Of all my tribes in this set, it is the Shamans and the Rouges that have the most pre-existing support, and this had been a small issue for me as I have to keep these multitudes of cards that already fit in mind when I work on this set.

The Rouges have received tribal support in the past, but while there is Bosk Banneret, Harmonic Prodigy, Rage Forger, Sachi, Daughter of Seshiroand Thornbite Staff, I must now be forced to remember that Shaman was a secondary Tribe back in Lorwyn and Shadowmoor. It still isn't really a supported tribe, so I have to keep this in mind.

Colorwise, is a very agro-centric color combination, and is more that willing to throw down and swing with creatures already, meaning that in a Tribal focuses set, where creatures are already the norm, we are playing to their strengths. But given that everyone is swinging in one way or another, perhaps it would be better to look at this combination has being more along the lines of business as usual.

Enrgage is a also a mechanic that encourages combat, but at the same time, also triggers on non-combat damage. can easily provide this through instants and sorceries, and through the inevitable Fight card that this set will provide. Putting what amounts to an Enrage Lord into the game, I want to avoid something that's a direct copy of Raging Swordtooth or Temple Altisaur. These two cards are Enrage enablers, either buy directly doing it, or by making sure that you can maximize the amount of Enrage triggers you can get in a turn.

I think the best way would be to be able to Enrage on command....

Eevi Vanasta is the assumed name of the Nantuko Shaman who roams the wilds of Solle. The name was chosen as their natural name is effectively unpronounceable to the vast majority of people on the continent, and there is no reason to create hard feelings in the process.

Wandering the vast forests and mountains of Solle, finding connections to nature wherever they went, Eevi finds themselves drawn to the shattered and broken leylines of the continent, observing how they mirror the broken lines of the land itself. In this, they find that there is an obvious region, in the middle of the continent, where all the breakage seems to have started from, and it is there that they will go, alone or in the company of like-minded folk.

Eevi Vanasta

Picture - Eevi Vanasta is a Nantuko (see the Odyssey/Onslaught visual guides), in Green and Red colours. These can be part of the carapace, or clothing that they choose to wear. Of the five Legendary Leaders, this one is the one most in tune visually with nature, and there should be no indication of 'civilization' in the image, though some trinkets can be present. At no point should the player look at this creature and think 'Elf'. There are no Elves.
Legendary Creature - Insect Shaman
Haste, Vigilance
Whenever another non-token creature you control is dealt damage, you may have this creature deal 1 damage to itself.
Enrage - Whenever this creature is dealt damage and is not killed, you may search your library for a creature, instant or sorcery with a mana value equal to or less than the amount of damage this creature has taken this turn. Reveal that card, shuffle, then put that card on top of your library.
"It's just an arm. It will grow back. What is important? That is what not be lost."
1/4

When I settled on Enrage as a mechanic, I knew that one way or another, someone was going to have to be able to deal damage to themselves at some point. I briefly considered making this creature with the ability to ping, like Prodigal Pyromancer, but felt that would be too much. Rather, by making the first ability directly feed into the second, I intend to make a sort of group leader, one who is willing to share the pain of his people.

The problem is, is that they are still not a Shaman Lord, and in the end, I can only say that such is life, that I don't actually need one. Not here. I mean, I might get something else later, but for now, it's the mechanic that matters, not the creature type.

The second ability is something I struggled with limiting, and in the end, it was a combination of 's ability to tutor creatures, and with something similar to where non-permanents are concerned. I know this is possibly a break in the latter case, but I like the idea that when this creature is hurt, they take that pain and advance their cause. If I could justify putting Regenerate on them, I would. But that's been discontinued as an active mechanic, and I shouldn't add things like that just because I could.

Adding the 'and is not killed' rider was a last second change to avoid over-kill on them to go tutor something really big. You get what you want, but it will be cheap for the most part. I just have to be careful about the casting costs of the relevant card types when I fill out the commons and uncommons.

