🖊
thank you thank you!!! you geeet another kitty cat, captain my beloved!
(image id in alt)
so once again as part of the worldbuilding i have yet to explain or elaborate on, captain is the leader of one of the feral clowders in this abandoned city. i haven't named any of the clowders yet, but captain's group specifically lives in an abandoned train yard at the outskirts of the city. of the clowder leaders, she's also the toughest and one of the few that will actually lead expeditions into the heart of the city, which is widely considered the most dangerous, both to gather supplies and ensure there aren't too many monsters milling about.
in terms of personality, captain is very no-nonsense and believes very strongly in loyalty. if you're under her care or a member of her colony, she will gladly die to protect you and considers you family. this sense of duty is her most defining feature, and it's part of why she goes by the name 'captain'. she doesn't tend to smile often and approaches everything with total sincerity.
also, as you can imagine, she fucking hates red and has definitely kicked his ass before.
in terms of backstory, captain is one of the oldest cast members, though she wasn't alive for the initial apocalypse. however, she has seen its effects and has dedicated her life to protecting and helping others.
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Lavenderfrost’s Bio Family
Blizzard - Hail’s sister and “leader” of the Mill Cat Clowder. She’s deaf but you’d never guess it.
Hail - Lavenderfrost’s dad. Big hard outside with a warm soft inside.
Sweetpea - Lavenderfrost’s mom. Little sweetheart who worries a lot.
Rain - Lavenderfrost’s sister. A stubborn beauty.
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I’d Spend Them With You
Also on A03: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22454086
Garfield has been around for a long time. He knows this, and he’s getting pretty tired of it. No matter how much he tries to have any semblance of a normal life cycle, it always comes back and bites him in the tail.
So now here he stands, inside of an old abandoned theatre filled to the brim with thousands of cats, debating on whether they, as cats should question Primal Self on why they have nine lives.
“I’m sorry Finn I just don’t see the point in this. Seems more trouble than it’s worth.’’
“The humans are people of knowledge just like us, they research and explore their universe and their lives I don’t see why we can’t do the same!” Finnigan McEily, lived eight lives, on his ninth. Spanning seven centuries, approximately 14 years old. He’s the head councilman in the Muncie region, followed by Garfield himself being the second. Of course, what Finn doesn’t know is that Garfield can take away his authority at any moment.
Not that he wants to do it anyway, too much work and stress, he’d much rather not do all of that thank you very much.
“Yeah well what will we do with that knowledge once we get it? We’ve lived near humans since before time was counted we know they like to stick their noses where they don’t belong, I’d rather not follow in their footsteps.”
“Great Bastet, how much more in denial can you get-”
“Finn I was there to see the worst of what humanity can offer. I’ve been on the receiving end of human curiosity and let me tell you it is not fun. We have no idea how to explore our lives, much less understand why we are the way we are. There really is no point in doing this.”
In another life, he might have said differently. He might have agreed and said they could benefit from this. But unfortunately, he’s lived too many and is quite certain this will only end in disaster.
“We are ancient and loved. We have seen civilisations rise and fall and we’re able to tell the tale. Yet the only thing we haven’t figured out is how. I, for one, think this could be beneficial to us as a society and a species.” That was Amelia Sternman, third head of the council. Lived eight lives, spanning five centuries, ten years old. She’s joyful, ignorant, poetic and wide-eyed and Garfield would love to do nothing more than to claw her tail into a clean shave. Damn maine coons…
If Garfield was in another life, in the garden, he probably would have been her best friend. Jovial, forever young, stupid, they could’ve been mistaken for siblings from different litters. Sure she can use big words but they ain’t making her any smarter. She has no idea what this means.
Garfield recalls a time where he would have jumped on this idea right away. He fed on knowledge in that life. He had to, he was a detective, after all.
Samuel Elias Spayed. Lived in the 1920s, just your run of the mill hard boiled detective doing his job. Died in a shootout with a gang in 1931. Overly curious, stuck his nose where it didn't belong and it ended up working out great for him.
But, he’s getting ahead of himself.
“Why can’t we just keep doing what we’ve always done and go on with our lives. Accept that yeah, this is a thing that just happens and be done with it? Man, how long is this meeting I want to go home already.”
He heard a wallop in the audience, agreeing with him. Good, he’s not the only one bored out of his mind.
Finn sighs and strikes down on the stage floor with his paw three times “Alright fine, meeting adjourned for this week, but we will keep discussing this matter next time. You’re free to go.”
Garfield jumps off the old rusted podium onto uncomfortable old wood,the stage creaks and groans with every step his fellow pets make.
As Garfield steps out of the Bijou he thinks of how impressive it used to be. Standing proud and intimidating, it's lights aglow. Try hard enough and he can still hear the music playing from the pit. Strain his eyes enough and he swears he can see the actors performing their final number.
A piece of this land, always here to be remembered, yet never to be fixed.
He always felt a sense of connection to the building. Who knows, maybe in a previous life he was a pet to one of the cast members.
Not every life gets remembered, not every person gets photographed. Hell, he can't even remember what he ate for breakfast that day.
Maybe it was the sense of community that always drew him back there, he thinks. Letting his feet take him wherever they please. Garfield always feels better with other people around, as much as he tries to deny it.
After living for so long loneliness creeps up on you and crushes you inside out. Being with someone gave him a distraction. A thought that maybe… he didn't have to go through it alone.
