Armory, deals in equipment

[Matt]

It's a shame we never saw an "equipment deck," a deck that really played around with equipment, rather than just tossing the most appropriate equipment into another deck.

Some Kind Of Armory
3
Artifact
~this~ comes into pay with three storage counters on it.
X, remove a storage counter from ~this~: Search your library for an equipment card with converted mana cost equal to X and attatch it to target creature you control.
Sacrifice an equipment card: put a storage counter on ~this~.

If you didn't have to pay full price for the search, it would be too easy to like assemble the Kaldra stuff.

[Matt]

Current wording:

Armory of the Damned

Legendary Artifact
Armory of the Damned comes into pay with three storage counters on it.
, remove a storage counter from Armory of the Damned: Search your library for an equipment card with converted mana cost equal to X and attach it to target creature you control. Play this ability only when you could play a sorcery.

[Jacob Orlove]

Like I said in AIM, this is great.

[rvs]

On a not-so-topical note, equipment is bad by default. It's cool that this rightaway attaches equipment to guys

[Ephraim]

Why is equipment bad by default? It dodges the card advantage bullet that local enchantments suffer and it can provide rather off-colour abilities to other colours. I mean, give Loxodon Warhammer to an Air Elemental and suddenly blue's got access to Trample (traditionally green) and "Spirit Link" (traditionally white).l

[Malhavoc]

I would make the ability playable only at sorcery speed, since equipment can't be equipped normally at istant speed. I would also make the effect sounds like "mana cost equal to X or less" just in case someone pays and then realizes he does not have a X-casting cost equipment (maybe he has already played all of them). This way he would be able to pick a less powerful equipment anyway.

[rvs]

Equipment is bad because it takes up time, and mana, and you could also be just casting good spells with that mana. Start some MMD drafting Ephraim, you'll get the point soon enough.

[Matt]

I thought about doing "X or less" but it's already very cluttered.

[Ephraim]

You could make them charge counters. Then you could safely remove the ability that allows you to sacrifice an equipment to put a counter on it - since there are already several perfectly good ways of acquiring charge counters. That would clear up enough space to make it X or less.

[Jacob Orlove]

I like the idea of only getting new equipment by trading in the old stuff, though. It's very flavorful.

[Matt]

24 month clock.

[Darkenslight]

24 month clock.

That's a long time to wait for the Armory of the Damned! 

The card is very well-designed; both flavourfully and mechanically.  Nice catch!

[jro]

This card seems kind of scary because it lets you cheat whatever costs are present to equip something, and lets you equip anything at instant speed.  That imposes a design restraint on future equipment, I think.  I think paying 3 mana to tutor up three pieces of equipment is by itself really strong.  Oh, and if they go to kill your equipment you just sac it and get another.  I would have loved to have played the Skullclamp deck with this.  Or Cranial Plating.  Even just grabbing a few Paradise Mantles, attaching them for free and then getting back the 3 mana you paid for this card seems pretty good.

[Matt]

If I cost it any higher, it becomes too difficult to use. Do you think I should make the ability a sorcery-speed one, or make it tap to search? I would be fine with either of those fixes.

[Norm4eva]

It does seem a bit unusual to be able to equip at Instant speed.  Can you imagine throwing some hapless Squire a pair of Lightning Greaves as he's about to eat the business end of a Char?  Equipping at sorcery speed is probably a result more of function than flavor, but the idea of instantly wearing cumbersome things like Empyrial Plate and Vulshok Battlegear is a bit of a stretch.  Then again, a Savannah Lions wielding two Bonesplitters and a Mask of Memory is a real test of a player's faith as well...  It's a bit like Superman's Phonebooth, this card is.  In fact, were I to actually play this card I would call it that, because one minute it's a Birds of Paradise, the next it's a 4/7 flyer for the low low cost of 3 and 3...

[andrewpate]

Equipment is bad because it takes up time, and mana, and you could also be just casting good spells with that mana. Start some MMD drafting Ephraim, you'll get the point soon enough.

I have played a lot of MMM, MMD, and MD5 all three.  And if I recall correctly, and I do, the only card worth considering for 1 second over Grab the Reins is Loxodon Warhammer.  The windmill slam first pick uncommon of Darksteel, which goes over almost every rare except Memnarch and a couple of others, is Skullclamp.  Scythe of the Wretched is a potential first-pick.  There was like an entire article series back then on "Virdian Longbow:  the sleeper hit of 2004!"  I really have no idea what you're talking about.

Anyway, I really agree that it needs to be sorcery-speed.  I like this as a repeatable tutoring mechanism.  I don't like it as a combat trick or means of leaving mana untapped until eot.

[Matt]

Updated. Sorcery it is!

[Harlequin]

In terms of flavor ... what makes this so "Damned"  I mean .... it really has nothing to do with souls, sin, or condemnation at all.

Its also not really an Armory, its more of like a forge, foundery, or recycling center? 

Something more like Vulshoc/Leonin Blast-furnace.

[zimagic]

Its also not really an Armory, its more of like a forge, foundery, or recycling center? 

