Weekend Art ChallengeGreetings, artisans! Click through to see this weekend's art and the design requirements for your single card submission, due Monday morning. Every submission warrants feedback, and everyone is encouraged to give feedback. You may use that feedback to revise your submission any number of times, though only the version rendered will be included in the review, if that happens.
Choose an audience that you are not a member of and design a card that will appeal to that audience. Tell us what audience you chose, and why you think your card appeals to them.
I will review the cards in a post next week if one or more artisans volunteer to mock up all the submissions by noon Monday, and get them to me however.
I can take a stab at handling the submissions. Jay, would it work if I did the mock-ups late Sunday (say after midnight EST) and posted them on my own site?
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed. Thanks!
DeleteEveryone who wants their card mocked up and reviewed should submit before then.
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DeleteMock-ups HERE.
DeleteI wrote flavor text for my card that somehow didn't get on there...
DeleteThanks, Ipaulsen.
DeleteIf anyone wants to add or revise a card, they can get that to me however.
@Jenesis: Oops! Very sorry about that.
DeleteI'm not a fan of chaotic Johnny enchantments like Warp World and Possibility Storm, so here's a design that works like those (plus a hint of Dovescape):
ReplyDeleteQueen of the Aether 3UR
Creature- Avatar (Rare)
3/5
Whenever a player casts a spell, that player exiles it and puts a 1/1 blue Spirit creature token onto the battlefield. That token has flying and “When this creature leaves the battlefield, cast a random card exiled with a card named CARDNAME without paying its mana cost.”
Forgot to mention: I think this card will appeal to the Johnny audience because it causes unexpected things to happen in a similar way. However, if Spirits start trading with each other, I believe the order that the spells resolve in will depend on APNAP, which doesn't seem good for this audience.
DeleteThis is one of those cards that I love the idea of but never actually want to cast or see in play xD
DeleteLikewise. :-)
DeleteAs a fan of Johnny game-changers, you hit this one out of the ballpark.
DeleteI'm assuming you mean "casts a spell from his/her hand" since as-written the randomness trigger is useless.
DeleteYes, good spot. I had noticed that and fixed it on my mock-up but not here. Current text:
DeleteWhenever a player casts a spell from his or her hand, he or she exiles it and puts a 1/1 blue Spirit creature token onto the battlefield. That creature has flying and “When this creature leaves the battlefield, cast a random card exiled with a card named CARDNAME without paying its mana cost.”
Also, I'm curious as to whether people think this should be legendary. It prevents weirdness when two of them are out at once, but it could make for a really annoying Commander.
It doesn't need to be legendary. If you want to avoid weird interaction between two, it could read:
Delete"Whenever a player casts a spell from his or her hand, exile it. If you do, that player puts a 1/1 blue Spirit creature token on to the battlefield. It has flying and “When this creature leaves the battlefield, cast a random card exiled by CARDNAME without paying its mana cost.”
@ Ben Nassau that doesn't work per the rules. Specifically, the phrase "exiled by CARDNAME" has no meaning on the token, as it exists independently of the ability that created it.
Delete@ lpaulsen I'm assuming that having the effect go off even if the Queen already left the battlefield is an important part of the design, so it can't be changed to two linked abilities?
@Jenesis Yes, the intention was that you can still get your spells back if the Queen dies. That's why I went for the "exiled with a card named CARDNAME" wording.
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ReplyDeleteButterflize UUW
DeleteInstant (U)
Counter target spell. That spell's controller reveals his or her hand. You gain life equal to the number of creature cards revealed in this way.
Screams of anger turned into quiet, fluttering peace.
My least favorite decks are the archetypal UW Control decks that have like fifteen counterspells, eight wraths and two wincons, and are always omnipresent in Standard. People who love those, and the slow, grindy games they often have, would probably enjoy this.
I love the name Butterflize. How about:
DeleteButterflize UUWXX
Instant (M)
Counter target spell. You draw X cards and gain X life.
I love this, and agree that it would be awful to play against.