He remembers the watercolour streaks of stars in his first life. Ancient and hard times, yes. But beautiful nonetheless. The world was new and naive. The older he got, the more stars went out. Now they’re practically all gone.
So was he. Crushed to death with a tree. His teeth crushed and mouth left bleeding. It wasn't too bad a death, he didn't have to suffer for long.
He thinks of Finn handling things in today's meeting. The felines asked for a day's meeting just between themselves. Finn trying to handle everyone talking at once doing his best to stay on track. Garfield wanted to laugh at how apparent it was that Finn wanted to scream. The dogs eavesdropping didn’t make it any better.
While there has been evidence that dogs traverse lives, they didn't want to test the theory and the dogs never said anything. It's a win win in Garfield's book. They don't touch their business and they won't touch his.
Walking along the road, he hears music coming from the park across the street. There was a performance by a touring folk band, Garfield is sure he can see Jon and Liz in the audience. After enough tries Jon’s given up on dating her and they opted to stay close friends.
Romance… what an odd thing, Garfield thinks. Everyone strives for a deeper emotional connection yet Garfield can’t remember any life he’s been in where he looked for a partner except his current one.
Connection was never his forte, often times he found himself opting out of meaningful conversations and friendships when they got too personal. He doesn’t know why he’s doing it, but he dies inside every time he does.
Baast’s Honor, how he wishes he could talk to someone. But no. he can’t be vulnerable. His previous lives showed enough of that. Vulnerability led to loneliness, loneliness lead to abandonment and a much faster death.
Stuck in an uncomfortable liminality between intimacy and isolation, Garfield found himself in a numb state. Constantly grumpy and always eating to distract himself, he’s sure whatever deity out there responsible for cats is rolling in their grave in disgust and horror.
The band is stopping for a piano solo, Debussy. Arabesque number 1. The corners of his mouth twitch upwards. He remembers Sarah playing this song…
His favorite life. After his untimely death occurring to an accident on set in a previous life, this one was a great change of pace. No worries, just peaceful times living with Sarah. He was almost her second piano teacher. Lucky one of his previous lives was that of a court musician's pet. Lived in her home from when she was a child and lived to see her child.
He continues walking and thinks of his home. His first home in this life. A beat up old Italian restaurant in a beat up old part of the city. Forgotten by humans, adored by cats. His whole family lives there.
Almost.
His dad doesn't. He left before Garfield was even born. Not that it bothers him any, he's got Jon and that's good enough for him. Garfield hisses softly to himself.
He remembers eating lasagne for the first time. It was his first ever meal, eaten five minutes or so after he was born. His mother laughed at his already large appetite.
Unfortunately a few minutes later he was taken away by the owner, thrown into a cage with other whining and screaming animals. The cage taken into a shelter and Garfield placed inside another cage. Begging and pleading to be taken by a human. Garfield cowered in the corner, confused and frightened. Some of the older folks tried to explain the situation to him, but all he cared about in that moment was being back with his mom.
A few days later, a brunette entered the shelter and Garfield caught his eye.
It took him a while to warm up to Jon. He knew humans weren't harmful to him, especially not one like Jon but he couldn't help but not be nervous. His previous life left a bitter aftertaste of humans…
Garfield feels a shiver go down his spine. He hated thinking about it. Being a lab experiment was one thing, almost being killed in the jungle after turning into a dog was another. Both sucked.
It felt wrong to be a different creature. Everything that he knew from his previous lives suddenly meant nothing. This was new, uncomfortable ground that he wasn't ready to explore. Garfield cringed inwardly.
He feels terrible saying that. He used to love exploring. It was his whole purpose in multiple lives. As a pirate, a space thief, cowboy, hell one of his jobs was literally exo-planetary explorer! Of course, both instances in space led to him gaining an extra set of lives for some goddamn reason.
He doesn't know whether to be thankful for it or despise it.
His feet come to a stop. The smell of old wood and abandoned concrete hits his nose with familiar pleasure. His family's home.
His home.
He runs to the back and squeezes through a hole in the wall. He knows why his instincts brought him here, speeding to the kitchen, he finds his clowder.
Ranging from his half brother Raoul, to his aunt Rockelvia. They run up and greet him with excitement.
"Look at that, ol' tiger's back." Uncle Morty exclaims, wrapping his tail around Garfield’s back paw and headbutts him.
"Took you awhile to come visit us. What you getting tired of your family?" Aunt Em scolds him from the top of a cabinet. Her tail swishing back and forth in a lazy welcoming matter.
Garfield chuckles. "Quite the contrary. You know I'd visit more if it were allowed by the Council. Unfortunately they don't take too well to anyone born outside a vet, shop or a human's home."
He hears great grandfather Oslo scoff. "Darn pets. They're the ones who kicked us out, you know."
Garfield rolls his eyes and replies, "Yeah I know you only whine about it every time I come over. But that's not why I'm here, do you know where mom is?"
"Check the dining room, she likes to sleep near the tables."
Garfield nods and makes his way towards his mom. After Luigi's Palace closed down she along with the rest of the family were considered strays and forced to leave the community.
"Mom? You here?"
"Table six, sweetie."
With a smile (and a few falls) Garfield makes his way to the top of the booth. He runs to his mom and headbutts her playfully, saying hello.
"Why, it's good to see you too, Garfield. What's the reason for your sudden visit?" She speaks softly.
