Egyptian Gods Reimagined - Need Opinions

[Paolo Honrade]

EDIT: I reorganized this post to make it less messy and easier to read for y'all.

Hello.

This is my first post on this sites forum. And as the title of this posts says, this an attempt to "reimagine" the OCG/TCG Egyptian Gods, but I also need some help.

Mostly on how strong should the protections of the god cards should be, what restrictions they should have, and your criticism on the revamped effects I gave for each individual god.

Just to be clear, I'm not making these reimagined cards meta relevant or highly competitive. I approach this with the thought, "What if Konami published versions of the god cards closer to the source material, but still grounded and fun to play in the actual card game." Of course I still hope to leave an impression that these are powerful cards.

So I would be focusing on what each god is known for at their core, and try to build their game mechanic and identity around it.

To begin with, I would like to hear about your opinions on the god cards protections and summoning restrictions. I had 3 in mind:

 

So to start of, we'll start with the one in Obelisk's border.

"Requires 3 Tributes to Normal Summon (cannot be Normal Set). Once per turn, during the End Phase, if this card was Special Summoned: Send it to the GY. When Summoned onto the field, other cards and effects cannot be activated. This card's Summoning cannot be negated. Unaffected by the opponent's card effects."

As you can see, it still has the strict 3 Tribute Normal Summon rule, and send to the Graveyard at end of turn if it was Special Summoned, just like with it's official TCG/OCG counterparts. It also has the Summoning Protection and that 'Blow-up' effect of preventing card effect activation when entering the field, but this version isn't restricted to being Normal Summon exclusive.

No matter the form of summoning, the gods arrival aren't interrupted.

Nothing will stop them to bring down their judgement on their master's foes!

Also, it has 'Unaffected by opponent's card effects' as additional protection. This is so that your opponent's can't do nothing to your god card; they can't return to your hand, can't force to defense or flip it face-down, or debuff its power, or have their effects negated. No 'Dark Holes', no 'Mirror Force', no 'Solemn Judgement' NOTHING! You're opponent can't touch this Divine-Beast . . . but you can.

You're card effects can be applied, 'cause why not? It's your god, and if you want to equip a card to increase it's power or equip it with a spell card that prevents banishment or battle destruction for additional protection - that's up to you. But this also means, YOUR Dark Holes, or other indiscriminate board wiping cards will affect your god, so if you misplay . . . that's on you.

This is also the reason why it keeps the Special Summon limit. A god with this much protection should be earned. Special Summons only give you a taste of what it would be like to have these beasts on the field.

You want them to stay? Earn their attention mongrel!

Plus. it's lore accurate to the Anime/Manga.

Anyway, that's the first idea. Let's move to Slifer's border.

"Requires 3 Tributes to Normal Summon (cannot be Normal Set). When Normal Summoned, other cards and effects cannot be activated. This card's Normal Summon cannot be negated. Your opponent cannot target this card with card effects. Cannot be destroyed by card effects."

This is a downgrade compared to the first; the Summoning Protection and 'Blow-up' are now exclusive only to a successful Normal Summon, and it's effect protection went down to: '...your opponent cannot target this card with card effects'. Which isn't so bad, I mean 'Magic Cylinder', 'Spell Binding Circle' and 'Trap Hole' can't affect with this protection in place. But, they are now susceptible to field wide, indiscriminate effects, like 'Mirror Wall', 'Skill Drain' or cards like 'The Wicked Dreadroot' with their halving all ATK effect. But on a brighter note, the 'cannot be destroyed by card effects' is just another layer of protection from cards like 'Dark Hole' and 'Mirror Force' still can't touch these cards. Since these are 'gods' on the field, they shouldn't be brushed aside so easily. So they're not that defenseless against the opponent.

It's...safe. The protection is on the standard side, I think, which is why I removed the Special Summon Restriction. The protections aren't that strong anymore, making the god cards a tad easier to deal with, so I you can now cheese these out in anyway.

Less lore accurate, but at least I think that's a fair tradeoff.

Now onto Ra's border.

