Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Aug 10, 2018 2:15:12 GMT
Dragon’s Dawn is a top-down, flavor-based set. The flavor in question? Dragons. Specifically, you are a dragon. One of the first things I knew I had to add to a Dragon-flavoured set (after Treasures, which were always number one) was a breath weapon. Not just for you creatures, but for you – you’re a dragon, after all. The difficulty was coming up with something that represented that. Two things were clear – it needed to be an instant/sorcery, as that best caught the flavor of a breath weapon, and it needed to be destructive. No life gain, token creation, or creature buffs – this was a weapon, after all. I decided that this could easily become the set’s rare instant/sorcery cycle. My first thought was a Subterranean Tremors-style X spell that gained effects as X increased, but that was scrapped when it became nigh impossible to come up with three different destructive effects for each colour that worked with scalability. I thought back on what exactly made a breath weapon feel right. Seems to me that the breath is the scariest part of fighting a dragon. Knowing that it can wreck you with an exhalation made you approach a dragon with fear and caution. That led me to an idea that punished an opponent for attacking you recklessly. The first pass let you exile them from your graveyard to recast them once when your opponent attacked you. I ultimately decided to let you recast them again and again, but at the additional cost of discarding an instant/sorcery card. Since your opponent wouldn’t know for sure if you can recast your breath weapon, it added an interesting dynamic of weighing up risk and reward, rather than just straight up screwing them over if, say, you had a Scorching Breath in your graveyard and they were at low life.
|
|
Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Aug 11, 2018 14:28:41 GMT
The Tokens of Dragon's Dawn
Let's start off by getting the obvious ones out of the way - Dragons and Treasures!
{And an adorable little baby Dragon to boot:} {A pair of legendary tokens:}
{And finally, a couple of emblems:}
|
|
|
Post by fluffydeathbringer on Aug 11, 2018 14:31:36 GMT
The new implementation of breath weapons as a rare-only cycle is certainly a radical change, but I think it works.
|
|
Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Aug 11, 2018 14:36:20 GMT
The new implementation of breath weapons as a rare-only cycle is certainly a radical change, but I think it works. I'm also keeping it as a mechanic for a handful of Dragon creatures (though cut down). The rare cycle is unrelated.
|
|
|
Post by korakhos on Aug 12, 2018 21:13:53 GMT
I'm liking most of what I'm seeing, I'm just having concerns with Udiil (being able to turn every creature drop into a 4/4 flyer for just scares me a bit), and rending claws seem too powerful, maybe ? (love the FT though) Can't wait to see the guys who generate those emblems
|
|
Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Aug 13, 2018 3:07:39 GMT
I could definitely see Rending Claws at . Udiil is a tricky one to balance, admittedly. It's a powerful ability, but it's also on a 1/1 that requires some amount of support to work. * * * * *
In Merestan's hour of greatest need Lift Convergence from its rest Allow Merestan's old heroes to fight once more
The room was silent, the atmosphere heavy. Alden looked up at the statue of his predecessor, and though the face of the stone effigy was stoic and emotionless, he could feel the weight of the First King's memory crushing down upon him. He kept his eyes on the First King's as he slowly approached the tomb that lay at the statue's base, his footsteps the only sound breaking the silence. He had only set foot in the hallowed hall once before, when he was brought here as a child to be crowned. Despite himself, he couldn't help but smile at the memory. A time when being king meant nothing beyond a great palace, the best food, and being waited on hand and foot. An innocent time. A time before war. Before he had need of the First King's guidance.
As he ascended the few stairs of the dais, he finally tore his eyes from the statue to look at the tomb before him. Despite its untold years of age, it somehow looked as pristine now as it did when it was first carved - shining, white ivory, in a flawless depiction of the king who now rested within. The effigy's hands rested upon its chest, clutching at that which Alden had come here for - Convergence, the legendary blade forged by the First King himself, with which he had defended the great castle of Merestan to his final breath.
Alden's hand rested upon the hilt of Convergence, but he could not close it. He looked back up at the statue's eyes - lifeless, but judging. His hands shook uncontrollably as he questioned himself for the thousandth time. Was this truly Merestan's hour of greatest need? Was he disturbing an ageless burial for good cause? Or was he just weak?
