Weekend Art Challenge
Greetings, 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 someone volunteers to render the cards.
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| Blue Nightmare - Art by Elthenstorm |
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| Black Nightmare - Art by Z3roknight |
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| Red Nightmare - Art from Might and Magic Heroes VI |
This weekend, the challenge is to design a rare or uncommon Nightmare for Somnia, a plane that Ant
dreamed up with his readers over on Gathering Magic. You can check out the
Planeswalker's Guide here, but for this challenge, all you need to know is what the guide says about the Nightmares:
One of the main story points we have established for our world is that as the sleeping planeswalker loses his power to sustain the dreamplane, mysterious nightmares controlled by an unknown force have begun to infiltrate their way into the sleeping planeswalkers mind. These dark entities have begun to wreak havoc across the otherwise peaceful dreamworld, terrorizing the inhabitants of the plane. These Nightmarish entities can be found across three of the 5 colors of Magic (Blue, Black and Red). The nightmares of each color represent different aspects of fear on the plane.
Blue Nightmares
Far beneath the churning waters of dreamfilled oceans lie unfathomable and ancient horrors. Referred to as the “Deep Spawn” by those native to the shores of our world, these leviathans of terror and madness rise up to strike fear into the minds of those unfortunate enough to gaze upon their hideous forms. Colossal entities composed of twisting tentacles, these nightmares embody the madness created when one begins to fear that which is unknown...
Black Nightmares
Lurking within every shadow of this world are monsters born of fear. Fear that one day a specter will come calling and life on this blissful dreamplane will be at an end. Fear of what awaits one in the afterlife. Smoldering fields of shadow, these dark and nightmarish creatures are manifestations of the terror brought on by the cold darkness of death’s embrace...
Red Nightmares
Undulating masses of pure madness, these chaotic entities can be found rampaging across the world, consuming everything in their path. Continuously changing masses of unfathomably terrifying shapes and proportions, these dark creatures are born from the fear of losing control...
Choose one of these three images and design a Nightmare of the corresponding color for that art, appropriate to a block set in the world of Somnia. If you design a rare, think about how it impacts Constructed; if uncommon, think about how it impacts Limited.
A blue Nightmare is madness. It should make your opponet fear to do something at all. So for the Uncommen one I should make something like this:
ReplyDeleteSpelllured Kraken (i'm terrible at naming things)
2UU
Kraken
You may cast [Cardname] if your opponent cast a spell this turn
6/6
So this guy can emerge when your opponent does a combat trick. So they fear this creature when it's not even on the table. Excelent for limited, not so good for constructed
I like your idea, but your wording seems confusing. You mean that the Kraken can't be cast if your opponent has not cast spells this turn? Or that it can be cast on opponent's turn in addition to being castable normally?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Deleteyou're right
DeleteSpelllured Kraken (i'm terrible at naming things)
2UU
Kraken
You may only cast [Cardname] if your opponent casted a spell this turn
6/6
better?
Fine. Now that I think it, I believe it should have flash, otherwise you can never cast it.
DeleteI think his idea is to make your opponent play a combat trick on your turn so you play it on your second main phase, correct me if I"m wrong.
Deleteyes, that is the intension. Maybe it's then still to expensive.
DeleteI like the concept. Reminds me of Swarmborn Giant a bit. I'd still rather give it flash and make it rare than have an uncommon that does next to nothing against a tap-out-and-attack strategy clogging up my draft packs.
DeleteGiving it flash and costing it as such seems like the right call - it's not clear from the templating that normal timing restrictions still apply.
DeleteI don't like the flash part, because then it becomes too easy to cast. your enemy has to play somehting
DeleteHave you considered "trap" terminology? Maybe something other than "gotcha for casting a spell during my main phase". It's a cool concept, but incredibly easy to play around. Which will probably lead to it playing pretty weak.