Garfield sits down next to her and begins to explain,
"The council wants to initiate conversation with Primal Self. Not only that but to experiment on it and find out why it happens. I don't know about you but the idea of doing it sounds ridiculous and unnecessary." He says with a pout.
Sonja looks at her son with a curious gaze before replying.
"Well, my mother told me that the reason it happens is because the animals of the world were jealous of us cats having so many lives so they asked their ancients to curse all cats to come with a trial. This trial shall be held on each fifth life and determine whether a cat deserved its other lives in peace, or if they had to work for it. The ancient spirit of cats listened to their pleas and in sympathy, obliged. Following every cat on their fifth life and bringing out their ancient instincts."
Garfield stared at her in confusion, he was around before time was even thought of. Surely he'd remember something this important.
"But that's just an old queen's tale. Nobody knows for sure. I can't offer you much help with this, but I can support you in your council. Even from afar."
Garfield smiles and cuddles with her for what seemed like a lifetime before getting up, proclaiming he needs to return home.
As the moon shone on him walking down the street, he thinks of how wonderful this world is; despite its messes. He knows it is.
After all, he's been around for a long, long time.
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So Top Cat's clowder were invited to one of the Cattanooga Cats' post-concert grits bar parties and--
FANCY-FANCY, prepping up a dish of grits and topping it with some cheese and Old Bay Seasoning: I do have to admit, for one heretofore unaccustomed to grits, it's quite possible to make it even more interesting!
KITTY JO, explaining: Which, I have to admit, is the magic behind grits--the sheer versatility of the dish, which is basically ground cornmeal.
FANCY-FANCY, caught in such disbelief at the revelation: Now I know what grits really is--!
TOP CAT, being your "in-the-know" type: And pray, where exactly do the grits come from?
COUNTRY: It's all from a water-powered mill up in the north Georgia mountains which we lovingly helped join some close friends of ours in restoring. Admittedly, we have this fondness for things Southern as aren't too blatantly arrogant.
TOP CAT: And I assume you know what you mean by "blatantly arrogant," especially Confederate symbols and regalia! [Whereupon he tops his dish of grits with some unsalted butter and salt-free seasoning.]
SCOOTS: Glad you appreciate it!
TOP CAT: Just the same, Scoots; just the same.
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C17 Commander Set Review
For each new set, I write an article discussing the new legendary creatures and the nonlegendary cards that I think will be relevant in Commander.
In this set review, I’ll be using two five-point rating scales to evaluate the nonlegendary cards, one that measures how many decks a card is playable in (we’ll call that “spread”), and one that measures how powerful it is in those decks (”power”). Here’s a brief rundown of what each rank on the two scales means:
Spread
1: This card is effective in one or two decks, but no more (ex: The Gitrog Monster).
2: This card is effective in one deck archetype (ex: self-mill decks).
3: A lot of decks will be able to use this card effectively (ex: decks with graveyard interactions).
4: This card is effective in most decks in this color.
5: Every deck in this color is able to use this card effectively.
Power
1: This card is always going to be on the chopping block.
2: This card is unlikely to consistently perform well.
3: This card provides good utility but is not a powerhouse.
4: This card is good enough to push you ahead of your opponents.
5: This card has a huge impact on the game.
The Commanders of C17
In this section, I’ll be analyzing the new legendary creatures, offering some ideas for decks build around them, and discussing their potential for inclusion in the 99 of other decks.
Balan’s main advantage over similar Voltron commanders is its ability to save mana on equip costs, which allows you to run powerful equipment that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive to use. Balan can also make use of Lightning Greaves more effectively than most other Voltron commanders since it doesn’t have to take them off to equip other weapons.
In the maindeck:
Spread: 1
Power: 1
There aren’t a whole lot of decks that run a lot of equipment and would rather put them on Balan than on their commander. Even Nazahn would rather spread them around than let Balan hog them all.
Having to attack with him is a little bit of a hassle, but the raw power he offers in exchange seems well worth it. Extra turn effects are one of the best things you can rebound with his ability, and you can use the extra time to find spell recursion and get more Commander damage on your opponents.
In the maindeck:
Spread: 2
Power: 3
I could imagine abusing his rebound ability in a spell-heavy UW deck that includes extra turn effects. His counterspell protection could also be useful for your haymaker spells.
Great for breaking symmetry on effects that make everyone skip their draws or for negating the downside of stuff like Necropotence or Null Profusion. You can also double up on the trigger with stuff like Paradox Haze or Strionic Resonator.
In the maindeck:
Spread: 4
Power: 2
It’s not like Tomorrow ever made a huge splash in the maindeck, so I doubt this version of Taigam will see a lot of play.
I’ve heard speculation that he’ll be a powerhouse in Duel Commander, since his ability appears to be scaled for multiplayer and gets much stronger when you only have one opponent and the life totals are lower.
In multiplayer, Arahbo is a bit awkward. He encourages you to go tall by making a single creature huge, which is at cross purposes with a lot of the Cat token generation and Cat anthems.
Another tricky problem for an Arahbo deck is managing the number of Cats so that you’ll draw one early every game (thus getting the maximum usage out of his Eminence trigger) while trying to keep up the average card quality. Cats have not been a prominent creature type on most planes, so there haven’t been as many opportunities for WotC to print good creatures that happen to be Cats as there have been for Dragons or Wizards (Vamps haven’t been quite as lucky since they share the honor of being Black’s characteristic race with Zombies). As a result, tribal Cats has to relax its standards a little to make a critical mass, and effects that I wouldn’t otherwise be happy about running get to make it through the door.
