It's our own spin, but inspired by what we know of Kaladesh.
Revolution has playtested well! We did realize we needed to focus it on creatures with an impact on the board, but it was actually quite exciting in our Limited playtests. Do note that the front side is always playable, though maybe on the low-side; it's easy to lose sight of that however, given the difficult activation cost. The Selesnya Sentry problem.
We playtested with exactly the Law you proposed - just on the creature with the law - and found it to be a little underwhelming. This one is more dangerous but also more exciting; we hope that it works out well, but if it doesn't, we could just shift back to the other law and pump up their bonuses a bit.
You know, we don't actually have a world description yet. I'll get right to work on that!
Legend, there are more laws at common. The other two are "it's against the law to block creatures you control" and "it's against the law for an opponent to cast no spellls during his or her turn".
The entire plane isn't Steampunk, and the parts that aren't are where the Tigrala - like Channeler of the Untamed - live. Theres also the unsettled wilds - where Chandra retreated to in her short story - and the remnants of the civilizations that the Consul has been conquering and exterminating. These are based on traditional Indian creatures; Naga, Garuda, and Tigrala. The Garuda betrayed the wilds and allied with the Consul, the Naga are remaining isolated and relatively neutral, and the Tigrala have basically declared war.
The goal is for each color pair to have a keyword that can go on a creature, is easy to design and develop, and is versatile and able to be used frequently - even if not in considerable numbers - for each set.
Now, there are additional necessities placed upon the blue/black keyword. The 'combat keyword' restriction is simply because, well, combat is the most interactive part of the game, so it's ideal for each color pair to have some means of meaningfully interacting within combat in an interesting way. In addition, most of the combat keywords are very simple (by nature of just adjusting a 'rule' in combat, or granting an additional effect), which is a nice bonus. Even the one color pair that strays the farthest from this, blue/green, has hexproof (which means you most commonly deal with the creature via combat) and flash (which lets you surprise block mid-combat).
An evasion keyword is commonly proposed, and indeed, evasion is fine up to a certain degree. However, evasion circumvents combat rather than encouraging it, which acts contrary to the hopes to create interactive gameplay. Evasion keywords are nonetheless necessary to the game, which is why we get trample, flying, and menace - but note that flying is in black and blue, and menace is in black, so putting an additional one into both of those colors would make them a bit too evasive, most likely. In addition, black has deathtouch, which is pretty close to an evasion keyword. As one can see, then, black is quite overloaded in terms of its evasive capabilities...
We could still see an evergreen evasion keyword - obviously, as skulk was a contender for being evergreened by R&D at one point - but it'd require some adjustment of how the colors work.
Infiltrate isn't an evasion keyword, of course, but it also doesn't meaningfully interact with combat, but it's also very unusual for an evergreen keyword. The second version also has the problem of not being consistent across multiple cards, and having the additional cost after the keyword name - that's a template experienced players take for granted, but is a little hard to parse for the newbies that evergreen mechanics are intended for.
PS: Infiltrate requires effects that are interesting both pre-combat and post-combat. Raid had a small issue with this, and Infiltrate would as well. It's most likely fine, but it's just something I thought I'd note.
Agreed, Skulk is infinitely more evergreen than prowess, and they decided to not make it so, but did prowess. WTF Wizards?
To make a point of it, there are 9 cards with prowess in standard. Nine. That just screams evergreen doesn't it?
How many creatures with double strike are in Standard? 7. How many with hexproof? 11.
An evergreen keyword doesn't have to show up in large quantities to be useful; it just has to be something that'd be nice to have available for a few cards in each set. It's not the quantity that determines how 'evergreen' something is, but its frequency.
Skulk might be able to show up in large quantities in SOI - and less so in EMN - but it cannot show up with a high frequency because its design space is startlingly small. It's developmentally tricky and it only fits on a narrow band of cards. It's interesting as a mechanic in a single set, but it certainly couldn't show up with the frequency of prowess (which can be put onto any vanilla body and work at least adequately, unlike skulk)
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Anyway, regarding the original topic of the post: I agree that cost reduction or alternate costs are odd for evergreen, simply because it's never really been done. Not saying it's impossible, just that they definitely feel more complicated than your average evergreen, which tend towards simply altering what a creature is capable of doing, rather than how they are cast.
