So, this was just something I thought would be a fun thing to do for me. I had a little bit of time to kill today, so I decided to make a few (and by a few, I mean two) characters previously played on New Arcana into Magic the Gathering cards. Mostly to show my appreciation for the first plot I was involved in, which was Azores 1 (Sheesh, has it really been two years since that ended?). It was a fun thing for me to do, translating their abilities and personalities into the mechanics of MTG.
The characters I chose to highlight here were of course my very own Mae Iharu, and a character that she interacted with ALOT. Like, almost rank 10 alot. Without further delay, I'll show these off right now, and explain kind of my thought process behind the card design of each. M'kay?
Mae here is a planeswalker. Nevermind the implications on lore this would have in the MTG universe, and let's just focus on the mechanics of the card itself. She costs both white and red mana to play, which really represents her outlook on life (She's more red than white though) and it also reflects her abilities somewhat.
She starts out with 4 loyalty, which is pretty standard for a five mana planeswalker. Her +1 Ability gives all your red creatures a 2 point boost in power, making them hit harder for the turn. This is a reference to her Initial's fusion skill, which buffed the damage of fire attacks used by everyone for a few turns. Pretty simple.
Her second ability costs 4 Loyalty to activate, and acts as a boardsweeper, dealing 2 damage to all creatures that are not your own. The player controlling Mae also gains 2 life for each creature damaged this way. This is a reference to her Prime's Fusion Skill, dealing damage to all enemies and healing all allies.
And Finally, that last ability. Her ultimate. Costing a whopping 9 Loyalty, she gives you a lasting impact on the game with an emblem that buffs all your creatures with +2/+2 and it makes them indestructible, making them unkillable by damage and effects that say "Destroy". This WOULD have been the reference to her Miracle, which would allow her to trade her own life in exchange for someone elses (As this planeswalker would most likely die by using this ability), and giving them a permanent boost in power. In the mechanics of MtG, it's best represented by boosting your creatures for the rest of the game, as a revival effect for 9 loyalty is not worth it at all, even if you made it stronger than it was before.
Now, Sharaku Rikei was quite fun to make. I made him a Blue/Green Legendary Creature rather than a planeswalker card. Blue/Green seemed to fit Sharaku's personality quite well, being reserved and rational. His abilities are very much representative of what those colors do as well.
Yeap. He transforms. But first, let's look at that enter the battlefield ability. It's based on his initial Soul Skill, being able to distract enemies using conjured butterflies. So with this ability in mind, whenever he enters play, you tap a creature, and prevent it from untapping for a turn.
The second ability is very much a green thing. Making Sharaku fight a creature kind of reflects a moment in Azores 1, where Sharaku almost killed himself by attacking into an enemy that reflected ice. In this case, you get to choose who to pounce on, and it acts as a way of triggering his transform effect, just like how Endure puts you right in the range of Last Life.
The Transform effect is obviously a reference to the Mechanic on here known as Last Life, where you get a boost in strength while below 30% of your HP. In this case, I made the threshold a 3rd of Sharaku's actual health.
Now for le transformation.
A bigger body, a way to pump itself up in power, trample and menace is a lot.
For those not in the know, menace and trample are combat abilities. In magic, you attack the player, not the creatures themselves (Unless you use a fight ability like the untransformed Sharaku has). The defending player then may choose to have his or her creatures block the attacking creature. Menace prevents your opponent from blocking Sharaku unless they use 2 or more creatures to block him. Trample makes it so any excess damage that Sharaku would deal to a creature your opponent takes that excess damage.
The Pump ability can be activated at any time, and any number of times, provided you have the mana necessary to do it.
His second ability triggers whenever he deals combat damage. The random nature of the ability is both a reference to the Jester Arcana, as well as the raw strength that Sharaku does possess via his passives and Soul Skills. Afterwards, he transforms back, moreso to balance out the crazy strong effect.
And that's all. Do you want your character shown here? Let me know! I'd love to give them a shot! Doesn't matter which plot they are from! Toodles!
-Jerry
Thu Sep 19, 2024 8:54 am by 