Sample deck
In the maindeck:
Spread: 1
Power: 1
Arahbo is only good in tribal Cats, and I can’t imagine why a tribal Cat deck would choose another commander over him.
While Arahbo encourages you to go tall, Mirri operates at the other end of the aggro spectrum, supporting wider strategies by preventing your opponents from blocking the majority of your clowder. I think she’s much less powerful than Arahbo, but I’m glad there exists an in-tribe option for Cat tribal decks whose strategy aligns more closely with the type’s strengths.
In the maindeck:
Spread: 3
Power: 1
Seems like she could fit in a range of non-Voltron aggressive decks, but she really only seems worthwhile if you can guarantee that she’ll always have haste; telegraphing what you’re going to do with her while she recovers from summoning sickness sounds super lame.
Searching out equipment (and essentially having free equip costs) encourages a Voltron playstyle, but Nazahn is more expensive than most Voltron commanders, he doesn’t have haste, and his evasion ability is weak. Fortunately, he does have a few things going for him: 7 power is a great number for a Voltron commander, indestructibility is one of the best protection abilities you could ask for, and Nazahn has both of these things while he carries his Hammer. Plus, costing 6 means you’ll probably have enough time to set up a workaround for Nazahn’s lack of haste by the time you cast him.
In the maindeck:
Spread: 1
Power: 1
In the maindeck, this does a really poor imitation of Stoneforge Mystic.
Even setting aside the combo potential (Bloodline Necromancer and Ashnod’s Altar/Phyrexian Altar/whatever, or doubling up on Trophy Mage to get both Rings of Brighthearth and Basalt Monolith, or turning Wanderwine Prophets into a Russian nesting doll for infinite turns, or any relevant Champion and Ashnod’s Altar), this card seems really busted. There are just a ton of god damn Wizards that can generate cards off of her ability, and paying one mana for the privilege seems like a bargain.
Sample deck
In the maindeck:
Spread: 1
Power: 1
Her activated ability sucks super hard. Please don’t run her if she’s not gonna be your commander.
Competitive Commander circles have been looking for a commander for the Grixis Storm deck for a while, unhappily making do with Jeleva in the meantime. A 4-mana Snapcaster Mage in the Command Zone is a huge improvement over Jeleva, giving the deck a little added reach.
Sample list (not mine)
In the maindeck:
Spread: 3
Power: 3
She’s fragile and I hate exiling my own cards, but she does get back a good spell every turn if your deck has a strong suite of instants/sorceries to choose from.
Another comboriffic commander from the Wizard deck. The best thing you can do with him is to exile Mirror-Mad Phantasm, flip your library into your graveyard, and reanimate Lab Maniac with a Dread Return.
Less, uh, aggressive uses for Mairsil include getting Razaketh at a steep discount, building a machine gun with untappers and creatures that tap to destroy/exile/steal stuff, drawing tons of cards, populating your prison more quickly, etc. Also, this might be the first Commander deck to ever run Whip Sergeant.
In the maindeck:
Spread: 1
Power: 1
His needs are so specific that any deck that can use him effectively should probably be running him as the commander.
Well, I think haste granters are important for most commanders that have attack triggers, and Wasitora’s attack trigger is strong enough that I’d consider Strionic Resonator. Once you have a critical mass of haste granters, then running Breath of Fury is basically free and can give you some combo potential (infinite damage to anyone who doesn’t have creatures).
As far as Dragon tribal effects go, Crux of Fate and Crucible of Fire are obviously sweet. Utvara Hellkite and Atarka, World Render are pretty expensive, but the payoff seems worth it when you’ve got a litter of kittens to benefit from their effect. Kolaghan, Storm’s Fury is basically another copy of Shared Animosity (which you should also be running), and Dragon Broodmother generates an absurd amount of Dragon tokens. Coat of Arms exists, but be aware that it won’t be at its best in this deck because of the slow rate of token production (Animosity got a pass for being cheaper and one-sided). I’m skeptical of Scourge of Valkas in most Dragon decks (since the high CMC of most Dragons makes it difficult to get a lot of them on the board), but Wasitora’s token generation makes me think it could be good here. I’m not in love with Dragonspeaker Shaman since being a creature is a liability for these types of effects and I don’t think this deck has enough Dragons to justify running this over something sensible like Coalition Relic, Worn Powerstone, or Cultivate.
In the maindeck:
Spread: 1
Power: 2
As one of the very few repeatable Dragon token generators, Wasitora should easily find a home in the Dragon decks that contain her color identity.
As far as Eminence commanders go, he’s more fair than Inalla but still very powerful. Vampires have an absurd number of lords (plus Edgar himself), so token generation is extremely strong in this deck, allowing each lord to generate much more damage than it would be able to if you were limited to physical cards. The utility of tokens is so high, in fact, that it’s worth it to run 1- and 2-cost Vampires that would normally be too weak to see play in Commander because they serve as in-tribe Raise the Alarms to ensure you’ll quickly build an army during the early turns of the game, maximizing your damage output when Edgar or one of your other lords hits the table.
Sample list
In the maindeck:
Spread: 1
Power: 2
He’s only playable in a 3+ color Vampire deck. Like most of the other Eminence commanders, he begs the question: why would you run him in the maindeck in a tribal list and miss out on the Eminence bonus?
