Jay is swamped with work this weekend, so I'll be filling in this week.
Click through to see this weekend's art and the design requirements for your card submission, due Monday morning. Remember that you may ask for feedback by mid-day Sunday and redesign your submission after you get it.
This week's set is Dragon's Maze. Unlike Gatecrash, where people mostly have to stick to two colors because of the fast environment, we know that Dragon's Maze will be about mixing up the guilds and playing any combination of them.
This post on MTGSalvation has the art spoiled from Dragon's Maze so far. Use this art as inspiration and design one card. Don't use the art for Ral Zarek, the Maze Champions, and Maze's End; scroll down to "The Boros Legion takes the initiative!" and only use art from that one onwards.
Two bonus challenges, if you're up to it:
This week's set is Dragon's Maze. Unlike Gatecrash, where people mostly have to stick to two colors because of the fast environment, we know that Dragon's Maze will be about mixing up the guilds and playing any combination of them.
This post on MTGSalvation has the art spoiled from Dragon's Maze so far. Use this art as inspiration and design one card. Don't use the art for Ral Zarek, the Maze Champions, and Maze's End; scroll down to "The Boros Legion takes the initiative!" and only use art from that one onwards.
Two bonus challenges, if you're up to it:
- Incorporate a gimmick or mechanic that might be in Dragon's Maze. It's quite possible that there are no new keyworded mechanics in Dragon's Maze because there are 10 keywords in the block already. But could there be a new style of card that could create excitement without relying on a new keyword?
- Design the effect so that it's useful to at least one Guild in Gatecrash and at least one Guild in Return to Ravnica.
Good luck!
The Boros Legion takes the initiative! art
ReplyDeleteEncirclement {1}{R}{W}
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can't attack or block.
At the beginning of your upkeep, ~ deals 3 damage to enchanted creature.
Is this card your submission?
DeleteSort of Voidslime
ReplyDeletePhyto Ooze {3}{G}{W}{W}
Creature — Plant Ooze
1/1
If damage would be dealt to ~, put that many +1/+1 counters on it instead.
All noncombat damage that would be dealt to you is dealt to ~ instead.
From Uncharted Realms
ReplyDeleteIzzet Spectator {u/r}
Creature- Goblin Wizard (C)
Flying
When Izzet Spectator deals damage to an opponent, look at the top card of that player's library.
1/1
AND as a bonus, the next art:
Goblin Charbelcher {4}
Artifact R
{3}, {T}: Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a land card. Goblin Charbelcher deals damage equal to the number of nonland cards revealed this way to target creature or player. If the revealed land card was a Mountain, Goblin Charbelcher deals double that damage instead. Put the revealed cards on the bottom of your library in any order.
Izzet Spectator is a Dimir card in disguise, it's a cheap cipher target that also tells you when it's best to mill your opponent. I wouldn't be surprised to see this just as a straight up blue card in Dragon's Maze.
DeleteUpon further consideration, as a red one drop this just isn't going to fly:
DeleteIzzet Spectator {1}{u/r}
Creature- Goblin Wizard (U)
{u/r}: Izzet Specator gains Flying until end of turn.
Whenever Izzet Spectator deals damage to an opponents, look at the top card of that players library.
2/1
Jace Beleren Deciphers The Implicit Maze
ReplyDeleteDiscover the Path (uncommon)
{X}{U}
Sorcery
Spend only mana from Gates on {X}.
Draw a card, then draw X cards.
Feedback welcome.
DeleteThis is awesome.
DeleteIt might be too strong, at least in Limited, because with a gate in every DGM pack I can imagine people having like 4-5 gates in play. I don't think it needs the first draw; it would probably be plenty strong even if it only drew equal to X. It would lose the ability to cycle, but that's a risk the caster would have to take for such a high potential ability.
I'm actually keeping my submission the same, except I'm moving it up to rare. Pretty much every "draw X cards" effect in the history of the game has been rare.
DeleteThe reason why I want to keep the cycling in is because I don't want it to be a dead draw in sealed pools that might be running only 1-2 gates, but I want it to still be includable.
I'm not sure how viable gates.dec in DGM/GTC/RTR draft would be. Invariably you're going to be passing good cards in favor of Gates, which makes your deck weaker overall.
The third art from Uncharted Realms:
ReplyDeleteDead End
1R(B/G)
Sorcery
Target creature you control fights target creature an opponent controls. If your creature survives, you may copy Dead End targeting your creature and another target creature an opponent controls.
