Backlash Shaman Creature -- Human Shaman (R) As Backlash Shaman enters the battlefield, choose a card name. Whenever an opponent casts a spell with the chosen name, Backlash Shaman deals 5 damage to them. "Freedom is the absence of limitations, not repercussions.” 2/2
Red's take on Meddling Mage. Red won't stop you from doing things (except gaininglife, I guess), but it can make you regret it.
Self Reflection Enchantment (R) Whenever you cast a spell that targets only you, copy that spell. "The hardest truths are those we must tell ourselves." —Sensei Hisoka
WoTC: I have Mark Rosewater. I will return him unharmed as soon as you design and print Return to Kamigawa.
I don't think that has a lot of legs to stand on. Not only is it kind of arbitrary if a spell targets you or not, with a lot of effects like lifegain and card draw no longer being targeted, it's also a lot less interesting to play around with. You can target all the creatures in your deck, but with player targeting you can only target yourself or your opponent, and that's a choice that's only relevant in effects that are both beneficial and detrimental.
I don't think that has a lot of legs to stand on. Not only is it kind of arbitrary if a spell targets you or not, with a lot of effects like lifegain and card draw no longer being targeted, it's also a lot less interesting to play around with. You can target all the creatures in your deck, but with player targeting you can only target yourself or your opponent, and that's a choice that's only relevant in effects that are both beneficial and detrimental.
I see your point, but I still think it's an interesting deckbuilding challenge even if it doesn't interact with every card out there. It does seem arbitrary whether a card targets players or not (Inspiration vs Divination) and WoTC seems to favor the latter nowadays. But there are still enough of the former to make this card worthwhile, in my opinion.
Even though this is a stand-alone card, I also like to imagine cards being printed in an environment that they work well in. Return to Kamigawa (coming 2032) could have a mechanic that targets players, right?
I don't think that has a lot of legs to stand on. Not only is it kind of arbitrary if a spell targets you or not, with a lot of effects like lifegain and card draw no longer being targeted, it's also a lot less interesting to play around with. You can target all the creatures in your deck, but with player targeting you can only target yourself or your opponent, and that's a choice that's only relevant in effects that are both beneficial and detrimental.
I think the divide is less pronounced than this. With heroic, you most likely are targeting your creatures with beneficial effects only, which also would be likely the case with "player-heroic". What could maybe be a problem with this hypothetical set theme is that it would encourage you to run more "Target player gets [beneficial effect]" than effects that affect the board which in turn might make games play less interestingly.
(on a semi-related but not really note, back when Rosewater did those polls about whether you prefered beneficial effects to be "You do [good thing]" or "Target player does [good thing]" and I really wish they would change to the later. Such change would also make effects like Redirect more interesting since right now all they are really good for is redirecting removal.)
It's no secret that is the least viable color combination in Commander. Life is tough if you're the most aggro-focused color pair when everyone starts with 40 life and sets up ridiculous value trains (your one weakness!!!).
I'm just brainstorming some cards that might make Boros aggro a little more viable in everyone's favorite format:
General Mizali Legendary Creature -- Human Soldier (M) Other creatures you control get +1/+1. Whenever another creature you control deals combat damage to an opponent, it deals that much damage to each other opponent. "When you're surrounded, there's no wrong direction to attack." 2/2
What if you only had to aggro out one player instead of a table full?
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Unified Assault Enchantment (R) Attacking creatures you control get +1/+0 for each other creature that’s attacking the same player or planeswalker. "Battle is chaos. He who brings order to it, wins it." —General Mizali
Or what if you went all in on killing that one guy???
I think one of the interesting aspects of aggro in edh you can utilize to make it better is the phenomenon of "there's always someone open", which to some extent I guess Mizali taps into the same way Saskia does. I would also be fascinated to see some cards that are better the more opponents that have lost the game. I also just think that EDH should run on 30 life.
I think the divide is less pronounced than this. With heroic, you most likely are targeting your creatures with beneficial effects only, which also would be likely the case with "player-heroic". What could maybe be a problem with this hypothetical set theme is that it would encourage you to run more "Target player gets [beneficial effect]" than effects that affect the board which in turn might make games play less interestingly.