DeleteA trap ability would limit the flash, yet still capture the same feel
Deletesounds like a terrible good idea
DeleteSpelllured Kraken (i'm terrible at naming things)
4UU
Kraken
You may cast [Cardname] for 1UU if your opponent casted a spell this turn
6/6
Cool. What rarity? If it's uncommon, I'd suggest making the normal mana cost something horrible like 8 or 9 mana
DeleteI am happy with the design for now. You could think about pumping up de rarity or manacost, but I changed it enough already for this chalange
DeleteBlack Nightmares them is Terror. For terror it is not what you can't see, but for what you see coming. And that your actions can only make it worse. As black has some Punishing macanics, I tought about this:
ReplyDeleteEncrouching Terror 4B
Nightmare
Deathtouch
Whenever an oponent casts a spell, he or she loses 1 life and you put 1 +1/+1 counter on [Cardname]
3/4
A few random comments:
Delete-) This ability has been Green before (Ancient Watcher), but I'm not sure there is really enough precedent for it to be a problem.
-) Do you feel the life loss part of the card is pulling its weight here? It feels a bit tacked on.
-) Deathtouch is weird on a huge creature. They do it occasionally (Grave Titan) when it is part of a cycle and they don't want to put a strong keyword, but here it feels strange (unless you feel it is an essential part of the flavor).
-) I might prefer this start out with 0 power and have "can't block or be blocked."
I was first also thinking about a 0/1, but at first I tought it was a bad idea. But is isn't.
DeleteEncrouching Terror 1B
Nightmare
Whenever an oponent casts a spell you put 1 +1/+1 counter on [Cardname]
0/1
Red nightmares are consuming and chaotic.Difficult to combine. So i tought something about this:
ReplyDeleteConsuming Dragon (again, sorry about the names)
uncommen - 3RR
creature - dragon
At the beginning of your combatphase, sacrifice a creature. Deal damage to target creature or player, equal to ihe power of the sacrificed creature.
3/3
Consuming, check
Choatic, as sometimes it targets very wel, and sometimes you didn't want to sac. I think check.
As testing this card if the power or manacost have to be tweeked. I don't know for sure. Maybe it should be a rare. What do you think?
Several points:
Delete1) This isn't Uncommon, this is a Rare, for both power level and board complexity reasons.
2) Compulsory creature sacrifice like this is pretty thoroughly black, and worse is typically reserved for Demons, so blurring it with Dragons is a problem.
3) Though there are some exceptions (usually branded as hatchlings) dragons want to be bigger than 3/3, with 4/4 being the standard.
I think this is a cool card, though I think it wants to be something like a Black Red fire demon.
jeah, I have to tell you you are right in every account. Only I think it can have the "Nightmare" creature type
DeleteConsuming Dragon (again, sorry about the names)
rare - 3BR
creature - Nightmare
At the beginning of your combatphase, sacrifice a creature. Deal damage to target creature or player, equal to ihe power of the sacrificed creature.
4/4
For the Black Nightmare:
ReplyDeleteNight Terror 4BB
Creature - Nightmare
Whenever ~ attacks, defending player discards a card from his/her hand or sacrifices a creature.
Whenever a player discards a card, put a +1/+1 counter on ~.
(rare)
4/4
For the Red nightmare:
Crimson Doppelganger 3RR
Creature - Shapeshifter Nightmare
Haste
When ~ attacks, you may sacrifice a creature at random. If you do, ~ becomes a copy of that creature until the end of turn.
Whenever a creature you control dies, ~ deals 1 damage to another target creature or player.
(Rare)
2/2
Agitation Embodied 3RR
ReplyDeleteCreature-Nightmare
Nightmarish--When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, if an opponent has four or more cards in his or her hand, CARDNAME gains haste.
5/3
I think we could definitely print this at common. Would we be seeing Howling Mines (temple bells, baby jaces) to support Nightmarish in Limited?
DeleteWhy is a nightmare scarier to the opponent when they have more cards in hand (thoughts, ideas, wisdom)?
DeleteDoes this keyword work in any color other than red?
Nightmarish encourages your opponent to play lots of cards to keep their hand size low, which is probably what they want to be doing anyway. If you're doing this hand-size-threshold mechanic (and I'm not sure you want to), why not make them *afraid* to cast that spell that drops them below 4? Then panic even more when you Mind Rot them anyway?
DeleteIllustration 2
ReplyDeleteNyctophobian
B
Uncommon
Creature- nightmare
2/1
Creatures haunted by Cardname can't untap unless their controllers pay (4).
Haunt
This is a very clever use of Haunt, and much more transparent than the original, well done!
DeleteI think the ability here is Blue now (though it was Black back in the days of Paralyze). You might consider "gets -2/-1" for aesthetics.
