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.
Design a Dragon.
Bonus points if it could obviously only be the color(s) that it is.
Pulling this old design out for fresh air again:
ReplyDeletePrincess Snatcher
5WW
Creature - Dragon (R)
Flying
Whenever Princess Snatcher attacks, you may exile target creature defending player controls until Princess Snatcher leaves the battlefield. (That creature returns under its owner's control.)
6/6
“If there’s one thing dragons love more than treasure, pillaging, and roasting knights, it’s capturing princesses for fun.”
Feedback appreciated as always.
Can you re-theme this in a way that doesn't involve gendered violence?
DeleteCould just call it Royalty Snatcher
DeleteGood call, sorry. Ugh, what kind of Women and Gender Studies person am I?
DeleteHeir Snatcher
5WW
Creature - Dragon (R)
Flying
Whenever Heir Snatcher attacks, you may exile target creature defending player controls until Heir Snatcher leaves the battlefield. (That creature returns under its owner's control.)
6/6
“If there’s one thing dragons love more than treasure, pillaging, and roasting knights, it’s capturing royalty for fun.”
Thanks, Ben : )
DeleteStill a cool card. Not sure this art really depicts a stealer of people.
DeleteAlso not sure why it's fixated on the children of people in power, but Dragons can certainly be enigmatic.
um...Heir Snatcher sounds even more tongue-in-cheek than Princess Snatcher...
DeleteWith some reconcepting, would this card be better as "target nonland permanent" rather than "target creature"? Probably would get bumped to mythic then. Thoughts?
DeleteI don't think it's worth putting this ability on a dragon unless we go for the flavor of snatching a royal who the hero has to save by besting the dragon. Heir Snatcher may not win the award for best name in Magic: The Gathering, but I don't think it's bad enough to kill a card that's such a flavor home run.
DeleteKidnapping it remains. Any better names? I'm not really fond of Royalty Snatcher.
DeleteWhat's wrong with a dragon that just takes whatever it wants? I like that idea.
DeleteNothing, really, but it's not resonant enough for me to want to make a non-red dragon. I'd rather just do something like Hoarding Dragon or Hellkite Tyrant that's plausible in red, or if I just wanted the ability I'd make it an Archon or a Demon-catching Angel. The dragon kidnapper trope is a fantasy staple and I've yet to see a card that captures it well and makes sense in red.
DeleteJust in case people weren't aware, there is a card in M14 (Colossal Whale) that is pretty much exactly this, except that it's slightly smaller, less evasive, and blue.
DeleteIt's another in a long line of color pie violations to match flavor in sets MaRo isn't involved with.
DeleteIs it deliberate that this is just a flying Colossal Whale?
DeleteThis was intended to be Colossal Whale in the correct colors (although it's a dragon for the flavor and challenge, which maybe Maro would have issue with anyway? Who knows.)
DeleteLoosely inspired by D&D's brass dragon:
ReplyDeleteGuardian of the Sands 3RW
Creature - Dragon (R)
Flying
W: Guardian of the Sands deals 1 damage to target attacking creature. Activate this ability only during the end of combat step.
R: Guardian of the Sands gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
4/4
W: Guardian of the Sands deals 1 damage to target creature that attacked this turn?
DeleteNot sure that quite works. +Activate as a sorcery? +And dealt damage?
The red ability and the white don't feel entirely parallel. Not a deal breaker, but I expect {W}: +0/+1 if it's firebreathing on the front end. Maybe the red ability zings defending creatures?
The W ability is a direct copypasta of Desert's tap ability.
DeleteHow would you feel about "R: CARDNAME deals 1 damage to target creature blocking it"? Makes it worse when unblocked, but harder to wall.
Templating wasn't so good back then. The first ability could be: "CARDNAME deals 1 damage to target attacking creature that dealt damage this turn."
DeleteRedux, now with amped up breath weapon goodness:
DeleteGuardian of the Sands 3RW
Creature - Dragon (R)
Flying
W: Guardian of the Sands deals 1 damage to target attacking creature that dealt damage to you this turn.
R: Guardian of the Sands deals 1 damage to target creature that’s blocking a creature you control.
4/3
Think its R is a lot better, so shrunk its toughness to make it boltable.
Cool.
DeleteThe blocking damage is preemptive but the attacking damage is retributive. Can they be the same?
Tamashinohi, the Radiant Moon (mythic)
ReplyDelete4RW
Legendary Creature - Dragon Spirit
Flying, lifelink
If you would gain life, you gain an additional X life, where X is CARDNAME's power.
R: CARDNAME gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
5/5
Holy crap that's a lot of life gain. It gains 10+ all by itself, but is likely paired with extort or whatever else can gain 1 life multiple times per round.
