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 white card for this art.
Guardian of Battle 3W
ReplyDeleteCreature - Spirit Soldier (Unc)
2/3
Flash, Vigilance
When ~ ETBs, creatures you control get +1/+1 UEOT.
Line of Battle W
DeleteInstant (C)
Each creature you control gets +1/+1 UEOT if you control another creature that shares a type with it.
Crush Underhoof (1W)
DeleteInstant (Unc)
Attacking creatures get +1/+1 UEOT and blocking creatures get -1/-1 UEOT.
Sticking with Guardian of Battle as my submission for now, but not sure. Any suggestions?
DeleteIn the right set (and we are due for a heavy tribal block any day now) line of battle is a great and printable common. Very subtle design that points towards a theme without putting you on rails.
DeleteCrush under hoof is in a weird spot...I'm not sure this would ever work in mono-white except in new Phyrexia (or with the word flanking on it somewhere). I like it quite a bit though.
Guardian of battle is a fine card, if un exciting (to me personally).
Both Guardian of Battle and Line of Battle are serviceable, but unexciting to me as well.
DeleteCrush Underhoof reads like a green card flavorwise and a black card mechanics-wise. (Compare: Subtle Strike.)
Guardian of Battle is a lovely white uncommon. I might even remove vigilance so we can focus on it being a surprise 3/4 that boosts your team at instant speed. Real solid.
DeleteEmboldened Charge
ReplyDelete1WW
Instant - Uncommon
Put a +1/+1 counter on each attacking creature you control.
This is really neat. Good job!
DeleteI think this effect is simple enough for common. How would you cost it if it was?
DeleteMaybe 2WW, same as Inspired Charge? Anthem-y effects tend to be hard to do at lower rarities (e.g. Travel Preparations which was ridiculous in limited)
DeleteI think you're right. Although I could see it at 4W for a common. Terrible, but about on par with how terrible commons are nowadays.
DeleteIf Dev wanted to, I could see Emboldened Charge at common or at {1}{W} (but this is a safe and reasonable cost/rarity). Looks hella fun. Would save for a counters-matter set.
DeleteCrusader of Lost Alara 1WW
ReplyDeleteCreature - Spirit Knight (U)
Other white creatures you control get +1/+1.
Other Knight creatures you control get +1/+1.
2/2
Would put mono white knights on the map. Love it
Delete...and spectral rider just sat up in his saddle.
DeleteBam. Would want Dev to make sure +2/+2 for all your first striking bears isn't just too much in some format, but if they're good with it, yeah, sweet.
DeleteAkroma's Advantage 1W
ReplyDeleteInstant (C)
Creatures you control have first strike, vigilance, trample, haste, and protection from black and from red until end of turn.
Where's flying?!
DeleteDoes having two abilities that are useless at instant speed warrant sorcery speed? Probably not.
They clearly aren't flying in the art. Also, that probably jumps this to uncommon and adds at least 2-3 mana, which makes the haste awkward.
DeleteThe sorcery/instant thing is a bit weird. Three of the abilities are much more useful at instant, so that's what I went with.
I see what you're going for, outside of a duel deck or some sort of theme deck, this doesn't work (in pie).
DeleteIndestructible could replace both protection abilities, cutting down of space and complexity. Removing vigilance and adding the phrase "untap them" at the end eliminates the nonbo of casting it mid combat:".
Trample...into lifelink? Not really a suitable replacement...double str- I'm not even going to say it.
I like the intent, but she was so "wrong" as a monoWhite card this makes me a little uncomfortable.
I really can't see this as a common. Protection really doesn't appear at that rarity anymore, and trample and haste send the wrong message.
DeleteIf you're going to Akroma, you have to go full Akroma and include flying, even if that makes the card uncommon or rare (which a card the references Akroma wants to be anyhow) and/or increases the mana cost.
DeleteAn instant version of Akroma's Memorial has a lot of appeal.
And if you don't go full Akroma, you should satisfy the color pie:
Delete"Creatures you control gain first strike, vigilance, pro: red, and pro: black until EOT."
Which is just awkward enough I'd simplify it to "Creatures you control gain pro:everything until EOT."
Spectral Resistance XW
ReplyDeleteInstant rare
Return target creature card with converted mana cost X from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control.
Creatures you control get +X+X until end of turn where X is that creatures power.
This feels either Orzhov or Selesnya (or Abzan) to me. It's really efficient for a white reanimation spell and the pump effect is pretty strong.
