Military Formation Cycle

[Ephraim]

Aegis Formation
{W}
Instant

If exactly two creatures you control are blocking, those creatures gain first strike until end of turn.


Delta Formation
{W}
Instant

If exactly three creatures you control are attacking, one of those creatures gains double strike until end of turn.


Assist Formation
{W}
Instant

If exactly four creatures you control are attacking or blocking, one of those creatures gets +5/+5 until end of turn.

***

White is the colour of organized militarism and I figured that one of the ways that could be reflected is in the use of military formations. I didn't want the formations to be too complicated, so I just settled on counting the number of attacking or blocking creatures. A slightly interesting note -- none of these target. The numbers required for each formation as well as their benefits are definitely up for discussion. One thing I want to stay the way it is: I want one defensive formation, one offensive formation, and one that works for both.

[Ephraim]

Current Wording:

(note to Matt -- although I have clustered these as a cycle, do not put them as a cycle into the master list. I don't want development to feel constrained to put all of them into the same set.)

Aegis Formation
{1}{W}
Instant

If exactly two creatures you control are blocking, those creatures gain double strike until end of turn.


Delta Formation
{2}{W}
Instant

If exactly three creatures you control are attacking, those creatures get +2/+2 and gain first strike until end of turn.


Holy Formation
{W}
Instant

If exactly two creatures you control are attacking, destroy target artifact or enchantment a defending player controls.


Reconnaissance Formation
{W}{W}
Instant

If exactly two creatures you control are attacking, draw three cards.

[Matt]

I love these. That is all.

[Ephraim]

After I suggested these, I realized it would be a good subtheme for a set. White, as the military colour, gets the three military themed formations. Each of the other colours should probably get at least one formation card that  provides one of that colour's spells at a discount, given the right conditions.

Consider...

Plunder Formation

Instant

If exactly two creatures you control are attacking, destroy target artifact a defending player controls.

(Although in a multiplayer game, the "formation" flavour may fall apart if the player is attacking two different people, this will almost always work as expected.)

Tangle Formation

Instant

If exactly three creatures you control are blocking, attacking creatures don't untap during their controller's next untap step.

(I thought about just having it affect blocked creatures, but I think that makes it pretty weak in comparison to the black one, below.)

Reconnaissance Formation

Instant

If exactly three creatures you control are attacking, draw two cards.


Dagger Formation

Instant

If exactly two creatures you control are attacking, destroy all blocking creatures at end of combat.

[stolen]

Wasn't it Stanton who recently wrote an article about how White sucks so much because it's too creature-oriented, and its tricks are all combat-oriented?  Red and Blue, he pointed out, have strong creatures, because their utility, unlike White's, isn't just combat tricks.  Looking at the Red and Blue Formations you have here just made me think of that.

As in, this is White's domain, yet Red and Blue, by nature of having effects that extend outside of combat, seem to be getting the greatest benefit.

[Jacob Orlove]

These benefits should be significantly better on the white cards. I don't think the other colors should get these cards, though.

[Ephraim]

I'll see about working one or more of the "off-colour" formations into white formations then. As far as the military formations go, how do people like them?

[Jacob Orlove]

Here's what I think the white ones should do:

Aegis: double strike for both.
Delta: all gain protection from color of your choice and untap.
Assist: all get +whatever/+whatever and first strike.

[Ephraim]

These are the changes I am thinking of making:

Aegis will cost the same and will grant double strike to both creatures.
Delta will cost the same and will grant +2/+2 and first strike to all three creatures.
Assist will seek to exist.

Instead of the off-colour formations, I will introduce two more formations for white.

Holy Formation

Instant

If exactly two creatures you control are attacking, destroy target artifact or enchantment a defending player controls.


Reconnaissance Formation
{W}{W} (?)
Instant

If exactly three creatures you control are attacking, draw three cards.


If I go with the cost, it might also be appropriate to make a G/W formation...

Tangle Formation

Instant

If exactly three creatures you control are attacking or blocking, tap all attacking or blocking creatures target player controls. Creatures that player controls don't untap during his or her next untap step.

[Ephraim]

Changes have been made. Artifact and enchantment destruction is still sufficiently white that Disenchant on the cheap, when associated with a military formation seems okay. It has also been noted that white should have much better card drawing than it currently does, so I have no qualm about a card like Recon Formation. I decided I didn't want to make any of these gold, so I won't be accepting recommendations to make Recon and/or Tangle as W/C cards.