DeleteThe name's just a bit too complex, I think.
3RRWW then. Besides, red shouldn't be able to splash for so much life gain this easily.
DeleteThe name (and type line) is very much an homage to Kamigawa, for all the good and bad that entails. Name might need simplifying.
References are all well and good when they tickle experienced players without confusing new ones. The issue with Kamigawa was less any one long name and more that there were so many of them, but nothing about this art scream Kamigawa, so I doubt longtime players will want the reference here.
Delete"Why is a creature named 'The Radiant Moon' being depicted at midday?" is the question I'd be asking the flavor director.
DeleteThis feels less like a XRR card and more like a mono-white card with firebreathing awkwardly tacked on.
Take 2.
DeleteTamashii, the Radiant Moon (mythic)
2RRWW
Legendary Creature - Dragon Spirit
Flying, lifelink
Whenever a spell or ability you control deals damage to a creature or player, you gain X life, where X is CARDNAME's power.
R: CARDNAME gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
4/4
The main ability is cool enough that the marginal self combo of firebreathing feels tacked on. One other thought:
Delete"If a spell or ability you control would deal damage to a player or permanent, CARDNAME deals damage equal to its power to that player or permanent instead."
Looking at Tamanoa reminded me of another issue: abilities never deal damage, they always make something else deal damage. See Prodigal Pyromancer, Furnace Celebration, etc.
DeleteJules, that is awesome. The synergy with lifelink is perfect.
DeleteTamashii, the Radiant Moon (mythic)
2RRWW
Legendary Creature - Dragon Spirit
Flying, lifelink
If a spell or ability you control would cause damage to be dealt to a creature or player, CARDNAME deals damage equal to its power to that creature or player instead.
Whenever CARDNAME attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
4/4
Does Tamashii need the last ability to be awesome? I think it doesn't.
Delete"If a spell or permanent you control would deal damage, ~ deals its power instead?" Not as explicit about the replacement, and probably not good enough as a result.
Sure, kill the last ability and change the cost to 4RW.
DeleteIs there any concern that while Tamashii has a Kamagawa sounding name, it doesn't match any of the other Kamagawa dragons in terms of size or their' iconic death triggers?
DeleteSandstorm Hellkite 4RR
ReplyDeleteCreature- Dragon
Flying
At the end of the combat step CARDNAME deals 2 damage to each creature that attacked you this turn.
5/5
"It wasn't a wasteland before the dragon moved in."
by the way good choice of artist.
DeleteShould this also include if a creature attacks your planeswalkers?
DeleteSimple: Nice.
Deletethank you ben.
DeleteFlying
At the end of the combat step CARDNAME deals 2 damage to each creature that attacked you or a planeswalker you control this turn.
Luckily the end of combat step is named intuitively because most players don't know it exists, but they'll still play this correctly. I like it a lot!
DeleteAngelic Dragon 4WW
ReplyDeleteCreature - Angel Dragon (u)
Flying, vigilance
4/5
I'm really excited to see the set that requires this card.
DeleteThis feels like an angel and not a dragon. Angels are white's big iconic and dragons are red's big iconic; I would expect a mashup between the two to be very, very red/white. (And probably not uncommon.)
DeleteNo flavor text to explain what an angel dragon is?
DeleteI agree with Evan.
I like an Angel Dragon concept for this art quite a bit. If you want it to feel like both types, AND be uncommon AND do something simple that's never been done, let me propose:
DeleteAngelic Dragon (Uncommon)
4RW
Creature - Angel Dragon
4/5
Flying, vigilance
R: CARDNAME gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
That's an awfully good card for unc. drop it to 3/5 and you'd be closer to being printable
DeleteIt's an angel - a supernatural (winged, presumably female) being made of white mana - who on this plane, happens to be a Dragon. Ben has the right of it - there's a set somewhere that loves this card. Maybe as the white part of an uncommon cycle, or maybe just as an extra dragon; either way, it's a white dragon that could only be white.
DeleteBlinding Dragon
ReplyDelete3WWW
Legendary Creature - Dragon (M)
Flying
At the beginning of each opponent's combat step, tap each creature that player controls unless they pay {X}, where {X} is equal to your devotion to white.
6/6
Nice use of devotion. Why the combat step and not upkeep? Or perhaps when Blinding Dragon attacks?
DeleteTo some extent it's an alternative take on Ghostly Prison taxation effects, albeit a version that also affects how opponents can use their creatures' activated abilities.
DeleteUsing the upkeep step would be a bit more powerful I think, as it forces your opponent to plan their turn well in advance, and it feels a bit more blue. And while making it an "on attack" trigger may be more fitting in terms of contemporary design principles, it changes the design into something more distinctly aggressive and lacking in immediate impact.
