Custom Boros Planeswalker

Custom Cards forum

Posted on July 21, 2015, 12:55 p.m. by JWiley129

I'll omit the backstory of this planeswalker, but I've always been disheartened at the lack of a true Boros colored planeswalker. So here's my custom 'walker.

Aryn, Battlesworn

Planeswalker - Aryn

+1: Up to one target creature you control gains Vigilance and Menace until end of turn.

0: Until end of turn, Aryn becomes a 2/2 Human Soldier creature with Indestructible and Double Strike that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage dealt to her this turn.

-6: You gain an emblem with, "At least one creature must attack and at least one creature must block each combat if able" and "You choose how creatures attack and block."

3

I have done zero work balancing her, so any help you can give would be great.

FIRST EDIT: Ultimate changed from: -6: You gain an emblem with, "You choose how creatures attack and block." Changed to prevent the scenario where the character attacks with everything and makes opponent(s) not attack nor block at all.

Aelenium says... #2

the -6 seems OP, i mean - controlling combat, permanently, as a -6? i'd make it a -7-8 at the least. hope this helps! the rest looks good.

July 21, 2015 1:07 p.m.

FinchFalcon says... #3

Her minus six is broken. Short of mill/burn it may as well read "You win the game." Maybe it could say "Creatures you control have menace. If it's your turn, you may decide how creatures block."

July 21, 2015 1:08 p.m.

FinchFalcon says... #4

Otherwise, seems fun. Kinda like a Boros version of Gideon. I like her.

July 21, 2015 1:09 p.m.

tempest says... #5

her -6 is an overpowered version of Odric, Master Tactician

July 21, 2015 1:12 p.m.

JWiley129 says... #6

Slathalin, FinchFalcon, and tempest: Aryn is designed to be an aggressive 'walker to help Aggro decks punch through damage. Between the +1 and the 0 you very likely won't ultimate her on T6 as you'd probably like to beat in with a 2/2 Double Strike. Also her ultimate isn't Odric, it's Master Warcraft. I was thinking "what spells act as good ultimates?" and Master Warcraft was the first card that came to my head.

July 21, 2015 1:21 p.m.

square711 says... #7

No way this should be a 3-drop. All of her abilities are incredibly good, and none of them is a minus! The first one essentially guarantees you'll be able to protect her from combat damage next turn while still attacking this one, the second turns her into an extremely resilient creature with double strike (which would be a 5 or 6-drop if it were a regular creature card, and for good reason) and the third wins you the game on the spot unless you're playing creatureless burn or storm.

She should cost at the very least, and that's pushing it. Her second ability needs to be nerfed somehow, or be a -1 (and you don't need to prevent damage if she's indestructible). And the ultimate should be a -7.

July 21, 2015 1:26 p.m.

JWiley129 says... #8

square711 - All versions of Gideon have that text: Gideon Jura, Gideon, Champion of Justice, and Gideon, Battle-Forged  Flip. The reason is because, even though they are indestructible, planeswalkers lose loyalty whenever they are dealt damage. That text is literally taken from Gideon, and I trust WotC they know what they're doing.

I do agree that she's pushed, but her 0 essentially turns her into an Iroas's Champion which isn't a stellar card. I also didn't want her creature ability to be a minus, but I could see making it either a -1 or -2. And as I said above, I think the ultimate at -6 is fine as you're very unlikely to get there that quickly. I could also see lowering her starting loyalty to 2, but I'd really prefer her to start at 3.

July 21, 2015 1:32 p.m.

square711 says... #9

You're right. I didn't know damage to a creature-walker still removed loyalty counters from him... probably because I never used Gideon in any of my decks and rarely ever play people who do. But yeah, I stand corrected.

Iroas's Champion isn't a stellar card, but an indestructible Iroas's Champion sure as hell would be. And don't underestimate how quickly she can get to 6 loyalty. The first ability is very, very good at protecting her if you have a large enough creature on the board. Menace gets rid of chump blockers two at a time, vigilance lets it shield Aryn from combat damage afterwards. And God forbid someone uses this in a Mardu shell with lots of deathtouch.

July 21, 2015 1:45 p.m.

squire1 says... #10

overall i like her. I think the -6 is a bit OP. maybe have it be a one shot or a menace/indestructible version of Overrun

Currently the +1 is close to saying "If you have a creature, it deals damage equal to its power to target player"

The 0 almost always says target opponent sacrifices a creature or they lose 4 life.

