In light of the new Planeswalkers...
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Oct. 20, 2014, 7:06 a.m. by Bellock86
So after seeing the new teferi P/W and that he could be used as a commander in EDH I did a little follow up and learned (Spoiler Alert) that all of the new commander decks will be mono color with a P/W commander and also that they are going to be characters that have never been printed as a walker before.
This made me want to take one of my favorite creature cards from magic and turn it into a walker. That creature is Korlash, Heir to Blackblade *FOOTNOTE ~ I'm notoriously bad at designing cards from a power level standpoint so please be gentle.
Also I'd like to see other people's favorite legendary creatures turned into walkers. Just for fun.
Korlash, Heir Arisen 
Planeswalker - Korlash
+1 Search your library for a swamp card, put it onto the battlefield tapped then shuffle your library.
-1 Until EOT Korlash, Heir Arisen becomes a Black Zombie Warrior creature with "this creature's powere and toughness are each equal to the number of swamps you control." and : Regenerate this creature."
ULT I don't really have yet. Everything either felt like a rip off of another card or underpowered.
Starting loyalty 3
So what are other people's favorite creatures turn walker?
ChiefBell ~ thanks for looking.
What would be a good mono black + that does that though?
October 20, 2014 9:05 a.m.
About your walker...I think "indestructible" is better than regenerate. Reason being, all other walkers that turn into creatures have this for a particular reason: What if you make him a creature and he gets hit with a Lightning Strike ? Sure, he can be hit with that anytime, but now he dies even if he had 4+ loyalt, and assuming you only have 3 or less swamps out. I just think it opens him up to too much creature removal. Now he is never safe from stuff like Utter End or Planar Cleansing , but that's not really the issue here. I like the +1 and the -2 is flavorful. Ultimate should probably include something like: -?: put X black 2/2 zombie creature tokens onto the battlefield where X is the number of swamps you control. I am not familiar with Korlash's lore, but if you are fetching all those swamps I think you should ties his other abilities in with those. I think its balanced, too, since its kind of like a do I fetch more of crack it now? situation. I mean, if you get too greedy and fetch another swamp when you should have cracked his ultimate you lose. But if you crack it too early the 2/2s may not get there. I also think that maybe "intimidate" would be a good mechanic to put on his -2. This guy would be absolutely bonkers with Courser of Kruphix and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth . Gain life on the +s and then his ult is just WOW.
That said, I wouldn't mind seeing Aurelia as a planeswalker. I know she just isn't, but it would be awesome.
Aurelia PW 1RRWW 3 loyalty?
+1: Until your next turn, all creatures attacking you or a planeswalker you control are dealt 2 damage by Aurelia, (insert badass title).
-3: Put a red and white 4/4 angel soldier creature token with flying and haste onto the battlefield.
-6: Activate this ability only during your precombat main phase. Exile all creatures assigned to block creatures you control this turn. Aurelia deals X damage to defending player(s) where X is the number of creatures exiled in this way.
I figure that the +1 is fair because an agro deck would have either won or moved on to bigger things by the time this drops. The -3 is balanced. If you use her just for the angel you essentially grab a 4/4 for 5. No one uses Serra Angel so this is not overpowered at all. The ultimate is a win con, but not totally broken. It puts the opponent in a situation of I lose if I block and I lose if I don't only if they are at a severely low life total. I mean, If you swing for 15 with 3 creatures I'd prefer to block and take 3. Also this does nothing against control. That's fine, I won't block...I will, however, play AEtherspouts . There are plenty of Fog effects that make this ability obsolete, too.
October 20, 2014 9:06 a.m.
He could turn a swamp into a zombie (2/2) or something?
October 20, 2014 10:24 a.m.
playeralex8 says... #7
Fav creature with actual potential to be a walker is Phage/Jeska. Or Jhora. or Glissa. or we could use creatures that existed as walkers at some point. Jaya Ballard. Teferi (wadda ya know). Yawgmoth. Urza.
October 20, 2014 10:55 a.m.
Generally 4 drop planeswalkers defend themselves as a + ability.
October 20, 2014 11:09 a.m.
slovakattack says... #9
I think he'd be really cool as kind of a mono-black devotion planeswalker.