Even though the name may reference Blinding Angel, the effect is more Dawnglare Invoker.
I like what you're doing here, but this can be a one card lock. Consider how your opponent would be able to interact with your devotion without ever getting to initiate combat and/or defending
DeleteI like the basic implementation, but I don't think this card needs to make X=3 on its own. It's going to get too hard to attack too quickly. Maybe start at {5}{W}?
DeleteThe way I'm reading it, the devotion check is a one-shot trigger that taps nothing if they pay X once or taps everything if they don't. It's pretty hard to get the gods to turn on from what I've heard about Standard, and you need a devotion of 7-8 to "lock out" your opponent from attacking the next turn (assuming neither of you missed land drops), so I'm not worried about perma-board stalling. Granted, Time Walking your opponent every turn is still pretty brutal. At least they can play sorcery-speed removal to off the dragon before combat.
Delete(Rules/templating note: There's no such thing as the "combat step." Just say "beginning of each opponent's combat".)
There's no Beginning of Combat Step?
DeleteBecause that's where you tap creatures before they can be declared as attackers but after the first main phase.
But yeah, I can see making this 4WW to slightly lessen the burden.
There's "your beginning of combat step" and "an opponent's beginning of combat step," but no "beginning of [a player's] combat step." Abilities like Battle-Rattle Shaman are purposely truncated because "At the beginning of your beginning of combat step" reads oddly.
DeleteI'd misinterpreted it to require payment for each creature. Rereading it it's clear which it is, but some less ambiguous templating wouldn't hurt. "At the beginning of each opponent's combat step, that player may pay X, where X is equal to your devotion to white. If he or she doesn't, tap all creatures he or she controls."
DeletePalladia, Awoken RRGGWW
ReplyDeleteLegendary Creature- Elder Dragon (M)
Flying, Trample
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Palladia, Awoken is on the battlefield or in the command zone, you may pay RGW. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
7/7
I LOVE the idea of refurbishing the original Elder Dragons for their spawned format.
DeleteThis is super cool. The other four Elder Dragons are dead in official canon but I could see Wizards doing this in a supplemental product.
DeletePalladia, Awoken RRGGWW
DeleteLegendary Creature- Elder Dragon (M)
Flying, Trample
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Palladia, Awoken is on the battlefield or in the command zone, you may pay RGW. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter any number of target creatures.
/She dreams of victory./
7/7
Right, this would naturally be geared towards a Commander product that would revisit the original elder dragons. The art doesn't entirely match (although the red tint could just be the lighting, I mean, they did a version of this guy: http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=201213 who looks like this: http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=178020)
I've also changed the ability to be a bit more multiplayer friendly and put it a bit more into the political flavor of red instead of being straight GW.
Only 6cmc for a 7/7 with upside when it dies? The original Elder Dragons (and Nicol Bolas, PW) all costed 8.
DeleteIt's not a bad design in itself. I'm just rather tired of RGW legends getting pidgeonholed into the "creatures matter" shard over and over again.
Very cool. I agree it's over-powered, but maybe Commander can handle that.
DeleteI'm surprised to find that Elder is a supported creature type, but only for Dragons. Hmm.
I'd like to get more concrete numbers on what portion of Commander players played when it was called EDH before committing to this plan, but assuming it's enough to justify a major callback I like this implementation. That said, the effects probably need to be pretty small given that they're almost impossible to get rid of. Ajani Goldmane-ing your team is almost certainly too good.
DeleteYeah, I'm trying to gear this to a Commander, Legacy, Vintage power level instead of sticking to something that would be fair in standard. That said, it's entirely possible that the ability is too good even there. Suggestions?
Delete-Put two 1/1 red, green, and white Shaman creature tokens onto the battlefield.
Delete-Target creature gets +3/+3 and gains first strike, trample, and vigilance until your next turn.
However you do it there's a bit of feel bad from upkeep costs that trigger before you can pay them because this reads like it works on turn 3, but actually has to wait until turn 4. Nonetheless, it's probably worth keeping the trigger as is for nostalgia factor.
Palladia, Awoken RRGGWW
DeleteLegendary Creature- Elder Dragon (M)
Flying, Trample
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Palladia, Awoken is on the battlefield or in the command zone, you may pay RGW. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter any number of target creatures for each time you've cast Palladia this game.
/She dreams of victory./
7/7
That depowers it significantly, but keeps an ability that I feel fits the GWR ethos well. Jules, your abilities work, but there's even less of an indication of those in the art than the pumping. Plus, I really like that this gives a strong incentive to actually cast the commander, instead of just sitting back and letting the ability do all the heavy lifting. While a pain on MTGO, the ability suffers less from the appearance of working on turn 3, because you need to cast Palladia at least once for it to turn on.
