Weekend Design ChallengeGreetings, artisans! Click through to see this weekend's challenge 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.
Choose an existing Magic card you see promise in that never fulfilled that promise because of some problem with the design, real or perceived. Using the same art (or art you find and link to), design a card that delivers on that promise while avoiding that problem, ideally free of any significant problems. See this Wednesday's #CCDD Searing Armory as an example (both good and bad).
Wintermoon Mesa was the first card that I ever opened in a booster pack. It's just straight up not a good card, first of all, but also it's the least exciting card ever. Resource denial being a huge theme of Prophecy, I understand the intent, but tapping some lands, even with other cards in the booster pack that cared about lands being tapped, is just not a powerful enough or interesting enough effect to make you care.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the art is just spectacular, and the flavor text is so ethereal and ominous. I love everything about the card except the rules text, so I want to make it fill the same "land that cares about tapped lands" spot, but give it a more exciting effect.
Wintermoon Mesa
Land - Rare
Wintermoon Mesa enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add 1 to your mana pool. If all lands on the battlefield are tapped, add 2 your mana pool instead.
This is clean, but unfortunately also way too powerful. Maybe tap for one of any color instead of {2}? That's still very strong, but much less likely to break anything if it ends up being a little bit stronger than we bargained for.
DeleteThis might be too powerful to print in Standard, but I doubt it'd be out of the question to print in a Commander supplemental set. ETBT might not directly balance out the power of 2 mana for one land; but it, combined with the opponent's control over whether this goes off or not, probably means it's safe for Legacy and the kitchen table.
DeleteI don't see this as fun for either player. Your opponent has to worry what will happen if they tap out, and you have to worry whether they'll tap out. It seems to create a lot of anxiety with no real strategy.
DeleteI think this would be a particularly poor choice for a Commander product, since in multiplayer this land is unlikely to do much.
Neat execution. Land denial, sort of. It's more of a taxing mechanic. I could see this tapping for 2 or C as is, if it were legendary.
DeleteTo replace Necropotence:
ReplyDeleteMore than You Bargained For BBBB
Enchantment (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a deal counter on CARDNAME, then draw a card and lose 1 life for each deal counter on it.
Art: http://marktedin.com/Print%20Jpegs/Necropotence_print.jpg
I'm not an expert, but this seems too good. It's way better than Phyrexian arena in the first turns, and it only becomes problematic during the 4-5 turns (and in that time, you probably have found a way to deal with it, either by destroying/sacrificing it or with life drains (or by winning^^)).
DeleteMaybe making it problematic more rapidly would be better : For example, you can add two deal counters at the beginning of your upkeep instead of one.
I've just thought about it, but you could also choose "Put a deal counter on it at the beginning of each player's upkeep" for more interaction with multiplayer. But I have no idea how good that would make it. On one hand, commander doesn't much care about life loss and this could make you draw MANY cards. On the other hand, the card can become unmanageable very rapidly...
DeleteYeah, probably a little too safe.
DeleteSlightly wordier update:
More Than You Bargained For BBBB
Enchantment (R)
CARDNAME enters the battlefield with a deal counter on it.
At the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card and lose 1 life for each deal counter on CARDNAME, then put that many more deal counters on it.
Aside: Probably too far afield from the original, but in a similar vein:
Soul Sale 3BBB
Enchantment (R)
Whenever a creature dies, put a soul counter on CARDNAME. Then draw a card and lose a life for each counter on it.
Dark Prophecy? Mind Unbound?
DeleteI feel the card really needs more agency than you're giving it to maintain the feel. Maybe if you just took the card as is, moved the cost up to 6, and took off the exiling part then it would be okay.
Puresight Merrow W/U W/U
ReplyDeleteCreature — Merfolk Monk (r)
W/U T: Look at the top card of your library.
Q: Draw a card, then put CARDNAME on top of its owners library.
2/2
Maybe it's not inspired, but it's hard to top art this good. Seriously, though, is there a way to keep this fun/playable without the second ability breaking things like Paradise Mantle?
Is this too much text/too fiddly?
DeleteW/U T: Look at the top card of your library.
Q, Exile CARDNAME: Exile the top card of your library, then draw a card. Put CARDNAME on top of its owner's library.