Does this actually cost only a single black mana? Black doesn't get 2-power 1-drops without some kind of drawback, usually "can't block" or "ETB tapped." Being able to block is especially relevant here since with Haunt, it can lock down an attacking creature that's too big for it to trade with.
DeleteIs this intended to lock down all untapping? Players can't activate mana abilities during the untap step, so it would need some kind of additional upkeep trigger (e.g. Paralyze) in order for the opponent to be able to pay the cost at the start of their turn.
I like it.
DeleteCreatures haunted by Cardname get -2/-1. Now it's def aggro on both halves.
Sure. Can't block. Haunted cre gets -2/-1 and can't block.
DeleteAnd that bumps it up to rare
DeleteI absolutely love this iteration of Haunt. It really piqued my interest. I'm going to be posting things based on this concept on my blog for a while. :)
DeleteFalse-Fear Hatchling 1RR
ReplyDeleteCreature - Nightmare (u)
As CARDNAME enters the battlefield, choose an opponent. Whenever a spell is cast, he or she flips a coin. If he or she loses the flip, CARDNAME deals damage to him or her equal to that spell's converted mana cost.
2/2
I like this design a lot, but I think it is definitely rare just for complexity of implementation (and I don't think you want to play against this every draft).
DeleteIt feels like maybe it wants to be a bit bigger to me if it wants to be a nightmare.
If the renders haven't been done yet, I'm totally with making it a rare.
DeleteThis one isn't very plausible (for obvious reasons), but the Johny in me is giggling
ReplyDeleteIllustration 1
Writhing Enigma
3UU
Rare
Creature- nightmare
Persist
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, you may have Cardname lose all instances of persist and gain undying until end of turn.
3/3
Mindhaunter Spawn 3UU
ReplyDeleteEnchantment Creature -- Kraken (R)
As long as an opponent has one or more cards in hand, ~ isn't a creature.
At the end of each opponent's turn, if that player cast no spells this turn, that player discards a card.
8/8
This is a bit of bleed of discard into Blue, but every horror based set (Innistrad and New Phyrexia) made that kind of bleed, so I think this is okay, and I think it captures the notion of slowly (but inevitably) going mad well.
Why is this card using Theros's God technology? I could see it working as a riff off Jace's Phantasm/Isleback Spawn, but I don't really think it makes sense for black to be able to kill it with Hellbent + Seal of Doom yet not Doom Blade.
DeleteI can buy the bleed, flavor-wise. Amnesia is a card.
I think Nightmares are a lot like gods, in that they are made real by people's belief in/fear of them. The implementation of the gods in Theros was the perfect way of capturing this. Is there some reason you think it is bad here?
DeleteFor what its worth, I only realized rather late in my design of this card that I liked it best this way (originally it just said "can't attack unless...")
I actively like that it can't be Doom Bladed, and the interaction with Seal of Doom doesn't bother me. The interaction with Naturalize is much weirder!
Were you envisioning this as a "Nightmare mechanic", or just a one-off on this particular card?
DeleteThe part that bugs me most is that, after the first time it animates, it turns back into not-a-creature during each opponent's draw step, meaning that a card that's ostensibly a creature card randomly hoses red/black at the cost of being worse against green/white. (The Gods didn't have this problem because they all had indestructible.)
Also, the enchantment half is arguably the stronger of the two, so I didn't really get the flavor of dis/believing making the nightmare real or not.
I was imagining this as the mechanic that tied together the nightmares (at least the rare/mythic ones).
DeleteRed should be the color worst at fighting intangible nightmares directly. That said, I don't fancy the chances of the person playing this against an aggressive red deck, especially since it essentially can't block.
Black certainly has plenty of answers to this kind of effect, from Edicts to things like Seal of Doom that you mentioned (and I think would be a great reprint), to card draw.
Again, I like that the enchantment part has a stronger presence. Your giant nightmare creatures don't get to have much of an impact on the game and slowly drive people crazy if they just kill you. If you want to model slow descent into madness mechanically, you have to put it on something that allows the game to keep going.
A reasonable alternative if you really don't like the enchantment part after it is a creature would be to make this a double faced card:
Whispers of Madness 3UU
Enchantment - (M)
At the beginning of each opponent's end step, if that player cast no spells this turn, that player discards a card. If that player can't, transform ~.