My point is that while yes, Opportunity will only target friendly players and Arcane Flight will only target friendly creatures for nearly all cases, the latter is still a vastly more interesting decision. The decision point with Opportunity is mostly just "Do I cast this now or use my mana for something else?", with "or do I wait until I get more self-heroic triggers" added on in this theoretical set. With arcane flight, I also have to make the decision of "which one of my creatures do I want to use this spell on?" This is also not to mention how creature spells are often more situational than player spells; choosing when to use a giant growth is inherently a pretty difficult decision in a tight game.
So if you recall my original post not too long ago, I was at one point creating a set taking place in a world of magical schools. It was a fun, if not especially original, idea. But now that WoTC has announced the official version, Strixhaven (way cooler name), I'm going to official scrap the project and post some snippets for posterity.
The main mechanic-flavor tie of the set was what school of magic you chose to practice, which would translate to a color combination and playstyle. The faction was probably the best fleshed-out -- they were Elementalists, who preferred summoning magical beings to do their bidding. You may ask: as Planeswalkers, don't we all do that? Well, yes, but these guys are way more focused on it.
Each faction has its own keyword mechanic and the Elementalists had the only returning one: Evoke. They also played with Elemental tribal, since all cards with Evoke here would continue the restriction of just being Elementals.
Bloomshrike Creature -- Elemental (C) When Bloomshrike enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a basic land card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you do, shuffle your library. Evoke (You may cast this spell for its evoke cost. If you do, it’s sacrificed when it enters the battlefield.) 2/1
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Destabilize Instant (C) Counter target instant, sorcery, or Elemental spell. Spellcasting is a complicated process. With more complications come more chances for something to go horribly awry.
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Phantasmaw Creature -- Elemental (R) When Phantasmaw enters the battlefield, if you cast it, create a token that’s a copy of target creature. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the end step. Evoke (You may cast this spell for its evoke cost. If you do, it’s sacrificed when it enters the battlefield.) 4/4
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The cards above are not necessarily the most exciting, but rather the ones I already had art picked out for. Random odds-and-ends below:
The rest
There was a wedge cycle of cards that rewarded you for playing Elementals:
Swifteye Elementalist Creature -- Human Wizard (C) You may cast Elemental spells as though they had flash. “The elements exist in the world wild, untamed, their potential unrealized. They seek both the form and the purpose that I give them.” — Sylodie, Tamer of Elements 2/3
Fireheart Elementalist Creature -- Human Wizard (C) Elemental spells you cast cost less to cast. “Look around you. There is so much untapped power in the world, just waiting to be grasped.” — Sylodie, Tamer of Elements 2/2
Opensoul Elementalist Creature -- Human Wizard (C) Whenever an Elemental enters the battlefield under your control, gain 3 life. “Man without magic is weak. Magic without man is formless. Together, both can realize their full potential.” — Sylodie, Tamer of Elements 1/2
The character in the flavor text also had a Legendary card which was cost which was basically an Elemental lord plus a Yarok the Desecrated ability which only affected a creature's own ETB abilities. Not exactly inspired, but a good commander for the Elementalist faction.
As demonstrated with the Destabilize cards above, Elementals found themselves sort of soft-included as a spell because they can emulate one (sort of like how some Lorwyn cards lumped Treefolk and forests together, a la Treefolk Harbinger). There was a spell that let you search the top X cards for an instant, sorcery, or Elemental card as well.
Mulldrifter was just straight up reprinted (as an uncommon) as a face for the faction, because no card will ever be better or more exciting than Mulldrifter. Ingot Chewer was also reprinted, presumably with better flavor text. The rest of the evoke cards were new.
Etherwing Creature -- Elemental (R) Flying When Etherwing enters the battlefield, exile any number of other target creatures you control, then return them to the battlefield under your control. Evoke 3/3
This was also the faction of abusing ETB abilities. Blue had one or two other flicker cards at lower rarities.
There was a green fight spell at common that was pretty unremarkable except it was made an instant to better interact with evoke.