Example:
Starting loyalty: 3
+1: Search your library for a swamp and place it in tapped
-2: destroy target creature and put a 2/2 zombie creature token with deathtouch onto the battlefield.
-6: put a 2/2 zombie creature token onto the battlefield for each black mana in your mana pool.
October 20, 2014 11:35 a.m.
lothshteth says... #10
I would say make the -1 a +1 as well. Then you can make his ultimate be a board wipe and open up for death by Korlash. He would essentially be a ramp/creature that would have to be dealt with. Poor Liliana of the Dark Realms , reduced to near Tibalt levels.
October 21, 2014 10:10 p.m.
ChiefBell, capriom85, playeralex8, slovakattack, lothshteth - sorry i'm just now responding. Been a busy few days.
capriom85 - the -6 is good but worded a little off. It should probably read more like -6: Activate this ability only during your precombat main phase. Whenever a creature is assigned to block a creature you control this turn exile the blocking creature. Aurelia deals X damage to defending player(s) where X is the number of creatures exiled in this way.
slovakattack - My only problem with that is that Korlash was never a summoner of Zombies or a necromancer or what have you. He was an undead warrior that found the Blackblade which was what gave him the ability to draw power from the swamps. Also the ULT you designed could be a bit broken. Not completely but think about ulting Liliana of the Dark Realms , tapping out and then using his. If i went that route it would probably be equal to the number of swamps you control.
lothshteth - hmmm. That has possibilities. I also understand what ChiefBell is saying about protecting itself though. Liliana of the Dark Realms doesn't have an ability that protects herself but cards like Sorin, Lord of Innistrad and Kiora, the Crashing Wave fit that mold.
So here's the updated version
Korlash, Heir Arisen
Planeswalker - Korlash
+1: Put a 1/1 Zombie creature token onto the battlefield with ''Whenever this creature dies, target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
-2: Search your library for 2 swamp cards and put one onto the battlefield tapped and the other into your hand.
-8: You get an emblem with "Creatures you control get +X/+X where X is the number of swamps you control.
Starting loyalty 3
October 22, 2014 11:18 a.m.
Well - the protects itself rule is something that makes a PW a viable choice.
October 22, 2014 11:19 a.m.
lothshteth says... #13
True, but I think that is an over analyzed part of a planeswalker. Its like saying no aura is good unless it has totem armor or shroud. Walkers who only conditionally protect themselves still see play like Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas and Dack Fayden . I just think its sad that every walker needs card advantage, protection, and a ultimate that wins the game. But I digress...The card is looking a lot better now. The -2 fits nicely as a black Cultivate , and I like the Nightmare emblem although it should probably be -6. +1 seems a little out of place, but I understand where you are coming from. Overall, good work.
October 22, 2014 1:24 p.m.
ThisIsBullshit says... #14
I like the updated version, it would work really well in mono-black. I would totally run that.
October 23, 2014 3:10 p.m.
ThisIsBullshit ~ thank you sir. I actually worded him the way I did specifically so he could function in multi color decks.
His -2 I specifically said "swamp" and not basic swamp so he could grab duals.
I feel like he'd even be good in EDH. Worse case scenario he grabs 2 duals and eats a kill spell or creature damage
October 23, 2014 5:34 p.m.
ThisIsBullshit says... #16
*ma'am
But yes I think he'd be quite good in black EDH decks, or even ones with black in them, since that color has very little ramp.
October 23, 2014 6:26 p.m.
ThisIsBullshit. Apologies for the gender confusion. I had a 50/50 shot. Lol. Your name is very non gender specific.
October 23, 2014 6:58 p.m.
ThisIsBullshit says... #18
No big deal lol it was the first thing I thought of when coming up with usernames.
October 23, 2014 8:30 p.m.
Now I really wish I had some cool artwork and could get card smith on my pc to make the actual card.
ChiefBell says... #2
Most 4-drop planeswalkers have a + ability that allows them to protect themselves and essentially not die during the opponents turn. For example - tapping things down, producing tokens, etc etc.
October 20, 2014 8:45 a.m.