Volpes, the Revolutionary
While I’m happy with the design I originally came up with for Volpes’s debut card, I had a problem with both the mechanical complexity and verbosity of it’s text, and my playgroup had a problem playing against it. I wanted to solve both problems by designing a new version that kept true to the original design concept back in December of 2022.
Fortunately, a solution came to me almost fully formed one night I was headed off to bed. I had already taken advantage of the Modified keyword when designing the card for my corrupted, tyrannical titan Enigma, to symbolize how he was evolving and enhancing the forces under his command. It would not be a stretch to use that same label for Volpes’s ability.
And to symbolize the indirect way he manipulates people without completely controlling them, said modified creatures are goaded, and won’t block attacks aimed at their owners. Goad is one of my favorite mechanics in Commander, so I’ve always looking for reasons to use it.
To solve issue of taking a lot of mana to put counters on creatures, he now gives a +1/+1 counter to something (even potentially himself if not other options exist), which will modify the creature so it is subject to his first ability.
He’s admittedly a removal magnet, but that’s the kind of Magic I sign up for. I’ve played the card a few times and it’s become the de facto Volpes card for me. While the piece Marsel-Defender did for one of my stories was originally intended to be purely placeholder art, I’m fond of it and I believe it works incredibly well on the card, so I’ve opted to keep it.
I’ve proud of this card, and I think it represents some of my most elegant work.
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