DeleteFinally, it also gives opponents a chance (all be it a slim one) to answer Palladia with a tuck/lose abilities card before the upkeep starts to go to work.
Take 1:
ReplyDeleteSunbleached Hellkite 5WW
Creature-Dragon (M)
Flying, lifelink
Whenever a creature deals damage to you, CARDNAME deals damage equal to its power to that creature.
5/5
I'm a little bit worried about players being confused when they die to an attack before this gains them life, but a replacement effect is both extremely wordy and too hard to beat. Any ideas to solve the issue?
Missed a W in the mana cost, this is supposed to be CMC 8.
Deleteeven if this is 7 mana, this reads (but better) whenever you take damage, gain 5 life.
Deleteits like having no mercy and 5 urza's armors all in one card.
Ohhh, its lifelink applies to the retributory damage, I see.
DeleteThree points of confusion: The one you mentioned, whether the triggered ability gains you life, and whether you still gain that life if the creature that dealt that damage dies before this trigger resolves. That last part is very minor though, since they won't be dying from combat damage unless they had trample.
It nerfs the card a ton, but if you were to have the damage not be dealt by the dragon, all of those questions go away.
Holy cow. This seems unfun
DeleteFights that creature?
DeleteFighting was my first instinct, but it's not in white's pie. It could be {R}{W}, but the art looks wrong to me in that border, so let's try something else less oppressive.
DeleteTake 2:
Sunbleached Hellkite 5WW
Creature-Dragon (R)
Flying, vigilance, lifelink
CARDNAME can block any number of creatures.
Creatures attacking you or a planeswalker you control must be blocked if able.
5/5
Mapbleacher Dragon
ReplyDeleteCreature -- Dragon (M)
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, destroy all artifacts, nonbasic lands, and other creatures.
Flying
"WANTED: Definitely dead." --from the bounty posted by the Cartographers' Guild
5/5
Ah crap, forgot the mana cost. What do you guys think?
DeleteMaybe {5}{R}{R}{W}{W}.
DeleteAny particular reason that this lets enchantments live?
Not really. I guess it's a dragon that smashes, not disenchants.
DeleteI guess the question is, is it better or worse without enchants? More gets destroyed, but harder to build around.
Deletethis card seems really unpleasant. its the ruination that puts it over the edge for eternal formats
DeleteEternal formats have StP/Path as answers that can be cast off a single land. I would still be in favor of a high cmc + "cast from hand" clause, just because it is rather easy to float a bunch of mana, cheat this into play on the cheap, and cast spells from your hand to lock up the board.
DeleteIf the dragon is mono-red, not disenchanting makes sense.
Maybe it could choose to destroy a subset of permanents when it attacks?
DeleteMake it Cataclysm Dragon, maybe?
Deletei.e. Each player chooses one of each permanent type, then sacrifices the rest.
That would make it very White and make it not so super-unbeatable, as your opponent could still keep their Griselbrand/JTMS/etc....
Personally I feel like the best kind od dragons are the ones with obvious flavor, so maybe I should explore the ruiner-of-maps angle.
DeleteThe map metaphor isn't working for me since literal maps are such a real component of Fantasy. I just imagine this tiny dragon mischievously screwing up paper map after paper map.
DeleteDestroying all artifacts, and destroying all nonbasic lands are both very red. Destroying all other creatures is trickier. More {WB}, but could be argued into red for something like this.
Riffing off the Jay's comment on mischievously messing up maps:
DeleteMap Bleacher Gremlin 1B
Creature- Ouphe
2B, T: The next time a land would enter the battlefield this turn, it becomes a basic swamp.
1/1
I love the gremlin. "This is not Valakut. Did you read that right?"
DeleteThe mapbleacher part was just trying to get across that it reduces places to dust. I guess dragons tend to oppress places into uninhabited areas more slowly than a single etb effect.
Maybe some sort of Anniholator riff, where it replaces your lost permanents with consolation prizes, like the ghost quarter
DeleteGiven the scope of the effect, Annihiliation Dragon (or similar) seems appropriate.
DeleteUnfortunately, I can't take comments into account and wrap up this thread with a design that satisfies me right now. I apologize; you can skip this entry or run away with it as you like.
DeleteAbreotan, Lord of Wastes 5BG
ReplyDeleteLegendary Creature - Dragon Elemental
Flying
Whenever CARDNAME enters the battlefield each player sacrifices all but five lands.
Whenever a land enters the battlefield, its controller sacrifices a land.
"Not all forces of nature are on nature's side."
5/5
As always, I would love feedback.
Does this art look B/G to you? http://magiccards.info/query?q=c%21bgm+f%3Amodern&v=scan&s=cname
DeleteWhy is this B/G?