My idea for a mechanic for Dragon's Maze are hybrid cards that represent the alliance of two guilds (in this case, Rakdos and Gruul) with the idea that the guilds help each other out when it's convenient in attempting to traverse the maze. It's a take on the -blade cycle from Alara, but instead of representing the central color of a shard, it represents the exclusion of the third guild in a typical three-color card (I.E. this is playable in a BR or RG deck but not a BG deck.)
Sort of Voidslime:
ReplyDeleteForce Gel {2}{G}
Instant (U)
Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to you this turn. At end of combat, put an X/X green ooze creature token onto the battlefield, where X is the damage prevented this way.
Another big ooze like Slime Molding and Miming Slime, to work well with evolve and populate. I'd appreciate feedback!
This looks awesome and has great synergy with different guilds.
DeleteI'm not sure, but I think it should cost more. Swingy effects aren't fun in the early game even if it's very conditional. Also, players shouldn't be forced to play around it in early turns. It should probably cost at least 3G; this is harder to play around than Aetherize (even if the opponent attacks with just a few recastable guys worth 4-5 damage you still get your fog and slime) so it wouldn't be too clunky at 3G.
I wonder if this should prevent combat damage to target player. It could be used proactively, and it would be fun for multiplayer politics.
DeleteThat change also has a chance of making the card feel weird, though, so I could totally see not making it a multipurpose card.
I think you're right that costing three is too little for this, 3G seems better for this kind of effect. Haze Frog was 3GG for only a 2/1 that ETB fogs, though that card was pretty bad. Leaving up four mana for Force Gel is reasonably hard, and I think it's important that sometimes you'll have to 'waste it' and get just a 3/3.
DeleteI'm not sure about preventing combat damage to target player. It sounds fun in multiplayer to swoop in and mess up someone's alpha strike, netting yourself a giant ooze. And there's the corner case in duels where you attack your opponent and prevent the damage so that you can start populating 8/8 oozes. It's a little weird that you can send the ooze anywhere to soak up damage, but I think it would be worth trying.
The Boros Legion takes the initiative! art
ReplyDeleteRage Imbalance (Uncommon)
2RR
Instant
Red creatures you control get +2/+0 until end of turn.
Red creatures you don’t control get -0/-2 until end of turn.
The most volitile bends of the Implicit Maze run parallel with Ravnica’s powerful leylines.
I cannot believe this type of mirrored effect hasn't been done before. Caring about color is a possible twist for the set without adding a keyword. And it plays up the Guilds competing. (We already have ways to show them working together.)
In retrospect, this submission pumping red creatures and Nich's calling it "The Boros Legion takes the initiative!" is awesome.
DeleteSort of Voidslime Art:
ReplyDeleteSticking Ooze (Uncommon)
{3}{G}
Flash, Deathtouch
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may return ~ to your hand from your graveyard.
0/5
It works with Evolve (high toughness) with Extort (recastable); with Golgari (Scavenge target and gy shenaningans); it supports well the sacrifice sub-theme of Black.
Finally, one could argue that giving it defender (and costing it {1} less) would make Johnny happier.
Feedback Welcome
The flash feels forced, like it's there to fit the art. Maybe this could work with the art of the knight sinking in a pit of kelp or tentacles. (The one that was photographed from the trailer.)
DeleteIt does create a lot of combos, but I get the feeling that it's only because it has a lot of abilities. It's clever but it doesn't feel like a unified card in my opinion. I feel it should focus either on the "figure out how to use deathtouch with 0 power" challenge (which feels too weird to me but some players may like it?) or it should focus on the graveyard recursion, maybe with a cool condition attached for returning to hand.
Mmm. I had the same concerns, especially on Flash
DeleteI really like the simplicity and the "uh!?" moment of the 0 power deathtouch, so I'll go with:
Poisonous Slime (common)
{2}{G}
Creature - Ooze
Flash, deathtouch
0/6
The major problem I see with this design is the feel bad moment that new player might have with the case in wich they think they can surprise block a creature and kill it, if they don't know well the deathtouch ruling; for that, I feel appropriate the repetition of deathtouch reminder text. I don't think it's a perfect design, but whatever.
Thanks for running this, Chah. Folks, I hope you capitalize on this chance for a fresh perspective. Chah's got a great eye.
ReplyDeleteFor this art, I'm thinking one of these:
Guild Uprising B
Instant (cmn)
Target creature gets -1/-1 until EOT.
If you cast a multicolored spell this turn, copy this spell. You may choose new targets.
Break the Chains 1B
Instant (cmn)
For each +1/+1 counter among creatures you control, one of up to two target creatures gets -1/-1 until EOT.
