OK Artisans. Emails went out today whether you've made it to the show. If you made it this far and got cut today, you have our deepest condolences, but making it this far demonstrates you know way more about magic than anyone has any business knowing, and I like your chances in the GDS4.
If you did make the top 8, CONGRATULATIONS and we know you can't confirm it, but we're rooting for you to go all the way.
If you did get cut and want to commiserate, this is the place to do it. If you want to show off your design test so we can see what a great asset you would be to R&D, this is also the place to do it. If you want to write postmodern poetry, this isn't the place to do it, but I sure can't stop you.
Lightningbolt arriveth shockandahalf toosoon, asearingspear asearingspear javlessone aflame. Tuff.
ReplyDeleteBoon two but not by whooperg you may recall, a long time ago don't you know, she sighed. A sign! "It was two to do three," She sighed. "Order up two but not one, two too many those days."
These days the greater stomps the lands for keys, the same a base rate a good rate, a big guy gone bigger. Accept your limitations, ne'er grow, ne'er 'gain. A shame, an envious emerald shane.
Ten brows! The light's out! Writ, I ween, twas not my wish, to gain so much for so little. Bebibi in one and done. Cabals glitter everafter, break the mold.
Last least loved is salvaged for beauty forgotten hope save, hope halved, getsbigger in gold. Let it go. While others my fight the fight, while fight ensues, prayer vents hope away above. Let it go.
In order to maintain the anonymity of the top 8, postmodern poetry seems like the way to go.
DeleteI also like the "Dimir" tag. Perhaps poetry is how they encode their ciphers?
DeleteI can tell this isn't real postmodern poetry. It isn't indecipherable enough-- I can form some idea of what the author's getting at.
DeleteSeriously, nicely done.
bravo
DeleteI say we add a link to our landing page welcoming new readers and encouraging them to see what our website is all about and linking them to this comment.
DeleteRUGBW
DeleteCONGRATULATIONS indeed to any and all who made it! Massive props and I'll be rooting for you all the way!
ReplyDeleteHere are my own submissions for anyone who's interested, feedback very much appreciated.
DeleteRifle through Notes - Love it. Simple, clean, glad to see it at #1, it's solid.
DeleteMathematical Rabbits - I think this causes a lot of play issues in a way that's difficult to balance.
Fire when Ready - This looks like a card that could be an uncommon with the abilities keyworded, but rare when you have to spell them out.
Star-Crossed Lover - This doesn't feel RU to me color-pie wise. Red yes, but blue's a bit of a stretch.
Inverted Spellbook - This is a silver-border card. There are too many implicit rules changes necessary to make this work, despite the simple rules. This would be a rules addition on the order of mindslaver for way less payoff. That said, it's very adventurous and that's a good thing (TM)
Haughty Impunity - I like this. It's common, and it's clean. This should be higher (Play Design might bump it to 2 mana, but that's not an issue with the design)
Jack the Hydra Farm pushes planeswalker design in three ways. It has a loyalty ability with a sort-of additional cost. It creates land tokens. It has an additional static ability. I think one of those would make for a clever card, but all three makes a busy one. This is a bit of a kitchen sink design in that you threw a bunch of cool things together to try to make a cool thing. I think less could be more here?
Dauntless Companions - I get the feeling this was a keyword? I think the type/rarity restrictions bit you here. As a standalone spelled out card, this should be a rare creature. If the ability gets to be a keyword, it can bump down to other things.
Playground Taunting - This is a lot of work for what is essentially a punisher effect, and one with a minor payoff at that. If the creature can block profitably, it will. If it can't, it won't. It's an interesting space to play in, but I think there are applications with better gameplay.
"Enchanted creature attacks each turn if able, and must be blocked if able."
Jill, Templating Explorer - I get it, this one is playing around in new space. I think this is another spot where you could have explored one of your new things instead of three.
I think overall you had some really clean designs, some that suffered from the 'no keywords' rule, and some that blurred the line between exploratory design and going right off the edge of the map.
