeret's Gambit.
I do like the clause of the second suggestion, though I don't feel keen on Hex being an ability word. I miss out on some design space, as a sorcery or instant in the style you suggest wouldn't work (the enchantment still would).
I think hex is interesting, but as Alex said, I'd rather see it grant a counter. In fact, I would rather turn it into a keyword action. Then you could have a creature with "
: Hex target creature," a sorcery with "Hex target creature, then draw a card," and an enchantment with "Whenever a creature becomes hexed, it's controller loses 1 life."
: Hex. (Put a -1/-1 counter on target creature without a -1/-1 counter on it.)" Could that be an option? It would interact nicely with my suggestion for cursed, and also make the power level of adding a counter a bit more acceptable.
Brainstorming here: maybe change hex even further. "
I have three problems with "cursed" in its current implementation.
• It requires other cards to do anything at all, since the creatures don't gain -1/-1 counters naturally.
• The creatures don't seem to be cursed, because they are actually gaining a benefit.
• Cursed by itself doesn't do anything. It's just a marker for the card it's on, and possibly other cards in the set, to refer to.
You could fix two of those problems by changing cursed's functionality to "You may have this creature ETB with a -1/-1 counter on it." Then, presumably, all the creatures with that ability make up for it with some other bonus. This still has the problem of not really feeling like a curse, of course. Arguably, cursed still wouldn't do anything (by itself) except make the creature weaker, but it wound be more pay because it gives the illusion of doing something by giving you a choice.
Do you think it should have one? I'll admit when I thought of Cursed I didn't know how to get the -1/-1 counters on the creature, which I why I included wither in the set (I was in need of another mechanic and I have trouble creating my own). Additionally, Alex suggested that the Hex mechanic put a -1/-1 counter on a creature instead of giving a creature -1/-1 UEOT.
If I went with your suggestion, how would you suggest I word it? "You may have Nnikivi Stalker ETB with a -1/-1 counter. If you do Nnikvi Stalker must be blocked."
That's my first thought, though this takes away the mechanic name (which is what happened with fetish) and then I worry if it doesn't seem like I have an actual mechanic going on.
Cursed seems weird to me, because unlike Unleash, there's no option for this to put a counter on itself.
Strictly better than Smelt, but because this only applies to fetishes I don't think that's much of a problem.
at rare and 5 cmc I figured there was no point in restricting it your your graveyard
For some reason I was thinking Unburial Rites only costed 3 mana. I intended wither to be permanently added to the creature however.
My instinct says this should cost 4 mana (cf Zombify, Vigor Mortis) and should say "You may have that creature gain wither UEOT and fight target creature."