Cool Card Design of the Day5/10/2011 -What if you didn't want to destroy your opponent's Journey to Nowhere? What if it still returned the exiled creature to the battlefield, but under your opponent's control instead of your own? Such an effect would have to be black (though there's an argument for white or blue) and would represent basically sending that creature to Hell or some other dark, mind-twisting place such that when (if) it finally gets back, you have so thoroughly corrupted its soul that it works for you now.
While 4 mana and sorcery speed have rarely indicated tournament-worthy removal, Path to Corruption is very strong removal because it handles literally every threat that doesn't have relevant protection and it still has additional upside in the form of a potential Control Magic. I particularly like this in black since a mono-black mage can never sacrifice his own enchantment. You're going to need to run another color to get full value here.
Aura?
ReplyDeleteAlso Corruption Ring.
Would "2BB, Sorcery, Exile target creature." be a workable card? Probably. We already have Unmake, and it's about time white started letting go of its grip on better removal than it ought to have. I'm not sure if the rest of the card is such a great idea, though. It feels like more bells and whistles thrown on; the parallels with O-Ring aren't cool enough to sway me.
ReplyDeleteI disagree, I love this card. Simple, clean, innovative.
ReplyDeleteWhat the anonymous commenter said... I assume you mean it's a normal enchantment (like Journey or O-ring), and not an aura?
ReplyDeleteAlso, make it 1BB?
1BB isn't especially appropriate considering its function as "Sorcery Unmake with hard-to-reach upside", but 3B would be significantly more appealing considering the necessity to work with other colors in order to attain that higher goal.
ReplyDeleteI like it.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting variation might be a conditional return to the battlefield:
Sorcery - Exile target creature. If it is/has Tribal/Color/Set Theme, return it to the battlefield under your control.
You aren't doing Black O-Ring at that point though. It seems like the 'cleansing' effect of exiling then returning to the battlefield feels white though, even if stealing creatures isn't. Might be like a simple, all-in-one destruction/reanimation spell for Black as well.
This is probably my favorite CCDD ever, very cool.
ReplyDeleteOMG I just designed the same card today, inspired by Tom Lapille's article about Phyrexian cards violating people's expectations (like people expecting to get the O-ringed card back). Our minds must be linked at a subconscious level.
ReplyDeleteI made one called Phyresis Chamber that's a white artifact costing 3(phi-W)(phi-W) so that it fits the theme in MBS and NPH of artifacts that benefit you when sacrifice it. This card is prone to bounce abuse, so I made it either cost as much as Mind Control or cost life each time it's cast.
But you're right, it's neat being a black enchantment, in a color that can't deal with enchantments.
I much prefer your version, Chah, as encouraging players to jump through even more obtuse hoops isn't exactly always going to be the best way of going about things. A black enchantment with a benefit when it dies is clever, but clever isn't always the same as good. This is too much of a straightforward utility removal card to make it really Johnny-fied. It just muddles the design.
ReplyDeleteLuminum Can: Thanks. But in my comment I just wanted to say that I had the same idea (on the same day!) and I don't think my version is necessarily better. In fact, I probably shouldn't be giving creature stealing to other colors for 3 mana + 4 life, and Jay's is the simplest execution which is always a good thing with a new idea.
ReplyDeleteI think this card's biggest appeal is the aesthetics of twisting a familiar effect to become something else, and it would fit right into a phyrexian block. Like what Tom Lappille talked about last week. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/ld/141
I also think that there's plenty of Johnny appeal. Ben Bleiweiss built this deck with O-rings, Reality Acids, Mulldrifters, and Momentary Blinks. I shudder to think what would happen with this card and blink effects or bounce effects. http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/bb139