---------------
Ancient of Madness
Creature - Nightmare (M)
Whenever an opponent draws a card, you may search that player's deck for up to two cards and exile them.
6/6
Does that feel more right to you? I didn't do it that way originally because I had done a Double Faced card recently and I didn't want to do them too often (though I think they are great for making sweet rares).
Totally on board with the DFC version (minus having to shuffle multiple times in a turn when transformed, but I'm sure there are ways around that).
DeleteAgreed. How about:
DeleteWhispers of Madness 3UU
Enchantment - (M)
At the beginning of each opponent's end step, if that player cast no spells this turn, that player discards a card. If that player can't, transform ~.
---------------
Ancient of Madness
Creature - Nightmare (M)
Whenever an opponent draws a card, exile the top 7 cards of their library.
7/7
It Swallows Memories (mythic)
ReplyDelete5UU
Legendary Creature - Horror
Intimidate, indestructible
Whenever CARDNAME deals combat damage to a player, that player draws seven cards, then separates his or her hand into two piles. You may play any number of cards from one of those piles without paying their mana costs. Exile the other pile.
7/7
I don't think either Intimidate or Indestructible typically appears in Blue, and I don't think this design needs them. I think as is, everyone will concede before you get to do the cool part. The pile splitting is very awesome.
DeleteThe pile splitting feels a little too over the top. I can deal with getting a pile of free spells or Mind Twisting your opponent every turn, but why both?
DeleteAgreed. I think the opponent should get the other pile back in his or her hand.
DeleteBecause this creature is supposed to be horrifying. It creates a decision for your opponent, but it's a lose/lose decision.
DeleteThat being said, removing the intimidate and indestructible makes sense. Indestructible fits on a high-profile legendary creature cycle, but I incorrectly thought that intimidate was tertiary in all colors (but it's not in blue, apparently.) A 7/7 monster that has good reason to be swinging every turn and probably wins the game when it connects doesn't necessarily need more inevitability to it.
(I also love the flavor of a being that forces you to recall things so it can take your memories from you, then leaves your mind an empty husk. That's scary.)
DeleteDidn't realize Nightmare was a creature type. Okay!
DeleteIt Swallows Memories (mythic)
5UU
Legendary Creature - Nightmare Horror
Whenever CARDNAME deals combat damage to a player, that player draws seven cards, then separates his or her hand into two piles. You may play any number of cards from one of those piles without paying their mana costs. Exile the other pile.
7/7
Oh I didn't realize that the player didn't get to keep the rest of the cards. I think this is far more interesting if they do.
DeleteA 7-mana legendary mythic without evasion that requires you to hit your opponent's face before it starts doing things can be a bit absurd. Phage the Untouchable wins the game outright.
DeleteHaving an ability 7 lines long that appears to offer a bunch of decision-making, but in reality will just say "win the game" 99.99% of the time, is quite the letdown.
DeleteAlso, Phage can't be cheated into play on turn 2.
Ugh. Free spells and a complete mind twist every turn. This is OP or unfun
DeleteSeems I struck something of a nerve. Yes, a 7-mana legendary mythic nightmare horror should be horrifying and nightmarish. Yes, it should do horrible things if it hits you, especially if your opponent has a turn at sorcery speed to deal with it. We're in the ballpark of cards like Griselbrand and Cruel Ultimatum here, and getting fairly close to the Eldrazi, which are even bigger and also do horrible things even if they don't get chump-blocked. I stand by my horrible effect.
DeleteDo note that the Eldrazi are not exactly a design success, and I think the comments here illustrate why.
DeleteA card can be perfectly balanced and not too powerful and still not be well designed. One of my friend's (who I'm sure would not mind being described as a LSP) biggest complaints about Hearthstone is that whenever he does something impressive his opponent just concedes. To a Spike this might seem silly, I mean, he won.
He didn't really get to do the cool thing he wanted, he didn't get the experience. The problem with your design, as I see it, is that this trigger will never resolve. You will go to sideboarding with the Artful Dodge on the stack. Will the audience for this card be satisfied with that?
The effect you've come up with here is AWESOME. Your card will be more awesome if that effect actually happens in gameplay. I think one key to that is taking out the Mind Twist half of the effect, and perhaps in exchange giving the creature some form of evasion, probably trample?
Perhaps a "Can't attack unless opponent has 7 or more cards in hand" and some sort of Forced Fruition style effect together with your FoF ability and Unblockable.
