Friday, October 28, 2016

Weekend Art Challenge 102816—James Zapata

Click through to see the illustration and design requirements for your single card submission, due Monday morning. Every submission warrants feedback, which you may use to revise your submission any number of times. I will aim to review the most recent submission from each designer.


Design a non-creature card for Timmy.

59 comments:

  1. Gaze into the Abyss 5BB
    Enchantment
    Players can't look at their hands.
    3: Exile a card at random from your hand face up. You may play that card without paying its casting cost this turn. Any player may activate this ability.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gaze into the Abyss 4BB
      Enchantment
      Players can't look at or play spells from their hands.
      0: Exile a card at random from your hand face up. You may play that card this turn. Any player may activate this ability.

      Delete
    2. I think the wording on that ability needs to be changed to not use 'you' but 'the player who activated the ability' or something. I like the second one better! It's scarier.

      Delete
    3. Transfixed by the Abyss 5BB
      Enchantment - Aura Curse
      Enchant Player
      Enchanted player can't look at or play spells from his or her hand.
      0: Exile a card at random from your hand face up. You may play that card this turn. Only the enchanted player may activate this ability.

      Delete
    4. I think the card is mono black, even though it uses typically red mechanics to get there.

      Delete
    5. REVIEW
      This is a truly unique card, making what is normally private information, hidden information. The cursed player can't see their own hand and so don't know which card to play when.

      That forces you to take a chance that any given card in your hand is playable and relevant, which could go wrong if you don't have enough mana to cast it, or it's your second land for the turn, or it's something you don't want right now, like a combat trick or board wipe.

      Because if you can't play is this turn, it's exiled forever. Rough. But this is a seven-mana mythic, so maybe that's okay? I don't think there are a ton of good ways to cheat out expensive enchantments early.

      It's a really interesting question whether this card is black or what. Both the "at random" and the "play it this turn" are super red mechanisms, but it is very possible for one color to use another's mechanisms in a way that better fits the borrowing color's philosophy and playstyle. What experience does Transfixed create? Is it black because I'm disrupting your hand, or I've attacked your mind? Or is it red because you're now playing chaotically, by the seat of your pants?

      Finally, do players get to see what cards they draw before they go into their hand? I might've guessed not, except for Miracle. If so, at least you have an idea what your possible hits and misses are at any given moment.

      Delete
    6. Is this a Tammy card? I think so… It creates an experience, and Tammy enjoys experiences. Does it matter that it's your opponent's experience and you're just watching?

      It's definitely not a Spike or Johnny card. At least not until there's a way to benefit from playing your own cards at random.

      Delete
    7. I think that randomness is Red when you're doing it to yourself, Red and Rakdos when you're doing it to everyone, and black when you're doing it to your opponent. The art was very black, so that's where there card ultimately wound up.

      Delete
    8. I don't know that it's "just" an opponent's experience, every time a card gets flipped it's exciting for the table.

      Delete
  2. Travese the Eternities 3cc
    Instant (u)
    Return target creturn to its owner's hand. That player may put a creature card from their hand onto the battleground under their control.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This costs {3}{C}{C}, right? Just checking.

      This seems more Johnny to me, than Tammy. You're only ever casting it on your own creature.

      Delete
    2. Yes it's colorless. Maybe it's better as:
      Traverse the Eternities 3cc
      Sorcery u
      Exile target creature. It's controller may put a creature card from their hand onto the battlefield under their control.

      This way it functions as hard removal with a big effect for Timmy of spending 2 cards to cheat his huge eldrazi into play.

      Delete
    3. REVIEW
      This colorless spell is hard removal for any creature, but comes with the steep price that your opponent might replace it with something even nastier, something even more Eldrazi than Traverse the Eternities.

      Alternately, you can polymorph your own creature to cheat out your own Emrakul, the Promised End (at sorcery speed, and not as an additional cost, meaning your ritual can be countered if they kill your sacrifice in response …just like Polymorph).

      I could see this at uncommon in a set that wants you to do this in Limited. I could also see shaving a mana off and making it rare.

      The offensive version seems Timmy (solid effect, with some suspense on how it ends) and Spikey (I make sure you don't have anything good to cheat out), while the defensive version seems Jenny and Timmy. So… yeah. Timmy card. Right?

      Neat.

      Delete
  3. This is not a Timmy card and it's kind of busted and it's not my submission but I like it a lot anyway
    Evil Birth {1}{B}{B}
    Sorcery (u)
    Search your library for a card and manifest it. Then shuffle your library.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Really like this one too, could see it in an expansion that wouldn't be in Standard.

      Delete
  4. Chosen by the Darkness {5}{B}{B}
    Sorcery (rare)
    Gain control of target creature.
    Destroy all other creatures.

