First Settlers

[Cyberium]

First Settlers
W
Creature - Human
1/1

When ~ deals combat damage to a player, put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield.
1W, sacrifice ~: Put a land card from your graveyard onto the battlefield.

"Our ancestors earned the rights to live on this land with blood, their very bones nourish our crops to this day."

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White is the color of agriculture, ancestry, and establishment, as well as heroism. In short, white embodies the aspect of community building through diligence and trials. This card is an attempt to add some white ramping power without losing its core value.

Originally, I wanted to emphasize further on the settler aspect by allowing it to put 1cc artifact from hand/grave to play, but that might make this card too versatile for its cost. The card as it is isn't overpowered, consider white has the fewest option in having lands in hand, and lands in GY require you to have something there first.

[duducrash]

Reclaim the land 1GB

Instant

Destroy target creature. If that creature isn't a human it's controller may search their library for a land card and put it on the battlefield, then shuffle their library.

"They stole our land, they stole our history. Now we get it back"

[void_nothing]

I feel like if you're going to justify this effect in white via the work you have to do getting a small non-evasive saboteur creature in for a hit, you shouldn't also include the sacrifice ability.

[Cyberium]

I feel like if you're going to justify this effect in white via the work you have to do getting a small non-evasive saboteur creature in for a hit, you shouldn't also include the sacrifice ability.

Why not?

[spacemonaut]

Speaking for myself on the "why not": It's simply not a white effect and it pushes the envelope too hard from color pie bend into break. Let's consult Mechanical Color Pie 2021 on both effects; I'll quote from the M–R index:

"Reanimate" permanent (Return a permanent card from a graveyard to the battlefield.)

Primary: White

White is the one color that can reanimate any permanent type, so it gets to reanimate "target permanent." It can also reanimate "target artifact," "target enchantment," or "target planeswalker." It doesn't specifically get "target land," but can do so when it's "target permanent." (emphasis added by spacemonaut)

---

Play extra lands/Put a land from hand onto the battlefield

Primary: Green

We don't do either of these effects often, but they are both in green's slice of the color pie.

Flatly, white can't do either thing you've listed. First Settlers is 100% a green card by all accounts. The activated ability makes this card effectively a 2W sorcery that says "reanimate target land card" and white definitely doesn't get to do that.

The reason you can get away with the combat damage triggered ability is because it's a sort of punisher effect (ibid.):

"Punisher" effects (Opponent chooses one: thing X happens or thing Y happens.)

Primary: Red
Secondary: Black

In red, one of the two abilities is usually damage to the opponent making the choice; the other option is often something red doesn't normally do in the color pie. Black does this a little, but doesn't tend to have the color pie–bending aspect.

This explains white also doesn't do punishers but this card is already bending things so let's keep going and see where we wind up. The opponent is given a choice: block your inconsequential 1/1, likely trading their first creature, or give you an out-of-color land ramp.

You get to do this because the flavor adds up, it has things in common with white catchup even if it's not actually catchup, it vibes with white's aggressive weenie side, and importantly because it's a fairly trivial punisher effect that won't scale at all past turn 2 (if it even does anything then) so it likely won't become a huge problem.

But 2W, sorcery, reanimate target land does scale reasonably well and just directly hands white trivial access to a color pie break with no punisher interaction necessary.

If you want this card to be white, it can't also have the activated ability that grants trivial non-punisher access to a color breaking effect. If you want this card to have that activated ability, swap the color pips out for and it'll pass.

[SecretInfiltrator]

The reason you can get away with the combat damage triggered ability is because it's a sort of punisher effect (ibid.):

"Punisher" effects (Opponent chooses one: thing X happens or thing Y happens.)

Primary: Red
Secondary: Black

In red, one of the two abilities is usually damage to the opponent making the choice; the other option is often something red doesn't normally do in the color pie. Black does this a little, but doesn't tend to have the color pie–bending aspect.

This explains white also doesn't do punishers but this card is already bending things so let's keep going and see where we wind up. The opponent is given a choice: block your inconsequential 1/1, likely trading their first creature, or give you an out-of-color land ramp.

Are you mixing up saboteur and punisher effect? What is X and Y in your interpretation of this as a punisher effect?

[spacemonaut]

The reason you can get away with the combat damage triggered ability is because it's a sort of punisher effect (ibid.):

"Punisher" effects (Opponent chooses one: thing X happens or thing Y happens.)

Primary: Red
Secondary: Black

In red, one of the two abilities is usually damage to the opponent making the choice; the other option is often something red doesn't normally do in the color pie. Black does this a little, but doesn't tend to have the color pie–bending aspect.

This explains white also doesn't do punishers but this card is already bending things so let's keep going and see where we wind up. The opponent is given a choice: block your inconsequential 1/1, likely trading their first creature, or give you an out-of-color land ramp.

Are you mixing up saboteur and punisher effect? What is X and Y in your interpretation of this as a punisher effect?

No, not mixing them up. Browbeat and Breaking Point are archetypal punishers for red: you get to do X which is in color, but an opponent can let you do Y which is a break instead. Recent examples include Combustible Gearhulk and Demanding Dragon. It is also a saboteur effect, but that's less meaningful for the color pie evaluation—being a saboteur effect isn't what would let white play an extra land.

In this case, the thing that's in-color is a 1/1 hitting a blocker; the choice the opponent can make is to leave the 1/1 unblocked. I describe it that way because First Settlers doesn't have haste: it can come down at turn 1 on the play at the earliest, and the opponent either has a blocker to play or nothing.

