Locations
Welcome, fellow Vorthoses and miscreants, to the battle for Retribution in Ravnica card design supremacy. If you’re just joining us, check out the article in which the gauntlet was thrown down. In short, with swag on the line, I asked readers to submit card designs for a new version of Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran based on his Vorthosian history and my latest fanfic series.
What’s on the line:
- 1st – Duel Decks: Jace vs. Vraska
- 2nd – Foil Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran and Szadek, Lord of Secrets plus Agyrem plane from Planechase
- 3rd – Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker and Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
To get in the spirit of things, I’d first like to present a card created by my friend and The Complete Commander fiction contributor Natahlia Zaring. This card is based on the character Kallist Rhoka, whom you’d only be familiar with if you’ve read the Magic novel Agents of Artifice. The CliffsNotes version is that Kallist, an extraordinary swordsman and assassin, worked with Jace during his time with the Infinite Consortium. After becoming close friends, Kallist accompanied Jace when he left the Consortium and Tezzeret’s service. The two unlikely companions tried to live a “normal” life but were soon found by Liliana Vess, who was acting as an agent for both the Consortium and Nicol Bolas. And then . . . well, tragedy ensues.
I always thought Kallist was an intriguing, likeable character who had much, much more flavor space to be explored. Liliana once said to him, “You’re wiser than Jace.” Who knows if she meant it, but I’ve brought Kallist back for some good old wrapping up of unfinished business in my fanfic. I’m wondering if Kallist will be down to hug it out or down for some old-fashioned vengeance . . . Either way, dude is sexy. I think a lot of us can empathize with his plight as friend and “accessory” to those planeswalking jerks. His prowess, loyalty, and work ethic always appealed to me. I hope you think Kallist sounds like someone worth getting to know, too, and that you’ll follow his new adventures on Ravnica in Retribution.
And now, let’s get ready to rumble!
To all who participated, thank you so much. I read every card and all your designer notes, and I truly derived so much enjoyment from your creative work. To those who missed this contest: Don’t worry; there will be more! There were so many entries that two articles will be devoted to voting: Wave 1 and Wave 2. Make sure to come back next week to check out the second group of entries!
I listed card submissions simply in order received, so please take your time browsing the gallery, and try to give each card its due consideration before voting. Winners will be decided by popular vote, but we have some great commentary from an awesome panel for you to enjoy, too. The top three cards from each wave will face off in a six-card showdown that determines the final winners.
The Panel
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Bennie Smith, author of The Complete Commander, has been playing Magic since Unlimited was on the shelves. Bennie's deep history of professional writing about gaming includes Usenet, The Magic Dojo, Scrye magazine, Beckett Magic magazine, MagicTheGathering.com, and, of course, his much-beloved column over at StarCityGames.com. The 1999 Virginia State Champion, repeat States Top 8 finisher, and pioneer of the Dredge deck, Bennie regularly pilots over a dozen Commander decks and is the administrator of the Spirit of EDH Haymaker Award in Richmond, Virginia. |
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Natahlia Lysse Zaring is a twenty-five-year-old writer living in Missouri. She started playing Magic during Urza's Saga block and is a frequenter of the Midwestern competitive Magic scene. Legacy is by far her favorite format. She enjoys card and game design in her spare time, and she especially enjoys focusing on the flavor aspects of design. Check out her writing at her fiction blog: acolorfulmenagerie.wordpress.com. |
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Ant Tessitore, author on GatheringMagic.com, is an avid gamer, writer, and artist who has been collecting Magic since Ice Age. Finally learning the game in the early 2000’s, he has since piloted his wacky decks against those brave enough to face him on the fields of battle. A Vorthos to his core, Ant spends his time brewing flavorful decks, writing about Magic, and painting alterations on his favorite cards. |
Card Gallery
Kos’s Geist, Wojek Mentor by Dominic Passarelli
Designer Notes:
In life, Agrus Kos was relentless in watching out for the wellbeing of others but terrible at taking care of himself. Whether hitting endless teardrops to get back on the beat, drinking himself nearly into oblivion, or putting himself in harm's way to work for justice in Ravnica, Agrus Kos was on a one-way path to self-destruction. Now in death, Kos continues his self-sacrificial, self-destructive ways, but he's much harder to keep down.
