Necropotence: to be or not to be

[jatill]

I've been thinking about Necropotence. I can add an approximation that is 90% accurate, but it would actually be difference in 3 ways from the original!! So should I add it, or leave it out?

Actual wording:
Skip your draw step.
Whenever you discard a card, remove that card in your graveyard from the game.
Pay 1 life: Remove the top card of your library from the game face down. Put that card into your hand at the end of your turn.

How it would work if I coded it:
Draw 99 fewer cards in your draw step.
Pay 1 life: And the end of your turn, draw a card for each life paid.

[It's possible that the discard -> RFG part is codable based on library of leng, but I'm not going to address that presently]

[Bog Wraith]

jatill, I don't have to tell you where I stand on this. You already know that this is my favorite card of all time.

I'd sure like to try this, no matter how different the card might be from the original. You could always disable it if you want and I could keep it working for myself if need be.

I know that this is a polarizing card as players either love it or don't want it in the game because of how powerful it is. Well you can choose to play with it or not, but I still think we should have the choice to have it in the game. I will however acquiesce to the what our members decide on.

Maybe, if they choose no, you could still release it to me so I could play with it in my ManaLink games.

Either way, thanks allot for looking into this, IMHO, the greatest MTG card ever made!

[monopoman]

Well to give my 2 cents the card is good but its not that insane. Without Donate+Illusions of Grandeur to back it up Necro was just a damn good card.

The card only became degenerate when people realized how abusive it was with the above two cards and mana acceleration.

In my opinion Time Walk, Ancestral Recall are both far superior since they go in almost any deck without question if you can cast them and its a T1 deck.

[jatill]

Well to give my 2 cents the card is good but its not that insane. Without Donate+Illusions of Grandeur to back it up Necro was just a damn good card.

The card only became degenerate when people realized how abusive it was with the above two cards and mana acceleration.

In my opinion Time Walk, Ancestral Recall are both far superior since they go in almost any deck without question if you can cast them and its a T1 deck.

Hmm... you gave me a nice idea for 2 more cards to add

[Tower_Mazer]

I would love to see something like this. It would be a good place to start and wouldn't be the only card in the game that isn't exactly the way it should be.

I was thinking though, could Island sanctuary be used for the skip draw step and Jalum Tome (draw discard) combined with Library of Leng trigger types but have it go in your hand instead of on top of the deck and have it queued until EOT? Maybe Greed could be thrown in the mix for the pay life I don't know how the language is or how easy this could be done. Sounds like fun though. Keep on keeping us on our toes to see these kind of new cards.

"edit"

jatill wrote:
Hmm... you gave me a nice idea for 2 more cards to add

What are the odds in getting you to add Anvil of Bogardan and or Memory Jar sometime in the future ?

[jatill]

The problem with Island Sanctuary is that it doesn't skip the draw step either, just 1 draw. I don't think the engine actually supports skipping steps. (Statis doesn't skip untap either).

Re: Memory Jar
I've been attacking the vintage restricted list pretty hard, and Jar is on my short 'can't do' list, because I don't know how to return your hand EOT.

[xXxBretWeedxXx]

Why not just code Yawgmoth's Bargain and not worry about Necro. It's the better card anyways.

[jatill]

I'll be adding both. And Academy Rector to find them

[Bog Wraith]

Why not just code Yawgmoth's Bargain and not worry about Necro. It's the better card anyways.

At 6 mana vs. 3 for Necro?

I respectably disagree!

Getting Necro out early is crucial for the deck archetype. With a Dark Ritual, I can have one out on turn 1!

I played heavily with the deck during it's heyday, especially in the Black Summer of 1996. This was before some of the other cards came out that created decks that abused the card that led to it's banning. Back in the day, it took allot of skill to play Necropotence properly. Because of it's effect of tossing a card out of the game if it was discarded, it made you think even more about where you would/could be a few turns ahead in the game. As well, you had to judge life loss for card gain and weighing that against where you anticipated your life totals would be again a few turns hence, depending on what deck type your opponent was playing. Plus, on top of all that, you only got your cards AT THE END of your turn. Think about that! That means you had to be sure you could play the same amount of cards that were already in your hand to make room for the ones you decided to pay with your life for so as not to have to discard any above 7. You often had to make your choice during your first main phase or at least calculate it then because you had to anticipate what cards you could/should play, so once again, the card made you really have to think. Allot of players erroneously thought, and still do, that Necro was an easy deck type to play. Until they actually played it and did so against opponents who really knew what they were doing.

I had some of the best matches I've ever played, both when winning or losing when playing Necro decks vs. all of the different kinds that were prevalent during those days. Whether playing against weenie, control, burn, stompy, etc... Necro consistently was the most fun and challenging deck type for me to play. Not only that, but tweaking it was just as fun & rewarding!
BTW, some of the best games I've ever played were mirror matches vs. other Necro decks!

It will always be for me, the best card ever made.
BTW, ever since it's banning, it seems like WotC are always creating a card for allot of the sets that have come out since that mimics Necro in many ways.

I'm one of the original members of Mok's testers. This project goes back many years. The other guys here who too were part of that original team know that I asked Mok about Necropotence right from the beginning, but he had said that the limitations of the game engine would preclude him from adding it in, even though he wanted to.
jatill has me salivating over the possibility of this changing, and if I may be permitted a moment of pure selfishness....

Must...Have ... This ...Card!

[Bog Wraith]

I don't like to double post but in this case, I'll make an exception...

JATILL, YOUR AWESOME!

Thank you so very much for doing this. I can't tell you how much it means to me!
When I loaded up the deckbuilder, my hands were shaking in anticipation of actually seeing Necropotence in the list of cards to choose from. Even though I knew it was there, I was still blown away when I did in fact see it.

You did something that Mok said could never happen.
I know he would be proud of you for getting this done!

Now, I'm off to build and test a number of Necro decks that can be built from all the cards that all you magnificent programmers have graced us with since Mok left us.

I might be very busy for the next while or so.
Bog Wraith has gone Necro'ing, err... I mean fishing!