Honestly, I do not understand why this card exists. As a lifegain commander, she looks pitiful next to Karlov, who comes at a fraction of Licia’s price and, y’know, actually rewards you for gaining life. As a Mardu Voltron commander, it’s hard not to compare her to Zurgo Helmsmasher, who doesn’t require you to jump through any hoops to cast him for a reasonable cost, has haste, and makes all your board wipes asymmetrical. Unless you’re trying to build a Roman theme deck, I don’t think there’s a deck that needs her for which another commander wouldn’t be more useful. But hey, let me know if you think of something.
In the maindeck:
Spread: 1
Power: 1
Don’t do it.
Super flavorful, but I don’t think he’s especially good. Even if you can sometimes get your opponents to be more liberal with their removal, you’re still giving away a lot of free cards to other players (which is disgusting). Secret tech: Bounty Hunter.
In the maindeck:
Spread: 3
Power: 1
You’re in Black, so you’ve got much better ways to draw cards in whatever spot removal-heavy Mardu deck you’d want to put him in.
O-Kagachi is pretty bland and reactive. Your opponents have a lot of control over whether his ability will trigger and O-Kagachi doesn’t provide a lot of direction for a deck, so any list build around him will probably devolve into WUBRG Goodstuff. I suppose you could use him as the commander for 5-color Spirits, but it’s not like he would actually synergize with such a deck beyond triggering Spiritcraft stuff when you cast him.
In the maindeck:
Spread: 1
Power: 2
I’m pretty sure 5-color decks have more powerful things to do than play slow, reactive cards like this one.
Some incredibly goofy Ramos combos do exist, but for the most part, I think this is just a WUBRG goodstuff deck, AKA the most poisonous deck in the format.
In the maindeck:
Spread: 1
Power: 1
Again, if you’re in 5C, you’ve got better stuff to do.
Unlike the other Eminence commanders, his other ability is much stronger than his Eminence trigger, which makes me sad that he costs so much mana. I think WotC could have easily shaved two mana off of his cost without making him unfair, especially when you consider that the prohibitive power of the Commander tax scales exponentially with the base cost of your commander.
It’s not too hard to imagine how to build an Ur-Dragon list; Gatherer searches for every card that is a Dragon and every card that mentions Dragons would be a good place to start. Potential tech for the deck includes Fist of Suns (makes it much easier to cast your commander), Bloom Tender, Kaalia of the Vast, Temur Ascendancy, Frontier Siege, and Gravitational Shift.
Sample list (kind of unwieldy but extremely dragon-y)
In the maindeck:
Spread: 1
Power: 3
Like Utvara Hellkite, the Ur-Dragon offers a solid payoff for a dragon tribal deck if you can afford (or circumvent) his absurdly high mana cost.
The Maindeck Cards
Spread: 2
Power: 2
This card is much worse than Notion Thief and these effects have diminishing returns, so you would only consider it for decks without Black/Blue. The card draw is also pretty unreliable so WUx, WBx, and WGx decks would probably skip it for the better card draw in those colors. The stats aren’t great for an aggressive deck, either, so I would only consider him in Cat tribal.
Spread: 1
Power: 1
Maybe you could curse yourself in a Karlov deck? Otherwise, dumpster zone.
Spread: 5
Power: 2
Setting aside Magical Christmas Land fantasies of extremely kind opponents, this seems worse than comparable effects like Hour of Revelation and Planar Cleansing, which will eliminate threats more reliably for about the same price.
Spread: 2
Power: 2
It’s very mana intensive to make your tribal deck slowly indestructible and there’s huge potential for blowouts if your opponents have enchantment removal. Very cute in tribal Spirits with the Myojins.
Spread: 1
Power: 2
Spot removal will never be as much of a threat to nontoken aggro decks as mass removal, so the indifference to board wipes makes this version of Karmic Justice pretty inferior to the original.
Spread: 2
Power: 1
Nonblack blink decks don’t have access to a lot of ETB triggers that kill things, so that’s the most likely place to find this guy outside of a Cat deck.
Spread: 2
Power: 2
It’s tempting to use it to break the symmetry on board wipes but that doesn’t really set it apart from stuff like Heroic Intervention or Rootborn Defenses. I also think most of the combo uses we’ve seen are a little too cute to be viable.
Spread: 3
Power: 1
Blue has access to plenty of card draw that doesn’t benefit your opponents, so why run this?
Spread: 2
Power: 4
Seems super powerful in Wizard tribal; it’s basically a repeatable Cyclonic Rift.
Spread: 3
Power: 3
Great in any sort of Blue deck with a tribal theme or a lot of token generation. Note that it can become a one-card combo in The Locust God to help you draw your deck, provided you have a way to interrupt the loop (or a way to go out in a blaze of glory) somewhere in your deck.
Spread: 1
Power: 1
Casting it is basically telegraphing that you’re planning on Storming off next turn, letting your opponents know in advance to either kill it immediately or otherwise disrupt what you’re about to do. Has a bit more utility in Inalla, since she can create a hasty token, but that seems suboptimal since you’re probably better off playing Kess in Storm.
Spread: 2
Power: 3
Seems a little anemic in tribal Vampires, since I think the best Edgar Markov lists will have a pretty low curve and you won’t save a lot of mana by reanimating his weenies. In tribal Wizards, however, it’s quite good: there are plenty of ETB Wizards to get you additional value and even outside the combo scenario, you can use Inalla to copy him, get back two Wizards, then copy them to double up on each of their abilities.
