2014-12-16 11:42:21:
Alex
created and commented on the card Dragon
How to express what Dragon does? She's clearly an artifact creature, who almost coincidentally also happens to be Dragon-shaped. I'd like this card to represent the controlling AI rather than just the Dragon suits though. How best to do that? She has spectacular tactical and strategic insight, almost to the point of omniscience. How to communicate that on a card?
2014-12-16 11:31:07:
Vitenka
created and commented on the card Flechette
She never misses, and her bolts go straight through most invulnerability. Though not Scion's... humm. Anti regen clause?
Red for similar reasons to Parian; though I was tempted to try white too.
2014-12-16 10:36:39:
Alex
created and commented on the card Legend
It's funny for Legend, one of the Protectorate Triumvirate and a Superman expy, to be a common card, but in another way it fits rather well.
2014-12-16 10:34:57:
Alex
created and commented on the card Saint
Mechanic inspired by Gorilla Shaman. It's nice that Saint's motivations (basically selfishly doing things for the fun of it) and his mechanical abilities (gaining control of artifacts or destroying them) both fit in the same colour so well.
Mind Control on an Equipment. I can't remember the proper name at the moment though.
2014-12-15 17:54:34:
Alex
created and commented on the card Accord
Is Accord blue, or white? He's not bothered by morals, he just wants to pursue perfection, which is . But he wants everything to be precisely ordered and everything in its place, which is .
I had a little trouble representing his ability in Magic terms. What does it mean to be able to see the most efficient way to accomplish a complex task? This is what I came up with. Blue has been getting colourless mana production for a while now: see things like Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, Stormscape Familiar, Grand Architect, and more recently Renowned Weaponsmith, Qarsi Deceiver, Cultivator Drone, and the blue Eldrazi Scion-makers which were explicitly stated as being okay because blue is making more colourless mana now.
Accord is very much a noncombatant, hence 0/1. I think Tattletale should be 1/1, and many of the more combative parahumans should be 2/1, 2/3, etc.
Black does get tertiary in first strike. Usually for Knights or similar, costing . Which actually I think would be good on this as well: I'd rather not have all the parahumans be 1/1 by default, but make the ones with moderately normal human fighting skill have a range between maybe 1/1 - 3/3. So he could be a with first strike, 2/2, and the activated flicker. (Admittedly he's a long way from a "Knight" in flavour terms, but eh.)
The flicker is more pie-bleeding than the first strike, really. But I think it's justifable by the following reasoning: This set is going to have some characters whose powers and personalities line up in Magic terms, which is nice; and some who don't. In those cases, sometimes we should let the personality dominate, other times we should let the mechanics dominate. We should avoid things that are really pie-breaking, but there isn't anything un-black that's allowed by a few bleeds of things like flicker into black for this card.
2014-12-15 16:58:06:
Vitenka
created and commented on the card Glory Girl
I want to alliterate further, but "Infect" is inapplicable. (Graft and Gravestorm would be even stupider)
Intimidate in white? Why not! It's a stupid mechanic, if only black ever gets it; and should be renamed fear.
2014-12-15 16:53:32:
Vitenka
created and commented on the card Eidolon
Representing his ability to dig for powers. I've lost the ability to hold powers for varying lengths of time, his maximum cap, his favoured sets etc.
I'm actually more worried about how abusable this is, by only having a couple of stupendously powerful humans in set with him; getting out something seriously scary for only . Hopefully the small body will compensate for that, a bit.
2014-12-15 16:15:34:
Vitenka
created and commented on the card Hookwolf
I loathe DFCs.
But it's pretty hard to justify making this guy an artifact all the time.
I like the duplication aspect but it think it would get quite wordy (he duplicates everything he brings along with him iirc, so you could copy any attached permanents). Or you could go with something a little novel, like putting a copy of Oni Lee onto the battlefield, except the copy has power/toughness and abilities the same as Oni Lee at the point of copying. Not sure how I'd represent that in rulesese.
2014-12-15 11:19:00:
cmeister2
created and commented on the card Jaunt
Not quite sure on the rulesiness of this. This is the Jaunt container, which gave Trickster his power. Seems a little chaotic, go red!
