Karakoram Range
Power 8
Design 6
Kazandu Migration Path
Power 9
Design 5
Klindathu Wilds
Power 9
Design 5
Kraken (retuning)
Power 9
Design 5
Up there with the black five drop dork, this is one of the most impressive of the land cyclers. It is just really meaty. This does a really good job of stabilizing. The ward prevents too much in the way of devastating blowouts and the very unblue statline lets you stave off a load of aggression. I cast this a lot. More than I should have if the card were properly balanced. For that balance it should clearly be a smaller size, again, somewhat mirroring the black Djinn, this should be a 3/4, 3/5, or 4/4. The issue there is that it doesn't feel very much like a Kraken at that point. Even a 4/5 is a little shrimpy for the type. Like, this is an 11/11 art! That bear is presumably a 2/2, reckon six of them ain't doing much to this thing! The correct fix therefor is likely just going to 6 mana rather than shrinking the size. I could even slap on an extra stat and have that remain fine. I would have missed this obvious solution in design due to cycle blindness. Simply put, this was part of a cycle that cost five. That parameter is how I understood the cards and so going outside that didn't occur.
Kruphix Decrees Calm
Power 7
Design 7
A big barrier to entry for Simic decks in limited is their inability to deal with creatures. Simic has consistently been the under achiever of the limited world. Spot and mass removal is neither colours thing and that is the simple reason why it under performs. There is fighting and bouncing and countering and all that jazz but it just doesn't quite cut it. I had made some spot removal options in Simic and they were OK but there was no mass removal option. Simic also tended towards wanting to be a control archetype rather than an aggressive one. This card is a very Simic feeling solution to dorks. It is my attempt at a viable but on colour-pie mass removal spell. It has seen play, it has been fine, Simic control is viable but still way prefers to be a third colour. I wasn't too hopeful for this card in conception but in practice the thing holding it back is being Simic, it is holding up nicely at being a viable, fair, and playable mass removal spell. So probably the answer is I need redundancy in these things to bring Simic up to par... Not going to bother trying for that. Seems counter productive and likely to make things all a bit samey. This is a third print run card and so there is still plenty of testing to be done in general around the impact this has on the format.
Knowledge Crypts
Power 9
Design 6
This is a bit dodgy in that in the matchups you get to cast it, it is really really good. And in those that you don't, it is just a land, and that is no bad thing. This just lines up all a little too nicely. You tend to win if you cast this and that isn't ideal. It isn't cast loads either. I would rather increase the rate it is played and lower the rate it then goes on to win but that is rather easier said than done. I am at least happier with this being cast significantly less than the other land cyclers as it is still often an interesting choice. I have had this at four mana and up and done a lot of wondering if I need the cards and can afford the life, often concluding I don't and can't. While this gets less swingy if you reduce the cost and effect, it does quickly become better. A land or card draw spell is really quite a sweet spot as far as consistency and value go!
Kolaghan's Brutality (cut)
Power 6
Design 6
This card is fine but it is mostly a generic filler card, and when you have such things on somewhat of a gold card that is where it stays into the parasitic card territory. Design wise this is all cool, it just isn't where we want to be for cube cards if possible. Slapping a red or colourless escalate cost on that would allow mono red players to use it would go down a lot better. This is the kind of card that assists with consistency, and historically that makes things super exiting however my homemade cube was all designed towards that end and so these generic modal cards are characterless and on the superfluous side.
Khyber Pass (cut)
Power 5
Design 4
Kormus Horn
Power 8
Design 9
This is an absolute triumph of a card. It is very playable, does very fun things, and does this without creeping into the realms of the overpowered. I have always loved this artwork and am very happy to have put it on this much more deserving card. This is somewhat "the colourless Necropotence", that is certainly where I started on the design brief for it. Mechanically it is a long way from Necro but it is a three mana cards for life engine. It is also nicely self sufficient thanks to the food side of it. Without that element the card would likely be too steep for most decks and thus become too narrow to work well in the cube. Some of the best games I have had involved this card and skirting the edge on life and cards for a long time. Paying down to your last few life because you are short on gas and then having to throw away dorks to get that life back and so on. The few food cards I designed in this set are some of my favourites and this plays into them very nicely as an extra support tool.
Kormus the Great
Power 7
Design 7
The answer to the question "what would Griselbrand look like as a six drop you could cast rather than cheating into play?" This was inspired by the Kormus Horn, and like the Horn, plays pretty well. This is powerful top end with some clean choices. It is hard to get blown out in terms of value but easy in terms of tempo. This is just good clean top end fun. If you want six drops this one will get the job done in most settings. This is one of the very few cards I feel could take some extra text. He is a big mythic flashy demon and yet has less text box than most uncommons!
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