Friday, September 20, 2013

Weekend Art Challenge 092013—ChaoYuanXu

Weekend Art Challenge
Click through to see this weekend's art and the design requirements for your card submission, due Monday morning. Every submission warrants feedback, which I will try to provide, and which everyone is welcome to provide as well.

If you choose, you may use that feedback to revise your submission any number of times. I will post and review the most recent submission from each designer some time on Monday, life permitting. To help ensure I recreate your design accurately, please use CARDNAME instead of ~ in your submissions.



Innistrad leaves Standard as Theros enters. Let's say farewell by doing what we do best: Design a card using this art that could fit in Innistrad block or a theoretical sequel to it. Bonus points for doing something new that is intimately related to something old.


125 comments:

  1. Two things that I thought were cool about Innistrad were the tribal elements and the rare lands that do things other than make mana. Can we do both in one design without making it feel too hot-glued together?

    Spectral Castle (rare)
    Land
    T: Add 1 to your mana pool. If you control a Spirit, add W or U to your mana pool instead.
    Spirits you control have "(W/U)(W/U), T: Tap target creature."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hybrid? Why not just {W}{U}?

      The last ability seems dangerous, given how easy it is to make a bunch of spirits and how few decks pack land removal. The activation cost helps a lot, but still lets the {WU} player handle her opponent's best threat or two pretty easily. Then again, Innistrad's other lands were pretty good too.

      Delete
    2. The idea for the cycle is that each land gives you colored mana if you control a member of its tribe and also confers an activated tap ability to members of its tribe.

      I debated on what the right mana cost for the activation was. C seemed way too good and 2C seemed a bit high. I settled on CC, but that's probably due to my natural desire to make strong cards in weekend art challenges.

      We could do {W}{U} if this is meant to go in INN/DKA/AVR. I thought hybrid might be a welcome addition to Innistrad 2.

      Delete
    3. you probably need to keep the power level of the tap ability way down if these are also pretty good dual lands.

      Delete
    4. ETBT
      T: Add W or U to your mana pool. If you control a Spirit, add WU instead.

      This still rewards you for tribal, but wouldn't play like a free enchantment

      Delete
    5. Spectral Castle (rare)
      Land
      T: Add 1 to your mana pool. If you control a Spirit, add W or U to your mana pool instead.
      Spirits you control have "WU, T: Tap target creature."

      {W}{U} is objectively a higher cost than {WU}{WU}, so I think that fits into a happy medium between C and 2C.

      Delete
  2. Castle Markov
    Legendary Land (M)
    Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, put a blood counter on Castle Markov.
    T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
    1, T, Remove X blood counters from Castle Markov: Add X mana in any combination of B and/or R to your mana pool.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Apart from the counters-on-land issue, I like how it's a vampire land.

      Delete
    2. "Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, at the beginning of your next main phase, you may add B or R to your mana pool."

      That would solve the counter issue. Does it still seem land enough?

      Delete
    3. There's more baggage centered on memory issues than on using counters. And with the myriad precedents of counters on lands, why change it?

      Delete
  3. Jay, for my card, can you zoom in on all the bats flying out at the top?

    Screeching Infestation 2B
    Enchantment (R)
    All lands have "2B, T: put a 2/2 black bat creature token with flying onto the battlefield"

    Better as "all lands" or "Lands you control?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zoomed. What does this offer over
      {2}{B}{B}: Put a bat into play
      ?

      I guess anyone can activate the land version (though you could put "Anyone can activate" on the self-contained version), but I'm not sure why we want to give that ability to opponents. Although, making a non-black opponent splash swamps just for this amuses me.

      Delete
    2. I just liked that the bats were "infesting" your land. Also i like that your opponents may sideboard black mana if it proves good to do so haha.

      Delete
  4. Fight Another Day {3}{B}{B}{B}
    Instant (rare)
    Return each creature you control and each creature card in your graveyard to your hand.

    Could be a sorcery or "each creature card in your graveyard that was put there this turn" (but not both).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Black getting Evacuation feels weird, even with the black effect tied onto the ability. Is there precedent?