In addition, blue/black wants a combat keyword most likely. The Infiltrate keywords can't really be used to fill out combat-keyword cycles. In fact, they encourage evasive decks, which (while this is something blue/black is obviously good at) is kind of contrary to what most designers are hoping to get out of a blue/black keyword (which is a combat keyword).
Of the two, I do like the flat reduction far more than the alternate cost. It feels much more evergreen.
The Consul, in the story, are the ones producing Canisters. So think of Canisters like dollar bills; produced and controlled by the government, but can end up in the hands of anyone, especially if they endeavor to steal it from a vault.
Raid and Revolution work better with Canisters in the same set - transform with Revolution, then untap your transformed Revolting creature(s) to attack.
The abilities aren't meant to be split easily down the lines like that, but some do. Justice is pure Consul, Revolution is pure rebels, Raid is rebels and outlaws, Recharge is mostly Consul and outlaws. Note that outlaws on Kaladesh include non-government artificers.
The problem with flash in red is that while the flavor seems red, the gameplay is anything but. Flash encourages you to be patient and hold onto your cards until your opponent's turn; and even then, only casting them when you can surprise your opponent and reap considerable advantage. "Holding on to your cards and waiting" is not a red thing to do. While it's something a player should be allowed to do with red cards, it's not something we want to encourage red players to be doing via a keyword, you know?
Exile-escape is interesting, and I agree it has potential. I just worry that it's too defensive for red. While I agree red needs more defensive tools, I'd prefer them to be less explicit about being defensive.
I would say that the fact it's "either a blowout or a struggle" is precisely what makes this mechanic problematic. Ferocious was printed checking a flat 4 because attempts to check if you have the strongest creature on the battlefield often end up just asking 'What kind of deck are you facing, and are you on the play?', which is not nearly as fun as just saying 'Build around me.'
I don't see any problems with it. Dual-lands are often needed to fix filtering issues, and since this can't enter untapped, that means it should be roughly on-par with other 'always untapped' lands. It returns your tempo, but loses out on any other positives - scrying, gaining life, what have you. Seems fair.
Note that adding it to your mana pool is problematic because it can only be spent on an instant, then. That's why Hardened Berserker reduces costs. Mardu Warshrieker is just a red ritual with different colors, no expansion there. And Exuberant Firestoker was a bleed for Naya, we wouldn't see it anymore as its too 'permanent' of mana generation.
I would certainy like to see more Hardened Berserker style cards in the future, myself.
I actually hadn't intended to create a 'day and night' atmosphere, but looking at the cards, I can certainly see how Ovitzia Nightwatch and Addiction both point to such a direction. Thanks for the inspiration!
I too like Phantom Thief's effect, but I couldn't see it being used often enough to be keyworded, as it's quite a bit stronger than it looks, actually. Still, it's a good staple to return to. And I couldn't resist using it on the Phantom Thief for flavor reasons.
Black only gets first strike rarely, because of it being grandfathered in, and it doesn't get it at common any more. In all of Extended, there's only been a single black creature with first strike - and that's Unyielding Krumar, which has to pay white mana to get it. Besides the mechanical reasoning for it being red, there's also the flavorful reasoning - I think that 'vengeance' is far more red than black, when it's motivated out of a desire to avenge someone they cared about.
I'm glad you like Resist Arrest. It's not as much an expansion as it is a narrowing, but it's a narrow effect I'm surprsied we haven't seen yet.
Ovitzia Nightwatch2W
Creature - Human Soldier (C)
Whenever a player casts a noncreature spell for the first time each turn, untap Ovitzia Nightwatch.
2/3 "The city never sleeps. But I really wish at least I could."
Phantom Thief2U
Creature - Spirit Rogue (C)
Flying
Whenever Phantom Thief deals combat damage to an opponent, draw a card, then discard a card.
