Enough with the Goblins already. Here's some Elvish palate-cleansers.
Art 1: luchoinzunza
Art 2: RedRoofArt
Pick an art, and make an uncommon that would fit in a Core set.
Have a great weekend.
Friday, August 4, 2017
Weekend Art Challenge 080417 — bobkehlluchoinzunza // RedRoofArt
Enough with the Goblins already. Here's some Elvish palate-cleansers.
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ART ONE
ReplyDeleteFamiliar Vantage G
Instant - Uncommon
Target creature gets +1/+2 and reach until end of turn.
This would surprise me as an uncommon. Are you thinking the power level of core sets will be much lower in the future, or are one mana combat tricks just that outside the norm now?
DeleteOr just missed that bit of the spec. I thought this was the perfect design for the art, except ending up too simple.
DeleteThe mechanic is a good fit for the art, but at uncommon, it needs a little more Oomph. Vines of the Recluse is this card at common plus an untap rider, and no one was calling that broken.
DeleteAn uncommon combat trick is more or less going to want to promise that it will result in a dead opponent's creature and likely a rescued your creature. Even Gift of Strength at +3/+3 clocked in at common.
So what could we do that would make this an uncommon? A conditionally free-cast is one route. One sided fight is another. Tacking on some kind of card draw would also work.
An untap effect might provide the oomph its missing.
Delete+1/+2 reach eot, and untap?
Art 2
ReplyDeleteDeepwood Dryad
GG
Creature - Dryad - Uncommon
Hexproof
2/2
Hexproof is an ability that typically shows up on creatures at uncommon or higher, so we're off to a good start here. This could easily be costed at 1G, absent developmental concerns. Compare with Bassara Tower Archer. It tells me that at least one of the green archetypes in our fictional core set is an aggro deck, which isn't always necessarily true of green.
DeleteSolid uncommon, if not exactly breaking any new ground.
Totally forgot about Bassara Tower archer! Didn't realize how similar to an existing design this was.
DeleteArt Two
ReplyDeleteStrength of Aspens 2GG
Instant
Target creature gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of lands you control.
This Strength of Cedars callback loses the arcane, making it far more reprintable in a core set. Scalable effects like this are typically unfit for a common slot, so this is right at home in the uncommons.
DeleteArt #1
ReplyDeleteThrill of the Chase (U)
2G
Sorcery
Target creature you control gains trample and "when this creature deals combat damage to a player, draw a card" until end of turn. It deals damage equal to its power to target creature you don't control.
Art #2:
Attune with Vitality (U)
4GG
Sorcery
Target creature gets +X/+X and gains trample until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures and lands you control.
Relatively quiet week, so I'll let the double submission slide.
DeleteThrill of the Chase is doing one too many things. The Curiosity/Keen Sense ability is fantastic at uncommon, as is tacking a way to make sure it gets through, like trample or shooting down a creature. But doing both is overkill. I'd stick with the one-sided fight as it fits the art better, but either way is really fine.
A quick incomprehensive gatherer search tells me that we've never calculated X for the combined total of creatures and lands, so there's some novelty for Attune with Vitality. At six mana, you want something potent, but at uncommon, you don't necessarily want a guaranteed victory either. This fits nicely in the middle ground.
If we were bringing back convoke in a core set again, we could easily have that as XGG Convoke, without the counting.
Art #1
ReplyDeleteForest Ambush 3G
Instant
Until end of turn, target creature gets +X/+X and gains trample where X is the number of forests you control.
Taking a simple approach similar to several others.
Completely reasonable. I always wonder if a trample rider on instant growth effects causes people to misplay those cards. How often do players not cast Wildsize on defense when it's a clearly optimal move, but they feel like they're missing out on the potential for the trample? I assume somewhat frequently. That's not a bad thing. That's just lenticular design at work.
DeleteArt 1
ReplyDeleteLlanowar Sniper
Creature - Elf Archer
Reach
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, it deals 2 damage to up to one target creature with flying.
2/2
Was going to submit something nearly identical.
DeleteLooks good to me. The costing of this is going to be development-heavy, obviously, but what's the best guess? 2G? 3G? 1GG? I think 2 mana is probably a little too aggressive, but I've been wrong before. I'm a little surprised I couldn't find a version of this that already existed.
DeleteD'oh, can't believe I forgot the mana cost! 2G. Ye classic ETB-kill-a-thing-Gray-Ogre.
Delete2G works. At uncommon, though, I could see GG or even 1G (if the set isn't full of 2 toughness flyers).
DeleteArt 1
ReplyDeleteBlackwood Bowyer 1GG
Creature - elf archer
Flash,, reach
Other creatures you control with reach get +1/+1.
2/3
I'm not entirely convinced that anti-flying cards are a good use of an uncommon slot, although I like this a lot because it really leads to more of a build around than an average reach creature.
DeleteOne of the major roles that uncommons fill is to make the core of a draft deck. Sometimes they'll highlight the pushed draft archetype of a color pair, while other times they'll just give you a springboard to build around them. Favorable Winds and Thunderclap Wyvern are recent templates for this. Reach is a little harder to build around than Flying, as it typically only appears on one or two commons per set, but not at all unreasonable.
DeleteIt seems like a very coreset doable theme for an archetype (probably GR) and would encourage a higher than normal reach count
DeleteArt 2
ReplyDeleteWeave of the Grovesworn 1G
Enchantment - Aura (u)
Enchant land
Enchanted land is a 2/2 green Dryad creature in addition to its other types.
When enchanted land dies, each player may search their library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, and shuffle their library.
Let's compare this to the Zendikon or Genju cycles, each a common cycle playing in similar space. The resulting land creature is on the weak side comparatively. The land search clause could be upside compared to Zendikons if it wasn't symmetrical, but as it stands, this is very underpowered, especially for an uncommon.
DeleteSo what can we do in this space to push it? The numbers are the best place to start. What if it was G that made a 3/3? Likewise, a 1G 4/2 trample or some other ability would not be pushing at all. Finally, if the land search clause isn't symmetrical, you help fight off card disadvantage, and give Jenny an opening to do some shenanigans.
This has me thinking what if it worked like a twist on a two drop mana dork.
DeleteWeave of the Grovesworn 1G
Enchantment - Aura (u)
Enchant Basic Land
When you cast ~, search their library for a basic land card put it onto the battlefield tapped, shuffle you library, and attach ~ to it.
enchanted land is a 2/1 green dryad creature in addition to its other types
or-------------
Weave of the Grovesworn 1UG
Enchantment - Aura (u)
Enchant Land
When you cast ~, search you library for a land card put it onto the battlefield tapped, and attach ~ to it, shuffle your library,.
enchanted land is a 0/4 green dryad creature in addition to its other types
I think the latter one could be a fine 2G rare!
DeleteI was thinking about 1G 3/3 dies you sylvan-scrying, but I think I like this one better.
Thank you everyone for your submissions and feedback this challenge, and thanks to The Other Jay for letting me fill in for the challenge.
ReplyDeleteI was impressed with the submissions we got this week, and a little surprised that some of what seems like low hanging fruit as far as green design space goes remains used very infrequently on the actual cards.
Uncommons are the heart and soul of draft environments. It's where a goofy uncommon like Spider Spawning can turn a well crafted set into one that becomes a legend among drafters. Don't be afraid design a card that you would be excited to build a draft deck around.