    (i know black doesn't normally get much control stealing but i think it's okay in this case? alternatively i could see this being {U}{B}, but i like it being pure black)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. also, i considered the first line specifying 'creature you don't control' but figured it's fine as-is. y/n?

      Delete
    2. Necromantic Selection suggests this is in-color mechanically. The direct control change might not fit quite as well in a color pie sense, but I think this one has better flavor and could see it in a set that "bleeds blue" the way Innistrad bleeds black.

      Delete
    3. Destroy all creatures.
      Put target creature card from any graveyard OTB under your control.

      Delete
  5. Test of the Doroi {4}{B}{B}
    Enchantment - Aura (R)
    Enchant creature
    Whenever enchanted creature attacks, put three +1/+1 counters on it. Then if its power is 10 or greater, sacrifice CARDNAME and destroy all creatures other than enchanted creature.
    {2}{B}, Sacrifice a creature: Return CARDNAME and up to one target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The first part isn't epic enough?

      Delete
    2. The second part is mostly to reduce the feel-bad of losing your creature before this card does anything useful.

      (Then again, Eldrazi Conscription offered no protection beyond the extra toughness and I doubt that hurt its Timmy appeal much. So maybe it's not an issue.)

      Delete
    3. REVIEW
      This aura permanently and cumulatively grows your creature every time it attacks (so, before it deals or takes damage).

      Well, until you get to 10—which you will do two turns after you cast it on a 1/1—when it blows up everything but your massive creature. And it does that before blockers are declared, so you get in 10-12 damage unopposed.

      And if they kill your creature or disenchant your aura (or you get to ultimate it), you can just bring both back. Any number of times.

      Bah-roken.

      Split the two lines of this card up and make two mythic rares. (The first of which will appeal to Timmy and everyone, and the second to Jenny and everyone.)

      Delete
  6. A Mote In God's Eye
    9
    Sorcery - Mythic Rare
    Distribute X +1/+1 counters among any number of target creatures you control and X -1/-1 counters among any number of target creatures you don't control, where X is the highest converted mana cost among creatures you control.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sets don't include both counter types, much less cards. Can one or both parts be UEOT?

      Delete
    2. Original design both were all creatures (+ for you, - for them) UEOT. Probably better for memory issues.

      Delete
    3. REVIEW (of the UEOT version)
      You get to distribute a whole bunch of buffs and debuffs however you like—that could be huge and should be effective—and the random variable is the cost of your biggest creature, something most Timmies won't exactly be loathe to optimize anyhow. IDK what the cost is, and I probably want this green-black or mono-black rather than colorless (but I could see it), but yeah. Super-Timmy. The task of optimally distributing all those +s and -s is pretty Spikey, so this is Timmy-Spikey, but still/ (And not being an instant helps… I think?)

      Delete
  7. One more.

    The art is so black, but I think this design is actually blue? Hell, I'll keep it black.

    Black Mirror {4}{U}{U}{B}{B}
    Sorcery
    For each creature you don't control, create a token that's a copy of that creature.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shoot. I remember why I decided against this one -- memory issues. So many tokens to remember.

      Delete
    2. REVIEW
      Clone Legion that can't target yourself, but targets all opponents. Definitely better for multiplayer.

      Suuuper Tammy: It's a huge effect and we don't know what we're getting.

      Not black at all.

      Delete
  8. Dark Mirror 4BB
    Sorcery (R)
    Search target opponent's hand and the top ten cards of their library for a creature card and put it onto the battlefield with three +1/+1 counters on. It has trample. That player shuffles their library.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Probably choose whether this is meant for hands or decks.

      Delete
    2. REVIEW
      Bribery plus some counters is exciting and very Tammy (also Spike in a metagame with single-card finishers or giant Eldrazi). Limiting Bribery's reach is also commendable, as searching through an opponent's entire deck is invasive and can lead to laborious note-taking, and it also adds liability to this notoriously brutal effect (which is also Timmy, less Spike).

      It feels inelegant to me that I can search your hand and the top cards of your library, though. If this card named one of those two, no one would ever think to miss the other (and we could make that card later on).

      Not sure why Bribery (blue) plus counteres (green) and risk of failure (red) makes this card black.

      Delete
  9. One against All 1B
    Enchantment [Rare]
    Whenever an opponent loses the game, you gain 7 life and draw seven cards.
    1B, Pay 1 life: Each opponent loses 1 life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Should a single two-mana enchantment be able to draw 14 cards?

      Delete
    2. I would argue yes, given curse of vengeance exists.

      Delete
    3. REVIEW
      One Against All is a multiplayer-only card that could do nothing, or it could draw you 7 cards for each opponent you have (the last 7 not mattering since you've won). In the meantime, it makes you enemy number one, since everyone wants to kill you before you enjoy your 7-for-1 (or 14-for-1, or 21-for-1…).