[Jacob Orlove]

I like these a lot now.

[Nazdakka]

I like these a lot now.

Agreed. These are neat, flavourful and powerful.

[Fall-Titan]

Good job on creating white cards that tie whites common areas of play into places where white should be more familar with but isnt (Drawing cards etc.) Nice blending on the cards

[Ephraim]

24 Hour Clock

[Ephraim]

I just realized that Reconnaissance Formation is significantly worse than [card]Keep Watch[card]. Would it be appropriate for me to change it to...


Instant

If exactly two creatures you control are attacking, draw three cards.

?

[Jacob Orlove]

I think that'd be fine, although it would probably have to move up at least one level of commonality.

[Fall-Titan]

I think you could go with that route however the current wording is fine because in general blue will always have the dominate edge on card drawing. So either is good but i do think the 2 cost would be at minimum uncommon with it leaning towards rare.

[Ephraim]

I agree that it would/should be increased a level in rarity -- but I disagree, Fall-Titan, that it's anywhere close to rare. Yes, blue is better at drawing cards than white, but this is still considerably weaker than [card]Keep Watch[/card]. In fact, this is better in only one circumstance -- eg, you are attacking with exactly two creatures. In every other circumstance, Keep Watch is a superior card, if for no other reason that in every other circumstance, Reconnaissance Formation does nothing. A more concrete, but very important example, is any case in which your opponent is attacking you. Keep Watch doesn't care to whom the attacking creatures belong. It can be used during your own combat to pick up a few extra cards. It can be used during an opponent's combat to find answers. Although Reconnaissance Formation draws cards with brutal efficiency in its one relevant circumstance, Keep Watch draws cards with reasonable efficiency in many other circumstances and can blow Reconnaissance Formation's ratios out of the water with just a little bit of board engineering.

[Fall-Titan]

I guess i stated that incorrectly. I am not saying this should be a rare. Obviously this is at an uncommon power level but its rarity would depend on the set in which it was released. Look at a card like Hero's Demise which is not a bad card by any means by in any other set other than Kamigawa it would be printed as a common (Terrors Better). But wizards looks at draft as a very big influence on rarity and if this card were printed in a block based around aggro it may be a rare. I in no way disagree with you i am simply taking a different approach at looking at it. But as a generic card discluding set, it is an uncommon level card.

[Ephraim]

I made the proposed change. 24 Hour Clock

[TheWellknownBrownie]

I find it doubtful that a card like Renaissance Formation would ever be printed in White. While minor card manipulation like Scrying, Cantrips, Cycling, etc., is in every color, mass card drawing (defined by R&D as drawing 3+ cards) is restricted solely to Blue, or Black with a drawback. And attacking with two creatures, something White Weenie routinely does, isn't restrictive enough to justify it. You have to look at enviroments where this would be used, like Standard and Legacy, and it becomes far too strong imo.

[Ephraim]

I agree that this card is a break in tradition. I'm willing to do that because it's a tradition that forces white to suck. White, as an ally of blue, should also have respectable card-drawing. Like black, it should have access to card-drawing, as long as a drawback is involved. Compare this card to Night's Whisper. Although this is technically an instant, it can actually be played less often than Night's Whisper, which at least gives you the option: before or after combat. Furthermore, this card costs two coloured mana, compared to Night's Whisper's one. Although this has no actual additional cost, two life has often been shown to be a negligible cost. On the other hand, attacking with two creatures, even in slower formats, may represent a smaller attack than you actually wanted to make. This card's ability can also be rendered void by killing one of the creatures in response to the spell.

[TheWellknownBrownie]

What you're missing is why White is Blue's ally vs. why Black is. Black and Blue have a desire for knowledge in common. They're both willing to go to great lengths to plumb forgotten secrets and find dark and hidden lore. White doesn't have that desire. White is a color of order. White values tradition, not exploring new territories of information.


Incidentally, I also contest the idea that this makes White suck. White right now is a very strong color in nearly every format, and it does it without Concentrate effects. Strengthening a color that doesn't need the help in any format where a card would see play, by breaking the color wheel's flavor and execution isn't a great idea. It would be far more in flavor to give White another counterspell effect than card drawing; certainly White shares Blue's sense of discipline and denial.


Also, consider that against decks featuring some of White's strongest cards (Wrath of God and the like), you're rarely going to want to commit more than 2 creatures to the board in a White Weenie deck anyway.