      Delete
    2. I agree with Evan. Flavorwise this is mono-W, which has precedent for returning things from graveyard to hand (e.g. Angel of Serenity).

      Delete
    3. No precedent. It does fit the philosophy, which favors cowardice over stupid bravery.

      Delete
    4. black does not actually favor cowardice. not every negative attribute is black. cowardice is a blue concept. black does not run when the going gets tough. black would see it as a good time to trick the opponent.
      also this card is Soulquake.
      also I would be very confused if I saw this card mechanically in mono black.

      Delete
    5. I disagree. Black sees self-sacrifice as insane, and so running/hiding when things get dangerous is just common sense. Self preservation is more black than any other color.

      That said, I'm not convinced this card should be black.

      Delete
    6. Cowardice, like most emotions that drive a person to action, is actually a red concept. See:
      http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=113512
      http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=152974

      Jay, you're right that black isn't altruistic at all. However, black doesn't care at all about whether its tools survive or not. If black's minions die in defense of their master, who cares? Obviously no one wants to see good tools go to waste, but you don't spend too much effort trying to save the tools you have when new tools are so easily acquired.

      Delete
    7. This card is very similar to Soulquake at 3UUBB
      http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=179409

      Delete
    8. I just can't see this as mono-black. "Sacrifice all creatures you control, then yadda-yadda" accomplishes the same goal, but in color.

      Delete
    9. What red calls cowardice, black calls self-preservation.

      The tricky point here is the perspective. When we're talking about what black does and wants, are we talking about the black planeswalker, or the creature she summons? It's absolutely true that the black planeswalker is happy to sacrifice her minions for any benefit to her. It's absolutely untrue that she's willing to sacrifice herself. But a color philosophy doesn't apply solely to the planeswalkers who use that color, but to everything in that color. Humans and other sentient creatures that are black have the same ambition and self-preservation instinct. They're also willing to sacrifice anyone they can to profit or survive. You could argue that mindless zombies don't, but I would argue that they do—they're just not smart enough to think anything beyond "Hungry now. Eat brains" which makes them easy to manipulate, and thus good minions for a psychotic master.

      So yes, black doesn't care whether its tools survive or not, but it doesn't care about anything more than whether it survives or not, and that applies to everything black, not just planeswalkers.

      Delete
    10. "Sacrifice each creature you control, then return each creature card from your graveyard to your hand" is VERY black, it's just not what's happening in this art.

      Delete
    11. Ignoring the "is self-preservation black" tangent for a moment, I agree the design isn't mono-black. How about this?

      Fight Another Day 3UB
      Instant (rare)
      Return each creature you control to your hand. Then return up to that many creature cards from your graveyard to your hand.

      Delete
    12. That's a splendid U/B design.

      Delete
    13. Could there be a bigger flavor tie between the two effects? Are the bounced creatures dragging off the corpses? Who are they?

      Delete
    14. The UB version definitely needs a more fitting name.
      Shadows Retreat?

      Delete
  5. Rescue at Midnight Castle 2W
    Enchantment (u)
    Flash
    When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, return target creature you control to its owner's hand.
    When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, exile target creature an opponent controls until CARDNAME leaves the battlefield.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i feel like this should be blue as well as white, because blue gets much more of this type of effect. I suppose if you are going by planar chaos yeah this could work.

      either way this should probably cost one more, because instant speed conditionless creature exiling is GOOD!

      Delete
    2. Peel from Reality + Journey to Nowhere sounds pretty strong. Probably not too much so? Might depend on enviro

      Delete
    3. Another option is making it a 4WW instant to mirror Into the Maw of Hell.

      Self-bounce like all bounce is primarily blue, but hopefully Kor Skyfisher/Saving Grasp can make something more conditional at least secondary in white.

      Delete
    4. Rescue at Midnight Castle 4WW
      Instant (u)
      Return target creature you control to its owner's hand.
      Exile target creature an opponent controls.