These are strong effects. Not too strong, but the ultimate is a bit OP.
You might explore a minus ability with CA instead. Some kind of rummage to gain life kinda deal or even a rummage for loyalty counters kinda thing.

July 21, 2015 1:47 p.m.

JWiley129 says... #11

Again, she's designed to help push aggro decks. Her 0 is very meh against big Green decks or decks with creatures like Dragonlord Silumgar who can just stonewall her. That's where her plus ability would shine to help A. push through damage and B. build to her Master Warcraft ultimate. Also, she's in , a color combination not known for big beefy dudes, so early on her +1 is very likely not going to target a sizable creature. (Also I templated her +1 after Ajani Steadfast's, but it's much weaker imo)

squire1 - I could see changing the ultimate to some sort of Anthem effect or a Overrun variant, but I would want to make sure it doesn't step on Elspeth's toes with regard to her ultimate from Elspeth, Sun's Champion. A card advantage ability is interesting, but the way I have her power-suite concepted I don't think it would fit. Aryn is supposed to be a combat oriented planeswalker, and while a Chandra, Pyromaster/Daretti, Scrap Savant type ability is interesting, that's not the direction I want to take her in.

July 21, 2015 1:59 p.m.

filledelanuit says... #12

I think that she is a strong planeswalker but you people are overreacting by a lot.

The ultimate is very good but it will not win the game against a combo deck and probably will take longer than turn 6 to get off.

This is one of the best custom cards I have seen. It is a powerful card that won't be format warping and does an amazing job of exemplifying what Boros does. I would not have been surprised to see this as an actual planeswalker.

July 21, 2015 2:10 p.m.

Kryzis says... #13

July 21, 2015 2:40 p.m.

JWiley129 says... #14

Kryzis - You misspelled "this" on the card, btw. And thanks for making the card in a set editor! I would've done so myself, but my old laptop with MSE on it died. The art doesn't quite fit what I have in mind for how she looks, but I have no right to be picky right now.

lordoftheshadows - That's high praise you've given me/Aryn. I try to make my custom cards at least somewhat balanced, but I feel like Aryn has some room for improvement.

How would people feel if I changed her +1 to "Until end of turn, up to one target creature you control gains Lifelink and Menace."? I really like the Vigilance + Menace combo, since it lets you protect her not quite as well as Gideon, Battle-Forged  Flip's +1, but Lifelink + Menace would be my next option.

July 21, 2015 2:47 p.m.

I actually really like her. Her +1 does feel a bit powerful, taking out vigilance would be better. You CAN make her ult a -7, but it honestly feels good as is.

July 21, 2015 2:58 p.m.

squire1 says... #16

Let me clarify my statement by saying, you did an awesome job in designing this. I really like what you did here and think while it is based in some existing concept, this is fairly original.

My suggesting were only to make this what I would like to see. Many people judge planeswalkers by three criteria

  1. Does it protect itself (yes in this case)
  2. Does it give you card advantage (no in this case)
  3. Does the ultimate win the game (yes in this case, but a simple EOT menace and +3/+3) would do that too or every attacking create deals one damage to the dome till end of game.
July 21, 2015 3:12 p.m.

JWiley129 says... #17

squire1 - I always thought the 2nd criteria was "Does it impact the board"? Card Advantage is nice, but not necessary on planeswalkers. As an example, Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker is a solid Stadnard planeswalker who impacts the board, protects itself, and has an ultimate that can win the game (see PT Khans where Rafael Levy ult'ed Sarkhan).

If I were to give Aryn a Card Advantage-type ability it would probably look something like Academy Raider or Prophetic Flamespeaker given to all creatures via an emblem. Again, my concept for Aryn is she is a planeswalker whose suite of abilities is tied to Combat, Attacking, and maybe Tokens as a tertiary ability.

And thank you for your kind words!

July 21, 2015 3:20 p.m.

squire1 says... #18

I like both of those actually. I am an EDH player exclusively, so the criteria may vary for that. Most of the time CA is huge with our walkers.

July 21, 2015 3:31 p.m.

Dreno33 says... #19

I would say everything is fine except her ultimate should be "Creatures you control gain haste and lifelink."

I think this makes the card much more balanced. You could do another 2 abilities for the ultimate like menace and vigilance (which makes her +1 permanent). However, they don't stack in anyway which is redundant.

July 21, 2015 3:49 p.m.

