[Pod 1] DIENEKES (Gideon Jura, Combat Mage) - Testing

[Scytale]

The Book of Dienekes

Arena of the Valkyrie Master Set

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JANDAR
Dienekes
Human
Unique Hero
Fighter
Resolute
MEDIUM 5

LIFE 4
MOVE 5
RANGE 1
ATTACK 3
DEFENSE 5

POINTS 90

Tether of Logos
When a small or medium figure moves at least one space and ends its movement within 3 clear sight spaces of Dienekes, if it is no more than 3 levels above Dienekes's height or 3 levels below his base, you may roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 7 or higher, place that figure on any same-level space adjacent to Dienekes. If the figure is engaged before it is moved by Tether of Logos, it will not take any leaving engagement attacks.

Combat Challenge
Figures engaged with (figure name) may only attack figures with the Combat Challenge special power.

Editing: Complete

Playtesting:
Test 1 (Flash_19)
Test 2 (The Long eared bat)
Test 3 (capsocrates)
Test 4 (capsocrates)
Test 5 (capsocrates)
Test 6 (Captain Stupendous)
Test 7 (Captain Stupendous)
Test 8 (Captain Stupendous)
Test 9 (flameslayer93)
Test 10 (flameslayer93)
Test 11 (S1R_ART0R1US)
(Stat Change to 4L/5D)
Test 12 (flameslayer93)

The figure used for this unit is Gideon Jura, Combat Mage from Arena of the Planeswalkers.

Character Bio: TBA

-Rulings and Clarifications-
TBA

-Combinations and Synergies-

Synergy Benefits Received
TBA

Synergy Benefits Offered
TBA

-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-
TBA

[The Long eared bat]

The figure looks to be holding a cloak of invisibility which gave me this idea:
When (Gideon) or any small or medium figure that you control adjacent to (Gideon), is targeted with a normal attack from an opponent's figure, you may roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 15? or higher (Gideon) or a chosen adjacent figure cannot be attacked by the targeting figure.

Another idea is that he could have a ranged sheild hurl special attack.

[Pumpkin_King]

He has a whip and shield. Odd combination. A magical Gladiator?

[All Your Pie]

I don't have much here off the top of my head, so it seems like a decent idea to draw some inspiration from actual MtG Gideon. If we do that, then this seems like a perfect figure for a re-use of Combat Challenge, so long as we modify the text slightly to make it less of a rules nightmare. The whip doesn't look quite long enough for Reach, but it is prominent on the figure and might warrant a power of its own a la Thorian Speed from Drake's katana. A combination of Combat Challenge and a power that gets stronger when wounded would make for a simple, effective combo.

[lefton4ya]

He looks like he has a whip. I like trying to mimic Mortal Kombat's Scorpion's "Get over here" mechanic for Gideon Jura:

Whip Pull: After moving, you may choose an opponent's figure that is 3 or fewer spaces away from [GJ]. All of the powers on the chosen figure's army card are negated until the end of [GJ's] turn. If possible, before attacking place the chosen figure adjacent to [GJ]. A figure placed with Whip Pull never takes any leaving engagement attacks.

If it seems to powerful, we could add a 20-sided die roll in the power, or you can remove the part about negating special powers and just do the pull, and I like the range of 3 on the pull but could go with 2 if pressured. I like that even with out the negating it gets through some powers like Cathar Spearmen and Engagements Strike, but would love if it got through more like Counterstrike and Scatter/Scurrry (which IMHO we should have on other figures in the AotP set). Again, maybe I'm trying to mimic Scorpion too much but I think it is a unique but simple mechanic that fits the sculpt.

As far as shield maybe copy power (but not necessarily name) from Tough from Gorillinators, Iron Tough from Iron Golem, Shields of Valor from Sentinals of Jandar, Evasive [1/2] from Elite Onyx Vipers, Warforged Resolve from Warforged, or One Shield Defense from Crixus. Personally I think using Tough (but work on SA) is best:

Tough Shield: When rolling defense dice against a normal or special attack, [GJ] always adds one automatic shield to whatever is rolled.

[Jaur0n]

I believe his weapon is an Urumi, which is a whip like sword that excels at fighting multiple enemies and is very dangerous to both people facing it and potentially to it's user.


I'd like to see something that takes this into account a melee splash weapon with a chance to hurt the bearer. I always like strong abilities with potential backfiring mechanics though.

[The Long eared bat]

Scytale brought up the issue of diversity on AotV unit mechanics. If we make Gideon a gladiator he will have to follow Einar. Looking at the other figures in the set Jandar seems less represented and Gedion seems to fit that general.

[Scytale]

Originally Posted by The Long eared bat

The figure looks to be holding a cloak of invisibility which gave me this idea:
When (Gideon) or any small or medium figure that you control adjacent to (Gideon), is targeted with a normal attack from an opponent's figure, you may roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 15? or higher (Gideon) or a chosen adjacent figure cannot be attacked by the targeting figure.

Another idea is that he could have a ranged sheild hurl special attack.

It's not a cloak, is it? If so it's just a raincoat or something. Others have said it's some sort of whip.

Could just copy Captain America's Shield Throw.