DeleteMost historical analogues for these effects are things like Limited Resources and uh... Red effects of all sorts.
Whenever a land enters the battlefield, if its controller controls more than five lands, that player sacrifices a land?
DeleteI'm not sure where the elemental angle is coming from either. or why a black green card is a white colored dragon.
DeleteGood eye Jay, that is the correct way to accomplish what I was intending.
DeleteThe art is too bright, there is no getting around that. The hope is that the focus would be on the wasteland around the dragon rather than the bright blue sky.
As far as the color identity, yes I think this is Black/Green.
I know that Red and White traditionally get mass land death. The fact is though that they stopped getting it *years* ago. Wizards put the kibosh on that whole genre of cards, we don't even get Stone Rain anymore. It's clear that if land death is a thing, it's not what it used to be.
Green ramps mana, obviously. But that isn't Green's only thing, it also makes big creatures and it also gets splashy effects that force players to be more "fair." (Hall of Gemstone, Ruric Thar, the Unbowed, Dosan the Falling Leaf, Asceticism, Gaea's Herald). This is an example of Green's 'Fair Play' philosophy manifest by a Black methodology.
It is a green card that punishes ramp. That is is partially why I made it multicolored. I think it's analogous to how Red gets both Goblin Guide and Pyroclasm. Those two effects tend not to be in the same deck, but that doesn't mean they aren't both Red.
Abreotan, Lord of Wastes 4BG
Legendary Creature - Dragon Elemental
Flying
At the beginning of your end step, each player sacrifices all but five lands.
"Not all forces of nature are on nature's side."
5/5
I don't think anyone was argueing about the colors fitting with the card... (well that could be argued as well, as you could say that while white and red have had mass land destruction in the past, [white having almost this card exactly in limited recources] black and/or green have never had it ever)
Deleteregaurdless my concern is from a vorthos perspective. why is this an elemental? where is the elemental in the figure? is it the dragon? why does a albino dragon count as an elemental?
what about the figure? its clearly a dragon, but this card offers no explanation of why a dragon would be on green black card. which is unusual. does this albino dragon like to recycle? is that why it is green black? perhaps you should consider these questions.
@TehWERR I appreciate your perspective and your questions.
DeleteHere are some of the thoughts I had that brought me to this design.
I don't actually see an albino dragon or even a white dragon in the center. I see I sand-brown dragon, a strangely earthen color for a race that is usually brightly plumed. That, and the ability I ended up going with, is what brought me to the elemental subtype. I like it when big splashy creatures are two things, it just makes me smile.
Even though sun blinds are usually used on White or Red cards, and the rest of the card is so bright, I was more focused on the ground around the dragon which doesn't look like a desert to me, but like a craggy, wasted landscape. Even though there is a giant dragon in the center, it doesn't look like the wastes were burned as there isn't smoke or scorchmarks. Instead it looks like the land is almost eroded away by an unseen magical force.
When I think about land I think about Green. When I think about decay I think about Black. I see a painting with a giant, strangely earthen dragon un-making the land around it by its mere austere presence. I imagine a more 'corrosive' magic is at work. And that, more than anything else, is what brought me to Black/Green. It's a giant dragon that, merely by roaring, can corrode the land around it.
As far as being a Black/Green Dragon, I agree that is unusual- that's actually why I made it legendary.
Question about the bonus points: Do you mean the card can only be the colors that the card is? As in no hybrid cards? Or that it can only be white or red/white (or whatever colors you see it as)?
ReplyDeleteI read it as: this card fits in it's unique slice of the color pie and wouldn't make sense in any other color/color combination. So, if you wanted it to be a hybrid, it's got to "feel" like it could only be a hybrid card.
DeleteWhat Wobbles said.
DeleteThe more indisputable its colors are, the better.
Dragon of the Wastes 5WW
ReplyDeleteCreature - Dragon
Flying, first strike
When CARDNAME deals combat damage, destroy all permanents.
6/6
"True order can only be found in the wastes."
All permanents?! I'm going to go ahead and rate this as mythic...
DeleteI think destroying everything fit better for flavor and makes it somewhat more difficult to abuse.
DeleteAt face-value, this might be a bit over-costed. That said, you can certainly work it to your major advantage by sandbagging lands. Honestly, I'm not sure Armageddon effects are welcome at any cost nowadays.
DeleteIf Commander has taught me one thing it's that setting everyone back to square one without immediately winning is terrible. I don't like this trigger, but at least the game would end if it left itself alive (though obviously it would need to cost more).
