Question - Sunsteel Defender

[rebound]

Eh… I am not sure whether ramp is the same as a ritual. I see ramp as playing a card that gives you more mana in subsequent turns at the cost of an early turn’s worth of mana. A ritual is a card that increases your mana the second you play it. It’s the difference between crystal wisp and flash reincarnation. Crystal wisp only gives you its boon after it has been killed of in a later turn. Flash reincarnation is active right away. Personally I don’t mind cards like crystal wisp, but I do mind cards like flash reincarnation, because they usually enable some very busted openings.

I see forcefield as a mechanic that is most at home in argeon. Argeon’s ability to boost power makes anything with forcefield a significant threat. Only argeon can really leverage a card like Nightwatcher to its full potential. Also, I think Nightwatcher is as strong as we could make it. I don’t think there is a single number on there that we can increase without making it a contender for being the best 4 drop. As long as rush remains prevalent.

[thedandygiraffe]

You could probably say that ramp is a more general term, with mana ritual being a particular type of ramp, a one-time boost rather than some sort of perma-ramp?

As for the forcefield being best in Argeon, well, probably? In theory? I mean, it’s really hard to tell because it’s not a very common mechanic right now and the faction that uses it the most is Magmar (because Funsteel). Prism Barrier suggests that CPG was thinking along those lines at some point, it’s a shame that with this amount of hard removal/dispel a 2-mana spell like that is simply too expensive (still works in gauntlet tho).

As for Nightwatcher, I’m not thinking necessarily about a stat boost, maybe some additional protection effect (like a built-in Aegis Barrier or something)? So it provides some real defence rather than just removal bait.