Cool Card Design of the Day5/28/2013 - What kind of tutor (card-searching) can red have? We discussed the red member of the Gifts Ungiven mega-cycle back when we were developing M13ga. Here's another way to do it:
Fool's Tale lets you get anything you want, but your opponent chooses the two least helpful cards left in your deck. You will get the card you wanted, but perhaps not until you've waded through the dross first.
I don't play on a professional level, so I'm curious: is letting your opponent see your entire deck an insane drawback at the pro level?
ReplyDeleteNot really, unless you're playing cards that are unusual for the archetype as a "secret tech." Most professional players will have a pretty good idea of what cards are in your deck by the time you make your first few land drops.
DeleteThat said, I do believe there are two times when the opponent looking through the entire deck can be an issue:
1) When the opponent is not a professional player, and has not seen a comparable deck list before. The player may even have to read some of the cards before making his/her choice. This holds up the game, since the caster of Fool's Tale cannot take game actions while waiting for the ability to resolve, and those actions may be affected by seeing which card was drawn.
2) When deck lists have been released to all players (such as in the Top 8 of a professional event, which is untimed), the opponent may decide to go through the time-consuming process of determining what cards are in the caster's hand by process of elimination. (Judges are technically supposed to give slow play warnings for this sort of thing, but in practice it never happens as much as it should.)
Is it just me, or is this a red Hornet Sting?
ReplyDeleteThat being said, you'd be better off shuffling it into the top 3 cards of your library. Allowing your opponent to search through your deck and select two cards seems like too much of a drawback.
Search your library for a card. Put it and the top two cards of your library on top of your library in random order. Draw a card.
ReplyDeleteI could buy that. The next inevitable step is... Gamble.
So, neither of my proposed cards tell you to shuffle, which you'll have to do, before you put the three cards on top, and before you draw one. That's annoying. Really annoying.
DeleteWhy not a reverse Gamble?
ReplyDeleteFool's Gambit - 1R
Sorcery
Discard your hand. Search your library for a card, put that card into your hand, then shuffle your library.
The only problem is this is likely black, and functions exactly like Infernal Tutor.
Or a Final Fortune style punishment?
Final Gambit - RR
Sorcery
Search your library for a card, put that card into your hand, then shuffle your library. At the beginning of the next end step, you lose the game.
I don't think red's pie includes "anything you want, as long as you lose the game soon thereafter." Final Fortune hasn't been reprinted in 12 years.
DeleteAlso not sure if this is a serious issue, but in combination with Faithless Looting, this card functions exactly like a Demonic Tutor.
ReplyDeleteProbably not a serious issue. Demonic Tutor that costs "1RR, Discard a card" can't be all that broken.
DeleteMaybe something like:
ReplyDeleteGoblin Tutor
1R
Sorcery
Your opponent searches your library for X-1 cards, where X is the number of cards in your hand, and exiles them. Search your library for a card and exile it. Shuffle your hand into your library and put all cards exiled with Goblin Tutor into your hand.
It should read "Target opponent" instead of "your opponent." Oops.
DeleteI don't know if this came up during the M13ga design, but how does this sound
ReplyDeleteDecisions Unmade 3R
Sorcery
Target opponent searches your library, chooses four cards with different names, and divides them into two piles. Put one of those piles into your hand, and exile the cards in the other pile. (Your opponent must choose four cards if able.)
Judge time: to work within the rules this would require some awkward library-revealing wording. They can ALWAYS fail to find in a hidden zone.
DeleteApparently that's how Guided Passage does this.
DeletePerhaps:
ReplyDeleteFlustered Tutor RR
Sorcery (R)
Search your library for up to two cards with different names and reveal them. Put one of those cards chosen at random on the bottom of your library and the other on top of your library.
Or something similar:
Disorganized Tutor 2RR
Sorcery (R)
Search your library for up to three cards with different names and reveal them. Put one of those cards chosen at random on the bottom of your library, another chosen at random on top of your library, and the third into your hand.
I like those. I also like me a Guided Passage.
DeleteUnhelpful Signpost R
Sorcery (R)
Reveal your library. Target opponent chooses a card from among them then you choose a card from among them. Put one of those cards into your hand at random and shuffle the other into your library.
Sure, it's a 50/50 shot to get you the worst card in your deck, but hey, that's not bad.
NOTE: If your opponent is searching your deck, you really want to make sure they can't "fail to find". That's why Guided Passage has you reveal your library.
You could also go with a long term plan model:
Test of Patience R
Sorcery (R)
Search your library for a card, shuffle your library, then shuffle that card into the top three cards of your library.
I also like flipping Gamble with the new red looting:
Safe Bet 1R
Sorcery (R)
As an additional cost to cast Safe Bet, discard a card at random.
Search your library for a card and put that card into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
There's also the Browbeat / Vexing Devil model. The question then becomes how much damage is a mystery card worth.
ReplyDeleteRacketeering - R
Sorcery
Any player may have Racketeering deal 6 damage to him or her. If no one does, search your library for a card and put that card into your hand, then shuffle your library.
The average burn spell hits for 3. So any damage above 3 in mono-red would, in theory, make this card cycle for R.
Who else would want this effect?
Red may also be able to use damage to tutor.
ReplyDeleteScry By Fire - 1R
Enchantment
Whenever a player is dealt non-combat damage, sacrifice Scry By Fire. Search your library for a card with converted mana cost less than or equal to the damage dealt this way, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
Alt templating:
Scry By Fire - 1R
Enchantment
Whenever a player is dealt damage by a red instant or sorcery, sacrifice Scry By Fire. Search your library for a card with converted mana cost less than or equal to the damage dealt this way, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
The Burning Path 1RR
DeleteEnchantment (rare)
Whenever a red sorcery or instant you control deals damage to an opponent, scry X, where X is the amount of damage dealt this way.
I like this quite a bit. Decks that want to deal non-combat damage to players are not usually the first in line for tutors; it's an interesting puzzle.
DeleteGamble is a super well designed card. It's risky and doesn't give card advantage, but actually does give a large benefit. Tutors are considerably weaker now, and I think a strictly worse Gamble would be fine now:
ReplyDeleteCreative Thought R
Sorcery
Look at the top 7 cards of your library. Put one of those cards into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order, then discard a card at random.
Gamble could be reprinted, no sweat.
ReplyDeleteCould red utilize the cards in your library as a resource? Or is that a green slice of the pie?
ReplyDeleteExample:
Exhaust All Resources - RR
Sorcery
Search your library for four cards with the same name. Put one of those cards into your hand and exile the rest. Then shuffle your library.
This is an excellent card. I love it. I really hope you get a gig at R&D and this gets made. I want it for my red commander decks.
ReplyDelete