The title says it all. It's a crazy idea. I'm not saying there SHOULD be neutral legends, or that there is a definitve need for them. I just like to tinker with the idea. So having said that, how could one make it work?

I figured one would begin by adressing the issue of cost first. Seeing as neutral cards don't provide loyalty (and legends usually requiring 4 or 5), having them cost more than "regular" legends seems fair (unless you want to dillute their potency, thereby making the idea redundant in itself). But having legends costing 8-10 resources seems a bit steep, doesn't it?

So how about if they had a cost reducing effect depending on the amount of "associated" units and supports in play under your control? I.e. if you have say, 4 Undead units or supports in play under your control the associated legend - for instance, let's say it was Nagash - would cost 4 less (with a minimum cap of maybe 4 or 5 resources, so as not to make it silly cheap).

That way you have a way of reducing the cost of playing neutral legends, a kin to how loyalty is required to play a non-neutral legend. Although ,it might be better if this was some form of additional cost (e.g. cost X more resources to play unless…) , and not directly tied to printed cost (to avoid shenanigans).

The second issue is of course, what makes them worth all the trouble? They would only be reasonable in decks with a lot of neutral cards of a specific neutral faction. So maybe they should share some of that factions unique traits, or a more potent version of it? Let's look back at my proposed Nagash, shall we, and think about how it would interact with a Undead themed deck.

Necromancy comes to mind (obviously), but what's good about bringing in a legend for just a turn? Not to mention the keyword only applies to units. As it would have to be card text anyway, why not state that the legend in question can be played from the discard pile as if it were in your hand, and leave it at that? Works wonders with the Undead theme of self-milling.

Then we have the need for some form of action or constant effect that really makes this legend shine and enforces its character. Going back to Nagash, who was a great necromancer and mage, it's not far fetched to give him the ability to play spells from your discard pile (maybe returning the to the bottom of the deck after they have resolved). Maybe limit it once per turn.

Finishing touches with power and hitpoint distibution (I'd go with 2 and 4, respectively), and voilá - a Neutral legend is born (or reborn, or unborn, or whatever is appropriate in this case)!

To summarize:

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Nagash (Neutral Legend, Undead) Printed Cost 6

Power 2 Hit Points 4

You must pay an additional 4 resources to play this card unless you control at least 4 cards with the Undead trait. You can play this card from your discard pile as if it was in your hand.

You can play Spell cards from your discard pile, paying all costs ( limit once per turn ). If you do, after the Spell card leaves play, put it at the bottom of your deck.

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Well. I'm eager to hear your comments and ideas for other neutral legends. Again, this is just a pet peeve of mine and nothing serious. But one can dream, i guess…?

Cheers,

H

TL;DR - Crazy idea for neutral legends, thoughts? Just for fun!

Cool idea, I don't think it's that unlikely. Pretty easy to make the costing reasonable with the pseudo-loyalty as you've done here (or with something like the Star Dragon text).

As for your particular card, the ability seems really good for Plague Monk builds, where recycling Bladewinds could get pretty silly. Replaying AND reclaiming a Bladewind (Dark Visions can shuffle it up) on each of your turns and each of their turns is *a lot* of card attrition. Still, it would certainly not be the easiest card to play given the requirement of four undead units. For every other deck, it seems a little lackluster. Six is a lot to spend, especially if you need another 2-3 barrels leftover to play your stuff before they can attack the legend. It still probably wouldn't make me play Arcane Power, and Danse Macabre and Beguile are OK, but not exactly a bargain at two. Of course, he would get better as more Spells came out.

The Wood Elves could certainly use some love; maybe I'll try to come up with one for them.

Orion, King of the Woods ( Wood Elf Legend )

Cost 5

3 P/ 4H

This Legend costs 4 more if you do not have 4 other Wood Elf units in play

Action: When Orion declares an attack, you may turn over all developed Forest Spirit units in the battlefield who join the attack.

If there are no units with Forest Spirit commited to combat, Orion cannot attack.

This of course represents Orion's Wild Hunt!

Hey, fun of you to join in guys!

@cyberfunk: Yeah, I guess that could be a bit OP. What if he had an intrinsic ability that basically allows ANY card (or maybe just those with the Undead trait) to be played from your discard pile as if it were in your hand (basically extended necromancy)? And maybe tweaking the Spell trait to only working with Undead cards, but at a reduced cost (thinking 1 less here).

@Doc9: Cool! What if he had some constant effect working off developments in some way? Like Toughness, Counterstrike or extra hit points depending on the amount of developments in each zone, like: If you have at least 3 developments in each of your zones, this legend gains Toughness 3. Might need to tone down the initial hit points in that case, though.

So what of the Skaven and the Lizardmen? Nurglitch and Mazdamundi (or Kroq-gar)?

Here's another "fun" exercise: Let's come up with an Epic Spell fit for each of the four neutral factions (Skaven, Undead, Lizardmen and Wood Elf). I'll kick off with the Undead (as you might have noticed, I'm a bit fond of them):

Army of Darkness * Tactic Cost 9

Epic Spell .

This card costs an additional 4 resources to play unless you control at least 4 cards with the Undead trait.

Play during your battlefield phase, after you have declared a zone to attack.

Action: Put all units in target discard pile into play in your battlefield, declared as attackers. At the end of the phase, put all attacking creatures on the bottom of their owners deck.

…maybe a bit over the top, but thematic!

Cheers,

H

Tree Singing (Tactic)

Epic Spell

cost: 8

Tree Singing costs 3 more if you do not control 4 other Wood Elf cards.

Turn face up any number of developments you control and move them to any of your other zones. You may split the zones.

This would pair well with Orion.