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So, last week, we went there—and the card-design gladiator shenanigans ensued. This is the second installment of brutal polling action, so put on your R&D hats, and grab your Vorthos beers. Need to catch up? The contest announcement is what you should read first, followed by Wave 1.
Just to get us in the mood, I once again have a featured card designed by fiction writer Natahlia Lysse Zaring, along with some of her thoughts on its creation. This time it’s Kos himself.
Natahlia: So, as I started to brew, my first thought was, "What color(s) would he be in this incarnation?" To roll call his history, he was a soldier for Boros (R/W), a security guard for Orzhov (W/B), and a ghostly guard for Azorius (W/U). The common thread between all of these jobs is that he was continually working for white-aligned people. Combine that with his status as a soldier, his current status as a ghost (traditionally white, though they spill into other colors), and the way he strives to better society and puts his work above his personal life, and mono-white seemed like the ideal color for our ghostly friend.
Natahlia (cont’d): His first ability "Whenever another non-Spirit creature dies . . . " is representative about how he keeps losing partners and then looking for a new one. This also helps to represent how Wenslauv continues to be his partner after death. It has a “may” clause on it to signify the care he uses when selecting a partner; as in the story, he drills Rhoka with questions until he's satisfied with his pick. The "non-Spirit" rider in the text serves a dual purpose: First, it makes it so you can't keep recurring the same creature over and over again (at least not without some hoop-jumping), but it also shows how he's recruiting from the recently deceased rather than those who have been long dead (and therefore already a Spirit).
His second ability "~ can only attack or block" represents how he works with a partner. He doesn't leave his partner behind, not unless the partner’s dead. He can work alone while he's in between partners, but he'd prefer to do things in tag-team style.
I love Agrus Kos as a character because he seems very real. Contrary to many youthful and idealized version of “the hero” we see often, Kos is a flawed and old dude who only, you know, saved Ravnica multiple times. Sometimes, when I watch recent action movies, I marvel at how the entire twenty-something cast looks like supermodels. It makes me nostalgic for Cagney and Eastwood—hell, even Nick Cage. The fact that someone like Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider looks downright “mature” compared to this decade’s fresh-faced stars really says something about the demographic being catered to. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but as always, I am an opponent of homogenous things—unless it’s a mono-black deck.
I’m also fond of Agrus Kos because he’s gotten his hands dirty. He has regrets, failures, questionable decisions up the wahoo, vulnerabilities, vices, and more. These things make him an interesting character. A primary impetus for creating my fan-fic series was to explore the unexplored when it comes to Magic’s beloved ’Walkers and legends. I believe games are better when you care about the people in them.
And with that, let’s get on to the voting!
Our commentator panel is comprised of Gathering Magic columnist Ant “Mishra” Tessitore, aforementioned fiction writer Natahlia “Legacy” Zaring, and The Complete Commander author and StarCityGames fixture Bennie “Stay off my Llanowar!” Smith.
Agrus Kos, Spectral Officer by Max de Kievith
Designer Notes
After reading the Agrus Kos lore, I noticed that he has the ability to possess other beings. I used this piece of lore to inspire his possession ability. The possessed creature has battle cry and first strike because I thought they were the most applicable abilities for a Wojek leader to give.
Panel Comments
Ant: I like this design. It has great flavor, and I think it would be fun to play. I like that the abilities that the possessed creature gains match the abilities of Kos.
Bennie: This has great flavor for sure, and his ability would be pretty cool as a commander since you could move him to the command zone from exile, recast him, and keep buffing your other creatures with battle cry and first strike.
Natahlia: This is another cool take on his “possession” ability. I really like how the ability fits both with white (blinking) and with red (taking control of creatures). I do want to quickly mention that the ghost creature type is “Spirit,” not actually ghost, and that three creature types are usually avoided if possible. The fact that the three types and the legendary supertype push the type line to where it has to squint is a problem, so I would suggest whittling down on those (probably to Spirit Soldier).
Agrus Kos, Wojek Legend by Andrew Wilson
Designer Notes
Agrus is coming to grips with being dead. With that, he still wants to help his follow Boros-guild human soldiers, and on the other hand, he wants to help the fallen dead spirits that roam the underworld.
