Fix several wording and formatting issues
This commit is contained in:
@ -11,25 +11,26 @@
|
||||
|
||||
## What *Nicol Bolas, Archenemy: Reimagined* is trying to do
|
||||
|
||||
After playing the original *Nicol Bolas, Archenemy* several times in our playgroup, we found several glaring issues with it:
|
||||
After playing the original *Nicol Bolas, Archenemy* numerous times in our playgroup, we found several glaring issues with it:
|
||||
|
||||
* There was far too much variance with the Bolas deck, especially in the (typical of Wizards) very weak manabase, often getting mana-flooded or, paradoxically, mana-screwed. This made playing the deck frustrating.
|
||||
* The deck based way too much on the Schemes; unless those went off in just the right way, the deck was quite weak, but since they were random, often I'd get 1-2 dud schemes in a row followed by a good one that was too little too late.
|
||||
* The Gatewatch decks weren't swingy *enough*. After 5-7 turns they were able to consistently mow down anything the Bolas deck did, even in the face of Schemes and big pain cards like `Cruel Ultimatum` or `Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker`.
|
||||
* The deck based way too much on the Schemes; unless those went off in just the right way, the deck was quite weak, but since they were random, often we would see 1-2 dud schemes followed by a good one that was too little too late.
|
||||
* The Gatewatch decks weren't swingy *enough*. After 5-7 turns they were able to consistently mow down anything the Bolas deck did, even in the face of Schemes and big pain cards like `Cruel Ultimatum` or `Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker`, and even with inexperienced players piloting them.
|
||||
* The games were really short, barring long decision-making sessions among the Gatewatch: games rarely went longer than 7-8 turn cycles before an obvious conclusion was inevitable (invariably, Bolas losing).
|
||||
* With all those issues, out of 7 total completed games, Bolas lost every time, with about as many more scoops due to an obvious incoming loss. While that has a certain flavour ring, the product was reflecting the early parts of the War of the Spark storyline where Bolas *won* consistently, so this felt off, and was of course quite unfun to play as a result.
|
||||
* Thus, the goal here was to power-up the Bolas deck a bit, and ensure it was a bit more balanced with where the Gatewatch decks would be in the mid- to late-game, with the ideal goal of a 50/50 win rate across many sessions.
|
||||
* With all those issues, out of 7 total completed games, Bolas lost every time, with about as many more scoops due to an obvious incoming loss or very poor mana situation by turn 4-5. While that has a certain flavour ring, the product was reflecting the early parts of the War of the Spark storyline where Bolas *won* consistently, so this felt off, and was of course quite unfun to play as a result.
|
||||
|
||||
Thus, the main goal here was to power-up the Bolas deck a bit, and ensure it was a bit more balanced with where the Gatewatch decks would be in the mid- to late-game, with the ideal goal of a 50/50 win rate across many sessions.
|
||||
|
||||
Additionally, there were some aspects that weren't exactly issues, but that we wanted to change:
|
||||
|
||||
* We wanted to expand towards the later part of the Bolas Arc, specifically the War of the Spark itself. Combined with the repowering of the decks, we felt like this would be a major flavour win, as we could decide the outcome of his entire plan with the game as well as add some more cool things.
|
||||
* We wanted to expand towards the later part of the Bolas Arc, specifically the War of the Spark and invasion of Ravnica itself. Combined with the repowering of the decks, we felt like this would be a major flavour win, as we could decide the outcome of his entire plan with the game as well as add some more cool things.
|
||||
* We really wanted Bolas to be commanding the Dreadhorde here, with much more of a Zombie/Amass theme and adding Liliana to his deck to represent her turning by Bolas at the climax of the story.
|
||||
* We wanted the ability to mix-and-match some more Gatewatch members to allow either more players in one game, or more variety between games; at the very least, we wanted Jace as a playable deck too. For the first iteration, this is adding Jace, but future iterations may add one or two more (shortlist: Teferi, Kaya, and Ajani in that order).
|
||||
* We wanted a Commander-like deck structure; not just for the singleton aspect, but also for the ability to repeatedly bring out the key Planeswalkers over a longer game. Also, given Wizards of the Coast's move in the last ~6 years towards extensive Commander support, we felt this is more like how the product would look if produced "today".
|
||||
* We wanted the ability to mix-and-match some more Gatewatch members to allow either more players in one game (up to 4-vs-1), or more variety between games.
|
||||
* We wanted a Commander-like deck structure; not just for the singleton aspect, but also for the ability to repeatedly bring out the key Planeswalkers over a longer game. Also, given Wizards of the Coast's move in the last ~6 years towards extensive Commander support, we felt this is more like how the product would likely look if produced today.
