Pattern Recognition #237 - A New Set - Black Commons

Features Opinion Pattern Recognition

berryjon

28 April 2022

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Hello everyone! This is Pattern Recognition, TappedOut.Net's longest running article series as written by myself, berryjon. I am something of an Old Fogey who has been around the block quite a few times where Magic is concerned, as as such, I use this series to talk about the various aspects of this game, be it deck design, card construction, mechanics chat, in-universe characters and history. Or whatever happens to cross my mind this week. Please, feel free to dissent in the comments below the article, add suggestions or just plain correct me! I am a Smart Ass, so I can take it.

And now, it is time to go back to work (hah!) and fill out many of the Red Commons that are in my personal set that I am developing and building. The last time I did this, I did , in Issue 229, which was a couple of months ago. Man, my spoiler season is a lot longer than Wizards' is. Now, I'm not going to repeat the logic behind Commons in this issue, as I went over it last time. Instead, I'm going to jump right into a reminder about card distribution at this level, and where I'm going with this.

CB01 - Creature     CB12 - Enchantment
CB02 - Creature     CB13 - Instant
CB03 - Creature     CB14 - Instant
CB04 - Creature     CB15 - Instant
CB05 - Creature     CB16 - Instant
CB06 - Creature     CB17 - Instant
CB07 - Creature     CB18 - Sorcery
CB08 - Creature     CB19 - Sorcery
CB09 - Creature     CB20 - Sorcery
CB10 - Creature     CB21 - Sorcery
CB11 - Creature

Creatures

Creating common Creatures for is a little trickier than most. For you see, back when I talked about 's section of the color pie, I described their creatures as less about what they are or what they do, and more about what this colour can do with them in terms of resources. I have to keep that in mind as I look over the two mechanics that this colour shares, namely Spectacle, and Duelist.

For those who don't recall what that was, it was the mechanic I proposed for this set that encouraged combat, where Duelist was a triggered keyword ability that stated Duelist - "When this Creature attacks or blocks (do this thing)" The idea was that this colour, and the Rouge class that goes with it, would be the ones who would do sneaky things in combat, picking on someone in particular. I'm sure sure what I was thinking a year ago, but decisions are decisions, and I should stand by them.

But I should at least start with the three creatures that won't have any of these mechanics in it.

Walking Corpse
Creature - Zombie
"You've seen one, you've seen them all. The only thing left is to put it down." - Xián Anhiora

Look, it's a Bear. What can I say?

Terrible Visage
Creature - Spirit
Menace
"Some fools think to challenge themselves by staring into one of those ... things, and seeing how long the can stand it. They rarely come out the better for it." - Tichaona Zalasta
3/3

A simple creature with a simple Keyword. A 3/3 with Menace may not seem like much, but at this point, I do plan on having some Auras or temporary combat boosts in this color at this rarity to synergize with this for the purposes of Draft and Sealed.

Giant Mosquito
Creature - Insect
Giant Mosquito enters the Battlefield tapped.
Flying, Lifelink.
"The only thing funnier than watching her be chased by one of those, Davriel, is what Saheeli is going to do to you once she finds out you set it on her." - Hualti
2/1

I decided against having a "ETB: Opponent discards a Card" creature here and now, saving that for something with Spectacle as well as Instants/Sorceries. Instead, I provide another Keyworded creature, and while I may not like how gets Lifelink at Primary, I will respect that choice, and make the creature easy to kill once something gets in its way.

Bog-Mad Warlock
Creature - Human Warlock
Spectacle : If this creature's Spectacle cost is paid, when this creature enters the battlefield, you may look at target opponents hand. If you do, choose a non-creature, non-land card, and that player discards that card.
"People like them? They like their privacy. If we trespass though, their first response will be bluff and bluster. If that doesn't work, out comes the more serious magic." - Xián Anhiora
1/1

Duress on a body, if the alternate cost is paid. I think it might be too expensive for that though, but I already have a double-black creature. Maybe instead? Yeah, that sounds better. makes notes. Opinions from the peanut gallery?

