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.
The goal of this design is to capture a sense of scale or isolation.
Our creative restriction is that you can't use the same characteristic someone else has, until all possible values of that characteristic have been used: If someone's made a rare, no one can make another rare until a common, an uncommon and a mythic have been made. At which point, the cycle picks back up again. The characteristics you must not ignore include rarity, color, card type, mana cost, and power/toughness.
Witness to Titans (Mythic Rare)
ReplyDelete3WWW
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Creatures not enchanted with an aura named CARDNAME get +3/+3.
"Worse than exiled, I have been rendered insignificant."
Very neat! A couple of suggestions: For a cleaner template, you could say "creatures other than the enchanted creature." Also, since Collective Blessing is a strictly better effect than this at the same CMC and lower rarity, I'm guessing it's safe to shave a mana or two off the cost. Finally, I'd argue that this card lines up better with Green's philosophy than White's (though it's arguable both ways).
DeleteWhat creature to put this on, and when, is an interesting decision that gets even more interesting in multiplayer. It also captures the art and the sense of scale really well, so I like this design a lot.
I like this card a lot as-is. Very neat card overall - I could see it in monogreen, but I'd prefer it in monowhite (and definitely not multicolor).
Delete@lpaulsen The reason I went with this templating was so that playing multiple copies is cleaner and more attractive. On a battlefield where two creatures are Witness to Titans, I prefer they both get no bonus, rather than each getting +3/+3 while the board is at +6/+6. (Or imagine a board where one creatures has two Witness to Titans on it and another has one Witness to Titans on it. Too confusing!)
DeletePoint taken. I'm not sure how often it will come up, since this is a mythic 6cmc Aura we're talking about, but there is definitely a major mechanical difference in that situation.
DeleteI'm not sure if you intended to have this pump opposing creatures, but I don't think that makes for terribly good gameplay. Assuming it's just supposed to pump your own, this card plays interestingly, but I don't think it plays well. Having played with Emblem of the Warmind in limited, I'm pretty confidant in saying that Auras that pump your whole team are generally less fun than their global enchantment equivalents: they just leave you afraid to attack or block with one of your creatures. Obviously this particular card can't be implemented as a global enchantment, but that might just mean that it's not worth implementing.
DeleteFirst, I love the concept. You have an aura that hinders its target, yet makes it essentially unblockable. Even though the wording might initially be interpreted as convoluted, it has a purpose that sets it apart and increases its charm.
DeleteThat said, I have two issues. This card doesn't feel mythic enough to me. Its close, but it doesn't get my inner Timmy tingling as much as a mythic should.
The other issue: Is there enough variance when this is cast that there is more than one end result? Is it more than just a glorified game ending overrun?
Options: Enchant creature you control? Pacifism effect? Can't block? Lower the bonus? There's something awesome here(!) but its not going to play out (due to the game ending each time this resolves).
Unknown Path
ReplyDeleteLand (Common)
CARDNAME enters the battlefield tapped.
T, Sacrifice CARDNAME: Search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
Slight tweak to Evolving Wilds / Terramorphic Expanse that gives you more chances to surprise an opponent. Feedback welcome and appreciated.
The trade off is that you can search + shuffle with the original during down-time, whereas this one will most likely hold up the action of the game for a bit.
DeleteWhoa, I hadn't thought of that. But it brings up a design idea that I've been meaning to use. This is a little weirder, but it solves the shuffling problem and could easily be common if enough similar designs are out there:
DeleteUnknown Path
Land (Common)
1, T, Sacrifice CARDNAME: Put a basic Forest, Island, Mountain, Plains, or Swamp land token onto the battlefield.
What do you think? Better than shuffling, or worse? (Presumably one could use normal basic land cards as tokens.)
I love the idea of using an actual basic land card. Should we even call it a token then? "Put a basic land card you own from outside the game OTB"
DeleteThe token language is a little cumbersome, I agree, but the "outside the game" template has only been used at rare, and it might create rules issues in competitive play. If the land card isn't in your library or your sideboard, then I think it needs to be a 'token' for rules purposes (even though the difference will be minimal in most environments). As far as templating goes, though, I'd be happy to drop 'token' from the above rules text.
DeleteTough call. Maro has stated a few times that they've attempted getting land tokens through dev, but they keep getting nixed. Thespian's stage and Vesuva have memory intensive abilities...what if:
Delete1, T: CARDNAME loses all land types and becomes the basic land type of your choice.
