YMTC: Poor Man's

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{Story}

Suo looked around at the forest before her and marveled at the sight. Once, not-so-very long ago, at least for her, this area had been a dying, reborn, struggling thing. The civilization of Anh had predated even Suo, though not her long-lived race. Once, it had been a great and powerful empire that stretched across the lands of Zilnas in a swath of White and Blue, the colors of their Standard.



Taking another moment to gaze in awe, Suo eventually began to meander through what the forest had become. Color was splashed everywhere the eye could see. This forest wasn't just an earthy mix of browns and greens, it was as vibrant as a painting, more vibrant than most still-lifes, to be sure. The Asii woman was breathless as she turned around, moving in a complete 360° while looking up.



Sunlight managed to splash through the tall mix of trees from Bone Coast Firs to Acki Valley Sequoias. It was a small, but subtle reminder of what it had taken to give new life to this place. Trees that could coexist with one another, but couldn't be found together in any other place in the world.



Aruilla was the home of her people, but it wasn't a kingdom in the truest sense. The Asii where nomads, though even that description didn't truly fit either. They had cities, and many Asii lived in one place for most or all of their incredibly long lives. What made them different from a traditional kingdom was their affinity with the natural.



Now known as the Verdant Forests of Aruilla, their abysmal state the last time Suo had looked on them was due, in large part, to one of the defining characteristics of civilization: uniformity.



At first thought, that didn't sound right at all. Suo had traveled far and wide across Zilnas and the variety of cultural difference between nations went from slight to truly outlandish. If one visited the neat, ordered white stone of Gilna, and then went halfway across the world to the sandy streets and adobo hovels of Vyria, they could very well believe they weren't just in a different place, but an entirely different planet.



However, as much as they might be different, just as much of them was the same. Whether the streets were cobbled with stone or packed sand, there were still streets. And, as different as their living structures may have appeared in contrast to one another, within their own environments they were, by-and-large, just like the other structures in their domain.



Aruilla had less of this than any nation she had ever seen. Rather than adapt the land to fit their culture, their culture was adapting to the land to fit with it. This resulted in drastically different looks and environments even when their makeshift settlements were mere miles apart.



Further, while the denizens of Aruilla adapted to their environment, they still retained enough of their idiosyncrasies that their homes even within the same settlement often reflected generations of history elsewhere, and created eclectic varieties of style and architecture, even if they all used the same or similar materials.



But this forest had previously been settled by a more conventional civilization, and it had been tamed to their tastes. It had been killed for the sake of the people who called it home.



When the kingdom fell, it sat for many years in a state of abandonment, and nature had tried her best to take it back. But she was struggling, so deep and broad was the damage that she could only reclaim it with help. That was when Aruilla had come upon it. Not being a traditional kingdom, they didn't conquer land, for they did not truly believe in ownership of it.



They respected the sovereignty of other nations, but made little claim to where they lived other than by having their presence there and defending their homes from would-be conquerers.



When the Aruilla had arrived, her people brought seeds and already living trees from all over Zilnas. It had been a tedious and extensive project, and not without controversy. Many Aruillians believed in the sanctity of letting nature thrive on its own. After all, it was a central tenet of their people.



However, the more progressive elements of Aruillian society had fought with a different interpretation of the same principle. They weren't just residents of the world, they were stewards of it as well. Yes, they let nature have its freedom to grow, but they had long had traditions of protecting the environments they lived in, and promoting that same protection to other nations.



Suo found a stump to sit on, a relic from the forest's past. Still, though it was a reminder of what was lost, it was still a part of the natural environment as well, and she sat there, marveling at the resilience of nature.

{viriss}

I like the overall idea of the card, especially the Shine side. At the same time, I’m leery of the instant-speed, unconditional reanimation on Rise (esp. in white, as recent reanimation has mostly had power/cmc restrictions). Shine could potentially be 3cmc but that would depend on equipment quality.

{tesagk}

First off, big props for the story, even if the card’s flavor only reflected a portion of that.
The card itself, however, needs some changes. Producing two mana is powerful, even if the card enters the battlefield tapped, as the mana is colored and thus usable more often. Even being legendary isn’t exactly a drawback, as other copies of Growth Fields can still function as the front side, even building growth counters and replacing your current copy.
A better course of action may have been to have the transformation involve hitting a growth counter threshold and potentially change the conditions of the back, but the card’s uncommon-ness is already a bit questionable.

{kinotherapy}

Whims are a neat idea, but at the same time I’m unconvinced that they would be different enough from split cards- I suppose it allows for a larger piece of art, but the text size would be essentially the same alongside the cost restrictions you mentioned.
Fatal Sting itself is really slick, while the black mode is better most of the time the red mode adds additional options. Flavor is nice as well with a perfect piece of art.

{Flo00}

Looks to be costed right. I’m Bad At Drafting and tend to take fewer combat tricks than I should, but this looks more than serviceable. also probably good in infect but let’s not mention that

{ZephyrPhantom}

I was curious and checked- every non-aftermath, non-fuse split card (and fuse cards) have each had the same type. Falcon could just be an instant and be fine, although I do like the flavor of the slower “falcon” and the more sudden “punch.”

{AkaiRyu}

Love the name and art. I feel it takes a little long (6 mana?) to get to the attack trigger, which is ok but not worth the cost. I like the last ability, but again I doubt the Toadbadour provides enough value without a level and even at 3-5 (considering the cost). Could work better w a lower level cost and/or lower level threshold.
Also- it loses the attack trigger when it gains the activated ability, which is a bit unintuitive.

{Yoshi}


I feel this should be uncommon, mostly because maindeck-able artifact destruction in two colors will hamper the (already small) number of playable artifacts in whichever limited enviro this slots into. I like the overall idea of being, as you said, utility plus payoff. Back side’s statline is probably fine compared to EMN werewolves, but hybrid has me thinking it could drop by 1 point of power, esp. at common.

{shiftyhomunculus}

I’m a little worried about the cost, as casting this for CMC 4 is already a pretty nice rate and CMC 3 is very good. How good/mediocre it is depends on the amount of “colorless fixing,” I suppose. It could even see constructed play with the same caveat.

{DaijDjan}

I don’t think the ability, as written, would work without some rules changes (or a new keyword):
702.46e The spell loses any splice changes once it leaves the stack for any reason.
Unless I’m thinking about timings wrong, the enchantment would leave the stack (and lose the trigger), so as it enters the battlefield there would be no ability to occur. It’s also a little unintuitive in general- it makes sense when you think about the text box, but I can see new players wondering about p/t or if it becomes a creature.
Aside from the rules issues, everything seems costed correctly and it’s a good effect

{Winner}
Winner is: kinotherapy
Runner-ups: shiftyhomunculus & Flo00
Lots of good entries!

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