Tome of Elements Artifact (C) : Add , , or . , , Sacrifice Tome of Elements: Draw two cards.
I knew I needed some sort of mana fixing, but I hadn't settled on a final design yet. Basically a locket. These were definitely a work in progress.
Harnessed Energy Enchantment (M) Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, it deals damage equal to its power to any target and you gain life equal to its toughness.
This one was kind of dumb but worked well with Evoke.
Mirror Elemental Creature -- Elemental Shapeshifter (R) Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Mirror Elemental become a copy of that creature, except it has this ability. It embodies the unstoppable natural force of change. 3/3
I never really liked Upheaval effects because your opponent gets the first chance to start to rebuild from them. Well, the solution is kind of obvious.
Chronoclasm Sorcery (M) Return all nonland permanents to their owners’ hands. Take an extra turn after this one. Exile Chronoclasm. Like air, it's hard to fully appreciate time until you're running out of it.
This was a random off-theme mythic in Velithor but I thought it was kind of interesting. I'm sure I'm not the first person to staple these two effects together.
That’s a cool card. Normally you can get first dibs just by making the card an instant and casting at opponent end of turn (Evacuation)
Although the trick with upheaval was to float a few extra mana, cast it, then cast a creature which your opponent couldn’t answer until they’d played a few lands back
I have heard that floating mana and then casting Upheaval was a common line of play back in Psychatog days. How was that happening? That's a lot of mana and they didn't have today's crazy mana accel.
I am willing to bet that I've been working on a Norse-themed set for almost as long as WoTC has. The key difference, of course, is that WoTC's set is scheduled to be released next year and mine has been languishing in a half-finished purgatory like all of my other sets. It is the custom MTG project that I've put the most thought and work into. I've probably scrapped it and started fresh a half-dozen times. I have an entire text document on my computer filled with worldbuilding, mechanic ideas, and card designs.
Why did all of this never materialize into a finished product? My own flaws are to blame, of course. But also because I never managed to get it to feel right. I shuffled various mechanics and themes around, combining some, axing others, in a series of permutations to try to capture what I thought a Norse set should be. I never succeeded, and since the official version is being released I've lost the will to keep at it. It's doubtful anything I could throw together on my own would be as good as what a team of professional designers, artists, and writers could put together.
But that's what this thread is for! I'm going to share what parts of the set I thought were decent or at least interesting. The set was also called Kaldheim, of course, because WoTC had already established that as the name of the multiverse's Norse plane and it seemed unlikely that there was more than one of those floating around.
Let's start with the set's central mechanic, Catalyst. I've hidden most of my thoughts in the sblock below due to length, but the card to follow might seem a little dull without the context. I will post more interesting ones from the set soon!
Development musings
From the beginning, I wanted a mechanic that represented the coming of Ragnarok, the fated event that would more or less bring about the end of the world as we know it. I initially tried to avoid using the actual word Ragnarok in my worldbuilding, feeling it was weird to directly lift something from real-world mythology without "Magic-izing" it. So I called it the Godsfall, then switched it to the Immersturm (pulling from the Planechase card of the same name, ignoring that it was located on a different plane called Valla). Then I reconsidered and thought that Ragnarok really was the most evocative and recognizable name for it, and if WoTC can steal names then so can I (Gray Merchant of Asphodel?). So in the end it was called Ragnarok again, although I'm still not sure that's the right decision.
So I wanted the mechanic to be something that had a big impact on the board, being a cataclysmic event and all. But it also had to be something that loomed over the game -- something that you could see coming in the future and delay, perhaps, but not prevent. You had to play around the fact that Ragnarok was coming in the future. The question was: how to represent that in a game of Magic?
My first thought, which I knew to be unworkable, was to have Ragnarok just happen after a certain point in the game. Something like:
Ragnarok -- As long as it is your seventh turn of the game or later, <effect>.
This mechanic has many issues that I won't enumerate on here. I knew that; I just had to start somewhere. So how else to represent a "lateness" in the game? My next thought was to tie it into lands you control, because lands generally are played one per turn so they formed a sort of timer of their own. I also sort of liked that some colors could hasten Ragnarok by putting more lands out early. That version was okay, but seemed a little flavorless and it seemed to steer the set in a "lands matter" direction that I didn't want.
