Saturday, June 5, 2021

Weekend Design Challenge 060521 - Iconic Slayer

Hey Artisans! Click through to see this weekend's design challenge. Your mission is to design a custom Magic card that follows the guidelines. Over the course of the weekend, give feedback to your fellow designers on their designs and incorporate their feedback to iterate on your own. I'll try to offer some feedback of my own starting on Monday.

Today the Random Card button served me up Baneslayer Angel, an iconic creature in more ways than one. (Angels, Sphinxes, Demons, Dragons, and Hydras are considered the "iconic" creature types for each color and tend to get at least one rare/mythic per set on average.) This week, I'd like you to design a mythic iconic creature from a different color whose main appeal, like the Baneslayer's, is how it dominates combat. For bonus points, keep the rules text to three lines (about 100 characters) or less.

Good luck and have fun!

16 comments:

  1. Scraphide Hydra
    {4}{R}{G}
    Creature — Hydra
    Creatures with power 2 or less must block CARDNAME if able
    Whenever a creature blocks CARDNAME, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
    4/4

    Been a while since I’ve seen a good hydra I feel.
    It felt neat to mix the green lure mechanic and 2 power or less can’t block mechanic, and twist it with red’s menace.

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    1. Wait, making a two colour card kinda doesn’t fit this challenge does it? The challenge calls for a reflection of baneslayer angel, and I focused too much on the “dominating combat” part. Back to the drawing board.

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    2. I think this fits the challenge! I really like how top-down hydra this is and it totally fits the bill in dominating combat. If it was pushed for Constructed like Baneslayer it would probably cost 5 or even 4.

      Delete
  2. Infinite Sphinx
    {3}{U}{U}
    Creature - Sphinx
    Flying, ward 2
    Whenever Infinite Sphinx attacks, create two tokens that are copies of Infinite Sphinx that are tapped and attacking.
    Whenever Infinite Sphinx blocks, create two tokens that are copies of Infinite Sphinx that are blocking an attacking creature.
    At end of turn, exile Infinite Sphinx if it’s a token.
    3/3

    Definitely not three lines of text, but I think it's still easy to grok. I chose blue because I like the challenge of making a combat-dominating card for a color that is not known for that, while still being constrained by color pie restrictions.

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    1. I agree, this is easy to grok! And it seems quite fun. I'm not sure what it takes to make the "blocks" ability work-- Brimaz creates a token blocking the same creature but it sounds like you want it to be a choice, which there's no precedent for as far as I know. If anything I might be inclined to get rid of that ability as not pulling its weight. (Yes, this makes the Sphinx less dominant on defense, but not by much; opponents will order damage to kill the nontoken Sphinx first when they can.)

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  4. Gainslayer Dragon 3RR
    Creature - Dragon (M)
    Flying, double strike, trample
    Players can’t gain life.
    5/5

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    1. I appreciate the symmetry of how Baneslayer can stop this cold on defense (and is one of the few creatures that can!) but doesn't dare attack into it.

      10 points of don't-bother-trying-to-block-it damage for 5 mana is quite the rate, but for Constructed it's probably the correct one.

      Delete
  5. Adaptive Hydra {2}{G}{G}

    Creature - Hydra (Mithyc Rare)

    {X}{G}{G}: Adapt X. (If this creature has no +1/+1 counters on it, put X +1/+1 counters on it.)

    Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on Adaptive Hydra, choose a kind of counter that Adaptive Hydra doesn’t have on it from among deathtouch, hexproof, reach, trample, vigilance. Put a counter of that kind on Adaptive Hydra.

    4/4

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    1. Adapt X is a neat idea and I'm surprised, in hindsight, that we haven't seen a card with it before. Your instinct that a mythic needs something more is right, but I don't agree with putting additional counter types on the Hydra as a solution. It reads as too complicated and presses for additional +1/+1 counter synergies which seems weird for a mythic. Maybe something like "~ has vigilance as long as it has at least two +1/+1 counters on it, trample as long as it has at least four, and hexproof as long as it has at least six"?

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  7. Vanquisher Demon {2}{B}{B}
    Creature - Demon (Mythic)
    Flying, lifelink
    Pay 4 life: ~ gains your choice of first strike, deathtouch, menace, or trample until end of turn.
    4/4

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    1. Drat, forgot the "Activate only during your turn" rider on the activated ability

      Delete
  8. Sphinx That Makes Illusions (Rare)
    2WU
    Flying
    Whenever an opponent attacks you or a planeswalker you control, that player divides their attacking creatures into two piles. Remove creatures in the pile of your choice from combat.
    3/3

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  9. Sphinx That Makes Illusions (Rare)
    2WU
    Flying
    Whenever an opponent attacks you or a planeswalker you control, that player divides their attacking creatures into two piles. Remove creatures in the pile of your choice from combat.
    3/3

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    1. Oh wow, that's a fresh idea! "Only half your creatures get to attack" is a very cool effect and this implementation is much cleaner than any of Magic's previous gestures at this kind of thing (eg Raging River). Nice work!

      My instinct is that to push this to mythic we'd need to make the ability work on the attack, too. I tried a couple ways of templating that but didn't come up with anything I liked.

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