I think the key to navigating this challenge will end up involving designers that avoid leaning on keywords which have to be spelled out, and who demonstrate knowledge of the current mechanical palette while carefully probing new space. I don't doubt that you have these qualities, but I think some of these cards don't demonstrate it as much as will turn out to be necessary. Keep chugging!
I think you were pretty spot-on with a lot of the notes you gave yourself, but I've got a couple too.
DeleteRifle through Notes - I am a Melvin through and through and I love cards like this. I think it's placed well and I like it as an instant to fit in with UR's playstyle. One potential downside is that this can be read as "Loot, then draw" which doesn't feel very red. I know the intention was for it to feel more like a loot and a rummage mashed together, but there's a chance that doesn't come through.
Mathematical Rabbits - I'd definitely lose hexproof from this. I know you don't want your pattern to be interrupted, but hexproof is a dangerous mechanic and this will tear up limited. I think it would be smarter (even if less clever) to just name this "Fibonacci's Rabbits" or something, because it's not immediately apparent to most people that the Fibonnaci sequence will arise from this. There's a strong chance that MaRo wouldn't have picked up on that in the middle of grading 1000 card designs.
You May Fire When Ready - I like this card a lot if it's using a set mechanic, but it doesn't stand out as well without it. I think that restriction was easily one of the hardest parts of the challenge, as it really forced you to rely on stand-alone designs. This should probably be rare as well.
Star-Crossed Lovers - I commend you on playtesting it, because it's not immediately apparent how it will play. Very cool top-down design, though.
Inverted Spellbook - I like it as an Un-card. Side note: Yugioh did it first (Convulsion of Nature).
Haughty Impunity - 4 life seems like a lot and I'm not sure if "Target creature gets indestructible, gain 4 life" feels mono-black. I do like the hybrid indestructible, but I think a different runner may have worked better. Also, as a stand-alone card it may have been stronger with something other than the enchantment theme - it just feels a bit out of place (without context).
Jack the Hydra Farmer - I do think there's a lot going on here. A bunch of new stuff that doesn't really seem to have a common thread running through it.
Dauntless Companions - Definitely looks better keyworded, but this mechanic would have been ok to include if it was on a "hero" card like you mentioned. This card doesn't let any of the flavor of the mechanic come through.
Playground Taunting - Not sure how it plays, but my intuition says it doesn't do a whole lot more than 'target creature can't block' most of the time. Would this read better as "target creature can only block enchanted creature"? Not sure.
Jill, Templating Explorer - Clever ideas, but I'm worried it doesn't show too much card design prowess. The abilities don't synergize well and I'd at least want her to stick around after the ultimate. As for the new templates, "creature of yours" seems ambiguous whether it means "creature you control" or "creature you own". "Next upkeep" seems fine. "Appears" feels a bit odd, but I imagine that's just because it's different - I don't see much wrong with this one other than maybe some clarity issues (if I morph a creature face-up, is it appearing?).
--
A lot of cool ideas, but probably too clever for your own good in a few spots. Would be nice to see some solid, simple cards here and there. On the other hand, maybe all of your cards have to wow MaRo and there's no room for solid, simple cards.
Rifle Through Notes is totes Mel. One of the cards I might've submitted if we could use keywords was a fuse split card with draw-2-discard-1 on the blue half and discard-1-draw-2 on the red half.
DeleteI love that you nailed the Fibonacci sequence with Math Rabbits, but yeah, the hexproof is a problem, and you're right about that knife's edge.
As discussed recently, I like the idea of cards you can cast with energy. The biggest strike against Fire When Ready is that first ability. Being able to convert {2} into {E} is actually really good, and being able to do that any number of times from hand is far too strong. That alone could be a mythic in terms of potential.
I love the area that Star-Crossed Lover is exploring, but playtest issues are real. (Maybe the creatures should be immune to everything but their lover.)
Spellbook does show good innovation. I agree it's silver-bordered. My concern is how it interacts with cards that play with the top and bottom of the library, because those effects are very intentional about how they work and we've just reversed all of them. Mostly that's just awkward physics, but there are some dangerous interactions too.
What does saving a creature with an instant have to do with counting enchantments or gaining life? Impunity might make sense with the missing ability word but I don't get it as is.
