Pattern Recognition #164 - A Replacement Mechanic

Features Opinion Pattern Recognition

berryjon

20 August 2020

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Hello everyone! Welcome back to Pattern Recognition! This is TappedOut.net's longest running article series. In it, I aim to bring to you each week a new article about some piece of Magic, be it a card, a mechanic, a deck, or something more fundamental or abstract. I am something of an Old Fogey and part-time Smart Ass, so I sometimes talk out my ass. Feel free to dissent or just plain old correct me! I also have a Patreon if you feel like helping out.

You know, going into this, I have to remind myself of a couple of facts. Things that need to be said in order to avoid me speaking with my head up my ass as happens on occasion. First is that I am not trying to show up Wizards. I'm not trying to be a self-aggrandizing idiot who thinks that he can do a better job of their job than they can. I'm looking at something that Wizards themselves thinks needs to be updated and refined if it is going to see the light of day again, so in that way, I'm not saying I can improve on their successes, but rather, I want to take a crack at improving what is seen as a failure.

So, let's talk about Bushido.

From the Kamigawa block, Bushido was a mechanic - a Triggered Ability - found on many of the creatures with the Samurai creature type that states "Bushido N. (_Whenever this creature blocks or is blocked, it gets +N/+N until the end of the turn.)" In practice, this was a defensive mechanic as you, the player with Bushido, could control when and where the blocks happened, in order to get the most out of the ability.

Bushido has been a mechanic that has been in the back of many player's minds for a long time, and while it is quite a mediocre mechanic by any measure, it does encourage in its own slight way, combat. Curiously though, Wizards considered rebranding the mechanic as Chivalry for Throne of Eldraine as the mechanic for Knight Tribal, but they ran into the same issues with the original version. It was flavorful with the name, but it discouraged aggressive actions. Which, given, you know, Knights, wasn't seen as a good thing for gameplay.

There were a few other variants of Chivalry that were considered, but that is irrelevant to my thought process today.

In working with Bushido, it is important to begin by understanding what it is intended to do, what it does, and where the disconnect happens so that I can start to unravel what works and doesn't.

Bushido makes creatures bigger, and that's all it does. The N in it is a variable that allows you, the player, to control how big this variance is. Most notably through Sensei Golden-Tail, a remarkably useful creature in a White Weeny deck for their ability to make creatures a bit bigger in combat. Not always such, but I had fun with it in a very old Banding/Bushido deck in ages past.

But in of itself, making creatures bigger isn't, by necessity, making them better. No matter how big a Samurai with Bushido is, unless it has Trample, the power means nothing, the toughness means nothing. A Chump block by a 1/1 means the same thing to a 1/1 or to a 20/20. This sort of change in power and toughness can only really mean something when you can control it. Which is on the defense.

As such, any replacement or update to Bushido needs to be more viable on the attack as well as the defense.

Also as was noted with the potential existence of Chivalry as a mechanic, anything the takes the place of Bushido needs to have a name change. It needs a name that isn't as tied to a specific class, and can work in any colour on any Plane on any set. This will open up the mechanic as an ancillary design, and opening up options.

So, let's get the name out of the way, and here is where I am cheating by drawing on my previous thought experiments to already come to a conclusion that I am comfortable with. And so, I present:

Duelist

This name is intended to be evocative of two creatures facing off in combat, and being better or more optimized for it. It is generic enough that it, unlike Bushido or Chivalry, is not inherently tied to any creature type, Plane or theme. Rather, it is a descriptor that focuses on combat itself, which should help remind players when it is triggered.

Next up, we must look at the nature of the trigger itself. The greatest problem with Bushido is that is required a block to happen, and as has been said again and again, this makes the mechanic very defensive in nature as the only way you can control it is to decide the blocks for yourself. Incorporating effects such as Boros Battleshaper or Master Warcraft to make this mechanic work are a non-starter in my view, as it would require too much forced interaction.

The first solution is to change the trigger to be one where when this creature attacks or blocks, which is an established clause thanks to cards like Howling Golem. This simple change gives aggressive players the same options as the defensive ones, as well as making sure that each player has a say in what goes on. This solution is the simplest, and the one most in line with existing wording and text. All other factors being equal, I would rather use this as my solution.

Secondly, I could maintain the existing phrasing. This is an option only on paper as I am trying to improve or refine the mechanic, and leaving it with its core problem would be a tacit admission that I'm not trying to do any of that. I can't do that, and so it's only an option here so that I can reject it.

Third, remove the requirement to be blocked. This is not a good choice as it reinforces the defensive minded nature of the mechanic, and I want to work toward a mechanic that allows for both aggressive and defensive choices and options.

Fourth, we remove the requirement to do a block. The more I think about it, the more I find this solution to be untenable. It is the one strong point that Bushido has, and even if we make the mechanic a keyword that happens only when the creature attacks then we are gaining nothing.

No, the mechanic is best served by being a trigger on the attack or the block. This opens up the most design space, and keeps the mechanic as simple as possible to allow for new players and more established ones to remember when it comes to being triggered.