Panel Comments
Ant: It's cool that Kos benefits from either one of his buffs. I think the abilities should maybe only be able to be used once a turn. It's cool that his red side is the stubborn ability that affects humans and his white side is an acceptance to help spirits.
Bennie: Haste and vigilance form a great one-two punch for multiplayer formats like Commander, and I like that his abilities are a great mana sink for the late game.
Natahlia: Hmm . . . I do think the homage to his previous iterations are good (3/3 stats, a 5-drop, and an ability that pumps power and another one that pumps toughness), but he strikes me as a little clunky. A 3/3 with haste and vigilance for 5 is a little behind the power curve (see Bull Cerodon for an uncommon 5/5 with haste and vigilance for 6), yet Kos shows himself in the story to still be able to kick it with a gang of thugs. His abilities encourage a player to play with an army of dudes, yet all Kos needed in his fight in the story was Kallist at his side. I think this is a strong design, but I think there’s maybe too much of the living Kos in this card and not enough of the specter. A couple technical notes: Usually, a creature has a race and a class in its type line, whereas both Human and Spirit are races; and the standard for “lord” effects and/or Anthem effects is that they now only affect your creatures rather than both players’ creatures.
Argus Kos, Warden of Agyrem by Alex Reece
Designer Notes
Flavorfully, Agyrem is not an underworld, it is not a hell; it honestly defies the traditional sense of an afterlife if it exists on the same plane as the living. To me, Agyrem seems like a sort of purgatory, a place where a bunch of souls are still waiting, living life that stagnates and stands still as old contracts and obligations from guilds keep the souls busy and the living ever wondering what goes on in the ghost quarter.
Hide // Seek is a very odd card—it’s an aggressively-costed hate card that is either used to temporarily get rid of an artifact or enchantment or used to pluck out a card from an enemy library and get some life out of it. Funny enough, Hide has Kos's likeness on it, and it serves as the main inspiration for my entry.
With a power and toughness of 2/3, Kos is not the mightiest of soldiers, but he was never useful for running alongside the troops. Kos's activated ability takes a permanent and shuffles it into the owner’s library. The owner then is able to see the top of his or her deck, and if a creature is there, the player gets to have it played, but if not, the players draw it. Kos represents continuous removal on the field—it doesn't matter if his target is living or dead or if it never lived to begin with. He'll bury it into the opponent’s deck and call it a day.
Panel Comments
Ant: This is an interesting take on an arrest mechanic, which also feels very Boros. This version of Kos has some interesting flavor behind him. Love the Pac-Man ghost art.
Bennie: The activated ability reminds me of Chaos Warp and Oblation, and it plays great with the haste and vigilance, letting you attack right away and still be able to tap and use the ability if you need to. The fact that you can use this to shuffle opposing commanders into the library would certainly make this a hated commander.
Natahlia: I dig the flavor: Kos is very efficient at locking up anyone or anything that’s becoming a problem, but his job is never done, even in death; there’s always something else coming out that needs to be dealt with. My one question is how this card is tied into his ghostly self, as he was just as good at locking up bad guys before death.
Kos Spirit of Boros by Jake Rainey
Designer Notes
My card was named for Kos’s position as a ghost and his loyalty to Boros. His mana cost reflects his twice-over commitment to the Legion: 2 mana of each of the Boros types, one for his service both in life and in death. I made him a Spirit, because that is the traditional type for white ghosts, and a Soldier, since that is what he is in life and in death. He has flying since, as a Spirit, he is shown flying in the story, and he also has protection from blue and from black for story reasons. Blue and black being the Dimir colors, Kos killed several Dimir agents in Retribution in Ravnica and would hold a grudge against Dimir for what they did in the original Ravnica block novels. His ability costs red and white mana because it reflects the two colors—white in that he exiles himself and returns at end of turn and red in that he is effectively acting like the red instant Act of Treason. I chose to model his ability after Act of Treason because it is a red instant from the Return to Ravnica block, and I felt that the ability to take over an enemy creature would match his ability to possess people in the novels.
Panel Comments
Ant: My favorite part of this card is the possession mechanic. I love that it feels like you are playing Flicker on Kos and then playing an Act of Treason effect on the opponent. It feels like possession and is very R/W, too.
