Names Matter 1: Comments

This is my attempt at a bottom-up set that deals with "names"

Mechanics:

1. Skinchange WUGbR - representing budding adventurers imitating their heroes but don't have the skillset

2. Champion a name - WRGBu

3. Grandeur - WUBGr

4. Legacy - UBRGw (forecast + skinchange)

5. Encode - URWBg (cipher + living weapon)

I think this would be a cool theme to work with. I'm trying to think of some top-down story/world flavor that could work with this.

This might be one of the weirdest things to base a set around that I've ever seen.

it all started with Grandeur

I would expect to see lots of Meddling Mage-style effects.

the problem with incarnate is that it right now makes farseek potentially a tooth and nail. I'll have to tweak it somehow. I really want to make a set where Grandeur works and names matter

I don't see it. Incarnate is where all of your cards gain a certain name, right? Memory issues aside, I just don't understand how that interacts with Farseek or Tooth and Nail at all.

I think names are an interesting theme, though I think there's so little space to them that they would do better as a subtheme or as a faction mechanic within a set. Here are some effects that could be interesting with a "names matter" theme:

1. Grandeur. You've seen this already. This works best on common creatures for limited purposes, but it makes the most sense on legendary permanents mechanically. It really wants to be on cards that you don't want to use in multiples.
2. Squadron Hawk-style effects.
3. Meddling Mage-style naming effects, where a card asks you to choose a name as it enters play. Alex played with this some in his Sphinx cycle for the design challenge, as on Reckless Sphinx, showing that you don't have to use naming a card just to prevent things. I've played in this space some, too, with cards like Warding Druid and Name Taker.
4. Things like Diligent Farmhand make sense here, if they make sense anywhere.

The problem with this as the major theme is that it's so incredibly limited in scope, and that all of the mechanics you can think of to go with it — such as Skinchange and Incarnate — are very confusing to look at and require lots of potential note-taking and/or remembering.

On Skinchange and Incarnate:
These two mechanics are both doing something very similar. They change names temporarily. One changes the name of permanents, the other changes the name of spells. Could you unify them into one mechanic, to save headspace? I would suggest a keyword action, because I think it has the flexibility you desire. I'll call it "imitate" for now.

Example:

CARDNAME
Instant
­, Reveal CARDNAME from your hand: Target permanent imitates this card. (It gains all names of this card UEOT.)
Draw a card. Untap each permanent that shares a name with CARDNAME.

CARDNAME
Creature — Illusion
Flash
When CARDNAME ETBs, it imitates target spell or permanent. (It gains all names of that object UEOT.)
1/3

CARDNAME
Creature — Construct
­: Target permanent imitates target spell. (It gains all names of that spell UEOT.)
2/2

I could be wrong or misinterpreting your goals, but I think having only one keyword to remember will make things simpler in a set with a very complex base idea.

The problem with merging incarnate and skinchange is that one is in a revealed zone and the other is in a hidden zone.

I like your idea though, and your first example eliminates the hidden zone problem and solves grandeur problem too. =) I'll get around merging these two and see if I can find a compromise for them.

Note that I specifically phrased my version of "imitate" as "gaining all names" so that there wouldn't be confusion regarding the wording "gains the name" and whether or not an object had multiple names or not. Is your intent that objects have multiple names, or that their name is erased and overwritten entirely by the mechanic?
Also, you'll have to sync up how you use imitate. You can either have it like it is on Banish Underground, where the subject and object of imitate are being spelled out, or like it is on Master of the Mind, but you can't have both. I suggest using the Banish Underground version, because it's both clearer and more flexible. In that case, Master of the Mind would read "Target permanent imitates another target permanent", and Duplicant Squire would read "When ~ ETBs, it imitates target permanent."

I chose a name because in this set it will be common for permanents to have multiple names, but all names may be less confusing. Need playtesting to find out imho

The mechanic from Knockout Blow on this week's Goblin Artisans design challenge seems rather fitting to this set. I could definitely see a keyword mechanic in this set with text "Whenever you cast a spell, this card gains all that spell's names UEOT. This applies in any zone."