DeleteBoth your comments are pretty reasonable, and you might be quite right about Armageddon effects; though I think they still get printed sometimes, it's not very often. The last ones were probably Worldfire from M13 and Worldslayer from M12. This card is probably more fun:
DeleteDragon of the Wastes 5WW
Creature - Dragon
Flying
When CARDNAME deals combat damage to a player, destroy all other creatures.
5/6
Don't forget Gatecrash Gideon's ultimate as a mass wipe as well.
DeleteAnyway, I like this redone card. Nice job.
Celestial Dawnkite 5WW
ReplyDeleteCre- Dragon (M)
Flying
Whenever CARDNAME attacks, each {W} mana symbol on cards owned by all players are replaced with {B}.
6/6
oh crap...I forgot to add "Until end of turn"
Delete"Cards in all zones?"
DeleteWhat's the story here? Is it blotting out the sun?
DeleteWhy would you want this effect?
As worded this does effect all cards in all zones. The story is indeed about eclipsing the sun. And why would anyone want any Johnny card? Also, this is a nod to Celestial Dawn and Reality Twist.
DeleteI'm not convinced that a 6/6 Dragon is the ideal place to stick this uber-Johnny ability, flavor justification or no.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteTake 2:
DeleteRestrained Hellkite 4WW
Creature- Dragon (R)
Flying
Each combat, you may prevent any amount of damage CARDNAME would deal this turn. For each damage prevented in this way, you gain 2 life.
5/5
Does this work within the rules? Or do I need a trigger?
Delete"Whenever ~ would deal damage, prevent any amount of it. Gain 2 life for each damage prevented this way." methinks
DeleteToying with this idea, though it's not terribly novel:
ReplyDeleteDesolation Dragon {3}{R}{R}
Creature—Dragon (rare)
Flying
Kicker {W}{W}
When Desolation Dragon enters the battlefield, destroy all artifacts you control. If it was kicked, destroy all artifacts instead.
6/5
Weird that the "more artifact destruction" ability is white. I think the ability reads as "this card doesn't go in a deck with artifacts," which isn't much of a downside for a 6/5 flyer for 5.
Delete"If it was kicked, destroy all artifacts you don't control instead" maybe?
DeleteArt aside, this kicker makes more sense it {G} than {W}. I guess it could cost {G}{W}...
DeleteWas trying to add to the cycle of other Desolation Xs, but it really doesn't work. Retracted. Thanks.
DeleteThis less awkward, but less unique too:
ReplyDeleteGaleforce Dragon {3}{W}{U}
Creature—Dragon (rare)
Flying
{U}: Target creature gains flying until end of turn.
{W}: Tap target creature with flying.
4/4
Hmm...
Replace all of the {W} with {G} and you have my vote. Possibly need to add a {1} to at least one of the activated abilities. "1UG: Tap target creature." seems less likely to be abusive than "UG: Tap target creature."
DeleteThis is a pretty fun self-combo for the user, but miserable to play against. What about:
DeleteGaleforce Dragon 3WU
Creature-Dragon (R)
Flying
{W}{U}: Target creature gains flying until end of turn.
Whenever CARDNAME attacks, tap all creatures with flying the defending player controls.
4/4
That way they can at least race.
maybe
DeleteGaleforce Dragon {3}{W}{U}
Creature-Dragon (R)
Flying, vigilance
{1}{U}: Target creature gains flying until end of turn.
{1}{W}{T}: Tap all creatures with flying.
4/4
White could be replaced with green. Hmm.
On second thought, if it were green, it'd be casting Hurricane or Gale Force.
DeleteGaleforce Dragon {4}{G}{U}
Creature-Dragon (R)
Flying
{1}{U}: Target creature gains flying until end of turn.
{4}{G}: Galeforce Dragon deals 5 damage to each creature with flying.
6/6
It feels weird for it to deal less damage than its power. I'd sync that up and go for either nonsquare stats or "each other creature with flying."
Deleteit feels weird for green blue card to be sitting on a place with no water and no plants at all. the card seems fine although I'd like to question the dragon part.
Deletehey I'm not the one who posted the art, you were. perhaps you should have posted all five mana dragons that sandara made and let the designers choose.
http://sandara.deviantart.com/art/Blue-Dragon-392820789
http://sandara.deviantart.com/art/Black-Dragon-391596250
http://sandara.deviantart.com/art/Red-dragon-392561452
http://sandara.deviantart.com/art/Green-Dragon-392101725
edit: there were 6
http://sandara.deviantart.com/art/Artifact-Dragon-419480536
Whoa. I know Sandara has a lot of sweet art, but I didn't know she made all these dragons with a Magic mindset.
DeleteI definitely agree this card would get bluer/greener/windier art if it were actually made.
Draconic Sovereign (Mythic Rare)
ReplyDelete4WW
Creature - Dragon
4/4
Flying, first strike, vigilance, lifelink
1UR: Until end of turn, creatures you control lose flying and first strike and gain hexproof and haste.
