The Codex Card Laboratory thread on the old site (started by Scarbo) was fun so I thought I’d get it started over here (If it already has been started I’m sorry but I couldn’t find it).
So post any ideas you have for random Codex cards, whole new specs, or whole new colors if you want.
Here’s a bunch of defensive cards because every one loves playing D in Codex.
White Cards
Morningstar Farmer ($2, Tech I - Strength)
Unit - Citizen Farmer
Upkeep: If this unit patrolled last turn gain $1
1/4
Talent Scout ($3, Tech I - Ninjutsu)
Unit - Ninja Monk
Upkeep: If this unit patrolled last turn summon a 1/1 ninja token Whoooa!! this girl can throw a shuriken at 104mph, you’re in!
2/4
Blue Card
Red Tape ($2, Tech II - Law)
Upgrade
Your opponent gains x less gold during their upkeep phase
x = administrators in play -1 (up to a maximum of 3)
Green Cards
Sentinel Treant ($2, Tech I - Growth)
Unit - Tree
Can’t attack
If you have 2 other tree cards or units with Can’t Attack in play Forest Protector losses Can’t attack and gains Frenzy 1
2/4
Giving Treant ($5, Tech II - Growth)
Unit - Tree
Can’t attack
Upkeep: this card gains two -1/-1 runes. Then place a +1/+1 rune on two different units and/or heroes. Once there was a big tree…
7/9
Call to Arms ($3, Balance)
Spell - Buff
All units with Can’t Attack gain +2 atk/+2 armor and lose Can’t Attack for this turn. Another unit or hero gains +2 atk/+2 armor this turn All creatures must do their part
I would rephrase Giving Treant a little. I’d make it a 0/2 that comes into play with 7 +1/+1 runes, whose upkeep effect lets you move 2 of its runes to 2 different units/heroes.
I think it may be overcosted at $5, but I could be way off. It seems to have many disadvantages over eg. Blooming Ancient - the only corresponding advantage is that it actually starts with a bunch of runes. But it can’t give them out freely, so the only advantage would be if you want a really big defender this turn (or big attacker next turn, or this if you have a haste-giving effect).
On Call to Arms: at first I thought “this is so similar to Rampant Growth, why would you bother?”. But then I saw that it was a Balance card, and think turning your Gemscout Owls into 3/1s with 3 armous for a turn could be pretty nice, since they still make you money. Still, I think it’s too similar to RG to really justify being in the game, particularly in a green spec.
It’s biggest advantage is being able to buff heroes more then anything else. Will change him. Thanks for the suggestions. When going for the tree/can’t attack theme I couldn’t resist making a giving tree unit and this was the best thing I could think of.
My issue with the white cards is that they feel too similar to each other. Two different cards that give you a thing if they survived being in the Patrol Zone? Surely at least one of them can be made more interesting than that!
I like the idea of cards that interact with the patrol zone. The PZ is something really unique to Codex and unless I’m forgetting something there is only one unit in the game that interacts with the PZ in unique ways.
I agree that it’s cool to have more things that interact with the Patrol Zone. At the same time, having both of them be white and have nearly identical text (the only difference between their abilities is whether you get a gold or a token) seems like a bad idea. Please don’t take that as an insult – I’ve been tossing ideas for fan specs around in my head for about it, and coming up with creative units is hard!
Personally, I’d drop one of the two and try to come up with something else, but that’s just me. If you do keep Morningstar Farmer, you might want to change its cost and stats a bit… I know that Strength is about defensive units, but having a farmer have both a lower cost and double the health of Fox Primus is weird flavor-wise (Yes, Fuzz Cuddles is weird that way too, but two wrongs don’t make a right).
I like the idea of a mass buff spell with some narrow synergies. I can already see a vicious “the weak strikes back” cant attack deck being built around Call to Arms. Apart from all the trees and owls, GotG would become that much better as an on-demand disable spell. It does have negative synergy with Sentinel Treant though…
Skeleton Belly ($4, Necromancy Tech II)
Unit - Zombie
Whenever Skeleton Belly is dealt damage, summon a 1/1 black Skeleton token.
1/7
Big Bully ($2, Growth Tech I)
Unit - Merfolk Unstoppable by units with less ATK.
