ARRC N°6: Feint

Tap all creatures blocking target attacking creature. Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn by that creature and each creature blocking it.

I’ve seen most cards printed until this day but this is new to me (or I glanced over it and forgot it afterwards)
Well anyaway i kinda like that card. Magic’s early days had many combat reliant effects you rarely see nowadays. Like forcing blockers, switching blockers, tapping things in combat and so on.

I guess if they print a simialr card today it would be white. Damage prevention is a white effect and combat related fiddling is a red and white thing.
But I think red should definately get more tricks and effects like this. The tapping the blockers is a bit random as it does nothing.
But i got an idea for two cards:

New white Feint
W
Instant
Tap all creatures blocking target attacking creature. They don’t untap during their controllers next untap step. Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn by that creature and each creature blocking it.

New red Feint
1RR
Instant
Tap all creatures blocking target attacking creature. Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn by that creature and each creature blocking it. Then untap that creature and after this main phase there is an additional combat phase phollowed by an additional main phase.

Both tricks would be somewhat relevant to keep attackers out of the way.

As for feint: Its a cool card to have around but somewhat a bit too weak as it is a one shot instant Sandskin/Gaseous Form that won’t often bve relevant. Even the cards I designed could probably be some kind of falter effect instead…

Rating
Overall: 2,5/10
Timmy: 70%
Johnny: 30%
Spike: 0%

ARCC N°5: Norwood Archers

Interesting!
We have Tree Monkey as a 1/1 Reach for 1, we have no vanilla Reach 2/2 creature (closest is Spinneret Sliver) then we have Norwood Archers and Plated Spider. But Norwood Archers has not seen print in a non-Portal Set so far whereas Tree Monkey was printed in 9th at least.

Well there is a reason for that of course. That reason has a name. Its called Giant Spider. Since Core Sets normally have a small creature with reach (Canopy Spider/Monkey for example) and a bigger one, and the bigger one is always Giant Spider which is a perfect fit, cause normally you want your reach creatures to have toughness > power, there is no place for Norwood Archers.
But I still wonder why we heaven’t seen a Norwood Archers reprint (of course with another name) in a regular expansion yet.

I can understand that a defensive ability is better suited on a creature with defensive stats but from time to time they print similar cards. Another close fit was Gloomwidow in Shadowmoor. Its basically costed more aggressively in that it can only block fliers but costs only three mana. I don’t really like its concept though, because Gloomwidow is costed to be a good attacker but then have the random reach ability to once in a blue moon can be left back to prevent a flier from attacking. Ok thinking about it a bit longer, it isn’t the worst concept as it doesn’t prevent ground creatures from attacking which reduces the chance of stalling out.

Overall I think the Archers are a decent limited card but will almost never be as fitting as a 2/4 with reach.

I normally like it if “Archers” deal damage to flyers instead of just heaving reach but thats a minor flavour thing.

Rating
Overall: 6,5/10 (Nice decent limited creature with a simple ability)
Timmy: 70%
Johnny: 0%
Spike: 30%

ARCC N°4: Verduran Enchantress

Wow that’s crazy. There are over 10.000 unique magic cards and my fourth random card that came up on magiccards.info is Verduran Enchantress. Why is that so special you may ask?
A few years ago when WotC designed 8th edition they did a special feature for that set. Players were able to influence the set by voting for some cards over other cards or creating flavour text.
WotC Germany was also able to add this feature and players could create flavour text for six chosen German cards in 8th. My entry for the german Verduran Enchantress flavourtext was chosen

Here’s my flavour text for Verduran Enchantress (in German):

Betäubt, für einen Augenblick.
Verführt, für eine Lebenszeit.
Verzaubert, für die Ewigkeit.

So this card will always have a special place for me of course. MY flavour text got chosen for 9th Edition too.

Sadly, the card itself is not that impressive. I like its effect in that it makes one of the weaker card types in the game (Auras) a bit better. But this card isn’t very competitive as its pretty easy to remove. Argothian Enchantress and Enchantress presence defined the Enchantress deck (alongside Serras Sanctum) thats also playable in legacy, even when its not a Tier 1 deck. Those cards removed the weaknesses of Verduran Enchantress because they weren’t affected by (creature) spot removal.