Mana-costs on PWs is novel. Is it good? I thiiink so, if the loyalty counters are worth it. I'm sad my Swamp is tapped. (I do like the idea of land tokens, though it seems R&D is not yet convinced.) -X for an X/X is elegant, but is more middle ability than ultimate. This walker just doesn't do all that much. A static-lord ability is neat, but it sucks that it only matters in Constructed and when you super-shrink Jack. I'd save my static-lord ability for a common tribe and just give my tokens menace here. Ooze would've been better, yeah. Good brevity.
The reminder text on Companions is super important b/c I would have had no idea how this interacts with sacrifice otherwise. It's a bit weird to see this ability on a token-making-sorcery before a creature, but knights work. Why is this green and not mono-white?
Too bad Taunting didn't test well because it reads great. Maybe that's fine at uncommon?
I dig what you were going for with Jill. Maybe the gamble didn't pay off because they're looking for mechanical ideas rather than templating, because that's another team (even though it, like creative, is part of Game Design)?
Nice work. Thanks for sharing.
For star crossed lovers, maybe instead of "Prevent all damage CARDNAME and the chosen creature would deal to each other." You could have "CARDNAME and the chosen creature cannot block each other." That might alleviate a lot of the play concerns, while still keeping the flavor.
DeleteThanks all for the feedback!
DeleteThe most surprising thing I heard was that multiple people were concerned about "2, reveal this: get 1 energy counter". I'd been assuming that this would be a separate Limited / Standard environment where energy was mostly used for cards with this mechanic (or the energy payoffs are less pushed than Kaladesh's). I guess there's a case to be made for saying "power counter" or something rather than "energy counter", but I couldn't resist the cross-block synergy.
I didn’t make it. Upset at myself. For the second time in a row I didn’t submit my single best card design.
ReplyDeleteYou mean the BG Serra Angel? The golden ticket. Well hopefully we all can assist anyone who did make it, so they win it all.
DeleteYoung Nellyn
DeleteAt least you didnt make sure to word count all your cards but then forget the planeswalkers. doh
DeleteSorry to hear that, KingRitz.
DeleteIt happens to us all, I had plenty of "why didnt I send this in" designs.
DeleteI hadn't been playing too close attention to the various dates. When are the final eight publicly revealed?
ReplyDeleteFriday March 9
DeleteI did not make it. Ah well. I don't think I had quite enough innovation and a couple of designs/ordering are misses. It was a really hard but enjoyable challenge! Here are my designs:
ReplyDeleteHand Still (rare)
1WU
Instant
Until end of turn, target player can’t draw or discard cards. Exile CARDNAME.
Zur, Cruel Enchanter (mythic rare)
3WB
Planeswalker - Zur
5
+1: Create a black Aura Curse enchantment token with “Whenever enchanted player casts a spell, that player loses 1 life”. Attach it to target opponent.
-3: Search your library for an enchantment card with converted mana cost 3 or less, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.
-8: Create X 4/4 black Demon creature tokens with flying, where X is the number of enchantments you control.
Live to damage (uncommon)
1RW
Enchantment - Aura
Whenever this creature deals combat damage, CARDNAME deals that much damage to each opponent and you gain that much life.
Sneaky Follower (common)
1(U/B)
Creature - Human Rogue
2/1
CARDNAME can't be blocked if you attacked with another creature this turn.
Spell Saver (rare)
1RG
Legendary Creature - Human Warrior
2/2
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell from your hand that targets only CARDNAME, exile that spell as it resolves.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may copy each exiled card. If you do, cast the copies without paying their mana costs targetting CARDNAME.
Inspirational Death (uncommon)
3BR
Instant
Destroy target creature.
Exile the top card of your library. Until the end of your next turn, you may play that card.
Tithing Growth (common)
1(G/W)
Sorcery
Search your library for a Forest or Plains, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
You may put that card onto the battlefield tapped instead of putting it into your hand if an opponent controls more lands than you.
Marianne of Much Mana (mythic rare)
2GU
Planeswalker - Marianne
3
+1: Add 1 to your mana pool for each card in your hand.