1/3 “It left behind another one of these calling cards... it’s taunting us!”
Addiction2B
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets -2/-2.
At the beginning of each end step, if enchanted creature’s controller hasn’t cast a spell this turn, put a -1/-1 counter on enchanted creature.
Vengeant Vigilante1R
Creature - Human Warrior (C)
As long as there’s a creature card in your graveyard, Vengeant Vigilante has first strike. "For every year she had left in her life, I'll take one life of theirs."
2/1
Resist Arrest1G
Instant (C)
Target creature you control gets +2/+2 and gains hexproof until end of turn. Destroy all Auras you don’t control enchanting it.
The Mantle cycle is nice but I really wished the move was optional.
The Glimmer cycle is very out of color pie, but I'm sure you know that. The green one seems much weaker than the others. The white one is a bit weak too, I think.
Revolution has playtested well! We did realize we needed to focus it on creatures with an impact on the board, but it was actually quite exciting in our Limited playtests. Do note that the front side is always playable, though maybe on the low-side; it's easy to lose sight of that however, given the difficult activation cost. The Selesnya Sentry problem.
We playtested with exactly the Law you proposed - just on the creature with the law - and found it to be a little underwhelming. This one is more dangerous but also more exciting; we hope that it works out well, but if it doesn't, we could just shift back to the other law and pump up their bonuses a bit.
You know, we don't actually have a world description yet. I'll get right to work on that!
The entire plane isn't Steampunk, and the parts that aren't are where the Tigrala - like Channeler of the Untamed - live. Theres also the unsettled wilds - where Chandra retreated to in her short story - and the remnants of the civilizations that the Consul has been conquering and exterminating. These are based on traditional Indian creatures; Naga, Garuda, and Tigrala. The Garuda betrayed the wilds and allied with the Consul, the Naga are remaining isolated and relatively neutral, and the Tigrala have basically declared war.
The goal is for each color pair to have a keyword that can go on a creature, is easy to design and develop, and is versatile and able to be used frequently - even if not in considerable numbers - for each set.
Now, there are additional necessities placed upon the blue/black keyword. The 'combat keyword' restriction is simply because, well, combat is the most interactive part of the game, so it's ideal for each color pair to have some means of meaningfully interacting within combat in an interesting way. In addition, most of the combat keywords are very simple (by nature of just adjusting a 'rule' in combat, or granting an additional effect), which is a nice bonus. Even the one color pair that strays the farthest from this, blue/green, has hexproof (which means you most commonly deal with the creature via combat) and flash (which lets you surprise block mid-combat).
An evasion keyword is commonly proposed, and indeed, evasion is fine up to a certain degree. However, evasion circumvents combat rather than encouraging it, which acts contrary to the hopes to create interactive gameplay. Evasion keywords are nonetheless necessary to the game, which is why we get trample, flying, and menace - but note that flying is in black and blue, and menace is in black, so putting an additional one into both of those colors would make them a bit too evasive, most likely. In addition, black has deathtouch, which is pretty close to an evasion keyword. As one can see, then, black is quite overloaded in terms of its evasive capabilities...
We could still see an evergreen evasion keyword - obviously, as skulk was a contender for being evergreened by R&D at one point - but it'd require some adjustment of how the colors work.
Infiltrate isn't an evasion keyword, of course, but it also doesn't meaningfully interact with combat, but it's also very unusual for an evergreen keyword. The second version also has the problem of not being consistent across multiple cards, and having the additional cost after the keyword name - that's a template experienced players take for granted, but is a little hard to parse for the newbies that evergreen mechanics are intended for.
PS: Infiltrate requires effects that are interesting both pre-combat and post-combat. Raid had a small issue with this, and Infiltrate would as well. It's most likely fine, but it's just something I thought I'd note.
How many creatures with double strike are in Standard? 7. How many with hexproof? 11.