Deathbound Leechbreeder
Creature - Minotaur Warlock
When Deathbound Leechbreeder enters the battlefield, destroy target creature if it was dealt damage this turn.
Spectacle : If this creature's Spectacle cost was paid, instead destroy target creature.
"Once they get their maw onto you, you best be quick about getting rid of them. I've seen Dreadmaws drained dry by the things." - Tichaona Zalasta
3/1

Moving from a conditional kill at a MV of to being a Ravenous Chupacabra with a different P/T seems like a safe bet, though my source card is an Uncommon. Maybe it's too complicated? But there are kill spells at Common, this is just one with a body attached to it. And You Are Already Dead is Common... Bah, I'll leave it here for now.

Auger of Blades
Creature - Human Warlock
Spectacle
When Auger of Blades enters the Battlefield, it deals one damage to you and you draw a card.
"Eh, seen more impressive." - Xián Anhiora
3/2

Functional Reprint of Blade Juggler to fit the set. Moving on.

Mayhem Shaker
Creature - Minotaur Warlock
Spectacle
When this creature enters the battlefield, each opponent sacrifices a Creature or an Artifact. If the Spectacle cost was paid, sacrifice this creature as well.
"I don't like her." - Saheeli Rai
3/4

Creatures that cause players to sacrifice other creatures, such as Plaguecrafter are common, as well as Common, so here is my take on it. You either get to reduce your opponents by something in the mid game, or you get it out early, get any ETB/LTB effects, and sacrifice this creature in the process as a sort of Evoke-styled clause.

Duelist is, now that I'm coming back to this cold and my notes are... lacking, is going to be hard to build around at the common level. But I'll see what I can do.

Poisoned Dagger-Thrower
Creature - Kor Rogue
Deathtouch
Duelist - Whenever this creature attacks or blocks, it deals 1 damage to target creature an opponent controls, then sacrifice this creature at the end of combat.
"My kind of man! Too bad he's all bite and no bark." - Davriel Cane
0/1

Now, this is something I feel awkward about. First of all, Deathtouch is allowable, at this point, but allowing him to 'ping' one creature to death feels wrong. On the bright side, barring recursion tricks, it's a one-trick shot, and even if you don't block it, it still dies. This one can use serious work in playtesting and should have a "*" beside it to keep track of it as a card that needs to be watched out for.

Kor Highwayman
Creature - Kor Rogue
Duelist - Whenever this creature attacks or blocks, target opponent loses 1 life, and you gain 1 life.
"I am utterly disappointed in the quality of thieves these days. Surely you can do better than this?" - Tichaona Zalasta

This started out as a Highway Robber, but morphed into what you see here during my design and crafting. And the ability is firmly in , so there's no problem there.

Fisher of the Bog
Creature - Human Rouge
Duelist - Whenever this creature attacks or blocks, you may sacrifice an artifact. If you do, return an artifact with a different name and an equal or lower mana value to from the graveyard to your hand.
"For me, bait and reward are the same thing. I just keep fishing away and eventually I'll get something good."
2/2

Recursion is a known thing in this colour, but I decided to flex a little out of the pie and have this creature sac artifacts to get artifacts. Thankfully, if he's used on the defense, this creature can control what they block, but if you risk him on the attack, you better have a plan for him. I'm worried then, that this guy will hold back or be dead weight, or used as a combo enabler of some stripe.

Black Market Apothecary
Creature - Minotaur Rouge
Menace
Duelist - Whenever this creature attacks or blocks, target creature you control gains Lifelink and Deathtouch until the end of the turn.
"I don't ask where you get your coin, thin-skin, and you don't ask where I get my potions. Are we clear?"
4/4

Something of a beater in Limited, this expensive creature can turn itself into a 4/4 Menace, Lifelink, Deathtouch, or risk itself to give something else the latter two Keywords. I think it will have a place in the set, but whose worth can degrade in larger formats. And honestly, I just like this guy.

Instants and Sorceries

Village Rites
Instant
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Draw two cards.
"I approve of the dedication. I just wish they could choose better." - Davriel Cane

Reprint. Do I really need to justify a card that has been in and out of Standard under different names and sometimes with a rider for years upon years now? I don't think so.

Under the Bog
Instant
Destroy target Planeswalker or Creature.
"Best you not lean over too far, Davriel. You never know how long before you might come back up."
"Is that a threat, Zalasta?"
"It's a warning."

