Morphling, Torchling, Thornling, ??, ??

[zeus-online]

All this talk about morphling in the "Core set" thread had me thinking...What are the white and black "lings" gonna look like?

I had a few ideas, but i'm not at all sure if they're acceptable.

Lifeling - 
Creature - Elemental shapeshifter
 : Gains Shadow until end of turn.
 : Gains lifelink until end of turn.
 : Gains Vigilance until end of turn.
 : gets +1/-1 until end of turn.
 : gets -1/+1 until end of turn.
3/3

both morphling and thornling had ways of getting through multiple blockers...but i'm not sure if shadow "is fair" since in most blocks i'd be equal to unblockable.
Right now it's a bomb against weenies....not only do you gain 5 life on your turn, but you also get to block and get up to 5 life on their turn.
Other choices for white could be First strike, protection from: Color.
I could even imagine the white 'Ling to look like two angels opposite each other with one of them having a devil's tail (homage to morphling)

Now for black:
???ling - 
Creature - Elemental shapeshifter
 : Fear
 : Deathtouch
 : ???
 : gets +1/-1 until end of turn.
 : gets -1/+1 until end of turn.
3/3

I'm not really sure what abilities black gets that "fits", deathtouch and fear aren't really the most synergistic abilities out there.
Maybe giving it an "Hypnotic specter"-like ability, I.E. random discard... Really not sure about that one.

It seems pretty clear to me that they're doing a full circle of 'Lings.

I hope they're gonna be awesome, since i loved morphling, i like the art on torchling and i like the thornling's abilities (although the art is crap imo)

So, what are your thoughts?

/Zeus

[SimonCopp]

It would be fine to have overlap between the white and blue 'Lings' as in allowing both to have flying. Shadow would make him a complete house. It could also be replaced by Pro: colour as you suggested. It could also be Pro: card type which looks stronger vs control and weaker vs aggro where he's already very strong.

Giving the black Ling fear is fine. Deathtouch isn't that bad on the D (Make your dude a 1/5 with Deathtouch) but has a very narrow application on attack. The third ability seems so tough to come up with. Random discard would be too strong though whereas straight discard would still be very strong. It could also be a mini Tendrils Of Corruption B: Deal 2 damage to target creature, you gain 2 life.

I hope this gives you some inspiration.

[andrewpate]

They all have a defensive ability of some kind currently.  Morphling can gain Shroud, Thornling can become indestructible, and Torchling can redirect spells.  For this reason, I would give the black one regeneration for .  The white one is harder, since the obvious choice is protection, but protection from the color of your choice for is extremely strong.  Most of the other options are fairly clunky, though.

There is also the matter of abilities on the attack.  Morphling flies, Torchling has the provoke thing, and Thornling tramples.  Giving the black one fear seems reasonable, then.  As for the white one, you could give it the protection ability as both evasion and defense, letting its other two abilities be pretty lame in exchange (like maybe vigilance and first strike).  Alternatively, you could let it fly and make the other two abilities a bit stronger (like lifelink and some weaker defensive ability).

[Harlequin]

It seems like the theme is:
One "Showcase" ability (Untap, Haste)
One Evasion/combat ability (Flying, mini-Provoke ,Trample)
One Protection ability (Shroud, Deflect, Indestructable)


Swordling 3WW
: Target creature cannot block Swordling this turn.
: Swordling Gains First Strike.
: Prevent 2 damage to Swordling.
: -1/+1
: +1/-1

Sinling 3BB
: Target creature other than Sinling becomes 0/2 until end of turn.
: Sinling gains Fear
: Counter target spell or ability that targets Sinling unless its controler pays 2 life.
: -1/+1
: +1/-1


BTW Lifelink as an ability stacks.  So Giving it : lifelink would be EPIC amounts of life gain.  On the scale of an easy 9 life or more a turn.  If it was going to get lifelink it would have to be worded like "If ~this~ doesn't have lifelink, it gains lifelink." 

[zeus-online]

These are all good suggestions...i like the suggestion of giving the black one regeneration...it would also work quite well with the deathtouch ability.

I don't really like harlequin's suggestion for the white one. It just seems weaker then most of the others (Torchling is also kinda weak)

Maybe:
: Flying
: Swordling Gains Vigilance
: Counter target spell or ability that targets -This-.
: -1/+1
: +1/-1
It's alot like the old morphling with this wording...It can attack and defend, it flies and it has a "shroud-like" ability.

For the black one i think Regeneration, death touch and first strike/fear could work.

Maybe:
: Gains fear
: First strike
: Regeneration
: -1/+1
: +1/-1

First strike is a black ability as far as i know (judging from various knights, spirit of the night etc.)
Flanking is also something to consider.

/Zeus

[EnialisLiadon]

I always thought the best name for a black Morphling would be "Nightling."

[Nefarias]

One other thing to differentiate them could be fiddling with base P/T's. Thornling is a 4/4 because green gets better creatures. Midrange white creatures tend to have bigger toughnesses, and the reverse is true of black ones. Something like starting at 2/5 for white and maybe 4/2 or 4/3 for black would be a cool distinction.

[Matt]

Regeneration, Fear, and Deathtouch seem like the perfect trifecta for black.

The best "durable" mechanic for white would be Zhalfirin Crusader's ability (redirect damage) but the text might not fit on the card. Simply preventing damage is kind of boring when you can just raise its toughness.

Vigilance is clearly meant to be on the white one, and lifelink is a good defensive option. I don't want to duplicate flying, though, so it needs some other evasion.

Exalted would be cute.

[zeus-online]

Unfortunetly it's not a samurai, otherwise Bushido could be nice...

(Imagine a flanking, bushido, exalted creature though...And throw in "provoke" just to make the other abilities relevant)

There has been a few cards with "white fear"....could that be an option for the white one?

Redirect damage sounds good btw.

/Zeus

[ChemEng]

Sinling 3BB
: Target creature other than Sinling becomes 0/2 until end of turn.
: Sinling gains Fear
: Counter target spell or ability that targets Sinling unless its controler pays 2 life.
: -1/+1
: +1/-1

This is a very interesting ability with a small bluffing element built into it. With 3 B open for the Sinling owner, is it worth it to the spell caster to pay the 2 life with the knowledge that the ability to activate it several more times? Lots of opportunity to outplay with this card...

[Harlequin]

Yeah I really liked my Sinling.  I think the abilites work well together and are on flavor for black.  I'm always like when some sort of homage gets tossed out to old iconic cards (hense the 0/2).  Sinling as a whole might be too good though...

Fear, Regen, death-touch are all good ideas on thier own, but it seems like most of those abilites invalidate the +/- abilites.  A 3/3 with regen and deathtouch seems like all this guy would ever be.  Maybe he will randomly hit the opponent for 4 or 5 if unblocked... I thought the same thing about indestructable on thornling too.  It seems to negate the -1/+1 ability.