Weekend Art ChallengeClick through to see this weekend's art and the design requirements for your card submission, due Monday morning. Every submission warrants feedback, which I will try to provide, and which everyone is welcome to provide as well.
If you choose, you may use that feedback to revise your submission any number of times. I will post and review the most recent submission from each designer some time on Monday, life permitting. To help ensure I recreate your design accurately, please use CARDNAME instead of ~ in your submissions.
What's fun about this art is how light visual tone is, but how dark the subject matter is. Your goal is to design a mono-black card that has a similar contrast, either in tone or elsewhere.
To clarify, I'm not asking for a glue-gun design with contradictory parts, I'm looking to see something with seemingly disparate parts that come together, or perhaps the opposite. The tension between the two should be oddly delightful.
If anyone finds a better way to state that, or more advice on what to try and what to avoid, please do share.
Failing that, just any black card that fits this art.
Abandoned Gallows - 2BBB
ReplyDeleteEnchantment (rare)
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player sacrifices a creature. If that player controls no creatures, that player may instead return a creature card from his or her graveyard to the battlefield.
I imagine Johnny building a deck with this and Abhorrent Overlord or, worse, Bile Urchin so that it's a free Zombify for him every turn, and a Woebringer Demon to everyone else, mostly. Hmm, like Sheoldred. Does seem like it'll cause repetitive game states and a few soft-locks.
DeleteWhat do others think?
I like the symmetric effects. (To increase the parallelism, remove the 'may' on the second clause!) I suspect it's fine at the current cost, given how the two abilities work against each other. Would vote for in YMTC4.
DeleteWowzer. So if I entomb an Ashen Rider, I get to destroy a permanent every turn...
DeleteExecution Site (rare)
ReplyDeleteBBB
Artifact
As CARDNAME enters the battlefield, name a creature.
At the beginning of your end step, gain control of target creature with the chosen name, then sacrifice it.
An Eradicate with an answer. It reads crazy strong, but I don't think it's that much better than Eradicate (and that's a good combination).
DeleteDid you go with artifact so that Gate to Phyrexia or Rats of Rath can undo it at some point, or simply because there's a physical object depicted? Enchantment seems more natural…
I was going 100% for flavor. I like the idea of physically destroying the execution site to stop the executions. Destroying an enchantment feels much more abstract.
DeleteI agree with Jay that this should be an enchantment. A 'site' is not an artifact in the usual sense.
DeleteAdding a tap ability would give this more of an "I'm-Not-Really-An-Enchantment" vibe.
Delete"cost, T: Name a card." or "cost, T: Destroy..."
Ooh, I think I've got it.
DeleteLynchings (rare)
2BBB
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, name a card.
At the beginning of your end step, gain control of target creature with the chosen name, then sacrifice it.
How's that for tension between two parts?
Getting to choose repeatedly makes the choosing itself irrelevant. At this point it could just be "At the beginning of your upkeep choose target creature. If it's still on the battlefield at the beginning of your next end step, gain control of it and sacrifice it."
DeletePerhaps more importantly, I'm not yet convinced of the "gain control and sacrifice" setup rather than just "its controller sacrifices it." Yes, it's different when the creature has a death trigger, but telling the player they gain control of the creature just makes the card feel lacking because something even better is waved in front of your face.
It's all about the flavor. The naming of the creature is the death sentence. You gain control of it and then sacrifice it because that's closer in mood to a scheduled execution than just "destroy" (or forcing the creature's controller to do the killing.) If you want to save the creature from death, better stage a Dramatic Rescue.
DeleteIf this triggered on your opponent's turn, they'd get to attack with the creature before you kill it. This way, you just don't attack and they get nothing out of the Murder-every-freaking-turn-without-condition.
DeleteA first attempt:
ReplyDeleteVacant Gallows 2B
Sorcery (Common)
Return target creature from your graveyard to your hand. Add BBB to your mana pool.
Sweet card.
DeleteI suspect Raise Dead is underrated, and this is incrementally better, but I don't think it's too good (especially given how people value such cards).
Nice!