Nowadays the enchantress effect and most things involving enchantments is shifted from green to white, which makes sense as white was alsways the main “enchantophile” color.
Mesa Enchantress took over for this card, which will probably never see the light of day again.

For an enchantment themed set i think Verduran Enchantress would be a very good limited card, similar to Vedalken Archmage in Mirrodin. But otherwise its pretty underhelming.

Rating:
Overall 5/10 (Nice basic effect on a weak body that makes players want to build around it. Nowadays found in white, which makes more sense to me)
Timmy 0%
Johnny 75%
Spike 25%

AARC N°3: Prismatic Ward

An Aura that isn’t used on opponents creatures (like Pacifism for example) better boost up power and toughness or its often pretty underhelming.

Prismatic Ward from Ice Age (my first Magic set btw) is a follow up to the original “Wardens” – white creature enchantments that grant protection from a single color for one mana. Prismatic Ward has the advantage to be useful against any deck because, like the name suggests, you can choose the color when you play it. But its not full protection just damage prevention so the creature can still be enchanted or blocked. Overall this effect isn’t really worth two mana and a card. Especially an aura card.
R&D seem to agree and printed some better versions. The next set, Mirage, featured Ward of Lights. Not only does it grant the full protection but it could also be played as an instant! Thats some flexibility, especially relevant against spot removal in limited or as an combat trick (removing pacifism before blocking or sth similar). It came with a color heavier mana cost of WW though.

Another block later namely Tempest they printed Flickering Ward. For a merely one mana you got the full protection from a chosen color and could return your Aura to your hand anytime for another white mana. Thats not only practical against decks with multiple colors to “change colors” but made it also very hard to get rid off. Pretty annoying in limited and still not constructed worthy.

In Timespiral we got Pentarch Ward, a cantripping Ward Version for 2W. Given that Cantrips usually up a cards mana cost by two we can see that the basic effect is nowadays at one mana. Pentarch Ward was a very balanced limited card that saw some play in is a bout right for that.

Back to Prismatic Ward. When i was new to the game I was fascinated by protection and life gain effects like so many new players. I liked my Auras and my “DHard to die, hard to lose” cards. I think Protection Auras are a good thing and should show up from time to time. But with all the strong equipment around (Swords which grant double protection and can be played by any color) Auras and especially Prismatic Ward/Ward of Ligh variants should get pushed a bit more. I fully expect that for the next enchantment block, when we can expect to see the “Livng Aura” mechanic (Living Weapons for Auras)

Rating:
Overall 3/10 Too weak and doesn’t add anything interesting like removing other Auras because it doesn’t grant real protection.
Timmy 85%
Johnny 15%
Spike 0%

ARCC N°2: Day of Destiny

Kamigawa block. Triple CoK was one of my all time favourite limited environment just behind triple Time Spiral. Even when BoK and SoK turned the format into shit.
I am also a big fan of legendary cards and always was. When I started playing magic back as a little teen in the 90′s I always run around full of joy when i opened a legendary charakter. Especially the well known ones from Weatherlight Saga like Greven il-Vec or Ertai. I never thought of the legendary rule as a annoyance but as sth that makes those cards special and keeps their power in check. That and because we never had multiple rares anyaway in the beginning.

Well back on Topic: Day of Destiny, a legendary enchantment that grants all legendary creatures a power boost. White is a specialist for cards like this, but Day of Destiny, besides its cool name is pretty underpowered for constructed. There are a few comparisons here. At the time DoD was printed there was Common Cause that also granted +2/+2 to creatures, but that card was even worse. Not only does it do nothing against nonwhite creature decks it also boosts white creatures from your opponent. Which normally isn’t bad, I like Crusade more than Honor of the Pure but on a card as restrictive as Common Cause its pretty bad imo.
Then we have Tempered Steel. This one costs one mana less to support the block theme and is also nonlegendary. While not all cards are pushed for constructed play, I still think Day of Destiny and other cards that refer to restrictive cards like legendary creatures, which rarely see play in tournament magic, should give better benefits.

Day of Destiny is a nice card that definately should appear in a legend centered block, but should have cost less mana or grant another ability to legendary creatures instead of just a simple stat boost. Especially since the enchantment itself is legendary. Its still a good pick for limited though.