|
||||
|
||||
Thus, *Nicol Bolas, Archenemy: Reimagined* is a complete "product" like the original *Nicol Bolas, Archenemy*. The Scheme deck is unchanged from the original, and all 5 player decks are newly designed, while including all cards that were present in the original decks where applicable for flavour reasons and to assist in deckbuilding.
|
||||
|
||||
Future iterations might add more Gatewatch decks (on the shortlist are Ajani Goldmane, Kaya Cassir, and Teferi Akosa), but for now we feel that 5 decks (one more than the original *Nicol Bolas, Archenemy*) is enough and that those 3 planeswalkers would overlap a little too much (with all of them featuring White mana and, at least for Ajani, a major overlap with Gideon).
|
||||
Future iterations might add more Gatewatch decks (on the shortlist are Teferi Akosa, Kaya Cassir, and Ajani Goldmane, in that order), but for now we feel that 5 decks (one more than the original *Nicol Bolas, Archenemy*) is enough and that those 3 planeswalkers would overlap a little too much (with all of them featuring White mana and, at least for Ajani, a major mechanical overlap with Gideon).
|
||||
|
||||
## Deck Construction Notes
|
||||
|
||||
@ -64,37 +65,45 @@ These are the "signature spells" of each Gatewatch deck mentioned above. These a
|
||||
|
||||
*Jace's Oath represents his mind-magic, helping focus his teammate's thoughts and disrupt Bolas's thoughts.*
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
{2}{U}
|
||||
Legendary Enchantment - Oath
|
||||
|
||||
When ~ enters the battlefield and whenever a planeswalker enters the battlefield under your team's control, each player on your team may draw a card, then fateseal 1.
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
#### Chandra's Oath
|
||||
|
||||
*Chandra's Oath represents her aggressive fire magic, dealing direct damage to multiple targets.*
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
{2}{R}
|
||||
Legendary Enchantment - Oath
|
||||
|
||||
When ~ enters the battlefield and whenever a planeswalker enters the battlefield under your team's control, ~ deals 3 damage to each of up to 2 targets.
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
#### Nissa's Oath
|
||||
|
||||
*Nissa's Oath represents her animist powers, turning her teammate's lands into creatures for a full turn to act either as attackers or blockers.*
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
{2}{G}
|
||||
Legendary Enchantment - Oath
|
||||
|
||||
When ~ enters the battlefield and whenever a planeswalker enters the battlefield under your team's control, for each player on your team, untap up to one target land that player controls. Until your next turn, those lands become 3/3 green Elemental creatures in addition to their other types.
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
#### Gideon's Oath
|
||||
|
||||
*Gideon's Oath represents his martial powers and teamwork, giving additional allies to his teammates in the form of creature tokens.*
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
{2}{W}
|
||||
Legendary Enchantment - Oath
|
||||
|
||||
When ~ enters the battlefield and whenever a planeswalker enters the battlefield under your team's control, for each player on your team, that player creates a 1/1 white Kor Ally creature token.
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
### *Battlement* Cycle
|
||||
|
||||
@ -102,48 +111,58 @@ These are a cycle of Legendary Lands for each of the decks with the custom Battl
|
||||
|
||||
#### Jace's Battlement
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Legendary Land - Battlement
|
||||
|
||||
Planeswalkers you control enter the battlefield with 2 additional loyalty counters.
|
||||
|
||||
{T}: Add {U}.
|
||||
{T}: Target player draws a card.
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
#### Chandra's Battlement
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Legendary Land - Battlement
|
||||
|
||||
Planeswalkers you control enter the battlefield with 2 additional loyalty counters.
|
||||
|
||||
{T}: Add {R}.
|
||||
{T}: ~ deals 2 damage to target attacking creature.
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
#### Nissa's Battlement
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Legendary Land - Battlement
|
||||
|
||||
Planeswalkers you control enter the battlefield with 2 additional loyalty counters.
|
||||
|
||||
{T}: Add {G} or {U}.
|
||||
{T}: Put a +1/+1 counter on target land.
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
#### Gideon's Battlement
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Legendary Land - Battlement
|
||||
|
||||
Planeswalkers you control enter the battlefield with 2 additional loyalty counters.
|
||||
|
||||
{T}: Add {W}.
|
||||
{T}: Create a 1/1 white Kor Ally creature token.
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
#### Bolas's Battlement
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Legendary Land - Battlement
|
||||
|
||||
Planeswalkers you cast cost {2} less to cast.
|
||||
|
||||
{T}: Add {U}, {B}, or {R}.
|
||||
{T}, sacrifice a creature: Add {U}{B}{R}.
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
## How To Play *Nicol Bolas, Archenemy: Reimagined*
|
||||
|
||||
|
Reference in New Issue
Block a user