Although most people seem to be on the "change dat ability" bandwagon, I thought I'd just throw this out for discussion's sake.
Let's look at the other buffs:
-Reduce the summoning cost - Erm no, quint on a stick is pretty strong in all cases. Even if stats lowered the cost would still remain pretty high. It also goes out of theme with all the nymphs costing 8-9 quanta.
-Increase the health - Maybe if you made it 4 to survive Rof and maybe slow down plague, but I'm not sure how else this helps.
-Decrease the ability cost - While this would work (see Arctic Squid), it might overshadow Anubis a bit much if this is done.
-Come into play immortal - I like this because this strikes as a double-edged sword - it prevents most CC from being used, but it also prevents a combo with SoR. Also it is fitting thematically, I think a nymph would have enough power to be immortal the moment it is played.
-Change the ability - While it's definitley an interesting suggestion, I'm not exactly a big fan of it. Sure, it may be similar to Anubis, but it's mono, which can make a difference sometimes.
- Quint - The current one.
- Fractal - Out of the question. Too expensive.
- Phase Shield - Not related to the Nymph at all. It's also pretty strong, possibly OP since you could pretty much be invicible from physical damage for an upkeep for 4
. - Mindgate - This feels redundant since we already have a permanent that can do it. For those of you who point to
's 4 different methods of drawning, let me note that they are all useful in different situations. Precog is a quick draw, Sundial blocks damage, Hourglass is the generic drawer, and Nymph is a decent attacker that also gives the added benefit of viewing your opponent's hand. On the other hand, the only difference between this proposed change and Mindgate is what cards they are vulnerable to. - TU - *points to Mitosis* I have a valid explanation for that one, especially since PU can carry over stat buffs as well as copy from the opponent's side unlike Mitosis. Please don't.
- Copying a card to hand - See phase shield. Upkeep is increased, but by the time you get this combo rolling you should still have enough quanta (Initially copy your pillars to increase eventual quanta gain, then copy shields)
As for stats -
Creature Value = Attack + HP modifier + Ability Value + Bonus
Unupped
Attack = + 7
HP = + 0 (1-5)
Ability Value= +3, but -1 for expensive ability cost. Final Value : +2
Bonus?: Aether generally gets -1 cost for creatures.
Final Value : 8
Upped adds +1 with the attack increase, but that is negated by the -1 for upgrading.
Aether nymph is overpriced.
Usage Status:
Turquoise Nymph has been used about 6000 times.
Aether Nymph has been used about 2000 times (but then again Upgrading nymphs = bad to most people)
Combined this is 8000 times.
Anubis in both forms has been used about a total of 111000 times.
Quintessence has been used 376000 times.
So what does Anubis have that Nymph doesn't? High HP.
What does Quint have that Nymph doesn't? Speed.
If Nymph was given Immaterial, it would make it much more defendable, and since rares are supposed to be slightly more powerful than normal cards, it makes sense.
Alternatively, Nymph's Quintessence could be given the status "this can be used multiple times per turn", bump the ability cost to 4-5 and lower the attack to 3. This would make it extremely fast when it hits the field, and better than Anubis. Got a problem with it doing that? Well, CC it the moment it comes out or play a damage shield. That's how Immortals die.
One more alternative would just be lower the attack and raise the HP. I'm not sure how well this would go, but then it'd be at least on par with Anubis.
