Frost Lotus Blessing | Rime Lotus Curse

[OdinVanguard]

NAME: Frost Lotus Blessing ELEMENT: Water COST: 2 TYPE: Spell ATK|HP: TEXT: Target ally marks 2 card in each deck when it deals damage and freezes marked enemies when they attack	NAME: Rime Lotus Curse ELEMENT: Water COST: 2 TYPE: Spell ATK|HP: TEXT: Target ally marks 2 card in each deck when it deals damage and freezes marked enemies when they attack

ART: Original Link: Yellow Lotus, Wikipedia Commons; Modified by OdinVanguard using GIMP IDEA: OdinVanguard NOTES: "Today is a good day to go with the ebb and flow of things" "With patience and perserverence, you shall see your enemies plans will be frozen in their tracks today." This ability is essentially meant as a late game stall for mono water or as a way to attain marked cards in multi-element card marking decks. The cost is low enough to allow it to be splashed as an off element into non-water decks. Both upped and unupped essentially perform the same task, but the unupgraded version does so by applying a buff to an ally creature while the upgraded version applies a debuff to an enemy creature. This slight inversion should make the upgraded version less susceptible to CC since there are fewer mass CC effects that can take down an owned creature than those that take down enemies. NOTE: This ability WILL allow immaterial cards to be frozen I put this in big red letters because it I think this is likely going to be a common question and may be an important discussion topic. Spoiler for My reasoning for this: 1) Thematically - Immaterial creatures (particularly via quintescence) are thought to be removed into a different dimension / realm of existence which puts them out of reach of normal effects. They are essentially transcendent of normal existence, like a concept or idea, or perhaps simply reside in their own individual pocket of reality. They do, however, phase into existence when attacking (which is why shields affect them). Card marking, represents placing a special signiture / tracker on cards. This could, e.g. be the concept / individual thought in the case of cards in a hand or deck. As such it allows a way of interacting with things (such as the concept of a spell or creature or permanent) before it is even manifest. I.e. it allows interaction with the immaterial. More importantly, this card, like shields, only applies its effect at the time when the immaterial creature is 'phasing' into existence. So, like shields, it applies its effect at the one time when interaction is possible. 2) Mechanically (relative difficulty of application) - Immaterial status holds a very special place in EtG. It requires its user to pay a premium in terms of card cost and / or card advantage to protect its creatures (or permanents) from harm. It is for this reason that only very few cards can interact with immaterial cards (e.g. SoW). This particular effect also requires its user to effectively pay a premium, in terms of the amount of time and cards invested in order to see marked cards make their way into play. This means that players of immaterial based decks will still have a (possibly large) window to get their immaterial cards set up before this effect takes place. Thus, immaterial status still holds significant value as a protective measure. Lastly, the downside to immaterial status is that it also prevents the owner from applying beneficial interactions (SoW being an exception). SERIES: Marked Card Mechanic Series