Weekend Art ChallengeClick 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.
Monument of Ozymandias
ReplyDeleteLand- Plains (Rare)
CARDNAME enters the battlefield tapped.
2, Sacrifice CARDNAME: Reveal the top six cards of your library. You may put an artifact creature card from among them into your hand. Put the rest into your graveyard.
Is there a reason this is a Plains and not just able to tap for W?
DeleteThe Plains subtype grants the ability to tap for W, but I believe reminder text is required. My mistake.
Delete(T: Add W to your mana pool.)
What I mean is that the Plains subtype will make it usable with Fetchlands. I'm wondering if that's intentional? I'm worried it might make games too repetitive.
DeleteI hadn't thought of that. I generally like the idea of including types because they are interesting and mechanically relevant with no extra overhead, but in this case you're right that it doesn't make much sense (and weirdly lets you tutor for the effect).
DeleteErrata: No subtype; extra (non-reminder) text line "T: Add W to your mana pool."
"Put the top N cards of your library into your graveyard. Then put an artifact card from your graveyard into your hand."
DeleteJust a thought.
Now that it's not a Plains, does {W} make more sense than {1}?
Deletejay: isn't that just better than buried ruin?
DeleteThe art really looks like it should produce {W}. The card can be an 'official' Plains or not as Development dictates.
DeleteGrave of the Colossus
ReplyDeleteLegendary Land (Mythic Rare)
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
Tap six untapped creatures you control, T, Sacrifice CARDNAME: Put a 10/10 Golem creature token with indestructible and trample onto the battlefield.
Very cool, but I have development concerns. I think the gameplay would be much better if the game didn't just end when this went off. It should be swingy, but regenerating like Mossbridge Troll or replacing trample with "can't be blocked except by two or more creatures" would help find a middle ground.
DeleteI'm not too concerned about the token itself being busted; it still dies to bounce, tuck, edict, or Pacifism / O-Ring. But this should definitely have a mana cost to prevent some crazy tokens deck from getting it out on turn four...
DeleteGrave of the Colossus
Legendary Land (Mythic Rare)
CARDNAME enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
6, Tap six untapped creatures you control, Sacrifice CARDNAME: Put a 10/10 Golem creature token with indestructible and trample onto the battlefield.
If development decided it was too good, I'd favor increasing the number of creatures necessary to dig the guy up rather than nerfing the golem.
Giant Megalith 4
ReplyDeleteArtifact (Rare)
Hideaway (Modified reminder text for use on non-lands)
4, T, Sacrifice Giant Megalith: Reveal the exiled card. If you do, put an X/X colorless Golem Giant artifact creature token onto the battlefield, where X is the exiled card’s converted mana cost.
I agree that there's more interesting stuff to be done with a Hideaway-esque mechanic, but Hideaway itself has so many awkwardly specified peices that I think we'd do better to do something new and similar.
DeleteI'd hate to add a ninth line, but should this be sorcery speed?
DeleteHidden Guardian 3
ReplyDeleteArtifact - Fortification (U)
Fortified land is a 4/4 artifact creature that's still a land.
Fortified land doesn't untap during your untap step.
Fortify 4
My initial thought is "not worth it". 4 mana (effectively 5 or 6), plus 3 overhead, for a temporary 4/4 does not seem reasonable, especially when we've seen 4/4s printed at 3 CMC straight up.
DeleteRemoving the second line results in an entirely reasonable card that still lets you make interesting decisions (e.g. with 6 lands you can attach, then equip to make a blocker). Alternatively, I'd suggest reducing the fortify cost. I like the card design a lot in terms of both the flavor and the interactions; I just think it ought to have Fortify 2.
Also, note that future-shifted cards don't generally tie you to a specific implementation (see: infect, bestow). Feel free to call this a "Structure" or some such thing if you prefer.
Would you play this, Ipaulsen?
DeleteHidden Guardian {3}
Artifact (U)
{4}, {T}: Target land becomes a 4/4 artifact creature until EOT.
How about this?
Hidden Guardian {3}
Artifact (U)
{4}, {T}, Sacrifice a land: Put a 4/4 artifact creature token OTB. Activate this ability only if you don't control a 4/4 artifact.
They're not terribly efficient, but could dominate the late game in Limited.