The way Wizards went about limiting Q shenanigans was to make it too costly to pay for repeatedly. As is (version 2) I'm not sure what the intended function is. There's a lot going on with that second ability. Would you rather it Q's to draw or flee to the top of your deck? Only one is needed.
DeleteSmart placing the exile before the colon, limiting complicated stacks
I didn't think the G/W god in Theros had enough to do with the major G/W theme of +1/+1 counters, nor did she feel like a harvester. What if we had a god who planted +1/+1 counters and harvested them?
ReplyDeleteKarametra, God of Harvests (mythic)
2GW
Legendary Enchantment Creature - God
Indestructible
As long as your devotion to green and white is less than seven, Karametra isn't a creature.
Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on another target creature you control.
Whenever another creature you control dies, if it had a +1/+1 counter on it, put a 2/2 green and white Dryad enchantment creature token onto the battlefield.
4/4
Kruphix, God of Horizons
DeleteLegendary Enchantment Creature — God 4/7, 3UG
Indestructible
As long as your devotion to green and blue is less than seven, Kruphix isn't a creature.
At the beginning of each upkeep, if you had another creature enter the battlefield under your control last turn, draw a card.
Karametra, God of Harvests
Legendary Enchantment Creature — God 6/7, 3WG
Indestructible
As long as your devotion to green and white is less than seven, Karametra isn't a creature.
You have no maximum hand size.
If unused mana would empty from your mana pool, that mana becomes colorless instead.
Ephara, God of the Polis
Legendary Enchantment Creature — God 6/5, 2WU
Indestructible
As long as your devotion to white and blue is less than seven, Ephara isn't a creature.
Creatures you control can block an additional creature.
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to blocking creatures you control.
I like where you're going with this. I worry about the word count though.
DeleteOnly 2 of the 10 multicolored Gods had two unique abilities. Can you eliminate or combine them?
"Upkp- 1/1 enchantment token, then put a +1/+1..."
Or something along those lines?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePin to the Earth 1U
ReplyDeleteEnchantment- Aura C
Enchant Creature
Enchanted creature gets -6/-0 and loses flying.
*cough*
For sure.
DeletePoor Grounded.
DeleteUgh, that's another card I hate.
DeleteWhy couldn't it just be:
Ground
Instant, 2G
Choose one —
• Destroy target creature with flying.
• Destroy target artifact.
Print it in DA and Avacyn Restored, who cares? To waste a 1 word name on that card and then not even go for the double meaning.
I don't think creative would love a design based off a pun, especially when they have to print the game in multiple languages.
DeleteGrounded is one of my favorite bad cards (it probably helps that I really hate Plummet).
I love Torment's mental disorder cycle, but I've always found Necrophobia disappointing (plus, black fearing death ?!). Here's my take on replacing it :
ReplyDeleteParanoia 2B
Enchantement (C)
1B, discard a card : Target player discards a card at random. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a Sorcery.
1B, sacrifice CARDNAME : Target player discards a card at random. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a Sorcery.
I said "Necrophobia" but I think in English it's called "Mortiphobia" (is that even a real word ?).
DeleteThe English card is called Mortiphobia, which I believe is a word they made up for the card. I like this card much much better (especially the name). Good work!
DeleteWe generally avoid instant speed discard to avoid the terrible feeling of drawing just what you wanted only to have it ripped away right before you cast it. Occasionally there's an exception made for a card like Mardu Charm that needs to be an instant for other reasons, but a repeatable effect like this one could do that every turn. That's simply too far.
DeleteWOTC keeps printing these common "return two creatures from your graveyard to your hand" cards that seem awesome but see no play because they are negative infinity tempo.
ReplyDeleteThe following version also riffs on some earlier discussions about making Morph mysterious.
Dutiful Return 3BB
Sorcery - (C)
Return up to two creatures from your graveyard to your hand. Add BBB to your mana pool.
I didn't get what was going on (with regard to morph) the first time I read this! Neat!
DeleteThough we've seen this recently, it is most certainly no longer part of black's color pie. This card would need to be {B}{R}, {B}{G}, or perhaps mono {G}.
DeleteWe've seen this very recently (Liturgy of Blood). I asked Mark if it was still in Black's color pie, but unfortunately he didn't reply, so I'm going to error on the side of assuming that it is. Note this definitely isn't a ritual, you just get a retroactive discount. I don't think it is much different than the ever present "swamps produce extra B" ability.
