I have a cycle of legendary creatures that have synergistic abilities which really need help. I like the Blue, Red, and Green ones I've created so far, but the white and black ones really need the most help in my opinion. I'll take any help I can get on the other three as well. I also have an artifact creature in the cycle I have yet to give abilities to, so if you could maybe toss a couple ideas for it, I'd be grateful too.
Hope, Shining Apprentice2WW
Legendary Creature - Human Angel
Protection from white W: ~ gets +0/+1 until end of turn. 2W, T, Discard a card: You gain X life where X is equal to ~'s toughness.
2/2
Ormus, Storming Apprentice2UU
Legendary Creature - Merfolk Djinn
Protection from blue U: Target creature gains flying until end of turn. 2U, T, Discard a card: ~ deals X damage to each creature with flying, where X is equal to the number of islands you control.
2/2
Dusk, Stalking Apprentice2BB
Legendary Creature - Rat Demon
Protection from black B: Destroy target creature blocking ~. 2B, T, Discard a card: Target player discards a number of cards equal to the number of creature cards in his or her graveyard.
2/2
Nero, Burning Apprentice2RR
Legendary Creature - Dwarf Dragon
Protection from red R: ~ gets +1/+0 until end of turn. 2R, T, Discard a card: ~ deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is equal to his power.
2/2
Thorn, Growing Apprentice2GG
Legendary Creature - Elf Treefolk
Protection from green G: Put a 1/1 green Plant creature token with pacifism into play under your control. Sacrifice it at end of turn. 2G, T, Discard a card: Target land becomes an X/X green creature until end of turn where X is equal the the number of creatures you control.
2/2
Pacifism is an ability I'm using in my set that represents "This creature can't attack or block."
Um...this question is going to sound a bit stupid, but it's bothering me, so I'll just get it over with. Why do these creatures have two different species'? Did an elf figure out how to have sex with a tree?
Hope, with a discard ability, seems a bit off color (even if it is gain life). Also, what if I discard a sorcery?
Ormus is definitely off color. The ability to damage fliers is usually given to green, and occasionally red.
Nero "his power". What is "his", Nero's?
This cycle of creatures is more like a cycle of spellshapers, and white has had those in the past so I don't think it's too much of a problem here. What do you mean by "what if I discard a sorcery?"
Earlier tonight I was thinking of shifting the Hurricane apprentice to green, but then I was at a loss as what to give the blue apprentice. I also liked the synergy between giving a creature flight and then killing them.
Yeah, the "his" means Nero's. I guess I need to word it correctly.
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Protection from its own color isnt too smart.
That's true, but this is to signify the creature's familiarity with their own color. I guess I could do this in some other way, such as landwalk, but that'll take more thinking.
This cycle of creatures is more like a cycle of spellshapers, and white has had those in the past so I don't think it's too much of a problem here. What do you mean by "what if I discard a sorcery?"
Ah, My apologies, then. I thought it was worded in that the controller would gain life equal to the discarded creature's toughness.
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"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
Um...this question is going to sound a bit stupid, but it's bothering me, so I'll just get it over with. Why do these creatures have two different species'? Did an elf figure out how to have sex with a tree?
Um...this question is going to sound a bit stupid, but it's bothering me, so I'll just get it over with. Why do these creatures have two different species'? Did an elf figure out how to have sex with a tree?
It's a valid question. Really, it has to do with the storyline of my set. I really haven't come up with a reason for them to be dual-species yet. Haven't decided if it's them actually interbreeding, or it's because of some sort of magic. But they are really dual species to show off that, since they are leaders, they can lead the two main sentient species of each color in my set.
Okay. I only asked because I wanted to know if you had an actual reason or that you were doing it for no reason other than you thought it'd be cool.
I'm really glad it's the former.
If it's your storyline, I'm not going to try and bother you about this, but I'd just like to point something out. Angels look human. Demons and Djinn can look like, well, anything they please. And, as we've learned many times in the worlds of Magic, people (and rats, and mutated horrors, and whatnot) will listen to whoever or whatever has the biggest proverbial gun. Or even the best public speaker. Or just...for kicks.
I think it'd be smart (in the sense of sentient thought processes) to listen to an angel if I was a lowly mortal, or a fire-breathing dragon if I was a vertically challenged bearded follow. But that's just my personal opinion.
Are there a lot of these interspecies people running around, or just certain individuals? Because if it's the latter, you could say it's magic, and give these people an entirely different creature type. Remember the mongers? Scandalmonger looked like a pig man, but he didn't have the boar creature type.