-2: Return target creature you control and target creature you don't control to their owners’ hands.
-7: Return all creatures to their owners’ hands. You may put any number of creature cards from your hand onto the battlefield.
Grave Gains (uncommon)
BG
Enchantment
Whenever one or more permanent cards are put into your graveyard from anywhere, you gain 1 life.
Keep Thinking (rare)
U/R
Sorcery
Draw a card, then discard a card.
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery card, you may pay UR. If you do, return CARDNAME to its owner’s hand.
Sneaky Follower is great.
DeleteSpell Saver's awesome and terrifying and probably mythic for all that potential.
I like Inspirational Death.
Yeah, I really love Spell Saver! All my giant growths are now auras. Look again- the tickets are now diamonds.
DeleteHandstil is interesting, certainly in UW's color pie, although it is really narrow and spikey. It's rare that this is as good as cancelling the spell, and usually it's tempo negative because you're spending 3 to counter a 1 or two mana effect. Answer cards are hard to highlight.
DeleteZur is a nice enchantment themed Walker. Token Enchantments are a nice touch as well. It is a bit wordy, especially the first ability, and I would be concerned about tracking the enchantment count for the ultimate could get tough
Live to Damage: Ouch, double strike and lifelink on an aura is a really brutal combination. Could be interesting, but this is much, much better than Armadillo Cloak and Id be worried about pushing an effect this much.
Sneaky: this is great, nice and thematic while being well in the color pie. I like it a lot!
Spell Saver: minor templating issues aside, I like what this is doing. It's a bit weird in green, I would expect this design in R or UR more, although I get that you're likely trying to copy green combat tricks. I kinda wish it was a "attack or block" trigger rather than upkeep to make the purpose clearer.
Inspirational Death: Iike the impulsive draw cantrip, although on a 5 Mana spell it makes less sense because it'll usually go unused. This being conditional and cheaper would be more compelling
Tithing growth: nice ramp spell that works more as catch up. I don't know if it works in mono-white, despite there being the old Knight of the white Orchid precident. Permanent Mana ramp is no longer part of White's color pie.
Marianne: that is a lot of Mana! I'm not sure about the small minus ability, four Mana is a lot for that kind of ability, and it's only conditionally relevant. Maybe adding "up to one" would increase the flexibility. Ultimate is splashy!
Grave Gains: Neat little build around. I'd worry a little about the complexity of this card, as it's not necessarily intuitive how much life you gain when multiple creatures die in combat.
Keep thinking: minor templating issues (see Gotcha cards), red getting straight looting is a bit off the pie. I do like how these work in multiples.
Nice job! Some very cool designs overall, and some interesting things to think about.
I gotta agree with Sneaky Follower. Its an excellent common. requires few decisions, simple and ability, encourages attacking in U and B... it hits everything.
DeleteI actually dont love Spell Saver, but its kind of a personal reason. I think this is trying to be like that uncard where until end of turn effects didnt end at end of turn, but in my opinion that isnt what it feels like its doing, even if this template is the only way to do it in black border. It feels to me more like hes a spellslinger casting free spells than him getting permanently pumped, even if the lattet is whats (mostly) functionally happening as best it can. In my opinion, if theres no way to execute the correct feel then I probably wouldnt have tried the next best thing.
I really like the concept of the Spell Saver primarily because I feel like the R/G design space is so shallow and predictable, and this is something new and interesting. Anybody who likes playing R/G will want to play with this.
DeleteI agree with Wobbles that tying it to combat in some fashion would make it feel more green rather than blue. I wonder if could be templated so that the spells only came back into play during the combat step itself?
I also think it could "feel" more like a green-red creature simply by changing the way it's presented. What if instead of a human warrior it was an elemental? Then it could be presented like this primal creature that draws in and grows from this magic and is able to naturally keep drawing on its power.
Thanks for the feedback y'all! I'd posted a few of these on Artisans before and should have put the two creatures at the top (Spell Saver and Sneaky Follower).
DeleteOn weaker designs I think I should have tried harder with Grave Gains in particular once I realized how hard templating would be.