DeleteI know we just got Liturgy of Blood, but that doesn't mean that straight up mana generation is back in black's pie. MaRo doesn't have much oversight over core sets and as such they often end up with tons of bleed. That said, this is a sweet card, maybe make it:
DeleteVacant Gallows 1BR
Sorcery (C)
Return target creature from your graveyard to your hand. Add three mana in any combination of B and/or R to your mana pool.
Between Liturgy of Blood in M14 and Corpsehatch / Dread Drone / Essence Feed in Rise of the Eldrazi, it seems to be OK in modern design for black to do one-time mana generation as a 'refund'. But your point is well taken: this could easily have been a BR spell if that fit the art.
DeleteI like this card. I like especially that it's essentially "return target monoblack creature with CMC <= 3 to the battlefield" but it's a bit more versatile than that and doesn't spell that out for the player, making the player feel smart when she figures it out.
DeleteIt's not mana acceleration; I'm fine with it in mono-black.
DeleteHere's the zanier of my ideas:
ReplyDeleteGallows Volt 1B
Creature-Bird (unc)
At the beginning of combat, if there are any creature cards in your graveyard, exile one and Gallows Volt gains defender until end of turn. Otherwise, Gallows Volt gains flying until end of turn.
2/2
I like it, but I wonder if it should have either defender or flying built in.
DeleteMaybe the ability to block adds enough gameplay to justify it, but the Fleshmad Steed approach seems much cleaner to me:
DeleteGallows Volt 1B
Creature-Bird (C)
Flying
At the beginning of each combat, if there are any creature cards in your graveyard, exile one of them and tap Gallows Volt.
2/2
"Gain one, or gain the other" reads well to me. Cute uncommon with good upside/downside/flavor.
DeleteAttempted Murder B
ReplyDeleteInstant (C) [Border: Silver]
Spin target creature so that it rotates completely at least once. If it stops tapped, destroy that creature.
"Target near-mint creature becomes slightly played."
DeleteYes.
Deletepithy reminder text defining degrees of tapped-ness?
Delete(A card is tapped if it's clearly not untapped.)
Deletenice
DeleteI wasn't kidding, you know. Un-cards should be fun to play *against*, not just to play *with*. If you have a deck with expensive cards in it, me playing a card that lets me potentially damage your card is going to make you feel way, way worse than if I had just destroyed the creature.
DeleteI'd wager that 99.9% of players who care about their cards' conditions play with sleeves, so it's not much of an issue.
DeleteYou have a sleeved-up foil Goyf on the battlefield. Your opponent uses this ability on it. Do you concede?
DeleteMaybe that's what you get for bringing a Goyf to an un-fight.
DeleteIt hardly seems riskier than the chance that your opponent could play Memoricide and look through your deck or Mind control and have your creature. I really don't think it's difficult to spin a card without bending it, but I guess that could be better answered with a large sample size.
DeleteThis is cute and I like the idea for an un-set.
DeleteI'm not satisfied with the proposed reminder text. Does a 15' angle count? I know players who tap their cards that little (and hate it). The rules are looser in un-sets, but not in ways that would lead to straight-up arguments. Shouting at your opponent over a literal matter of degrees isn't fun.
Fair point. I guess the reminder text could be a bit more serious, something like "A card is tapped if it's closer to horizontal than to vertical." There could be more to deal with 45 degree angles, but if people are going to argue they'll do that over whether it's 45 or 44.9999999 anyway.
DeleteIt's a shame that the old rulings no longer stand, because "If a creature would die, bury it" is a delightful replacement effect even if it just means "creatures can't be regenerated."
ReplyDeleteSeconded! Harrumph Harrumph
DeleteCrow's Feast
ReplyDelete2B
Enchantment (U)
Reveal the first card you draw each turn. If it’s a creature card, discard it and put two 1/1 black Bird creature tokens onto the battlefield.
They seek only the juiciest scraps.
Go Johnny go!
Feedback appreciated.
