midrange light creature

[russianspy1234]

So most of the time, I do top down design (come up with a theme, come up with mechanics for it) but for this, i have an idea for a mechanic, but am having trouble coming up with a theme to house it.

Creature
Cost:         4
ATK|HP:     4 | 4
Ability:       Gets +1 | +1 if you are at max health.

The ability is simplistic and is mostly there because vanilla cards really don't tend to poll well.  I feel light needs a decently efficient midrange hitter that doesnt require another element to be good.

[furballdn]

4 for 4|4 you say?


The ability of gaining +1/+1 if the user is at max health is almost always useless.

4|4 vanilla (your ability seems very vanilla) can be for 3 quanta cost

[russianspy1234]

4 for 4|4 you say?


The ability of gaining +1/+1 if the user is at max health is almost always useless.

4|4 vanilla (your ability seems very vanilla) can be for 3 quanta cost

thats upped thought. 3 is fine i suppose.

maybe a unicorn theme?  that pegusus has a horn though...

[OdinVanguard]

How about something like:
 
Name -  Devout Champion
Cost - 4
Ability - Avatar: Gains bonus HP and attack based on owners %HP remaining
Atk|HP - 1|1

you could scale it however you want then, just state it in the notes.
So right maybe:
0-24% -> +1|+1
25-49% -> +2|+2
50-74% -> +3|+3
75-99% -> +4|+4
100% -> +5|+5

That way it would be a 6|6 if player was at full health and a 5|5 if a player was near full health.
At above half health it would be the original 4|4. etc.

[russianspy1234]

How about something like:
 
Name -  Devout Champion
Cost - 4
Ability - Avatar: Gains bonus HP and attack based on owners %HP remaining
Atk|HP - 2|2

you could scale it however you want then, just state it in the notes.

not a bad card, but not what i'm going for. would also be hard to balance as miracle is in element and would make a swarm of them really powerful.  i'm not married to the ability i gave, but i want something either free or on element.

[OdinVanguard]

Balancing shouldn't be too terrible I think. You can just adjust the att|hp vs player_HP% scale. Miracle should actually help since it will make it less situational.

[ZephyrPhantom]

I feel light needs a decently efficient midrange hitter that doesnt require another element to be good.

Compare:
vs.

The first two require duos/a quanta splash to be fully viable. (When Pegasus' ability is disregarded [aka you have no ], it is less efficient than other creatures for at least 1 )
The third does not become a viable midhitter until it is upgraded.

What Light really needs IMHO is an efficient midhitter for its unupped mono enviroment similar in style to Puffer Fish, Seraph, or GoTP. (Crusader doesn't really count since it can't Endow Morning Star and Short Sword is probably one of the less viable endow targets). I have tried to fill this midhitter niche as well with cards like Mother Wolf and Fervent General.

Gets +1 | +1 if you are at max health.

The ability you suggested would only matter in the early game when damage is still reversible back to an EM or at endgame when Miracle is cast with SoG/Sanctuary already out (by that time, you've already either won/lost.)  Scaling based on remaining HP would be interesting and I don't see why it would be hard to balance.  (Miracle is too expensive to give it an impact early game - Devout Champions would likely remain 5 | 5's or 4 | 4's throughout the game even with Sanctuary unless one player gains a major advantage.) I think I'll mess around with this ability a bit.

That being said:

i want something either free or on element.

Could you clarify what you mean by this?

[russianspy1234]

That being said:

i want something either free or on element.

Could you clarify what you mean by this?

An ability that doesnt cost off element quanta (because it would run into the same problem as pegasus) and preferably one that doesnt cost quanta at all (crusdaer and angel).  Actually, I'll go ahead and add that I am shooting for an ability that is free in terms of cost balancing as well.  Basically, I would make a vanilla creature (something light could use more off, especially given lucifern) if I didn't think it would drop out of the polls in the first cycle, so I am going for an ability that is practically vanilla, but could still be occasionally relevant.

[furballdn]

I think you're looking for a passive ability if you want synergy with luci. This means the ability cannot be activated. Perhaps take odin's idea into account? I really like the idea of gaining stats based on hp%, especially since light is about stalling and healing.

If you want a free or on element, the thing that comes to mind is a mono light grower, but that feels bland.

[russianspy1234]

I think you're looking for a passive ability if you want synergy with luci. This means the ability cannot be activated. Perhaps take odin's idea into account? I really like the idea of gaining stats based on hp%, especially since light is about stalling and healing.

If you want a free or on element, the thing that comes to mind is a mono light grower, but that feels bland.

indeed... also, a grower fits a slightly different niche than just midrange (unless i specked it like lava golem which doesnt seem right for light)

[furballdn]

Doing it like what odin suggested (as a passive) makes it so that it is almost a "win more" card. You could try it the other way around like a desperation attacker, but that will require balancing and innovation.

Alternatively you could also make a creature that gets stronger based on how much you heal (luci, sanct, holy light, heal), but that'd also need more refining and balancing with miracle/sosac.

[russianspy1234]

It's not that I don't like those ideas, I do, it's just not what I am going for with this card.  The fact that even a simple effect makes people want to refine it to make it more interesting is reinforcing my notion that I definitely can't make it vanilla, but I want to get close to that...  I am toying around with making it +2 | +2 if you are at max health, but that makes it a bit too swingy.  Might wanna forget about the slight growth and go with a different effect...  How about "instances of healing on you are increased by 1"  not particularly relevant in most cases, but if you have lots of sanctuaries it should make a difference.  plus it'll make miracle give EM.  that ability isn't free cost balance wise though... would take the card out of cheap midhitter range.