Good point-- I was missing how resilient this was against removal. Still, Hammer of Purphoros it's not. The most this ever does is give you an unremovable, vigilant 4/4 as long as you have 6+ lands and nothing better to do. Even then, any 5+ toughness blocker blanks it completely, and any 4+ power creature or removal spell is basically a Time Walk. So no, I'm still not sold on this at its current cost. But it's closer than I realized.
DeleteFortification seems like its going to be a tough nut to crack. Balancing not looking terrible with not being stupid powerful is never easy with stuff like this.
DeletePower level aside, Fortification will never have the depth of Auras or Equipment because all lands do the same thing: make mana. Cobbled Wings functions very differently on simple creatures like Regathan Firecat and Armored Cancrix, but it's difficult to find two lands that Darksteel Garrison effects differently.
DeleteI've never thought of it that way but that's a good point
DeleteAll interesting points. It's true that fortification does have a bit of a smaller design space than auras and equipment, but that seems to be a weak argument for not doing something, there are plenty of mechanics that have a small design space.
DeleteI like Jay's second tweak, but I want to make the downside a bit more intuitive:
Hidden Guardian 3
Artifact (U)
4, Tap, Sacrifice a land: Put a 4/4 legendary artifact creature named Guardian of Tesla token OTB.
http://i.imgur.com/MstZ4g7.jpg
ReplyDeletePrevail of Nature 1G
Sorcery (C)
Destroy target artifact.
You may play an additional land this turn.
What man could not slay, time did.
Woops, minor typo in flavor text. Oh well.
DeleteI like the destroy artifact + ramp interpretation a lot, but given that artifact destruction might take some time for you to be able to play, and ramp is time sensitive as it is. Unless you intend this for an environment with Scars of Mirrodin levels of artifacts, I'd prefer something more like:
Delete3G
Sorcery (C)
Destroy target artifact.
Search your library for a land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped.
The story is fun, but Jules is right that it's rare both effects will be relevant at the same time. Of course, you could use that to justify a low cost. (I think 1G is better than G, but I'd test both to be sure.)
DeleteThe name isn't grammaring for me.
Jules: It was intended to be useful in either context, but you do have a really good point. My idea was that you needed the land in your hand to act as 'ammo' to overgrow the artifact, but you're right that the timing is odd.
DeleteJay: I forgot that Prevail isn't actually a noun, haha! "Nature Prevails" does sound better, so let's go with that.
Taking everyone's comments (including from other friends) into consideration, how does this look:
DeleteNature Prevails 1G
Sorcery (C)
Destroy up to one target artifact.
You may play an additional land this turn.
It reads weirder, I think; but I had forgotten that if a spell targets, you have to have a valid target to cast the spell in the first place. Thoughts on this one?
EDIT: Made a mistake on the last one. Fixed.
I prefer it without "up to one," personally.
DeleteUncover the Lost 1G
ReplyDeleteSorcery (U)
Reveal the top four cards of your library. You may put a permanent card from among them into your hand. Put the rest into your graveyard.
In a vacuum, this is totally solid as a card design. However, this kind of effect has recently been concepted as mulching farmland, picking trash out of a sewer, and appealing to the gods for aid. Can you make the design say "lost civilization" more loudly? It's uncommon, so you've got plenty of room for complexity yet.
DeleteShould it really get planeswalkers and enchantments?
DeleteIpaulsen: I think the fact the ability is so flavor-neutral actually helps it say "lost civilization", and I like it quite a bit. Flavor text would help though, I agree.
DeleteJay: Enchantments, yes. Planeswalkers.... "nonplaneswalker" just looks weird, so it'll probably have to do.
I'd suggest at least making it "a green permanent". As it stands, 1G is really quite good.
DeleteRooted in the Past 3G
ReplyDeleteSorcery (U)
Shuffle any number of cards from your graveyard into your library. Search your library for up to that many basic land cards and put them into your hand and shuffle your library.
Cool. I would totally try to make this work in a Life from the Loam / Seismic Assault combo deck. Getting only lands is a bit feel-bad when you already have access to 4 mana, though.
DeleteI love the effect; I'm worried it's too big. It'll be fine on turn 4, but on turn 6 or 8 or 15, it could net you a LOT of cards. Can we cap it, or limit which cards are returned?
