Hey Mages ! Today, we’ll once again talk about a core subject since it simply gave its name to the game, nothing more.

We’re obviously talking about the Mage Noir status.

How does it work?

Once again the system is pretty simple. But to our knowledge, it has never been seen in any card game. :)

You start the game as a Mage. A normal Mage. The rites and ritual cards all have the following statement:

“You become a Mage Noir”

As soon as you put one of these cards on the table, you are now a Mage Noir. And nobody can take that away from you!

Some additional rules

There are a few simple rules to add to this:

  • Rites and rituals are permanents. Thus they keep the Mana they require underneath them.
  • They are indestructible. There are no ways to remove them. A player that became a Mage Noir will stay one until the end of the game.
  • It is possible to have multiple active rituals.

The direct advantages of being a Mage Noir:

You’ll often see the direct effects of being a Mage Noir on your cards.

Many spells possess additional options, or completely different effects, reserved for Mages Noirs. Some cards are even only usable once you’re a Mage Noir.

It is a simple way to give a new perspective to a card, a combo or even an entire archetype. To be a Mage Noir opens new doors, it is up to you to see what’s waiting for you on the other side.

Rituals for everybody

More than just the Mage Noir status, rituals usually grant you additional abilities or powerful bonus effects. They have all been designed to bring a new way to play and change the rythm of the game.

Rituals are all linked to an element, we thought it was interesting to use them to supplement or counterbalance the strengths and weaknesses of the given element.

Even though we can’t show you all of them, you’ve already had the occasion to observe two of them in the test version of the prototype that is actually available to “print & play”.

The emptiness ritual

Emptiness ritual card

It is a card that we like a lot. (It has a temporary artwork, none of our artists have started to illustrate that spell yet)
As you can see, it is an Air spell that offers an especially powerful offensive potential since every drawn card now becomes an occasion to directly inflict damages. It works perfectly well with the Air element, known for its ability to make his user draw cards easily.

However, it also restricts its user by lowering the size of his hand. An Air Mage, usually having lots of options is thus restrained by reducing himself his option potential.
We think it’s an iteresting way to exchange a strength for another.

The ritual of decomposition

Decomposition ritual card

This ritual, Vegetal this time (and also with a temporary artwork), also allows to exchange a strength for another. A Vegetal Mage will rely on his Permanents to protect him and provide him with constant damages over time. His objective is to keep them alive to secure a win over time.

This ritual allows him to exchange this advantage for instant damages, ability that the Vegetal element often lacks (or at least compared to Fire or Air for example).
It is once again a way to counterbalance the element in order to give him a strength he doesn’t have much.

Conclusion

Those examples are fairly simple but they give you a pretty nice view of what we have in mind when designing rituals and becoming a Mage Noir. It is a central element of the game and intend to make it a powerful tool, meant to completely change games and allow you to express your own playstyle freely.

We’ll catch you next time for another game design talk. In the mantime, take care of yourselves Mages.