Cool Card Design of the Day4/26/2016 - The trick to fixing the awkward templating of old cards like Animate Dead is not to try to duplicate them precisely. If you preserve what made them cool to begin with, but forget about the rest, modern technology can serve up a clean homage that's interesting in its own right.
(And, yes, this is another card exploring re-targetable auras like Alpha Designation.)
I feel like I would only feel happy with this card if I was abusing it, either by getting out a monster on turn 3 or by using sacrifice to avoid the exile with a bunch of ETB triggers. I think I would like this card more if it felt like unearth.
ReplyDeleteThis is too abusable to be costed so that it can be played in decks that just want it as is. Maybe restrict to one activation per turn?
ReplyDeleteI emphatically agree with the "design a card with the same central idea, but just use sensible templating, don't try to recreate all the old quirks".
ReplyDeleteI wonder could we even use "until" technology, say a non-aura with "return target creature card from the graveyard to the battlefield until ~ leaves the battlefield"?
I like the movable aura idea, but I don't know if we need it here: you're getting a creature out of it anyway, not having that is the problem most auras have.
I agree; this seems like a good job for Banishing Light technology.
DeleteYeah, just not on an aura.
DeleteAnimating Lifeforce
ReplyDeleteCreature - Spirit
⌛1B: If CARDNAME is a creature, return target creature from your graveyard to the battlefield. CARDNAME becomes a noncreature aura attached to that creature.
When CARDNAME leaves the battlefield, exile a creature.
1/1
Unearth (Not The Urza's Legacy One) 1B
1B: Stabilize 1 (If this permanent isn't stable, put a charge counter on it and it becomes stable.)
When CARDNAME becomes stable, return target
creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. When CARDNAME leaves the battlefield, sacrifice that creature.
I feel like there should be something in the monstrosity/renowned vein worth mining, but I haven't found it yet. Maybe Soulbond? Or DFCs?
Lifegiving Animator 2B
Creature - Human Cleric
When ~ enters the battlefield, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield paired with ~.
Whenever either paired creature would leave the battlefield, exile both.
1/1
Necrotic Animation 1B
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may pay 1B. If you do, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield, then transform ~ and attach it to that creature.
//
Necrotic Lifeforce
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature.
Enchanted creature gets -1/-0.
Whenever ~ would leave the battlefield, exile enchanted creature.
Lifegiving Animator is where my mind went when Jack mentioned "until" tech. I really dig it.
DeleteRenaissance Revitalist 2BB
DeleteCreature - Human Wizard
When ~ enters the battlefield, return target creature from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control. It's a black Zombie in addition to its other types.
When ~ dies, exile each zombie you control.
2/2
As a way to do it without "paired" technology. I guess this suffers from Oblivion Ring problems but honestly I'm not worried.
Does "Return a creature from a graveyard to the battlefield until ~ LTB" work?
DeleteReally cool!
ReplyDeleteHere is a version I'm going to try slotting into my constructed format: http://imgur.com/BN6oWPh
I tweaked the wording to avoid abuse cases where you can get something back without it being enchanted by the aura.
TumbledMTG, the Constructed Format: https://goo.gl/HtaesQ