Bennie: He’s small, but he’s chock-full of abilities that would be decent around a Commander table. It’d be quite fun to equip with Illusionist's Bracers and activate his ability!
Natahlia: More possession! It seems that that story point was an inspiration to quite a few designers. I’m going to quickly give you a better template for his second ability:
“
: Exile ~. Gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn. At the beginning of the next end step, return ~ to the battlefield.”
I really like how you tied in the colors in his mana cost and his protections with his devotion/service and with his “mortal” enemy. I was a little confused at first about some of the reasons for some of his parts, so the design might be a little less intuitive, but your explanation was wonderful and gave me all the tools I needed to understand your design.
Agrus Kos, Spectral Commander by Russel Lee
Designer Notes
Design-wise, I decided to focus on Agrus as a spirit in the ghost quarter. He's still Boros, through and through; he's just dead. Obviously, this would make him a Spirit.
In the story, he and Kallist fly, hence the flying. He also manages to be bitten by some ghost vampires, seeming to suffer no real ill effect from it. In addition, his continuous quest to stop Szadek from being a blight to Ravnica, and that prompted me to give him protection from black. Haste was originally vigilance, but I was struggling to figure out what made him red. Being battle-ready and a good battalion boost on turn four would definitely strike as a good piece of red pie.
He's a 2/4 to keep him out of Bolt range but not make him so big that he's carrying a team all on his own—that and I can keep the cost down to 
. It's nothing to sneeze at, and he will most likely survive regular-grade combat and dodge most removal.
The battalion trigger is from the story as well. Basically, Agrus is even more aggressive in death. He has the law to uphold, but combatants will be met with swift and decisive force. Tapping potential blockers is keeping peace, the subtle part of the white. Destroying the tapped creature is Vengeance, pure and simple. Agrus Kos is not a forgiving man once you are on the wrong side of the law.
Panel Comments
Ant: This Kos has a dark side to him. It is so interesting that Kos typically will “arrest” his target when he attacks, but if the target is already tapped (implying that it has been arrested already), it's the death penalty instead!
Bennie: This would definitely be a feared commander, especially since white has plenty of ways to tap down creatures (not to mention a good, old-fashioned Icy Manipulator). In fact, it does have a Royal Assassin vibe that feels a little strange outside of black, but you’re right: There is a white card called Vengeance that does exactly this.
Natahlia: Well, the destroying of tapped creatures has traditionally been in black, and traditionally is associated with assassination. It does border on the end/into white’s part of the color pie, so it’s not completely out of place here, but it’s definitely a non-traditional choice. Also, the templating on the ability is a bit off. Try something like:
“Battalion — Whenever ~ and at least two other creatures attack, destroy target creature if it is tapped. Otherwise, tap it.”
I also feel that making the ability a battalion trigger fits in with his whole person really well: Kos can get the job done on his own, but when he’s working with a partner (or two, in this case), the bad guys stand no chance.
The Blackbird of Agyrem by Sean Dorsey
Designer Notes
At first, my card was called Agrus Kos, Spectral Commander. I changed it to further evoke how much Kos has been through; I wanted his title to reflect both his current position and also the fact that he is now a different sort of enforcer. As "The Blackbird of Agyrem," not everyone realizes who he is, similar to how the Blind Seer card is Urza. As a Spirit, flying was a shoo-in for an ability, and vigilance also fits his title to a T. It was then a matter of showing how he rallies support in his quest for justice. When Agrus Kos strikes, it's a sign for his men to mobilize and support their leader. Being around him then inspires them and gives them Holy Strength thanks to his angelic affiliations, as well as making them a little more vigilant about potential wrongdoing. And, of course, for the flavor text, I thought for a while about some inspirational quote of Kos's, but I then decided that his bravery and skill speak for themselves—why not show a secondhand account of how much his reputation echoes throughout Ravnica? And forgive me, but I couldn't resist the pun about geists, even though it's Innistradian terminology.
Panel Comments
Ant: This card is sweet, and the name sounds so awesome! I just wish he made Spirit Soldiers. That would have dialed this one up to 11 for me. Really sweet art as well!