DeleteYou have this shuffling your library twice. Can you clean that up?
DeleteI second Jay's comment on a limit to what is returned. I think you need a green feeling restriction here.
Put any number of cards from your library on top of your library. Search your library for that many basic land cards and put them into your hand. Then exile CARDNAME and shuffle your library.
edit: it should have said "Put any number of < CRITERIA OMITTED > cards from your graveyard...
DeleteI considered putting them on top and then shuffling, but it seems disingenuous not to tell the players that they'll be shuffled in up front. Regardless, since it doesn't affect the card's functionality that's really a concern for editing. As for fetching too many cards, you're all right. I think "creature cards" is too few, but "permanent cards" might be about the right level, so let's try that.
Deleteit does actaully effect the game, Psychogenic Probe.
Deletealso there have been several cards made by wizards that put on top just to be shuffled in.
remember shuffling is the loading time of magic.
Reclover XG
ReplyDeleteInstant
Put target card from a graveyard with converted mana cost X on top of its owner's library. You gain X life.
I'm interested to know what rarity this is. As a common it seems very interesting, but NWO-unfriendly. As an uncommon it feels just a tiny bit disappointing. Can it cost XGG and get X cards back (maybe with some limitation), or is that too powerful?
DeleteI imagine I'd make this an uncommon in a set that has another spell to help you form a loop as a way for control decks to combo-out a slow-mill win in Limited.
DeleteReclaim was never really too strong, however, and it would probably be much more exciting returning it to hand (in that case probably targeting only yourself). Which would be more fun, as a niche-soft-lock enabler/GY-hate, or as a new take on the Regrowth-Nature's Spiral lineage? That type of card has historically been very undervalued, but the cost on this may balance that out entirely.
The reason this can affect other players is so you can make them draw a land card? Not sure that's more impactful than "Target player draws two cards."
DeleteYou could upgrade Reclaim…
Reclover XG
Instant
Put target card from your graveyard on top of your library.
You gain X life.
…but then you might as well set X to a static number.
I think the best way to do this is make it as recollect (to hand) and... well I think that would make it pretty ok.
DeleteThe reason for the target-other is to provide auxiliary graveyard hate to a format that might require it. The soft-lock would be looping this card onto the top of your library while your opponent draws their 41st card, not locking your opponent into having the same card on top of their deck. It's very Johnny-Spike, with a lot of little uses. It can be a straight-up Reclaim to help you reuse a fetchland or get back a bomb, or an impromptu Stream of Life against a suicide deck, a Coffin Purge against a reanimator deck or a tutor in a world with sufficient Mulches. The cleverer thing would probably be a "graveyard to top of library" version of Repeal (with cantrip instead of lifegain), but I'll just remember that for another time.
DeleteI'll go ahead and upgrade it, however.
Reclover XG
Sorcery (u)
Return target card with converted mana cost X from your graveyard into your hand. You gain X life.
Not strictly better than Recollect, not strictly worse than Regrowth; flashy, but probably safe from degeneracy.
Buried Golem 6
ReplyDeleteArtifact (R)
Reach, Trample, Indestructibilty
CARDNAME enters the battlefield tapped and doesn't untap during your untap step.
Sacrifice a land: Untap CARDNAME.
"Not even the ravages of time could destroy Tran, but it could sure slow him down."
10/10
Is the trick that you also have to find a way to make it a creature?
DeleteThis seems like a pretty darn good deal. Like, Titan-level Constructed-playable.
I would def increase the untap cost. Three lands and it would still be good.
DeleteUncover Ancient Secrets {U}
ReplyDeleteSorcery
Draw a card.
If there are three cards named Uncover Ancient Secrets in your graveyard, exile Uncover Ancient Secrets and those cards, then draw seven cards.
“What great secrets they must’ve had. What great, terrible secrets.”—Mye, Archaeologist
A little Accumulated Knowledge-y, but perhaps not an unprintable variation. Hopefully thematic.
I think it is a little excessive... even as hard as it is to get... U for draw 8 cards seems like a little much.
DeleteExciting and very Johnny-friendly. I like it. The only way I can think of to break it is Intuition.
