Can't seem to decide on what characteristics to give Link from LoZ

assissassino13assissassino13
in Custom Card Discussion
So, this Link would have the following basic structure:

Link, Hero of Legend {w}
Legendary Creature - Hylian Warrior
2/3

Link is white, no matter what people say about it wearing green and him being raised in the forest in OoT. Link is the typical hero that fights against evil dauntlessly, and there's absolutely nothing green about him, except for the opposition for black. I think the mana cost will end up being something close to {2}{w}, but it'll all be determined by which abilities I decide to give the card.
The 3 toughness is referencing the classic three hearts, obviously. The power was a little hard for me though. I'd give him a 1, as I'm not considering him equipped with the Master Sword, but it feels like a puny power value for a capable fighter, so I gave him 2 power; 3 felt like too much. A few examples of 2/3 warrior creatures would be the Elvish Warior, Chief of the Scale, and Mirri, Cat Warrior.

According to what characteristics I give the card, it's mana cost shall go up. But I can't decide on a few of these abilities:
- "First strike."
Being an experimented fighter, first strike would be a fitting ability, just like other white warriors/soldiers.

- "Vigilance."
It fits Link well, as he's always acting as a protector of the land. Also a typical ability for white creatures.

- "{tap}: destroy target creature with power 4 or greater."
An ability taken from the Intrepid Hero card. When you look at the big picture, most of what Link does is this, fighting and defeating unnaturally strong monsters without dying himself (your game overs as a player do not count).

I'm also considering the following custom characteristics:
- "Whenever Link attacks alone, he gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each other creature you control."
When I saw the Sigil of Valor card, I was instantly reminded of the Triforce of Courage. And it applies nicely to the flavor one would look for in Link. I'm also thinking about changing the "until end of turn" for "until your next turn" to make good use of vigilance.

- "When Link enters the battlefield, you may reveal the top three cards of your library. If you do, put any Equipment cards revealed this way onto the battlefield attached to Link. Put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your library in any order."
I saw this A Link to the Past-inspired custom card set some time ago, and the Link of that set had this ability, which I think is very fitting to the character.

Well, those are the characteristics that I'm considering to include in the card. I want to make a realistic card too, so I'm trying to avoid filling the card description with every single ability there is. Thanks for the help.

Comments

  • Faiths_GuideFaiths_Guide
    edited June 2016
    @assissassino13
    Depending on what rarity you select (perhaps mythic?), you could leave him at {2}{w} and give him both "Vigilance" and "{tap}: destroy target creature with power 4 or greater."

    Link, Hero of Legend {2}{w}
    Legendary Creature - Hylian Warrior

    Vigilance

    {t}: Destroy target creature with power 4 or greater

    2/3

    Seems fine for balance and flavorful!
  • MrRansomMrRansom
    edited August 2016
    I just want to add that white doesn't necessarily always fight evil and isn't necessarily "good" by default. White can be oppressive and controlling in the name of order-- obviously Link isn't this way, but I am always irked when people interpret the color pie this way. Not saying you're even doing that, just taking the time to mention it since we're discussing colors here.
  • LujikulLujikul
    @MrRansom similar to how black is automatically interpreted as evil?
  • MrRansomMrRansom
    edited August 2016
    Right, though it need not be evil all the time. Black is about freedom, agency, and power-- none of which is inherently evil. After all, we'd all like personal freedom.

    MaRo said: "Black's philosophy is very simple: There's no one better suited to look after your own interests than you. " - http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/making-magic/black-revisited-2015-07-27

    I actually made a black card to showcase that it isn't an "evil" color. A Character angered at leaders forcing their subjects to fight and die in wars, one could almost imagine that the character was formerly white but has since been disillusioned: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/sorya-embittered-veteran
  • assissassino13assissassino13
    @MrRansom you're absolutely right, white and black are usually misunderstood when it comes to good and evil. However, MTG cards, as I assume you've already noticed, don't represent every single aspect of their color. Besides, Link is the stereotypical hero, so he isn't presented with much flaws. Not to say no flaws at all.
  • KhunjundKhunjund
    While Link is undoubtedly white, I do think he has ties to green, with him always growing stronger and wiser as he overcomes the obstacles in his way and learns what it means to be the prophesied Hero of Time.

    If what you're trying to create is a balanced card, let me just say that tapping to destroy a creature is really, really strong; even more so with vigilance, especially for a three-drop. Maybe you could go with tapping (and possibly paying mana) to deal some amount of damage to an attacking creature, Link being a "protector" and all.

    My take:

    Link, Hero of Legend {GWW}

    Legendary Creature - Hylian Warrior

    First strike, vigilance

    {1}{G}{W}, {T}: Link, Hero of Legend deals damage equal to his power to target attacking creature.

    2/3

    He might even still be too powerful, but I find this version manages to capture both the "able swordsman" and the "defender of virtue". In addition, if he gets stronger, his ability scales, which I find represents the "growth" aspect nicely.
  • LujikulLujikul
    Interestingly, I'm leaning more towards Windwaker for the considerations I'm giving this. Don't get me wrong, the hero of time is cool and all, but he was asleep for like, 14 years. Link strikes me as Naya in nature. White is obvious, green for the reasons mentioned above, but red because, in what I've seen, Link can be rather impulsive when it comes to saving Zelda (or his sister) or taking down Ganon. He's simply rushed in, unprepared, several times. Heck, he even turns into a wolf in one timeline, which are primarily red or green! And in that same timeline, he possesses tremendous strength, capable of wrestling gorons without any kind of trinket to aid him.

    So if we consider these two extremes, the Hero of Wind, and the Hero of Twilight, Link certainly comes across as Naya. Keeping this in mind, he IS mortal, so something along the lines of 2/3 is probably appropriate. If we cost him in traditional Naya colors, we get something like this:

    Link, Hero of Legend {g}{r}{w}
    Legendary creature-Hylean Warrior

    Abilities: We could look at something such as passive keyword salad, or an ability that allows him to take down creatures much larger than himself, in the traditional hero sense. Keyword salad would likely look a bit like this:

    Haste, first strike, vigilance
    Whenever Link attacks, he gains +1/+0 for each creature your opponent controls.

    This one is more reminiscent of some kind of crooks between the Hero of Time and the Hero of Wind. If we go more the Hero of Twilight route, we get something like this.

    First strike, trample
    Whenever Link attacks, you may pay {2}{g/w}{r}. If you do, Link deals 3 damage to target creature the defending player controls.

    This one would likely be bigger, more like a 3/3.

    But that's just my thoughts on the matter.
  • assissassino13assissassino13
    Thank you all for the comments, guys. Even though I posted this quite a while ago it's cool nonetheless to have people answering.

    @Lujikul That's an interesting point. Link does show quite a few of red characteristics in some representations of him. But is it really that characteristic of him as an archetype?

    I know you took on Link from the perspective of a certain game, but I'm trying to represent a Link that's reminiscent of every Link in the games. That's why there's no outstanding power or toughness. Link is quite the underdog in TLoZ, gets involved in things way stronger than himself every time; but impulse and spontaneity aren't the things that make him overcome danger, that's for a more realistic character. Link is mortal, but he's pure virtue in most cases (Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks aside, as he's quite goofy and childish). He's not human. But he always fights for morality, for those who cannot fight for themselves, as Ganon (or any other "bad guy"), attempts to take over Hyrule and establish nothing else than tyranny.
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