There was another similar version that basically allowed any player to begin Ragnarok as a game action by paying a certain amount of mana (I set it at but that was without any playtesting whatsoever). I had red and green as the most Ragnarok-focused colors, with each being able to bring it on faster via rituals or ramp effects. I liked that feel okay and the flavor implications of Ragnarok being something that had to be intentionally started was interesting. But it was also awkward, so I kept looking.
So besides number of turns and lands, what other things indicate that a game is entering its conclusion -- its end of days, so to speak? When a player's life total is low, of course. That's the main victory condition that the game has built-in. It's something that you can count on happening in almost every game, just in the natural flow of things. It's a dial that all of the colors can play with in their own ways -- some trying to bring Ragnarok faster with aggressive attacks, others trying to delay it with life gain or by staying on the defensive. It made sense, to me, to make the Norse set one that focused on combat so it tied into that well. I looked for precedent and remembered that the vampires from the original Zendikar set used a similar mechanic and I remember it playing decently well.
Thus I landed on the "final" version of the mechanic... final insofar that it was the latest version that I had when I stopped working on the set. I ended up borrowing from the ascend mechanic when it came to templating. Unlike the City's Blessing, however, when Ragnarok begins it affects all players. There is no "I've reached Ragnarok but you haven't". When one player kicks of Ragnarok, it affects all players in the game.
I'm going to post a basic example of the mechanic, with more likely to come in subsequent posts.
Skybreen Outrider Creature -- Human Warrior (C) Catalyst (Whenever a player has 10 or less life, Ragnarok begins for the rest of the game.) Skybreen Outrider gets +2/+2 as long as Ragnarok has begun. She braves the storm to seek allies against the greater storm to come. 3/3
The people of Kaldheim (again, not the official one) know that the world was created when Fyrin, father of Aldin, slew one of the two great world serpents whose bodies spanned the universe. Its vast body fell into what would become the mortal realm and formed the earth itself. The great beast's mate accompanied her companion and coiled herself around him in mourning, forming around herself the Encircled Sea that, to this day, no ship has ever been able to cross.
The fallen serpent spit up two seeds, which curious Fyrin planted in the creature's own back. One would grow in time to become Eldriveld, the Forever Tree, whose branches would bridge the mortal realm to those beyond. From the other, it was said, sprang the first people of Kaldheim -- the elves. Four of them there were in those early days -- one with skin of pearl and eyes that shone like the sun, one as dark and brooding as night itself, one as imperious and cold as the deepest winter, and the last as nimble and vigilant as Eikfótr, Fyrin's own familiar. From them the four lineages of elves descended -- the Auldhár, Mordhár, Kaldhár, and the Verdhár.
No living Auldhár has been seen on Kaldheim in many lifetimes. The other three can still be found in various parts of the world. We focus today on the Mordhár, or dark elves, who carve out an existence in the noxious moor known as the Naglfen. The Mordhár have long been known for their skill in soothsaying. Through methods both arcane and grisly, their seers can glean fleeting sights of the future -- which they have been known to share with outsiders for goods or favors.
The most talented seers hold places of great esteem in Mordhár society. The most powerful currently is known as Myvara the Doomsinger. She was the first to experience a vision of impending doom and she was merely the first. Death, suffering, destruction -- these images now poison nearly all of the portents the seers experience. Rather than despair, the Mordhár have seemed to embrace this fate and see themselves as emissaries of the world's demise. With all of the strife that is arising in the world, it is hard to find fault in their conclusion.
Mechanically, the Mordhár appear entirely on black cards. Black, as a whole, is one of the colors in the set that works towards bringing on Ragnarok as soon as possible. Its elves often do that by hurting their controller. Why does it matter, really, if the world is ending anyway?
