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CardName: Pyrovillian Foot-Soldier Cost: 1RR Type: Creature - Giant Soldier Pow/Tgh: 3/3 Rules Text: {1}{R}: Pyrovillian Foot-Soldier deals 1 damage to target creature. Activate only as a sorcery and only once each turn. Flavour Text: “There is heat enough in this world for a new species to rise.” — Lucius Petrus Dextrus, “The Fires of Pompeii” Set/Rarity: The Oncoming Storm Common |
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Red doesn't normally get a 3/3 for 3 without a drawback.
What about either or ?
I'm looking for comparable stuff, and red really doesn't do toughness, until it gets to 5. You've got Brimstone Mage as a 2/2 pinger for 3 that levels up, Cosi's Ravager is 2/2 for 4, but is at least repeatable ish. Cunning Sparkmage is 0/1 for 3! The traditional Prodigal (sorcerer or pyromancer) is 1/1 for 3. Most of those can hit the player too, but then yours can activate its ability the turn it comes into play and when it has attacked, which is at least as good.
So yeah - the 'prodigal' ability costs half a colour and 2. R3 doesn't even get you a 3/3 flyer these days!
It can't be any smaller, since it's a Giant, and I don't want to get to close to Lord Pyrovile power-wise.
The current version is better than prodigal pyromancer in four ways (+2/+2 bigger, able to use ability and also attack or block, able to use ability on both your turn and opponents turn, common rather than most recently uncommon), each of which might cost more, and worse in one (a non-trivial cost to the ability).
I assume you want to keep this at least 3/2, and want to keep the cost at most 2RR, and want a common creature, not an uncommon one, and don't want it to tap? (If it's ok for this to be uncommon, or to cost something like there's more lattitude -- CCC gets some very strong effects, even though red common gets almost no 3/3s at all.)
If so, the best thing may be to tack on a plausible but difficult cost to the ability. (1R is already quite a lot for 1 damage, which is fine at common, but on a 3/2 creature is still very useful because you can wait to use it until your opponent plays an X/1 or you have spare mana.) For instance, tie it to attacking, or to casting a spell and it would be noticeably weaker, or have an ability which costs discarding a card, or some repeatable cost (such as exiling a card from a graveyard), or restricting it to creatures only or players only...
For a 3/3 with an ability, it needs to go up to 4 mana or (see Boggart Ram-Gang). And is a very bad cost for a common, so if you want to keep it as a 3/3 and as a common then it basically has to be or .
Increased cost
I could also add the restriction "only during your turn." My original intent was to let you use his ability as though it were a tap ability, but still let him attack. In white, I would give it vigilance, but that doesn't work for red. I want to have the same restriction on Lord Pyrovile (but even at mythic, 5 damage for every turn is a bit much). On the other hand, it only affects creatures, so it can't get too out of hand, can it?