It's just a suggestion. Good luck with your set, and sorry for writing so much.
Someone said grandeur abilities? Well, here is my version of CursedMortivore cycle. I feel these are more balanced, but I think that Ormus and Thorn came be abused quite a bit.
Hope, Shining Apprentice2WW Legendary Creature - Angel W: CARDNAME gets +0/+1 until end of turn. Grandeur - Discard another card named CARDNAME: You gain life equal to CARDNAME's toughness.
Ormus, Storming Apprentice2UU Legendary Creature - Merfolk U: Target creature gains flying until end of turn. Grandeur - Discard another card named CARDNAME: Return all creatures with flying to their owner's hand.
Dusk, Stalking Apprentice2BB Legendary Creature - Demon B: Destroy target creature blocking CARDNAME Grandeur - Discard another card named CARDNAME: Until end of turn, all creatures able to block CARDNAME must do so.
Nero, Burning Apprentice2RR Legendary Creature - Dwarf R: CARDNAME gets +1/+0 until end of turn. Grandeur - Discard another card named CARDNAME: CARDNAME deals damage equal to its power to target creature or player.
Thorn, Growing Apprentice2GG Legendary Creature - Treefolk G: Put a 1/1 green Saproling creature token into play. Remove it from the game at end of turn. Grandeur - Discard another card named CARDNAME: Target firest becomes an X/X green Treefolk creature until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control.
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Below my posts, you will often see... Last edited by Thistledown : [Day] at XX:XX XM. Reason: typo
This is because I suck at the internet. Get used to it.
I like the abilities, but as worded Thorn could be majorly abused. Produce Saproling tokens during end of turn step, they attack next turn. This is the reason I gave the original Thorn's tokens the "pacifism" ability. Other than that, all of the cards pretty much run like I want. Maybe flip the "lure" ability to be the B ability on Dusk, with the Grandeur being "Destroy all creatures blocking this". Just an idea. Also, the bouncing with Ormus is much more in flavor with what blue does, so I like it.
I'll try it out and see if it sits well with me in the long run.
Okay. I only asked because I wanted to know if you had an actual reason or that you were doing it for no reason other than you thought it'd be cool.
I'm really glad it's the former.
If it's your storyline, I'm not going to try and bother you about this, but I'd just like to point something out. Angels look human. Demons and Djinn can look like, well, anything they please. And, as we've learned many times in the worlds of Magic, people (and rats, and mutated horrors, and whatnot) will listen to whoever or whatever has the biggest proverbial gun. Or even the best public speaker. Or just...for kicks.
I think it'd be smart (in the sense of sentient thought processes) to listen to an angel if I was a lowly mortal, or a fire-breathing dragon if I was a vertically challenged bearded follow. But that's just my personal opinion.
Are there a lot of these interspecies people running around, or just certain individuals? Because if it's the latter, you could say it's magic, and give these people an entirely different creature type. Remember the mongers? Scandalmonger looked like a pig man, but he didn't have the boar creature type.
It's just a suggestion. Good luck with your set, and sorry for writing so much.
These individuals are unique among their groups, so it will be magic that creates them. I'd rather not give them a different creature type as a sub-theme of my set is tribal. That sub-theme is also the reason for them having both creature types. My idea for the Human Angel is a human with supernatural beauty, maybe a glow or something.
EDIT (Again):
How about for Thorn's (G) ability, he gets "G: Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn." and make the p/t of the Treefolk trigger off of his power and toughness?
EDIT (again again. I'd rather edit many times rather than repost):
Here's the new lineup of the legends.
Hope, Shining Apprentice :2mana::symw::symw:
Legendary Creature - Human Angel
:symw:: ~ gets +0/+1 until end of turn. Grandeur — Discard another card named ~: Gain life equal to ~s toughness.
2/2
Ormus, Storming Apprentice :2mana::symu::symu:
Legendary Creature - Merfolk Djinn
:symu:: Target creature gains flying until end of turn.
Grandeur — Discard another card named ~: Return all creatures with flying to their owner’s hand.
2/2
Dusk, Stalking Apprentice :2mana::symb::symb:
Legendary Creature - Rat Demon B: Until end of turn, all creatures able to block Dusk, Stalking Apprentice must do so. Grandeur — Discard another card named ~: Destroy all creatures blocking ~. They can’t be regenerated.
2/2
Nero, Burning Apprentice :2mana::symr::symr:
Legendary Creature - Dwarf Dragon
:symr:: ~ gets +1/+0 until end of turn. Grandeur — Discard another card named ~: ~ deals damage equal to its power to target creature or player.