DeleteBut feel that beautiful name has to be like dovescape, it ought to be "Counter target spell. Put X 1/1 blue insect creature tokens onto the battlefield where X is it's converted mana cost" at whatever that costs. Though that would be really good in a control deck, possibly it would have to cost too much to be worth it.
I like the original design. Comparison with Absorb suggests it's at about the right power level for Constructed. There is just a little bit of tension in the gameplay, since the aggro decks this is most useful against are also the most likely to dump their hands before turn 3.
DeleteWhat if you gained the life for creatures they controlled instead? I think as submitted this is much, much worse than Absorb (unless you really value seeing their hand).
DeleteSpikes interested in incremental advantage do tend to really value seeing the opponent's hand. The popularity of Gitaxian Probe suggests that it's sometimes worth at least 2 life. But on the whole you're probably right that it's worse than Absorb.
DeleteSeeing their hand is pretty valuable in the grindy control mirror, but the lifegain effect is awful in that matchup. Actually, against aggro decks, the lifegain effect is pretty bad too because they're not likely to have a glut of creatures in their hand after you cast this on turn 3-5.
Delete"Prevent all damage to you this turn" might be worth it, since aggro decks like to cast haste dudes precombat (and pumps before damage).
Gaining likely 1-2 life and getting a hand reveal is probably going to end up fairly similar to Absorb value-wise, I'd expect. It's probably at it's best against mid-range (as they still have creatures in hand and valuable hand info) but has uses for aggro (gaining a few life) and control (hand thing) so not the worst main-deck card in either match-up.
DeleteI'm a Timmy in terms of loving to play huge awesome creatures and creating memorable experiences, and a Johnny in that I love expressing myself through wacky Magic decks and weird combos. But I'm no Spike - I don't often aim to win a Magic game, I just enjoy the experience.
ReplyDeleteSo designing a Spike card felt natural. I wanted to avoid just pushing the power level, or making a generic control card. So I decided to make a card that rewards strategic decision making. (While still also being of a good power level.)
Lives Unseen 1GU
Instant (R)
Search your library for up to four creature cards with different names and reveal them. Target opponent chooses two of those cards. Put the chosen cards onto the bottom of your library and the rest into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
http://i.imgur.com/jsnWLXT.jpg
Along the lines of Steam Augury, I decided to return to an old favorite with a twist. In this case, I mashed together Gifts Ungiven and Realms Uncharted to create their natural intersection - a creature-tutor version of Gifts Ungiven.
I set the mana cost at 3 CMC because it 1.) requires two colors and 2.) only hits one card type. Hopefully my decision was correct!
Very solid design, and exactly in line with Spiky decision-making goals. The costing seems plausible. Good call on bottom of library rather than graveyard.
DeleteWhy is this a blue card?
DeleteI suppose it doesn't have to be, given Realms Uncharted-- but this seems like it would be too good at 2G, even as a sorcery. (At that point it's a green Divination guaranteed to draw you 2 of your 4 best creatures.) 1GU seems more balanced, and the blue is justifiable because of Gifts Ungiven and Simic's history of tutoring for creatures.
DeleteThat's exactly my reasoning. I felt like a 'green Divination' that always hit gas was very strong, but I wanted to keep an aggressive costing on par with Gifts Ungiven, so I added the blue.
DeleteSame "choice" as Ipaulsen.
ReplyDeleteButterfly Effect 4UR
Enchantment
Whenever a player casts a spell, he or she reveals cards from the top of his or her library until he or she reveals a nonland card that doesn’t share a type with the spell. Put a copy of the last revealed card onto the stack, then put all other cards revealed this way at the bottom of library in random order.
Can we please call this Impossibility Storm? :-)
Delete(Seriously, though, your name for the design is brilliant.)
I'd follow the Possibility Storm template all the way through and say "casts a spell from his or her hand", rather than attempt stack-hacking. I'm not convinced the current template works rules-wise. Otherwise, though, I like this design a lot.
Thanks! I was thinking about chaos inducing enchantments, when I had an epiphany of the name, then I went top-down from that. I'm well aware of the template wonkyness, but I couldn't remember Possibility Storm for comparison.