An evergreen keyword doesn't have to show up in large quantities to be useful; it just has to be something that'd be nice to have available for a few cards in each set. It's not the quantity that determines how 'evergreen' something is, but its frequency.
Skulk might be able to show up in large quantities in SOI - and less so in EMN - but it cannot show up with a high frequency because its design space is startlingly small. It's developmentally tricky and it only fits on a narrow band of cards. It's interesting as a mechanic in a single set, but it certainly couldn't show up with the frequency of prowess (which can be put onto any vanilla body and work at least adequately, unlike skulk)
-
Anyway, regarding the original topic of the post: I agree that cost reduction or alternate costs are odd for evergreen, simply because it's never really been done. Not saying it's impossible, just that they definitely feel more complicated than your average evergreen, which tend towards simply altering what a creature is capable of doing, rather than how they are cast.
In addition, blue/black wants a combat keyword most likely. The Infiltrate keywords can't really be used to fill out combat-keyword cycles. In fact, they encourage evasive decks, which (while this is something blue/black is obviously good at) is kind of contrary to what most designers are hoping to get out of a blue/black keyword (which is a combat keyword).
Of the two, I do like the flat reduction far more than the alternate cost. It feels much more evergreen.
Raid and Revolution work better with Canisters in the same set - transform with Revolution, then untap your transformed Revolting creature(s) to attack.
The abilities aren't meant to be split easily down the lines like that, but some do. Justice is pure Consul, Revolution is pure rebels, Raid is rebels and outlaws, Recharge is mostly Consul and outlaws. Note that outlaws on Kaladesh include non-government artificers.
Exile-escape is interesting, and I agree it has potential. I just worry that it's too defensive for red. While I agree red needs more defensive tools, I'd prefer them to be less explicit about being defensive.
Guttural Response: Considered a mistake.
Lapse of Certainty: Probably okay, given this remark.
I would certainy like to see more Hardened Berserker style cards in the future, myself.
I actually hadn't intended to create a 'day and night' atmosphere, but looking at the cards, I can certainly see how Ovitzia Nightwatch and Addiction both point to such a direction. Thanks for the inspiration!
I too like Phantom Thief's effect, but I couldn't see it being used often enough to be keyworded, as it's quite a bit stronger than it looks, actually. Still, it's a good staple to return to. And I couldn't resist using it on the Phantom Thief for flavor reasons.
Black only gets first strike rarely, because of it being grandfathered in, and it doesn't get it at common any more. In all of Extended, there's only been a single black creature with first strike - and that's Unyielding Krumar, which has to pay white mana to get it. Besides the mechanical reasoning for it being red, there's also the flavorful reasoning - I think that 'vengeance' is far more red than black, when it's motivated out of a desire to avenge someone they cared about.
I'm glad you like Resist Arrest. It's not as much an expansion as it is a narrowing, but it's a narrow effect I'm surprsied we haven't seen yet.
Creature - Human Soldier (C)
Whenever a player casts a noncreature spell for the first time each turn, untap Ovitzia Nightwatch.
2/3
"The city never sleeps. But I really wish at least I could."
Phantom Thief 2U
Creature - Spirit Rogue (C)
Flying
Whenever Phantom Thief deals combat damage to an opponent, draw a card, then discard a card.
1/3
“It left behind another one of these calling cards... it’s taunting us!”
Addiction 2B
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets -2/-2.
At the beginning of each end step, if enchanted creature’s controller hasn’t cast a spell this turn, put a -1/-1 counter on enchanted creature.
Vengeant Vigilante 1R
Creature - Human Warrior (C)
As long as there’s a creature card in your graveyard, Vengeant Vigilante has first strike.
"For every year she had left in her life, I'll take one life of theirs."
2/1
Resist Arrest 1G
Instant (C)
Target creature you control gets +2/+2 and gains hexproof until end of turn. Destroy all Auras you don’t control enchanting it.
The Mantle cycle is nice but I really wished the move was optional.
The Glimmer cycle is very out of color pie, but I'm sure you know that. The green one seems much weaker than the others. The white one is a bit weak too, I think.