I had initially made Kos's Geist indestructible with some static combat abilities, but I found that the design was ill-suited to Kos's unique character and didn't sufficiently set him mechanically apart from other Boros (and Boros-colored) legends. Adding the sacrifice ability fit Kos's self-destructive-for-the-greater-good character much better. This facilitated use of the return-to-the-battlefield ability that ties in to Agyrem from Planechase, better fits the color pie of both red and white (e.g. Gift of Immortality and the various Phoenix abilities), and allowed the card to capture Kos's character's experience of surprise at his continued postmortem existence.
The art was generated using the Hero Generator 3.0 on heromachine.com and is used according to the site's noncommercial use policy.
Panel Comments
Ant: I like how this Kos seems to never learn from his actions, returning from death to sacrifice himself again and again. Good flavor coming out in the design there. I also like that his ability can only be used if the enemy strikes first.
Bennie: Would certainly be a sweet option as your commander for a R/W deck—I like the delayed trigger bringing him back to life during your end step, giving you something to feed to some sacrifice effect (say Brion Stoutarm) during your main phase and still have him as a blocker during your opponents’ turns.
Natahlia: I think the return-to-the-battlefield ability really resonates with his flavor of going at it again and again, but I’m not sure I see the tie between him and the ability to prevent damage. To me, Kos seems to be the kind of protector who bashes in the opponent’s face to protect you rather than nerfing some damage and then shooting it at someone’s face. If the goal was to represent him taking a blow for someone else, I think it would be better to say “The next 3 damage that would be dealt to target creature this turn is dealt to Kos’s Geist instead. When damage is dealt to Kos’s Geist this way, Kos’s Geist deals that much damage to target creature or player.”
Agrus Kos, Might of Agyrem by Richard Wood
Designer Notes
My thoughts on his current persona is that he is still kickin' butt despite being a ghost. The detain mechanic makes sense considering his former and current ranks. Because he is a spirit, he flickers out of harm's way and returns to make even more trouble for your opponents.
Panel Comments
Ant: I like that, instead of just having hexproof, he has a more interactive ability that, in most games, will just end up playing as though he had hexproof. I think the name is a little misleading, as you expect a splashy ability that makes more combat happen, while detain makes fewer combat happen.
Bennie: It’s another great commander design and would really bring the power of detain to the multiplayer table. I really like that the detain triggers both when he enters play (and how nicely that synergizes with his neo-hexproof blink ability) and when he attacks. Not many detain cards have made an impact on Commander, but one like this certainly would!
Natahlia: Two quick notes before talking about flavor: Detain is worded with clauses saying “that you don’t control” or “that your opponents’ control.” And the blink ability should be templated without the “instead,” but as a simple trigger, and “to play” should be “to the battlefield.” I like how the card is trying to simulate his ghostliness by returning him, but blinking like this has usually simulated teleportation or another form of transportation (like in Cloudshift, in Deadeye Navigator, or, to a similar degree, in Venser the Sojourner), so that would be my only critique of the mechanic from a Vorthosian perspective. I’m not sure I understand where his haste is coming from though. In the story, he’s not any more spry or quick than he was in corporeal form (as evidenced by his cat ambush at the beginning).
Agrus Kos, Spectral Guard by Erik Svilich
Designer Notes
His special mechanic is haunt—you know, because he is a ghost. He brings back a soldier and a weapon from the grave to fight for him when he is called to action, which seemed to be what he was doing in your fan fiction. I hope you enjoy this concept—along with my terrible, hand-drawn art!
Panel Comments
Ant: This card is very restrictive and needs a lot to go right for it to work, but the flavor is solid, and the art is—dare I say—bootiful.
Bennie: I do like the flavor of this guy, but unfortunately, the haunt mechanic doesn’t play nice with the command zone, so I don’t think you’d want this guy as your commander. I really love the hand-drawn art for both cards!
Natahlia: I guess my issue with using the haunt mechanic here is that it felt (flavor-wise) to be as though it were about something living still serving after death, whereas Kos is already past the point of death. I do think the making-a-partner part of this design is spot on, though I would rather see it not so restrictive about needing Equipment in the ’yard (as there’s no focus in the story on there being any special significance to their weapons). Also, I think he would be better as a Spirit Soldier, as he’s clearly still a soldier. I would look at the creature types on Geist of Saint Traft for another example of a human becoming a spirit but keeping its class after death.