DeleteUpdating wording:
Butterfly Effect 4UR
Enchantment (Rare)
Whenever a player casts a spell from his or her hand, that player reveals cards from the top of his or her library until he or she reveals a nonland card that doesn't share a type with the spell. That player casts the last revealed card without paying its mana cost, then puts all other cards revealed this way at the bottom of library in random order.
Ramda, Wingdreamer URG
ReplyDeleteLegendary Creature - Human Wizard
Whenever a player casts a spell, he or she flips a coin. If he or she loses, he or she exiles the spell and puts X 1/1 blue Insect creatures with flying onto the battlefield, where X is the spell's converted mana cost. They have "Sacrifice this creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool."
2/3
My intended audience was "Commander players", though I could also potentially pitch this design to "storm players" with a few tweaks.
So if your spell gets countered, you get the mana refunded as souped-up Eldrazi Spawn? That's quite nifty. You usually don't see abilities quite this game-warping on 3-cmc creatures, though, even Commanders, so you might consider making Ramda a little bigger.
DeleteAlso, templating might be a little cleaner if you say "...flip a coin. If you win, that player exiles..."
I like this. It feels right in each of its colors, besides having it own identity as a multicolor RUG card.
DeleteThankfully the tokens aren't likely to linger forever, but I could still see some board-state-issues from sheer number of tokens after some unlucky flips. Would 1RUG feel like a comfortable cost?
DeleteI personally think that 1RUG would be safer, but I am not an expert on these things.
DeleteImago Imagene {1}{U}
ReplyDeleteCreature - Human Wizard (C)
Flying
1/2
I've never played Limited.
Interesting. Other than the fact that (all joking aside) this isn't good enough for Constructed, how does it appeal to Limited players?
DeleteAs a limited player, I can tell you I am decidedly not excited by Storm Crow. Nessian Courser on the other hand...
DeleteSwap power and toughness, and you'll excite every Limited Spike ever (And you'll have made a strictly better Vaporkin/Welking Tern, which were arguably first pickable in their days)
DeleteI second Pizza's idea - a 2/1 sells well here.
DeleteMake this a 2/1 black creature and you'll really be golden. :P
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ReplyDeleteDistract UB
ReplyDeleteInstant (U)
Target player discards a card for each card they drew this turn.
This is a card designed specifically for more broad formats. It won't see play in a standard environment, but could easily fit into a modern sideboard.
Slight change: Text should be "Target player discards a card for each card past the first card they drew this turn."
DeleteI don't like the change. Distract shouldn't be a do-nothing against decks that *don't* abuse card draw, and two-mana instant-speed "discard a card" is the very opposite of overpowered. I like the original design a lot, and I think it should be kept simple.
DeleteI'm with Ipaulsen. The second design is like shouting at me its own purpose, in an unpleasant way. First accomplishes the same goal, in a much more elegant way.
DeleteI'm concerned about the memory issues for this one against a deck like Storm/Eggs.
DeleteFair point, but the player who wants to cast Distract should be able to keep track, and once you get past 7 cards or so the exact number is probably irrelevant anyway.
DeleteMass Diffusion 3GGUUU
ReplyDeleteInstant (R)
Destroy all noncreature, nonland permanents. Draw a card for each permanent destroyed this way.
“To properly prepare the mind for study, one begins by clearing away distractions.”
—Riku of Two Reflections
Big straightforward splashy EDH card for the people who like 2+ hour games with tons and tons of wrath effects. The GU answer to B's Decree of Pain, minus the mode with actually reasonable CMC.
It really, really bothers me that this effect would show up in GU, but I'm finding it difficult to say why. Maybe it's because these are the two colors that never get Wraths?
DeleteI'd reluctantly buy this as a mono-green spell in line with Bane of Progress / Fracturing Gust, except that it also hits planeswalkers, which just seems strange.
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DeleteI can't see what Blue brings in this card.
DeleteI don't think GU should ever get a wrath.
This effect to me feels probably B/G or Jund.
This could be Butterfly Ultimatum at BBUUGGG, with wedges coming soon. I like this interpretation of this art.