JWiley129 says... #20

Dreno33 - I could see an ultimate along the lines of Domri Rade, where it'd give something like "Creatures you control gain Haste, Lifelink, Vigilance, and Double Strike." Maybe have it give Indestructible, but idk. I still really like the idea of a Master Warcraft ultimate, but what if I changed it to "You gain an emblem with 'As long as it's your turn, you control how creatures attack and block.'"?

July 21, 2015 4:03 p.m.

JA14732 says... #21

Fix to the -6: until your next turn, you control which creatures attack and block and how creatures block. Not an emblem, but gets enough an effect to make a difference.

July 21, 2015 4:29 p.m.

JWiley129 says... #22

JA14732 - I feel like a one-off Master Warcraft, even if it lasts my turn and my opponent's turn(s), is not that great of an ultimate. I think it feels more ultimate-like if it stays the way it is or I change it to what I said in post #19. That or I add a line like "At least one creature must attack each combat and at least one creature must block each combat." so you can't just sit back and say "You attack with nothing and then you block with nothing."

July 21, 2015 4:34 p.m.

JA14732 says... #23

The problem is, even with that line of text, if your opponent doesn't storm off, you WILL win the game. Every PW ult has had some version of counterplay-LOTV allows your opponent keep their board state, JTMS gives your opponent some time, Elspeth 1.0 still allows your opponent's larger forces to win, but you will ALWAYS win with Aryn's ult. That's why I think a time limit is necessary for her.

July 21, 2015 4:41 p.m.

How will you "always" win? You need board presence for it to be effective. And with the one creature rule, I don't think that it's too good. After all, if you already have a large board state in Boros, chances are you're going to win anyways.

Also, Lili utterly wrecks your opponent chances and Jace literally wins you the game on the spot.

July 21, 2015 4:46 p.m.

JWiley129 says... #25

JA14732 - Many Planeswalker ultimates read "Win the game" on them without really saying it: Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, Gideon, Champion of Justice, Garruk, Apex Predator, Elspeth, Sun's Champion, and Chandra, Roaring Flame  Flip all have ultimates that in one way or another end the game.

And I echo FAMOUSWATERMELON. Board Wipes and targeted -N/-N removal can deal with Aryn. Plus she still dies to the popular PW removal.

July 21, 2015 4:53 p.m.

JWiley129 says... #26

I just made the first change to Aryn's ultimate so her Master Warcraft ability is not as backbreaking as it was before. This way you must choose a creature to attack each combat and a creature to block each combat. Of course, if able. That way if an opponent only controls a Wall of Omens we don't break the game since Defenders can't attack.

July 21, 2015 4:59 p.m.

JA14732 says... #27

As I said, every ultimate has counterplay. You have 3 cards in hand JTMS ult? You can win with those 3. And it's probably like turn 12 anyways, so if you haven't killed him already you probably deserve to lose. Lili ult? I can keep my 7 power on board. I can win with that. Aryn literally locks a board FOR THE ENTIRE GAME. Even if you WoG, you're still losing. I think a time limit is still fine, maybe a longer one, but a permanent board lock is a little bit on the too strong side.

July 21, 2015 5:02 p.m.

JWiley129 says... #28

JA14732 - If you think that you can win after a Jace ultimate, you're delusional. The reason why he's so good is because you can either A. devote resources to killing Jace, in which case you have fewer cards in hand or B. you hold resources in hand to kill Jace later, in which case you aren't advancing your board. Either case gets you hosed by his ultimate. And a Liliana of the Veil player won't haphazardly make piles so you can get exactly what you want (aka lands in one pile, creatures in another).

Aryn is meant for an aggressive deck much like Koth of the Hammer. If Koth ever gets his ultimate off, how does the control deck counter? All my lands just became Prodigal Pyromancers! Aryn's ultimate lets you control combat, her area of expertise. But there are ways to win outside of combat: milling, burn spells, Storm (not Standard legal, obviously), and plenty of other ways. Also, you can kill Aryn with -N/-N abilities like Bile Blight since she's fragile as a creature. Or you can kill her with other control cards like Oblivion Ring, Hero's Downfall, etc.

July 21, 2015 5:09 p.m.

Plenty of decks win with one creature swinging. And I'll take up your argument for Jace: the earliest that you'll get this walker's ult out is T6, IF she's not dealt any damage (not likely), IF you play her on T3 (again, Boros aggro probably has better things to do at that time), and IF you only use her +1. That's a lot of conditions. Also, it's an ult. As a pretty general rule, if you manage to get any walker's ult going in just about any non-singleton format, you deserve to win.

July 21, 2015 5:09 p.m.

This discussion has been closed