Weekend Art ChallengeGreetings, artisans! Click through to see this weekend's art and the design requirements for your single card submission, due Monday morning. Every submission warrants feedback, and everyone is encouraged to give feedback. You may use that feedback to revise your submission any number of times, though only the version rendered will be included in the review, if someone volunteers to render the cards.
Design a card for this art. If you require further parameters, make a mono-black common whose name falls alphabetically between Nefarious Criminal and Opulence.
No one will escape
ReplyDelete3BB (common)
Instant
Destroy target creature. If it dealt damage to you this turn, exile it instead.
The nice and neat common removal of the set. Interesting text, but uncertain about that name. "No Survivors"?
DeleteI'm in a lawless mood and don't need further parameters, so here's a card from an old Celtic-inspired set I did a little for a while ago that fits the art:
ReplyDeleteBaleful Barrow 4BB
Enchantment (R)
At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, that player sacrifices a creature. Then, if there are six or more creature cards in graveyards, transform Baleful Barrow.
(crop on barrow top)
//
Vengeful Caomhnóir
(Black) Creature - Spirit (R)
Menace
At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, that player sacrifices a creature other than Vengeful Caomhnóir.
6/3
(crop on spirit figure)
Oh, beautiful
DeleteI remember this set! It was a lovely idea.
DeleteThe card is quite nice. Abyss + Menace is a really cute combo.
Nihilistic Edict
ReplyDeleteB
Sorcery (C)
Each player sacrifices the creature they control with the greatest power.
At "greatest power" I think this needs to cost more like 2B especially at Common. The symmetry here is way too easy to break.
DeleteThis is awfully close to a strictly better Innocent Blood, which was already pretty pushed for a common.
DeleteNo, you're a strictly better Innocent Blood, Jenesis! Humph.
DeleteSome folks and their notions of "fair costs".
Anyway, how about:
Nihilistic Edict
1B
Sorcery (C)
Each player sacrifices a creature they control with power 3 or greater.
This reads weirdly to me, but I can't put my finger on why exactly. What are you buying with the "Each player" vs. "Target player" exactly? Is it one or two mana cheaper?
DeleteI liked the other textbox much better, I think.
Well, part of that each application vs. target was just a matter of accentuating nihilism (and calling back to Innocent Blood).
DeleteAs to altering the type of creature to be sacrificed, it occurred to me that in Crackling Doom, it's the white-component of the effect that narrows the sacrifice to greatest power overall. So here the range is set to something more like "not the weakest", and should hopefully feel aesthetically aligned with something like Reave Soul.
I like the most recent version a lot. Seems like it would be a lot of fun to build a deck around.
DeleteArt this old and janky needs an old, janky design to go along with it. Something from the late-90s era of Magic. Definitely not NWO.
ReplyDelete(old card frame)
Odious Fate (common)
BB
As an additional cost to cast CARDNAME, sacrifice a creature.
Destroy target nonblack creature. Then, if you control no creatures, return CARDNAME to its owner's hand.
Not with that clear, precise, modern template! How about:
DeleteDestroy target nonblack creature. Casting CARDNAME requires you to bury one of your creatures. Put CARDNAME back in your hand if that was your last creature.
Nice, I can see this going places in a token deck. Instant or sorcery?
DeleteHere's the super old school template I'm inclined to go with:
Bury one of your own creatures: Odious Fate destroys target nonblack creature. Return Fate to owner’s hand if at the time Fate is successfully cast, no creatures remain under caster’s control.
Oh yeah, gotta have that cost before the colon!
DeleteDo we need to tack on an anti-regeneration clause?
DeleteOdious Fate (common)
DeleteBB
Instant
Sacrifice a creature: Destroy target nonblack creature. If the sacrificed creature was your last creature, return CARDNAME to its owner's hand.
Comments on the design? It's supposed to be removal that Jenny is excited to play. For the record, I think it's printable in modern design, albeit at a higher rarity.
I'm not a fan of confusing templating or random hoops for nostalgia's sake. Other than that, though, I am a fan of this design.
DeleteNocturnal Spirit [3BB]
ReplyDeleteInstant
Destroy target attacking creature. Put a 2/2 black Spirit creature token with deathtouch onto the battlefield.
I think this could be a common?
It's good, but I'm not sure about common. My concern is the 2-for-1 potential with the deathtouch token. Opponent attacks with Ridge Rannet and Darklit Gargoyle (thanks Gatherer Random Card!), you get to kill both for 5. Seems strong for common.