Kos, Wojek Specter by Jack Rousseau
Designer Notes
This design plays up Agrus's nature since his death. While he is very Boros at heart, he was under contract to the Azorius Senate, and there aren't many R/W Spirits these days. So I gave him the hybrid U/R to represent this. I would like to have him at 4 mana, but I think his abilities are a little too good, so I bumped him up to 5.
The new Ravnica mechanics seemed to fit with his situation as well. His ability in old Ravnica seems perfect to be adopted into battalion, and detain fits well with his "cop" nature. In this update, he buffs all attacking creatures rather than just red or white creatures since he now works with members of all guilds in Agryem.
I think we can agree that ghosts should be unblockable, especially ones that use their abilities to infiltrate and investigate.
Panel Comments
Ant: I really enjoyed this card. Ghosts are made of ectoplasmic stuffs and pass through blockers? Check. Kos retains an ability that is true to his old human self? Check. Sweet retro Pac-Man art? Check! My one issue is that if you play this using just red and white mana, you have an unblockable guy without spending any blue mana, which I do not think is allowed by the keepers of the pie.
Bennie: I’m going to presume “Legendary” was left off here. If so, he’d make a solid commander, the natural unblockability makes him a natural for a Voltron strategy—and again, it would be nice to see detain pushed for the multiplayer table.
Natahlia: I like where this is going. By using the new Boros and Azorius mechanics, it ties him to his time with both of those guilds, and it clearly references the abilities on his old card. But I think flying would be a more suitable evasion mechanic than unblockable; ghosts fly a lot, and the story clearly shows him running into bad guys and needing to battle them, so I doubt he’d want to fly past all the blockers even if he could. A similar note on creature type here: Human and Spirit are both races; Spirit Soldier seems much more his kind of thing, and he’s probably legendary.
Agrus Kos, Agyrem’s Chief by Johannes Petrus van der Horst
Designer Notes
He is still loyal to the Boros, so 
should be included. But now he is a flying spirit who does investigations and assassinations, and he looks very Dimir. So he needs at least one additional color.
He’s still a soldier, and he’s the unique Agrus Kos—a legendary soldier. But now he’s a spirit rather than human.
A four-color legendary card is something new, and right now, that should be printed at mythic rare.
Somewhere in the story, he flew from the balustrade, so he should have flying.
If someone died in Ravnica, its spirit never leaves the plane. Instead, it can join the division of Kos. This is represented by its ability to take a creature from your graveyard to join him on the battlefield. But it is its spirit rather than the actual creature, so a Spirit token joins the battlefield. The creature card will be exiled because you can't take two spirits from one corpse. As the new member now is a spirit, too, and already ready to fight, it gains flying and haste. But it takes some time for Agros Kos to hire a new member, so he can only do it at sorcery speed. Being a Spirit is the white part of the card. Having flying and creating copies of creatures is the blue part. The graveyard shenanigans is the black part. The haste the token gains is the red part.
Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran was 3/3, and as a spirit, he kept the same strengths and weaknesses, including his cat allergy. So the power/toughness should stay the same.
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Panel Comments
Ant: Awesome. I love the story in this card. Kos walks up to a dead creature and rips its spirit back into the living world, forcing it to fight your opponent while destroying the original body in the process. The fact that Kos is also a spirit and only does this to his allies adds a dark note that I really enjoyed. I just wish the designer squeezed a pithy one-liner of flavor text under all that rules jargon.
Bennie: Commander fans would rejoice at finally having a four-color legend to build a deck around! I like that his ability can be abused with black cards, but if he had green in his cost, you could really abuse it, so nice restraint in not adding green to the design, keeping it strong but not too strong. While he is a bit “limited” by only being able to copy your own dead creatures, having access to blue gives you a workaround with Clones to copy any good creature in play. Kudos for the snowman pic!