Delete@ P for Pizza: My understanding is that all "burst" card drawing is blue (or black) unless it counts something related to creatures (Grim Flowering, Hunter's Insight).
Delete@ P for Pizza and Pasteur: What's the justification for black on a Wrath that specifically excludes creatures?
GW seems like the most natural color pair for this card. BG is also plausible if you're looking to help out a Wrath-light color pair, but you have a point-- it seems weird for Black to be involved in something that destroys artifacts and enchantments but not lands or creatures. I still think mono-G is the best call for what you're trying to do here.
Delete@ Jenesis: I completely skipped the part about card drawing. My bad.
DeleteFor second question: Planeswalkers. Green can't (nor should) destroy planeswalkers. They've recently given this ability firmly to black (Hero's Downfall, In Garruk's Wake). I see this as a BUG card, like Pasteur. It also fits in flavor with new Sultai clan (for what we know to this day)
Monarch Monarch UUWWGG
ReplyDeleteCreature - Spirit (R)
Flying
Whenever you cast a spell with the same name as a permanent you control, put four 0/1 green Insect creature token with flying named Butterfly onto the battlefield.
2/6
This is designed for super casual Timmy players, but not the ones playing Commander. I don't know why they make casual cards that have 0 application for Commander, like Search the City, but apparently there are people that enjoy it. The fact that this card also just endlessly prolongs the game with chump blocker is also great for Timmy, who enjoys prolonged games for the visceral experience of playing Magic.
That's a very cool effect. I'd prefer 1/1 tokens so that you don't have to jump through a further hoop to make them relevant, but maybe that's insufficiently casual-Timmy of me.
DeleteI have always some disrespect for mid-range players. They have a bit of removal and then some hard to remove fatties who just wins te games for them. So mid-rage it is.... how do you do midrange?
ReplyDeleteCaller of life - 3GG
Defender
When [Cardname] comes into play put 3 1/1 Butterfly tokens with flying into play
0/4
This is the best what i could do with this art
Do you have a rarity in mind? I don't know how often we'd see flying at common in green, but feels quite a bit weaker than, say, Cloudgoat Ranger, which was a strong uncommon.
DeleteEven leaving aside target audience, this feels too weak for rare and too color pie-breaking for less than rare.
Deleteit's not my adience!!! I'm bad at this xD I must say, this card is difficult to make a mid-range fattie with
DeleteAs a member of the target audience, I couldn't help taking a stab at it:
DeleteSprouting Butterflynax 1GWU
Creature - Elemental Wizard (U)
Flying
Whenever Sprouting Butterflynax is dealt damage, put that many 1/1 green Insect creature tokens with flying onto the battlefield.
4/4
I hate Pauper Players!
ReplyDeleteParadise Butterflies G
Creature - Butterfly
Suspend 1
Fading 3
Flying
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
0/1
"Commoners who experience their presence lose distinction between dreams and reality."
There's a lot of weird things about this card. It looks pretty good on paper but it might have too many upkeep triggers for a common, might be too strong for a common, might possibly be too weak compared to an elvish mystic (i honestly don't know which one's better) but it looks kinda neat. Pauper players might already have a better version of this card, but whatever.
If they have something better than this then... also hate green.
DeleteThis is not remotely common. Remove Suspend 1 and you'll be on the right track at least. (It would need another parameter for the cost anyway.)
DeleteI'm not really an EDH player.
ReplyDeleteLilah, Queen of Paradise UGW
Legendary Creature - Human Druid
Hexproof
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player may draw a card, gain 4 life, and put a land card from their hand into play. If he or she does, creatures that player controls can't attack that turn.
0/1
EDH players will probably like it because it's interesting in multiplayer and you can build around it as a commander. Plus, multicolour legend.
Wasn't sure whether to make it "can't attack" or "can't attack you". The former affects your deckbuilding more, which I like, but the latter makes for an interesting bribery effect in multiplayer games.
I don't think the former really affects your deckbuilding more. You're playing probably multiplayer EDH, with a 0/1 general who lets your opponents gain life and draws you cards. This does not sound like a deck whose win condition cares about attacking with creatures, ever.
Delete