DeleteI think this is the wrong prize for jumping through this particular hoop. If you've built your deck to do an elaborate song and dance to get three copies in the graveyard and cast the fourth, is drawing seven actually going to win the game? I feel like you'll just end up with a big hand of Ponders and Mystical Teachings.
DeleteAll three other copies is a steep cost. Realistically, those 23(!) words will have little to no impact on a large percentage of games in which they are played. The only way to use them is to do broken things to get there.
DeleteWould you consider:
DeleteBrainsquall U
Sorcery
Magnitude 1 (You may exile any number of cards named CARDNAME from your graveyard as you cast this. For each card exiled in this way, double CARDNAME's magnitude.)
Draw an amount of cards equal to CARDNAME's magnitude.
The flavor of this card feels a lot like the Kamigawa Unspeakable minigame.
DeleteI was thinking drawing more cards was perhaps not as good a reward as getting some other amazing effect. Perhaps giving you a large creature token or a Time Walk.
DeleteI thought about letting the player 'go off' sooner for a lesser effect, but that's just not what this card is about. You slowly learn a bunch of little details (each getting you closer to the next) and then finally stumble onto some world-changing discovery.
For now, I'm going with "If this is fourth time you cast a card named Uncover Ancient Secrets this game, put a 10/10 colorless artifact Giant token onto the battlefield and take an extra turn after this one." but will keep looking for something that feels more Everything-Is-Different-Now.
DeleteUncover Ancient Secrets {U}
DeleteSorcery (common)
If you’ve cast a card named Uncover Ancient Secrets four or more times this game, search your library for blue or artifact card and cast it without paying its mana cost, then shuffle your library. Otherwise, draw a card.
That discovery trigger is perfect flavor. Let the players figure out their own reward!
DeleteChanging to just 'casting' four times also makes this card much easier to trigger, but that's probably a good thing.
I like the golem token better than search for card and cast it... it feels like the clues are leading to something specific rather than whatever.
Deletein movies its never "solve this puzzle and get whatever" its always "solve this puzzle and get the treasure/power hidden within"
It's all perspective. If you're looking at mechanically, yeah, it gets 'whatever.' But from the fiction of the game, it's exactly the thing that you get with it. Whatever you got, that's what it was all along.
DeleteThe 'whatever' option has more mystery, which is clearly a big plus for this card's flavor, but the opportunity to do something huge and unique is entirely compelling too. The 10/10 is huge but not unique. There's definitely some perfect effect to put in here, I just haven't thought of any yet.
The end effect could be uber-Bribery. Then you don't know exactly what the prize at the end is.
DeleteMonument of the Suns 6
ReplyDeletelegendary artifact
spells you cast cost WUBRG less to cast.
"What was once the great metal plane and then the horrifying home world of the phyrexians is now just an open expanse. Nothing lives here out of respect for its past."
Scary. Mix with Fist of the Suns and you're set!
DeleteThat flavor text is a serious downer, and not in a good way. Who wants a multiverse where awesome things get replaced by boring things?
DeleteVorthos: Why did the Phyrexians abandon New Phyrexia? Or does this card come after they're obliterated again? Either way, what is about that situation that makes everything five mana cheaper?
DeleteMelvin: How many players know this makes a {4}{U} card free and a Deity of Scars cost {BG}{BG}{BG}?
this should be a mythic, it can also get edgewalker's reminder text. the rules handle this automatically but maybe it is better to add the line "This effect reduces only the amount of colored mana you pay." even though it is unnecessary (it doesn't make {4}{U} free it make it cost {4}.)
Deleteas for why it makes things cheaper? it is reminiscent of fist of suns and but makes things more colorless to cast.
as for what happened to the phrexians. what do you think happened to the phrexians? perhaps they left? perhaps they were destroyed by the "good guys." maybe they destroyed themselves for lack of a better thing to destroy. this is left up for the player to speculate. or you know for the player to "discover" about this "Ancient world"
That line from Edgewalker isn't reminder text; it's rules text. It has to be there to make Edgewalker work that way, because without that line, the rules DO make colored mana reductions reduce generic mana costs.
Delete117.7b If a cost is reduced by an amount of colored mana that exceeds its mana component of that color, the cost's mana component of that color is reduced to nothing and the cost's generic mana component is reduced by the difference.
That said, you could certainly add that line to Monument the same way it was added to Edgewalker.
