Friday, November 24, 2017

Weekend Art Challenge 112417—Akeiron

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 spell card for this illustration.

32 comments:

  1. Render Speechless UU
    Instant (C)
    Choose one:
    - Counter target noncreature spell unless its pays 3
    - Target creature gets -3/-0 until end of turn

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    Replies
    1. I love the concept of this (and Hold your Tongue, and Baba Yaga's Bane)

      Delete
    2. Nice.
      I think I prefer the flavor and gameplay as presented, but there's an argument for countering creature spells instead.

      Delete
  2. Channel Soul UUG
    Instant - R
    Counter target spell. Put X +1/+1 counter on target creature you control where X is equal to that spell’s converted mana cost.

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    Replies
    1. COunter target CREATURE* spell may be more inline with the flavor

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    2. And if that’s the case, perhaps UG would be a good enough cmc given the restriction.

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    3. This is generally weaker than Draining Whelk though it's occasionally much better. The fact that you can't cast Channel Soul at all when you don't have a creature is certainly relevant. I think blue-green is correct, though I imagine the cost is closer to 4-5 mana. Seems like a card that should happen at some point.

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    4. Not a slam dunk for the art, but close enough.

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    5. This already exists (Trap Essence in KTK at {U}{R}{G}), but it's a concept I feel like is somewhat unexplored. And UG is definitely the right combination for this effect.

      Delete
  3. Harvest the Helpless
    UB
    Sorcery - Uncommon
    Choose one:
    -Freeze target creature. (Tap it. The next time it would untap, instead it becomes unfrozen.)
    -Destroy target tapped creature.

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    Replies
    1. I really enjoy both halves of this. Especially how Freeze prevents the first time it would untap regardless of how. I just want to figure out a way to Entwine this card.

      Delete
    2. Yeah, this is great for the art, and a fun pairing of blue and black abilities; we just really need a way to get both effects sometimes.

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    3. Conditional-rebound would be particularly funny (though not ideal for a cycle).

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    4. Maybe something like:

      Harvest the Helpless
      1UB
      Sorcery - Uncommon
      Choose one:
      -Freeze target creature.
      -Destroy target tapped creature.
      Retwine (Choose both if you exile a card that shares a name with this spell from your graveyard as you cast it.)

      Delete
    5. Better for Constructed than Limited, especially at uncommon. But I think the idea has potential:

      Harvest the Helpless
      1UB
      Sorcery - Uncommon
      Choose one:
      -Freeze target creature.
      -Destroy target tapped creature.
      Flashback—Cast a spell named ~.

      Delete
  4. Hold Your Tongue 2W
    Instant (u)
    Put target creature on top of its owner's library. Then that player may scry 1.
    CARDNAME costs 1 less to cast for each activated ability that's been activated this turn.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting! In most sets this would probably be "The owner of target creature chooses to put it on the top or bottom of his or her library.", However in a set with Scry matters as a theme, giving your opponent a Scry is really interesting.

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    2. What Wobbles said about scry. Except the choice feels weak. Sometimes the creature will be small enough it's irrelevant, but mostly a known two-drop will be better than a card that's 40% likely to be land, and much moreso when you're bouncing something worth bouncing.

      They've been shifting bounce-to-deck out of white into blue for years now; I could see them doing it in white again if the rest of the ability felt super white. Caring what your opponent is doing feels white, but caring what you're doing feels blue. If this isn't going to be blue or white-blue, it at least needs to not be strictly better than blue's best version of this, Griptide.

      I like the cost-reduction-via-activations mechanic, and how it connects to this art.

      Delete
    3. I was thinking 3U was the baseline for this, too, until I saw Anchor to the AEther was better in multiple ways. I know this was U/W, then U; but I think it's clearly W in my book. The choice might feel insignificant some of the time, but it evades some of the frustration/locking of ousting a creature to the top.

      Hidden feature: bounce a token you don't need to get a scry!

      Delete
  5. Baba Yaga's Bane 1B
    Enchantment - Aura
    Enchant creature you don't control
    When enchanted creature dies, its controller discards two cards and loses 2 life.

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    Replies
    1. As much as I like the tensions in this design, I wonder how often it's actually going to get triggered.

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    2. Cool. This will often remove a creature that can't attack or block with guaranteed survival. And sometimes you just murder the target to make this a better Mind Rot. Seems like a real card (in the right set).

      Delete
  6. Yaga's Reaving
    XB
    Sorcery
    Destroy target creature with converted mana cost X. Its controller reveals their hand and discards a card with converted mana cost X.

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    Replies
    1. Very cool. Powerful enough for Legacy.

      Delete
    2. Thank you!

      Wait, I forgot to add "nonland". It's powerful enough, even if it doesn't kill a creature, it shouldn't be de-landing people's hands on turn 1.

      Delete
    3. I think you need a creature in play for it to work - so you can de-land a hand that's got a memnite or dryad arbor in play, but otherwise you can't cast the spell? I think?

      Delete
    4. Ah, right good point. Thank you. I think I originally intended "destroy target creature if it has CMC equal to" so you could use either half of the card, but I think needing a creature to work is clear and better flavour.

      OK, lets cancel that addition and leave it as it was.

      Delete
    5. If the opponent has more than one card with that CMC, who chooses? If it's them, they should only reveal if they don't have something to discard.

      This is strong, but probably printable. It's worse removal then Disembowel which was never great. The power comes from being a two-for-one, and that's not guaranteed (without some work). Seems like this will (often but not always) create some neat choices.

      Do note that you can also get their land if they have a token creature. "Non-land" is probably just necessary despite how rarely it will come up.

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    6. Thank you.

      "If the opponent has more than one card with that CMC, who chooses?"

      Oops, I hadn't that was ambiguous. Like, "discard a card" always means opponent chooses. But it's true, whenever the opponent reveals their hand, the text is always "discard all cards that..." or "choose a card. they discard that card". I guess I could reverse the order, "discard a card, or if they can't, reveals their hand"

      Delete
  7. Sap Power
    Sorcery
    Target opponent discards a card looses a life and up to one target creature they control gets -1/-1 until eot
    You draw a card gain one life and up to one target creature you control gets +1/+1 until eot
    "draining life, thoughts or strength is easy draing all at once is madness"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sap Power looks like a Smallpox that's the opposite of symmetrical: instead of hitting you the same as your opponent, it helps you the opposite. A mini-Cruel Ultimatum. That's appealing.

      This could be mono-black, or Grixis or even four-color-not-red.

      At this price, definitely rare. Usually a three-for-one and sometimes a four-for-one. Might need to cost one more regardless.

      Delete