      Is this playable? Would you include it in your 40 in a Limited deck? Is it more fun at 2WW, or any other mana cost?

      Delete
    5. not only is this card playable it's awesome!

      Delete
    6. Totally playable as is. I like "4W exile target creature" at sorcery in white.

      How is this?

      4W
      Choose one- Exile target creature you don't control; or return target creature you control to its owner's hand.
      Entwine 2

      Delete
    7. Final submission is the Into the Maw of Hell mirror.

      Delete
  6. Ascent into Darkness
    1WB (Mythic Rare)
    At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player exiles 3 cards from his or her graveyard and puts a 1/1 black Bat creature token with flying onto the battlefield for each card exiled this way.
    At the end of your turn, if your graveyard has no cards in it, exile all Bats, sacrifice CARDNAME, and return all cards exiled with it to their owners' graveyards.

    This started out as a top-down design and ended up as "cards in your graveyard turn into Bats". It's extremely wordy, I know. Feedback welcome and much appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like it, but I think the mono color version is better. its sort of awkward how it gives both players bats... but that just makes it more of a jhonny card!

      Delete
    2. There are three cards here. One that makes bats, one that kills bats, and one that temporarily removes cards from graveyards. I don't see the purpose of the second ability here at all. Why not just…

      At the beginning of your upkeep, each player exiles a card from his or her graveyard. Each player that does puts a 1/1 black Bat creature token with flying onto the battlefield.

      Delete
    3. Thanks for the suggestions! Revised version:

      Ascent into Darkness 1BB
      Enchantment (Rare)
      At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player exiles two cards from his or her graveyard, then puts a 1/1 black Bat creature token with flying onto the battlefield for each card exiled this way.

      Basically following Jay's version, but I think exiling multiple cards per turn is important-- it forces players to work to 'keep up', and makes it easier to build your deck to gain an advantage. Otherwise this just becomes a bad Bitterblossom.

      Delete
    4. Would you consider making this a bigger one shot effect? That may be too far removed from your original intent though.

      Delete
    5. I could definitely support something like Sorcery 2BB: exile all cards in graveyards, for each card exiled this way put a Bat onto the battlefield under its owner's control. That's a nice design too, but probably a different card, as you say.

      Delete
  7. In the years since Avacyn's release much of the lands once seized by darkness have been reclaimed. Old family estates long infested with vampires or other nightmares began to be explored and re-inhabited. But evil lingered on the grounds and now even in the safe places there remain hidden temples to evil, slowly corrupting their populace from the inside out. Safe from the monsters outside, the people of Innistrad never thought to look inward toward the new threat.

    Irekroft Estate (Mythic Rare)
    Legendary Land
    t: Add 1 to your mana pool.
    Infamy - Whenever you sacrifice a creature, untap Irekroft Estate and lose 1 life.
    "Waste Nothing."
    -Irekroft Family Motto

    Infamy always takes the form - "Whenever you sacrifice a creature, _________________ and lose 1 life."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like the block idea a lot.

      Sacrifice is a very specific action. Black uses it a lot and red uses it sometimes, but other colors rarely use it. Would Infamy just exist in BR? Would we bleed sacrifice to other colors? Could the trigger be broader, like whenever a creature you control dies?

      Delete
    2. Innistrad Block was about you trapped in a room full of nightmares clutching your last torch as it burned low. Innistrad 2 would be about relighting that torch to find that the nightmares were your neighbors all along. Given that, I would want Infamy to go into all colors to drive home the point that it's not about which colors get monsters anymore.

      Instead Infamy would be about exploring the dark mirror of each color's strengths. Blue, some knowledge SHOULDN'T be known, White, sheltering those you love can lead to intolerance and hate etc...

      Which is to say my first instinct would be to bleed sacrifice into other colors and, barring that, to open the trigger up to something more WUBRG like straight death triggers. The tiebreaker for me was that I wanted it to feel different from Morbid.