DeleteThat said, I think this design is pushing a bit at the edges of the color pie, but I think a little pushing is needed if WOTC is going to keep printing this kind of card, and if this is a bleed at all, I think it is a very gentle one.
Creatures that grow (put a +1/+1 counter) based on some activation are a lot of fun (one of the first deck I ordered cards for was built around Mortician Beetle). Relying on your opponent can make those cards pretty boring though. Here's one revised:
ReplyDeleteCosi's Trickster U
Creature - Merfolk
When CARDNAME attacks, if the defending player controls a nonbasic land, CARDNAME gets +1/+1 and can't be blocked until end of turn.
1/1
Champion a creature was a neat attempt, but left the player open to 2-for-1 blow outs. How about this:
ReplyDeleteNova Chaser
3R
Creature- Elemental
Rare
10/2
Trample
Champion an Elemental (As an additional cost to cast Nova Chaser, choose an Elemental you control. That card is exiled as long as Nova Chaser remains on the battlefield.)
Illus: Dan Scott
http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lcifloBcvy1qe8zf1o1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJP67HANH6OVWEMMQ&Expires=1418026416&Signature=1c7j0RAtAssuACg%2BWXenbv%2Fy5QU%3D#_=_
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI like this idea a lot. It bothers me that you can sacrifice the championed creature with Nova Chaser on the stack, though (at least I assume that's how the current wording works; otherwise you have to account for cases like Nova Chaser being countered).
DeleteI'm not such a rules expert to make a clear wording that eliminates the 2x1 problem with Champion.
DeleteBut to me, the most important issue is the flavor one. I know what's behind the mechanic as it was, my argument is that flavor was not very compelling, clear, and "cool" enough.
[check this: http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/53126275286/did-you-like-the-champion-mechanic]
I would like Champion to o get the "Chroma-Devotion" treatment, with a streamlined wording and gameplay, and a more clear flovor justification (which is to me the "evolving" idea)
This challenge should be called "Hindsight is 20/20" because my design would have been extremely unlikely back when the card was originally printed.
ReplyDeleteOriss, Samite Guardian (RARE) 1WW
Legendary Creature - Human Cleric 1/3
T: Prevent all damage that would be dealt to target creature this turn.
Grand gesture - 1WW, Exile NAME: Prevent all damage that would be dealt to target creature this turn. If damage is prevented this way, Oriss deals that much damage to target creature or player.
So originally in Future Sight, this card had Grandeur, a mechanic that lets you discard copies of the Legendary Creature for powerful effects. WotC was trying to do something about the old Legendary rules that made drawing extra copies a severe downside (if played, both creatures go to the graveyard.) Who would have known in 2007 that a singleton format like Commander was going to become so popular? Plus, who knew that in 2009 damage would no longer go on the stack, allowing for more powerful sacrifice effects?
i choose this design because it plays nicely with Commander, and under the old rules it accomplishes the goal of letting you cast your second copy of a Legendary Creature. I do acknowledge the ability may be too strong for a time when you could put damage on the stack, then exile for the effect.
I adore this.
DeleteThere are a good number of advantages over Grandeur here, but it's a little bit less to the point when it comes to doing what Grandeur was intended for: getting rid of the bad feeling when you draw a fresh copy of the legend. Even if the battlefield version is free, it still 'costs' as much as the legend instead of being free. That doesn't necessarily mean it's not a better alternative, but it does mean it's not an easy replacement.
DeleteTrue about having to pay mana for the second copy. On the otherhand, unlike Grandeur, you don't need to wait until you draw another copy of the Legendary Creature before using a Grand gesture effect.
DeleteI was actually a bit confused that they focused so much on the cost of the effect when designing the Grandeur abilities. But, maybe I am just looking at things completely backwards. I thought the promise of Grandeur was "here's something powerful to do when you draw extra copies of this legendary creature." Maybe Jules is right that it was really "Here's a powerful effect you can activate for no mana, but the other cost is extremely high." I never considered the mana free element of the effect being the important part.
Search the City 3U
ReplyDeleteEnchantment (Rare)
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, exile the top seven cards of your library.
