Last installment I listed the various things that were pushing me into a specific direction. Once I settled on Phyrexia versus Alara, henceforth referred to as AvP, there were some ideas as to why specifically the Phyrexians would invade. The Phyrexian civilization is all about expansion, multiplication, and perfection. They subsume the worlds that they come across. Alara has the resources of Etherium, Sangrite, and the tremendous mana well of the Maelstrom. Of these, it makes sense that they would center their invasion of Alara on Esper. Esper has taken the most damage as Phyrexians reprocess the Etherium of their bodies into their abominable creations. This makes it obvious that one of the main thrusts of the cards has to be colored artifacts. Its what is common to both Phyrexia and Esper. That's easy enough to do, dual color Phyrexian mana cards can have some creatures involved, and some Esperites can exist. What are the rest of the Alaran's doing though? It would make sense that they are rallying to fight. Since we are on the two-set paradigm, we are going to have to show up a third of the way through the story. I see Bant and Naya combining forces to hold their borders against the Phyrexians, and Bolas defending Grixis and Jund. I like the idea of having some returning mechanics since there is going to be a lot going on color-wise in the set. Having some repeats will help all but the new players, and its easy to repeat intuitive mechanics. Devour is a good mechanic that makes sense for Grixis and Jund. It also fits the sets theme of consuming resources. Neither Exalted or 5 Power Matters makes sense to bring back solo, so their coalition gets a new mechanic that fits GWur.
Thus far we have,
Phyrexia - Phyrexian mana
Alara - Devour, colored artifacts, X
I considered bringing back Infect since it is thematically correct, but I think it would have too much complexity behind it to also split the win conditions of the format. The Phyrexians clearly need another mechanic though. I don't think that proliferate has enough behind it to become a major mechanic. Its more like a rider that you can think of as a cantrip effect. It might be interesting to have in the second set as a returning mechanic.
Since the Phyrexians need a new mechanic, what are they trying to do? Well, they are on Alara primarily to claim Etherium for themselves. They want to become more perfect versions of themselves. What if they ate other artifacts to become Compleat? That's a cool idea. And with the high number of artifacts with color, its certainly do-able. Having it attached to a comes into play ability wouldn't have as much play to it, and it only gives you one shot to do it. What if it sacrificed an artifact in play?
Compleat - A keyword like monstrous that appears on Phyrexian cards in AvP. Each card with Compleat has a COST: Compleat. To Compleat, you sacrifice an artifact on resolution of the ability. If you do, the card gains the state Compleat. The individual cards gain a bonus, either through a trigger or by being Compleat. I think that Compleat might require a counter of some kind to mark that the ability has resolved. Also, the sacrifice of the artifact is a may so you aren't trapped into eating something you don't want to. Also, it will be worded to be another artifact so that the Phyrexian doesn't sacrifice itself. It makes more sense and closes off a lot of questions.
3GG: Compleat (As this ability resolves you may sacrifice another artifact. If you do, put a Compleat counter on this and it becomes Compleat.)
This lines up with the return of Devour, simulates the Phyrexian hunt for perfection through consumption, and works as another ability that can cross colors and make Phyrexians in the set feel multicolor without having to have multiple costs in the upper right.
As for the other Alaran mechanic, I've had something in the back of my mind for a while and this seems like the best place for it. I call it Bulk. Bulk likely won't last through the creative application, but it works for testing.
Bulk - 1G (Whenever another non-token creature enters the battlefield you may pay 1G. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on *this*.)
Its quite simple, but it works really well for Bant+Naya. They are marshaling their strength for the clash with the Phyrexians, but from a mechanical standpoint it also works well with their previous mechanics. It can build creatures up to 5 power, and it works well with playing creatures with exalted pre-combat.
Using this, I sketched out this design skeleton:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KKbhhgreewQ_ap6qMUWLUrVr42nUMWPxWT9cPe_JLBs/edit?usp=sharing
Now I get to do the fun part, actually making magic cards!
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