Its a mini feathered miracle! And Johnny would love it
DeleteThere's a lot of cleverness in the way this gives you a 'free' spell. To be consistent with the Miracle template, and to avoid feel-bad situations, I think it wants to say "You may reveal" etc.
DeleteFair. Official change: "You may reveal the first card..."
DeleteThat change raises the power level on this quite a bit. Being mandatory was part of its charm.
DeleteJohnny cards usually give you a challenging rule set and let you discover how to make the best of it.
Do you want:
"Creature cards you own can sometimes make some tokens. What value!"
-or-
"You get tons of free tokens(!)...at the cost of never casting any other creatures for the rest of the game. Is it a deal???"
Once you put 'may' in, it almost might as well be:
DeleteDiscard a creature card: Put two bird into play.
Gallows Humor
ReplyDeleteB
Sorcery
Unc
Target opponent discards a creature card, If he or she can't, that player reveals his or her hand and sacrifices a creature.
"Up on the Hill, any noose is good noose." -Gorman, Sheriff of Helvar Province
This seems like a very powerful sideboard card-- might need to cost 1B. Also should probably be templated so that the hand reveal happens regardless. Otherwise, I like it a lot.
DeleteI understand your comment, but the reveal is intended to be conditional. Its only necessary to look if they can't discard a creature (proving they aren't cheating). This limits the information you gain, making the primary mode (slightly) weaker than similar discard effects.
DeleteI like this a lot!
DeleteI'd tweak the flavor text before I messed with this rules text.
DeleteGoblin Gallows
ReplyDeleteB
Tribal Enchantment - Goblin Aura (U)
Enchant creature
Tap an untapped Goblin you control: Flip a coin. If you win the flip, destroy enchanted creature.
"Oy, string 'im back up an' try again!"
Man this would be a fun red card. Would "Sac a Goblin" be too harsh?
DeleteI like it-- fits the flavor of Lorwyn goblins very well.
Delete@Mike: Yes, two-for-one-ing yourself is probably too harsh.
Was it intentional making this a goblin permanent that can pay for its own activation cost?
Delete@Ipaulsen: Yet oh, so goblin-ey! Also, tokens aren't really a whole card. Especially those as ubiquitous as Goblin.
Whoops, that was not intentional (for flavor, costing, and tapping-enchantments-bad reasons); good catch! New wording: "Tap a Goblin creature you control".
DeleteThanks, @Mike and @lpaulsen! I think I prefer tapping to saccing for this card (I'd like it to see play, and maybe not even Goblins are quite that clumsy), but I agree that it would be very Goblin-y. Maybe an unreliable, backfiring cannon? :)
"Tap an untapped Goblin creature you control:..."
DeleteI like this design a lot.
DeleteAnd yet, it's a perfect example of why we don't need tribal.
Reign of Terror 2BB
ReplyDeleteEnchantment (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, destroy target creature with the highest or tied for highest power. Then, if there are no creatures on the battlefield, sacrifice CARDNAME and put five 1/1 white dove creature tokens with flying onto the battlefield.
"After the bleakest darkness comes the brightest light"
The tokens don't feel very connected at the moment. I'd do something like:
Delete"At the beginning of your upkeep, destroy target creature with the highest or tied for highest power and put a soul counter on CARDNAME. Then, if there are no creatures on the battlefield, sacrifice CARDNAME and put a 1/1 white spirit creature token with flying onto the battlefield for each soul counter on it."
I see where Jules is coming from but I disagree. I think the bigger issue is that black likes to be the most powerful.
DeleteI like the contrast in this design, but it really doesn't fit the art. I mean, there are vultures or maybe crows, but definitely not doves clearly depicted.
DeleteI also think folks are underestimating the value of Cruel-Edict-or-better-every-turn.
Execution Ground 1BB
DeleteEnchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a creature. Then, if you control no creatures, sacrifice CARDNAME and put a 1/1 black bird creature token with flying onto the battlefield for each creature card in your graveyard.
Bridge to Above BBB
ReplyDeleteEnchantment
Whenever a nontoken creature you control dies, put a 4/4 black Angel token with flying on to the battlefield.