DeleteI think this effect is best kept at uncommon, as it's difficult not to get card advantage out of this at 3BB. (I always compare this sort of effect to Nekrataal, which is cheaper, but a sorcery.) In a set where tokens or 2/2s don't do too much, maybe we could see this in 4BB space? But even then, the deathtouch is probably over the line (compared to, say, Rite of the Serpent).
DeleteI agree this is very solidly into Uncommon, see Acidic Slime for example.
DeleteIt is also worth noting that I think Flametongue Kavu is an overdone card. There is very little sport in making two for ones this easy.
Also very weird that a Black card cares about attacking creatures.
Perhaps at Uncommon you could try an always on Gilt Leaf Ambush?
I think removing the Deathtouch and/or making this a Sorcery that kills a tapped creature could put it at common. Do we really not see these kinds of spells at common any more? I could've sworn Return to Ravnica had something like this that put out 2/2 Knights with Vigilance and Tarkir did something with Goblins. Maybe my memory is faulty and I'm just thinking of Rise of the Eldrazi (which isn't a template anymore more, I know). Hrmm...
DeleteAlso, compare Nemesis Trap.
DeleteI'm really not sure what you are thinking of, this kind of effect didn't even used to be Common to my recollection: Flametongue Kavu, Nekrataal, Corpsehatch...
DeleteThe closest I can find at common are Violet Pall (from a bygone era) and Rite of the Serpent (which is super conditional and gives a 1/1 in a set where 1/1s are irrelevant). Even cards like Assassin's Strike show up at Uncommon. The Knight card you're thinking of is probably Trostani's Judgment, which only gets you the two for one if you work for it.
Corpsehatch? Summoner's Bane? Were they common? I should spend more time on Gatherer.
DeleteOdium 1BB
ReplyDeleteInstant - (C)
Destroy target tapped creature.
“You abandon your comrades for wealth, as mine did long ago. Like them, you shall perish by my hand.”
Jealous that Evan got in "Odious..." before I could, so noun form it is.
Feedback appreciated as always.
This gets to be both Assassinate and Rebuke, for an admittedly more constrained mana cost. That might not be too strong, but it's definitely premium removal.
DeleteI get the feeling that Murder at 1BB isn't common these days - this is more limited than that, but someone with a better thumb on the current costing pulse could grade it better. I wonder whether we'll have a new vague category for "would be a common, in any set that isn't meant to be drafted", maybe.
I think this is a fine cost, Rebuke and Assassinate are both pretty bad cards that look like good cards. That said, it wouldn't surprise me to see this at a higher cost, but that doesn't mean this cost is unreasonable.
DeleteAs far as "would be a common in any set that isn't meant to be drafted" doesn't make much sense because rarity only matters in sets that are meant to be drafted.
I love everything except the art. Like, Odium and the ability and cost work great, but it doesn't fit the art for me. Odium is such a cool name for a kill spell.
DeleteBass, you don't buy the spirit as a vengeful?
DeleteCute that this is almost exactly Swift Reckoning from Origins.
Delete*looks up the word Odium*
DeleteI didn't realise it meant that. My bad.
Fatal Robbery 2B
ReplyDeleteSorcery - (C)
Destroy target creature with one or more counters on it. For each counter on that creature put a Gold token onto the battlefield. (A Gold token is a colorless artifact token that "Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.")
This is obviously designed for a super specific environment where Gold tokens have been keyworded and counters on creatures show up at moderate numbers. I could see just making it so you get 1 Gold token regardless, but this seems far more flavorful.
This has significantly higher upsides and downsides than Gild. Combined with the wordiness I think it would be better suited to uncommon. Could it possibly let you destroy any creature (at a higher mana cost)? That way the gold bonus would incentivize using it on creatures with counters, without making it totally dead if your opponent doesn't have them.
DeleteThis being at Common is definitely predicated on it not being "good." If a set has Centaur Battlemasters running around this definitely isn't a Common. It also has to come across as not wordy because of the keywording of gold counters. If this was printed in a random set, as Gild was, it would definitely be a Rare, no question.
DeleteAll that said, this would be more comfortable at uncommon most of hte time.
The flavor with +1/+1 counters and Gold is cute, but I think it makes the design too cumbersome, other than requiring a very specific environment for it to make sense.
DeleteIt could lose all the counters restriction and always give maybe two Gold tokens.Of course with changing the mana cost. Like:
Fatal Robbery {3}{B}{B}
Sorcery - (C)
Destroy target creature.
Then put two Gold tokens onto the battlefield. (A Gold token is a colorless artifact token that "Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.")
That said, if you want narrowness as a feature, I'm fine with the first design. (I would vote for it to be uncommon, though, for comprehension complexity and wordiness.)