"Requires 3 Tributes to Normal Summon (cannot be Normal Set). This card's Normal Summon cannot be negated. When this card is Normal Summoned, cards and effects cannot be activated. If this card was Special Summoned, send it to the GY during the End Phase. Unaffected by your opponent's activated card effects."

Not that different from the one in Slifer's border, just worded a bit differently, but instead of 'can't be targeted' and 'can't be destroyed by card effects', it is now 'Unaffected by your opponent's activated card effects.'

This essentially protects the god cards from effects that require activation; cards like: 'Dark Hole', 'Raigeki', 'Infinite Impermanence', 'Magic Cylinder' have no effect on the god cards. But cards with continues effects like, Continues Spell/Trap cards such as: 'Skill Drain', or 'Macro Cosmos', and is vulnerable to monster effects like 'The Wicked Dreadroot'. Not sure about cards like 'Mirror Wall' and 'Spell Binding Circle', since it's effects requires activation first, but's effects are also lasting ...  someone tell me what's ruling there.

So basically, your still protected you from targeting effects and wide indiscriminate effects, as long as the effects require activation to work.

Anyway, Its a good middle ground between the first two immunities I gave. Players are mostly playing immediate, one-time use effects than continues ones (at least based on what I've experience), so it gives a bit more leeway compared to the absolute 'uneffaced by card effects', giving good engagements between players.

Plus we've seen some story shenanigans were a card effect does obstruct a god card when they target the environment, or by some other convoluted way like infecting them with a virus trap card. Basically there's a long work around to affect the gods with card effects.

I honestly got that 'unaffected by activated card effects' from ChatGPT. I was using it to help me fix wordings and stuff, and it suggested this in-between. Which I actually like.

Anyway, I still want some human feedback, so please share your opinions on which protection is appropriate for the god cards.

ALRIGHT! THE PROTECTION DISCUSSION IS DONE!

Time to talk about the individual effects of each god card.

I'll start with my favorite, Obelisk the Tormentor:

"Once per turn, you can active 1 of this card's effects:
‎• Tribute 2 monsters: Destroy all monsters your opponent controls, and inflict damage to your opponent equal to the total ATK of the 2 Tributed monsters. This card cannot declare an attack the turn this effect is activated.
‎• When this card declares an attack, you can Tribute 2 monsters you control, this card gains ATK equal to its original ATK and apply piercing damage until the end of the Battle Phase."

As you can see, Obelisk effects are divided into two. Not that different from the actual Anime/Manga. Both ask you to tribute monsters to trigger Obelisk abilities.

(1)The first one clears the board with burn damage. This is his SOUL ENERGY MAX ATTACK!(Dramatic Kaiba voice here)

It's both iconic and useful in the story. In the Anime/Manga, we often see Seto Kaiba use this effect to clear any possible obstruction in his was, and then immediately dealing direct damage, which in the case of story would usually be a one-hit KO, since lifepoints were only 4000 points. But in real life, lifepoints are 8000 points. And I honestly feel like a 4k burn damage, is oppressively high, even if it is coming from a 'god monster'.

And I know we now have and actual 'Soul Energy MAX!!!' irl as a trap card, and it also inflicts 4k damage. But, since my version has a secondary effect that's just as devastating, it feels like having a fixed brutal 4000 burn damage is too much. I don't want to nerf the burn damage either, since I find that insulting for Obelisk. I don't want to remove it either, you burned away two resources for a board wipe sure, but your opponent can easily rebuild it with card effects and special summon. It's just a minor inconvenience at best in most cases. So giving burn damage just adds a bit more justification for sacrificing two monsters away.

So I decided to go with the route that can be both mediocre or incredible, depending on how the user plays this effect.

'...inflict damage to your opponent equal to the total ATK of the 2 Tributed monsters.'
Combining the attack power of whatever you use as Tribute for Obelisk effect, seemed like a good substitute to me. Yeah it's dependent on how strong your sacrifices are, but does have a potential to go even higher than the original burn damage Obelisk inflicts in the Anime/Mange. Like imagine if you sacrifice like 2 Blue-eyes to Obelisk; you clear the opponent's front row then burn for 6k. That's devastating damage1 On the other hand, if you sacrifice weak monsters, like 2 copies of Kuribo. You'll get a measly 600 point burn damage, but you still clear the front row though, so it's not that bad.

