JumpSTARt: Battle Royale — Devlog #18: Timin
JumpSTARt: Battle Royale is a star-format Jumpstart product for Magic: The Gathering. This blog post is part of a series chronicling its development.
Previous devlogs:
Devlog #00: Kickoff
Devlog #01: Packet Skeleton
Devlog #02: Drafting
Devlog #03: Star-Format-Friendly Mechanics
Devlog #04: “Event” Cards
Devlog #05: Rhoda
Devlog #06: Zndrsplt
Devlog #07: Nikara
Devlog #08: Khorvath
Devlog #09: Pir
Devlog #10: Trynn
Devlog #11: Ukkima
Devlog #12: Laurine
Devlog #13: Gorm
Devlog #14: Sylvia
Devlog #15: Toothy
Devlog #16: Silvar
Devlog #17: Cazur
First, a Toothy Packet Update
OUT: Vision Skeins, IN: Words of Wisdom
(I realized that Words of Wisdom exists, and I think it’s a better pick.)
Now for Timin packet!
Here are the picks for Timin’s packet, and below is the reasoning for the choices.
Timin by itself is very open-ended. For example, a Spirits packet could have been designed instead! However, there weren’t any monoblue Spirit Warriors I could find (every packet needs 2+ Warriors), so “fliers matters” is the direction.
With all that tapping, Timin’s packet is focused on an aggressive flying strategy! Warden of Evos Isle, Lofty Denial, Winged Words, & Tide Skimmer all are your rewards for fliers.
The curve is a little top-heavy, but hopefully the cost reduction from Warden of Evos Isle along with 9 lands helps with enabling those more-expensive spells.
There’s no mythic rare in this packet, but hoping for raw power here to make up for this. Faerie Conclave and Gargoyle Castle are additional fliers along with Serendib Efreet for power and Marauder Warkite for additional clearing away of blockers, besides Timin’s constant tapping.
Gargoyle Castle sneakily fills in the artifact slot for the packet. Nimbus Champion and Aven Reedstalker fulfill the Warriors requirement and Messenger Jays is this packet’s “multiplayer event” card.
Timin and Nimbus Champion both disrupt creatures, which meant that Lofty Denial was the only answer for opposing artifacts. So we added a second option with Thieving Skydiver for stealing the artifact.
Got a Flight to Catch
That’s all for today! See ya next packet.
