I find it utterly baffling anyone would think Bolas had a ghosts of a chance winning. The question has never been “Will Bolas lose”, you hav to add a How/Why to the front of that. Even without the Gatewatch Bolas wouldn’t win, villains don’t have overwhelming victories like that.
Hour of Devastation and New Phyrexia would like a word with you.
New Phyrexia was a set up story to bring the faction back into the fold so they could be set up as a future enemy. Hour of Devastation was just a piece of an overarching story. The heroes had to lose, otherwise there would be no drama in them confronting Bolas in the final act of that overarching story.
I believe sealed can be balanced by introducing a mechanic similar to Ascend. Soemthing granting you The Spark, and PWs with abilities that have a rider "you may play this ability only if you have the spark". Didn't go through 6 pages of the thread so not sure if anyone suggested something similar already.
I believe sealed can be balanced by introducing a mechanic similar to Ascend. Soemthing granting you The Spark, and PWs with abilities that have a rider "you may play this ability only if you have the spark". Didn't go through 6 pages of the thread so not sure if anyone suggested something similar already.
The idea has been floated in other threads as well.
The Planeswalkers could all be Creatures who have to either earn the "ascension" (ability to flip into a Walker) or acquire it "monarch-style" by attacking an ascended walker (thus letting the attacker flip and forcing the walker to turn back into a creature).
Other people have floated the idea that when the walkers ultimate, they flip them into normal creatures.
Other people have proposed that the (lower rarity) walkers will function more like Sagas, in that they have simpler/more-predictable effects.
Other people have proposed the (lower rarity) walkers will have fewer abilities or may not even have an ult.
Considering we have technically seen two-ability PWs before, I could see some of the PWs being kept simpler for sake of set complexity.
Tibalt
0: Whenever a permanent or player is dealt damage for the first time this turn, you may pay 2 and discard a card. If you do, draw a card and put a loyalty counter on ~.
-X: Create X 1/1 red Devil creature tokens with "When this creature dies, it deals 1 damage to any target."
Sarkhan
+1: Up to one target creature gets +2/+0 and gains haste until end of turn.
-3: Create a 4/4 red Dragon creature token with flying.
Hmm, you know how Theros' Gods had "~ isn't a creature as long as your devotion to X is less than five"? Well, what if WAR's PWs work a similar way? As long as they have loyalty counters, they're planeswalkers, otherwise they're creatures (of a type defined by the rules text). They each have one activated loyalty ability that costs loyalty, and a triggered ability that puts loyalty on them which triggers whether they're creatures or planeswalkers. They may also have creature mode-specific keywords or other abilities. They have starting loyalty, and when they're creatures, they use a special P/T box much like Vehicles.
Name (Mana Cost)
Legendary Planeswalker - Name
-N loyalty: Do X.
Whenever Y happens, put a loyalty counter on ~.
As long as ~ doesn't have any loyalty counters, (he/she/it)'s a (Creature Types) creature instead of a planeswalker. (They may have creature mode-specific keywords or other abilities.)
L P/T
Or conversely, what if they start as creatures and become planeswalkers in addition to their other types after gaining loyalty counters?
Name (Mana Cost)
Legendary Creature - Types
Whenever Y happens, put a loyalty counter on ~.
As long as ~ has one or more loyalty counters, they're a (Name) planeswalker in addition to their other types. (Damage is dealt to them as though they're a planeswalker and not a creature.)
-N loyalty: (effect)
P/T
And yes, this would mean a ton of new commander options.
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
I think Planeswalkers with 1-2 loyalty abilities and/or a possible trigger to gain loyalty are likely simplified options. Anything that mixes them with creatures seems very unlikely to me, personally.
My guess is we will get walkers that replace the token card, they will mostly be reprints of past walkers and not be legal in standard. Similar to the hidden treasures. But I think it's unlikely they are going to be able to power check 36 new walkers in standard for one set.
My guess is we will get walkers that replace the token card, they will mostly be reprints of past walkers and not be legal in standard. Similar to the hidden treasures. But I think it's unlikely they are going to be able to power check 36 new walkers in standard for one set.
Maro stated on his blog that the 36 stained glass walkers were all new cards. No reprints.
Decks: EDH: UBR Nekusar, BG Jarad, WUB Sharuum, R Feldon, WBR Edgar Modern: UR Splinter Twin,WU Control, BRG Living End, GB Infect, UR Delver Legacy: (budget) UB Reanimator, W Death and Taxes
I think Planeswalkers with 1-2 loyalty abilities and/or a possible trigger to gain loyalty are likely simplified options. Anything that mixes them with creatures seems very unlikely to me, personally.
This is my thought as well. It'd be the easiest to balance at lower rarities.
