I'm running low on sleep this week, so here's an anecdote from my adventures at GP Seattle (
previously). Between the draft and dinner, a friend and I came up with a cycle of
Slivers for the next Magic Un-set. Slivers are an old creature type unique to Magic that are known for having a hive mind; any ability one Sliver knows augments all other Slivers (or, in later versions, all other Slivers you control). Here are the names we came up with, plus color identities and some appropriate abilities.
- Sliver of Hope: White. Slivers you control have lifelink.
- Sliver of Doubt: Blue. Slivers you control get "Tap: You scry 1."
- Sliver of Shadow: Black. Slivers you control get "Tap: Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn."
- Sliver of Annoyance: Red. Slivers you control have first strike.
- Sliver of Wood: Green. Slivers you control get +1/+1 and "When this creature enters the battlefield, it may fight target creature."
- Sliver of Silver: Artifact. Non-artifact slivers you control have Improvise (each artifact you tap while casting it pays for 1 mana of its casting cost).
We had an idea for a Host Sliver that creates a Sliver token when it enters the battlefield. It should probably be green, and I don't know what to call it. There also needs to be a Sliver Augment to go with the Host, but I don't know what color it should be or what its abilities are besides making the creature it augments a Sliver. It needs to play well with the Scholarly Sliver; maybe it replaces "when it enters the battlefield" "whenever you cast a creature spell." I wonder what happens if you augment something with the Sliver Augment while Sliver of Wood is in play--does it let you fight creatures whenever you cast a creature spell?
In related Magic news, this same friend and I have just created a Mastodon instance for the Magic-playing community. Join us at
wubrg.social for discussions of lore and card reveals, and hopefully some play-by-post Magic.
There's a conflation here between silver-bordered and sliver-bordered, and I'm getting papercuts just thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteThe Sliver augment I'd been poking around is:
Half-Sliver, Half-
Artifact Creature - Sliver
Sliver creatures you control gain "(2), T, Sacrifice this creature:"
Augment (3)
P/T +1/+1
Google autocomplete for "sliver of" also gives 'cake', 'moon', 'time' and 'truth', all of which have potential!
Looks nice. I would call it Sliver-, to match the naming conventions of the larger slivers.
DeleteSliver Moon could be the red one, a la Blood Moon: "All nonbasic lands you control are now slivers." (I think by this point we're making a rare cycle.)
I'd prefer it if they were old school slivers, so all slivers in play get the bonus, not just the ones you control. But still, more slivers, thank you.
ReplyDelete