Spread: 1
Power: 1
I get that it’s trying to make the Dragon deck more resistant to removal, but this is not good as a threat and it’s not good as a Bloodghast so I don’t know how you’re supposed to use it.
Spread: 3
Power: 2
I would like to test with it, but I suspect that giving away Zombies could be acceptable if your deck is set up to use the ones you get more effectively than your opponents are; I’m thinking Attrition/Grave Pact decks or Graveborn Muse/Undead Warchief decks.
Spread: 4
Power: 4
This card is hard to block for non-token decks, so it’s likely to hit an opponent every turn. Unfortunate that it doesn’t use the “you may spend mana as though it were mana of any type to cast it” text that is common on these effects these days, so your ability to benefit from the cards you exile is dependent on how closely your color identity aligns with your opponents’ and whether their cards synergize with your deck’s overall strategy. Still, it’ll probably net you around 0.5 cards/turn.
Spread: 3
Power: 2
Seems a little too expensive for what it provides, especially compared to the asymmetrical board wipes that are already available in Black. Actually, a better point of comparison might be the fact that most White decks don’t run Mass Calcify.
Spread: 2
Power: 3
Only worthwhile in Vampire tribal and decks with Vampire commanders, but it seems like a sweet effect in those lists. Black rarely gets creature stealing and not being Aura-based is a huge bonus.
Spread: 1
Power: 3
Based on Noxious Gearhulk’s failure to make any waves in this format, I don’t think this goes into most decks. In Vampire lists, however, this thing is a champ.
Spread: 2
Power: 3
Sac outlet-based reanimator decks (think Chainer) will be very excited to run this card. A little dubious everywhere else.
Spread: 3
Power: 1
The Voltron decks that are most interested in this effect can do a lot better; Hall of the Bandit Lord, Lightning Greaves, and even Fervor/Hammer of Purphoros are all cheaper and less fragile than Stewart here.
Spread: 1
Power: 1
Direct damage to players is super weak in a 40-life format with multiple opponents; it’s gotta be on the level of Heartless Hidetsugu to be worth your time.
Spread: 1
Power: 1
Might be worth running in Breya or Slobad to help fuel their abilities.
Spread: 1
Power: 1
There are more permanent ways to ensure that other players don’t attack you; this effect doesn’t seem like it’s worth a card.
Spread: 3
Power: 2
It’s a neat spell recursion effect (that thankfully sends spells back to the graveyard so they can be reused by other spell recursion effects), but I suspect that it’s too slow to be any good; you have to wait a whole turn cycle just to be able to Sins of the Past something. Waiting additional turns beyond that to collect ingredients just seems like you’re begging for it to be hit with spot removal.
Spread: 3
Power: 3
Seems great in Red token decks like Purphoros, Krenko, Zada, etc.
Spread: 1
Power: 2
MaRo’s been hinting that we’ll get more Red Polymorph effects in the future. If we eventually hit a critical mass, Shifting Shadow could help find Blightsteel in an otherwise creatureless deck. Until that happens, I’m not sure there is a home for it. Is indestructible.dec a thing?
Spread: 1
Power: 1
I don’t know what power-to-cost ratio serves as the threshold between the Commander-playable French Vanillas and the unplayables, but I know it’s a lot closer to Serra Ascendant and Malignus than it is to this mess.
Spread: 1
Power: 1
Most decks won’t be able to really take advantage of untapping during opponents’ turns, so it's much more symmetrical than the other curses in the set. It also requires heavy investment in non-land ramp sources to be useful, so that further limits its applications. I think Yeva (with lots of Elves) is in the best position to use it, but most decks should pass on the effect.
Spread: 1
Power: 2
The flavor is cute, but as far as anthems go, it’s not great. You don’t have a ton of control over when the Rats die and the very earliest you could trigger it is during the end step of the turn you cast it– after you already attacked for the turn.
Spread: 3
Power: 3
If you have enough dudes on the board to make this spell good, you could just spend one more mana and win the game with Craterhoof (or two more mana if you Green Sun’s Zenith/Tooth and Nail/activate Survival/etc. to find said Craterhoof).
Spread: 1
Power: 3
If it’s just going to be a Conclave Naturalists in your deck, then don’t bother running it. In a Cat deck, however, it’s an Aura Shards with a free trigger and is therefore dope as hell.
Spread: 4
Power: 3
I like this effect a lot less than Soul’s Majesty-type cards. If it’s late enough in the game that you’ve already got five mana and a huge creature on the board, more mana will probably be less useful than more cards.
Spread: 1
Power: 2
I like this in Zedruu as a way to give away multiple copies of your most heinous permanents. Note that the tokens don’t count for her upkeep trigger, though.
Spread: 3
Power: 3
I like this as something Voltron decks can do with additional mana, but it could also be useful in Breya or the Nalaars as something to throw on Thopters that will generate additional artifact sacrifice fodder.
Spread: 3
Power: 2
Seems mostly better than Darksteel Plate, provided you don’t plan on moving it around too much.
Spread: 3
Power: 3
I like it much more as an intentional way to get value using sac outlets than as an insurance policy against removal. Note that your commander won’t get cards off of it if you send them to the Command Zone.