      That's exciting. Very Timmy. It's also pretty Spikey since you have to have supreme confidence in your ability to kill an opponent and stabilize against the entire table before they kill you.

      I've got to compare this with Curse of Vengeance. Curse is identical except it's an aura that targets a single, specific opponent when you cast it, and the reward is variable. That means you've got a chance of talking the other players into not murdering your face immediately: "Hey, it's just 2 cards and 2 life, right now." It also means you can't cast it the second before you deal the finishing blow; you've got to wait for your investment to mature before cashing out. And—while it is possible to get a ton of spite out of the one use—Curse doesn't come back and apply to each of your opponents in turn. For me, Curse sounds a lot more fun to play with and against than One Against All.

      With one exception: Archenemy. Make this an Archenemy scheme, and you're gold.

      Delete
  10. Eternal Moment
    2WW
    Enchantment (Mythic)
    Flash
    Creatures power and toughness can't change (they remain the same as they are when this card enters play or whenever the creature enters play).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is going to run into memory issues, and as worded works better for a digital game.

      The approximate magic solution would be something like:
      All creatures p/t are equal to their printed p/t.

      Delete
    2. It's intentionally meant to break cards like Righteousness and Hold the Line. Forcing it to printed would defeat that purpose

      Delete
    3. Its essentially the problem with Staying Power in black border then.

      Delete
    4. More or less, while being slightly rebalanced with the alternate mode of being a pseudo-Humility so you can't stack effects and reducing future complexity

      Delete
    5. REVIEW
      I see how this is different from Staying Power but I don't see how it's more printable. So let's assume this is for an un-set. That's fine.

      It's cool that this can lock in a Giant Growth or Overrun but it's actually much more likely to lock such out. Partly because it's hard to pay {5}{G}{G}{W}{W} to cast Overrun and Eternal Moment in the same turn, and partly because this enchantment sticks around indefinitely, long after it was beneficial or funny, just making a lot of cards dead (like Grasp of Darkness and Cytoplast Root-Kin). That sounds like a lack of experience to me, which makes this a trap because it will initially draw Tammy in with promises of unending power.

      Also, Staying Power lets you continue to build your creatures up by casting more and more growth effects. Maybe if we laser-focus Eternal Moment as an aura:

      Enchanted creature's power and toughness can't change. (They remain the same as they are when this is attached to it.)

      Delete
  11. Might have some templating to work out with what happens with stuff like Ghave or Graft cards. The idea is you can combo this with stuff like Giant Growth and Overrun to make them permanent (Especially fun with Righteousness and other variants).

    ReplyDelete
  12. Probably too Jenny, but here's what I've got:

    Eternity Armor 6
    Artifact - Equipment (r)
    At the beginning of your end step, you may exile target creature you control. If you do, at the beginning of your next upkeep, return it to the battlefield under your control and attach Eternity Armor to it.
    Equipped creature gets +4/+4 and has “When this creature leaves the battlefield, you gain 4 life.”

    Your creature takes a foray into the Blind Eternities, and comes back wearing a rad piece of armor!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the reward isn't strong enough for equipment so cumbersome. Remember when the creature comes back it has summoning sickness so you have to wait two turns before you can even swing with your Eternity Armored creature and even then all they got is +4/+4...

      Delete
    2. (That said, the weird equip requirement is super cool)

      Delete
    3. Further commenting. If you're accepting it's a J card, might as well go all-out and make this the equip trigger...

      Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control from exile, you may attach Eternity Armor to it.

      Delete
    4. REVIEW
      In Soviet Russia, you don't equip Eternity Armor, Eternity Armor equips you.

      As written, this is the worst life gain card ever, since you can't attack with your creature while equipped (because you ETB'd this turn) and you can't block with it either (since your in exile the whole time).

      That's easily fixed by granting haste as well as +4/+4. But I still want something better than 4 life per round to make this six mana equipment worth waiting for. Perhaps drawing a card, or giving an opponent -4/-4.

      The equip trigger is unique and could be fun if it's worth it. Making you vulnerable while you wait for it turn on sounds risky, though, especially at six mana. This definitely leans Johnny, but if we shore up the above concerns, I can see Tammy enjoying the rolleroaster ride.

      Delete
    5. Definitely an oversight on my part - In my effort to make the text concise, I forgot to re-add haste. The simplest version might be something cheaper so the real value is in the re-re-blinking of fun creatures - fun for Jenny, where equipment in general and especially with lifegain are trend Timmy as well.

      Escapauldron {2}
      Artifact - Equipment
      At the beginning of your end step, you may exile target creature you control. If you do, during your next upkeep, return it to the battlefield and attach Escapauldron to it.
      Equipped creature gets +1/+1, haste, and “When this creature leaves the battlefield, you may gain 2 life.”

      Delete
    6. Excuse my grammar tonight! Hopefully the card will speak for itself.

      Delete