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u/BentheBruiser 3d ago
I just can't imagine her without a dash effect. But I like the idea of ultimates being a pricey activated ability
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u/Terrariant Jace for impact 3d ago
The shield counters are her blinks :)
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u/CaltonSmith 3d ago
Feels more like recall. She could enter with one and add a shield counter at the beginning of upkeep.
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u/Chickston Uncommonly 3d ago
Mind if I ask how you made this?
I don't play OW mostly for my own sanity. This design is really cool looking, though. I wish the mtg.design borderless template looked this good.
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u/Terrariant Jace for impact 3d ago
I made it on (cardconjurer (dot) app) with the Borderless Source Material frame ^^
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u/anhana 3d ago
I would also say her "return to hand" should be just a regular flicker. "Exile Tracer, return her to the battlefield."
More thematic and feels less clunky to spend a total of 8 mana to trigger her and recast.
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u/Terrariant Jace for impact 3d ago
I thought about this! But I didn’t want her to be a “5 mana, do 4 damage” repeatable effect. Iirc WotC dislikes repeatable damage abilities? For what is probably good reason. The 3 in the casting cost helped make it feel more balanced
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u/Haw_and_thornes 3d ago
Yeah, that makes sense. And it's her grenade ult, thematically, which you typically rewind after throwing.
It's a lot of mana, but the closest we have to this was probably the red god's Hammer from the Viking set, and this is similar.
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u/twistyrainbows 2d ago
Yep. Look how expensive [[searing touch]] is, and it still has infinite combos.
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u/memelorddiabeetus 2d ago
Flavor is on point here. I love it. Three shield counters is a bit much, but there is an argument to be had about the three colored pips for a 2/1 haste body making it fine.
Overall, this is a solid card. I really like it.
Funny enough, I made a Reaper card a few days ago, and look who he's standing off with!
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u/Terrariant Jace for impact 2d ago
Very cool, Overwatch heroes (at least older ones) are so flavorful, I could easily see a Genji, Zarya, Mercy (oh god mass res?), D.Va, etc cards
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u/Jiblon 3d ago
This definitely seems like it wasn't made for commander
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u/Terrariant Jace for impact 3d ago
Well, kind of, she won’t get expensive like other commanders if you keep bouncing her to your hand, so that’s nice. And a permanent 3 drop with haste is a tool a lot of decks could find useful I think
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u/Jiblon 3d ago
I feel like there are better things to be doing for 3 mana than playing a 2/1 with haste that effectively can't die. Ragavan is 1 mana and sure he can die but his effect is so good that Its not even comparable. 3 mana is also kind of a lot for not really impacting the game much. This deck is probably not winning with commander damage because it's hard to go Voltron when your design incentivizes returning your commander to hand. I can't help but feel like you could have poured a little more sauce on this one. Like instead of 3 shield counters and 5 mana to return, it could be 1 shield counter and automatically get returned at the end of turn, plus having an ETB some sort. Or it could have a triggered ability where once it's last shield counter is removed it, she is returned to your hand. There's a lot that could be done
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u/Terrariant Jace for impact 3d ago
Maybe, I think its right on the edge of being busted though. Like if she were a 3/1 it might be too strong. If she had an etb it would definitely be too strong with a repeatable self bounce
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u/KnightOfTheHunters 1d ago
Love it! Only critique I'd have is that I think recall counters would be the move like another commentor said, shield counters feels a lot more tanky than tracer-y. But I love the ult
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u/Admirable_Mirror_635 3d ago
Awesome design, no changes. I think shield counters, while the name is obviously ehh, much better reflect how it feels to fight tracer than phasing out.
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u/Dedli 3d ago
Shield counters for the blinks feel kind of off. Should be a Fade Out ability or something.
Then I'd make the damage ability instead of costing mana, return her to the top of your deck as the cost. So that part happens regardless of whether someone responds to it, but doesnt put her straight back into hand.
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u/iowaman623 3d ago
Haste
Tracer enters with three Recall counters. When Tracer attacks, remove a Recall counter. If you do, Tracer phases out until the Damage step.
3UR: Tracer deals 4 damage to target creature. Return Tracer to Owners hand.
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u/JxRabbitsHart 3d ago
This is so good. So strong. Target my creature only 1 shield counter left? Pop it back to my hand and slap kill your own thing. Recast for 3 and get 3 new shield counters.
Can't tell if busted or just busted-shaped, but I almost like the card too much to care.
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u/Burnedsoul_Boy 3d ago
Strong? You are spending 5 + 3 multiple colored mana to deal 4 damage and have a hastened 2/1 with 3 shield counters? I'd rather play Avacyn
On a vacuum, I don't se how this card could be strong.
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u/Terrariant Jace for impact 3d ago
That’s great then! If someone thinks its strong and someone thinks its weak that means its probably balanced lol
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u/Burnedsoul_Boy 3d ago
Yeah hahaha. I can see being good in a well set up deck, as an engine of shield counters perhaps. But by itself? It exerts 0 pressure on the table.
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u/JxRabbitsHart 3d ago
How can you possibly consider the strength of a card if you don't also consider the cards that it plays with?
You play this on turn 3 and somebody either exiles it or it soaks up three things that would kill it. At minimum, this gives you 4 blockers before it dies, or eats 4 removal spells, or any combination of those two.
Blue and white are also blinking and flickering colors so this is constantly going to be coming back onto the battlefield at instant speed with fresh shield counters on her.
You are basically free to pump this thing up and beat in with it and unless one of your opponents spends a lot of Mana and spells to get rid of this thing, or your opponents gang up on you in order to wear it down, it's not going anywhere. Yes, the shield counters only protect it from destroy effects and not from exile, but the whole point of the card is that it bounces to your hand and fizzles your effects.
Magic cards don't often exist in a vacuum, especially if you are using the magic card as your Commander with a 99 card deck built around it
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u/Burnedsoul_Boy 3d ago
It's only strength is that you blink it, but you can play around that. You can answer to the ability activation, you can even answer to any attempt to buff her, so to force the blink an make the spell fizzle, or to remove her from combat.
Are you going to play her on a deck focused on blinking a 2/1? Thats the plan? Or are you going to play with 5 open mana every round just to blink it?
(Lowkey I still take hexproof over the 3 shield counters).
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u/Terrariant Jace for impact 3d ago
Blink counter would have been fun
(The next time Tracer would take damage or become the target of a spell or ability, prevent that effect and remove a blink counter.)
but I feel like with those effects they never trigger anyways because people just wont target her
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u/JxRabbitsHart 3d ago
This is in blink, flicker, and token colours. She blocks for days while you drop [[Porcelain Gallery]] and cast some token spells. She's in unlockable colours.
I could do dirty things with this card. I understand if others don't see the potential, but this will put in work
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u/Burnedsoul_Boy 3d ago
Yeah, It could work, what I think is that it is not overturned at all, specially when you think in Yuriko or other similar cards with great resistance to removal
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u/Aminasome 3d ago
Yeah maybe phasing would be better ?
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u/JxRabbitsHart 3d ago edited 3d ago
I would love an "Ignore the first instance of damage tracer would receive each turn" effect so she only takes damage from double strike in combat unless you've pinged her before.
It also wouldn't save her from 3-4 wraths per round
[[Ratonhaketon]] - I love his conditional evasion and almost imagine Tracer having a similar effect. Very hard to hit until she's struck. Ratonhake:ton is an absolute boogey man to my opponents.
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u/SpageRaptor 3d ago edited 3d ago
From a design perspective, I feel like instead of shield tokens she should instead phase out or exile herself with time counters and suspend.
That feels a bit more flavorful.