Elemental Runes | Glyphs

[storyteller]

This is a direct meta counter to Shards. Many of the Shards are overpowered, can only be gained in PvP/Arena and unbalance the game. These Runes or Glyphs, are counter to this. They are obtained through PvE, false gods and artifact runs. They are not crystalline forms of the elements, they are the patternistic imprints of elements. Many are enchantments that grant a power, passive or active skill to a creature, permanent or affect a spell.

Each Element get a Glyph, and there are a few Other Glyphs as well. Most affect things in play, few affect the players directly. I am welcoming community feedback and consider this a group project.


these are some archetypal abilities of the various elements. It is a starting point. I see Glyphs being imprinted on shields, weapons, creatures and permanents to add their power to that creature/permanent/etc to be used over time. Activation cost should be of the Glyph element.

 
spell damage
immortality

 
Target creature gains Airborne

 
steal
cloak
drain

 
Target Creature gains Scavenger

 
enchant artifact
guard
burrow


 
mutation


 
Target Creature gains Ablaze

 
momentum
devour

 
adrenaline
heal

 
healing
protection

 
reverse time
precognition

 
Target creature gains Swim (ignore flooding, etc)

 
extra attack
extra hp
make colorless(unaligned)

[ZephyrPhantom]

Why hard-counter shards when they can just be nerfed instead?

I was originally thinking of a hard-counter 'Shard Knight'/'Shard Heretic' that had a similar anti-shard effect, but then I realized the effect was more flexible as anti-rainbow/pro-mono and made it into Templar | Templar. Are Glyphs similar in that they counter rainbow in general (with an effect that slightly leans towards anti-Shard) or do they hard-counter shards (e.g. Ban their specific effects from working even if the effect doesn't say 'Counter Shard of X')?

[storyteller]

they are more alternates to Shards. The Anti part, comes from enchanting something with a power. Shards embody the Element in a crystalline form. Glyphs imbue the essence of the element into something. I see these used often on Shields, Other weapons, perhaps some vanilla creatures. I see them strongest, when used to create a combination of elements not normally obtained. Consider a Lava Golem made Airborne with a Glyph, a Sapphire Charger that drains quanta or a Giant Frog that can Enchant Artifacts. Instead of Shards that just do something, these give powers to creatures and permanents, with a few exceptions that perform an instant effect.

[OldTrees]

"Direct counter" is a term that has a specific meaning (hard counter) you did not intend.

[storyteller]

fix'd