Because I'm indecisive:
ReplyDeleteStalker of Horizons 3UU
Creature - Nightmare Kraken (R)
At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, that player exiles X cards from the top of his or her library, where X is one plus the number of cards exiled with Stalker of Horizons.
T: Look at the top two cards of your library. Exile one or both of them.
2/8
Flavor: A slow-moving, but persistent creature whose mere presence inspires a downward spiral into madness, pruning away unneeded thoughts. Constructed home: A slow deck aiming to win the long game by decking the opponent and/or always draw what it needs to keep the board under control. Purposefully low power to deter attacking as a win condition. Still not 100% happy with the name after many iterations on Deep, Spawn, Awakening, Emerging, Trench, Lurker, and Dweller.
Miasmic Shade 1BB
Creature - Nightmare Shade (R)
Miasmic Shade has hexproof unless it’s attacking or blocking.
B: Miasmic Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
1/1
Flavor: A creature made of shadow...but you don't realize exactly how scary it is until it's right on top of you. Constructed home: Either a mono-black aggro deck or one that can utilize a giant hexproof creature in some sort of combo. I originally wanted to do some kind of flash Nekrataal variant, but black doesn't get that keyword.
Fleshgorger Dragon 3RRR
Creature - Nightmare Dragon (R)
At the beginning of each player’s end step, sacrifice another creature chosen at random. If you do, Fleshgorger Dragon deals 6 damage to an opponent or a creature an opponent controls chosen at random.
When no other creatures are on the battlefield, Fleshgorger Dragon deals 6 damage to itself.
6/6
Flavor: A creature that indiscriminately consumes and consumes until the only thing remaining is to turn on itself. Constructed home: A deck that can produce lots of sacrifice fodder to keep the Dragon happy -- tokens, reanimation, death triggers? A dragon without flying is admittedly weird. But no wings! Inspired by Hearthstone's Ragnaros the Firelord and Worldgorger, the original Nightmare Dragon; like Worldgorger, the ability to create an infinite game-ending loop is intentional.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWait, Stalker of Horizons mills you at the beginning of your upkeep too?
DeleteAlso, for the record, I don't think this is "slow moving". Say you use its ability exiling one card, then never use it again, then it exiles 1, 2, 4, 8, etc (and keep in mind those are upkeeps, not turns), so you exile 32 cards the third turn after the ability.
Miasmic Shade doesn't necessarily feel rare to me. Also, hexproof isn't really a black ability (even though Xathrid Slyblade was, but it was a designer card).
DeleteAs it is, it is hard for me to imagine the card is playable in limited or constructed, even casual constructed. Perhaps you could consider the Squelching Leeches ability?
For your dragon, the random creature sacrifice really doesn't feel red to me. Compulsory creature sacrifice is pretty much the realm of demons in Black, and making it random doesn't make it feel mono-Red.
DeleteThat said, I don't think the card needs a downside, I think for, say, 7 mana, it can randomly hit an opponent's creature for 6 each turn without needing to resort to saccing stuff or possibly blowing itself up.
Blue, more card selection-y and less mass milly:
DeleteStalker of Horizons 2UU
Creature - Nightmare Kraken (R)
If you would draw a card, instead look at the top two cards of your library, exile one or both of them, then draw a card.
T: Draw a card. Target player exiles X cards from the top of his or her library, where X is the number of cards exiled with Stalker of Horizons this turn.
2/5
Black, completely redone as a rattlesnake/aggro card:
Miasmic Lurker BB
Creature - Nightmare (R)
Whenever Miasmic Lurker blocks or becomes blocked by a non-Nightmare creature, destroy that creature at end of combat.
At the beginning of each opponent’s end step, if no creatures attacked this turn, put a +1/+1 counter on Miasmic Lurker.
0/1
Dragon, more round numbers and less post-Wrath drawbacky:
Fleshgorger Dragon 2RRR
Creature - Nightmare Dragon (R)
At the beginning of your end step, Fleshgorger Dragon deals 5 damage to an opponent or a creature an opponent controls chosen at random. If a creature dealt damage this way would die this turn, exile it instead.
5/5
Devourer of Forms 3RR
ReplyDeleteCreature- Hellion (Rare)
5/5
Trample
Whenever CARDNAME deals combat damage to a player, you may sacrifice it. If you do, gain control of target creature that player controls and that creature gains this ability. (These effects last indefinitely.)