Braxi Giant (Uncommon)
ReplyDelete2RR
Creature - Giant
3/3
Paradigm shift (When this enters the battlefield, exile your hand, then draw that many cards. When it dies, discard your hand, then return the exiled cards to hand.)
The cosmology of Anton Braxi states that stars are gemstones hung in the sky by a recently discovered race of Ancient Ones.
If they kill this in response to the ETB trigger, you lose your whole hand, which is pretty sadtrombone.com .
DeleteUse your imagination that this keyword is in an environment where the opportunities to do that are slim and mitigated.
DeleteVery cool and flavorful effect, but Havelock has a good point. Maybe we can use the new "until" templating somehow?
Delete"When ~ enters the battlefield, exchange your hand with that many cards on the bottom of your library until ~ leaves the battlefield."
It's a little strange, but I think it works, and it's definitely cleaner. It can't cause more rules complications than Bestow does! I had it use the bottom of the library rather than the top to prevent card-drawing and milling weirdness.
@Ipaulsen: VERY interesting use of the bottom of the library! Props to that, man.
DeleteI was going to point out that using a death trigger on this is really asking for unexpected broken things to ensue. I strongly urge you to change the word "dies" to "leaves the battlefield".
I don't understand what using the bottom of the yard protects against, but I want to. Can you better explain?
DeleteI tried the Banisher Priest wordinmg first. It's actually how I arrived at the mechanic. The problem is that it makes it extremely hard to template the second part of the etb effect and the second part of the death trigger. Originally it was:
Hand crafted (When this enters the battlefield, exile your hand until it leaves the battlefiled, and draw that many cards.)
The problem was it didn't ditch the extra cards when your creature died.
What is the problem with a death trigger anyway. It seems much harder to abuse than a leaves play, which can dig through tons of cards with flicker, bounce, unearth type effects, etc.
Oh, btw, these keyword variations all should exile your hand face down.
Delete@lpaulsen One thing I don't like about "exchange with the bottom of your library" is how it cuts off other creatures with paradigm shift from new cards. You'll just get cards you tucked away with the first creature.
DeleteUpdate:
DeleteBraxi Giant (Uncommon)
2RR
Creature - Giant
3/3
Paradigm shift (When this enters the battlefield, exile your hand face down, then draw that many cards. When it leaves the battlefield, if you exiled cards with it, discard your hand, then return those exiled cards to hand.)
Braxi’s cosmology states that stars are gemstones, hung in the sky by this race of Ancient Ones.
I added the face down language, a clause to cover Hav's concern, and simplified the flavor text.
Apart from the flavor-explaining name, was is this sweet ability a keyword? Would we really put it on more than a single vertical cycle, at most?
DeleteI imagine it being used on a dozen or so Blue, Red and Green Uncommon and Rare creatures in a block. It's about as wordy/complex as Champion a creature, with the same amount of design space
DeleteI'd say it's slightly less complex than Champion, but the amount of design space is much smaller. Wheel of Fortune and Memory Jar are huge effects, and banned/restricted with good reason. Paradigm Shift is only conditionally smaller, and significantly easier to use.
DeleteSomeone tell me if I'm vastly overestimating this?
I don't think so, when you think about how powerful looters are in most limited formats it becomes readily apparent that this is a huge effect. I can't fathom a set where more than two commons could have Paradigm Shift, and even one is pushing it.
DeleteExcavate {1}{U}
ReplyDeleteSorcery (common)
Put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard. Return a card from your graveyard to your hand.
This could also be an instant, be green, or only return an artifact, or only return a creature, but I decided that simple was best. Any other suggestions?
This is definitely green, not blue. And at common, this is quite strong.
DeleteI'd go multicolored on this. {G}{U} or {B}{G}
DeleteI'd love {1}{G/B} and return a creature card. or {1}{R/U} put an instant or sorcery on top of your library.
Deleteas this stands it's just regrowth but better (a card much too powerful for them to print again by a long shot)
DeleteA couple directions to consider:
DeleteExcavate 1U
Sorcery (common)
Put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard. Return a sorcery or instant card chosen at random from your graveyard to your hand.
Excavate 1G
Sorcery (common)
Put the cards from the top of your library into your graveyard until you reveal a creature card. Return that card from your graveyard to your hand.