He couldn't look at the First King any more. He averted his gaze, and closed his hand around the blade's hilt. "Forgive me," he barely mumbled, as he tore Convergence from its rest. * * * * * With the knights assembled in the courtyard below, Alden and his advisor were the only souls walking the upper levels of the castle. Vyrios watched her king closely. His eyes were set forward, his face calm and cool. To his subjects, the picture of courage and assurance. But Vyrios saw what others didn't. The quickened pace of his breathing. The refusal to avert his gaze from a singular goal. The slight quivering of his hand as it rested on the hilt of the sword at his hip. It would be a big day, today. A deciding day in history. It was little wonder Alden's nerves were getting to him.
"It has been blessed, Your Majesty," Vyrios reassured her king as they walked to the palace balcony. "King Asteron himself spoke to the angels..." "'Blessed' nothing," Alden replied. "A sword is just a sword. Even the First King knew that. There's no difference between this blade and mine, or Illishar's, or even that barbarian's." "The angels..." "Mean nothing, Vyrios. Convergence is just a symbol. Feel the blade, sharp as the day it was forged. Endured through countless battles, against countless foes. Just like Merestan itself. That's all the knights need. A reminder." The pair approached the great wooden door that would lead them to the balcony, and could already hear the voices of the masses awaiting them outside. Vyrios moved her hand onto it, and paused. "You don't believe King Asteron spoke to the angels?" "I don't believe in angels, Vyrios. Just stories our ancestors told each other when they first saw an aven. Nothing more." "Then you don't believe the plaque?" Alden stood in front of the door, his hand coming to rest upon the hilt of the blade at his hip. "I believe that Asteron believed it. Open the door, Vyrios." No more words, as Vyrios bowed her head and pulled the door. For a brief second, the voices of the crowd grew louder, before instantly falling silent as the king strode confidently onto the balcony. Illishar stood to his left, his wings flared, his arms folded across his chest. The aven warrior barely acknowledged Alden's arrival with more than a shift of his eyes towards the king, then back to the crowd. To his right stood Gesc. The guard captain, though he tried to hide it, was breathing in heavily. Again, Alden smiled. If he knew his captain, Gesc had lost his breath parading around on the balcony and roaring out to the masses below, getting their blood boiling, rousing their fervour. And bless him, by the looks on the faces of the knights below, he'd been doing a damn fine job of it. Alden stepped forward, looking down at the assembled knights. Each and every one of them, a son or daughter, a brother or sister. Each and every one of them, about to be thrown into the fires of the barbarian horde that assailed their castle. His castle. He grasped the hilt of the sword tighter to keep his hand from trembling, and swallowed nervously before drawing a deep breath. "King Asteron once said, 'Allow Merestan's old heroes to fight once more'!" he called out, his voice carrying far over the knights that watched him. "But no 'old heroes' are coming to help us now. We are Merestan's heroes! And we will fight with the same zeal as those that came before us! And the way we honour them today, so too shall future generations honour us!" The knights reponded by raising their blades in kind, calling back to their king. Alden raised his hand and pointed eastward, where the barbarian hordes of the Bahed were now camped. He looked down at his knights, and drew Convergence from its sheathe, raising it skyward with a still hand. "For Merestan!"
|
|
Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Aug 14, 2018 7:52:03 GMT
Third on the list of "This is what a dragon set needs" were Lairs. Although I was aware of the Planeshift cycle ( Treva's Ruins and pals), they're not what brought the idea up. It was fortunate that I already had a perfectly reasonable subtype to use, however. And they had the right flavour, to boot!
I initially intended Lairs to interact with other Lairs. Each Lair would have an ability that either improved or was improved by the presence of other Lairs. It really helped with the flavour of being a dragon expanding your territory, all your Lairs being interconnected and growing your power. Course, making a variety of lands with such abilities without making them absurdly overpowered was nigh impossible. So instead I settled on Lair being used as a marker for other cards to refer to. Every colour has one or two cards that care about Lairs, but the primary focus is in red and green.