I could see a version that says "from outside the game" coming with a tournament rules update that says you're allowed to have extra basic lands with you that don't count towards your 15 card sideboard.
DeleteLone Wanderer {1}{B}
ReplyDeleteCreature—Human Survivor (unc)
Lone Wanderer can’t attack if other creatures are attacking.
Lone Wanderer can’t block if other creatures are blocking.
3/3
The drawback seems pretty steep for just an undercosted vanilla, especially at Uncommon. I guess it's great in a format where a 3/3 really matters, like a block with Morph. Outside of that scenario, deathtouch would make it more attractive.
DeleteMogg Flunkies with the condition reversed (and therefore probably less dangerous). Seems reasonable, though I agree with Nich that you could probably push this a bit more if you wanted. Also, I have to say, this doesn't currently strike me as the best fit for the art (which appears to show two non-human figures).
DeleteWhat about...
Delete"CARDNAME may only attack or block alone."
I had a feeling there was a better template. Awesome.
DeleteI'm seeing a humanoid and a pet dog. Are people not comfortable calling him a Lone Wanderer?
3/4?
Looking at the art again, I think the larger figure is a humanoid riding some kind of beast of burden. Could still be wrong, though. At any rate, my earlier critique wasn't correct-- the Lone Wanderer concept does seem reasonable for this art.
DeleteGood eye. There is a horse or donkey in there too. It's a three-species team!
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ReplyDeleteAny concerns about memory issues? This probably wants to be an enchantment...
DeleteAlso, "Plane Hop" is dumb. "Fling between Worlds" matches the flavor better.
There's a case to be made for either enchantment or instant, but either way this needs to cost quite a bit more. It's rare that blue gets removal this powerful or unconditional; it basically reads "exile target creature unless its controller stops playing the game for several turns".
DeleteI like the idea behind the card, but I'd suggest looking at other approaches for conveying the same thing-- a weaker trigger condition maybe, or putting the creature into its owner's library and then having that player draw extra cards at some point.
I was expecting "eight or more lands" as I was reading.
Delete8 or more cards seems… unreasonable. Even 5 would produce a card arguably more powerful than Path to Exile.
Yeah I'm scrapping the idea. And the cost was just a place taker that I forgot to fill out. The whole thing was rather dumb. The premise was that the caster would be isolating the target for a number of turns, but it fell flat.
ReplyDeleteExplore the Unexplored
ReplyDelete3GG
Sorcery (R)
Search your library for up to two land cards and put them onto the battlefield tapped. Then shuffle your library.
“When I was a kid, I thought my backyard was big. Well, this is my backyard now.”
Feedback appreciated.
Primeval Titan, without the Titan? Sure. A good fit for the art, and a design that could easily see print in the real world.
DeleteI think this card really wants to cost 4 mana, though. Ranger's Path is a relatively 'bad' common that does nearly as much for 3G, and it would be really nice if you could Rampant Growth straight into this.
Does this feel rare?
DeleteMike's Walkabout after this prevents it from costing 4, though I obviously made it 5 before his submission.
DeleteThe real comparison here is Explosive Vegetation, and to me, getting non-basics warrants the uptick in cost and rarity. Sylvan Scrying gets any land for your hand, Explosive Vegetation gets 2 basics to the field. This feels better than both, and so rare it is. I imagine this in a land heavy block like Zendikar where being able to get any two lands onto the field is immensely powerful.
Additionally, (and this is the crappy developer in me speaking) I'm not sure I want players to be able to Rampant Growth into this. If ramp is to good in a format, it makes all decks better and thus worse. Being able to consistently hit 7 mana on turn 4 is fine for a Modern deck, but not Standard. I think this card is where it needs to be.
All fair.
DeleteSpot on with the rarity and cost. Do Tron and Post really need to be better?
DeleteSure? Sure! Post is banned where it's obnoxious (Modern), and if this pushes Tron over the edge then they ban this. Again, I would not want this printed in a Standard format with any land that taps for multiple mana (i.e. Nykthos), but I think it's fair otherwise. Just my two non-developer cents.
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ReplyDeleteTAKE 2:
ReplyDeleteWalkabout 2UU
Instant (U)
Target opponent reveals cards from the top of his or her library until he or she reveals a land card. Then, put target creature that player controls under that land.
"Go find yourself."
Whoa... very cool. It's Griptide plus a couple of extra turns, and it fits the desired flavor well. A big improvement upon your original idea, even though it's in the same general spirit.