I like the subtlety of Break, but the template is awkward. You could distribute the -1/-1 across any number of creatures, but then it needs to be uncommon at least. What do you think?
At first I thought it meant each +1/+1 counter turns into two -1/-1 effects, so that if you had three +1/+1 counters, it can give -1/-1 to six targets.
DeleteFor clearer wording, how about:
Choose up to two target creatures. For each +1/+1 counter among creatures you control, one of the chosen creatures gets -1/-1 until EOT.
But regardless of the wording, it could be very difficult to plan out how to use this in combat, especially in cases where there are going to be multiple attackers and many possible blocks.
Is Break the Chains for the art with the two squished guards? If that's why it targets up to two creatures, it might be interesting to combine your two cards: A simple removal effect that's not difficult to think out, and an ability for conditionally copying that to kill another target.
I just realized that Guild Uprising will keep copying itself infinitely.
DeleteYeah, that's the art. And that is what I was going for with Guild Uprising.
DeleteA better design:
Guild Uprising B
Instant (cmn)
Target creature gets -1/-1 until EOT.
If its toughness is 0 or less, up to one additional target creature gets -1/-1 until EOT.
Unfortunately, that has nothing to do with multicolor or any of the guilds/keywords of the set. So, I'll make my official submission:
Break the Chains 1B
Sorcery (cmn)
Choose up to two target creatures. For each +1/+1 counter among creatures you control, one of the chosen creatures gets -1/-1 until EOT.
I know that's not brilliant, but it's something.
So exhausted.
I like Break the Chains, but the templating is still a bit weird. You can have it give -X/-X to both creatures. It's an easy 2-for-1, but only in the Jund Unleash-Scavenge-Evolve deck
DeleteBreak the Chains {4}{B}
Sorcery (C)
Two target creatures each get -X/-X until end of turn, where X is equal to the number of +1/+1 counters on creatures you control.
This is hard!
ReplyDeleteDevastate 1WR
Instant (R)
Exile target creature or land.
"Jarad might have escaped death, but no-one escapes Aurelia." -Gideon Jura.
"Aurelia in Action" picture obviously. Meant to be a shout-out to Putrefy and Mortify. Obviously works well against Scavenge, but not too shabby against bloodrush either.
I'm gonna say it: 3-mana land destruction just doesn't fly these days.
DeleteAnd even Stone Rain wasn't an instant. This would never see print.
DeleteAlso, there's already a card called Devastate.
Far too strong, I'd say the cost needs to be at least 3WR and even that might be too good.
DeleteWrecking Ball was 2BR destroy target creature or land, so I think a 2WR sorcery to exile a creature or land would be fine. It's nice that this deals with the Enchant Lands in the block, whereas wrecking ball just murdered bounce lands.
DeleteThe last Uncharted Realms art (goblin on elephant)
ReplyDeleteFlood with Anger
2RR
Sorcery (R)
Gain control of target creature you don’t control until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn.
Overload 4RRRR (You may cast this spell for its overload cost. If you do, change its text by replacing all instances of “target” with “each”, “that” with “those”, and “It gains” with “They gain.”)
Yeah, I know, it's messy. But I think they can make a reminder text exception for one card. It's too cool!
Feedback appreciated.
Nice card!
DeleteWe know DGM will probably be slow, but since we don't know exactly how slow, I can't even guess if this overload effect would feel satisfying or anticlimatic. But I think it's cool as a design in most environments, though.
There should be some way or another to make the reminder text work - At the very least, a brute force solution would be to make the main text read, "Gain control of target creature you don’t control until end of turn. Untap each creature you control but don't own. They gain haste."
By the way, in the Japanese translation of Overload, they couldn't make the reminder text's function of swapping "target" and "each" work in translation, so instead the reminder text just spells out exactly what each spell does when overloaded on a card-by-card basis!
So instead:
DeleteFlood with Anger
2RR
Sorcery (R)
Gain control of target creature you don’t control until end of turn. Untap each creature you control but don't own. Those creatures gain haste until end of turn.
Overload 4RRRR (You may cast this spell for its overload cost. If you do, change its text by replacing all instances of “target” with “each.”)
That looks so much better. Thanks!
I ended up with a nearly identical card designing for that art (a larger overload cost), but assuming the development works out I think you've got the cleaner setup.
DeleteAs for templating, I think we can get things even cleaner:
"Untap and gain control of target creature you don't control until end of turn. Creatures you control gain haste until end of turn."
That looks even cleaner!
DeleteTemple Traps
ReplyDelete2WB
Enchantment (U)
Enchant Creature
Flash
Enchanted Creature can't attack or block and it's activated abilities can't be activated.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under an opponent's control, you may return from the battlefield to your hand.