Thanks for all the comments. I feel really stupid I forgot how powerful this effect could be if it was any card, although I feel even more stupid if the best answer to failing to make a common is to make a clunky rare that doesn't fit the flavour, better to just say "there's no way to fix it".
DeleteThat said, I can't think of any good way to fix this.
Only U fits the excavate flavour. B could fit a graverobbing flavour.
Only G gets "any card". B gets creatures. White gets artifacts. U gets inst/sorc which don't fit the art.
Only G and U get self-mill.
The flavour only fits returning any card, returning creatures, returning artifacts, or returning some abstract combination.
A two-colour card would be a possibility, but I don't think it would be interesting.
I could almost squeeze this into G/U hybrid, but not quite.
I think the least bad option is:
Excavate {1}{U}
Sorcery (common)
Put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard. Return an instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand.
That's not quite right for the art, but it's ok on most things. I think giving the player the choice is ok since it fits the flavbour, and there's a few cards that do that, even though in general I prefer to avoid too much "keep casting the same spell".
Excavate 1U
DeleteSorcery (uncommon)
Put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard. Return an artifact card from your graveyard to your hand.
seems fine. Requires a decent as-fan of artifacts, but that's not unreasonable.
While blue certainly has a history of regrowing artifacts, I think those days are behind it. In Scars of Mirrodin block, for instance, blue got zero ways to recur artifacts while white got three.
DeleteYeah, I originally thought I could fall back on making U draw an artifact, which is a bit narrow, but would be fine in an artifact block even if it's not a core set staple.
DeleteBut http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/mm/269 was only a week ago, and explicitly lists which sorts of regrow-to-hand different colours get, and green gets everything, black gets creatures, blue gets instants (and occasionally sorceries) white gets artifact/enchantment etc. So there might be an exception, but I don't think I could justify it as any sort of normal card without explicitly shifting the colour pie. Which I _could_ do, blue-artifact would be reasonable[1], but I think I need a justification beyond "it makes the flavour of this one card work".
[1] After all, blue gets all the other broken stuff :)
Good point.
DeleteBuried by Dirt 3WW
ReplyDeleteSorcery (Rare)
Destroy all creatures. For each creature destroyed this way, that creature's controller may search his or her library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped.
I like land search in white. You give your opponent first crack at untapping though, so 3WW seems too high.
DeleteI like how this resets the game but also accelerates the rebuilding process. I don't think five mana is too high (because I honestly think 4 is too low for Wrath), but you might consider making it 4W or 2WG or something.
DeleteIdeally, in the matchups where a Wrath would be good, their hand is depleted post-Wrath and they have few to no creatures that cost 5+ mana anyway, minimizing the drawback. That said, I feel comfortable costing this at 2WW, since it's a rare game that it will be actually better than Day of Judgment.
DeleteFade into Obscurity {G/W}{G/W}
ReplyDeleteSorcery (Uncommon)
Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
Reminisce— As long as Fade into Obscurity is in your graveyard, other spells named Fade into Obscurity exile their targets, instead of destroying them.
I'm not happy with the templating on the last line, but I'm having trouble with a clean and grok-able version :/
I found this challenge pretty...um...challenging. "Discover an ancient world" correlates to only so many mechanics. Most obviously: card draw, artifacts, and lands.
DeleteRather than hit those tropes, I'm inventing an ability word called Reminisce. The flavor identity of Reminisce plays around with the idea that our memories of something are often better than what we really experienced. Mechanically, all of the Reminisce cards perform functions that improve or increase the next time you cast one
...and I just read Jay's submission...it seems we're tromping the same domain today...
DeleteI like Reminisce a lot. There's something a lot more elegant about the Kindle/Accumulated Knowledge mechanic when it doesn't care about additional cards past the first.
DeleteFor the templating, I'd propose:
Reminisce - Destroy target artifact or enchantment. If there is a card named CARDNAME in your graveyard, exile that artifact or enchantment instead.
This totally wants to be at common.
I support all three of Evan's points.
DeleteYou're probably both correct. Given enough time, though, I'd prefer to find way that keeps the flavor intact. "The memory improving the spell" rather than the "spell improving itself" is a subtle, flavor only, difference. Yet, the proposed wording doesn't excite me very much. The emotional connection I'd hoped to capture feels weaker this way.