Ordering probably should have been:
DeleteSneaky
Spell Saver
Inspirational Death
Zur
Handstill
Keep Thinking
Tithing Growth
And then I possibly should have replaced the bottom 3 (both enchantments and Marianne). Each of them has issues as Wobbles pointed out and weren't that exciting anyhow.
Handstill - Cool. An exciting card for Johnny and Spike, though I wish it could be less reactive.
DeleteZur- Aura token tech is a cool idea and this is a great place to put it. But I'm worried that 2-3 activations of the +1 would make it very difficult for a typical opponent to win the game, which is not where I'd want planeswalkers (even 5-drops) to be.
Live to Damage- Let me guess, this started out as a mono-red design with just the first ability? As is it kind of feels stapled together.
Sneaky Follower- Clean and interesting. My gut feeling is that it's a little too easy to make this unblockable. What about "CARDNAME can't be blocked unless all other attacking creatures are blocked"?
Spell Saver- It's a little wordy getting it to work, but I like this. Nice work putting something in Gruul that doesn't feel like "CRUSH THEM! WE EAT!".
Inspiration Death- Meh. Two existing effects stapled together.
Tithing Growth- Sure! Interesting thinking about when / how this gets played. Maybe ramp decks sideboard it in on the draw?
Marianne- Nothing super groundbreaking, but it's a clever combination of color-appropriate effects that interact well. Nicely done.
Grave Gains- It triggers on every permanent card going to your graveyard? That's got to be broken... oh, a life gain reward? Never mind then. Clever (and very BG appropriate).
Keep Thinking- Nice use of a repeatable effect that never generates card advantage or represents an on-board trick. Funny how an enchantment with a triggered ability or a card with splice could both do similar (but not identical) things. Looping two of these could result in Top-like levels of annoyance, though.
I'm hoping to see some artisans in the top 8! My condolences to anyone who didn't make it through. I've seen a lot of great designs and designers get cut, but there's just so little room at the top.
ReplyDeleteIf it's not taboo, I might post my (unofficial) submission that I finally got time to work on. Feedback is always nice, even if it wasn't a 'Top 94' attempt.
Yeah, that's kind of what GA is all about. Post your stuff!
DeleteKiora of the Frozen Sea (Mythic)
Delete4UG
Legendary Planeswalker - Kiora
4
+2: Reveal the top card of your library. If it's a land card, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, put it into your hand.
-3: Tap target creature an opponent controls. That creature doesn't untap during it's controller's untap step for as long as you control CARDNAME.
-7: Each opponent gets an emblem with "Whenever you tap a land for mana, that land doesn't untap during your next untap step."
Cerberus' Flames (Rare)
3BR
Sorcery
Choose one or more:
*Target opponent loses 3 life.
*Deal 3 damage to target creature or player.
*Target creature gets -3/-3 until end of turn.
Might for the Meek (Rare)
1GW
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control with power 2 or less.
Wyvern Whisperer (Rare)
1RW
Creature - Human Shaman
3/3
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, you may discard a card that shares a card type with it. If you do, create a 2/2 red and white Drake creature token with flying.
CounterSlaver (Rare)
4UB
Instant
Counter target spell. You control that spells' controller until end of turn.
Disrupting Static Field (Uncommon)
1UR
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Player
At the beginning of enchanted player's upkeep, CARDNAME deals 1 damage to that player.
Sacrifice CARDNAME: Counter target noncreature spell.
Corrosive Volley (Common)
1{R/G}
Instant
Choose one:
*Destroy target artifact.
*Deal 3 damage to target creature with flying.
Sorin, Moon's Guardian (Mythic)
1BW
Legendary Planeswalker - Sorin
3
+1: Up to one target creature gets deathtouch and lifelink until your next turn.
-1: Create a 1/1 black Bat creature token with flying.
-X: Each opponent loses X life and you gain X life.
Twin Doves (Uncommon)
2UW
Sorcery
Create two 1/1 white Bird creature tokens with flying. Then, gain life equal to the number of creatures you control.
---
Thanks in advance for the critique! Don't go easy.