      Delete
    3. Felt constrained by the art to make a Land. When you put it on a white card though:

      Price of Survival 2WW
      Enchantment
      Creatures you control get +1/+1.
      Infamy - Whenever you sacrifice a creature, target creature you control gains protection from all colors until end of turn and you lose 1 life.

      This definitely looks better without sacrifice written on it.

      Price of Survival 2WW
      Enchantment
      Creatures you control get +1/+1.
      Infamy - Whenever a creature you control dies, target creature you control gains protection from all colors until end of turn and you lose 1 life.

      Delete
    4. So your final submission is... Irekroft Estate with the new infamy wording?

      Delete
    5. Yeah. Seems right, I was just thinking on page.

      Delete
  8. Ancient Necropolis 3BB
    Enchantment (R)
    At the beginning of your upkeep, put a black 1/1 Skeleton creature token onto the battlefield.
    Sacrifice a nonblack creature: put a black 1/1 Skeleton creature token onto the battlefield.
    Skeleton creatures you control get +1/+1.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why does the card need both of the first abilities?

      Delete
    2. What if the static boon was B: Regen?

      Delete
    3. Or...

      Upkeep, put a 1/1 B skeleton token onto the bf.
      Pay 1 life: regenerate target skeleton.

      Delete
  9. Catacomb of Hallow’s Eve
    Land (R)
    T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
    T, Sacrifice a creature: Put a scream counter on Catacomb of Hallow’s Eve.
    T, Remove three scream counter from Catacomb of Hallow’s Eve: Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Does this want to be a land? Does it have to tap four times to Raise Dead? Can we do this without counters?

      Delete
    2. This is a remake of All Hallow's Eve from Legends, which is why it uses scream counters, you don't sac the land when using it's last ability. So it's reusable and counters help players track.

      Couldn't the middle ability tie into Innistrad better with Morbid?

      Morbid - T: Put a scream counter on ~. Activate this ability only if a creature died this turn.

      Delete
    3. I made it a land over an enchantment to differentiate it from the original card, but I agree it probably works better as an enchantment. Including morbid is good suggestion. So hell, here's a reverse All hallows Eve..

      Catacomb of Hallow’s Eve 2BB
      Enchantment (R)

      Morbid — At the beginning of each end step, if a creature died this turn, put a scream counter on Catacomb of Hallow’s Eve.

      Remove three scream counter from Catacomb of Hallow’s Eve and sacrifice it: Each player returns all creature cards from his or her graveyard to the battlefield.

      Delete
    4. you can combine the two abilities.

      Morbid- @eot, if a creature died, put a scream counter on ~. Then, if there are n counters do stuff"

      Delete
  10. Bloody Manor
    Land (Rare)
    As Bloody Manor enters the battlefield, you may reveal a Vampire card from your hand. If you don’t, Bloody Manor enters the battlefield tapped.
    T: Add B or R to your mana pool.
    Citizens and travelers - no matter how desperate or chilled during Hunter’s Moon nights - do not seek reception at this house, ever.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is there a GW Humans member of the cycle? Is it broken?

      Delete
    2. You could go either way. To me, I find amusing the possibility of a WG Human tribal in high level constructed formats. But according to Innistrad original design, you could go with the broken-cycle choice. Maybe it's better the latter.

      Delete
  11. haunting chapel
    land [U]
    haunt
    T: add 1 to your mana pool.
    3, sacrifice ~: draw a card.
    creatures haunted by get -1/-1.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. man there are some hard designs to top this week!

      Delete
    2. Haunt is unlikely to return in its original form. If it did, this is a little confusing because it does three different things (and it does a black thing without black mana).

      Delete
    3. Contagion Clasp
      Gnarled Effigy
      Grim Poppet
      Lockjaw Snapper
      Necropede
      Serrated Arrows
      Serrated Biskelion

      Delete
    4. Isn't a land that cycles from play already pretty powerful? From what I understand, Horizon Canopy is a notch above what they're willing to print these days, and colorless/pain seems like a negotiable tradeoff. The fact that this isn't just "cycling from play" but "split card Afflict/Land", seems kind of too much.

