Cool Card Design of the Day7/19/2011 - I like Enslave. It shows black paying the price (in this case, just lots of mana) for an effect that it really wants: a powerful effect. It also adds its own twist to Mind Control by adding Soul Bleed to the mix. That card is flavorful as well: The black mage isn't just controlling your creature's mind, he has completely dominated it and is using your previous bond to punish you further. So evil.
Even so, control effects aren't black's usual M.O. You're much more likely to see a black mage destroy something than steal it. It's also standard fair to zombify things. You see where I'm going with this, right?
Yup, I just stapled Rise from the Grave to D-E-D Dead to create a permanent Control Magic in black. If you're wondering why the art is worse than usual, it's because I had an image in mind that I had to have and couldn't find it on the internet, so I made it myself. That art is a Jay Treat original, folks. Prints start at 50¢.
Huh, that is really similar to a CCL card from this month's contest on MTGSalvation, except the cost was 2UB and the creature gained fading 3. I'm glad yours is mono-B though: I don't understand the U part of that submitted card.
ReplyDeleteThis feels a lot more 'right' to me than Enslave, great idea and execution!
ReplyDeleteThis really brings out the difference between blue's meddling with people's mind vs black's enslaving others with force.
ReplyDeleteGreat art and flavor text too.
I think this could be a kicker spell in a set that uses kicker.
Finally I think self-combo spells need to be careful not to produce a result that's off-color (such as give flying to each creature target player controls (blue) + destroy each creature with flying (green) = Day of Judgement (White)). But this one fits in ok because black gets control sometimes anyways.
If would be far cooler and less forced if it returned "a" (without targeting to facilitate the original functionality) creature card from the graveyard, not "the" card.
ReplyDeleteVeeeeeery nice.
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous - Removing the targeting negates a level of interaction with cards like Withered Wretch and Shred Memory, but it would be interesting if it returned target creature from YOUR graveyard, claiming the soul of the dead creature for subsequent use.
ReplyDelete@metaghost - That's pretty much an entwined Betrayal of Flesh, I believe.
ReplyDeleteARRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
ReplyDeleteHey, I'd have been more surprised if "kill a creature, reanimate another" *hadn't* been done before. ;) The Disentomb version has been done too with Cruel Revival.
ReplyDeleteActually, I don't understand why blue gets Control Magic when it's a much stronger form of "removal" than anything else available to the other colors, when blue is supposedly the weakest color at dealing with permanents (according to wizards, that is).
ReplyDeleteI'm not trying to sound rude or anything, but I would never play with this. It feels like I'm paying more to get less.
ReplyDeleteI can't EVER get an indestructible creature.
The 3BBB makes it basically mono black.
If there was a massive amount of +1/+1 counters on it, I don't get them. Or auras. Or equipment.
It feels awkward in a mechanic sense to 'destroy it to gain control of it', but I guess Necroskitter does that so I just contradicted myself. It's like...why not just gain control of it outright?
I'd rather just use Enslave 100% of the time, or even Ritual of the Machine.
I suppose it could be used with "When a creature dies" or "enter the battlefield" effects, but it feels to limited.
@Anonymous: not made for spike. Very strong in limited.
ReplyDelete