Is it not like throwing down one weapon to pick up another. That's pretty armoury-ish.

[jro]

If it's an Armory, I kind of think that the Equipment should be in the Armory to start with, like Mangara's Tome.  I agree that the current wording sounds more like a Foundry, particularly since it "recycles" stuff.

I still have overall power-level concerns, since this is a reusable tutor that cheats costs.  This card reads "Draw 3 Equipment cards, and if they're killed, draw some more".  Does it have to attach the Equipment for free, too? 

[Matt]

If it's an Armory, I kind of think that the Equipment should be in the Armory to start with, like Mangara's Tome.  I agree that the current wording sounds more like a Foundry, particularly since it "recycles" stuff.

I still have overall power-level concerns, since this is a reusable tutor that cheats costs.  This card reads "Draw 3 Equipment cards, and if they're killed, draw some more".  Does it have to attach the Equipment for free, too? 

1. You're welcome to suggest alternate names, but I would like to avoid names that tie this to a specific plane such as Vulshok Forge/Armory/Whatever. I was just tired of waiting (almost 2 years now) to finish this card and gave it the first name that came to mind.

2. This doesn't really cheat costs as much as you think, it merely replaces the equipping costs with . This might be a savings, but it might not, especially since maximizing this aspect of the card means filling your deck with expensive spells - always a risky proposition. To date, all constructed-playable equipment has been cheap to cast and cheap to use on its own, and this isn't really changing that. Yes, it's ": Draw 3 equipments" but for comparison, think (hard) about the last time Quiet Speculation was tearing shit up.

This is definitely an 'investment' type card. I mean, what exactly do you think is going to go wrong with this? Turn one or two make a creature, turn three this, and on turn four I get to tutor up a piece of equipment - whoopee, I spent my entire turn three to get an extra card (and maybe save some mana) on turn four, and then only if my creature from turn 1 or 2 is still alive. That just doesn't seem problematic in the slightest.

I cannot imagine this card being good in Extended or larger formats, but it would be a fun addition to some kitchen-table theme decks. It might or might not be playable in Standard, depending on what other equipment was in the format at the time.

[Darkenslight]

For a name, what about Dismantling Forge?  It somewhat captures the flavour you're looking for within this card.

[Titanium Dragon]

Isn't this card ridiculously broken with Cranial Plating?

[jro]

2. This doesn't really cheat costs as much as you think, it merely replaces the equipping costs with .

Huh?  You only have to pay the three once, and that 3 mana enables the tutoring as well.  So this card is like "3: Draw 3 Equipment.  When you play them, attach them once for free.  If an opponent kills them, draw a new Equipment."

This is definitely an 'investment' type card. I mean, what exactly do you think is going to go wrong with this?

I don't know that there's anything problematic right now besides getting Skullclamp in Vintage, or maybe Cranial Plating (or Paradise Mantle, just because you can get 3 of them without spending any mana) in Extended Affinity.  But I think it might restrict future design by disallowing certain kinds of cheap equipment with high attach costs.  Sort of like how Quiet Spec means you can't really print a card with a relevant effect and Flashback 0.

Okay, here's an example of why I think this might be goofy.  You pay 2 to use this to get a Scythe of the Wretched and attach it to your Grizzly Bears for free.  Your opponent kills your Grizzly Bears.  Rather than you paying 4 to equip the Scythe you already have to your Trained Armodon, it probably makes more sense to sac the Scythe for a counter, pay 2, search out another Scythe and attach it for free.  That may not be "broken", but it just doesn't seem right.

[Matt]

Isn't this card ridiculously broken with Cranial Plating?

So I can pay +{2} instead of +{1}? Not following you here. I hardly see how this is more broken in the Ravager deck than existing cards. Since Skullclamp is only legal in Vintage, I think I can address that by invoking the "vintage can deal with it" clause.

Huh?  You only have to pay the three once, and that 3 mana enables the tutoring as well.  So this card is like "3: Draw 3 Equipment.  When you play them, attach them once for free.  If an opponent kills them, draw a new Equipment."

What I meant by this is, you MUST to use it multiple times to make it worth your while. Otherwise you're paying extra mana and not really getting a lot for it, as compared with Steelshaper's Gift or Fabricate (or Trinket Mage).

The "cheap equipment with high attach costs" thing is sort of valid, although it still means putting cards in your deck which you don't ever want to draw because they're so awful. How would you fix this?

That may not be "broken", but it just doesn't seem right.

I think I can see where you're coming from here. What if I added or to the "trade-in" cost, so it wasn't completely free?

[Titanium Dragon]

So I can pay +{2} instead of +{1}? Not following you here. I hardly see how this is more broken in the Ravager deck than existing cards. Since Skullclamp is only legal in Vintage, I think I can address that by invoking the "vintage can deal with it" clause.

Because you can fetch double plating with it the next turn, and now have +2 artifacts (and +2 CA), and your creature is capable of swinging for lethal right there and then most likely. And yes, Clamp is probably irrelevant.

[Matt]

I'm taking off the "trade in" ability, because it doesn't really need it.