2/2
Thorn, Growing Apprentice :2mana::symg::symg:
Legendary Creature - Elf Treefolk
:symg:: Put a 0/1 green Plant creature token into play. Remove it from the game at end of turn. Grandeur - Discard another card named ~: Target land becomes a green Treefolk creature with power and toughness equal to the number of creatures you control until end of turn.
2/2
Templating on self-referential cards is a little iffy. Not sure if it's too confusing.
Isn't Nero much more powerful than Hope, since the lifegain and damage of the cycle are even and direct damage is detter than life gain?
Also, the lure ability is more flavored green than black.
And it seems that the green minor ability is somewhat weak. It creates chump blockers, which isn't that useful, except if you're losing badly. THe white one is kind of similar in this respect.
On the other hand the blue one can be used to give your land guys flying, either for defense, a better alpha strike, or it can be used to brotect your guys or make a mini-evacuation on your opponent. The red one can take out a huge butted guy and/or another or it can deal a ton to a defenseless opponent. The black one can clear a path and also do a damnation-esque attack, but the lure isn't a black ability.
Isn't Nero much more powerful than Hope, since the lifegain and damage of the cycle are even and direct damage is detter than life gain?
Also, the lure ability is more flavored green than black.
And it seems that the green minor ability is somewhat weak. It creates chump blockers, which isn't that useful, except if you're losing badly. THe white one is kind of similar in this respect.
On the other hand the blue one can be used to give your land guys flying, either for defense, a better alpha strike, or it can be used to brotect your guys or make a mini-evacuation on your opponent. The red one can take out a huge butted guy and/or another or it can deal a ton to a defenseless opponent. The black one can clear a path and also do a damnation-esque attack, but the lure isn't a black ability.
Wowza. Thanks for the comments. That is exactly how I feel about the particular ones that you noted. It's part of the reason I posted them here.
Now that I think about it, the black one's abilities probably work better on the green guy since both Lure and the Basilisk ability are green. Only problem is that it leaves me with design space open for black. And the White one would take some thinking as well because I can't think of any massive white abilities that would combine well together on her.
I would appreciate any ideas you could throw my way.
White: :symw:: +0/+1... it's not powerful, it's fine for its cost. Discarding a card to stream of life is... well it's probably underpowered. Look at what the other grandeur cards do.
Blue: :symu:: Target creature gains flying... it's pretty good. Not quite Levitation, though, so I'm willing to say it's not overpowered. The Grandeur ability, on the other hand, is. It's a one-sided evacuation that you can use at instant speed.
Black: I would make the first ability "target creature." As worded, it's a Plague Wind for :symb:. Doesn't seem powerful? Even if you change the first ability, it's still Dregs of Sorrow without the non-black restriction. Maybe make the Grandeur ability "two target creatures blocking ~" and it'd be balanced and still good.
Red: Firebreathing is fine on a creature, and Blaze isn't exactly overpowered. I'd try to balance this one with the white one though.
Green: Putting creatures into play for such a cheap cost is not a good idea. Not only does it read "Target creature becomes blocked" but add a Goblin Bombardment and you've got a targetted Pyrohemia. Pairing this with Gaea's Anthem would also be pretty brutal.
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Originally the tokens that the green guy made had an ability I made called "Pacifism" where they couldn't attack or block, so were strictly used for pumping up the second ability.
Now I've switched the black creature's power to the green one, so it looks like this now:
Thorn, Hunting Apprentice2GG
Legendary Creature - Elf Treefolk G: Target creature blocks ~ this turn if able. Grandeur - Discard another card named ~: Until end of turn, when ~ becomes blocked by a creature, destroy that creature at end of combat.
2/2
This makes it more in line with most all of the other Basilisks, and removes the "cannot regenerate" clause to make it less destructive. It also makes the first ability target only one creature.
Doing this however removes the black creature's abilities, so I'll have to come up with something new for it as well.
[EDIT]
How about this for the black creature?
Dusk, Bleeding Apprentice2BB
Legendary Creature - Rat Demon B: Target player dealt damage by ~ this turn loses 1 life. Grandeur - Discard another card named ~: Add BBB to your mana pool.
2/2
Hope, Shining Apprentice 2WW
Legendary Creature - Human Angel
Protection from white
W: ~ gets +0/+1 until end of turn.
2W, T, Discard a card: You gain X life where X is equal to ~'s toughness.
2/2
Ormus, Storming Apprentice 2UU
Legendary Creature - Merfolk Djinn
Protection from blue
U: Target creature gains flying until end of turn.