Spread: 3
Power: 2
I’m not in love with this card because both abilities come at a worse rate than you'd normally get at this price. The cost reduction effect is clearly worse than Urza’s Incubator and mostly worse than similarly-costed mana rocks like Worn Powerstone and Coalition Relic, while the Bloodline Shaman ability will only net you a card 25-30% of the time, which compares poorly to most repeatable card draw effects. The fact that this card does both of these things forces me to be a little more generous than I would be if I were rating them in isolation, but I’m not very optimistic about this card’s utility.
Spread 1
Power 1
Flavor win if you’ve got a Bear deck.
Saving some mana on Mirage Mirror to significantly limit the targets makes it much weaker (and it’s not like Mirage Mirror was that great in the first place).
Spread: 4
Power: 2
Provides mana fixing and free scrying even if your commander is the only creature of its type. In a dedicated tribal deck, the value of this card goes way, way up.
Wrapping Up
Let me know if you’ve think I’ve neglected to mention an interesting use for one of these cards or if you think I’ve misjudged something! Thanks for reading!
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Lavenderfrost
Meadowclan
Medicine Cat
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Kit : Snow
Apprentice : Lavenderpaw
Warrior : Lavenderfrost
Loner : Lavender
Medicine Cat : Lavenderfrost
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Father : Hail
Mother : Sweetpea
Foster Mother : Pinestripe
Foster Father : Eaglestar
Sister : Rain
Foster Brother : Redwing
Foster Sisters : Fawnhop, Tigerpatch
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Mentor : Eaglestar
Unofficial Mentor : Firestorm
Apprentices : Stormridge, Tawnypaw
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Lavenderfrost was born as Snow to Hail and Sweetpea. He lived in the Old Mill on the southside of Shoreclan territory with a clowder of Kittypets, loners, and rogues under the supervision of Shoreclan leader Snapstar.
Snow lived in the Mill until three moons old when he was swept away by a young hawk. He struggled until he got a good angle and bit the Hawks leg causing him to be dropped. The Hawk came back for Snow but a large Meadowclan warrior named Eagleflight defended Snow and the Hawk gave up. Snow was seriously injured and brought back to Meadowclan camp to be treated by their medicine cat Firestorm.
Snow was terribly scarred and needed to stay in Meadowclan camp until he was fully healed. In that time, Eagleflight and his mate Pinestripe became his foster parents. Snow slowly learned about clan life from his foster family and grew to appreciate it. When the time came for Snow to return home, he decided he wanted to stay in Meadowclan. There was pushback from some warriors of the clan but Sandstar allowed him to stay and apprenticed Snow, now Lavenderpaw, to Eagleflight.
Lavenderpaw trains to be a Meadowclan warrior under Eagleflight for the next seven moons. During this time, he is shown to be very empathetic and Firestorm suggests that he see if he would be interested in learning medicine. Lavenderpaw isn't keen on the idea at first but after about a moon learning medicine from Firestorm on the side, he finds it more engaging than his warrior training. He tells Eagleflight who passes the message to Sandstar who then declines. Sandstar tells Eagleflight that having a former loner for a medicine cat may cause more upset than it's worth and considering Lavenderpaw has completed his Warrior training save for his assessment he might as well become a warrior.
Lavenderfrost becomes a warrior of Meadowclan while continuing his side education in medicine and becomes a bit of a dual-purpose warrior which catches the attention of the Shoreclan medicine cat Walnutglow and the two become friends. Around the same time, his foster sister Fawnhop brings a former Kittypet named Levi to the clan and confesses her love for him to her father and now deputy Eagleflight and Sandstar. Once again there is pushback with Levi as well but Lavenderfrost steps in and supports his sister and her mate. Sandstar is hesitant but also allows him to stay, once again ruffling the fur of her warriors. It wouldn't be long before Fawnhop announces she is expecting kits and later gives birth to Rainkit, Stormkit, and Lightningkit.
Lavenderfrost gains Stormpaw as an apprentice early due to a surplus of kits being born. While Lavenderfrost was an amazing teacher and Stormpaw a bright and receptive apprentice, the two never quite formed the bond Mentors and Apprentices often do and he suspects it was because he still wanted to become a Medicine Cat. He brings it back up to Sandstar who once again declines. Lavenderfrost tries to put his foot down and debate with her which only causes him to lose any hope he had of her giving in. He leaves defeated and tries to drop the desire in favor of Warrior life.
During a nasty border dispute between Meadowclan and Ridgeclan, Stormpaw falls into the Rushing River and Lavenderfrost dives in to save her. He's able to hand Stormpaw off to Levi before being swept downriver. Lavenderfrost awakes to three cats trying to resuscitate him on the bank. They introduce themselves as Hina, Aki, and Emi before convincing Lavenderfrost, whom they refer to as Lavender during his stay, to come back to their den with them until he can regain his strength. The three turn out to be a group of siblings living with some other barn cats on a Twoleg farm. While resting, Lavender meets an old she-cat named Amber, a former Meadowclan warrior who seems to have so much disdain for her former clan that she refuses to give Lavender the way back home, instead insisting he stay. Lavender refuses and tries to head home early the next morning but is too far from home to find his way back. He gives up and returns to the barn hoping that he can wrangle the way back out of Amber.
Lavender ends up staying for quite a while at the Twoleg barn and gets to know the cats there pretty well. Especially Emi, who is very interested in what clan life is like but could never get anything out of Amber. Eventually, she brings up wanting to follow Lavender back to Meadowclan to be a warrior. Lavender thinks about it but ultimately decides it wouldn't be worth it considering Meadowclan already let in two outsiders within a short time and both times fights broke out. He also finds himself feeling homesick for the Mill where he grew up with his birth family before being carried away. Lavender makes a mental note to go see his family when he gets back home.