Bennie: Token lovers would flock to this card, especially since you can Voltron him to make even more tokens. Now that I think about it, you could really make him the focal part of your deck since with vigilance he protects you and when he hits he makes a bunch of dudes that can also both attack and defend.
Natahlia: I like the design on this card: It’s an army unto itself, but the mana cost and lack of “protection” abilities holds the power in check. However, my biggest question for him is how this design fits in with the Kos that we saw in the story. It seems like a great R/W legend to exist, but I’m not sure why this legend is Kos.
Agrus Kos, Boros Avenger by Bruce
Designer Notes
- Being dead, Agrus Kos has changed both in his capabilities and his color alignment.
- The transition from Sunhome to Agyrem has caused Agrus to naturally transition into mono-white as the influential Boros-style passion has been replaced with a nobler sense of justice and the desire to defend his district. However, this doesn't mean that he has cut ties with the Boros (see title), and he still seeks ex-Boros (dead) soldiers to assist him.
- Agrus Kos, to some degree, has become like a Guardian of the Guildpact in his new role as Chief of Investigations in the Agyrem District, hence the reason I've given him protection from monocolored.
- His position as investigator means that, for the most part, he isn't engaged in direct confrontation but is still always ready to fight. Therefore, he only deals 1 damage and has vigilance.
- By being colorless (bonus ghost flavor), he can defeat any perpetrator who would dare disturb the peace—even those who think they are above the law (have protection).
Panel Comments
Ant: I really appreciate the darker tone of this card. This version of Kos has seen the darker side of Ravnica and is no longer one to hesitate when he feels it's time for justice. Great card.
Bennie: I like the callback to Ghostfire, being a colorless card despite the colored mana in the casting cost, and the actual card design looks fantastic; well done! Vigilance is a great commander ability, and while he doesn’t really hit very hard, his tap ability will greatly impact the flow of a game.
Natahlia: I don’t think I understand the connection you have drawn between him and Guardian of the Guildpact. On top of that, it seems more intuitive to give him protection from multicolored rather than monocolored, as he is operating outside of the Guilds, and so would maybe have protection from them. I do like the whole ghosty colorless thing, though. It gives him a unique flavor separating him from your run-of-the-mill ghost, and it seems functional in helping him complete his job (arresting all the baddies).
Agrus Kos, Spirit Guard by Trevor Murdock
Designer Notes
I was looking to design a card that was true to the original character but reflected the story since then. In particular, the aspect of Agrus Kos questioning Kallist Rhoka's allegiance struck a chord since Agrus Kos was forced to work for the Azorius Senate in his afterlife, and even before that, he went into service of the Orzhov in retirement.
To reflect this, I kept his pump of creatures but made it affect all attacking creatures instead of red and white creatures only. This indicates his expansion of allegiance beyond Boros, though in a way that remains thoroughly Boros because it's a Crusade effect (white) for attacking creatures only (red). His two activated abilities reflect the other guilds he has worked for (and is working for) since we last saw him, activated by paying the mana cost associated with those guilds. Since both Orzhov and Azorius share white in their costs, these abilities also retain a Boros character by only affecting attacking creatures. Again, he's sharing benefits, but the abilities are derived from his new allegiances.
The flavor text ties this all together: Agrus Kos was truly faithful to the Orzhov when he was working for them and learned from their ways, and in his current service to the Azorius Senate, he is loyal to them and yet remains true to himself and his original identity.
Panel Comments
Ant: I like this take on a spirit Kos. Instead of just buffing his army's physical prowess, this Kos is able to bestow upon them the abilities of a ghost. Also, this is a sneaky was to create a four-colored commander, which is nice and something the casual community would love to see.
Bennie: This is a very interesting way to give a legend four colors in its color identity without making it cost four colors to cast—if this were your commander, you could play white, blue, black, and red spells in your deck. The activated abilities certainly have nice white, blue, and black flavor, but the other static ability doesn’t really feel red to me. It might be more red-feeling if it made attacking creatures you control gain +3/+0 until the end of the turn.
Natahlia: I really like this design. It’s homage to his previous card, but it’s a very new spin that takes into account his previous allegiances. I maybe would have liked to see Boros get a similar use as an activated ability rather than in his mana cost (for similarity’s sake), but overall, I think this it is a very well executed design.