Basically, the better your offering to your god, the stronger his judgement is towards your enemies.

Yeah you can't attack with Obelisk after using the effect, but you still performed a pretty devasting onslaught on your opponent so that even things out.

(2) The second one is my attempt on recreating Obelisk 'Infinity Attack Power!' with '...this card gains ATK equal to its original ATK and apply piercing damage until the end of the Battle Phase.' I mean it's not infinity, but 8000 attack power + piercing is pretty devastating.
I feel that this secondary effect it really embodies what Obelisk is. Being the one god out of the three that specializes on brute forcing the enemy. Nothing stops his punches, not even a pitiful monster in defense. He is the unstoppable Juggernaut of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise.

It's simple, straightforward, and gets the job done.

That's Obelisk the Tormentor.

Or at least that's how I remember him in the Anime.

Also, the reason why I went with: 'gains ATK equal to its original ATK...' instead of just wording it as: '...double this monster's ATK', is just a way to avoid power fluctuations. 'Cause just doubling your attack means what ever the total attack of your monster is at the moment gets x2.

Example: So if you like buff Obelisk with a Spell like 'Powerbond'; that already doubles Obelisk original attack into 8000. But then you tribute 2 monsters and use Obelisk effect with the wording 'double this monster's ATK', then that 8000 goes up to 16000. That's with the added Piercing ability.

That is an One-Hit KO if I ever saw one. Guaranteed victory right there.
But then you remember 'Mirror Wall' and 'The Wicked Dreadroot' are a thing, and that halves Obelisk ATK to 2000. Which means your x2 bonus just puts you back to 4000. That's just normal attack Obelisk with piercing. Which isn't bad, but then it could get worse if your opponent manages to stack a bunch debuffing cards, and make Obelisk useless.
Like pairing Dreadroot and Mirror Wall.

I mean it could happen.

The gain ATK base on original ATK avoids that all together.

Not being too overwhelming, and not too underwhelming.

I'm sure a lot would argue that a god card like Obelisk should be an Overwhelming force.
But I'm not approaching this with that mindset. I'm approaching this with the mindset making them fit in the real TCG/OCG, while being faithful to their Anime/Manga lore.

So that's Obelisk. It's pretty straightforward, all his effects relate to plowing through your opponent's field by tributing 2 monsters.

But goes about in 2 ways.

The first one makes you invest in what monster your using for tribute for a board wipe and ensures burn damage, turning you a Divine Executioner.

The second makes you the Juggernaut.

Which play is right depends on the situation.

Anyway please share what you think about these effects. Is there anything I should change about them, or maybe even remove from them?

Please let me know, I would appreciate it greatly.

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Any who, I'm done with Obelisk. Time for our next god card,

Slifer the Sky Dragon!

"Gains 1000 ATK/DEF for each card in your hand. If a monster(s) is Normal/Special Summoned to your opponent's field face-up: That monster(s) loses 2000 ATK, then if its ATK has been reduced to 0 as a result, destroy it. (Quick Effect) Once per turn, choose 1 card from your opponent's GY, banish it. Its effects are negated before it leaves the GY. You can then draw 2 cards. Your opponent cannot activate card effects in response to this effect's activation."

So firstly, of course we have the 1000 ATK/DEF depending on hand size, that's Slifer's whole flow.

The second effect is an in-between of the Anime/Mange and real life card game; in the Anime/Manga, opponent's face-up monsters lose 2000 ATK or DEF, depending on it's position. While the real-life version only reduces ATK points, IF and ONLY IF it's face-up attack position.

Mine on the other hand, reduces ATK points REGARDLESS of the card's position, as long it placed face-up. Which would make this version of Slifer much more difficult to deal with, as all of your opponent's Normal and Special Summons are guaranteed to just be thrown into the graveyard if they ever dare enter face-up. This would also lead to them losing materials for the extra deck.