Every nonbasic land in the set is a Lair - a total of fifteen of them, including three commons, six uncommons, and six rares. I also wanted to make them good and flavourful. While looking for inspiration, I stumbled upon the Lorwyn keyword hideaway. That ability was initially intended to represent a little treasure hidden away, along with a mini-mission to find the treasure. My, how perfectly befitting a dragon's lair, I thought to myself, and immediately made a second hideaway cycle. I made it a dual land cycle to differentiate it from the original hideaway lands, and though the conditions took some reworking and retweaking, I eventually got all five to a good spot where the "mission" was easy enough to be tempting, but difficult enough to require effort.
|
|
Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Aug 18, 2018 1:32:36 GMT
As a primarily (read: exclusively) limited player, I always enjoy formats that have a healthy set of cool build-around uncommons. So have some!
And while we're on the subject of uncommons, we also have a cycle of "reinforce triggers": Aaand finally, Planeswalker! {Arkadi, Dragon of Eternities}
|
|
|
Post by fluffydeathbringer on Aug 18, 2018 1:48:20 GMT
- alt uses for treasures is neat - Jadegrove Alpha could use some text chopping - Viashino Raid-Gang could use some FT shortening, getting pretty smalltexty
|
|
Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Aug 18, 2018 2:11:33 GMT
...nnnnnnuts.
As for text, I'm still working out kinks. They're more broad ideas than anything finalised.
|
|
Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Aug 18, 2018 11:10:51 GMT
With a bunch of Dragons running around having a grand old party, there is a veritable army of Knights to fight them. And with Knights comes the red/white limited archetype - Equipment.
And with things that care about Equipment...you know, actual Equipment.
There's also a minor subtheme where certain Equipment gets better in the capable hands of a skilled Knight: Finally, a legendary bro who, although he doesn't specifically call out Equipment, gets a whole lot better if you can suit him up effectively: {Arashk, Hero of the Tribes}
|
|
Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Aug 20, 2018 4:06:12 GMT
The blue/black archetype is mill, but with a slight twist on the regular formula. Although technically possible, the plan isn't simply to completely deck your opponent out. Rather, it's to fill their graveyard...
...then plunder it for fun and profit! Finally, another legend related to, but not specifically made for, the archetype:
{Cardock, Necroservant}
|
|
Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Aug 22, 2018 2:55:28 GMT
Mythics!
One of the tropes that came up during brainstorming was that of dragons who could shift into humanoid form. It wasn't something I wanted to do a lot of, since the dragons of this world were meant to be closer to wild forces of nature rather than the sly sneaky schemers that the trope usually implies. Still, I had room for a Clone effect, and it made a good chance for a top-down version of the effect. Once I had the idea of "Clone, but it's a dragon", the mechanical representation came pretty easily.
{Dracoshifter}
Another trope that came up a lot was that of a Dracolich. Super powerful undead dragons were quite a big thing, and it's one I knew I wanted. Mechanically, it was a bit harder to nail down. First, I took the basic concept of a Lich - putting their soul in some object to retain their immortality. For a dragon lich, I wanted a particularly powerful phylactery. So I thought, what if a Dracolich could summon an undead minion to act as its phylactery? I also thought of the Dracolich being able to destroy its own phylactery, essentially trading its immortality, for more sheer power. I also made it legendary, because a legendary Dracolich felt so much cooler than a "standard" one.
{Tharor, Dracolich}
The main story concept is "dracopocalypse". The world being ended by wild, out of control forces of nature is a common story theme, so just have Dragons act as said forces of nature and that's the basic idea. With that in mind, I wanted one of the red mythics to play in the same area as cards like Apocalypse, Obliterate, Decree of Annihilation, Worldfire, and other similar "end of the world" cards. But I wanted it to have a twist. First, rather than a big sorcery spell, I made it a permanent - naturally, a big stompy Dragon. Rather than ending the world in one big bang like those other cards, this version had more of a "the world is slowly crumbling around us" feel to it. You're standing in the middle of the battlefield as the sky turns red, pieces of land breaking away and things dying all around you. The basic mechanical idea was "Whenever anything happens, stuff dies". After a bit of hammering that idea out... {Apocalypse Herald}
One of the non-Dragon centered flavour ideas I had was that of a "guardian angel Planeswalker". In-story, Vyrios was King Alden's attendant who, in the middle of a battlefield surrounded by dragons, sparked and was flung off to Alara, where she had a vision of Bant angels doing battle with Jund dragons. Upon returning home and gaining her own divine aura, she herself begun to summon Angels to protect everyone from the draconic invasion.