Natahlia: I assume the ability is supposed to have “exile it at end of turn” on it, and—if so—I REALLY REALLY REALLY like this ability. His bringing back old allies to assist him is spot on, and they keep dying on him, so he has to keep finding new partners. And it wasn’t touched on in the design notes, but I like his four-color combination, as it represents his core (white) and the three guilds that he worked for (Boros, Orzhov, and Azorius) and how he took a bit of each of them to the grave with him.
Agrus Kos, Eternal Justice by Dylan Epsey
Designer Notes
I wanted him to be an inspiration to both alive and dead. So he has effects that affect both Humans and Spirits. The vigilance part is based off the fanfic at the point when he mentions spirits not having to deal with hangovers, and the first strike is from the point when he surprises the Dimir group.
His search effect was weird for me to work with—tutoring is generally strong, and I wasn't trying to make Momir Vig, Simic Visionary V. 2. It only affects Spirits as a way to balance it, and it puts them into your hand simply because I felt that putting it onto the field was too much with everything else.
The extra in his mana cost reflects his ethereal status, and the added power is from his experiences fighting Szadek and House Dimir.
Panel Comments
Ant: Ha! Never would have thought of vigilance as a mechanical way to say, “I don’t get hangovers,” but now I can’t seem to look at my Serra Angels in quite the same light . . . I enjoyed this one.
Bennie: Vigilance and first strike are solid abilities for commanders to have, and I like that he’s a “lord” of sorts for two creature types, which will make him fun to build around. It seems a bit weird that his triggered ability only lets you search up a Spirit and not a Human, too.
Natahlia: Oh, my! I love the vigilance equaling no hangovers! Spot on with that. I think him affecting the living (Humans get +1/+1) is a bit of an extrapolation, as we don’t see him acting with living allies in the story, so it’s a little bit of a miss for me. Also, he’s probably a Spirit Soldier, not a Human Spirit (see explanations above), and the current standard for “lord” cards is to have them only affect creatures you control, not everyone’s creatures of that type. I’m not sure that this card feels at all red to me. I think it could be mono-white with the same text box, and it would be fine.
Agrus Kos, Agyrem Wojek by GUDoug
Designer Notes
For my design, I wanted to play off Agrus Kos’s rotating cast of partners. I designed an ability that allows him to gain a new Spirit partner every time he attacks if he doesn’t already have one. The partner entering the battlefield then also provides temporary protection from a “bad guy” or “bad guys” should there be a gang of toughs all of the same creature type lurking around. Seeing as he is a street-cop-like figure, I associate the job with vigilance and quick thinking (haste). I particularly like the flavor text taken from the source material and how it fits in with the card art and functionality.
I am not sure how this card art will be handled. I used nine separate image elements in order to make this. I talked to a few people, and I could be considered the artist, as I am the one who collaged all the elements together. There is the Agyrem art in the background, a picture of Mike Linnemann from his Twitter, the chest knife holster, the trench coat, the pants that I manipulated/edited, the same Boros pin used four times and manipulated, the same arm gauntlets used two times and manipulated/edited, the spectral figure, and then a blue glow image that I used five times (for that spectral glow).
Panel Comments
Ant: +1 for pulling flavor text from the fanfic. This design tells a great story with its mechanics, and I like that you can only have one Spirit buddy for ol’ Kos at a time. Very cool concept.
Bennie: Lots of laughs for using the shirtless pic of Mike Linnemann here (sort of a Twitter inside joke). Again, vigilance makes for a great Commander ability, and haste is really good, too. I really like attack-trigger ability that’s a callback to Geist of Saint Traft, but then the other triggered ability gives it a unique spin.
Natahlia: I really like this whole design. It feels very sleek. I also really like that it makes him function much better on offense than on defense, like how they beat up the Dimir gang (offense), but he trips over himself when the cat appears (defense).
Agrus Kos, Spiritguard by Mikeal Simpfendorfer
Designer Notes
Obviously, the idea here was to create a post-death Agrus, and I started by shaving the red mana out of his casting cost because he needed to be able to be slid in to an Azorius deck for flavor's sake.
I didn't want him to entirely lose his Boros feel, though, so he needed a red mana ability. I wanted to portray his skills at infiltrating as a spirit, and while I considered a standard tap for damage, I felt being unblockable but still actually swinging for damage would suit his character better and provide some fun flavor and sneaky play.