I do like Fatal Robbery (aka Corpsehatch).
DeleteOathbreaker's Curse 2BB
ReplyDeleteSorcery
Destroy target tapped creature. Its controller loses life equal to its power.
As a lover of Phthisis (The card, not the disease :/) thumbs up for me!
DeleteRarity? I'd guess C or U.
Avatar, I love your name.
DeleteI think if you lost a fixed amount of life this would be common.
I'll do the renders this week.
ReplyDeleteNether Sentinel 4BB
Creature - Spirit (C)
When Nether Sentinel enters the battlefield, destroy target creature an opponent controls with toughness less than or equal to the number of creature cards in your graveyard.
3/5
I appreciate your not making this straight Flametongue Kavu, so that you have to work for it, but I think it is still Uncommon. The most we get at common is creatures that kill things with one toughness.
DeleteCairn-tomb Guardian {2}{W}{B}
ReplyDeleteCreature Spirit Warrior (RARE)
Defender, Flying
If an opponent controls a creature that dealt damage to you since your last turn, put a +1/+1 counter on CARDNAME and it looses defender until end of turn.
2/4
The pile of tribute to the God-King increases every time someone tries to steal from it.
I think the trigger needs a timing added to it - probably either "at the beginning of your upkeep" or "at the beginning of combat", in order to work. At rare, this could also probably have "As long as ~ has a counter on it, it can attack as though it didn't have defender."
DeleteWait, what? WHEN does this happen?
DeleteNight's Justice 2BB
ReplyDeleteSorcery
Target creature deals damage to itself equal to its power.
What comes between a thief and his bounty?
This has gotten printed plenty of times, most recently as Wrack with Madness. Seems legitimate to me!
DeleteIt even already exists in black (Kiku's Shadow)
DeleteI had assumed the submitter was directly referencing that, since Kiku is the Night's Flower.
DeleteRetribution of the Lost {2}{W}{W}
ReplyDeleteInstant
Destroy target creature if it dealt damage to a creature which died this turn.
This is quite the downgrade on the already very unimpressive Avenging Arrow.
DeleteAgree. This is probably fair at only {W}
DeleteVengeful Ghost {1}{B} (or {B}{B}?)
ReplyDeleteCreature - Spirit (Rare)
Unleash (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It can’t block as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
Whenever combat damage is dealt to you or a planeswalker you control, you may return CARDNAME from your graveyard to the battlefield.
1/2
Art zoomed on the spirit
Feedback appreciated, as always.
Yikes! Even if you just consider the leashed version, this has got to be miles better than Reassembling Skeleton. Or to come at it from another angle: this would be a totally playable Limited card without the second ability. And the second ability will probably give you several additional copies of that card over the course of the game, for free. I find it difficult to believe that this could be balanced.
DeleteThat being said, I like the concept a lot, since Black has a history of repeatedly recurring small creatures (Reassembling Skeleton) and of retaliating against damage (No Mercy). Combining the two is a smart move. Traditionally, though, Black's small recurring creatures are more aggressive and less defensive than this, and while Unleash is a nice nod toward designs like Bloodghast, it believe it doesn't go far enough in keeping you from sitting back on defense.
A card that's been talked about a lot, but in a slightly different light.
ReplyDeleteOathbreaker's Due 2BB
Sorcery
Put a 1/1 Spirit creature with deathtouch onto the battlefield. Then, it fights target creature.
Fascinating card. No way is it mono-black; if anything, it's mono-green. I love the flavor, though. What if you put the Spirit onto the battlefield "blocking target attacking creature" and maybe shaved a mana off of the cost? Could that be mono-black?
DeleteAlso, what card are you referencing? I can't come up with it.
This card (as an insect token, I believe) in mono-green is used sometimes by MaRo to show that a card that is built mechanically of a single color's parts doesn't always make a card that color can do. Like, green can do deathtouch and fighting, but in some designers eyes this card is a breach of the color pie in mono-green. How far away that is from Ambush Viper (and how green we should consider that card) is up for questioning.
DeleteLikewise, I'm curious whether if the End Effect is black, whether the means can be slightly stretched. Either way, I think the card ought to actually read "It has "When this enters the battlefield, it fights target creature"", so that you can respond to the trigger with a Bolt Your Spirit (as I would at least intend).
To make it just a little bit more sinister, though, we could go with:
Put a 1/1 Spirit creature token with deathtouch onto the battlefield under target player's control. It fights target creature that player controls.
Pasteur, which card is your submission?
DeleteI'll use this one! I think it provokes more interesting discussion and tells the story of the art better. Thanks!