By the numbers, I'd just put in monogreen and call it a day, and probably cost the creature 1G to cast because it closely resembles an Elvish Mystic that can get even stronger. If it was a real card, it might break things. But it's a custom card in imagination land, and I'm treating as a starting point that the author wants to see if this can fit into white and examining it through the lens that would possibly allow that.

[SecretInfiltrator]

In this case, the thing that's in-color is a 1/1 hitting a blocker; the choice the opponent can make is to leave the 1/1 unblocked. I describe it that way because First Settlers doesn't have haste: it can come down at turn 1 on the play at the earliest, and the opponent either has a blocker to play or nothing.

That's not what a punisher effect is. It is an effect that includes a choice between two things happening. The way you describe it every interaction is a punisher effect since an opponent might have a card to interact with it.

Can the opponent Cancel it? Punisher effect!

A Punisher effect version would be something like "When ~ attacks and isn't blocked, the defending player may remove it from combat. If they do, <foo>." Which on an efficient white weenie could be argued to be an in-color punisher effect.

The essence of this kind of effect is to threaten an opponent with a consequence (punishment) unless they allow you to have another (possibly off-color) effect to avoid the punishment.

When you get to deal the damage and get the land drop, then they fail to avoid punishment.

[void_nothing]

@spacemonaut puts it more eloquently than me as usual.

I actually feel as though white could potentially get land-reanimation. White returns other types of permanent cards from the graveyard to the battlefield, after all. However, that probably isn't an effect that could be used all that often: it requires outside support like discard or self-mill to be usable as ramp, and would increase the effectiveness of an already incredibly strong, maybe the strongest, "dual" land cycle.

Still, I don't think it's out of the question.

Drannith Dig 2W
Sorcery (U)
Return target artifact card with mana value 3 or less or land card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
Cycling 2

@SecretInfiltrator An undercosted beater with "defending player my remove this from combat when it attacks, and if they do, ramp" sounds... REALLY reasonable in white actually.

[spacemonaut]

In this case, the thing that's in-color is a 1/1 hitting a blocker; the choice the opponent can make is to leave the 1/1 unblocked. I describe it that way because First Settlers doesn't have haste: it can come down at turn 1 on the play at the earliest, and the opponent either has a blocker to play or nothing.

That's not what a punisher effect is. It is an effect that includes a choice between two things happening. The way you describe it every interaction is a punisher effect since an opponent might have a card to interact with it.

Can the opponent Cancel it? Punisher effect!

A Punisher effect version would be something like "When ~ attacks and isn't blocked, the defending player may remove it from combat. If they do, <foo>." Which on an efficient white weenie could be argued to be an in-color punisher effect.

The essence of this kind of effect is to threaten an opponent with a consequence (punishment) unless they allow you to have another (possibly off-color) effect to avoid the punishment.

When you get to deal the damage and get the land drop, then they fail to avoid punishment.

I'm not making this philosophical statement you're reading into my text about punisher effects. I actually broadly agree with everything you've said, even the part where this isn't really a punisher effect. If this was a green card, I wouldn't be calling this a punisher effect at all.

I am not trying to elaborate on how cards should be designed generally. I wanted to elaborate on the question of why this particular white card could vaguely get away with the triggered ability in critique, but could never get away with the activated ability. And the reason why involves that taking into account the entirety of what this card looks like, the triggered ability winds up resembling a punisher effect. You have to squint at it for it to look like one, but hey, that's the answer.

Don't take this as anything more or less than an evaluation of this specific question for this specific card, an evaluation which, as I said, starts from the premise that the author chose to put it in white to begin with. I wouldn't do that, but I already said what I'd actually do with this card if it were up to me. In the real world it wouldn't be printed outside of green, but we're not printing this card, we're evaluating someone's custom design.

[Cyberium]

But 2W, sorcery, reanimate target land does scale reasonably well and just directly hands white trivial access to a color pie break with no punisher interaction necessary.

But white had never lack cards that reanimate cheap permanents, which does include land. By your definition, Sevinne's Reclamation would be a color pie break, yet there's Sun Titan that reanimate small permanents even before that, and Planar Birth for basic lands all the way back in Urza's.

[spacemonaut]

But white had never lack cards that reanimate cheap permanents, which does include land. By your definition, Sevinne's Reclamation would be a color pie break, yet there's Sun Titan that reanimate small permanents even before that, and Planar Birth for basic lands all the way back in Urza's.

Urza's block predates the modern color pie and cards in it are not precedent for anything. If you want to be evaluated according to a past iteration of the color pie, you gotta say that, or you'll be judged by the current one.

Did you read the color pie quotes I gave? Here's the relevant one, which was my definition, all formatting as in my original quote.

"Reanimate" permanent (Return a permanent card from a graveyard to the battlefield.)

Primary: White

White is the one color that can reanimate any permanent type, so it gets to reanimate "target permanent." It can also reanimate "target artifact," "target enchantment," or "target planeswalker." It doesn't specifically get "target land," but can do so when it's "target permanent." (emphasis added by spacemonaut)

It's not that white doesn't ever get to reanimate a land — it just doesn't do this effect by its identity. You'd have to reanimate a target permanent (not just land) card, which also means the cost ramps up.

If you're consciously breaking color pie, as "I'm bringing this back for white", I guess that's another matter.

[Lorn Asbord Schutta]

How much would then the "return target permanent with mana value 0 from your graveyard to the battlefield" cost?

[user_938036]

How much would then the "return target permanent with mana value 0 from your graveyard to the battlefield" cost?

Looking at existing cards; a sorcery for 1W that returns target permanent with mana value 1 or less seems perfectly reasonable. Also, a small creature for 3 that sacrifices itself for the same effect is reasonable.