Therefore, we can write out this mechanic as thus:

Duelist - When this creature attacks or blocks (do this thing).

Now the question comes, what does this mechanic do? What can we put into (do this thing) that makes the mechanic work?

To do that, I think we should look into what it shouldn't be in order to see what is left.

What Duelist is Not

Duelist as a mechanic that works by performing an action during combat. To that end, we need to be wary of actions that make no sense for combat, or would result in additional complexity that exceed what the majority of players would tolerate as they are in the middle of a combat step.

To that end, the first thing that we need to discount from giving this mechanic is all but a couple of the evergreen keywords. Things like Flying, First Strike and Defender are all keywords that can be safely ignored as they would be better be served just being put onto a creature as a keyword directly rather than as a triggered ability. There are a couple of exceptions to this that I want to discus later on - Trample, Scry and Double Strike.

With those out of the way, abilities attached to Duelist should be relevant to combat, if only for simplicity's sake. Now, this is not to say that all such results should be combat related. The card that I have chosen as an example of this ability - Howling Golem - goes for a drawn card instead of anything relevant to attacking or blocking in of itself.

Thus, non-combat related abilities should have an immediate effect, and not one that would cause memory issues further down the turn or even into future turns. Card drawing would be acceptable, as are other effects that can be put onto an Instant with no ill effects to the game.

Duelist, as a mechanic, should encourage attacking and blocking, not punish these actions. It should not make combat an undesirable choice for anyone, in as much as anyone would or would not desire combat in the first place.

Interactions with other Mechanics

Before I get into building up Duelist, I want to spend some time looking at how this mechanic interacts with other mechanics. There are some potential issues here that should be addressed before going forward.

First and foremost is Afflict. This mechanic from Hour of Devastation is centered in , but appears in and as well. When a creature with Afflict attacks and is blocked, the defending player loses life equal to the Afflict value on the card. For the most part, the Afflict value was less than the actual power of the creature, but there was an exception for Wildfire Eternal and Eternal of Harsh Truths that is designed to punish the defender and reward the attacker or either choice in blocking or unblocking.

I see Duelist as a thematic counter to Afflict. Whereas the latter punishes the act of getting into combat as the defender to some small degree, the former should encourage it.

If you wanted to go the extra step, as Afflict is a mechanic in , and Duelist is intended to be a primary mechanic, should they both appear in the same set, Duelist can be added to in order to provide thematic and practical opposition in multiple environments, including draft, sealed and Standard.

Because of the intended effect to encourage aggressive combat, Duelist also synergizes well with Battle Cry, Battalion, Mentor, and Skulk and other unblockable effects. These various keywords and abilities all have positive interactions with attacking creatures, with with the exception of Skulk, are all in , which also lends credence to the idea that Duelist should be in as well.

I mentioned earlier that I would talk about three evergreen keywords that would be addressed here - Trample, Scry and Double Strike.

I want to call out Trample as a mechanic that is an example of why wee should not be including regular keywords on this mechanic. When blocking, Trample is irrelevant, while when attacking, gaining Trample gains the attacking creature nothing that could not be had by simply including the mechanic straight onto the creature, rather than making it conditional. I understand that there are fringe cases where granting Trample during combat may be important in terms of stacking abilities, but such cases are too fringe for the purposes of Duelist. Let's not cater to the rare for a mechanic that is intended to work at Common.

Secondly, Scry. Struggle as I might, I wonder if making an effect that mimics Aqueous Form through Spined Megalodon and putting into is worth it as the colour itself doesn't have that sort of effect yet. I am calmed by the fact that being able to Scry on the attack is already in the game, and scrying on the block is not something that seems to be a breakable thing as Scry is evergreen and can be added to any other card or effect with little change in the balance of the card or in the set.

Lastly, Double Strike. Of all the combat relevant combat keywords, this one is the one I am giving the most thought to actually including with Duelist. Mostly because of Duelist's Heritage, Kor Duelist and Spiraling Duelist, each creatures with this mechanic's name in their own name, and for including Double Strike on them. Unlike simply adding First Strike, the adding of Double Strike on a creature that is only dealing damage to another creature and not to a Planeswalker or player is a little more balanced in so much as this is simply a roundabout way to deal with creatures using creatures. First Strike as well, but Double Strike magnifies the damage involved, rather giving out a conditional binary choice about whether or not certain creatures survive combat or not.

What Duelist Is, and Examples

With all this in mind, Duelist can now be given examples of and explanations can be had as to why these decisions and examples were made.

CW01 - Gate Guardian
Duelist - Whenever Gate Guardian attacks or blocks, gain 3 life.
0/2

This initial card heavily emphasizes the defensive nature of this ability, and more importantly shows that not all triggers have to be immediately combat related. By putting this creature's power to 0, it creates an interesting choice where it can freely attack with no immediately obvious threat to the defender, though given that this is we're talking about here, combat tricks are part of their repertoire. The life gain would require testing, and to see how Lifegain is going to work in the Future Standard.

CW02 - Aggressive Soldier
First Strike. Duelist - Whenever Aggressive Soldier attacks or blocks, you may deal one damage to target creature defending player controls.