Something like:
Ajani, Lord of the Cats 2WW
Legendary Planeswalker - Ajani (U)
At the beginning of your end step, if a creature entered the battlefield under your control this turn, put 2 loyalty counters on Ajani.
- 1: Target creature you control gains first strike and lifelink until the end of turn.
- 6: Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. Those creatures gain vigilance until the end of your turn.
Starting Loyalty: 3
Which is a fine limited card but not at all broken for constructed.
I think if this is a set about pw fighting pw then we will more often than not have pw with abilities that interact with other pw and maybe a keyword specifically for pw. Ways to interact with pw include:
Destroying
Removing counters
Preventing of activating abilities
Burning somthing
Bouncing
Preventing the adding of counters
Copying a pw ability and loyalty cost but with +1 loyalty so you can race their abilities
Giving a creature unblockable if attacking a pw
I know some of these abilities are probably immenent but if they are looking for more design space on pw or other cards I assume some number of the fringy ones might make their way somewhere.
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New Phyrexia was a set up story to bring the faction back into the fold so they could be set up as a future enemy. Hour of Devastation was just a piece of an overarching story. The heroes had to lose, otherwise there would be no drama in them confronting Bolas in the final act of that overarching story.
The idea has been floated in other threads as well.
The Planeswalkers could all be Creatures who have to either earn the "ascension" (ability to flip into a Walker) or acquire it "monarch-style" by attacking an ascended walker (thus letting the attacker flip and forcing the walker to turn back into a creature).
Other people have floated the idea that when the walkers ultimate, they flip them into normal creatures.
Other people have proposed that the (lower rarity) walkers will function more like Sagas, in that they have simpler/more-predictable effects.
Other people have proposed the (lower rarity) walkers will have fewer abilities or may not even have an ult.
Tibalt
0: Whenever a permanent or player is dealt damage for the first time this turn, you may pay 2 and discard a card. If you do, draw a card and put a loyalty counter on ~.
-X: Create X 1/1 red Devil creature tokens with "When this creature dies, it deals 1 damage to any target."
Sarkhan
+1: Up to one target creature gets +2/+0 and gains haste until end of turn.
-3: Create a 4/4 red Dragon creature token with flying.
Hmm, you know how Theros' Gods had "~ isn't a creature as long as your devotion to X is less than five"? Well, what if WAR's PWs work a similar way? As long as they have loyalty counters, they're planeswalkers, otherwise they're creatures (of a type defined by the rules text). They each have one activated loyalty ability that costs loyalty, and a triggered ability that puts loyalty on them which triggers whether they're creatures or planeswalkers. They may also have creature mode-specific keywords or other abilities. They have starting loyalty, and when they're creatures, they use a special P/T box much like Vehicles.
Name (Mana Cost)
Legendary Planeswalker - Name
-N loyalty: Do X.
Whenever Y happens, put a loyalty counter on ~.
As long as ~ doesn't have any loyalty counters, (he/she/it)'s a (Creature Types) creature instead of a planeswalker. (They may have creature mode-specific keywords or other abilities.)
L P/T
Or conversely, what if they start as creatures and become planeswalkers in addition to their other types after gaining loyalty counters?
Name (Mana Cost)
Legendary Creature - Types
Whenever Y happens, put a loyalty counter on ~.
As long as ~ has one or more loyalty counters, they're a (Name) planeswalker in addition to their other types. (Damage is dealt to them as though they're a planeswalker and not a creature.)
-N loyalty: (effect)
P/T
And yes, this would mean a ton of new commander options.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
Maro stated on his blog that the 36 stained glass walkers were all new cards. No reprints.
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/183711281103/last-year-i-asked-if-we-could-see-werewolves-on-a
EDH:
UBR Nekusar, BG Jarad, WUB Sharuum, R Feldon, WBR Edgar
Modern:
UR Splinter Twin,WU Control, BRG Living End, GB Infect, UR DelverLegacy: (budget)
UB Reanimator, W Death and Taxes
This is my thought as well. It'd be the easiest to balance at lower rarities.
Something like:
Ajani, Lord of the Cats 2WW
Legendary Planeswalker - Ajani (U)
At the beginning of your end step, if a creature entered the battlefield under your control this turn, put 2 loyalty counters on Ajani.
- 1: Target creature you control gains first strike and lifelink until the end of turn.
- 6: Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. Those creatures gain vigilance until the end of your turn.
Starting Loyalty: 3
Which is a fine limited card but not at all broken for constructed.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
Destroying
Removing counters
Preventing of activating abilities
Burning somthing
Bouncing
Preventing the adding of counters
Copying a pw ability and loyalty cost but with +1 loyalty so you can race their abilities
Giving a creature unblockable if attacking a pw
I know some of these abilities are probably immenent but if they are looking for more design space on pw or other cards I assume some number of the fringy ones might make their way somewhere.