Finally, I wanted him to be able to come back, as happens to him in the Ravnica story in the first place. His regenerate ability makes him a great blocker, too, allowing him to give his life for you and then be yanked back into service. I considered giving him vigilance to let him perform both functions, but it seemed it would make him a little too powerful. It's an option if he turns out to not be that great though.
Panel Comments
Ant: I liked how this design used color to portray a Kos, who, in death, has lost some of that Boros spark. But if you introduce just a little bit of red mana, those old memories of battle come rushing back to our veteran and empower him temporarily. Great stuff.
Bennie: Sometimes, you want a very straightforward commander, and this one fits the bill. Regeneration and evasion make him a pretty strong candidate for a Voltron approach, and since he’s white, you can certainly pack in a bunch of Equipment search to load him up with!
Natahlia: Well, not to be the color pie police, but the red “unblockability” is granted by saying that creatures can’t block—except in very rare cases. And in those rare cases (like Goblin Shortcutter), it’s all about the creature being small. Also, regeneration isn’t in white’s part of the color pie; white makes things indestructible, gives things protection, or actually returns them from the graveyard to the battlefield. Outside of the color-pie issue, though, I like the idea of giving him activated abilities to show his past affiliations, though I’d love for him to have blue, black, and red abilities on a white creature (his past guild associations are Boros, Orzhov, and Azorius).
Agrus Kos, Geist Detective by HavelockV
Designer Notes
Your writing, although fantasy-based, has overtones of hardboiled detective fiction; there's a real vibe of "Sam Spade vs. the Dimir." Accordingly, this design portrays the act of investigation and Kos's knack for unexpectedly gaining the upper hand.
The activated ability represents detective work; if he nabs the culprit (e.g., an opponent's creature card), he gets the drop on the bad guys. Having 3 points of power and first strike enable him to ambush an unwary crook when he untaps to block. However, the mana cost and unpredictability of his ability make it worthwhile for ruffians to try to sneak past while he's tapped. The life-gain makes investigation worthwhile even when there's nobody to fight.
The art is public domain, taken from here.
Panel Comments
Ant: First off, I have to say I loved the name Geist Detective. I like the way the ability of the card really matches the flavor that the designer was trying to capture. You really feel as though you are trying to turn up some clues for your case. A lot of thought went into this design, and it shows. A lack of flavor text makes my inner Vorthos sad.
Bennie: Very cool design! The power level is pushed but not broken, making him an attractive choice for a commander. His activated ability is inspired, and it seems it could provide a lot of interesting interactions with your opponent.
Natahlia: I think you could push that ability a little bit, but it’s definitely going in the right direction. Make it do something when he doesn’t catch the culprit, as uncovering clues is part of the fun! My first impulse is to say something like “Exile the top card of target opponent’s library. If it’s a creature card, gain X life, where X is the number of cards exiled by Agrus Kos. Otherwise, untap Agrus Kos.” But great work!
Agrus Kos, Weary Stalwart by William Winger
Designer Notes
I thought Argus should have a combat ability to echo his previous card, but it couldn't take up a lot of room. Considering the lower converted mana cost, a first striking 2/3 made sense. Since he's now a spirit, as conveyed by the type line and the Orzhov-hybrid casting cost, I thought he should be resilient to removal, so I choose the to have him cast Hide (where he features in the art) while also 'hiding' himself.
Panel Comments
Ant: My only gripe with this design is that if you play him for 
in a black and red deck, his ability gives you an answer to enchantments, which I don't think red and black are supposed to have. I like that, as a commander, you would only ever use his ability once a game, and only if you really needed to—a kind of oh-$%!7 button.
Bennie: His ability activation of tucking himself probably makes him not an attractive choice as a commander, but the ability is outstanding, and I can see him being played as one of the other ninety-nine cards in a W/B/R deck.
Natahlia: Yeah, I don’t see the W/B hybrids as being good for this design. B/R hybrids with white as the regular mana symbol would be more in the color pie (as black and red aren’t able to deal with enchantments). I’m also not really sure where the hiding an artifact or enchantment fits with Kos’s flavor. I think the design is a cool one on its own, but I don’t think it fits on Agrus Kos.