This creature, on the other hand, not only actively encourages attacking (and blocking prevents self-destructive tendencies with a simple 'may'), but is also a call back to the concept of "Ranged Strike" that tends to occur only on instants at this point. I understand that this could be a hard sell, but I think it is important to demonstrate that unlike it's predecessor, Duelist can have aggressive applications.

CW03 - Totally Not A Samurai, Guys
Duelist - Whenever Totally Not A Samurai, Guys attacks or blocks, it gets +1/+1 until the end of the turn.

Bushido, except that it can be triggered when the creature attacks, rather than is blocked. Thus, the trigger has already happened on the offense, and the defending player isn't as caught off guard by it.

UW01 - Bird Catcher
Duelist - Whenever Bird Catcher attacks or blocks, create a 1/1 Bird Token with Flying.

Token generation at Uncommon is acceptable, and making it contingent on a creature is also allowable. The problem with this creature is timing as the creation of the token comes after all attackers and blockers are assigned, meaning that unlike cards that create tokens that are tapped and attacking, like Basri Ket or Falconer Adept from Core 2021, these creatures are left out of combat. And depending on the power and toughness of this creature, it could come into the same design space as Hunted Witness, a creature that dies and replaces itself.

RW01 - Duelist Exemplar
Vigilance. Duelist - Whenever Duelist Exemplar attacks or blocks, untap all creatures you control and they gain +1/+1 until the end of the turn.

Here we have a creature with a Lord effect allowing you to attack and recover all your creatures for defense on the next turn. What makes this different than a creature that grants Vigilance however, is that it allows you to tap your creatures before combat for other purposes, such as with the Convoke mechanic, or because they have an inherent activated ability that requires tapping such as Samite Healer. This creature also shows that the Duelist trigger doesn't need to be one that just affects the creature itself, but can affect all creatures.

CG01 - Sword Wielding Elf
Trample. Duelist - Whenever Sword Wielding Elf attacks or blocks, but a +1/+1 counter on it.

Now we branch out into other colours. is the colour of creature growth, and Trample is almost exclusively theirs. This combination allows for a creature to grow progressively as they attack or block, until they require a more permanent response. I think it's a good and simple example of what can do with this mechanic.

UG01 - Deathtouch Equipment
Duelist - Whenever equipped creature attacks or blocks, it gains Deathtouch until the end of the turn.

I mentioned that I didn't feel that putting combat keywords into Duelist was the right choice, and here I am putting forward an example card where just that is done in order to help determine if my feelings in this regard are right or not.

UU01 - Wizard Duelist
Duelist - Whenever Wizard Duelist attacks or blocks, Scry 1 then draw a card.

can and will draw cards pretty much whenever they want to, and this is another option for them in the same vein as the Howling Golem that I chose to start this mechanic off. Here we see how this mechanic can expand past as the primary, and as the secondary. It's a simple, in-colour effect with being an Opt on a body and more importantly, can encourage to attack on occasion, or hold it back for the block. Including Flying for the creature can help this along.

CR01 - Giant Spearman
First Strike. Duelist - Whenever Giant Spearman attacks or blocks, it gets +2/+0 until the end of the turn.

A dangerous combination, which may need to be bumped up to Uncommon for limited play depending on how high or low the initial power is. Here I show again that power or toughness can be adjusted in combat, and in this case, just power.

WBR01 - Legendary Planeswalker Stabber
Duelist - Whenever Legendary Planeswalker Stabber attacks or blocks, target Planeswalker takes damage equal to LDS's power and that Planeswalker deals damage to LDS equal to its loyalty. (This damage is simultaneous.)

If a hard counter to Planeswalkers is needed, and I don't think it's needed, then Duelist can support such formatting. The effect is most certainly far too powerful for what I'm proposing here, but the idea should be there in case it is needed. And a reminder to others that despite my conservative ability choices so far, Duelist is just a triggered Keyword ability, and as such can be given a wide variety of effects.

Summary

In the end, Duelist is not a spectacular, eye catching or splashy mechanic. It's not something that players are going to go out of their way to be hyped for. What it is, is a mechanic that is solid, reliable, dependable, and can fit into any set at any time in any amount and not disturb the complexity of the set too much. All you need is for creatures to enter combat.

In addition from an electronic perspective, this should not be a hard mechanic to implement as the coding should already exist thanks to Howling Golem, and cards like it. It's not complicated in execution or in design, as it opens up a location in the turn for effects that can sometimes be replicated through activated abilities without needing to limit them to "once per turn" or "only when you could cast a sorcery" clauses.

In terms of design space, Duelist opens up a small window of opportunity for implementing small scale effects into the game, though large effects are surely within reach as well.

And perhaps, most importantly, we should remember The Duelist.

Join me next week when I talk about something else. What, I don't know yet.

Until then, please consider donating to my Pattern Recognition Patreon. Yeah, I have a job, but more income is always better. I still have plans to do a audio Pattern Recognition at some point, or perhaps a Twitch stream. And you can bribe your way to the front of the line to have your questions, comments and observations answered!