Nihilmancer Creature -- Elf Warlock (R) Catalyst (Whenever a player has 10 or less life, Ragnarok begins for the rest of the game.) At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life. Then draw a card if Ragnarok has begun. "Look around you. What do you see, if not the death throes of the world itself?" 2/2
Naglfen Headhunter Creature -- Elf Assassin (U) Catalyst (Whenever a player has 10 or less life, Ragnarok begins for the rest of the game.) When Naglfen Headhunter enters the battlefield when Ragnarok has begun or when Ragnarok begins, you may destroy target creature. 3/2
Mordhár Cutthroat Creature -- Elf Berserker (C) When Mordhár Cutthroat enters the battlefield, you lose 3 life. The mordhár have always believed that the world would end one day, and that all the machinations of mortals and gods could not stop it. 2/2
The other races of Kaldheim call the dwarves by many names: stoutlings, the hidden folk, tunnel rats, ironmongers, children of Skarn... The dwarves themselves only call each other by one term: kin. Among the various civilzations to be found on the plane, the dwarves are the most insular. Most reside in Genrimil, a subterranean city whose only entrance is more fiercely guarded than any dragon's hoard. Many dwarves spend their entire long lives underground, never seeing nor wanting to see the sky. Some venture outwards into the world outside but can usually be counted on to regularly return home, which they consider to be the only truly civilzed place to be found.
The martial ability of dwarven warriors is not to be underestimated. However, they are best known for their artisans, who wield such skill at their craft that the gods themselves often seek them out for projects. In fact, the gods' home of Skiholl was said to have been built by a team of specially picked dwarven articifers in the early days of the world.
Genrimil has been the ancestral home of the dwarves since the race's infancy. They have been governed by a succession of rulers who, although voted into power by dwarven guild-houses, wields almost unquestioned authority once there. The current king, Brynjar, is particularly paranoid about the world outside his hidden realm and not without reason: he recieves reports of giants marauding the countryside, the dead rising from their graves, and discord among the usually-placid Veldhár. Under his influence, his people are being seen on the surface less and less.
There is a certain prophecy, circulated by the seers of the Mordhár and the Auld, that says that the iron walls of Genrimil will eventually be shattered by an enemy of immense power. With the apparent end of the world coming, it's no wonder the dwarves are on edge.
Dwarves can be found in the / color combination. Their mechanic focus is around the defender ability... with plenty of ways to turn their defensive prowess into offensive might. There are also a couple of cards that may look familiar if you witnessed YMtC Pro Tour win a couple of years back.
Brynjar, the Cloistered King Legendary Creature -- Dwarf Noble (M) Whenever you or a planeswalker you control is attacked, you may put a creature card with defender from your hand onto the battlefield. It must block this combat if able. His will is as unbreakable as Genrimil’s walls and his thoughts as guarded as its gates. 3/5
Bastion of the Iron City Artifact Creature -- Golem (R) Defender, vigilance Whenever you’re dealt combat damage, Bastion of the Iron City may attack as though it didn’t have defender until the beginning of your next end step. The dwarven capital of Genrimil swats away armies as a sturdy shield deflects arrows. 7/7
Genrimil Gate-Warden Creature -- Dwarf Warrior (C) Catalyst (If a player has 10 or less life, Ragnarok begins for the rest of the game.) Defender As long as Ragnarok has begun, Genrimil Gate-Warden may attack as though it didn’t have defender. 3/3
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Related cards
Gifts to the Gods Sorcery (R) Search your library for exactly three artifact cards with different names and reveal them. If you do, shuffle your library, then put them on top of it in any order. Otherwise, shuffle your library. Dwarven artisans still venerate Eldwin, who once created marvels so wondrous that Aldin himself sought to possess them.
Open the Gates Sorcery (C) Until end of turn, creatures you control get +2/+0 and may attack as though they didn't have defender. “From scribe to baker, each of my citizens is a trained fighter. At my word, this city becomes an army.” —Brynjar, the Cloistered King
Battle Ready Enchantment -- Aura (C) Enchant creature Enchanted creature gets +2/+2 and may attack as though it didn't have defender. "Sometimes you charge into battle, and sometimes battle charges at you."
