Backalley Thug

[TheWellknownBrownie]

While I often feel that Black gets unfairly burdened with aspects of evil that don't make sense for it (Hatred, which should be a Red emotion, Fascism should be White, all of the Phyrexians should've been Artifacts the way they used to be, etc.), the "bully" mechanic on Orgg, Goblin Goon, Ironclaw Orcs, etc., etc.. is actually the opposite. Red is a color of balls and thinking without acting. I know very few impulsive, emotional people (people that I would consider Red) that wouldn't be ready to pick a fight with someone just because they knew they would almost certainly lose. Black, on the other hand, is sneaky and self-interested. What the feck does a Black creature care about honor or the long term advantages of the mage it's working for? Feck you, you go fight a Ravenous Baloth so you can force a few points of damage through. I ain't doing it. That's a Black attitude. So, anywhoo, an attempt to rectify the situation....

Backalley Thug
B
Creature- Rat Mercenary
2/2
~Card name~ can't attack if defending player controls an untapped creature with power greater than 1. ~Card name~ can't block creatures with power greater than 1.
"When the sands are all dry, he is gay as a lark,
And will talk in contemptuous tones of the Shark:
But, when the tide rises and sharks are around,
His voice has a timid and tremulous sound."

- Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland

[Ephraim]

I think that this needs to be a red card. Traditionally, cards that can't attack or block based on power/toughness comparisons have been red. Historically, see Orgg and Ironclaw Orcs. More recently, see Spitfire Handler and Okk (reprinted in 8th.)

[asmoranomardicodais]

I'm not being mean, but he mentioned those card in his post. He also mentioned how he thought the ability was more in flavor for black.

[Ephraim]

Ugh. Sorry. I thought I'd read the intro for this card previously. Let's see here...

I still feel as though the ability belongs to red. The "bully" mechanic, as Wellknown Brownie has dubbed it, is not black's ruthless, cunning, self-interest. It's cowardice. Cowardice is just as much an emotional response as hatred. Black doesn't want to employ cowards. Black wants to employ creatures that it can easily send to their deaths, if that's what it needs to do. Red prizes emotion, though -- even an emotion such as cowardice that can often lead it down an ultimately self-destructive path (not attacking or blocking when it could/should do so.)

[TheWellknownBrownie]

That's the thing, though; creatures that just blindly follow orders that lead to their death shouldn't be Black (not sentient ones, anyway. Zombies aside). You can trick them into dying, maybe, but there's no way a sneaky little Nezumi bastard you summoned is going to see a giant-ass 8/8 Elemental coming to town and think, "Gee, I'd better save Ralph by throwing myself in front of that guy."

Black wants others to die for it, if need be- but that applies to the creatures, as well as the Mages. Also, I disagree that cowardice is an emotion. It's either well-thought out reasoning (I'm going to die. I should run.), or instinct, which is Green primarily. Red has more of a violent, agressive, glory-seeking methodology.

[dandan]

I disagre and agree with you both.

Cowardice is Red as it is an act of preserving the individual over serving the many. This is chaos. All for one but don't expect one for all. Having said that, the usual interpretation of Goblin thought is the swarm mentality, that the masses can take down the mighty which is fine as long as the masses haven't got the brain-power to figure out what happens to the first of the masses to confront the mighty. Those slightly higher up the evolutionary ladder have learnt that it pays to charge slightly slower, to arrive after the cannon fodder, to chose which orders to follow (disobeying orders is also not a good survival trait).

Cowardice is Black as it is an act of selfishness, disregard for the lives of others and turning on your masters should they be weakened. No living creatures know better than Black creatures the horrors that await them should they fall (others may think about the dead, but few have to talk to them and pick parts of them out of their soup). Black creatures are not naive enough to expect peace after death so surely the fear of death must be a major consideration for those who follow the dark side. Of course there are exceptions. The undead often have no choice, some may even desire death, a release from their suffering, however temporary. Insects (wrongly thrown into the Black colour pie IMHO) have little concept of individuality and a sense of the masses forming a greater whole. Many Black creatures may not entertain cowardice for fear of reprisals but to me, it is clear that many Black creatures would shirk a fight should the opportunity arise. The Black Knight in Monty Python was White.

Of course, Wizards decided that the card Cowardice is Blue but we all know that Blue gets all of the slices of the colour pie anyway.

Regarding this card, it is grossly overpowered in either Red or Black. How about?

Backalley Thug
B
Creature- Rat Mercenary
2/1
~Card name~ can't attack if defending player controls an untapped creature with power greater than 0. ~Card name~ can't block creatures with power greater than 0.
"When the sands are all dry, he is gay as a lark,
And will talk in contemptuous tones of the Shark:
But, when the tide rises and sharks are around,
His voice has a timid and tremulous sound."

- Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland

This is around the level of Goblin Cadet, which makes it OK (i.e. strong in some cases). I gave him 1 toughness for flavour reasons as he fears 1 power creatures.

[Ephraim]

I'll concede that point. Cowardice is both red and black. I would, however, like to additionally cite Panic Attack, Mogg Toady, and Demoralize as examples of red being the colour of cowardice in battle. It also occurs to me, looking at cards like Okk, Scarred Puma, and Mogg Flunkies are examples of red being restricted from attacking because it doesn't have the correct companions, which is different from cowardice.