Fixed possibilities (non legendary and 3 mana):
Day of Destiny
2W
Enchantment
Legendary creatures you control get +2/+2.

or

Day of Destiny (with additional effect to make your legends real combat powerhouses)
2W
Legendary Enchantment
Legendary creatures you control get +2/+2 and have shroud.

Ratings
Design: 7/10 (Still a clean and nice on color card that should appear in a legend setting, but underpowered)
Timmy: 40%
Johnny: 10%
Spike: 50%

ARC Comment N°1: Steamcore Weird

Ich habe mir vorgenommen, meine random Karten vor allem unter designtechnischer Sicht zu betrachten. Aber auch turnierrelevante Ansichten und sonstige Gedanken die mir dabei durch den Kopf gehen finden Erwähnung.

Ich spiele ja seit 1996 Magic, aber es gibt hin und wieder Phasen, wo man keine Lust hatte zu spielen. Ravnica war eine dieser Phasen – leider, muss man wohl sagen, – so ist der Block doch laut Meinung vieler Spieler einer der besten gewesen. Aber mein Interesse an Magic war zu der Zeit einfach nicht vorhanden. So hab ich keine praktische Erfahrung mit dem Steamcore Weird im limted gemacht, aber weiß aus vielen Quellen, dass er eine wirklich sehr gute limited Karte war.
Wenn man sich die Karte durchliest auch verständlich. Ein Schock auf Beinen, welcher bei Ermangelung roten Manas auch einfach als überteuerter Blocker gelegt werden kann ist gut.

+ Was mir an der Karte gefällt ist die Tatsache, dass man ihn eben auch theoretisch spielen kann, wenn man kein rotes Mana hat und er keine rote Kreatur ist. Das unterscheided ihn von der typischen Multicolor Karte. Er hätte ja genausogut 2UR kosten können.

- Was mir aber nicht so gefällt: Dass er blau ist und nicht rot war eigentlich nicht wirklich relevant. Würde es mehr Protection oder effekte geben, welche auf Farben abzielen in Ravnica, dann hätte dieser Unterschied zur reinen Multicolorkarte mehr relevanz.
Dass man ihn in ausnahmefällen ohne rotes mana spielt sollte eigentlich kaum vorkommen. Insgesamt hätte man ihn wohl besser als 2U Kreatur mit “Kicker R” gedruckt und als 1/4 dann. (Ja ich weiß, Kicker sollte kein Argument sein, weil die Mechanik für fast alles zu gebrauchen ist) Mal ehrlich, 3U für eine 1/3 ist einfach sehr schlecht, so wird man ihn einfach immer nur im Deck zocken oder spielen wollen, wenn man auch rotes mana hat. Was ihn im Endeffekt wieder zu 2UR Multicolor Karte macht. Ich finde man hätte ihn hier leicht anders designen müssen um diesen “wenn du rotes mana ausgegeben hast”-Effekt zu rechtfertigen bzw relevanter zu machen.

Punktvergabe:
Design: 6/10 (Ausgewogene Limitedkarte, mit schwächen in der Umsetzung)
Timmy: 5%
Jonny: 25%
Spike: 70%

Arcanions Random Card Comment

Vor nicht allzu langer Zeit gab es die “Card of the Day” comments von Aaron F. auf twitter, welche zu meinen Lieblingseinträgen gehörten. Leider ist Aaron Aaron und nicht Maro – ihm fehlt der eiserne Wille etwas über längere Zeit durchzustehen und somit wurde das Profjekt wieder eingestellt.
Nachdem ich heute auf Andreas Pischners “Zeromagic” Blog gesehen habe, dass er diese Idee für sich selbst aufgreift, war ich sofort begeistert. Auch der normalsterbliche aka der gemeine Magic-Spieler kann zu einzelnen Karten sehr interessante Dinge sagen. Immerhin ist es der Spieler oder Sammler der dieses Spiel kauft. Seine Meinung ist also auch besonders wichtig.

Deshalb habe ich kurzerhand beschlossen hier auch ganz lapidar abzukupfern und meine eigene random card category eingeführt!
Allerdings will ich mir noch ein kleines Ratingsystem dazu ausdenken um die Karte von verschiedenen Standpunkten aus zu bewerten – allerdings ohne dabei in eine Zahlen-rating-Orgie zu verfallen.

Meine ersten random comments gibt es demnächst hier.
Wie oft? Nun ja man wird sehen. Sicherlich nicht täglich, aber oft.