Revolution of Delkor - Going Forward [Archive]

Revolution of Delkor is now completely unveiled to the public! When I first started this project, I had never thought it would become my first large set ever, but thanks to the help of everyone here, it has grown into something great, something beyond what i had originally dreamed this wacky 150 card set would be.. Thank you to everyone for giving the Overlay mechanic a chance, and letting me demonstrate all the crazy things that could be done with it, and I hope those of you that followed this thread, new or old, appreciated all the crazy goodies my set has unleashed by virtue of being Future Sight pushed to the extreme. Once again, a special thanks to everyone in the opening post that contributed!

Set File v1.0 has been released. Read below for more details!

Rulings:
DEL.01 - Overlay costs are defined by an inverted cost symbol on a card.
DEL.02 - To pay an Overlay cost, you must stack two permanents you control that share a color or converted mana cost with the source of the Overlay cost under it.
DEL.03 - You cannot cast a card with an Overlay cost by spending mana. It must be done by stacking two cards that meet the requirements.
DEL.04 - If a card with Overlay is sent to the graveyard, deck, hand, or exile zone, the cards stacked under it are sent there too unless otherwise stated.
DEL.05 - Cards stacked under cards are treated as if they didn't exist unless otherwise checked.
DEL.06 - Expanding on DEL.02 - If a card with cards under it is used for Overlay, then cards under it are added to that stack as well. This is what separates Overlay from similar mechanics that use exile like Imprint - Overlay permanents can be used as fuel for other Overlay permanents, allowing you to give new Overlay cards stronger effects or more 'fuel' for their effects.
DEL.07 - Permanents that go under Overlay permanents are not treated as leaving the battlefield and permanents that return to the battlefield are not treated as entering the battlefield, similar to Phasing.
DEL.08 - However, permanents that do go under Overlay spells do turn into cards until they return. This means any counters on them will be removed.
DEL.09 - Expanding on DEL.07 - it is possible to put/return a card from under a card back onto the battlefield if a card effect states so. In this case, ETB effects do trigger.

Ascendamancy

Ascendamancy is arguably the most 'old-fashioned' of the Delkorian schools - life is an amazing thing, so let's make it longer and more enjoyable! This is typically the school most researchers join if they're lacking direction, as the emphasis on community and health usually means extra years to figure out what you're the most proficient in as well as more resilience to accidents that occur in experiments. Ascendancy Tracers, on the other hand, have a tendency to weaponize this additional durability, be it through creating lethal toxins that would kill an unprotected beast or outsider (but are completely harmless to an immunized Delkorian) or ensuring that those in scientific debates don't beat each other to death so they can understand each other first.


Encryptology

"Knowledge is power". While Blue magicians of other planes would take this as a basic part of life, Encryptologists take this statement to its logical extreme; almost all of their research is about gathering more information or increasing the speed at which everyone in the city gains information - in particular, this school is credited with creating the original memory-storing network that Neo would eventually use to develop Overlay Magic. Cryptology Tracers tend to take bigger risks to gain information - usually by intentionally sabotaging the plans of fellow researchers because their hiring researcher's hypothesis calls for it. Since this duplicitous course of action often involves a lack of consent, more trustworthy Crytology Tracers often ask for higher payments as part of it is usually secretly spent reimbursing a sabotage victim's experiment.

Necronology

The school of Necronology represents the other half of the coin that Ascendamancy typically fails to cover - what happens after death, and what can we learn from it? As a result, Necronologists tend to consist of the older citizens of Delkor that decided not to pass on after death, or younger reckless youths that are aware their fields of research have a history of high mortality rate. Interestingly enough, older Necronologists of the plane are usually also considered effective therapists for those that have a thick enough skin, mainly because they've usually seen many years of things at this point and are usually more willing to cut to the chase and address the problem directly. Necronologist Tracers are usually equally blunt - want the most dangerous contraband? It might cost you an arm and a leg - literally. So think twice before hiring them; in fact, the Necronologist Tracer forms have a running gag of printing the most risky parts of their contracts in giant print to make a point that you're about to go to an extreme.


Castcraftimancy

Castcraftimancy is about EXPLOSIONS! DOES ANYTHING ELSE NEED TO BE SAID WE ARE MAKING THE BIGGEST SPELL BLASTING COMBO EVER. OH AND OUR TRACERS GIVE YOU THE CHANCE TO EXPLODE EVEN MORE THINGS, THOUGH WE WOULD PREFER THE BLASTING OF PEOPLE'S HEADS BE KEPT TO A MINIMUM. UNLESS THEY'RE DRUMPF'S EVIL SOLDIERS. THEN BLASTING HEADS IS OKAY.

Biogenesis

Biogenesis started off as an offshoot of Ascendamancy but eventually developed into its own line of thinking and was eventually ratified by the other four schools of Delkor as having enough distinctive material to be its own school. Unlike Ascendamancy, which focuses on the enchancement of life, Biogenesis focuses on the creation of life, and how many different ways the gene pool can mutate in terms of sentient entities. Their genetics theories are widely known for helping encourage Delkor's diversity and tolerance, and it's thanks to them that Delkor's inhabitants continue to grow and expand at a rapid rate. Some do concern themselves with what happens if Delkor was ever to be fully inhabited by the wide variety of civilized folk that currently expand on it, but others argue that there are other worlds out there in the skies - in time, should Delkorians develop a sufficient means of travel, it is possible that they could continue to expand and diversify on empty worlds that have yet to be colonized. While some point out that Neo's ascension means that this would require learning planar travel without a Spark, Biogenesis scholars are usually quick to argue that they believe that Delkor isn't just a 'plane', but rather an infinite series of planes condensed into one possibly infinitely large 'planar area', or as some prefer to call it, a universe. In contrast to them, Biogenesis Tracers tend to be more down to earth, wandering out into the wilds to find unusual samples of life or quickly providing life samples themselves that other researchers may not be skilled enough to make.

However, ever since Neo's ascension, a sixth school has developed to some degree based on the rapid advances in Overlay technology. Some argue it is quite impractical; others feel that it is important to shoot for the limits. The Tracers in particular have made some interesting advances when meeting to experiment based on this line of thought...


DEL.03 - Whenever a permanent uses an activated ability with an Overlay cost, the permanents used to pay that cost go under the permanent that activated that ability.