DeleteOne small templating issue: When I first read this, I assumed that the land got put onto the battlefield and the creature was exiled under it. A possible alternative template:
"Target creature's owner reveals cards from the top of his or her library until he or she reveals a land card. Put that creature into that player's library beneath that land."
Or even, "Put that creature into its owner's library X cards from the top, where X is the number of cards revealed this way."
Definitely better. Two concerns: This is kind of a white thing now, with Oust (Although they moved Griptide effects back to blue, so maybe not).
DeleteSecond, this is like an offensive Sage Owl. The player knows what they're going to draw for N turns and can't do anything about it, which is potentially very unpleasant.
@Ipaulsen: Thank you, sir. There probably does need to be a templating change.
Delete@Jay: I'm feeling you on the white thing. I'm still not sold on Oust in white. Griptide meets Ertai's Meddling seems blue. On the reveal: I though about that, but feared the solution might be too wordy.
Walkabout 2UU
Instant (R)
Target player exiles cards from the top of his or her library until a land card is exiled. Put target creature that player owns on top of his or her library. Then return the exiled cards in a random order.
Doomed Quest (uncommon)
ReplyDeleteWB
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can only attack or block alone.
Whenever enchanted creature attacks or blocks, its controller sacrifices it at end of combat.
Sorry to mention this, but enchantment's been done (see Witness to Titans, above) and we still need an artifact design. Any chance you could switch over to that?
DeleteDoomed Quest is a cool and flavorful design, but it's also strictly worse than Pacifism. If you delete either line of text and leave the other, it could plausibly be costed at 1 mana.
Also, Mike beat you to uncommon in this second wave of rarity.
DeleteI like Doomed Quest a lot. To Ipaulsen's point, maybe {1}{WB} common or {WB} rare?
Yep, sorry for missing that. I'm not a fan of challenges that are dependent on what other people submit, as I like to take a lot of time to think through what I'm going to submit.
DeleteIs pseudoremoval like this going to be popular enough among Constructed players to warrant the Spike-friendly {WB} cost? I'm guessing not. {1}{WB} common might be the way to go here.
To be fair, R&D probably works very much like this, where everyone's submission is dependent on everyone else's.
DeleteI bet R&D either a) solicits submissions from everyone on the design team for open slots or b) divides open slots among other designers. I highly doubt it's a matter of "Oh, someone else submitted a blue rare instant first, so we're not considering any more blue cards or rare cards or instants until we have other slots filled."
DeleteTrue. I just meant being mindful of what everyone else submitted when reviewing stuff.
DeleteIt's fair in the sense that the card file is constantly changing, and thus the needs are too. Doesn't go quite like this, but the point of a challenge is too stretch our muscles.
DeleteContinental Clearing 2R
ReplyDeleteSorcery (common)
As an additional cost to cast CARDNAME, sacrifice a land.
Destroy target nonbasic land and all other permanents with the same name as that land.
I assume that it's alright if we skip Planeswalker?
Nice. Red is going to be hard to do in this challenge, but I think you found a reasonable fit for the art. I wonder if this could be costed at 1R, given that it 2-for-1s you unless your opponent draws and plays two of the same nonbasic. (See also: Boom // Bust.)
DeleteSkipping planeswalker seems correct. I'm less happy abotu skipping artifact, but this art really isn't conducive to it, I admit.
DeleteWhy not "and all other lands with the same name?"
This doesn't feel common to me at all.
Without owning Photoshop to get a fisheye effect, here's a very rudimentary bit of image editing to make it look more like a snowglobe: http://i.imgur.com/J5nSj6I.jpg?2
ReplyDeleteAs a top down design this card wants to be an artifact, but all of the effects are very white, so I could see holding onto it until our next visit to Alara.
Glass Prison 5
Artifact (R)
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, exile target creature an opponent controls until CARDNAME leaves the battlefield. (That creature returns under its owner's control.)
Whenever a creature deals combat damage to you, it's controller may have it destroy CARDNAME. If he or she does, CARDNAME deals 5 damage to that creature.
Apparently I didn't correctly recall Banisher Priest's text before copying it, the first ability doesn't need "an opponent controls" since Glass Prison is not a creature. If anyone has ideas for a more succinct way to word the second ability, I'm all ears.
DeleteI like the concept! As far as the second ability goes, here's a similar effect that templates more cleanly:
DeleteWhenever a creature deals combat damage to you, its controller may sacrifice it. If he or she does, sacrifice CARDNAME.
