My problem is balance - so here's my initial draft and notes:
Nicol Bolas:
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The Oathbreaker: I am leaning towards Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker - I have no interest in paying $10 for Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God and I don't feel like Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh is a significant enough upgrade (in fact it may be a downgrade).
The Signature Spell: Since Bolas will always be outgunned, I want his signature spell to be hugely impactful. Deliver Unto Evil is the first thought, giving him a powerful "re-buy" effect over and over again. Demonic Tutor also feels appropriately supervillain-y, but may be too much. Another interesting idea is Innocent Blood or Syphon Mind to give The Elder Dragon a chance at repeatedly draining the heroes resources. Those are my top four choices - I don't feel like tracking down a copy of The Elderspell (and it feels a bit unfun), and I don't feel like Slave of Bolas or Dark Intimations are good enough. Cruel Ultimatum feels way too slow - I'd be more down if I was going to run Dragon-God
The Deck: Here's my initial sketch of it, and there's room for 3-4 more cards - I can't decide if I should just add some walls and controlling stuff, or if I should add more of a Amass subtheme. Thoughts?
The Signature Spell: Since Bolas will always be outgunned, I want his signature spell to be hugely impactful. Deliver Unto Evil is the first thought, giving him a powerful "re-buy" effect over and over again. Demonic Tutor also feels appropriately supervillain-y, but may be too much. Another interesting idea is Innocent Blood or Syphon Mind to give The Elder Dragon a chance at repeatedly draining the heroes resources. Those are my top four choices - I don't feel like tracking down a copy of The Elderspell (and it feels a bit unfun), and I don't feel like Slave of Bolas or Dark Intimations are good enough. Cruel Ultimatum feels way too slow - I'd be more down if I was going to run Dragon-God
The Deck: Here's my initial sketch of it, and there's room for 3-4 more cards - I can't decide if I should just add some walls and controlling stuff, or if I should add more of a Amass subtheme. Thoughts?
Nicol Bolas, the Archenemy
Approximate Total Cost:
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The Oathbreaker: Budget means my options are Gideon Jura or Gideon, Champion of Justice - I think Jura is better and has the right art. Gideon Blackblade would be flavorful and powerful, but too much I fear. Jura feels great honestly, as he's a great "Tank" for Team Hero.
The Signature Spell: I'm struggling here - Gideon's Triumph is appropriate but feels like it will be miserable for the archenemy. In general, since it's a 3-on-1, I do like and want to maintain that each individual hero's deck "feels" a lot less powerful than Bolas's. But on the other side of the coin, Gideon's Sacrifice and Gideon's Reproach are very flavorful but feel way too weak/narrow in comparison. I know from Oathbreaker Recs that Ethereal Haze is popular too, and similarly feels hopeless for the Archenemy. I'm actually sorta leaning towards Gird for Battle or Shoulder to Shoulder as a way for Gids to (in one case literally) Support his teammates.
The Deck: Gid's original deck is a mess - tons of off-theme crummy vanillas like Those Who Serve alongside total blowout cards like Lightwielder Paladin and Fiendslayer Paladin and Grand Abolisher. I want to make the deck curve out smoother as the defensive tank of the team while minimizing the cards that feel totally unwinnable for the Bolas player. As a rough draft:
The Signature Spell: I'm struggling here - Gideon's Triumph is appropriate but feels like it will be miserable for the archenemy. In general, since it's a 3-on-1, I do like and want to maintain that each individual hero's deck "feels" a lot less powerful than Bolas's. But on the other side of the coin, Gideon's Sacrifice and Gideon's Reproach are very flavorful but feel way too weak/narrow in comparison. I know from Oathbreaker Recs that Ethereal Haze is popular too, and similarly feels hopeless for the Archenemy. I'm actually sorta leaning towards Gird for Battle or Shoulder to Shoulder as a way for Gids to (in one case literally) Support his teammates.
The Deck: Gid's original deck is a mess - tons of off-theme crummy vanillas like Those Who Serve alongside total blowout cards like Lightwielder Paladin and Fiendslayer Paladin and Grand Abolisher. I want to make the deck curve out smoother as the defensive tank of the team while minimizing the cards that feel totally unwinnable for the Bolas player. As a rough draft:
Gideon, The Tank
Approximate Total Cost:
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The Oathbreaker: Chandra, Pyromaster feels like a good call - stronger than Chandra Nalaar, more generally useful and generically solid than the more hyper-focused Chandra, Acolyte of Flame, Chandra, the Firebrand or Chandra, Flamecaller, and less powerful (and thus more fair) than Chandra, Fire Artisan or Chandra, Torch of Defiance. Man we have a lot of Chandras, and maybe that's just an excuse to not order any singles...but legit it seems the right choice.
The Signature Spell: Another tough call - Chandra's Triumph again feels like it'll be super miserable for the Archenemy to play around while Chandra's Fury, and Chandra's Outrage are all pretty weak. Leaning towards Flames of the Firebrand, Chandra's Pyrohelix, or Incinerate (with the FtV art). Incinerate is probably my preference, giving Chandra some nice inevitability and a way to pressure Bolas out of the Signature Spell zone without giving her something that just wallops Bolas to death or generates near-infinite card advantage against his early weenie deathtouchy defenders.
The Deck: The original deck is this weird, prowess-y mess with a bunch of Bloodthirst cards and combat tricks that make sense as a team deck, but don't make a ton of sense from a "flavor" perspective. The "spellslinger" cards present in her list are small (Grim Lavamancer, Guttersnipe, Chandra's Phoenix, Dualcaster Mage) but make a ton of sense and are the place I want to emphasize. Chandra is the "burst damage blitzer" of the squad imo - she should come out swinging, and immediately put pressure on Bolas and his goons.
The Signature Spell: Another tough call - Chandra's Triumph again feels like it'll be super miserable for the Archenemy to play around while Chandra's Fury, and Chandra's Outrage are all pretty weak. Leaning towards Flames of the Firebrand, Chandra's Pyrohelix, or Incinerate (with the FtV art). Incinerate is probably my preference, giving Chandra some nice inevitability and a way to pressure Bolas out of the Signature Spell zone without giving her something that just wallops Bolas to death or generates near-infinite card advantage against his early weenie deathtouchy defenders.
The Deck: The original deck is this weird, prowess-y mess with a bunch of Bloodthirst cards and combat tricks that make sense as a team deck, but don't make a ton of sense from a "flavor" perspective. The "spellslinger" cards present in her list are small (Grim Lavamancer, Guttersnipe, Chandra's Phoenix, Dualcaster Mage) but make a ton of sense and are the place I want to emphasize. Chandra is the "burst damage blitzer" of the squad imo - she should come out swinging, and immediately put pressure on Bolas and his goons.
Chandra
Oathbreaker: 1
Signature Spell: 1
Creatures: 19
Instants and Sorceries: 12
Approximate Total Cost:
That's as far as I've made it - my next big debate is Nissa, Worldwaker or Nissa, Voice of Zendikar versus Nissa, Steward of Elements to preserve the GU of the original version. Long-term I want an "Expansion Pack", with some possible goons for Team Bolas (Dovin Baan, Tezzeret), Jace and Ajani (to flesh out the OG Gatewatch), and Liliana (two birds, one stone!). I'll add fleshed out Nissa notes next, but in the interim...thoughts on any of it?