DeleteGodsmeadow (rare)
ReplyDeleteLand
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, you may reveal a creature card with converted mana cost 10 or greater from your hand. If you don't, return a land you control to its owner's hand.
T: Add 2 to your mana pool.
Even if you don't have any ten-drops in your deck, this still accelerates you by 1 the turn you play it for no drawback.
DeleteOne colorless, yes.
DeleteIs this for a Commander set, or would this be Standard-legal?
DeleteThis card is completely ridiculous in Legacy, and probably Modern, too.
Turn 2 Polukranos in Standard, too. I'll take four!
DeleteMaybe:
Delete"{T}: Add {2} to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast creature spells with CMC 10+."
Or:
Delete~ ETB tapped. It doesn't untap unless you control a creature with CMC 10+.
{T}: Add {2}
Jay, I prefer your first revision to the second -- as a bonus, it's not "strictly better" than Eldrazi Temple either! Having to wait until you already control a fatty before you can tap mana from the land that helps you ramp into fatties seems to be defeating the point.
DeleteRemember the Forgotten XBGGW
ReplyDeleteSorcery (Rare)
Cascade
Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand. Exile Remember the Forgotten.
First, I don't know if this even works. Second, I realized that the exile clause isn't necessary.
DeleteSo:
Remember the Forgotten XBGGW
Sorcery (Rare)
Cascade
Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
this effedct does in fsact work. the CMC that the card checks for cascade does include what you paid for x.
Deletehowever I would like to bring into question your use of colored mana. why white? why double green? why do white and black get equal treatment but not green? why is the effect not centered on the central color, black?
another quip with this is that while it does work... an X spell you really do something related to x.
Better X-Cascade Spell {X}
DeleteSorcery
Cascade
"That is all"
Remember is doing too much. Not "too much for its cost" or "too much for its rarity" but "too much for a single card."
Except that Cascade for anything less than 3 is totally broken.
DeleteOriginally my design was pretty much thar: cascade and nothing more; but I struggled to set on the color, and making it colorless had a very strange feeling. The cost was also an issue. As ipaulsen pointed out, Jay treat's version, which is almost my original design, is broken. So I added the small effect and then adjusted the colors that have that effect. But you're right: as is it terribly lacks focus.
DeleteI will go with the most proud and original version:
Powerful Discovery X3
Sorcery (Rare)
Cascade
[with the colorless frame]
Why colorless?
DeleteBecause I didn't know the color of this effect, ha. I considered the other way around, with a XWUBRG cost, but it was too much, and I didn't know how to resolve the problem. (maybe I'm too lazy)
DeleteI checked and cascade appears only on multicolor cards (as you probably know), with a total of 6 W, 9 U, 6 B, 7 R, and 7 G in mana cost. So I guess I'll cost have this be RUG, which seems more appropriate to me (and no, I'm not at all influenced by my adored Maelstrom Wanderer deck - ok maybe a bit...)
So:
Powerful Discovery XURG
Sorcery (Rare)
Cascade
Colfenor, Yew Golem 7
ReplyDeletePlaneswalker - Karn
+4: Exile the top two cards of your library. You may look at and play these cards.
-4: Target noncreature permanent becomes a creature with power and toughness equal to its converted mana cost.
-14: Exile Colfenor, then restart the game leaving in exile all cards exiled with Colfenor.
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The art seemed fitting.
Is the second ability supposed to be able to destroy lands?
Deletewhile it does look like karn I am unsure as to where the colfenor came from. why is this totally colorless like the original karn plainswalker? are its effects colorless at all?
DeleteYes and yes. I think the effects are colorless enough. Colfenor, of course, loves planning for restarting the whole world more than just about anybody, and I like to imagine we haven't necessarily seen the last of him. Karn's been through everything the multiverse has to offer at this point, so having his body bonded with an all-wise treefolk spirit isn't that out of the question. The real difficulty I had was whether it ought to be "Colfenor, Yew Golem" or "Colfenor, Silver Yew".
DeleteIt would be weaker but more interesting to make the "you may look at and play these cards" ability exclusively part of the restarting, but that's too much more trouble than it's worth.
Why is Colfenor's ultimate harder to activate yet so much worse than Karn Liberated's?
