The thoughts on a Survivor mechanic??

JasonRoy
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Post by JasonRoy » 3 years ago

'Survivor- At the beginning of each end step if ~ was dealt damage this turn....'

So it's similar to enrage so it could be one of the new abilities if we return to Ixalan. It's harder to trigger then enrage so I think it should have stronger triggers.

Alternatively it could be separate from Ixalan as I had the idea first before I remembered about the enrage mechanic.

I would be very careful giving any of these cards vigilance, indestructible etc. since it potentially doubles trigger potential or makes it guaranteed.essay writer

Here are some cards:

Hardened Hammerskull
Creature- Dinosaur (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep tap target creature.
Survivor- At the beginning of each end step if Hardened Hammerskull was dealt damage, destroy target tapped creature.
4/4

Scar Seeker Sadist
Creature- Human Shaman
At the beginning of your upkeep reveal the top card of your library and put that card into your hand. Deal damage to Scar Seeker Sadist equal to the card's converted mana cost.
Survivor- At the beginning of each end step if Scar seeker Sadist was dealt damage this turn each opponent discards a card.
3/3

Scar Seeker Cleric
Creature- Human Cleric Shaman
Lifelink
: The next time a source of your choice would deal damage to target creature this turn, that damage is dealt to Scar Seeker Cleric instead.
Survivor- At the beginning of each end step if Scar seeker Cleric was dealt damage this turn reveal the top card of your library and put that card into your hand. You lose life equal to its converted mana cost.
2/4

The cards are very basic drafts atm.

Any thoughts on design, grammar and other help appreciated. Thanks.
Last edited by JasonRoy 3 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

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Krishnath
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Post by Krishnath » 3 years ago

Seems abusable, particularly Hardened Hammerskull. There are a lot of ways to deal damage to your own creatures after all.

That said, it is fairly easily fixed with adding "by an opponent" to the trigger. So it would be "Survivor - At the beginning of each end step, if <name> was dealt damage by an opponent this turn, <effect>."
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spacemonaut
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Post by spacemonaut » 3 years ago

I think this is great, and a very evocative mechanic.

I don't think I'd give Survivor cards capacity to deal damage to themselves—that's a little too easy and turns it into a guaranteed end step trigger that might as well not be a Survivor trigger at all. I feel it also wouldn't really live up to the flavor Survivor might promise, which is that they should be surviving things that ought to have killed them, like, you know, combat. Note that only one AER Revolt card let you sacrifice creatures, and although Ixalan had several cards built for dealing small amounts of damage to dinosaurs, none of the dinosaurs with Enrage could damage themselves.

Instead, I think what you'd want is an A/B dynamic, which is what we had in AER and Ixalan: Survivor cards and non-Survivor enablers. The main source of Survivor damage should probably be combat—attacking and blocking—which means the main enabler will likely be combat tricks, buffs, and "gains indestructible until end of turn" pseudo-regenerate spells, with "deal damage to target guy I control" not needing to exist on more than a handful of cards. This would make Survivor into a mechanic that encourages you to throw your creatures into combat and peril, and work to get them to make it through for a reward. This is like the original Enrage (as you mentioned) and also at home in Naya colors again.

Lucky Escapee
(a panicked pirate running past flaming traps and a battle overhead clutching his hat to his head)
Creature — Human Pirate (U)
Haste
Survivor — At the beginning of each end step, if Lucky Escapee was dealt damage this turn, create a treasure token.
"Thank goodness I made it out of that one!"
1/1

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