My first comment would be you seem to be missing a green black creature :)
DeleteMy copy-paste failed me.
DeleteLifeforce Scavenger (Common)
2BG
Creature - Beast
When CARDNAME dies, return another target creature card from your graveyard to your hand and gain life equal to its toughness.
I think that guy needs to be an uncommon for the same reason gravedigger made the jump: It makes loops.
DeleteKiora- seems wordy, probably too much so to read well on a planeswalker, but that's not a new phenomenon. Breaking precedent, I'd see if the second couldn't be "can't untap until ~ ltb"?
DeleteCerb- Good flavor, right away, and the end effect is fine, but the execution of the effect takes a few reads to understand. "Choose" without real choosing going on is not the best.
Might - Good idea, seems like a reasonable cost. Certainly appealing to a weenie player and some jennies.
Wyvern- I like this type of spellshaper a lot. Either tweaking the #s, or even as-is, it says uncommon to me.
Counterslaver- Seems like a printable card, though not one I'd ever personally want to play
Field- I'd make the countering a trigger rather than activated. This would be much less unfun to play against that way. Flavor is quite good.
Volley- Sure.
Sorin- This could be much higher up on the list, probably swapping spots with Kiora. My instinct would be 3 is too high starting loyalty, but cards /are/ allowed to br strong, and that's a nitpick. Good PW design.
Doves- No problems here.
Thanks for the feedback.
DeleteI word-checked Kiora with a few other Planeswalkers and while it's up there it's not as long as others. I felt like the resonance of each ability (Coiling Oracle, Dungeon Geists, Vorinclex) helped its wordiness a bit.
I didn't want Cerb to be uncastable in certain circumstances and wanted it to feel like 3 distinct effects, but the Escalate wording may not have been the best way to approach it.
I think Wyvern Whisperer is quite strong in limited and even pushed for constructive. Uncommon might cause some problems.
Counterslaver may be too niche to actually see much play.
A triggered ability may work better on Field, I hadn't thought of that.
I wasn't confident with Sorin, but I do like him at 3. Reminds me of original Jace.
Lifeforce Scavenger may need to be uncommon, but I had used Dutiful Attendant as an indication that it might be OK at common. With the extra power and life gain that may not be ok, though.
I think to be more clear, you could make it a common, but it would be red-flagged (dutiful attendant is red-flagged for sure, but plays to the main theme of sultai in boosting exploit, so it stays). I don't know that red-flagged commons would be the best way to showcase the ability to design commons (for this specific test)
DeleteI think the main problem here is your designs are too conservative. Many of them are clean and elegant but they don't explore new space and often feel like two preexisting effects stapled together. One-by-one comments:
DeleteKiora: This doesn't feel like Kiora without an ult that makes a giant sea monster (see for reference: Liliana of the Dark Realms). I appreciate your venturing into the tap-and-freeze area of GU but you need to maintain a part that feels like Kiora.
Cerberus' Flames: This probably doesn't need to be modal. It's already ludicrously strong and adding riders that allow you to not do stuff in the corner case it isn't good for you is too much. I'd also change the second ability to target planeswalkers instead of players so it feels different from the first mode. (Actually, if the second mode /only/ targets planeswalkers it would be a fun modal spell.)
Might for the Meek: This and CounterSlaver are my favorite of your designs. It changes the way you look at deckbuilding and I imagine it's very satisfying to play.
Wyvern Whisperer: This feels more uncommon than rare, and it could easily be done in mono-red. You have four rares, so this is one of your flex slots and could be changed easily. Besides those problems, I'm sure it plays fine, and it has some interesting gameplay challenges. (Do I discard my 7-drop to make a drake now?)
CounterSlaver: This one's really cool. Countering your opponent's Overrun and making awful trades on the combat that would have won them the game would make a story you could tell for years. It is definitely Mythic though, as every Mindslaver effect has been Mythic since the introduction of the rarity.
Disrupting Static Field: I agree with Pasteur's idea of making it a triggered ability like Lunar Force. That also creates an interesting dynamic where your opponent might want to cast an inopportune spell to get countered so they don't take too much damage.