Cyclically, we've hit colorless (with Unknown Path) and if you call Doomed Quest "gold", this could thus be a white-artifact.
DeleteGlass Prison 4W
Artifact (R)
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, exile target creature until CARDNAME leaves the battlefield.
Whenever a creature deals combat damage to you, its controller may sacrifice it. If he or she does, sacrifice CARDNAME.
The problem is, even if Journey to Nowhere really is fairly costed around 2W, this is still overcosted at that point. Giving it more upside to compensate, maybe:
When ~ enters the battlefield, exile target creature until ~ leaves the battlefield.
Whenever a creature would deal combat damage to you, you may sacrifice ~. If you do, destroy that creature.
@Pasteur: We've hit all of the colors (plus colorless and gold), so I assume we're re-starting that cycle as of this card. CMC is the real issue, but as of Ant's submission below we're back on track, as long as we aren't venturing into 7+ mana costs.
DeletePerhaps:
DeleteGlass Prison {2}
Artifact (R)
When Glass Prison enters the battlefield, exile target creature until Glass Prison leaves the battlefield. (That creature returns under its owner’s control.)
Whenever a creature deals combat damage to you, sacrifice Glass Prison.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeletePath to Exile W
ReplyDeleteInstant (U)
Exile target creature. Its controller may search his or her library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle his or her library.
Well played.
DeleteApart from the rarity, I heartily agree.
DeleteIn the interest of sanity, here's a recap of what has been done so far, assuming we stick to the designs as posted:
ReplyDeleteColors-- White 2, Blue 1, Black 1, Red 1, Green 1, Colorless 2, Gold 1
Types-- Artifact 1, Creature 1, Enchantment 2, Instant 2, Land 1, Sorcery 2
Costs-- Zero 1, One 1, Two 2, Three 1, Four 1, Five 2, Six 1
Rarities-- Common 2, Uncommon 4, Rare 2, Mythic 1
In other words, we're doing fine on everything except rarity. If you read this, please don't design an uncommon!
Earth Invoker Captain 1RR
ReplyDeleteCreature - Human Shaman Knight (M)
When Earth Invoker Captain enters the battlefield, for each other player, put a 4/5 red Elemental creature token with “This creature can’t attack a player who controls Earth Invoker Captain” onto the battlefield under that player’s control.
3/2
So, strictly a multiplayer card, presumably for a Commander product?
DeleteThis card still has some relevance in 2-player games, it just isn't a good card there-- basically a 3/2 with defender. I'd highly recommend upping the P/T to the point where the body is a good deal (e.g. 5/4).
DeleteAlso, there's a cleaner template for the triggered ability: "When CARDNAME [etb], each other player puts a [4/5 token] onto the battlefield." See, e.g., Death by Dragons.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteYes this is for multiplayer. Updated:
DeleteEarth Invoker Captain 1RR
Creature - Human Shaman Knight (M)
Earth Invoker Captain 1RR
Creature - Human Shaman Knight (M)
When Earth Invoker Captain enters the battlefield, for each other player, put a 4/5 red Elemental creature token with “This creature can’t attack a player who controls Earth Invoker Captain” onto the battlefield under that player’s control.
5/5
Waited till the end, and now I'm stuck with some weird restrictions. That art does not lend itself to artifact at all, so I want to lean land, but then it has to be a colored land, which is a very strange beast indeed. I might just have to skip that restriction.
ReplyDeleteForgotten Valley
Land (R)
T: Add three mana of any one color to your mana pool. Activate this ability only if you control no other lands.
I'll come up with flavor text later. Maybe.
Cool design. Broken in Legacy.
DeleteBalls. You've got them.
DeleteWhy not Lotus Valley?
DeletePicture doesn't have much lotuses depicted. Otherwise that would have been the name
DeleteWho needs other land?
DeleteDespite clear drawbacks, I'm not convinced this is printable in a Standard-legal product.
Can't argue power level. I'm not sure that being legendary or ETBT is going to help there either. That said, I still like the design.
DeleteMy initial design for this challenge was basically:
DeleteForgotten Valley
Land
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Activate this ability only if you control no other lands.
T: Add {1} to your mana pool.
But I think yours might be more fun.
Dee dee dee, hope I'm not too late but I've got an artifact!
ReplyDeleteParting Note
2
Artifact (R)
T: When target creature you control leaves the battlefield this turn, draw a card.
“We're breaking up. I'm leaving you.”
Paper still counts as an artifact! (Ashnod's Coupon anybody?)