{Vyrios, Divine Guardian}
The set was always intended to have a "go big or go home" feel. Dragons don't do "small". They don't do "overwhelm with numbers of little guys". They do "Big, loud and stompy". So I thought of making one of the green mythics simply huge. In a set based on going big, the colour that's all about going big should have something really impressive. Course, writing some big numbers down is easy and not too impressive. So...how big can you end up going?
{Vinewoven Dragon}
... {Tomb of the First King}
|
|
|
Post by mrlozano on Aug 22, 2018 13:10:15 GMT
... {Tomb of the First King}
I like a lot the flavor behind the Shapeshifter and the Dracolich, but i have crossed feeling with the Apocalypse Herald. Also, with Tomb of the First King, if you exile it while having 0 or less life, you lose automaticaly, don't you? I mean, you lose the game before creating the token.
|
|
bagz
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 91
|
Post by bagz on Aug 22, 2018 13:27:35 GMT
... {Tomb of the First King}
I like a lot the flavor behind the Shapeshifter and the Dracolich, but i have crossed feeling with the Apocalypse Herald. Also, with Tomb of the First King, if you exile it while having 0 or less life, you lose automaticaly, don't you? I mean, you lose the game before creating the token. I believe you are correct here. "When your life total is 0 or less, create The First King, a legendary 8/8 black Zombie creature token with "You don't lose the game for having 0 life or less". Then, exile Tomb of the First King."
|
|
Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Aug 22, 2018 14:10:20 GMT
No. State-based actions aren't checked in the middle of a spell or ability resolving. The "lose the game for having 0 life or less" SBA isn't checked until the ability has fully completed resolving, by which time you'll have the First King token out there stopping you from losing.
|
|
Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Aug 30, 2018 14:18:46 GMT
Blue/green focuses on ramp. First by getting a bunch of mana...
...then finding womping great stompy things to spend it all on.
|
|
|
Post by Tesagk on Aug 30, 2018 15:19:30 GMT
Keeping an eye on this Hopefully I'll get some time this weekend to work on your request.
|
|
Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Sept 1, 2018 2:21:28 GMT
No super rush - I'm still doing a little development work.
As I've said a few times, one of the main feels of this set is to go big. There are several ways for that to happen that I've already shown (Equipment and ramp, for example), and the white/black archetype focuses on +1/+1 counters.
The main way to get them is through the reinforce ability:
And the main use for them is the armoured ability: But there are certainly other things out there:
|
|
Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Sept 10, 2018 1:39:32 GMT
Nothing super duper fancy here, just a selection of some of my personal favourite rares to play in limited.
|
|
Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Oct 6, 2018 2:33:08 GMT
Well after much development work, reflavouring, and various other shifting stuff around, this thing is finally at a place I'm happy to call finished. Set file is in the original post. Questions, comments and concerns are all encouraged (again, I'm pretty much exclusively a limited player, so any baaad interactions in various constructed formats, I'm entirely unaware of).
|
|
|
Post by Tesagk on Oct 20, 2018 20:21:02 GMT
Sorry that I wasn't able to help out. Congrats on the set though.
|
|
Arix
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 54
|
Post by Arix on Oct 21, 2018 2:43:25 GMT
Quite alright. I'm sure we've all got lives and that.
|
|
|
Post by Tesagk on Oct 21, 2018 13:10:17 GMT
Quite alright. I'm sure we've all got lives and that. Fun fact. Every time I tried to change flavor text and save, MSE crashed. Didn't try saving it as a new file though, hmmm... Edit: ... ALSO crashed! lol
|
|