2U, T, Discard a card: ~ deals X damage to each creature with flying, where X is equal to the number of islands you control.
2/2
Dusk, Stalking Apprentice 2BB
Legendary Creature - Rat Demon
Protection from black
B: Destroy target creature blocking ~.
2B, T, Discard a card: Target player discards a number of cards equal to the number of creature cards in his or her graveyard.
2/2
Nero, Burning Apprentice 2RR
Legendary Creature - Dwarf Dragon
Protection from red
R: ~ gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
2R, T, Discard a card: ~ deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is equal to his power.
2/2
Thorn, Growing Apprentice 2GG
Legendary Creature - Elf Treefolk
Protection from green
G: Put a 1/1 green Plant creature token with pacifism into play under your control. Sacrifice it at end of turn.
2G, T, Discard a card: Target land becomes an X/X green creature until end of turn where X is equal the the number of creatures you control.
2/2
Pacifism is an ability I'm using in my set that represents "This creature can't attack or block."
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Ormus is definitely off color. The ability to damage fliers is usually given to green, and occasionally red.
Nero "his power". What is "his", Nero's?
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
This cycle of creatures is more like a cycle of spellshapers, and white has had those in the past so I don't think it's too much of a problem here. What do you mean by "what if I discard a sorcery?"
Earlier tonight I was thinking of shifting the Hurricane apprentice to green, but then I was at a loss as what to give the blue apprentice. I also liked the synergy between giving a creature flight and then killing them.
Yeah, the "his" means Nero's. I guess I need to word it correctly.
That's true, but this is to signify the creature's familiarity with their own color. I guess I could do this in some other way, such as landwalk, but that'll take more thinking.
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Ah, My apologies, then. I thought it was worded in that the controller would gain life equal to the discarded creature's toughness.
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
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It's a valid question. Really, it has to do with the storyline of my set. I really haven't come up with a reason for them to be dual-species yet. Haven't decided if it's them actually interbreeding, or it's because of some sort of magic. But they are really dual species to show off that, since they are leaders, they can lead the two main sentient species of each color in my set.
Signature by spiderboy4 of High~Light Studios
I'm really glad it's the former.
If it's your storyline, I'm not going to try and bother you about this, but I'd just like to point something out. Angels look human. Demons and Djinn can look like, well, anything they please. And, as we've learned many times in the worlds of Magic, people (and rats, and mutated horrors, and whatnot) will listen to whoever or whatever has the biggest proverbial gun. Or even the best public speaker. Or just...for kicks.
I think it'd be smart (in the sense of sentient thought processes) to listen to an angel if I was a lowly mortal, or a fire-breathing dragon if I was a vertically challenged bearded follow. But that's just my personal opinion.
Are there a lot of these interspecies people running around, or just certain individuals? Because if it's the latter, you could say it's magic, and give these people an entirely different creature type. Remember the mongers? Scandalmonger looked like a pig man, but he didn't have the boar creature type.
It's just a suggestion. Good luck with your set, and sorry for writing so much.
Hope, Shining Apprentice 2WW
Legendary Creature - Angel
W: CARDNAME gets +0/+1 until end of turn.
Grandeur - Discard another card named CARDNAME: You gain life equal to CARDNAME's toughness.
Ormus, Storming Apprentice 2UU
Legendary Creature - Merfolk
U: Target creature gains flying until end of turn.
Grandeur - Discard another card named CARDNAME: Return all creatures with flying to their owner's hand.
Dusk, Stalking Apprentice 2BB
Legendary Creature - Demon
B: Destroy target creature blocking CARDNAME
Grandeur - Discard another card named CARDNAME: Until end of turn, all creatures able to block CARDNAME must do so.
Nero, Burning Apprentice 2RR
Legendary Creature - Dwarf
R: CARDNAME gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
Grandeur - Discard another card named CARDNAME: CARDNAME deals damage equal to its power to target creature or player.
Thorn, Growing Apprentice 2GG
Legendary Creature - Treefolk
G: Put a 1/1 green Saproling creature token into play. Remove it from the game at end of turn.
Grandeur - Discard another card named CARDNAME: Target firest becomes an X/X green Treefolk creature until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control.
Last edited by Thistledown : [Day] at XX:XX XM. Reason: typo
This is because I suck at the internet. Get used to it.
I'll try it out and see if it sits well with me in the long run.
EDIT:
These individuals are unique among their groups, so it will be magic that creates them. I'd rather not give them a different creature type as a sub-theme of my set is tribal. That sub-theme is also the reason for them having both creature types. My idea for the Human Angel is a human with supernatural beauty, maybe a glow or something.