DeleteHow many games are you going to need to restart in which you have an 11+ loyalty planeswalker and are drawing two extra un-discard-able cards per turn?
DeleteMerging two characters is really weird, but if you insist, make it explicit in the name. Something like Colfenor, Golem-Bonded or Colfenor, Possessed by Karn.
Are you meant to be able to play the cards that stay exiled after the restart? Pretty sure that ability went away when the game restarted.
uh I hate to break it to you but we've probably seen the last of colfinor... he's quite dead.
DeleteThanks for the feedback! I do think if you zoom in the art to a PW aspect ratio, it does look Karn-esque but also more natural and less metal, like magically-living silver wood. As for being dead... I wouldn't write him off just yet.
DeleteColfenor, Karn-Bound 7
Planeswalker - Karn (mr)
+4: Look at the top three cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and exile the others.
-4: Target noncreature permanent becomes a creature with power and toughness equal to its converted mana cost until end of turn.
-10: Exile Colfenor, then restart the game leaving in exile all cards exiled with Colfenor. You may look at and cast cards exiled with Colfenor.
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Molder XG
ReplyDeleteInstant
Destroy target artifact or enchantment with converted mana cost X. It can't be regenerated. You gain X life.
Great reprint. Uncommon?
DeleteIt was common in Time Spiral, but I think NWO might make this uncommon now?
DeleteUnder NWO, X spells don't exist at common unless there's a very good reason to put them there.
DeleteRight. Went back and read to double check. This is definitely uncommon
DeleteSenarri Statue 5
ReplyDeleteArtifact (Rare)
Creatures with power 3 or less can't attack you or planeswalkers you control.
As long as you control a permanent named Staff of the Senarri and a permanent named Senarri Powerstone, CARDNAME is a 8/8 artifact creature with trample and vigilance.
Classic. Which totally adds to the flavor.
DeleteOutright prohibiting attacks is dangerous space to play around in, so I'd suggest moving to a cost-to-attack template like Norn's Annex. Perhaps "Whenever a creature attacks you or a planeswalker you control, put a +1/+1 counter on ~ or another target creature you control." It still punishes swarms of tiny guys, and you can make the statue even bigger when it comes to life.
DeleteOtherwise, I love the Kaldra callback.
Oh, I totally missed the first ability. Oops.
DeleteI might've been okay with is since WW, G and RDW can all kill artifacts, but Mono-Black Aggro just auto-loses to this card. That's not cool.
I like Jules' Slumbering Dragon suggestion.
Good points. I think I'd either prefer a lower level ban "Creatures with power 1 or less..." or just taxing 2 mana per attacker. Giving the counter is cool but loses some of the flavor (big scary statue working as a scarecrow for weenies).
DeleteI'm going to play it safe and go with taxing instead of outright ban on 1-power guys.
Senarri Statue 5
Artifact (Rare)
Creatures can't attack you or a planeswalker you control unless their controller pays 2 for each of those creatures..
As long as you control a permanent named Staff of the Senarri and a permanent named Senarri Powerstone, CARDNAME is a 8/8 artifact creature with trample and vigilance.
Reclaim by Chasms - W
ReplyDeleteEnchantment - Aura
Enchant creature.
Enchanted creature is a plains. It is no longer a creature.
Sorcery speed, undoable Path to Exile.
DeleteAlternately, a Pacifism that boosts their mana like Utopia Vow.
Given the art, I like it a lot.
I do worry about rules questions. How many players will know they can still tap their Prodigal Pyromancer to ping things?
Uncommon?
This certainly shouldn't be at common, but it is awesome. My vote would be uncommon with reminder text.
DeleteWhen a land's type is set to a basic land type, it loses all abilities generated from its rules text, so I assume that a Prodigal Plains wouldn't be able to ping anything, either.
DeleteAre the memory issues associated with making this a sorcery worth not having to write an exception to the "enchant " rule into this card's rules text?
Swallowed for growth 1G
ReplyDeleteSorcery
Destroy target artifact if its converted mana cost is smaller than the ammount of lands you control.
Could definitely cost G.
DeleteCould even cost 0 if you replaced "lands" with "Forests…"
DeleteI like that idea. Good against Memnites and Moxen.
Delete