One night in Leafbare, Lavender is visited by Sandstar who delivers a message to him. She says Whitecough broke out in Meadowclan and that hers became Greencough and took her last life. Firestorm has fallen ill with Whitecough and it threatens to become Greencough if she has no time to treat herself. Sandstar tells Lavender that another Starclan cat has visited Amber as well and that she should tell him how to return home now. Lavender wakes up and decides to grab catmint from the Twoleg's protected garden before heading home to get a head start on treating the afflicted cats. Emi catches him and, refusing to take no for an answer, helps him gather catmint intending to take her own mouth full back to Meadowclan with Lavender. The two finally get directions from Amber and before departing, she asks Lavender to tell Eaglepaw she's always thinking of him and that she's sorry. It doesn't take much to put 2 and 2 together and figure out she meant Eagleflight. He promises to and the two leave for Meadowclan.
They arrive at Meadowclan camp just before sunrise and Lavenderfrost rushes to the Medicine Cat den, heartbroken to find that Firestorm is dying. Realizing there is nothing he can do, he stops to spend time with her in her last moments. The commotion of Lavenderfrost returning woke up Firestorm's apprentice Tawnypaw who finds the two in the Medicine Cat den. Before she dies, Firestorm invites Tawnypaw into the den to meet Lavenderfrost and tells her that he will be her new mentor and Medicine Cat. Lavenderfrost is stunned by this development but takes it with honor and quickly begins instructing Emi and Tawnypaw on how to help the sick cats.
The illness was becoming manageable but Lavenderfrost knew if he didn't get more catmint the illness would pick up again. Eagleflight (who hadn't had the chance to visit the Mooncave) organized healthy cats to go with Lavenderfrost to Shoreclan to ask for catmint. Fawnhop, Nightwing, and his former apprentice Stormridge accompanied him there. The group meets up with Walnutglow and Lavenderfrost has a brief reunion with his friend. While they do retrieve Catmint from Walnutglow, it's very little. Walnutglow suggests they see if there's a covered patch in the Old Mill, which Lavenderfrost takes up instantly.
The Mill Cats don't recognize Lavenderfrost at first but Sweetpea does and she runs to greet him with tears in her eyes. The two have a warm reunion along with Hail, Rain, and Hail's sister Blizzard who helped raise Lavenderfrost. Much to Lavenderfrosts relief, the Mill Cats do still have Catmint and let him take as much of it as he needs. He says goodbye to his family and takes the catmint back to Meadowclan, successfully healing the sick cats. However, despite the efforts of Lavenderfrost three do still perish being Greystone, Swiftmist, and Goldenfur.
Eagleflight decides to hold a vigil for the fallen cats before he and Lavenderfrost leave for the Mooncave. Lavenderfrost mourns Firestorm and laments for always wanting to be a Medicine Cat but never wanting it to happen like this. After the sun rises and the dead are buried, Lavenderfrost and Eagleflight set out for the Mooncave. To reach the Mooncave, the two need to pass all the way through Ridgeclan territory and catch the attention of a patrol to escort them. Along the way, the group ever so happens to run into the new Ridgeclan Medicine Cat Barleytail, who despite seeming friendly enough, gave Lavenderfrost wicked feelings and left him feeling uneasy.
Upon reaching the Mooncave, Lavenderfrost remembers what Amber had said and tells Eagleflight while the two are waiting for Moonhigh. Eagleflight tells Lavenderfrost that Amber, formerly Ambersun, was his mother and that she abandoned him, his brother, and his father in the midst of a dispute over reforming the Warrior Code, saying the clans were no longer a place she wished to live. Eagleflight elaborates on the reforms that would have been made in the clan had it been successful and Lavenderfrost asks him if he wishes to try reforming the code again once he became leader. Eagleflight is unsure and admits to Lavenderfrost that he would most likely be following in Sandstar's pawsteps, trying not to ruffle fur too much and just worry about keeping his clan alive.
The two head into the Mooncave at Moonhigh and Eaglestar receives his nine lives and a troubling vision, which he shares with Lavenderfrost once they reach the surface. Eaglestar said the reformist cats who perished gave him a prophecy that foretold doom for the clans if the Warrior Code and the ways of the clans weren't changed. He says that he isn't sure what needs to happen but when he finds out, he will give it all he's got. Lavenderfrost is satisfied with his leader’s resolve and vows to stand by his side no matter what the change may bring.
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I’ll elaborate on it more whenever I get around to drawing a map for my original clans but Shoreclan, Ridgeclan, and Meadowclan are based in Japan! The main reason for this is so I have some new stuff to work with. New names, new animals, new plants and flowers, new animals, etc.
For example:
- The current Ridgeclan leader is Badgerstar, but he resembles a Japanese Badger instead of the black and white one we’re used to in Warriors.
- Shoreclan’s deputy is named Koisplash.
- The Old Mill where Lavenderfrost was born is a long-abandoned Rice Mill. The overgrown terrace paddy field leads down into proper Shoreclan territory and marks how far the Mill Cat Clowder are allowed to go towards Shoreclan.
- It’s also why the siblings Lavenderfrost finds have Japanese pet names (Hina, Aki, Emi)
It’s gonna be super fun to flesh out these clans haha!
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