Corrosive Volley: This is basically just Crushing Vines with a slight difference. It shows off your color pie knowledge but the judges assume most people who got to the top 94 know that much already.
Sorin: Sorin doesn't do anything particularly interesting, and his ult isn't that exciting either. That said, you avoided a trap I saw on a lot of other submitted planeswalkers where all three of their abilities did basically the same thing at different magnitudes. Sorin (and Kiora less so) feel like something I would see in a booster pack, but not one I'd be interested in.
This isn't important, because names don't matter here, but I think Tamiyo is a lot more fitting of the title "Moon's Guardian".
Twin Doves: I would be happy to play this in a Limited deck but it's just two very common things you see on spells attached.
Sorry, I didn't see the replies just above mine.
DeleteWyvern Whisperer might be rare due to power level, but I don't think its design is impactful or wild enough to deserve it if we're looking at it in a vacuum before Play Design gets its hands on it. That said, it really could swing either way.
Re: CounterSlaver being niche, that's totally fine. For every nine people who don't want to play a six-mana counterspell, there's one Ta/immy (myself included) who really wants to jam it.
I posted my second group of entries on the previous forum for people who did not make it, but that got bogged down with 140 comments, so I'll repost it here. I received great feedback on the first set of entries and the second set allowed me to include a character I really enjoyed creating, Tatters.
ReplyDelete1. Demonic Soldier (B/W) (Common)
Creature-Demon Soldier
2/1
If you paid W to cast CARDNAME transform CARDNAME.
CARDNAME can't block
///
Angelic Defender(White Color Indicator)
Creature-Angel
Defender
½
2. Tatters, the Keeper-1GGU (Rare)
Legendary Creature-Human Wizard
3/3
3: Choose a keyword, all creatures lose this keyword until end of turn.
3: Choose flying, hexproof, or trample. Other creatures you control gain the chosen keyword until end of turn.
“With one word he could make the birds fall and the frogs fly.”-The Resistance
3. My Turn?? 2RU (Rare)
Sorcery
As you cast CARDNAME you may pay an additional 1, if you do you win the flip. Flip a coin, if you win the flip take an extra turn. If you lose the flip draw three cards.
4. Tricky Maneuver -1GW (Uncommon)
Instant
Create a 2/2 Green Ape creature token under target player's control. Exile a creature that player controls, return it to play at the beginning of the next end step.
5. Sarkhan, One with the Dragons-3RG (Mythic Rare)
Legendary Planeswalker-Sarkhan
+1: Create a 3/3 Red and Green Dragon creature token with flying and trample.
0: Search your library for a Dragon card and put it into your hand.
-5: Reveal your hand then cast each Dragon card revealed this way without paying their mana cost.
4 Loyalty
6. Hidden Dragon -2RW (Rare)
Enchantment
If you control 3 or more creatures, CARDNAME is a 5/5 red and white dragon with flying, haste, and lifelink.
7. Halmrac, Illusionist- UW (Mythic Rare)
Planeswalker-Halmrac
+1: Create a 1/1 blue and white illusion creature token with flying and when this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability sacrifice it.
-2: You get an emblem with illusions get +1/+1 and vigilance.
2 loyalty
8. Summon the Rabid Bear (B/G)(B/G) (common)
Sorcery
Create a 2/2 Green and black bear creature token with deathtouch.
9. The Mechanized Way-1UB (Uncommon)
Enchantment
(B/U) Sacrifice a creature or artifact: Scry 1, Draw a card and lose 1 life.
10. -XRRBB (Mythic Rare)
Instant
Choose X, you may choose the same mode more than once:
Draw a card and lose a life.
Create 2 1/1 red and black demon creature tokens with deathtouch.
Deal 2 damage to target player and 2 damage to target creature.
I like Tatters, but I'd rather he just made enemy creatures lose those three keywords. Otherwise you run into situations where he tries to make creatures lose Landfall or Battalion and you need some serious rules knowledge to explain why that doesn't work.
DeleteTrue, and it still probably would have been a strong enough card. Initially I had it granting any keyword to your creatures and was like, nope annihilator ruins this.
Delete