Genrimil Sniper Creature -- Dwarf Archer (U) Defender Creatures you control with defender have ": This creature deals 1 damage to target player or planeswalker." "Come no closer." 1/4
Brynjar's Artisan Creature -- Dwarf Articifer (U) When Brynjar's Artisan enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a creature card with defender, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library. "When the gods sought to create their home of Skihöll, even they knew to seek out dwarven builders." 2/4
Ironhall Mediator Creature -- Dwarf Advisor (C) Defender , : Tap target creature. “Outside these walls is chaos and strife. Only within Genrimil does order reign.” 1/3
Highland Crusader Creature -- Dwarf Berserker (U) Trample Whenever Highland Crusader attacks, you may tap another untapped creature you control. If you do, Highland Crusader gets +X/+0 until the end of turn, where X is the tapped creature’s power. 3/4
Steel Wall Artifact Creature -- Wall (C) Defender When the world began to crumble around them, many dwarves retreated behind the imposing walls of Genrimil, as if daring Ragnarok to try and breach them. 0/4
Wall of Omens Creature -- Wall (U) Defender When Wall of Omens enters the battlefield, draw a card. “Look far enough into the past and you will find the seeds of the future.” —Aska, Oracle of Auld 0/4
It has been hundreds of years since the jötun Fohren waged his war against the gods, spurred on by a misinterpreted prophecy. In that ill-fated conflict, some mortals decided to come to the aid of Aldin and his kin. For their service, the leaders of those warriors were gifted some of the godly weapons that had struck down so many of the jötun forces. These heroes became the first of the Valdir and those weapons, known as Aestál, are still wielded by their descendants to this day.
The Valdir is the collective name for the humans that trace their lineages back to the original recipients of the Aestál. They are broken into various houses, each led by a Jarl. These Jarls generally gain their position by demonstrating some immense feat of bravery or skill, thereby proving the strength of their heroic blood and their worthiness to wield their house's Aestál.
Dwarf-forged and God-blessed, Aestál are tools of great power far surpassing any ordinary weapon. The standing of a Valdir house is directly tied to the number of Aestál it possesses, the weapons occasionally changing hands through infighting, challenges, or treachery. A Jarl will typically choose one of these weapons to wield themselves, granting temporary stewardship of their others to trusted family members or distinguished warriors. To allow an Aestál to fall into the hands of an outsider is the gravest crime a Valdir could commit.
The Valdrir primarily reside on the Hjalt Flats, a storm-wracked plain dotted with the ruins of ancient conflicts. Since even the lowliest among them can claim to have the blood of heroes flowing through their veins, Valdir society dictates an honorable burial for any of their fallen. They are interred in barrows, often-vast catacombs scattered across the Hjalt. They are tended to by barrow-keepers, who maintain and guard these sacred burial grounds from scavengers. It is a lonely position but one that commands great respect. These men and women, unfortunately, were some of the first to experience the coming signs of Ragnarok when their charges began to rise and walk again. These draugr still possessed the skill and strength of the warriors they once were but were without the fragile weakness of mortality. They soon became a scourge not only to the Valdir but to Kaldheim as a whole... but that is a topic for another time.
These proud people appear in the set on white, black, and red cards. These colors are the only ones in which the Arm mechanic appears (seen below). It's the mechanic that I've gone back-and-forth the most on. A version of it appeared in the very first version of the set, and it has been removed, re-added, and tweaked probably a half-dozen times. I feel it might lead to repetitive gameplay, but on the other hand it is rather flavorful and plays well into the feel of the set. I'm also aware that I'm not the first designer to come up with the idea, so that was another strike against it. In the end, I decided the pros outweighed the cons but I can't say I ever completely sold myself on it.
Some of the Aestál appear in card form as well. I tried to set them apart from normal equipment by giving them all ETB abilities. Six appear in the set -- one uncommon and one rare in each of the three Valdir-aligned colors.
Jarl Freyda Legendary Creature -- Human Warrior (R) When Jarl Freyda enters the battlefield, arm it. (Create and attach a colorless Equipment token with “Equipped creature gets +1/+0” and Equip .) You may activate equip abilities any time you could cast an instant. 2/3
Bjargetar Legendary Artifact -- Equipment (U) When Bjargetar enters the battlefield, it deals 3 damage to any target. Equipped creature gets +3/+0 and has trample. Equip (: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery.)