I love the text, though aesthetically I want the thing you steal to also gain trample.
DeleteColor-pie wise I don't see how this can be not a gold card.
Also, development wise, this is more pushed than any creature stealing effect that has been printed in a long time across all rarities. This is even much better than Mind Control, I think, and we haven't seen that in ages.
Very cool card, I think the colors just need to get ironed out. Could even be a satisfying non-white Nephelim I think.
Good points all. Looking at the art again, I think it's totally reasonable as red-black, and this design has aspects of both Nightmare colors as far as Creative goes. The mechanical fit is still just a bit strange, but you could sell it as a combination of creature-destruction and temporary creature-stealing. I'll also tweak the stats to make it a little less devastating.
DeleteSo, new version:
Devourer of Forms 3BR
Creature- Hellion Horror (Rare)
4/4
Haste
Whenever CARDNAME deals combat damage to a player, you may sacrifice it. If you do, gain control of target creature that player controls and that creature gains this ability. (These effects last indefinitely.)
Personly I would leave the "may" part out. It's still Red you know, rekless!
DeleteAgreed. Cut the "may" for sure
DeleteFair enough.
DeleteDevourer of Forms 3BR
Creature- Hellion Horror (Rare)
4/4
Haste
Whenever CARDNAME deals combat damage to a player, sacrifice it. When you do, gain control of target creature that player controls and that creature gains this ability. (These effects last indefinitely.)
This inspired me to make another haunt guy. Cibophobia is the fear if eating.
DeleteCibophobian
1BRR
Creature- nightmare
Haste, trample, haunt
Sac @eot.
Creatures haunted by this have "sac this cre @eot"
6/1
I'd like this to travel (like takklemaggot) but that would be awfully wordy :/
Lord of Hysteria 6RR
ReplyDeleteLegendary Creature - Horror (Rare)
Haste, Trample
Creatures enter the battlefield under the control of a random player.
At the beginning of each end step, if no creature entered the battlefield this turn, target creature at random fights another target creature at random.
I tried to capture a feeling of panic but also inevitability. This fits the mode of "big red chaos effect", so it's deliberately costed expensively so it doesn't show up at tournaments.
Power/Toughness? Also wondering, does this creature enter the battlefield under your control?
DeleteAlso, the fight feels detached from the design. Maybe instead deal damage to the player who didn't play a creature?
DeleteOops, intended to be 6/6. Thanks!
DeleteNightWaster 2BB
ReplyDeleteCreature - Nightmare (R)
Dreamwalk (This creature can’t be blocked by untapped creatures. Tapped creatures can block it.)
Tapped creatures you don’t control get -1/-1.
3/3
That's... very cool, at least potentially. It makes opponents' decisions about whether to attack really weird and complicated. I love how the additional ability punishes attacking, but also makes NightWaster harder to block.
DeleteNot totally sold on Somnia being the right place for this mechanic. I would've loved to see it show up in Theros block alongside Inspired.
So an uncommon that kills all X/1's that attack you?
DeleteCan it be -1/-0? Or something less oppressive?
Circle of Flame is also such an uncommon. This is also listed as Rare not uncommon.
DeleteDreamwalk is awesome. Encourages attacking and it makes untapping creatures function weirdly. Kuddos sir!
DeleteThe templating on this is a little weird.
ReplyDeleteSeeder of Indecision 3RR
Creature - Nightmare (R)
Haste, Flying
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player gains control of CARDNAME.
Whenever a player gains control of CARDNAME, that player may gain control of target creature until end of turn. If that player does, untap that creature and it gains haste until end of turn.
3/3
Should its last ability trigger on ETB?
DeleteI want the stealing ability to trigger at the beginning of each player's upkeep, and the turn you play it.
DeleteBut I guess the current wording doesn't work/is confusing...
DeleteMaybe
Seeder of Indecision 3RR
Haste, flying
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, untap target creature and gain control of it.
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player gains control of CARDNAME and target creature of their choice. Untap both creatures and they gain haste until end of turn
3/3
I like this idea a lot. An idea for the templating:
DeleteFlying
At the beginning of combat on each player's turn, that player gains control of CARDNAME and another creature of his or her choice. Untap those creatures. They gain haste until end of turn.