[Ephraim]

I don't think that white should get big card drawing effects like this all the time. On the other hand, even red and green get to draw a lot of cards sometimes. They just do it in ways that are very appropriate to their colours -- look at [card]Browbeat[/card], [card]Fiery Gambit[/card], [card]Fecundity[/card], and [card]Collective Unconscious[/card]. Granted, Fiery Gambit and Collective Unconscious aren't the greatest cards ever, but Fecundity and Browbeat can be huge. Card drawing is simply too big of a mechanic to restrict it to one colour -- or even to restrict to four colours. Every colour should have a couple of cards that help it to draw cards. If you want a single reason why black and blue are such powerful, omnipresent colours, I'd cite their superiour card drawing as that reason. If red and green, enemies of blue, get decent card-drawers, white, like black, should get better-than-decent card-drawers, if only in small numbers.

[TheWellknownBrownie]

Green is supposed to have moderate card drawing and card advantage, behind Black and Blue. It also gets Enchantress effects, Wirewood Savage, regrowth effects, Fecundicity, Krosan Tusker/Sprouting Vines, etc.. White and Red are the two that are supposed to suck at drawing massive amounts of cards; Red, when it does get card drawing in large numbers, balances it out in flavor; it's chaotic. It doesn't usually work. Likewise, White's drawback should balance out it's card drawing; White is fair. If you give White card drawing in the magnitude of "draw 3 cards", it should come with a warning and an out (an uber Simulacrum that draws 3 when it's killed by an opponent, for instance), or it should cut both ways; Truce, while unplayable (much LIKE Browbeat and Fiery Gambit), was a perfect example of what White's card drawing should be like. Armistice is another.

[Ephraim]

I agree with your assessment that Fiery Gambit is actually unplayable. You caught my point, however, that it is chaotic -- it's card drawing, red-style. I'm not sure what to say if you think that Browbeat is bad, though. It is undercosted  for either effect (for the card drawing in part because it is red) -- and getting an opponent to a point where they just can't afford to take 5 damage is not that hard for red to do.

Part of your argument seems to be, however, that white may have card drawing, as long as it's unplayable. I say that's nonsense. Note my previous argument that every colour must have playable card-drawing. I don't think there's any base to the argument that white is "supposed to" have poor card-drawing.

Furthermore, white is not just fair. In fact, when white disagrees with you, white will be most unfair in dealing with you. Enemies of white must be stamped out for the greater good. White will do this with cool, military efficiency. Thus the  flavour of this card is right on. Rather than emphasizing white's tendency toward equality, this card emphasizes white's tendency toward war -- efficient, well-informed, and well-planned.

As previously noted, this card actually has a very valid out. Since any format in which creature combat is relevant packs creature kill, the way to dodge this card is to kill one of the members of the formation. That, in my opinion, gives other decks a good way to avoid this powerful effect and emphasizes a key flavour aspect as well -- find a way to throw a wrench into white's orderly, efficient plans and you will find that white is incapable of adapting.

[Ephraim]

Any more objections to what I've said, WellknownBrownie, or may I start the 24 Hour Clock?

[TheWellknownBrownie]

I don't think White Card drawing needs to suck; it just needs to suck a lot more than Blue, or Black, or Green. This doesn't fit that equation. It also needs to have a drawback that demonstrates White's weakness of fair play. To say that White can get around this because of it's cool military efficency is like arguing that Red is unpredictable so it can break it's own restrictions, or Blue is studious and can copy the tacts of others.  There's a foundation in flavor in the argument, but what it ultimately leads to is destroying the Color Pie as relating to mechanics. This is exactly what caused Blue to become overpowered in earlier days. When White's warlike aspect comes out in ways that aren't based on fairness, it's always relating to combat- winning combat, increasing combat spells, playing combat-worthy creatures. Drawing 3 cards doesn't fit into the realm.

[Ephraim]

Would it satisfy you, then, if I were to knock it down to two cards? For everybody else watching this card, would knocking it down to two cards be acceptable?

[TheWellknownBrownie]

It would definitely be more acceptable, although I still would not consider it a great example of the color pie.



After thinking about it, the kind of thing that I would consider acceptable as a version of the 3 cards would be something like;

2W
Renaissance Formation
Instant
If exactly three creatures you control are attacking, draw three cards. If you do, creatures you control deal no combat damage this turn.