Cool Card Design of the Day4/21/2011 - It's not uncommon for me to design a new card that is simple and/or clever only to check Gatherer and discover it already exists (or something basically the same). It is, arguably a bit less common to design a card that is simple and actually hasn't been printed before. Impish Tutor reminds me most of Beseech the Queen, but is genetically most similar to a family of non-black tutors.
We could pump this up to instant speed for more power, but I don't think it's too weak where it stands. You can go grab a second land on turn 1 (hmm, that's better than Sylvan Scrying—Impish Tutor should probably specify 'non-land' or something), a Doom Blade or Dark Confidant on turn 3, or the invariably crushing 4cc black spell on turn 5. Compare that to Diabolic Tutor and it's actually better half the time (only half because your Grave Titan finisher costs 7 to find).
For whatever reason, that card/picture got me thinking about making an actual imp that tutors:
That last 'Otherwise' clause wasn't in there originally and I'm not 100% sure it needs to stay since it could create some feel-bad moments, but I was feeling like Riddling Imp was a bit too strong. Come to think of it, the better solution is probably to just increase the cost 1 instead. Regardless, this seems like a fun guy to swing with, especially with some BG Giant Growth action or some straight-up Unholy Strength.
Your first card is an interesting twist on Wargate, but maybe it should cost BBX. Also, don't forget they have to shuffle the library after they search - those extra words always show up and increase card complexity.
ReplyDeleteThe second card is an interesting Scroll Thief variant. Make it a rare? "When this creature deals combat damage to a player, reveal the top card of your library. You may pay life equal to that card's converted mana cost. If you do, put it into your hand. Otherwise, each opponent loses life equal to its converted mana cost."