Agrus Kos, Agyrem Prosecutor by Blackbull
Designer Notes
After reading the provided material (paying special attention to the wiki references and the Retribution story), I decided to make him a combat-oriented white Spirit creature. Since Agrus seems to have been an honorable and combat-skilled character while alive—and posthumous as well—I felt that he had to have both: a proactive and a reactive way of dealing with the battlefield. Also, making him a low-costed creature in mono-white, granted him to be usable in a weenieesque strategy as well has being able to hose other similar decklists in case of landing during an unfavorable match (Caltrops rework intended). The low cost also represents his new sort of incorporeal type. Agrus seems to have a rooted sense of comradeship, which I've tried to evidence in the way that both of his triggered abilities care about fellows’ interests from a flavor perspective. Finally, I should confess that I really wanted to keep the flavor text the first versions of the card had, but adding that third activated ability became a must.
Panel Comments
Ant: There is a ton of built-in tension in this design. You have two abilities that are opposing in function and a third ability that makes them play nicely together—but at the cost of your mana. I enjoyed the art description for this card and would love to see it done by one of the talented artists of Magic.
Bennie: It’s a very efficient beatdown commander, though the activated ability feels a little too “small” for a legendary creature—why not open it up a little bit by letting you give target creature vigilance until end of turn? It would still work on Agrus Kos, but in the late game, you can use it as a mana sink for other creatures, including those of opponents for political favors.
Natahlia: Why Advisor and not Soldier? To me, this design feels very Soldier-like, and Kos’s character is very soldierly, too. The parity between battle cry and caltrops on this card seems really sleek, and—tangentially—makes me wonder if there could be a cool bushido- or flanking-type mechanic that did something like this. If a card inspires thoughts into other applications of its design work, that’s a good thing.
Agrus Kos, Agyrem Chief by Zengardon
Designer Notes
From the story, I got the sense that he's no longer hurt by physical dangers, and protection is a great way to show that (it's also the Spirit Mantle ability). I also wanted to capture the flavor that he trains dead recruits and gains strength from their numbers while cleaning up the world of the dead (e.g. the graveyard).
In life, he was a little more selfless, granting bonuses to all he worked with. Now he's a little more suspicious, trusting the new recruits a little less until they prove themselves. His color identity still feels red and white to me—he's still firmly committed to his duty.
In terms of power level, he seems well-fitted to Commander or a build-around-me casual deck with many Spirits. I'm not overly concerned about the aggressive casting cost because, while he can grow at instant speed, he requires a full graveyard to do so. On the Agyrem plane, he initially looks worse since the graveyard is empty, but not so: You can exile your opponents' creatures in response to the plane's trigger, so opponents don't receive their creatures back while you do.
Panel Comments
Ant: This guy would be a nightmare to play against, but the flavor is awesome! I like that the Spirit Kos has Spirit Mantle, and I like how this Kos can recruit an army of Spirits to fight for him.
Bennie: In a multiplayer game, I’d worry this guy’s bundle of abilities might be way too powerful for the mana cost. I think I’d want him to tap to exile creatures in the graveyard—and maybe cost some mana, too. Also, I’d like to see something “red” about him to justify the red in his casting cost.
Natahlia: I think combining pro creatures with a creature that can grow really big really fast is asking for trouble. I’d add a mana cost or tap to his make-a-Spirit ability and/or maybe change the pro creature to “Prevent all damage that would be dealt to ~ by creatures.” That still gives him the way around physical danger without also giving him evasion. And a quick technical note: The order for creature types is Race Class, so he’d be a Spirit Soldier, not a Soldier Spirit. I definitely feel that this card approaches it from an interesting angle, but I’m not quite feeling the fit between him growing more powerful the more Spirits you have and his initially appearing weak and then actually being stronger, as he wasn’t surrounded by Spirits in the story when he appeared stronger.
Voting
Oh, crud—the Princess is in another castle!!! For your bosom buddy, right-hand man, and savior of Ravnica, you choose:
[poll id="347"]
Voting closes Friday at midnight PST. Tell your friends, get out the vote, and may the Fist be with you!
Till next time, may Magic be the skeletons in your closet that not only give you unasked-for advice, but also rally to fight at your side when the Shiv goes down.
-MJ