1BG: Until end of turn, creatures you control lose vigilance and lifelink and gain deathtouch and trample.
Nice, but this seems to lack focus. Flying and first strike are the two most obvious abilities for {U/R} to grant, not remove. Black has access to lifelink, and green to vigilance, yet you have those colors removing them. Can we find a better structure:
DeleteWedge and Shard Mix:
1RB: Lose Flying and vigilance, gain...
1UG: Lose Lifelink and First strike, gain...
Or do four separate abilities?
All four top abilities are keywords White shares with another color. The UR ability takes away the keywords white shares with those colors for two abilities it doesn't share with them. Ditto with the BG ability.
DeleteWhy does this dragon have all five colors in its color identity but only one of those colors in its mana cost? I'm not quite understanding the story you're telling here.
DeleteI'm also not clear why he can give up half of his abilities to gain non-white abilities, or why he does it for your entire team (at least that part is white).
DeleteThe first line is pretty sweet. Weird how it's second fiddle to the other abilities here.
"Not clear," "not understanding," "lack focus" Hoo boy, let me try to explain how I came up with what I did.
DeleteWhite is sort of the creature combat keyword color. Akroma and Baneslayer in the past show this. It has the cleanest and clearest list of keywords shared with other colors too. So I started with the four keywords on the top line and four abilities. Originally the abilities let it swap a shared for another color specific, like:
B: Until end of turn, CARDNAME loses lifelink and gains deathtouch.
But that would have required 9 lines if text. Also the proper keyword order didn't permit what I wanted as nicely as I wanted it. I wanted it to be "flying, deathtouch, first strike, vigilance" then the blue ability, black ability, red ability and green ability. Condensing the four abilities into two saved space the the order became non important.
Making the abilities affect all your creatures was just to create a white feeling flavor.
I don't think you could make a mono-colored dragon with as succesful a keyword swapping ability in any color other than White. I hadn't considered a multicolor cost though. In fact, the way this card works against Commander design (by having a 5-color color identity) made me almost scrap it entirely. But then I thought that kitchen table designs shouldn't be considered only for that format.
DeleteI was guessing those abilities were paired solely for space, but that still ruins it for me. It seems arbitrary what's tied together and what's not. I'd rather see one white dragon that does this with its two allies, and another that does it with its two enemies. Or perhaps four that each do it with just one other color.
DeleteA bias towards one Dragon with allied color and another dragon with enemy colors seems pretty outdated, given the equal stature each color pair has in modern designs. But I understand how it could ruin it for you. I was sufficiently enamored with the keyword swapping, thought it would make a fun card to build around and play with, and I had constraints I had to work around. How I chose to work around them is my individual design fingerprint. Just as how you think they should be handled is your fingerprint. I guess the real question, aside from aesthetics, is which version best implements the idea behind the card. Is this play effect really worth four White dragons? Or a card with microtext and four activated abilities? What if it were one larger ability?
DeleteUBRG: Until end of turn, creatures you control lose flying, first strike, vigilance, and lifelink, and gain hexproof, haste, deathtouch and trample.
Would that do anything to make the card more palatable?
I do like the single ability more, and you're absolutely right that our different tastes are just that.
DeleteI've been trying for fifteen minutes to come up with a card that matches the picture, and nothing strikes me as remotely interesting. It's a very good picture, but it's not evocative enough (at least for me) for me to create a top-down design from it. You need an action or a personality to work from, and this seems to have neither. :/
ReplyDeleteDesigning based on art doesn't necessarily equal top-down. If all the art says to you is, "Design a cool Dragon", then all you have to do is design a sufficiently cool Dragon that can be concepted to match the picture.
DeleteDragon of the Second Sun (Rare)
ReplyDelete6WW
Creature - Dragon
6/6
Flash
Flying
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, if you cast it from your hand, each player returns to the battlefield all permanent cards in his or her graveyard that were put there from the battlefield this turn.
This is a weird design. You want to cast it after combat to return all your weenies that died after combat. But it also has flash, so you want to flash it in after your opponent declares attackers so that you have a surprise big blocker, at which point its ability gets you nothing. So I guess the trick is to reanimate it onto the battlefield? Nope, you have to cast it from your hand to get the ability.
DeleteWhen Dragon of the Second Sun dies...
DeleteDeath trigger = infinite sac loop, unless you say all *other* permanent cards. In which case, yes, that is awesome.
DeleteYes and yes.
DeleteI also think this change is awesome. Two questions: 1) Templating - is it weird to ask all other players to also return all OTHER permanents when you're obviously the only player to have to ignore returning the Dragon? 2) What if you really want the Dragon to die to return your stuff, but the Dragon is too strong to die? It feels weird to make it a 1-toughness. So the solution to combat this concern would involve more rules text.