Thanks Ipaulsen! That is great templating.
DeleteNidhogg 4RR
ReplyDeleteCreature - Nightmare Wurm (Rare)
First Strike
Creatures must attack each combat if able.
Whenever an attacking creature you don't control dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Nidhogg.
4/2
I don't care for this challenge because I don't care for the way they've constructed the flavor of the world; it doesn't feel like Magic, and the flavor of the nightmares specifically don't feel like the sections of the color pie they belong in. But here is an attempt at a thematic loss-of-control effect in red that feels somewhat scary.
Oh, effect on Constructed: Probably minimal, if bumped down to 3RR would be moderate but unlikely to ever break 2-of in the main deck. Good in midrange strategies against creature decks, very weak against control. Interesting in EDH.
DeleteFeverling (Uncommon)
ReplyDeleteBB
Creature - Nightmare
1/1
Haste
Whenever Feverling attacks, defending player exiles a card from his or her hand until Feverling leaves the battlefield.
Feverling gets +1/+1 for each card exiled with it.
Original design was a 2/2 without haste, but I really like the idea of not giving the opponent a chance to play cards out of their hand before the first activation. This sort of effect has real diminishing returns.
Only there are barely any black creatures with haste. I do get what you try to achieve, but i think 2/2 without is more fun.
Delete"Whenever CARDNAME enters the battlefield or attacks..."?
DeleteIs it better if it attacks for the first time as a 2/2 or a 3/3? Haste gives the opponent a chance to kill it the first time it pumps. But the etb and attacks trigger makes it a 3/3 when it finally attacks the first time. It's already a very fair card, so maybe giving it a head start to be a 3/3 is better.
DeleteWell, I will substitute the original version for a non-Hasty one:
DeleteFeverling (Uncommon)
BB
Creature - Nightmare
1/1
Whenever Feverling enters the battlefield or attacks, defending player exiles a card from his or her hand until Feverling leaves the battlefield.
Feverling gets +1/+1 for each card exiled with it.
Chthonic Shapetwister 4UU
ReplyDeleteCreature - Nightmare (R)
Whenever another creature you control attacks, sacrifice it. Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature card.Put that card onto the battlefield tapped and attacking and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
4/4
Could also work as a variant that made every attacking creature polymorph itself (including your opponent's).
Fear of the unknown, eh?
ReplyDeleteUnknowable Terror 2U
Blue art
Creature - Nightmare (U)
Flying
Whenever Unknowable Terror becomes blocked, exile the top card of your library. Unknowable Terror gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is that card’s converted mana cost.
2/1
The name needs work. That art totally has wings. Inspired by Mindshrieker. Makes a good aggressive card in Limited that sometimes pecks away at life, sometimes trades up, sometimes trades, sometimes throws itself away, sometimes fixes your draws, and sometimes screws you over.
Feedback appreciated as always.
Reminds me strongly of this discussion a while back:
Deletehttp://goblinartisans.blogspot.com/2013/04/ccdd-041713terror-of-misthaven.html
Not sure about the flying, as it makes the second ability far less interesting.
To me, it feels like a creature with this art should have flying. It does make the second ability less exciting, but still should have impact during a game. I don't think it really takes anything away from the card.
DeleteInexorable Thought B
ReplyDeleteBlack Art
Creature - Nightmare (c)
Whenever CARDNAME dies, you may pay (1). If you do, return CARDNAME to the battlefield untapped.
Promising start. What power/toughness? And did you mean "tapped"? (Entering the battlefield untapped is the default.)
DeleteSince only 1 cmc I was thinking 2/1 to give the feeling of that mosquito that flies around your ear and never goes away.
Delete"People die. Civilizations die. Ideas, once thought, are eternal"
Strictly better Tenacious Dead?
DeleteIn three different ways, yes. (Four if you count rarity.) Considering how annoying Tenacious Dead was already, I figure this has to be 0/X to have any chance of being balanced.
DeletePridefall Nightmare 3RR
ReplyDeleteCreature - Nightmare (Rare)
All creatures attack each turn if able.
Whenever a creature attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on it at the end of combat.
Whenever a creature with a +1/+1 counter on it attacks you or a planeswalker you control, destroy it at the end of combat.
5/5
Ant has graciously agreed to render the cards. Review after that happens. Definitely not today.
ReplyDelete