2014-12-15 10:37:35:
Vitenka
created and commented on the card Parian
... I found a vanilla parahuman!
Sure, she could be represented as making token creatures; or maybe even traps - but even her biggest army is still squishy.
Red because she joins the protectors from a sense of duty; stays in a territory to protect her family; and defects to the undersiders for love. No analysis, no grand philosophy - just emotion.
I justify vanilla because even Taylor doesn't make much of her powers. I get that Taylor needs someone to ironically underestimate the way everyone does here - but still. She makes big teddy bears. (Actually, it's kinda weird - why doesn't Taylor turn her into an ultra-assassin? Everyone wears cloth! Surely that's mentioned in passing, somewhere...)
2014-12-15 10:23:38:
Vitenka
commented on the cardset Worm
That could work - save the "unblockable damage" for... Parain's paramour; Foil? ... Flechette. And part of Narwhal, though he probably needs something else too, as a rare manton buster.
Oh; except that she shouldn't be too big (and that's poking at a sleeping dragon of a problem with the set as a whole...) and she's therefore not going to often get the double-strike effect, she'll just die from the fight.
How about "Whenever ~ attacks, she fights target creature"? Representing the way she can't help but get into scraps wherever she goes...
I must say, at first green caught me by surprise, but you're right, that is very much her underlying philosophy. Green characters will be fairly hard to come by, so yep, keep her in green.
2014-12-15 09:37:07:
Vitenka
created and commented on the card Kid Win
I guess tinkers are blue? What colour is "self deprecating but wants to be a hero"? Red? Yeah, red can fly and give power boosts. Red.
Well, his ability pretty much has to be removing things for a while.
He doesn't get much screen time, and for most of it he's snarky and nice. Except when he's doing what Taylor says in battle. I guess that obedience pushes him more to white - and after all, he is fighting the good fight after most others have given up.
How to express what Dragon does? She's clearly an artifact creature, who almost coincidentally also happens to be Dragon-shaped. I'd like this card to represent the controlling AI rather than just the Dragon suits though. How best to do that? She has spectacular tactical and strategic insight, almost to the point of omniscience. How to communicate that on a card?
She never misses, and her bolts go straight through most invulnerability. Though not Scion's... humm. Anti regen clause?
Red for similar reasons to Parian; though I was tempted to try white too.
Weaker unblockable, since (a) unblockable isn't very green and (b) this interacts with grue's untargetability.
He's a black knight.
He's a black knight.
It's funny for Legend, one of the Protectorate Triumvirate and a Superman expy, to be a common card, but in another way it fits rather well.
Mechanic inspired by Gorilla Shaman. It's nice that Saint's motivations (basically selfishly doing things for the fun of it) and his mechanical abilities (gaining control of artifacts or destroying them) both fit in the same colour so well.
Mind Control on an Equipment. I can't remember the proper name at the moment though.
Is Accord blue, or white? He's not bothered by morals, he just wants to pursue perfection, which is
. But he wants everything to be precisely ordered and everything in its place, which is 
.
I had a little trouble representing his ability in Magic terms. What does it mean to be able to see the most efficient way to accomplish a complex task? This is what I came up with. Blue has been getting colourless mana production for a while now: see things like Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, Stormscape Familiar, Grand Architect, and more recently Renowned Weaponsmith, Qarsi Deceiver, Cultivator Drone, and the blue Eldrazi Scion-makers which were explicitly stated as being okay because blue is making more colourless mana now.
Accord is very much a noncombatant, hence 0/1. I think Tattletale should be 1/1, and many of the more combative parahumans should be 2/1, 2/3, etc.
Black does get tertiary in first strike. Usually for Knights or similar, costing
. Which actually I think would be good on this as well: I'd rather not have all the parahumans be 1/1 by default, but make the ones with moderately normal human fighting skill have a range between maybe 1/1 - 3/3. So he could be a 
with first strike, 2/2, and the activated flicker. (Admittedly he's a long way from a "Knight" in flavour terms, but eh.)
The flicker is more pie-bleeding than the first strike, really. But I think it's justifable by the following reasoning: This set is going to have some characters whose powers and personalities line up in Magic terms, which is nice; and some who don't. In those cases, sometimes we should let the personality dominate, other times we should let the mechanics dominate. We should avoid things that are really pie-breaking, but there isn't anything un-black that's allowed by a few bleeds of things like flicker into black for this card.