EDIT (Again):
How about for Thorn's (G) ability, he gets "G: Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn." and make the p/t of the Treefolk trigger off of his power and toughness?
EDIT (again again. I'd rather edit many times rather than repost):
Here's the new lineup of the legends.
Hope, Shining Apprentice :2mana::symw::symw:
Legendary Creature - Human Angel
:symw:: ~ gets +0/+1 until end of turn.
Grandeur — Discard another card named ~: Gain life equal to ~s toughness.
2/2
Ormus, Storming Apprentice :2mana::symu::symu:
Legendary Creature - Merfolk Djinn
:symu:: Target creature gains flying until end of turn.
Grandeur — Discard another card named ~: Return all creatures with flying to their owner’s hand.
2/2
Dusk, Stalking Apprentice :2mana::symb::symb:
Legendary Creature - Rat Demon
B: Until end of turn, all creatures able to block Dusk, Stalking Apprentice must do so.
Grandeur — Discard another card named ~: Destroy all creatures blocking ~. They can’t be regenerated.
2/2
Nero, Burning Apprentice :2mana::symr::symr:
Legendary Creature - Dwarf Dragon
:symr:: ~ gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
Grandeur — Discard another card named ~: ~ deals damage equal to its power to target creature or player.
2/2
Thorn, Growing Apprentice :2mana::symg::symg:
Legendary Creature - Elf Treefolk
:symg:: Put a 0/1 green Plant creature token into play. Remove it from the game at end of turn.
Grandeur - Discard another card named ~: Target land becomes a green Treefolk creature with power and toughness equal to the number of creatures you control until end of turn.
2/2
Templating on self-referential cards is a little iffy. Not sure if it's too confusing.
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Also, the lure ability is more flavored green than black.
And it seems that the green minor ability is somewhat weak. It creates chump blockers, which isn't that useful, except if you're losing badly. THe white one is kind of similar in this respect.
On the other hand the blue one can be used to give your land guys flying, either for defense, a better alpha strike, or it can be used to brotect your guys or make a mini-evacuation on your opponent. The red one can take out a huge butted guy and/or another or it can deal a ton to a defenseless opponent. The black one can clear a path and also do a damnation-esque attack, but the lure isn't a black ability.
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Wowza. Thanks for the comments. That is exactly how I feel about the particular ones that you noted. It's part of the reason I posted them here.
Now that I think about it, the black one's abilities probably work better on the green guy since both Lure and the Basilisk ability are green. Only problem is that it leaves me with design space open for black. And the White one would take some thinking as well because I can't think of any massive white abilities that would combine well together on her.
I would appreciate any ideas you could throw my way.
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White: :symw:: +0/+1... it's not powerful, it's fine for its cost. Discarding a card to stream of life is... well it's probably underpowered. Look at what the other grandeur cards do.
Blue: :symu:: Target creature gains flying... it's pretty good. Not quite Levitation, though, so I'm willing to say it's not overpowered. The Grandeur ability, on the other hand, is. It's a one-sided evacuation that you can use at instant speed.
Black: I would make the first ability "target creature." As worded, it's a Plague Wind for :symb:. Doesn't seem powerful? Even if you change the first ability, it's still Dregs of Sorrow without the non-black restriction. Maybe make the Grandeur ability "two target creatures blocking ~" and it'd be balanced and still good.
Red: Firebreathing is fine on a creature, and Blaze isn't exactly overpowered. I'd try to balance this one with the white one though.
Green: Putting creatures into play for such a cheap cost is not a good idea. Not only does it read "Target creature becomes blocked" but add a Goblin Bombardment and you've got a targetted Pyrohemia. Pairing this with Gaea's Anthem would also be pretty brutal.
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Now I've switched the black creature's power to the green one, so it looks like this now:
Thorn, Hunting Apprentice 2GG
Legendary Creature - Elf Treefolk
G: Target creature blocks ~ this turn if able.
Grandeur - Discard another card named ~: Until end of turn, when ~ becomes blocked by a creature, destroy that creature at end of combat.
2/2
This makes it more in line with most all of the other Basilisks, and removes the "cannot regenerate" clause to make it less destructive. It also makes the first ability target only one creature.
Doing this however removes the black creature's abilities, so I'll have to come up with something new for it as well.
[EDIT]
How about this for the black creature?
Dusk, Bleeding Apprentice 2BB
Legendary Creature - Rat Demon
B: Target player dealt damage by ~ this turn loses 1 life.
Grandeur - Discard another card named ~: Add BBB to your mana pool.
2/2
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