Agrus Kos, Spectral Investigator by Josh Carlson
Designer Notes
I wanted to maintain a relationship to his original card while embracing some Vorthosian elements. I wanted him to remain Boros, as that seemed to still be the heart of the character. What I found interesting is that, in the story, he seemed "darker," almost vindictive in his hatred of Szadek and the Dimir. The line "Agrus Kos couldn’t think of a thing he wouldn’t sacrifice, personally, to eradicate Szadek forever," particularly caught my attention. So, instead of being straight R/W, I added hybrid W/B. I almost feel that if the situation presented itself, he could even lean more Rakdos in his treatment of Szadek's minions, probably delighting in eliminating them—all of which justified adding black to his cost.
As far as his abilities, the bit about his spirit inhabiting Wenslauv and others was interesting. What if he could have learned to do that over time? There's been another attempt at a spirit possessing a creature to gain control of it (Dark Ascension's Soul Seizer), but I never thought dealing combat damage to change a creature into Mind Control ever actually felt like a spirit possessing another body. Act of Treason is a red ability, and Flicker effects are white, so I thought the two went together nicely. Agrus "disappears" into the other creature and gains control of it temporarily. In order to represent him "possessing" the creature, he grants it a version of his original ability, along with his current first strike ability.
Panel Comments
Ant: A design based around a spirit that possesses his enemies and controls them is really interesting, and I enjoyed that. You can tell that the designer put a lot of thought into this card. Each piece is there for a flavorful reason.
Bennie: He’s small for his casting cost, but don’t let that fool you—he’s very powerful as a commander. Around a multiplayer table, the ability to “possess” any creature temporarily will be as potent as the potential targets available. Deathtouch combos quite strongly with first strike. Kudos for the fun artwork and the Future Sight card frame!
Natahlia: There’s a lot going on here. I think this might be a case in which a designer tried to put too many great design concepts into one card. I don’t see how the deathtouch fits with his flavor, and without the deathtouch, I’m not really sure why this card is black. I do like the reasoning for him being black, but I don’t feel that that representation of him is portrayed in this design. The flavor for possession seems very sweet though.
Agrus Kos, Spectral Chief by William Parker
Designer Notes
I wanted to have "chief" in there and represent that he was a Spirit, so there you go.
I decided to cost Agrus a bit aggressively. I wasn't able to playtest or anything, so the mana cost may have to be 
for a 3/3.
Well, he is a legendary creature and a Spirit Soldier—rare as well of course.
After I had finished the card, he felt underpowered, so I put vigilance on it. It enables Agrus to reap the benefits of both of his abilities. He's also a Spirit, so he'll continue to watch over Ravnica for quite a while. I considered first strike, but I felt that vigilance would synergize better with his abilities.
Both red and white like buffs. Buffing while attacking is good, as is buffing while blocking. Like the original, Agrus does buff himself, although not quite as much.
The original Agrus was a 5/5 while attacking. Now, however, he's a 3/3 while attacking. I'm afraid that'll seem like Agrus has become weaker, but he hasn't. In the interest of balance, I decided to keep it 2/3.
Panel Comments
Ant: I’m not gonna lie—I read this as Agrus Kos, Spectral Chef . I liked the subtle shift in mechanics that represents how Kos is now so well known that he no longer needs to join in the fight to inspire his allies.
Bennie: Nice to see vigilance on any potential commander, and the attacking and blocking triggers are solid if not super-exciting. I think I’d want to shave a mana or 2 off to make this collection of abilities a worthy commander choice.
Natahlia: This design is solid, but I can’t help but be a bit underwhelmed at this version of Kos. It doesn’t really seem to explore any territory outside his original card’s text box. The strongest “new versions” of legends from a flavor perspective are ones that reference the older card’s abilities, but they do something new or different (e.g. Ghost Council of Orzhova vs. Obzedat, Ghost Council). However, I do feel that you did a good job at scaling his old abilities into a new function.
Voting
It’s dangerous to go alone. Which Kos do you choose to keep the spirit of the working man alive, accompany you to battle, and defend the streets of Agyrem from creeps like Szadek?
[poll id="336"]
See you for Wave 2 next week! Tell your friends, and get out the vote for your favorites.
Till next time, may Magic be your cranky old man’s bam-stick . . . oh, Obzedat—that sounded awful.
-MJ
