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Sorden — Rainbow Dash
Published: 2011-06-27 18:25:36 +0000 UTC; Views: 1356; Favourites: 15; Downloads: 92
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Description
Some people are unhappy to see black mana in Rainbow Dash's mana cost. There are all kinds of reasons for that, ranging from "Dash is too colorful for that" to "Dash isn't evil". I understand those concerns. In this set, I decided to assign colors based on the character's identity, and not superficial physical characteristics.More importantly, being aligned to black mana doesn't make you evil ([link] and [link] ). For example Bart Simpson is clearly Black-aligned, and by no means a bad person. Black gets a bad rep, but deserves better.
Why have I given Dash a dash of Black? Because as loyal and friendly as she may be, she is self-centered and isn't afraid to cheat to get ahead. Is this part of what makes her a likable person? Why yes - it is.
Update: Season 2 seems to have subjected her to Flanderization and pushed the narcissistic angle. Whether that's a good thing or not is debatable, but it sure helps the color balance of this set.
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Update June 30, 2011:
As my last concept was too "vanilla" for a mythic rare in my eyes, I decided to give Rainbow Dash 20% more haste.
The concept is based on the Unhinged set's Rocket-Powered Turbo Slug's super haste [link] and the Urza block's echo mechanic (At the beginning of your upkeep, if this came under your control since the beginning of your last upkeep, sacrifice it unless you pay its echo cost.)
Incidentally, the changes also allow you to theoretically cast a Sonic Rainboom on your very first turn, but as that won't do you much good, I'm going to let it be for now.
The fulfillment of the card's weirdness quota and the power increase drove me to revert RD's cost to the harder-to-pay-for (W/B)RR, which is probably still underpriced in view of her new ability, even for a mythic.
Note: Rainbow Dash's downside won't trigger if you manage to sneak her out during an opponent's turn! There are also other ways to "cheat", of course...
Update July 1, 2011
Modified the card in response to feedback on Ponibooru.
Update September 28, 2011
Overhauled Rainbow Dash to tie her more strongly into the friendship theme.
- Removed the "super haste" ability (casting cost of 0, plus a pseudo-echo cost of RRW) and gave her a new casting cost of WBR
- Lowered her power from 3 to 2
- Gave her a new ability that triggers whenever she attacks: She now puts a +1/+1 counter on another attacking creature and a -1/-1 counter on a target creature, evoking the common red friendship card Friendly Rivalry
Update November 12, 2011
Completely revamped Rainbow Dash (again!) to make her synergize with her feat card(s) and her Cloudhome. Hopefully, the flavor has improved as well.
- No longer puts +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters on creatures whenever she attacks
- Now has double strike as long as you are hellbent and control three or more Fans
- Now gives Foals the Fan creature type in addition to their other types
- Now gives you a Foal token whenever she deals combat damage
- Adjusted the Sonic Rainboom and Cloudhome to care about combat damage for consistency
Update December 5, 2011
- You no longer need to be hellbent to activate double strike
- Now has lifelink and wither in addition to double strike as long as you control six or more fans
Depending on how difficult it is to achieve the fan threshold, this card may be too good now. As I want to keep a fixed CMC of 3 because of the feat cards, balancing would require changes to the design, so I'm going to keep Dash that way for now and wait for test results.
Update March 4, 2012
Revamped the card to work as a double-faced card, following Fluttershy's example.
- Now costs 1BR instead of WBR
- No longer spawns Foal tokens when she deals combat damage
- Foals are no longer Fans
- No longer gains double strike as long as you control 3 Fans or more
- No longer gains lifelink and wither as long as you control 6 Fans or more
- Now has double strike and wither as long as you control 3 Fans or more
- Now transforms if a Fan you control leaves the battlefield.
Update July 19, 2012 – v1.4.1
Restored the single card archive and updated all the cards.
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Comments: 14
Yes, that was badly necessary.
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RD has been almost as stubborn to balance in card form as she herself is. That said, I like this version a lot.
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Thanks. 
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Very interesting update. Oh! And I recently read something that made me realize something. Red is the color most likely to make friends. While Red is individualist and confrontational, it's also about emotions and passion, two things need for making a very solid friendship. Red might not make hordes of friends, but it'll have a small, tight-knit group of friends. Though I think the rivalry aspect would still be best in this set, given that friendship is a core theme and as such should be ported into each of the colors ideologies.
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Ee-yup. I have to admit that the way "red friendship" is executed mechanically here is a bit of a stretch color philosophy-wise. I also agree with you that it still is the best solution overall for the set (so far).
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Red and white is no longer rules text as of Innistrad and is instead a colored dot to the left of the type line, view Innistrad transform previews for an example.
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I'm going to have to wait for a Magic Set Editor template update to do that, I'm afraid. I'll also seize the opportunity and convert the flip cards into double-faced cards.
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Interesting update to Rainbow Dash. Certainly like the fact you can "cheat" with her, which brings some black flavor to her mechanics.
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Nice note, until now I would certainly be opposed to a black mana RD.
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Black isn't anymore evil than the other colors, it just happens to be the color that lends itself easiest to villainy. Black is the color of ambition and self. Black wants more power for itself and doesn't care about the costs. Black characters will always strive for more and will generally not care about how they get there.
Now if you temper the ambition of Black, with the community and loyalty of White and the emotion and passion of Red, you get a character willing do whatever it takes to meet her goals, but deeply cares for her friends and will always be there for them. There are a couple other Red traits that could apply to Rainbow Dash, like a bit of a temper, and maybe another White trait or two, depending on what color laziness would be considered.
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Hmmm how long have you been thinking about this? XD
Other than my joking, this really makes too much sense lol
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I based the colors of legendary ponies on their personalities, and RD can be quite egocentric. From this perspective, she is also anything but blue. If you prefer to cost them according to the most likely color pie affiliation defined by the abilities, RD'd be RWU as you said.
My first draft had her costs at WRR, but I added black after a commenter on Ponibooru pointed out her "dark side". From a "personality" perspective, I prefer (W/B)RR, but the current mana cost fits a multicolored set better and also evokes a rainbow to a certain degree.
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