Might sound unfair, but then again this card need 3 tributes to pull out, and with the amount of hand traps, negates, the possibility of locking up a card slot on your field for a turn, and other stuff, your opponent can prevent you from summoning Slifer. Summoning Slifer to have it's annoying, destructive floodgate on the field is a reward. Plus it only targets Normal and Special Summons so, Flip summons are still safe. And a card that was reduce to 0 can still pull of their effects, if they have one, before being sent to the graveyard. So it's not COMPLETELY devastating for the opponent.

But, I'm sure you'll notice I added a completely new, and original effect that Slifer never had in the Anime, Manga, or in real-life.

'(Quick Effect) Once per turn, you can choose 1 card in your opponents GY, it's effects are negated, then banish it. You can then draw 2 cards. Your opponent cannot activate card effects in response to this effect's activation.'

This is a new effect I added just for Slifer, to give them backup power, and extended their presence on the board. After all, Slifer's real name is Osiris in the Japanese version. Aka, the lord of the Egyptian underworld.

Having an effect that give Slifer some control in the graveyard seems appropriate. Plus it expands on Slifer's role as a oppressive force on the field. Now not only is the battlefield now compromised by Slifer, but so is the graveyard.

Choosing a card in the enemies graveyard and negating it's effects, either as a response to an activation or just doing it just to be safe in future turns feels like a useful ability. Or just a way to cheese out an additional 2000 attack power. Plus with the added 'cannot response to this effects activation' means the opponent can't start a Chain to either make a card combo, or try to save the card with 'Call of the Haunted' or something like that. And being a 'Quick Effects' means it can be activated at the opponent's turn, at any Phase, which would really make Slifer a very annoying obstacle for your opponent to bypass, either through power or graveyard effects.

Yeah it's once per turn, but sometimes 1 disruption is enough to ruin your opponents flow.

Although, can I ask? Is the 2 card draw ability too much? It's something I debated on, and I don't know if I should reduce it to just 1 draw, not have at all. It was made as a way to keep Slifer from being powerless, when you have to use your hand resources, but it might be making Slifer too powerful.

Added power aside, you also gain more hand resource when you do this. Like having a built in 'Pot of Greed' on your monster, and that got banned before being moved to the restriction lists.

Or I might overthinking this.

Making a realistic and balanced card design is a lot harder than I thought

Anyway, what do you guys think?

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Finally, we arrive for the final god card. The most powerful (according to the lore), the much more superior, god above gods: WINGED DRAGON OF RA!

"Requires 3 Tributes to Normal Summon (cannot be Normal Set). This card's Summoning cannot be negated. When Summoned on the field, other cards and effects cannot be activated. This card is unaffected by other cards' effects. Once per turn, during the End Phase, if this card was Special Summoned: Send it to the GY. The original ATK of this card becomes the combined original ATK of the materials used for its Tribute Summon. You can pay LP by 1000's; add the paid LP to this cards ATK/DEF. You can Tribute this card; Gain LP equal to this cards ATK. (Quick Effect) If this card is in your GY: You can discard 1 Spell card from your hand; Special Summon this card onto the field. This cards effects activation cannot be negated."

As you can see, unlike the other two, Ra has a definite Summoning Protection and Card Immunities different from the three choices I showed earlier, with a far better effect protection than the other three, and a more open Summoning Protection. Since it's suppose to be the superior god from the three, I designed Ra to have a Superior protection template.

But what do you guys think, should Ra have a superior card protection, or should it share the same protection as the others once I make up my mind?

Anyway, about Ra's own effects.

I went through a few iterations, since Ra is the strongest god card of the 3. I tried to make a version that's true to source material, but not too overpowered and complicated. And after several rewrites, I think I found what I was looking for with this last one.

‎First of all, I went ahead and fixed one of biggest issues the real-world card of Ra has. Their ATK and DEF. In the real TCG Ra has no power when summoned, and can only get power, by giving all but a hundred of your lifepoints. That's WAY too costly, and what's worse, they don't have any protection, so what would be the point if the opponent pulls a 'Mirror Force' on this bird?

‎My versions absorbs the total ATK and DEF of tributes material. Its simple, straightforward, makes Ra a powerhouse with the right use of tributes, also it's one of officially written effects in the Anime/Manga.