Whenever a creature an opponent controls dies, that player gains 4 life.
Death is the penultimate reward.
Black's deal with the devil cards usually do something bad to you to capture that feel. I don't have a problem with doing something good for your opponent, but at that point I'd rather have the same effect for every player and let the person who put it into their deck take better advantage of it (i.e. Fecundity).
DeleteI'll second Jules comment on "deal with the devil" Black needs a consequence for its over reaching mechanics.
DeleteI'd like this more if the second ability caused you to lose 4 life.
Any ideas for tying the drawback into something cutely zone-based, to call back Bridge from Below while still making it its own card?
Delete"When a creature an opponent controls dies, lose 4 life and sacrifice this" probably isn't strong enough of a punch, but "sacrifice this and you lose the game" seems like too much.
"When a creature an opponent control dies, that player gains control of all Angels."
DeleteSacrificing the Bridge seems okay, and a better parallel, but then the 4/4 flying tokens are a little better than 2/2 vanillas.
DeleteIf you give up the reference—which is neat, but really wants to be white—you could do something like this:
"Whenever one or more creatures you control die, sacrifice ~ and put that many 4/4 Angels OTB"
Jules, I think you knocked it out of the park.
DeleteBridge to Above BBB
Enchantment (r)
Whenever a nontoken creature you control dies, put a 4/4 black Angel token on to the battlefield.
Whenever a creature an opponent controls dies, that player gains control of all Angels.
Gallows for the Chosen 2B
ReplyDeleteEnchantment
1B: Each player sacrifices a creature. Activate this ability only if you control a single creature.
I'm not a big fan of cards that require players to understand the intricacies of the stack to use (i.e. activating this a bunch of times in response to itself).
DeleteFor a similar idea I'd go with something like:
Eternal Company 3B
Enchantment
2B, Sacrifice a creature: Each opponent sacrifices a creature.
I actually hadn't thought of that; I was just going more for Avacyn Restored loner theme, and the allure of locking down the game, but not actually being able to win the game because you have no creatures. I guess that's why Security Detail has "only once each turn." I'll change mine to have that phrase too.
DeleteWhy not phrase it like Idle Thoughts? "Each player sacrifices a creature if you control exactly one creature".
DeleteSo...
Delete1B: Each player sacrifices a creature. Activate this ability only if you control a single creature and only once each turn.
And you can activate twice per round in a duel?
Thanks Ben, that wording is perfect!
Delete1B: Each player sacrifices a creature if you control exactly one creature.
Crowfood Gallows 1B
ReplyDeleteEnchantment - Aura (U)
Enchant Plains you control.
Whenever a creature dies, gain 2 life.
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, draw a card.
"Chained to the Soul Nets"? Cool.
DeleteEh. Chained to the Rocks works because it refers directly to a very specific story all myth buffs know. The 'enchant plains' here only exists because of the art and it seems like we should be able to plant this gallows anywhere. I like the crowfood part.
DeleteBloodthirsty Gallows XBB
ReplyDeleteEnchantment
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, destroy X creatures and put a blood counter on CARDNAME for each creature that dies this way.
At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a blood counter from CARDNAME. If CARDNAME would have zero blood counters on it, destroy all creatures, and put a blood counter on CARDNAME for each creature that dies this way.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteFlavor text if it will fit:
Delete"It will leave you up to your neck in dead."
Might be better as a fixed mana cost (e.g. 3BBB) and "destroy all creatures" for the first ability. More consistent and probably easier to balance. Also, "would have" in the second ability should just be "has". Otherwise, I like it.
DeleteJust realized that you can play this as X=zero and get a two mana wrath. I like the idea ipaulsen proposed. New card:
DeleteBloodthirsty Gallows 3BBB
Enchantment
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, destroy all creatures and put a blood counter on this for each creature that dies in this way.
At the beginning of upkeep, remove a blood counter. When CARDNAME has 0 blood counters on it, destroy all creatures and put a blood counter on this for each creature that dies in this way.