      I do find the idea of architectural ghosts kind of amusing, though. You knock down a house and its ethereal A-frame follows you wherever you go?

      Delete
    5. I really like where you're going with this, but I agree that its doing one thing too many. Can you combine a sacrifice clause with the mana ability?

      Sinking Haunt
      Haunt
      T: Add B, if you control a swamp you may sac this.
      Creatures haunted by CARDNAME get -1/-1.

      Delete
    6. The simplest execution would be "T, Sac: Add ." but that may not evoke much flavor.

      Delete
    7. "Strictly better than Swamp" is a no-no. How about:

      Haunt
      T, Sacrifice a land: Add B to your mana pool.
      Creatures haunted by ~ get -1/-1.

      It reads kind of badly, until you realize that it's basically a spell slot that gives you an uncounterable Ghoulflesh with upside. That seems reasonable for Limited, at least.

      Delete
    8. T, Sacrifice ~: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.

      Delete
    9. hmmm... I see. I know many people were confused by haunt the first time it was done but ultimately it's not all that much more complicated than bestow. I think if it was handled better, (IE and enchantment styled effect, as shown) it could even serve as a major mechanic for a innastrad like set. it just so resonant.

      new design, cutting down on the complexity, but also it's use... making it more of a jhonny card.

      Haunting Chapel
      land [U]
      Haunt
      T: add 1 to your mana pool.
      Creatures haunted by get -2/-1.

      sort of a call back to Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai, but with a more tangible reward. making it so you might actually want to do things with this card.

      Delete
  12. Hunger of the Moon
    2BB
    Enchantment (U)
    At the beginning of your end step, transform each Human you control.
    Whenever a creature dies, if it’s not your turn, put a +1/+1 counter on target Werewolf you control.
    The howls rise when the sun sets.

    Feedback appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why is a Werewolf enabler in black? Innistrad werewolves are R/G.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. I agree with Evan, unless you plan on shifting Werewoves to black (not a terrible idea).

      Then, I realized: if you have this on the bf and nobody casts any spells, your weres transform from this trigger, then turn back into humans on your turn. Feels bad and creates a lot of flipping/re-sleeving. And it will transform non-were creatures like Delver and Loyal Cathar. Was that intentional?

      How would you feel about "Morbid- If its not your turn, whenever a creature dies put a +1/+1 on each (nonhuman?) werewolf you control."

      Delete
    4. Moreover, this turn the entire werewolf minigame off and just automatically turns your werewolves on, but that minigame is what makes them fun.

      Delete
    5. I wanted to give Werewolves a chance to branch out into other colors, even if the creatures themselves are only R/G. I see it as a build-around draft uncommon. Totally does take away the minigame though.

      How about:

      Hunger of the Moon
      3BB
      Enchantment (U)
      At the beginning of your end step, if a creature died this turn, you may transform target Human you control.
      At the beginning of each opponent’s end step, if a creature died this turn, you may put a +1/+1 counter on each non-Human Werewolf you control.

      If this is in Innistrad, it should have Morbid. If it's in the sequel, I'd like it unkeyworded, as a throwback to the original without needing Morbid as a keyword.

      Delete
  13. I went top-down design, based on the Planeswalkers Guide description of a Vampire celebration Called Court of the Vampire King/Queen.

    Court of the Vampire King (Rare)
    RB
    Enchantment
    2BR: Target Human you control gets +1/+1 for each Vampire you control. Sacrifice it at the beginning of your next end step. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on each Vampire you control.
    During this holiday, invented by Olivia Voldaren, a villager is brought to an opulent estate and theatrically served by attending vampires as their “King” or “Queen.” Later they feast on the terrified regent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cut "opulent" from the flavor text so it fits as four lines on the card. Thank you.

      Delete
    2. Cut "opulent" from the flavor text so it fits as four lines on the card. Thank you.

      Delete
    3. The flavor text is lengthy and awkward here. Challenge yourself to cut it down to ten words or fewer.