Whenever you play a card, you may put a card with the same name exiled with CARDNAME into your hand. Then if there are no cards exiled with CARDNAME, you win the game.
This looks clean and fun (if maybe a bit undercosted).
DeleteI also got annoyed with Search the City as it seemed like an odd casual card that didn't go in Commander, which irks me since Commander is the most popular casual format.
DeleteHow about...
Search the City [4UU]
Enchantment
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, exile the top five cards of your library.
Whenever a Gate enters the battlefield under your control, you may play a card exiled with CARDNAME without paying its mana cost. If there are no cards exiled with CARDNAME, sacrifice it and take an extra turn after this one.
Mitotic Manipulation 1UU
ReplyDeleteSorcery (R)
Look at the top seven cards of your library. You may put one of those cards onto the battlefield if it has the same name as a permanent. If you don't, put one of those cards into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
I got a Mirrodin Besieged booster box for a birthday and pulled one too many of these. It never felt worth it to run, because you maybe get a land maybe or you find something you would have liked to draw and ship it to the bottom. This version gives you an opt out if you whiff or prefer a good spell to a bad permanent.
Also, if anyone can remake Consecrated Sphinx in a way that doesn't warp Commander games, I'm all ears.
Feedback appreciated as always.
I like this design. I hate cards that led to "feel bad" moments, prime example cards that have a (too great) possibility to completely whiff. Your adjustment greatly helps that way.
DeleteI think this design has the serious problem that people will now play this for the "opt out" part and the "you can put it into play" part will just be occasional gravy. The textbox is now basically:
DeleteLook at the top seven cards of your library. Put one of those cards into your hand. If it shares a name with a permanent you control, you may put it onto the battlefield instead. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
This is like a super powered Scout the Borders, and I fear the effect that the card was designed around will be lost.
Unrelatedly, this effect never really felt blue to me to begin with. I think I'm more inclined to print the original design but for 1RR instead.
If you want to remove the risk, I'd be inclined to do it this way:
Exile the top seven cards of your library. You may put one of those cards onto the battlefield if it has the same name as a permanent. If you don't, return ~ to your hand.
Griselbrand 4BBB
ReplyDeleteLegendary Creature - Demon (M)
Flying, Lifelink
3BBB, Pay 6 life: Draw six cards.
6/6
You have to drop this to cmc 6 for symmetry's sake. :)
DeleteMaro has commented that he thought Griselbrand ought to have had cmc 7.
Its mythic, so its not like being over powered (compared to non-mythics) has ever been a big concern at WotC.
Or bump everything up to 13 for giggles...
DeleteAlas, it was a typo!
DeleteYou're absolutely right, and the real core of my design was indeed the symmetry and elegance of the repeated six's (and the addition of the mana cost in the activation, to keep it from being broken and banned in Commander, which I find an incredible shame)
Nice.
Delete"Draw six cards" is an ugly line of text that causes way more loss of ascetic than the 7's on Griselbrand.
DeleteTo elaborate, I mean that because "7 cards" has such intrinsic meaning in Magic and in Magic history.
DeleteGood observation, but I feel the 666 succession conveys a stronger "demonic" flavor.
DeleteIf nobody does it, I can happily make the renders.
ReplyDeleteThanks, P.
DeleteSubmissions are officially closed (though P can accept late changes if he feels like it.)
Here are the renders:
Deletehttp://pforpizza.tumblr.com/post/104689272623
and
http://pforpizza.tumblr.com/post/104689187403
Thank you!
DeleteEmmara Tandris [5GW]
ReplyDeleteLegendary Creature — Elf Shaman
CARDNAME's power is equal to the total power on token creatures you control.
CARDNAME's toughness is equal to the total toughness on token creatures you control.
When Selesnya needed a champion, Emmara put the ranks of her guild before herself — making her the perfect choice.
[*/*]
This requires a gross amount of math, and is particularly tricky when, as is very likely, your tokens die during combat.
DeleteThe card is also bad (which isn't a design problem) because even in the best case scenario where you have a ton of tokens this thing is still just a big vanilla creature, and those are very limited in their use. This will almost never be better than Vorstclaw. I think this could probably cost 1GW.
Yeah, right, it could at least have trample.
DeleteWhy not switch it and Voice of Resurgence as R+D originally planned to do?
Delete