"It leaves you up to your neck in dead"
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteYou can pair this down to only two abilities if you go:
DeleteWhen CARDNAME enters the battlefield, destroy all creatures. For each creature destroyed in this way, put a blood counter on CARDNAME.
At the beginning of your upkeep remove a blood counter from CARDNAME. If you can't, exile CARDNAME and return it to the battlefield.
Aside from that, this seems broken to me. The investment of 3BBB changes the primary win condition for your opponent for the rest of the game. You can just refrain from casting anymore creatures and win the war of attrition with little to no effort. The first place I might look to curb its power level would be to change the second ability to the beginning of your end step. This gives your opponent first crack at rebuilding. That probably wouldn't be enough though.
Could the second ability become activated?
mana: Remove a blood counter from CARDNAME. If you can't, exile CARDNAME and return it to the battlefield. Play this ability only once each turn and only
1). when you could cast a sorcery
2.) at the beginning of your upkeep
3.) at the beginning of your end step.
I'd simplify this massively:
DeleteBloodthirsty Gallows 3BBB
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep step, remove a blood counter from CARDNAME. If you can't, destroy each creature and put that many blood counters on CARDNAME.
The card is doing enough by wrathing the board an unlimited number of times that it doesn't need to work immediately to warp the game.
Even with that change, I think this is likely too warping. Might be fine at a higher cost. Another option is to make it smaller:
Bloodthirsty Gallows 2BB
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep step, remove a blood counter from CARDNAME. If you can't, destroy target creature and put a number of blood counters on CARDNAME equal to that creature's CMC.
Ok I'll make it:
DeleteBloodthirsty gallows BBB
Enchantment
At te begining of your end step, remove a blood counter from CARDNAME. If you can't, destroy target creature and put a number of blood counters on CARDNAME equal to the destroyed creatures toughness.
Reclaimed Gallows
ReplyDelete1B
Enchantment
Whenever the last non-bird creature you control dies, you may exile it instead. If you do, put a 1/1 black bird creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
There's some awkwardness here (both in wording, and in flavor—its a gallows, not a cemetery or battlefield), but I like how the vultures wait until all humans are dead before feasting.
DeleteDelayed Execution
ReplyDelete1B
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant non-artifact creature
Vanishing 1
When CARDNAME leaves the battlefield, enchanted creature's controller sacrifices it.
Fancy. Why not just…?
DeleteDelayed Execution 1B
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant non-artifact creature
At the beginning of your upkeep step, enchanted creature's controller sacrifices it.
I like the fact that it takes a whole turn to trigger rather than immediately, otherwise the flavor is lacking. Cards that effect time counters can lengthen the time before execution.
DeleteEager Noose (Rare)
ReplyDelete1BB
Enchantment
At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, if that player controls exactly one creature, he or she sacrifices it.
When you see it, you realize your life’s journey has reached its final destination. It’s almost a relief.
Interesting.
DeleteCircle of Life 1B
ReplyDeleteInstant
Exile a creature card from a graveyard. If you do, gain 3 life.
Simpler than my version, which is good.
DeleteThis could be cheaper or bigger.
As is this is close to Shadowfeed, I agree it could be a bigger effect.
DeleteI was actually debating between making this cost B or gain 5 life instead. I like 3s. 5s can be scary but I think in this instance it needs to be gain 5 life instead. Especially after seeing Shadowfeed.
Deletehere's a free one:
ReplyDelete"What's good for the noose is good for the gander".
Hanging of the Heretics
ReplyDeleteSorcery - BB
If you control more creatures than all opponents each player sacrifices all creatures they control.
"Then they came for me, and nobody was left speak for me."
-Martin Niemöller
I don't love the name. Feedback and comments welcomed.
New name - Purge the Heretics
DeleteAlternate flavor text if real world quotations are frowned upon:
"After hanging all the accused only the crows were judged as innocent."
The story's terrifying, of course.
DeleteBut who is this card's audience? Spike loves the power of wraths, but the cost ensures he'll lose card advantage on the deal. Johnny loves figuring out how to turn a bad deal like this around, but can't really win the game with a wrath.