Mega Man Magic - Spoiler 12

When I was first putting together the set, I found that I had a considerable lack of creatures to choose from, when compared with an average Magic set. I solved this issue in a couple of ways:

• I added a couple of token-generating cards. Using this let me create the same creature a couple different ways, which gave me extra cards.
• I added Mega Man 1. Initially, the set was only going to include Mega Man 2, but I was so short on creatures that I decided to incorporate both 1 and 2.
• And finally, I made separate creatures for each of the different colored versions of the creatures that occur in the game.

This last factor is what I'm going to focus on today. Each of these spoilers is one of those creatures that occurs in a couple different colors in its game. By the way, this is going to be a huge spoiler. Here we go.

A couple of small commons here, nothing to fancy, because the creature isn't too fancy. They're both commons that could fill out a limited deck, but would see probably zero play in standard. It's possible Grey Blocky could be a part of some unpleasant combo that rapidly returns him to the battlefield to be killed again, but its effect is pretty small, and I don't have an easy way to make it happen inside my set. I try not to set up disasters if I can avoid them.

The Big Eyes from the original Mega Man were a problem opponent for me, even after learning that they jump high if you jump and land right before they jump. My timing was just never that good. In the set, they're big honkin' creatures with a sort of "automated" feel to them. Costing these big creatures is always tough for me, because I want them to be good, but within reason. Hopefully I didn't miss the boat.

 

These are a couple of simple defenders with token-generating abilities. I think if I were drafting, I might actually take Yellow Scworm Dispenser fairly high. Not Rancor high, but Sporemound high. I think it's the kind of card that might demand removal, which is really all you're looking for in the middle rounds of a draft. Anyways, pretty straightforward cards.

Daring Flea is one of those "strictly better" cards, this time being strictly better than Vulshok Berserker. I felt like the bonus was pretty niche, and we're up a rarity, so I'm comfortable with it. Also, in general, special blocks have a little more leeway than core sets, and the Berserker was last printed in M11. Partner Flea was a tough card to cost. It feels like double strike is still a keyword that Wizards is trying to figure out. I think the card could definitely be an interesting one to play with, and is complex enough to warrant uncommon status.

You can tell that I was hard up on red creatures, can't you? Lots of these alternate color palette guys ended up falling into red. That said, the Crazy Cannon creature(s) were always going to be red, because of their effects. The Mortar's effect is way stronger than the Sniper's, since you can almost always do its tap damage whenever you need, whereas the Sniper has to do the last bit of damage on a creature. Hence the differences in casting costs and power/toughness. Either way though, eat your heart out Prodigal Pyromancer (and Prodigal Sorcerer?).

I wanted to avoid using the exact colors too often (like Red Scworm Dispenser, etc), so I honestly went to Wikipedia and looked up colors. And now you've got Burgundy and Sienna. Anyways, a couple of defenders with typically green and red effects, respectively. Burgundy is the more playable, and the more expensive. Duh.

Remember when I said I was trying to avoid using exact colors too often? These were early cards in the set, so they got priority. A couple of simple 3/3s for 4, with their prototype bonuses. Red Prop-Top is probably better, but they're both solid.

This isn't the complete list of creatures who were developed by using alternate colors of the same enemy. There are a few more upcoming, but I didn't want to overload you and diminish the excitement. You got 14 cards in one spoiler, plus a token. Stop complaining. STOP IT.

God you're such a baby. More next week.