Alternate take: red creature, "attacks each turn if able" maybe, with "
: UEOT, ~ becomes a 3/2 artifact creature with double strike" or similar.
try templating this a bit better
I want to alliterate further, but "Infect" is inapplicable. (Graft and Gravestorm would be even stupider)
Intimidate in white? Why not! It's a stupid mechanic, if only black ever gets it; and should be renamed fear.
Representing his ability to dig for powers. I've lost the ability to hold powers for varying lengths of time, his maximum cap, his favoured sets etc.
I'm actually more worried about how abusable this is, by only having a couple of stupendously powerful humans in set with him; getting out something seriously scary for only
. Hopefully the small body will compensate for that, a bit.
I loathe DFCs.
But it's pretty hard to justify making this guy an artifact all the time.
From toothychat, I suggested retaining equipment.
Trying to word that: Exile ~, then return him to play and re-attach any equipment that was detacthed.
I mean, to really replicate his story power, he ought to take any bad effects with him. But then what have you got?
Maybe just give him first strike; that way he can stab and then teleport to safety. First strike is neither black nor blue, though.
Maybe simplest to just represent him with regen?
I like the duplication aspect but it think it would get quite wordy (he duplicates everything he brings along with him iirc, so you could copy any attached permanents). Or you could go with something a little novel, like putting a copy of Oni Lee onto the battlefield, except the copy has power/toughness and abilities the same as Oni Lee at the point of copying. Not sure how I'd represent that in rulesese.
Not quite sure on the rulesiness of this. This is the Jaunt container, which gave Trickster his power. Seems a little chaotic, go red!
... I found a vanilla parahuman!
Sure, she could be represented as making token creatures; or maybe even traps - but even her biggest army is still squishy.
Red because she joins the protectors from a sense of duty; stays in a territory to protect her family; and defects to the undersiders for love. No analysis, no grand philosophy - just emotion.
I justify vanilla because even Taylor doesn't make much of her powers. I get that Taylor needs someone to ironically underestimate the way everyone does here - but still. She makes big teddy bears. (Actually, it's kinda weird - why doesn't Taylor turn her into an ultra-assassin? Everyone wears cloth! Surely that's mentioned in passing, somewhere...)
Cast page - WITH SPOILERS here
I don't care that his ability is
,
or 
; and that his personality is 
.
This card needs to be colourless. And maybe have shroud, for balance reasons.
Here's a toughie - he really REALLY wants a flicker ability. And maybe duplication, or perhaps rolling back to when damage went on the stack :)
Which is all really really blue.
But personality-wise; he isn't just an assassin; he is, according to Jack Slash; "An empty shell" who enjoys killing. Which sounds pretty black to me.
I guess maybe red? But that doesn't help, powers-wise.
Story wise he... gets talked up as a badass and then completely chumped by Taylor and an entirely mundane sniper. Gah.
Could do. Unblockable+unpreventable could work. Or hexproof, actually.
Or something like "
: Exile ~ until end of turn", but that's not green.
How about giving Shadow Stalker 'unblockable' instead?
That could work - save the "unblockable damage" for... Parain's paramour; Foil? ... Flechette. And part of Narwhal, though he probably needs something else too, as a rare manton buster.
Oh; except that she shouldn't be too big (and that's poking at a sleeping dragon of a problem with the set as a whole...) and she's therefore not going to often get the double-strike effect, she'll just die from the fight.
How about "Whenever ~ attacks, she fights target creature"? Representing the way she can't help but get into scraps wherever she goes...
I must say, at first green caught me by surprise, but you're right, that is very much her underlying philosophy. Green characters will be fairly hard to come by, so yep, keep her in green.
I guess tinkers are blue? What colour is "self deprecating but wants to be a hero"? Red? Yeah, red can fly and give power boosts. Red.
Well, his ability pretty much has to be removing things for a while.
He doesn't get much screen time, and for most of it he's snarky and nice. Except when he's doing what Taylor says in battle. I guess that obedience pushes him more to white - and after all, he is fighting the good fight after most others have given up.