Seriously why didn't the original have this as an effect. Why did it have to be in a Spell Card?

Of course mine also has the lifepoint power transfer, BUT my version let's you use it whenever, and gives more control to the user. Letting you choose how much you give by a thousand; meaning the lowest you can give is 1000 life points and highest is 7000 life points, and anything in between. 2,3,5K power that's up to you. And then, there's also the choice to sacrifice this monster, to add it's attack power to your lifepoints. It all comes full circle.
Because whenever I look back at the original story, the first thing that comes to mind with Ra, is Marik manipulating his lifepoins. That and Ra's resurrection ability.

Speaking of which:

Ra's final effect; Sacrifice 1 Spell Card, and you can bring back Ra, then on the End Phase they go back to the graveyard as per the Special Summoning restriction states.

Doing this you can either:

Bring Ra back during your Main Phase. Then give how many lifepoints you can, go through your Battle Phase, then if the opponent survives go to Main Phase 2 and use the Tribute effect to regain the lifepoints you lost. No big deal.

You could also, optionally, Special Summon this card during your opponent's Battle Phase in defense. It'll be a 0 DEF wall, but at least it can prevent your opponent from doing direct damage (Unless the enemy monster does piercing, then off.) And since it's not a 'Once per turn...' thing, you can basically bring back Ra repeatedly to block your opponent's numerous attacks. That is, assuming you have enough Spell Cards on hand.

‎Yeah, the resurrection ability is more overpowered in the Anime/Manga. Especially since they can only use 'Monster Reborn' exclusively to do it. My version requires any Spell Card from the hand. But here's the things, what if you don't have a Spell Card on hand, you can't bring back Ra then. Or alternatively, what if it's a really good spell card, which is better? The really useful Spell, or the god card. Depends on the situation.

Plus, how much are of your lifepoints are you willing to give. After all there are cards that inflict burn damage in response to an attack. It doesn't affect Ra, it affects you so there's no protection from the effect. Especially if you gave too much and only have 1000 lifepoints, you might actually lose instead!

Also reason why I specifically chose Spells as the tribute trigger for the effect is because 
(a) they always use 'Monster Reborn' for Ra's resurrection abilities, and it's a Spell Card. 
(b) out of the 3 gods, Ra is the most ritualistic of the bunch.

Hear me out, out of the 3, Ra is the only one that demands a summoning chant. If you don't do it, it won't wake up. And it'll even switch sides if your opponent is the one who got the chant out first. It is also the one that demands all kinds of sacrifices for power. Yeah Obelisk also demands sacrifices too. But Ra can demand for your own lifepoints. And in the Shadow Games of the Anime, that stuff usually connects to your actual life force. So you're actually offering pieces of your soul to this god card. And it is the only god card with a resurrection ability, that's transforms it to it's true, mystical and destructive form - Phoenix.

This is mostly because Ra is on a higher Divine Hierarchy, which demands more to the user. But all its demands reminds of the sacrificial bloody rituals of stereotypical cults, so yeah, I think Ra is a much more mystical god compared to Obelisk and Slifer, so i made the Spell cards its revival trigger.

And lastly, that last line of it's effects activation' cannot be negated. This is only useful in graveyard, just to make sure nothing stops Ra's return to the field.

So what do think of this one. It doesn't have the 'pay 1000 LP to destroy 1 monster on the opponent's field' effect, but honestly I don't think that's the first thing you think of with Ra.‎

Ra is a Sun God, and an Immortal Phoenix; they rise up from the horizon up, fall with grace, then comes back up again, doing the whole cycle over and over again. A never ending process of birth, death, and rebirth. Which I think should be Ra's whole deal as a god card in real life.

Recycling not just Ra itself, but yourself as well; playing a very delicate and precarious dance of risk. Cause that what Ra does. It demands a lot, tempting you with great power, but also leaves you in a vulnerable state where one misplays leads to total and definite defeat.

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Anyway that's all I have to share. I'm curious and excited to hear anyone's opinion on this and how I should proceed and what i should change.

Good day to you all

 

Edited July 23 by Paolo Honrade
Making more organized