Feedback welcome
Which art is this?
DeleteDon't know the artists name but the attacking Rakdos witch trapped in some sort of webbing.
Delete[For goblin/elephant art in uncharted realms post]
ReplyDeleteMizzium Mindcollar - 4
Artifact - Equipment (Rare)
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has haste.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage, draw a card.
RRUU: Untap target creature and gain control of it until end of turn. Attach ~ to that creature.
Equip 2.
Notes
DeleteFirst, there's some nonintuitive aspects to this equipment that I'm a little leery of. The mind control ability can be played during opponent's turn to attach it, something that equipment isn't able to do. This would be less of an issue (see cranial plating, et. al.) if the equipment didn't stay attached after control was returned to your opponent. So you can use the color ability to attach it to opponent's creature during his turn, but you won't be able to reequip it before control reverts, leaving you with equipment that gets stuck to a creature you don't control until at least your next main phase. I could add a line to the card so it automaticallly detaches when you lose control of the creature, but the card is already getting pretty wordy.
2) I envision this as the successor to Ravnica's cycle of guild artifacts. A loose cycle of rare artifacts that works on its own but has bonus benefits if you play it in-guild. There's no way DGM as a small set is going to eat up 10 rare slots for an artifact cycle, but even so, I'm going to design a few other cards in the cycle as nonsubmission examples. I encourage other people to submit designs because that's kind of what we do here.
Cycle Guidelines:
1) Card must be a colorless rare artifact.
2) Card must be playable in decks that feature neither of its guild's colors.
3) Card must provide some other benefit that only happens if your are playing both of its guild's colors. This is easiest to show through CD activated costs, but that's not the only way.
4) It must be a different type of artifact than its counterpart in Ravnica 1 block (i.e. Mizzium Transreliquat in Guildpact was just an Artifact, so for this cycle, the Izzet artifact either had to be a Artifact Creature, an Equipment, or a new type of Artifact.) (Here's the rare artifacts from Ravnica block if you need a guide: http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&format=|[%22Ravnica%20Block%22]&rarity=|[R]&type=+[%22Artifact%22] )
Design away!
Plaxworks - 6
DeleteArtifact - Rare
Whenever you cast a creature spell, you may pay 2. If you do, draw a card.
GU: Return a non-artifact creature you control to your hand, and add mana equal that creature's mana cost to your mana pool. You may only spend this mana on creature spells. Activate this ability only any time you could activate a sorcery.
I know, I already broke rule #4, but I love this design too much for RTR style Simic to try to shoehorn it into a Artifact Creature or Equipment.
Also, clarification on rule #2: It has to be playable in a deck that features neither color, but the effect(s) should feel on-color for both.
To comply with Rule 4:
DeleteEvolution Magnet - 3
Artifact - Equipment (Rare)
Whenever ~ becomes unattached from a creature, move all counters from that creature onto ~.
Whenever ~ becomes attached to a creature, move all counters from ~ onto equipped creature.
UG, sacrifice equipped creature: Put a creature from your hand into play and attach ~ to it.
Equip 4
For the playmat art with the blue tinted angels:
ReplyDeleteDouble Cross 5UU
Sorcery (M)
Gain control of two target creatures that share a color. (This effect lasts indefinitely.)
Surprisingly despite all the color sharing stuff in Invasion, this targeting restriction doesn't show up. On removal or the like it punishes multicolor cards while promoting playing more colors. Between this and the art of the two corpses of Orzhov guards from Uncharted Realms, I'm hypothesizing that this restriction or something similar shows up on at least a cycle of cards as a marker of the unguilded's discontent with the system.
It's possible that this particular card could be a regular rare, but I think it would lead to some miserable limited games and it's impactful enough to feel like a plausible mythic to me.
It just occurred to me that with only 10 mythic slots there's a 99.9999999999999999999999999% chance that they're all multicolored, so this has to go down to rare. The question is whether it's cost should change. Given that a large portion of its play will likely be in Commander where the exact mana cost is less relevant, I think keeping limited fun is a high priority, so the revised submission is:
DeleteDouble Cross 6UU
Sorcery (R)
Gain control of two target creatures that share a color. (This effect lasts indefinitely.)
I wouldn't worry about whether WotC have a slot at Mythic Rare for it. I'm sure they intend cycles at the start and adapt during development where needed. All we know is one planeswalker and one land are at mythic right now.
DeleteThat said this card probably wasn't good enough for a Mythic Rare slot as even though the effect was strong it didn't seem particularly groundbreaking in design.