      Delete
    4. Court does nothing when you don't control both a human and a vampire, and even when you do, how many vampires do you need to make sacrificing your creature worth the boost, especially since you might not even be able to attack with it without losing the boost?
      I think this could be a lot simpler.

      Delete
    5. Jay, you told us we could design for the original Innistrad Block if we wanted. There was a ton of R/W Vampire/Human interaction in the block.

      With 4+ Vampires on the battlefield, you should be able to attack with your Human and see it live. If not, well, that's why it's a repeateable effect and not a spell. Make a Vampire heavy deck that runs a few Humans, like Doomed Traveller, Skirsdag High Priest or Gather the Townsfolk. Pair them up with Falkenrath Artistocrat, Blood Artist, Bloodline Keeper, Olivia, etc.

      Evan, I cut the flavor text to the amount I wanted. The card text takes up four lines and the flavor text takes up four lines, so it's got symmetry to make up for the wordiness.

      Delete
    6. Yup, original block is all good. There were indeed some vampires that care about humans.

      Delete
  14. Treacherous Bramble
    Creature - Plant (U)
    (B/G)
    Defender, deathtouch
    (B/G)(B/G)(B/G): Regenerate Treacherous Bramble.
    1/1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cool! See the comments about hybrid on earlier cards, and consider whether this might gum up the board too much in Limited, but otherwise I really like the top-down feel.

      Delete
    2. Might be too effective as a blocker. At least it dies to -1/-1.

      Delete
  15. Lunar Apogee
    1B
    Encahntment
    Rare
    Tokens enter the battlefield as 1/1 black Bat creature tokens with flying.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cool idea, but what does it actually accomplish? Best case, you build your deck to generate vanilla 1/1 tokens and this grants them flying. It also randomly shrinks big tokens that your opponents generate. I don't think that's enough to warrant a card. The exception to this is living weapon, which I admit is a pretty awesome interaction, but not enough to justify this effect on its own. Maybe this should cost just B, or make the tokens into 2/2's?

      Delete
    2. Overwrites Angel and beast tokens without specifically calling out white and green. Consider the argument that 1/1 flying Bat > 2/2 vanilla Zombie. I could see this dropping to 2B Unc though. Its a skill testing build around card.

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    4. Perfect with Teysa. It's very clean as is, but it's hard to resist adding a single token when it ETB, as that can make it a lot more playable.
      Technically it could even say "when this enters the battlefield, put a creature token onto the battlefield"(!), but that's obviously way too cute.

      Delete
    5. or put a 20/20 Chtulu token onto the bf. haha

      Delete
    6. The Teysa interaction is very cool! This card has a lot of Johnny potential, in addition to being an interesting sideboard card for Spike in the right context. I still think it's reasonable to cost it at B, which would make it a lot easier to curve into a 2-mana token making spell.

      Delete
    7. I think this might actually be cooler as a green card that makes all tokens into 3/3 or something. currently this isn't something that black really likes playing with, nor is it really anything that you could use.

      Delete
    8. I had that version in a set a while back, that's where I got the idea for this. (It made 3/3 Centaurs)

      I think you may be right. The more I think about it though, its pretty close to black's domain. I'm thinking of Illness in the Ranks. Also, this hoses white and green more than any of the other colors.

      Delete
    9. Another option, if you wanted it to be an interesting sideboard card for constructed:

      Lunar Apogee B
      Enchantment (r)
      Tokens on the battlefield are 1/1 black Bat creature tokens with flying.
      Sacrifice ~: creatures get -1/-1 until end of turn.

      This could let you shrink big tokens OR wipe small tokens.

      Actually, now that I think about it, the original version is awfully useful in completely shutting down both Kiki-Jiki and Splinter Twin, regardless of if they use Pestermite, Exarch, Bellringer, Angel, or Conscripts (though, sadly not Thopter Foundry.)

      Delete
    10. Should this affect tokens that already ETB'd?

      Delete
    11. Jay, I suppose that would be the difference between Humility (frowned upon by wotc) and Essence of the Wild (recent). However Infinite Reflection is both.

