Tilon, the Searching
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Feb. 21, 2015, 1:55 a.m. by buildingadeck
Tilon, a man on the plane of Dialum, once lived among the Krolian people where all was peaceful and quiet. However, the legions of Lugor have continued to rise in threat as time passes on, and he fears that the magic of his people will not be strong enough. Tilon knew that his brother and his people's ruler, Mandar, could not make the decision to declare open war. Thus, Tilon went to the vast Krolian library that had documents of every event ever to take place on Dialum, and he researched for months.
One day he came across an older form of his people's magic, a darker form that destroyed enemies rather than simply detaining them. Being quite the mage himself, Tilon decided to practice this new magic on the rats that roamed about the palace. After several months of practice, he felt the power surge through him once more as he performed the magic on a rat in his room.
"So this is what you have been studying," came a voice from behind him. Mandar stood looking into his room with heavy disapproval.
"Do you think you can detain Lugor and his armies forever? If they were just Orcs, maybe, but the demons have powers far beyond ours. I'm doing what I must to save our people."
"Our people will not succumb to the evils of our past, Tilon. And I cannot stand to watch my own brother fall victim to such treachery."
"Then I will have to fight you," Tilon said. Mandar responded quickly, sending a blast of white light toward his brother, but Tilon reacted with a blue slash, bending the light around him. He then uttered the words of the new spells he had learned and a blast of black spewed forth from his hands and into his brother's chest. Mandar fell to the floor, clutching his breast, and regret and sorrow overcame Tilon. He ran to his brother to hold him, and Mandar looked up at him.
"Do what you must to destroy Lugor, but please, our people can't... know..." he said as he breathed his last.
Tilon wept over his brother for some time before gathering himself to his feet. He knew he must now leave Krolia. Because no one yet knew of his deed, he strode toward the main gate of his kingdom in the most normal fashion he could conjure. Just then, Stralus, an archmage and the general of their army ran up to him.
"My Lord! The Orcs are at the gate! We can't hold them much longer!" he panted.
"Let me join you."
Tilon knew that he could not betray his brother and reveal the magic he had learned, but he was well-versed in detaining magic himself, second only to Mandar in their kingdom in skill. These were the thoughts swimming through his mind as he raced toward the main gate. Just as he got there, a flood of orcs burst through and swung their clumsy weaponry at his kin. Tilon reacted quickly with a wide blast of white shot in their direction. The front wave of orcs froze in their tracks, and his men changed them into sheep.
For a while, the freezing tactics were working, but soon, heavier waves of orcs began coming through. Tilon could feel energy draining from him as he cast spell after spell to keep his enemies at bay, and he knew that he would not be able to hold once the wave he was anticipating came.
"Tilon, where is Mandar?" asked Stralus. "I sent a herald to get him hours ago."
"I wish I could say," answered Tilon. Just as he responded, a towering orc walked into the archway. He carried two maces the size of most humans, and he emanated a red aura. Before anyone could react, he swung one of his maces, and when it struck one of the Krolians, the front wave of men fell as flaming sparks pierced their bodies. "That's no ordinary orc."
Harnessing all the energy he could muster, Tilon sent a beam of light stronger than anything he had ever cast toward the brute. Despite being very much detained, the orc threw his mace toward Tilon as he fell to his knees. Tilon attempted to stop the object with magic, but his energy was gone, and he could only slow it. The weapon struck him in the stomach, and he fell onto his back. The fiery power of the mace surged through his body, but he felt it quickly release. Stralus stood above him healing him.
As Tilon looked up, he saw behind Stralus the wings of an enormous beast closing in fast. "Look out!" Tilon cried. Stralus just barely dodged the demon, and Tilon rolled out of the way as the flames of the beast grazed his side. Lugor landed a few feet a way as TIlon stood to face him. By the time Tilon stood up, however, a blast of fire was upon him, and he was shot back several yards as he fell onto his side. A deep maniacal laugh resounded in his ears as he opened his eyes and looked up. Lugor was now approaching Stralus. Tilon tried to stand up, but could not do so. Clutching for something to save his friend, he yelled a taunt at the demon, something he couldn't even remember, and Lugor turned toward him in a rage. Fire blast after fire blast seared toward Tilon, and he did his best to bend it around him. Until finally the demon stood over him. With a roar, Lugor sent a heavy blast of magic upon Tilon.
Squirming with pain and agony, Tilon found himself roaring back at the demon, and from the depth of his being, an overwhelming surge of black magic blasted from him, covering the entirety of the battlefield. Lugor dissolved into nothing as the blast hit him, and every orc and demon attacking his people was destroyed on that day.
When Tilon awoke, he was in the middle of a strange forest filled with creatures he had never seen before, and he said to himself, "Where am I?" There was no response.
This is the story for a new planeswalker I have been working on. His abilities are based mostly on his actions prior to his Planeswalker spark in which he was searching for a form of magic to save his people. His ultimate reflects his moment of spark. Here is a link to the card: Tilon, the Searching
lothshteth says... #4
Also, his ultimate should be just like In Garruk's Wake
Destroy all creatures you don't control and all planeswalkers you don't control.
February 21, 2015 5:18 p.m.
buildingadeck says... #5
Yep. I can change that, too. Wording shifts are easily done.
Do you feel like his -2 is too weak, lothshteth or erabel?
February 21, 2015 6:59 p.m.
It's too weak, sure, but the problem with balancing it becomes: either get more cards, or put the card you get in a different place, like your hand or the graveyard. Of those, I feel like getting more cards would be a more balanced option, but I dunno.
February 21, 2015 7:19 p.m.
buildingadeck says... #7
I really wanted to keep the idea of searching the sideboard, or "cards you own outside of the game" because it fits his situation of looking for something that was outside of what he knew and was permitted to do. Perhaps I could balance it by keeping the first part the same and adding "target opponent discards a card?"
February 21, 2015 7:25 p.m.
lothshteth says... #9
-2 for a search anything is extremely powerful, especially since Liliana Vess puts on top. So I think it is fine as is, especially when considering tourney play and only utilizing sideboard. Adding discard is going overboard, keep as is.
February 22, 2015 9:50 p.m.
buildingadeck says... #10
I added a draw lothshteth. Does that work okay?
February 23, 2015 12:31 a.m.
lothshteth says... #13
As is, you are almost never going to use the -2 unless you have something else to search for cards in library. So, you have two options. You can make the second ability another +1 or drop the draw and have the card go to hand. The more I think about it the more I think the latter is your best option. Yes its very powerful in casual because you can get any card, but in tourneys all you have access to is sideboard.
February 23, 2015 2:22 a.m.
buildingadeck says... #14
Yes, but unlike Lili, whose -2 allows you to search only your main board, this would allow you to tutor your sideboard for exactly the answer that doesn't exist in your Game 1 deck. Would that be broken, or would that be just the advantage UB control wants?
erabel says... #2
The - should be "Choose a card you own from outside the game and shuffle it into your library." Look at Research for the example there.
February 21, 2015 1:57 a.m.