Set Mechanics
New Mechanics
Territories: These enchantments are a little bit like auras, a little bit like equipment, and yet unlike either of the two. Flavorwise, they represent important locations in Almos, places that armies would want to hold control over. Just like territories in other games, these enchantments can be contested. Territories can be assigned to creatures when an occupying creature dies or when the territory enters the battlefield. Certain creatures can take over territories and others can occupy territories when they enter the battlefield.
Additionally, territories will interact with other spells as well, with effects increasing or decreasing depending on the number of territories a player controls or occupies.
Battlefield States: The Battlefield States are a way to impact the entire field and use it to your advantage in battle. With Battlefield States, you can turn off certain keywords as well as set up other spells and abilities that require a certain Battlefield State to activate. (see Revised Mechanics for Battlefield-Statebound)
Returning Mechanics
Level Up: This is a mechanic that’s returning with some twists, including Leveler DFCs, though there are ordinary level cards as well. Most of the uses of this mechanic will gain levels under certain conditions, rather than merely paying a simple mana cost. Though that doesn’t mean that mana costs won’t be a part of the cost.
Protection from/Hexproof against: Given that this is very much an all-out color war, I expect to use some “Protection from/Hexproof against” in order to allow some color hate. However, the idea is to have a light touch with this as it can quickly become unfun.
Double Faced Cards: As part of Level Up as well as lycanthropy, there will be a number of transforming DFCs.
Revised Mechanics
Prowess -> Discipline: This will primarily feature in blue, but will still show up in white and red. The flavor for the ability on Almos is a bit different, coming from a specific order of mages that have similarities to monks.
Syntax: Discipline <X> type<, type2> (Whenever you cast a type< or type2> spell, this creature gets +X/+X until end of turn.)
Infect -> Mark: This will primarily feature in green, but will still show up in black and red. The flavor actually surrounds lycanthropy, and overcoming the weakness is part of the path to truer power.
Syntax: Mark (If this creature would deal damage to a creature without any -1/-1 counters, that damage is dealt in the form of -1/-1 counters and that creature becomes marked.)
Nightbound/Daybound -> Battlefield-Statebound: When the Almos set was concepted, one of the reasons for Battlefield States was to introduce a formal concept similar to day and night. Of course, in Innistrad, day and night aren’t bound to just white and black. However, the concept I created was loosely color-based in that there’s a Battlefield State for each color. As such, a couple of things had to be done:
- Night and Day, now being official concepts in the game, the words needed to be changed to Daylight and Nighttime.
- Battlefield-Statebound works a little differently than Daybound or Nightbound. The latter is tied to specific mechanics occurring or not occurring (specifically that casting two or more spells in a turn will make it Day and casting no spells in a turn will make it Night.) However, with Battlefield States, the change occurs only if a card specifies that the Battlefield State is changing. However, once the change occurs, it can affect a permanent.
- In accordance with #2, this means that if a permanent is double-faced and that facing is based on a Battlefield State, then it will have the appropriate Battlefield-Statebound keyword on the card, but the reminder text will simply remind players when to transform.)
Syntax:
- Daylightbound (At the beginning of each upkeep, as long as the Battlefield State is Daylight, keep this side face up. Otherwise, transform this permanent.)
- Nighttimebound (At the beginning of each upkeep, as long as the Battlefield State is Nighttime, keep this side face up. Otherwise, transform this permanent.)
- Rainybound (At the beginning of each upkeep, as long as the Battlefield State is Rainybound, keep this side face up. Otherwise, transform this permanent.)
- Heatwavebound (At the beginning of each upkeep, as long as the Battlefield State is Heatwavebound, keep this side face up. Otherwise, transform this permanent.)
- Windybound (At the beginning of each upkeep, as long as the Battlefield State is Windy, keep this side face up. Otherwise, transform this permanent.)
- Not Xbound (At the beginning of each upkeep, as long as the Battlefield State is not X, keep this side face up. Otherwise, transform this permanent.)