spacemonaut wrote: ↑4 years ago
Shocking Elemental is a color break in green. Green does have to use its own creatures to remove other creatures, but we also know this is in almost every way just a green
Shock, and that's a problem.
I hoped the restrictions of it being fight (so only creatures) and having to fight (so itself is always a valid target) might address the color push. But I can appreciate that that is very possibly an incorrect assumption on my part.
It's definitely a case of coming up with a
card and pushing that towards
{r/g}, but I'm unsure if it fits in that space.
spacemonaut wrote: ↑4 years ago
I'd compare Retributive Lightning to
Wizard's Lightning for power level and make it Uncommon. Its restriction is a problem though for two reasons.
- Memory issues: the Revolt ability from Aether Revolt (Airdrop Aeronauts) is a touchstone. However, unlike Revolt, we have to keep track of opponents' cards and not ours. Also, we have to keep track of the specific method used to get them into the graveyard. That's probably not a deal-breaker, but it means it might play poorly.
- Power issues: Sacrifice removal is not very common. As in, you won't find much of it in any given standard environment. That's because it's an exceptionally powerful removal method, and because too much of it is oppressive on games. Building a mechanic around making your opponent sacrifice stuff means the mechanic will rarely be "on" or your set will have a huge power level problem.
Have you considered making Blackmail just "if a card was put into an opponent's graveyard from the battlefield this turn"? Then it's like an opponent-only Morbid or Revolt.
For your first point, I can appreciate that being an issue and am unsure how to address it.
For the second, the hypothetical environment this mechanic is being designed within is one with a Clue saturated meta, which means turning on the sacrifice clause is likely easier to achieve than in most standard environments.
I appreciate your proposed fixes, but imagine it would likely need to be toned down mechanically quite a bit, as, as you pointed out, ensuring your opponent has sacrificed something is much harder than assuring that something they control has entered their graveyard.
folding_music wrote: ↑4 years ago
Retributive Lightning is perfectly designed for the Adrian Sullivan red burn deck mirror <3
Is there a way of phrasing "Shocking Elemental gains flash if
R is spent to play it" or is that a paradox? I like the way you design commons in general, all at the upper bounds of what's possible without being unreasonable.
thanks!