Delete1 is fine. 2 is Johnny's challenge.
DeleteIf you want to push this more (and to mythic), it could Second Sunrise when it ETB as well as when it dies.
DeleteI wouldn't want to Second Sunrise when it both ETB and when it dies since I still want it to say that it must be cast from your hand in order to trigger. This is because you could sacrifice the Dragon and a new object Dragon would be brought back... which triggers two more Second Sunrises, and so on. And because I'd want there to be the "cast from hand" clause, there's too much text for my tastes by then.
DeleteLet's go with less is more as well as be sold on the fact that this can be one of Johnny's cards. Resubmission:
Dragon of the Second Sun (Rare)
6WW
Creature - Dragon
6/6
Flash
Flying
When CARDNAME dies, each player returns to the battlefield all other permanent cards in his or her graveyard that were put there from the battlefield this turn.
My only worry about this card (from playing with Underworld Cereberus) is that it trades in combat very poorly. Since your opponents get whatever creatures were able to kill a 6/6 dragon back, and you get whatever else died (probably not another 6/6 dragon in Limited). It should be best in some crazy sacrifice loop anyway.
DeletePlatinum Dragon 9
ReplyDeleteArtifact Creature - Dragon (R)
Flying, Trample, Indestructible
9/9
I'm serious: this doesn't strike as a red or white dragon, nor other combinations, so I went with Big Splashy Timmy Artifact Creature. It couldn't be any other (non-)color to me.
Feedback appreciated. (auto-argument: it could have a bit more pizzaz, it reads boring; but it is probably fine as is as a core set timmy dragon, substituting maybe Shivan Dragon)
DeleteJust when I was about to post an artifact creature (see below), you had to steal my thunder...
DeleteSeriously, though, nice design. Simple, awesome, and to the point.
Silver Dragon 7
ReplyDeleteArtifact Creature- Dragon (Rare)
0/0
Flying, indestructible
CARDNAME enters the battlefield with seven +1/+1 counters on it.
Whenever CARDNAME is dealt damage, remove a +1/+1 counter from it.
And, as a joke solution to the bonus points challenge:
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon 4RR
Legendary Creature- Dragon (Mythic)
5/5
Flying, haste
T: CARDNAME deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
CARDNAME is colorless.
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon isn't also a Spirit?
DeleteMy mistake. There's even a precedent for it in the Kamigawa dragons!
DeleteLegendary Creature- Dragon Spirit (Mythic)
Just realized: This is Kamahl, Pit Fighter with flying and -1/+4. Is that too nonunique for a legendary creature?
DeleteI hadn't meant for Ugin to be taken so seriously! Yes, a legendary creature of Ugin's stature probably would need something more impressive. But my main design submission is Silver Dragon, which is a riff on the Clockwork creatures from Mirrodin.
DeleteImmaculate Hellkite 3RRWW
ReplyDeleteCreature - Dragon (M)
Flying, vigilance
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to Immaculate Hellkite. Whenever damage is prevented this way, Immaculate Hellkite deals that much damage to another target creature or player.
5/5
Boros Reckoner meets Dawn Elemental? Awesome. I might suggest changing vigilance to something else, though-- this thing is pretty oppressive if it gets to block every turn. Haste, maybe?
DeleteAgreed.
DeleteWhen a card costs 3RRWW to cast I think it should be allowed to be a bit oppressive.
DeleteTemporal Dragon 6
ReplyDeleteCreature - Dragon (M)
4/4
Flying, Vanishing 5
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, that player taps X permanents, where X is the number of time counters on CARDNAME.
Artifact?
DeleteOh yes, definitely. I wasn't trying to be cute with that, or anything. I imagine this being from Time Spiral, though they would have made the name reference something!
DeleteAny reason this isn't a blue card? It has both time counter manipulation (Clockspinning, Timebender, Jhoira) and tapping in its color pie. The art is not very blue-looking though.
DeleteJenesis, it's probably an artifact because it's the Tangle Wire Dragon. Get hip to your not-actually-Time Spiral references.
DeleteOn that note, it should probably say "that player taps X untapped nonplaneswalker permanents."
DeleteOh, yes, I meant that it was in the spirit of Time Spiral, not that it referenced something specific from Time Spiral. I don't mind if people tap cards like planeswalkers where tapping them doesn't do anything.
DeleteSadly, as I was thinking about this earlier, I concluded I think it would probably play much better without flying, but that would not make a great dragon!
Oh, wow, you're right, Tangle Wire doesn't let you tap Planeswalkers. I wonder how often I have cheated with that!
Delete