Since I listened to Mark Rosewater’s podcast on what went
wrong with Homelands (can be found here: http://media.wizards.com/podcasts/magic/drivetowork25Homelands.mp3
) I got to thinking why not redesign Homelands to function properly for draft while
keeping with the great flavor. Now
instead of making a Homelands 2, this project is to find ways to “fix” the
original, which is why I am calling it Homelands 1.1. I hope this can turn into a community effort
to help better understand Magic’s past and to inspired continuing creative and flavorful
design in the future.
The first step with be to redesign the individual cards,
many of which are printed in near nonfunctional ways or at costs that far exceed
their function. Some try to be flavorful
with abilities that don’t really make sense.
Second, these cards need to be judged in the context of each other, as
there is no point in having a bunch of cards that don’t work together. Third, if we get there, would be playtesting.
Starting with individual design, I hope to post five cards a
post for discussion and improvement. I
will post both the original and my alterations.
In the spirit of the set, I will try to stick with the power level of
the era but with be open to using all tool at my disposal we have today, such
as keywords and understanding of the color pie. I am interested to hear what you think and
hope you would go about this.
Today’s cards are the first five of the set. Note, I will be rendering my versions in modern card frames for clarity:
Let me know what you think!
I see what you're getting at with Ambush, but it's excessively wordy for a common card. It was also my understanding that cards usually don't explicitly reference specific steps of the phase. I get the impression that "before blockers are declared" is the sort of thing you'd hear in tournament discussion, not at a kitchen table.
ReplyDeleteThat said, my version would be:
Ambush 3R
Instant - C
If a creature you control would block this turn, put a 1/1 red goblin creature token onto the battlefield.
Blocking creatures have first strike until end of turn.
Even in this variation, it's still really unusual for red to get blocking combat tricks. Oh, how the color pie has changed...
Blocking creatures GAIN first strike until end of turn. Wow, how did I miss that?
DeleteProsperity of Agony (Neo Academy, Pros Bloom, etc)
ReplyDelete2 Bazaar of Baghdad
2 Tolarian Academy
4 Black Lotus
1 Candelabra of Tawnos
4 Mox Emerald
4 Mox Jet
2 Mox Opal
4 Mox Pearl
4 Mox Ruby
4 Mox Sapphire
4 Time Vault
3 Braingeyser
2 Channel
3 Demonic Tutor
2 Tendrils of Agony
4 Timetwister
2 Wheel of Fortune
3 Ancestral Recall
2 Fork
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Orim's Chant