v1.7.2: Another look at Haste

Champions and Haste

You may have noticed that resummoning a champion allows it to attack immediately, as if it had Haste. My first thought was "oh, that's a bug. I'll fix it in 1.7.2." But, it's not a bug. Let's look at the rules:

Creature hardcasts: When you play a creature from your hand, you summon the creature, and then resolve on-play effects.

Summoning a creature: To summon a creature, instantiate the blueprint into the creature, place it into the correct lane, and then resolve on-summon effects.

Summoning Sickness: When a blueprint is instantiated into a creature, the creature is frozen.

And some specific rules:

Haste: Haste is a keyword, but not a creature keyword. It is found on blueprints. When a blueprint with Haste is instantiated into a creature, the creature is not frozen.

The Champion Rule: At the start of the game, Champions are instantiated into a creature, and placed at the fountain. A champion is summoned from the fountain instead of a blueprint. When a champion dies, reset its health and lives, then return it to the fountain.

Notably, the frozen status is not reset, so when the champion dies, if its not frozen, it's not resummoned frozen. This is undesirable. As such, the rules are being rewritten as follows: (in a way that champions with Haste, and magnetic creatures, should still hopefully work the way you expect)

Summoning sickness. When a creature is summoned, it is frozen. This is an on-summon effect.

Haste: Haste is a creature keyword. A creature with Haste is not frozen by summoning sickness.

Accordingly, Overlord (W9), Codex of the Overlord, and Blur Sliver are being updated to affect your creatures instead of your creature blueprints. I'm sure icely will clown on me again for going back and forth on this one.

Cards

Magic Hamster 2/8 -> 2/9

Scorpion 3/13 -> 3/14

Ghoul: 0/12 -> 1/14

Emrakul >> Time Stop

Trig >> Weakening Darts, Rank 8

The new cards for this patch are based around one of the more iconic LoR Champions:

The Immortal Fire (8)

Your opponent cannot play a creature blocking me, unless they are magnetizing it.

6/20x2

Aurelion Sol (10) >> The Skies Descend

! Summon 'The Immortal Fire'.

10/15

The Skies Descend (Evoker 12)

! Damage all enemies.

I cost 2 less for each creature you control with cost 8+.

15

I've also taken the chance to add another of the artifact heroes:

Drow Ranger (Chronomancer 4) >> Gust

Your other creatures have +1 power.

4/11

Gust (Chronomancer 4, -1 life)

! Freeze opponent.

Target enemy. Freeze it.

While I was testing Aurelion Sol, Visionary played a Ritual Shard against me, and it was very well played by them. I decided to make another shard:

Overload Shard (Chronomancer 2)

! I attack twice. Deal damage equal to my blocker equal to my toughness. Destroy me.

Magnetic.

0/8

This card has three distinct modes:

- On an unblocked creature, it does a Natural Fury impression.

- On a blocked creature, you might be able to trade it for something more valuable.

- Against an enemy unblocked creature, this functions as 8 damage spot removal. Not as good spot removal as the illusionist cards, but that's the price of playing Chronomancer.

Finally, one of the more interesting designs of recent:

Equality (Banisher 2)

! Reduce each creature's health to 5.

Things I'm considering for future patches:

Missiles: An evoker twist on shrapnel. C'thun, The C'thun support cards may end up being better used to modify cheap champions.

Negative Garden: Signflip shrapnel. Bicolored mana usage. If you know, you know.

Modifications on blueprints.

New keywords. Fury might be too narrow.