Originally Posted by All Your Pie

I don't have much here off the top of my head, so it seems like a decent idea to draw some inspiration from actual MtG Gideon. If we do that, then this seems like a perfect figure for a re-use of Combat Challenge, so long as we modify the text slightly to make it less of a rules nightmare. The whip doesn't look quite long enough for Reach, but it is prominent on the figure and might warrant a power of its own a la Thorian Speed from Drake's katana. A combination of Combat Challenge and a power that gets stronger when wounded would make for a simple, effective combo.

Combat Challenge is fine (when fixed) for a defender figure. Is that what we want here? A power that gets stronger when wounded would fit this role well.

Thorian Speed is dumb. It's a bizarre addition to a somewhat bizarre unit that requires reading the backstory to understand what's going on. I'd rather we don't do the same. If we do something with the whip, I'd like to hope we can do something more obviously thematic than a katana that makes him so fast he's hard to hit yet not improve his speed.

Originally Posted by lefton4ya

He looks like he has a whip. I like trying to mimic Mortal Kombat's Scorpion's "Get over here" mechanic for Gideon Jura:

If it seems to powerful, we could add a 20-sided die roll in the power, or you can remove the part about negating special powers and just do the pull, and I like the range of 3 on the pull but could go with 2 if pressured. I like that even with out the negating it gets through some powers like Cathar Spearmen and Engagements Strike, but would love if it got through more like Counterstrike and Scatter/Scurrry (which IMHO we should have on other figures in the AotP set). Again, maybe I'm trying to mimic Scorpion too much but I think it is a unique but simple mechanic that fits the sculpt.

As far as shield maybe copy power (but not necessarily name) from Tough from Gorillinators, Iron Tough from Iron Golem, Shields of Valor from Sentinals of Jandar, Evasive [1/2] from Elite Onyx Vipers, Warforged Resolve from Warforged, or One Shield Defense from Crixus. Personally I think using Tough (but work on SA) is best:

Negating powers is a huge bell/whistle that seems unnecessary, and would add a lot to a necessarily wordy power. (That power being Chain Grab, which we'd need to copy.)

Giving a Chain Grab-like power to a defender unit is pretty cool and valuable. Add on A Coward's Reward and it's really fun.

Originally Posted by Jaur0n

I believe his weapon is an Urumi, which is a whip like sword that excels at fighting multiple enemies and is very dangerous to both people facing it and potentially to it's user.

I'd like to see something that takes this into account a melee splash weapon with a chance to hurt the bearer. I always like strong abilities with potential backfiring mechanics though.

I like the concept, but I don't think the mini really justifies it. I get that's where it originally comes from, but all I see is a clear whip-thing, not some brutal melee weapon that can even harm the user. A concept like this should be saved for a mini that deserves it.

Originally Posted by The Long eared bat

Scytale brought up the issue of diversity on AotV unit mechanics. If we make Gideon a gladiator he will have to follow Einar. Looking at the other figures in the set Jandar seems less represented and Gedion seems to fit that general.

No need to make Gideon an Einarian if he's a Gladiator. That's preferable, but we already have a non-Einar Gladiator with Tetraites.

[Astroking112]

Looking at the project as a whole, I think that Gideon would be well-suited to fill a defender role. We already have Chandra as a (potential) offensive-oriented character along with others, and there's a certain appeal to creating a solid defender unit, especially in terms of creating a diverse set of designs to play with when the set is standalone. Gideon's Jandar-esque color scheme and shield make him a good candidate for that.

[lefton4ya]

Forgot about Drow Chainfighter and his Chain Grab - @Matthias Maccabeus might never forgive me. My idea was a combo of Chain Grab and Paralyzing Stare, but looking at the Drow Chainfighter card it is pretty wordy and takes up a lot of the card, and other than getting rid of D20 roll hard to shorten.

Spoiler Alert!

For the defender idea, we could combine a defensive power (I mentioned suggestions above) with Combat Challenge from Tandros Kreel. In theory the "whip" or "cloak" is pulling/protecting your friendly figures while the shield is protecting [GJ]

COMBAT CHALLENGE
If an opponent's figure that is adjacent to [GJ] attakes with a normal or special attack, it must attack [GJ].

[Scytale]

Originally Posted by lefton4ya

Forgot about Drow Chainfighter and his Chain Grab - @Matthias Maccabeus might never forgive me. My idea was a combo of Chain Grab and Paralyzing Stare, but looking at the Drow Chainfighter card it is pretty wordy and takes up a lot of the card, and other than getting rid of D20 roll hard to shorten.

Spoiler Alert!

For the defender idea, we could combine a defensive power (I mentioned suggestions above) with Combat Challenge from Tandros Kreel. In theory the "whip" or "cloak" is pulling/protecting your friendly figures while the shield is protecting [GJ]

Combat Challenge is a problematic power, but we can fix it, or perhaps do a non-problematic version.

A defensive power + Combat Challenge is a fine idea. One Shield Defense comes to mind. Or just have Combat Challenge and solid life/defense stats. It is also a fine idea to combine solid defenses with a Chain Grab concept. That's especially valuable on a sole-figure defender, which can't cover area like Deathreavers. A passive version would be especially nice, something like Swirling Vortex but pulls units in instead of stopping them. Combine that with A Coward's Reward and you have a real annoyance.

[The Long eared bat]

Isn't pulling in figures too similar to the powers that have been given to Eldrazi.