Solfrid Wanjeri

Finally, the Scout that represents the Explore mechanic. Another tribe without serious support, I have plenty of room to explore with them, and there the pun is fully intended. Explore for those who weren't there, is a mechanic from the Ixalan block where when the creature with this mechanic entered the battlefield, you revealed the top card of your library. If it was a land, you put it into your hand. If wasn't, you put an additional +1/+1 counter on that creature, then you could put the revealed card back, or into your graveyard.

With this in mind, I resolved to avoid coming anywhere close to the one mechanic that is an absolute monster when combined with Explore. Namely, there will be NO LANDFALL in this set. Not directly, nor indirectly. Not a chance.

On the other hand, Explore encourages the casting of a lot of creatures, and perhaps more importantly, means that there will be a lot of +1/+1 counters involved. Both and love their creatures and making them bigger, so there should be no thematic problems with this.

But what to do with all those counters...?

Solfrid Wanjeri cannot stay still. She has made it a point to never walk back over her previous path, to never sleep in line of sight of any other place she has rested. There can be no going back, only going forward. And as one of the premiere scouts in Solle, her independence cannot be denied, cannot be countered or controlled.

But she is not isolated. Every footfall is a new discovery, every turn a new encounter. New friends, new allies, new enemies. Every moment something new. And that's what's important. And as such, she may be the only person who can actually find the way to the answer to the mystery of Solle, and be the only one who can get back out.

Solfrid Wanjeri

Picture - As a Kor, Solfrid Wanjeri is pale skinned as per the Zendikar visual guide. However, while this is the white in her image, the color needs to be balanced by the green in it as well. Of all the Legendaries, she is the one most likely to be turning away from the player, a visual expression of her wanderlust. She should be portrayed as having a sense of wonder, of discovery and exploration. That stillness in anathema to her and that motion is life. Perhaps being dwarfed by the sheer expanse of terrain around her might work, though we may save that for the lands.
Legendary Creature - Kor Scout
Lifelink, Ward - This creature's controller draws a card.
Discard a Land: Choose a creature, and then it Explores.
Whenever a source would deal damage to a creature you control, prevent of that damage, where is the number of +1/+1 counters on it.
"They say home is where the heart is. But my heart is the whole of Solle."
2/2

The Ward cost here is quite an experiment on my part, because fuck you Wizards. What? Don't believe me? White, the color of protection, is outdone in terms of cards with Ward by both and . There is exactly one creature with Ward, and that's Bronze Guardian, which could lose the color and lose nothing. There's also Owlin Shieldmage, but that's a creature with a Ward cost. The other two cards? Equipment.

Yes, I'm salty.

But you know what? If protection for a creature means card advantage as well, I will gladly throw that into 's ability pool. I'm throwing Ward in with the Nobles as well, so there's that. Lifelink is there to encourage throwing her into the fray, especially once she's Explored a couple of times and gotten big. Of course that means throwing away the lands that you've probably gotten into your hand through other Explorers, but I did say no Landfall and I meant it.

I'm not sure where this Creature is going. She can go big, she can emphasize going wide. She has a built-in combat trick, and it's not like either color can't get lands back into their hand one way or another. I'm still very leery of this creature in a Landfall deck in larger formats, but in the end there's only so much I can do by myself to work out the kinks. She's still very fragile without some +1/+1 counters on her, and needs to act quick to kill her before she starts making herself and everyone else on your team all but immune to damage. I may have to consider adding an Uncommon burn spell whose damage can't be prevented as a limited counter-weight to this, much as Strixhaven had Heated Debate as a hard counter to Ward.

I think she's good, but she's also bland in my view. Which isn't a bad thing. Having a solid but unassuming foundation can help make the rest of the work better and more evocative in the long run as we have the metaphorical straight-woman in the party. Perhaps I can use the other cards in this tribe and color pair to give some texture and context to her character.

But you know what? I'm done with this for now. Join me next week when I talk about the history of Innistrad, and why we're going back for a third round.

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!