Delete3W, returning Ball Lightning...living the dream
This card is crazy exciting. Turn two: raise the alarm/dragon fodder. T3: ball lightning. T4: this, attack for 20!
DeleteThat'd be sick!
DeleteI think a rally effect might make it more acceptable. How about:
Spectral Resistance XW
Instant rare
Return target creature card with converted mana cost X from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control. Exile it at the beginning the next end step.
Creatures you control get +X+X until end of turn where X is that creatures power.
You can't have two x's. What if you reanimated based on power?
DeleteMy first thought was Phyrexian Dreadnought.
DeleteReanimating based on power would solve the X problem, but there's some pretty gnarly stuff with a printed power of 0. (Clones, Hydras, and Sutured Ghoul are a few that come to mind.)
White returns small creatures, but large ones are supposed to be a problem. It also doesn't borrow cards from other player's graveyards. It also doesn't grant P/T more than +1/+1 or +2/+2. If I had to guess the color of Spectral Resistance, I'd say {B}{G} or {B}{R}{G}.
DeleteA couple options (that avoid conflicting Xs entirely):
Spectral Resistance 2WW
Instant rare
Return target creature card with converted mana cost 2 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Creatures you control get +2/+2 until end of turn.
or
Spectral Resistance 2WW
Instant rare
Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
Create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token for each non-Spirit creature you control.
Crusade (Crusade for X) (X's Crusade) {2}{W}{W}
ReplyDeleteEnchantment
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to an opponent, create a 2/2 white Knight creature token.
Celestial Morale {1}{W}{W}
DeleteEnchantment
Whenever a creature an opponent controls dies in combat, create a 2/2 white Knight creature token with vigilance.
The second version appears to "convert" your opponents' creatures into knights. I'm not really feeling that.
DeleteThe first version is a little strong, in that it's tokens can trigger it. You might tone it down with a different trigger (landfall conveys "expansion" or reclaiming territory) or making it so only non-token combat damage could tigger it?
These are both fine cards, but I think the first is too strong and the second is actually a black card.
Ah, i can see that. I was going for 'when the enemy dies, a knight is inspired to fight and rises to the occasion' but it definitely comes across too weakly
DeleteWith a little flavor tweaking, Celestial Morale would make a sweet white/black card:
DeleteHaakon's Levy 1WB
Enchantment (R)
Whenever a creature an opponent controls dies during combat on your turn, create a 2/2 white and black Knight Zombie creature token with vigilance.
I added "on your turn" because it didn't seem right to have it proc off things like Ball Lightning, or two opponents attacking each other in a multiplayer game.
Celestial Morale rewards white for killing creatures in combat. White loves honorable combat, but reveling in death still feels off. That it also reads like you're making Knight-flavored Zombies is a problem too. Could we turn it around and trigger off our own creatures dying in combat? "Whenever a nontoken creature you control dies during combat…" feels more like we're taking up the banner of our fallen comrades.
DeleteDesperate Tactics 1W
ReplyDeleteInstant (C)
Until end of turn, creatures you control get+0/+3 and gain first strike.
I mean no disrespect: this reads like a Homelands card.
DeleteLSP's will look at it and scratch their heads. If you made it modal (because there are very few times both bonuses would be simultaneously relevant) the card would appear to be offense OR defense as opposed to offense AND defense.
There will be some rare circumstances where both halves of this card matter, but we won't see them because so few will play this. It just feels bad how much these abilities don't combo. Which is a shame because "Until end of turn, creatures you control gain first strike" has never been done and would be really sweet at {W}. In the right deck, it's even playable at {1}{W}, which means DT is too, except DT looks bad because of its dissonance.
DeleteNo offense taken, Mike George. Thanks to both of you for your constructive criticism. I was enamored with this cryptic design, wanting the player to feel clever when using the various abilities in different situations. But you're right, the card reads poorly (even if it is quite strong in my opinion). I fell in the trap of making a design that's clever (and fun in a twisted way to my Mel design sensibility) but not fun for the players.
DeleteAstral direction. 1W
ReplyDeleteInstant. (U)
Exile target creature you control until end of turn.
Create a token that's a copy of that creature except its a spirit, has haste, and has "exile this permanent at end of turn."
Maybe Dr Strange had something to do with this.
The first line is very white, and then the second line is very red, coming together to tell a story of astral projection, which is pretty blue (but arguably also white).
DeleteWith the exception of ETB and LTB triggers, this is effectively "target creature gains indestructible (and is a spirit) until EOT" which is plenty white.
I think I'd either embrace the redness and/or blueness or else focus on the whiteness.