DeleteOminous Barrow-Wight 4BB
ReplyDeleteCreature - Spirit
When Ominous Barrow-Wight enters the battlefield, destroy target equipped creature, then gain control of all equipment that was attached to that creature.
2/2
I don't know if that's pushing it for a common or not.
target equipped creature an opponent controls*
DeleteI don't know if "only being able to target equipped creatures" is worth a free 2/2 over Murderous Spoils, but maybe. If you are likely at all to trigger this, it is quite a bit of a bonus, as you're getting a creature to attach the equipment to. I personally don't think either equipment-grabbing really belongs in Black, though there obviously is the one precedent.
DeleteEither way, I think this is an uncommon at any casting cost. It's got a lot going on, and when it does trigger, it's a 3-for-1 or better.
Maybe it doesn't need the flavor of taking back what was stolen. Spirits are largely incorporeal after all. How about:
DeleteOminous Barrow-Wight 2BB
Creature Spirit
When Ominous Barrow Wight enters the battlefield, destroy target creature an opponent controls if its equipped or enchanted.
2/2
This is way too much card advantage for Common. Even Carry Away is no where close to Common (remember that Carry Away is still is a two for one).
DeleteI like the name and the idea, and I think you should push for good flavor (i.e. I like the original version better). This is going to be uncommon in any case, so you shouldn't worry too much about the complexity.
DeleteI mean Rite of Serpent exists, so I don't think its impossible for an effect like this to exist at common. I just don't know what to cost it. It would be took strong in Theros, but its text is virtually blank in a lot of environments.
DeleteTo be clear, I was referring to the second version of the card. It should probably cost a couple mana more. The more I think about it, the more I agree with Ipaulsen that the original is much cooler and that I should start from scratch if I wanted this to actually be common. So, back to the original version please.
DeleteOminous Barrow-Wight 4BB
DeleteCreature - Spirit (U)
When Ominous Barrow-Wight enters the battlefield, destroy target equipped creature an opponent controls, then gain control of all equipment that was attached to that creature.
2/2
A conditional 1/1 is a world different from an unconditional 2/2. A 2/2 is a card and a 1/1 isn't.
DeleteI'm going with the original since I really do like the flavor of taking back what was stolen. I was merely pointing out that guy plus kill spell is a thing that has happened at common. In that case it was unconditional kill spell + conditional guy. In this case it would be unconditional guy plus conditional kill spell. Now maybe the guy should be a 1/1 or 6 mana but I think flipping those conditions is a thing that could happen.
DeleteTotal aside:
DeleteI think you could absolutely do unconditional Rite of the Serpent at Common (That is 4BB Sorcery Kill a thing, you get a 1/1.).
I think that is pretty much the limit though. Maybe even an ETB ability on a 1/3 in the right set (though at that point it could very easily be an Uncommon).
Worth noting, I think Rite of the Serpent is a design disaster.
Why is it a disaster? I mean I'm not a fan of the card since I don't think the counter to token aspect makes sense, but "disaster" feels excessive.
DeleteWasting 22 words of common complexity on a card that doesn't come together in any way is about the biggest disaster design can have. Commons, as has been a theme in the past several challenges, have very little wiggle room complexity wise, and it is up to the designers (and to some extent developers) to allot the complexity points that they have correctly, making sure they get put in places that they really matter and add something to the environment.
DeleteSo its a bad card on its own, but it the context of building a set it multiple times worse.
DeleteAs-is you gain control of the Equipment even if the creature regenerates or is indestructible. Intentional?
DeleteIt is a "bad card" but not an awful one, it could see real play in the right set, but that doesn't make it a good design.
DeleteThey could print a 2 mana 3/3 with "Protection for Squids, City of Brasswalk, and whenever you proliferate clash with an opponent, if you win the clash then you may discard a card," and it would see play, but the abilities don't hang together in an aesthetic way and (presumably) the format doesn't justify wasting all those words.
If design does put a bunch of words on a common and it is a good design (which Rite of Serpent isn't) I do think it is then development's job to make sure that card sees some play in limited.
I'm inclined to guess that originally in design Rite of the Serpent made a 1/1 snake with Deathtouch, and development said "um, no" but then left the card otherwise the same (maybe art was already done or something).
R&D has a lot of balls to juggle and a lot of things get locked into place at various times. They don't really have the time to get everything right in most sets, and if you work with this stuff enough you can always see the little loose ends that never got tied up. Unless we want them to make fewer sets or charge more for packs, it is something we have to live with.
