Ok, how about this? Without transform / level up / flip shenanigans, it's really hard to show the tank moving from state to state. This is more of a "spend a turn to unsiege the damn thing to attack", though it's admittedly less powerful. It still synergizes with untap instants.

Battlecrusier
Creature - Terran Ship [R]
Flying
­: The next time ~ untaps, it deals 7 damage to target creature. Activate this ability as a sorcery.
4/4

think the mechanic is very flavorfull in both cases.

Hmm. It reads quite badly to me. A 5/5 that I can only attack with every other turn, and that spends all its time tapped if I want to ever attack with it. In fact, it's pretty similar to just "5/5. Whenever ~ attacks, it doesn't untap during your next untap step." Somehow it reads even worse than that, though, because "defender" and "only any time you could cast a sorcery" are both drawback phrases that make me feel bad.

Certainly it doesn't feel good enough to be a gold 4-drop. Think about the size Spectral Force got for its drawback. (I'm not saying this should be 8/8; I agree 5/5 feels like the right size for a Siege Tank. I'm just saying the current mechanic/cost is pretty underwhelming.)

Good point about "doesn't untap during its next untap step". I didn't think of that. Well, back to the drawing board. I feel bad. I really liked the old morph-y Siege Tank. Haha.

I think I prefer the morph one, too.

How about just going with the "~ does not untap as normal during your untap phase. :Untap ~" style?

Another idea - you could leverage existing terminology to get the "Every other turn" effect without it seeming so bad.

"When ~ attacks, it gets summoning sickness"

Temporarily used Vitenka's suggestion. This is probably the simplest you can go to represent "Great defender, fiddly attacker".

Yeah, that's a sensible approach. Also makes me smile because it reminds me of Goblin Dirigible.

The more I design around Terran, the more it seems like Morph is perfect for them. They're built around the concept of modality ( Siege Tanks, Hellbats, and Vikings transform) or hiding ( Wraiths, Banshees, and Ghosts temporarily cloak).

I just hope it people look past the "BUT ITS CALLED MORPH WHY IS IT NOT A ZERG ABILITY" and see the mechanical reason for it. It actually feels like playing Terran, switching around all these things.

Morph also ranks pretty high on the fun "HEY GUESS WHAT HAPPENED" scale, and with Khans out, people won't be turned off by its complexity.

Playtest results: While I really like this card, the "attack while it's face down and flip it up while attacking" really isn't intuitive. I'm afraid this will have the same impact as Slipstream Serpent, one of the lowest rated blue cards (see gatherer page. (although i hope, hope that it's because of the islandhome ability). This is one of the most powerful cards in the Terran arsenal and i hope I can get something better.

I'd like to request for some help / opinions on this card. I really really like it, but I might be letting my affection for the card get in the way. It's really not intuitive that you can attack with it as a face-down creature, then flip it up and smash face as a 5/5 creature. Does anyone have any suggestions on alternatives to this?

Siege Tank
Artifact Creature - Terran Vehicle [U]
Morph
At the beginning of your end step, choose one: ~ gains defender; or turn ~ face down.
5/5

Siege Tank
Artifact Creature - Terran Vehicle [U]
~ doesn't untap during your untap step.
Morph
At the beginning of your end step, you may turn ~ face down.
5/5

or, is a new keyword ok? Note that Hellbat and Viking both benefit from this.

Siege Tank
Artifact Creature - Terran Vehicle [U]
~ doesn't untap during your untap step.
Switch (You may cast this face down as a 2/2 creature for . Turn it face up or down any time for its switch cost.)
5/5

Is the non intuitive part that it has defender yet is attacking? If so then version 2 (morph, doesn't untap) is definitely my favorite. I don't think the Switch keyword is worth the gameplay or comprehension cost.

I like it as it is.

Thanks guys. I like it too, but as Slipstream Serpent's gatherer page discussion shows, it's not obvious how the card is supposed to be played.

The new switch keyword would need tweaking to give Viking flying, which makes me think it's not worth it.

Personally I just wish there was some way to represent the Siege Tank's awesome splash damage.

All right then, let's try this version. :)

Heh. Well there certainly isn't much point paying the to cast this. seems like quite a hefty upkeep to get to keep this, but I guess tanks are slow to switch in/out of siege mode.

I patterned it after firebreathing. (2/2 -> 5/5 requires 3 mana).

Well you wanted trample! Haha. Yeah, at this point most of the CMCs of the Terran creatures are pretty moot. Haven't tested it yet, but I'm a bit inclined to have it flip down on each opponent's upkeep instead of each player's. Not sure yet if I should keep it at or .

I guess is fairly cheap as a morph cost on a 5/5 (comparing with Quicksilver Dragon and Venomspout Brackus). Having to pay it every turn feels painful, but I guess some turns you can just accept that your tanks are out of position.

I kinda felt that this played better without trample. Try both next time you playtest.

Yeah, I would point out I said I wished there was a way to represent splash damage. I'm not especially convinced that trample is a particularly good representation of splash damage, so I wouldn't really say I wanted trample on this card. But naturally, go with whichever plays best.

Hmm, either: "~ deals 1 damage to each creature blocking it." or "When ~ deals combat damage to a player, it then deals 1 damage to each creature that player controls"

Depending on whether you prefer a "everything in my way, I crush in one blow!" splash, or a "I smite your whole base!" splash.

This does seem like it plays kinda like a less harsh "Upkeep: " since rather than losing it completely if you don't pay, it just gets -3/-3 that turn. And you can decide later on in the turn. So actually, seeing it as "Upkeep, so I get a discount" suggests this is pretty strong.

Yep, don't worry, until this is playtested it isn't final. I miss the ability to keep it up in "siege mode" as a defender without upkeep, currently testing this:

Siege Tank
Artifact Creature - Terran Vehicle [U]
(Trample?)
Morph (3R?)
Whenever ~ becomes untapped, turn it face down.
5/5

Before:

Siege Tank
Artifact Creature - Terran [u]
~ doesn't untap during your untap step.
Morph
At the beginning of your end step, you may turn Siege Tank face down.
5/5

• Cleaner template and shorter text box using Switch keyword, while hopefully maintaining same gameplay .
• No purpose in making old version multicolor
• Still powerful