Pretty standard for mono- to include some direct removal like this, and it's a step down from Feed the Serpent, which was printed in Kaldheim. I feel pretty safe printing this here, even with Deathbouth Leachbinder in this set.

Warning from Beyond
Instant
Target creature gains Indestructible until the end of the turn.
Duelist - If this creature is attacking or blocking, it gets +2/+0 until the end of the turn.
"Listen to the deep, and it will speak to you in terms you can understand." - Tichaona Zalasta

This actually started out as Professor's Warning, but as I played with it, I realized that I could incorporate Duelist into the card. I actually changed the way the ability is worded in order to have the card work the way people would intend for it to work, and not the way it would work. You see, as it is, if you played this card with the same wording as a creature with this ability, you would have to play it before the creature is declared as an attacker or a blocker. But this way, you can cast it on a creature that is already attacking or blocking and get the full effect, rather than advertising ahead of time what you're going to do.

It's the little quality of life choices that make the game so so much smoother.

Cruel Lessons
Instant
Target player loses 2 life and draws 2 cards.
"Best be quick about it, Hualti. Some choices are harder than others."

is the color of paying life to draw cards, and so why not? I'm sure this will get lost in the crowd in larger formats.

Vitality Drain
Sorcery
Spectacle
Target player loses 2 life, and you gain 2 life.
If the Spectacle cost was paid, that player loses 4 life and you gain 4 life instead.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

I like to think of this as a finisher of some stripe. Hit a player to put them into the danger zone, then close out the game. Is it too much? What do you guys think?

Into the Fen
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature. Return target creature from a graveyard with a mana value equal to or less than the sacrificed creature's to its owners hand.
"What goes in, does not necessarily come back out. I would say pick a different path if you can." - Xián Anhiora

Recursion, but with a cost. And the important part is that you can do it to someone else. Important for 2HG and other multiplayer formats. What? I can be cunning on occasion you know.

Impromptu Summoning
Sorcery
Create 2 2/2 Black Zombie creature tokens.
"Not my finest work, but it will do. They will have to do, if we're to get out of this." - Davriel Cane

isn't big on making tokens, but when they do, it tends to be Zombies. I was tempted to have it be "Discard any number of cards, make that many Zombies" instead, but without a plan for the Graveyard, or some Madness in the wings, it felt like it was a far-too-easy way to dump ones hand. Besides, One with Nothing exists if you want to do that.

Essence Infusion
Sorcery
Put two +1/+1 counters on target creature. It gains lifelink until end of turn.
"Life begets death begets life. Such is the way of things." - Xián Anhiora

Another reprint, and this one was ... you know, I'm not sure. It was either this or Duress and I went with the more constructive one. I'll have to add some more discard effects at Uncommon to help balance things out.

Equipment and Enchantment

Bone Armor
Artifact - Equipment
Sacrifice a Creature: Put a Bone counter on Bone Armor.
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each Bone counter on Bone Armor.
Equip: Sacrifice a Creature
"Whoever thought of this needs to have their head examined. And not like that, Xián." - Saheeli Rai

I like this. You can sac creatures to make the equipped creature bigger, which is something that does without even thinking about it. Of course, you have a sac a creature to equip it, but You did just do an Impromptu Summoning of some zombies, right?

Undying Endurance
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1, and "When this creature dies, return it to the Battlefield tapped."
When Undying Endurance is put into the Graveyard from the Battlefield, return Undying Endurance to its owner's hand.
"Never stop."

How many of you remember Undying Rage? Not a bad card, all things considered. Here's a version!

And that's 21 Commons for . Your thoughts on them? I like to think I did good, but truth be told, isn't my strongest color, so I feel like I missed something blatant or obvious. If you think you know, let me know in the comments below.

Join me next week when I talk about something else. What? I don't know yet. Maybe you have an idea for me to chat into a camera for ten to fifteen minutes about. If you do, comment below.

Until then please consider donating to my Pattern Recognition Patreon. Yeah, I have a job, but more income is always better. I still have plans to do a audio Pattern Recognition at some point, or perhaps a Twitch stream. And you can bribe your way to the front of the line to have your questions, comments and observations answered!