Tommy Occhipinti sets need 5-6 mana removal at common. Rite of the Serpent plays up that role while helping give a tool against the powerful +1/+1 counter cards, playing up the Sultai flavor and only being 4 lines of rules text which only barely puts it into Red Flag territory. (which they have a 20% buffer of at common)
DeleteThe card was nearly undoubtedly just a vanilla kill spell of some sort that they then needed to add the +1/+1 counter clause to in development. Also as this is wanted more in control decks the extra chump body plays far better into their strategy than say 2 life loss like Sip of Hemlock.
While it would be nice to have it come below 4 lines of rules text I disagree that the design is a disaster.
I don't disagree sets need 5-6 mana removal spells at common.
DeleteI do disagree that Rite of the Serpent provides a tool against +1/+1 counter cards or that it does anything for Sultai flavor. The bonus is so minor as to be near irrelevant by the time it is cast. I've watched or played perhaps 50 KTK drafts, and I have not a single story about a snake token.
I also don't necessarily think a chump blocker is what control decks are looking for (and Sip of Hemlock was 100% a control card in Theros) but if that was really what they wanted they could have made the rider "Gain 4 life" etc.
"Destroy target creature. If that creature had 4 or more toughness, you gain 4 life." would have fit. A set is a lot more than a bunch of individual cards, so though that card is a disaster, it didn't drag down the set as a whole by too much. It is also a design disaster rather than a development disaster, which has less impact on the format as a whole.
Seraph of the Dawn and Mist Raven were development disasters at common, and they took the whole format down with them.
To elaborate a little more, the attitude "We've got a 20% buffer anyway" is exactly the reason the design is bad. We don't have that buffer to do anything, we have that buffer to fulfill very specific goals, and if we use it to do anything else, we're wasting it. Rite of the Serpent's extra text fulfills no goals.
DeleteTommy I asked the devs on twitter so you may be interested
Deletehttps://twitter.com/ReubenCovington/status/621125177347194880
I read this to mean it started out doing something that was interesting enough to warrant the text, but at the last minute they decided it was too strong but the art was done so we ended up with this loose end. Pretty much exactly what I suggested above.
DeletePS: Thanks for asking!
DeleteGuard the Tomb 4BB
ReplyDeleteInstant (C)
Return target creature from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Similar submission to many others; hopefully destroying an attacking creature.
Most Reanimates are uncommon now; why is that? I don't think this is a particularly complex or strong card.
Henge Geist 1UG
ReplyDeleteCre- Spirit (Unc)
Flash
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, it gains Deathtouch until end of turn.
1/4
Meh, it's late...
Wisely chosen as Uncommon rather than stretched to Common!
DeleteI love the name!
DeleteThe art reads as blue and not green, while green can carry the rules text on its own. In a multicolor set I suppose it's plausible and a good defensive upgrade over Ambush Viper.
DeleteThanks for the encouraging words! I think this art will look pretty good with the UG outline...man I wish we could upgrade the traditional gold border to the hybrid frames...
DeleteGloomlance 3BB
ReplyDeleteSorcery (C)
Destroy target creature. If that creature was green or white, its controller discards a card.
Good!
DeleteDisregarding the parameters for an attempt at a top-down design:
ReplyDeleteBarrow Guardian 1B
Creature- Spirit (Rare)
3/1
You may cast CARDNAME from your graveyard as long as another permanent card left your graveyard this turn.
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, if you didn't cast it from your graveyard, sacrifice it.
Flavor text: The dead look out for their own.
So can I cast this for 2BB or no?
DeleteOccult Treasure 2B
ReplyDeleteUntil the end of turn, whenever an creature would be put +1/+1 counters on it, put that many -1/-1 counters on it instead.
draw a card
Some treauses are better untouched
WOTC has been very clear they don't do +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters in the same set any more for regular expansions. If they did, I don't think there would be anything wrong with this design.
DeleteTo get around this, you could use the wonky (but similar end result) wording:
Delete...gets -2/-2 for each +1/+1 counter on it.
Instant I'm assuming?
DeleteGhastly Vengeance {B}
ReplyDeleteInstant
Cast ~ only if a creature card is in your graveyard.
Destroy target creature that dealt damage to a player this turn.
This was a difficult challenge and art. But I'm surprised this card hasn't been made before.
ReplyDeleteNihlistic Pull 2B
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant creature you control
When enchanted creature dies, destroy target creature you don’t control.
I swore it was, but I was thinking of Yoke of the Damned, which plays out similarily but not quite the same.
DeleteThat's pretty cool.
DeleteI'd like it to cost less and have some condition, like matching color or not matching creature type, or costing less. Or maaaybe:
Go Down Fighting B
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant creature you control
When enchanted creature dies, it fights target creature you don’t control.