Stáldagr Legendary Artifact -- Equipment (R) When Stáldagr enters the battlefield, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield, then attach Stáldagr to it. Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has deathtouch. Equip
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Related cards
Hjalt Avenger Creature -- Human Warrior (R) When Hjalt Avenger enters the battlefield, arm it. When Hjalt Avenger dies, create a 1/1 white Spirit Warrior creature token, then attach all Equipment that were attached to Hjalt Avenger to that creature. 1/2
Jarl's Vanguard Creature -- Human Warrior (U) When Jarl’s Vanguard enters the battlefield, arm it. (Create and attach a colorless Equipment token with “Equipped creature gets +1/+0” and Equip .) The world would end before her devotion to her jarl does. 0/1
Warrior's Instinct Instant (C) Arm target creature you control. It gains first strike until end of turn. (Create and attach a colorless Equipment token with “Equipped creature gets +1/+0” and Equip .) "Keep your wits sharp and your blade sharper." —Jarl Freyda
Power of the Aestál Sorcery (U) Arm target creature you control, then it deals damage equal to its power to any target. (Create and attach a colorless Equipment token with “Equipped creature gets +1/+0” and Equip .) To raise an ordinary blade against an Aestál is to bet an ant against a bear.
Nightcloak Assassin Creature -- Human Assassin (C) Deathtouch When Nightcloak Assassin enters the battlefield, arm it. (Create and attach a colorless Equipment token with “Equipped creature gets +1/+0” and Equip .) 1/1
Viniflir Legendary Artifact -- Equipment (R) When Viniflir enters the battlefield, creature two 1/1 white Spirit Warrior creature tokens, then attach Viniflir to one of them. Equipped creature has “Whenever this creature attacks, creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.” Equip
Immolate Instant (U) Immolate deals 4 damage to target creature. Destroy all Equipment attached to it. “Many warrior’s tales end in glory. Yours ends only in ashes.” —Halle, flamescriber
Hjalt Journeyman Creature -- Human Warrior (C) As long as Hjalt Journeyman is equipped, it gets +1/+1 and has lifelink. “All among the Valdir Houses have the blood of heroes running through their veins.” —Jarl Baldon 1/1
Ragnarok is a pretty cool mechanic. Works as both a catch-up mechanism and as a way to close up games. Wish catalyst had a different name -- sounds too.. scientific? I mean, something like I would see in CKY's alchemy set, not as a harbinger of an apocalyptic battle.
Fellbarrow, like all barrows, was once used to house the honored dead of the Valdir. Its vaulted halls attracted the attention of a black-scaled dragon of incredibly ferocity, who decided to make the resting grounds its new home.
Jarl Argnar, determined to rid his people of the beast, mobilized a group of his finest warriors and headed in to slay it. He, and every one of his men, was killed... and the Jarl’s Aestál was lost with him. Since then, no small number of would-be heroes, opportunists, and scavengers have braved the barrows in search of riches. Most share the fate of the Jarl, adding their valuables to the dragon’s hoard, which grows to legendary sizes.
Despite the Fellbarrow’s deadly reputation, the allure of riches is a strong one. The barrow stilll sees an occasional intruder who seeks to be lucky enough to escape with a piece of the dragon’s treasure.
Scourge of Fellbarrow Legendary Creature -- Dragon (R) Flying When Scourge of Fellbarrow enters the battlefield, each player may search their library for a card, exile it face down, then shuffle their library. When Scourge of Fellbarrow dies, put the exiled cards into their owner’s hands. 5/5
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is the least viable color combination in Commander. Life is tough if you're the most aggro-focused color pair when everyone starts with 40 life and sets up ridiculous value trains (your one weakness!!!). 
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but that was without any playtesting whatsoever). I had red and green as the most Ragnarok-focused colors, with each being able to bring it on faster via rituals or ramp effects. I liked that feel okay and the flavor implications of Ragnarok being something that had to be intentionally started was interesting. But it was also awkward, so I kept looking.