      I'd rather err on the side of simplicity (to set a baseline) and explore the design space later.

      Delete
    12. @Pastuer: Your suggestion shows a lot of interesting tension. I would be afraid some might take it as a lose-lose situation.

      "I can't kill your 1/1 flying former Beasts with this, so I'll sac it to...pump them...into 2/2's? That can't be right :( " says Johnny Feelbad

      Delete
  16. Unhallowed Cemetery

    Land R

    If you control 3 or more spirits, creatures you control gain intimidate.

    T: add 1 colorless to you mana pool

    1B, T, Sacrifice a creature: Put a 1/1 black spirit token with flying onto the battleground.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oops! That should say non spirit creature!

      Delete
    2. This is cool, but three is awfully low considering how many tokens you could spit out in Innistrad. Is five too high?

      Delete
    3. 5 would work. It would also be in line with how bloodline keeper works. I initially chose 3 because of the mana cost. If you consider the fact that this would be a land you couldn't tap for mana every time you make a spirit that ability is secretly 2B,T, sac a non spirit creature. That makes it 9 mana, 3 turns, and 3 creatures to activate it. However, considering the amount of spirits running around, it would be rare that someone would play this card and not have a bunch of spirits in their deck, so I think 5 would probably be better.

      Delete
    4. Skye, can you clarify exactly what should be "non spirit creature?" There are four possibilities, and some make more sense than others.

      A land with the first two abilities or a land with the last two abilities would be a complete card on its own, you need to solve the riddle for the player and combine them.

      Delete
    5. the last ability should read:

      1B, T, sacrifice a non-spirit creature: Put a 1/1 black spirit token with flying onto the battlefield under your control.

      In other words this card says... Turn your guys into spirits and they gain intimidate.

      Delete
    6. Ok so final draft?

      Unhallowed Ground

      Land (R)

      If you control five or more spirits, creatures you control have intimidate.

      T: Add 1 to your mana pool.

      1B, T, Sacrifice a non-spirit creature: put a 1/1 black spirit creature token with flying onto the battlefield.

      Delete
  17. Cathedral of Memories
    Land(R)
    ~ enters the battlefield tapped.
    Instants and sorceries in your graveyard have flashback. The flashback cost is the same as its casting cost. Whenever you cast a spell from your graveyard you lose 2 life.
    T: Add 1 to your mana pool.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Castle of Encroaching Dusk
    (zoom: roots and wall)
    Land (Rare)
    T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
    4, T: Transform CARDNAME. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
    //
    Castle of Eternal Night
    (zoom: moon, towers, and cliff)
    Land (Rare)
    T: Add 1 to your mana pool. If that mana is spent on a double-faced card, that card enters the battlefield transformed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very cool concept. Can the transformation ability be more flavorful (and remain so simple)? That's the only critique i can come up with. Good flavor

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    2. My gut says it doesn't both need to BE a transform card and IMPROVE your other transform cards. That said, the transformed ability is very powerful and probably does need to be hard to achieve; It's existence limits the scope of other transform cards like Ludevic's Abomination.

      Delete
    3. Will have to add a note that clarifies you can't play the second side.

      Delete
    4. I toyed with some sort of "skip casting spells" restriction as a callback to the Werewolf ability, but I didn't want anything that could be used too early. In the end I decided to go with tacking a high mana cost onto the activation, so that a player activating the ability would likely have to skip casting spells on the same turn anyway.

      Delete
  19. Castle of Endless Dead
    Land (Mythic Rare)
    When CARDNAME enters the battlefields exile all other permanents you control. For each permanent exiled this way put a 2/2 zombie creature token into the battlefield tapped.
    T:Exile a card from you hand and put a 2/2 zombie creature token into the battlefield tapped under your control.

    It may need to exile all zombies if it leaves the battlefield to check its power level. Thought the concept of going all in on zombies was pretty cool.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Could also just "change" your creatures to zombies and "change" any creature you cast to a zombie. It would then tap for B.

      Delete
    2. All modern lands produce mana. Why can't this be an enchantment?

      Delete