Mechanics 2

Sharpening to a point so we can Carve up some monsters.

In my last post I discussed the development of this sets first two major mechanics: Sleep and Paralyze. Both were spinoffs of the Poison mechanic, bringing three of the status ailments of Monster Hunter (Poison, Sleep, Paralysis) full circle into the world of Magic.

Now, we’re going to talk about the next two mechanics I’ve designed, starting with:

Carve

And we’re not talking pumpkins.

So, in keeping in the theme that the mechanics in the Monster Hunter set are actions and effects from the game translated in some meaningful way into Magic, we have Carve.

Carving in Monster Hunter is basically the reward for a victorious hunt – the monster lies defeated, a triumphant score plays, and you get busy tearing off bits of your former foe so you can craft new and improved gear for your hunter.

Luckily, this was fairly intuitive to translate into Magic:

Carve X – To carve, tap this creature and exile creatures with total mana value X or more from any graveyard. Carve only as a sorcery.

So those are the fundamentals. It’s very similar to the Collect Evidence mechanic from the Murders at Karlov Manor set, but in this case, only creatures can be Carved, and it takes a creature tapping down to do so. For example –

I would like for Carve to be a mechanic all the colors have access to, but primarily centered in Black, Red and Blue. In terms of color pie philosophy, this is simply because I imagine the Black side of the color wheel would be more interested in carving up the creatures for various reasons (Material gain, Clever uses, just particularly hated that monster) as opposed to Green and White, which might be more inclined to capture the monster or repel it.

This mechanic is VERY likely to be adjusted and changed as needed, and will likely be the only graveyard mechanic for the set. It also has the use of potentially cleaning up an opponent’s graveyard should they intend to reanimate – but only at sorcery speed of course.

Sharpen

Straight to the point.

Many, many mechanics in Magic can be accurately summed up by the sentence:

It’s kicker, but different.

So too is true of the Sharpen mechanic, but this one is taken in a bit more flavorful direction.

In Monster Hunter, you sharpen by pulling out a whetstone and rubbing it against your weapon – a process that holds the hunter in place and pays off by keeping your weapon nice and sharp, allowing you to do more damage and slash through the harder parts of some monsters.

So, in Magic words, I translated it as such:

Sharpen – You may tap an equipped creature you control as an additional cost to cast this spell. Sharpened spells cannot be countered.

So, the requirements are a bit tricky. First, you need a creature, and second – that creature needs to be holding SOME kind of equipment, a rock if you would, to sharpen the spell. The results can vary, but all spells that are sharpened come with the added benefit of being unable to be countered if they were sharpened while cast.

A general design philosophy for Sharpen is when you Sharpen a spell, do the thing the card is doing but MORE. You can also add on an effect that would also generally be beneficial, but it also taps down one of your own creatures – one you already paid mana to equip with an artifact.

Though, that is not the ONLY way to sharpen spells.

Primarily focused in Blue and Red, Sharpen can also be applied to essentially any of the colors, but I like to imagine those two are the most keen on being to the point on matters.

Here’s an example of what a Sharpen card might look like.

Gonna be pretty tough for either player to Carve a creature buried THAT deep. You can also expect the usual kicker effects like drawing a card, applying to all creatures/opponents as opposed to just one, so on and so forth. It’s kicker, but different!

It also means, naturally, you can expect a good handful of equipment in the future . . .

Weapons are a pretty important part of Monster Hunter, after all.