Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Mashup Contestant #02: Luminum_Can


Pair 1: Dromar's Charm and Mortal Wound



Jay Treat: 9.3 (Fun: 7 Aesthetics: 9 Mechanics: 8 Bonus: 4)
Jonathan Woodward: 7
metaghost: 5
Chah: 8.3 (Fun: 8 Aesthetics: 9 Mechanics: 8 Bonus: 0)

Average: 7.4

Comments:
Chah: A clean, evocative card. Combines two abilities that aren't highly playable on their own to make a card that will sometimes make it into Limited decks when you really need a way to deal with huge creatures.

metaghost: As always, an extremely clean design with solid flavor, but not one that really stood out. Would have felt right at home in Worldwake though.

Pair 2: Antler Skulkin and Merrow Grimeblotter



Jay Treat: 9.6 (Fun: 8 Aesthetics: 8 Mechanics: 8 Bonus: 5)
Jonathan Woodward: 6
metaghost: 5
Chah: 5.3 (Fun: 8 Aesthetics: 4 Mechanics: 4 Bonus: 0)

Average: 6.5

Chah: It's a G/U spell, but it's best in a deck with mostly white creatures. It could be for a multicolor set like Shards of Alara, but I wish it just cost 1W. The effect itself is a nice combat trick.

metaghost: Hooray for "Enemies that love their Ally"! Boo to Hybrid designs!



Pair 4: Shrouded Serpent and Soldevi Sage



Jay Treat: 7 (Fun: 5 Aesthetics: 9 Mechanics: 6 Bonus: 1)
Jonathan Woodward: 5
metaghost: 8
Chah: 4 (Fun: 3 Aesthetics: 5 Mechanics: 4 Bonus: 0)

Average: 6

Comments:
Jay Treat:
Your rules text is generally terse yet clever. Your flavor text, not so much.
I wish Spy Report cost {1} each or that the opponent gets to draw the card if he pays the {2}.

Chah: It seems too easy to draw 3 cards for 2U while the opponent is tapped out. Also, it's like Rhystic spells - it encourages the opponent to not play anything, which is unfun. It might be better if the spell cost 1BU and the opponent can pay 2 life to force discard.

metaghost: Jay and Chah each have very valid points for why this card doesn't quite work, but this is a situation where I was won over by the clever flavor used to tie historically terrible mechanics into a somewhat appealing package.



Total for all 3 cards: 19.9

6 comments:

  1. I usually love Luminum_Can designs but these cards don't click too well with me.

    My problem with Feast on the Wounded is that it's "almost" white removal, and "almost" black removal, but doesn't fit the mold of either one. Other than the clashing aesthetics, it's a fun card that probably should be costed 2B instead of 1B. I would play a set with this card.

    Morning Mist is horrible because it looks like a U/G card when it's actually a W/G or W/U card, people in limited will miss it often, and the text reads like a drawback because it also affects you. I might play this set, but I wouldn't play this card.

    Spy's report has the numbers off, and the rhystic mechanic is not very fun for either player. After R&D tweaking, it would become a lackluster card. I wouldn't play a set with this card.

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  2. DrJones, Feast on the Wounded is simply Final Blow + Feast of Blood. It's definitely a black card.

    And while I don't disagree with your other criticism, it should be clear that there's a certain preference for tightly presented cards. That isn't necessarily fair, but it should help contestants prepare for future contests.

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  3. I agree with metaghost that Feast on the Wounded is very black, echoing some black cards in the past.

    I also think it could be Green with a slight stretch, because this is like deathtouch, and Green gets deathtouch. It's removal that involves creature combat.

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  4. What it doesn't click to me is that Black cards that "drain" life are usually sorcery speed and have a mana cost close to that of casting drain life for that much life.

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  5. I like Feast on the Wounded - it's a bit underpowered, but it seems like a card that would play well in Limited - or in Green; interesting idea, Chah!

    I seem to remember thinking that Morning Mist was G/W - I wonder if I'm misremembering or if I misread it.

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  6. I particularly like the direction of Morning Mist - it explores common territory between Green and Blue that hasn't been extensively mapped out yet.

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