2/2
Wispered Riches ($4, Growth)
Spell
Put two cards from your codex into your worker pile.
Summon two 0/1 green Wisp tokens.
Déjà Vudu Shaman ($3, Present Tech II)
Unit - Spellcaster ◎ Untargetable Arrives: If you played another card from hand this turn (not a worker,) you may trash a friendly unit then return it to play.
1/3
Overtime ($1, Present)
Spell
Ready a building. It gets Haste.
Leap Day ($2, Future)
Ongoing Spell Channeling (Stays in play. Sacrifice it when you lose your Future hero.)
Your units with Forecast get Haste. Upkeep: Remove a time rune from each of your units with Forecast.
Balancing Scales ($2, Balance Tech II)
Building
Ⓧ, , Sacrifice Balancing Scales → Destroy all units that cost Ⓧ.
HP: 3 Hey, you lose your units too. That’s fair, right?
Murkwood Shaman ($2, Growth Tech I)
Unit - Spellcaster
③: Give one of your units +1 ATK/+1 armor for each of your units until your next upkeep. Once-per-turn
1/3
Fistful of Bricks ($0, Blood)
Spell - Buff
Deal any amount of non-lethal damage to your Tech I, II, or III building to give one of your units that much +ATK this turn.
If one of your buildings has 1 HP, draw a card. Cheap AND painful!
Ping ($1, Fire)
Spell - Burn
Deal 1 damage to a unit or building. You may put Ping on top of your draw pile.
Draw a card.
Rolling Stone ($3, Strength)
Spell - Buff
Attach to your Strength hero and heal 2 damage from it. Upkeep: Your Strength hero gets +2 armor this turn.
Fantasy Strike Tournament ($6, Strength)
Ultimate Spell
Each player sacrifices each unit except their strongest one. (The highest tech unit with the most ATK. You choose if there’s a tie for most ATK.)
I really like cards that flex specs in new directions. Ping totally isn’t mine though, that’s from an old iteration of this thread.
Yeah, it might be fine if it didn’t draw a card. I actually didn’t notice that it did at first, so it seemed reasonable until I saw your reaction and read it again.
Haha, whoops! I got the order of it wrong, it should draw a card before putting itself on top of the draw pile.
Ping ($1, Fire)
Spell - Burn
Deal 1 damage to a unit or building.
Draw a card.
You may put Ping on top of your draw pile.
Machine gunning with two pings is still possible, though, but maybe isn’t consistent enough to be imbalanced? Here’s a fix for that regardless:
Ping ($1, Fire)
Spell - Burn
Deal 1 damage to a unit or building.
Draw a card if you haven’t already Pinged this turn.
You may put Ping on top of your draw pile.
Spending a card and a gold for one damage doesn’t seem worth it, so I’d like to keep a draw on it even if it’s conditional. Thoughts? Does it target too much?
Okay so I thought about this one recently and I got a way to potentially make him feel more farmy
Morningstar Farmer ($3, Tech I - Strength)
Unit - Citizen Farmer
Does not gain patrol zone benefits
If this unit patrolled last turn as a scavenger or technician gain 1 gold or draw a card respectively. If this unit patrolled as an Elite or Squad Leader place a +1/+1 rune on it.
1/4
Sounds like an interesting idea, not sure whether it should be allowed to target heroes - White has Snapback, after all, and compared to that this spell doesn’t even remove the hero/unit it’s targets, but is more flexible. And Grappling Hook is a fairly powerful spell as well. So on that baseline it could cost 3, just a touch on the expensive side? An niche spell that you tech if the opponent is playing a spec with fragile but value units or heroes. I can see this being useful against Peace engine or Vandy. An Immortal or maxband Rook? Not so much.
Maybe something like this:
Conscription (3)
Spell
Move a unit or hero into a patrol slot of your choice.
Note that this wouldn’t be able to target Rambaster or Juggernaut.
Well you could “target” them, but they wouldn’t be able to move into the patrol zone.
Also it should probably be opposing unit or hero, since there’s no benefit to targeting your own ever.
, Sacrifice Balancing Scales → Destroy all units that cost Ⓧ.
