Friday, September 15, 2017

Weekend Art Challenge 091517—ReneAigner

Click through to see the illustration and design requirements for your single card submission, due Monday morning. Every submission warrants feedback, which you may use to revise your submission any number of times. I will aim to review the most recent submission from each designer.


Design a land card for this illustration.

42 comments:

  1. Cozy Tavern
    Land - Rare
    ~ enters the battlefield tapped.
    T: Add <> to your mana pool. Gain 1 life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really love this design. But I'm worried that it's too useful, that gaining 1 life a turn, while a small amount, will just put you out of reach in any stall.

      Delete
    2. This is a tight, clean design that can earn a mono-colored deck 5+ life in a game. It also makes Ajani's Pridemate, Archangel of Thune, Cliffhaven Vampire, Drogskol Reaver, and Searing Meditation et al much stronger. If it's not too strong, this is the fun version. If it is, this is the safer version:

      Cozy Tavern
      Land - Rare
      {T}: Add {C} to your mana pool.
      {T}: Gain 1 life.

      Delete
  2. Gambling Den
    Land - Rare
    T: Add C to your mana pool.
    2, T, discard a card: Flip a coin. If you win the flip, draw two cards.

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    Replies
    1. Nice flavor.

      This is powerful. On average, it has "{2}, {T}: Loot" which is huge on a land because you can use it every turn without overhead and your opponent probably can't interact with it. Occasionally, this will frustrate players when it fails, but drawing 2 cards off a land and then having the chance to do that again is huge. And then you put this in a madness/delirium/reanimator deck and it's just disgusting.

      I was thinking this probably needs to cost red mana, since it is a red ability with a red drawback, and doing that would also reduce the number of decks you can freely put this into. Is it enough to make this printable? I'm not sure it is, but that's a step in the right direction.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the feedback!

      Yeah, 2R seems like a much better place to start at development wise. Similar to Desolate Lighthouse then. 2 is definitely too low! I don't want Spikes to play the card cause it's efficient/powerful - they would probably complain about the extra RNG. Though that would be an interesting study as well - being able to blame things when you lose feels great too. Probably the audience is people who want to flip coins, and do it every turn!

      I also considered "pay life, flip coin, double life" re: Tavern Swindler, but that seemed too thumb twiddly do nothing? And of course less novel.

      Delete
    3. Independent of the challenge this could also go on a goblin:

      Gambling Goblin 2R
      Creature - Goblin Rogue U
      T, discard a card: Flip a coin. If you win the flip, draw two cards.
      1/1

      Delete
  3. Nocturnal Waystation
    Land
    T: Add <> to your mana pool
    1, Pay 3 life: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
    "It's always open to weary travelers looking for a quick bite."

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    Replies
    1. Uncommon. If Tendo Ice Bridge can become uncommon so can tarnished citadel.

      Delete
    2. This is better than Tarnished Citadel since it makes all your mana sources into a Tarnished Citadel. That said, it may still be balanced. I'd like to see what kinds of 5-color Limited strategies this enables at uncommon!

      Delete
    3. Aether Hub is also a strict upgrade to Ice Bridge, but as a uncommon pay off for a life gain strategy (aka bw in Ixl limited) it seems fun.

      Delete
    4. I like life-payment as a solution to the 1:any color fixing ability. Tarnished Citadel can definitely be uncommon.

      Curiously, I suspect this is stronger as a means to lose any multiple of 3 life whenever you want (for 0-1 mana) than it is a color-fixer. IDK if it's too good at that.

      Delete
    5. Might be! There are certainly death's shadow/second chance/Axis of Morality decks that would appreciate being able to lose life at will, although three point chunks restricts that flexibility.

      Delete
  4. Tepid Haven
    Land -U
    Add C to your mana pool
    When ~ etb put a safe counter on it. Whenever a creature deals combat damage to you, remove a safe counter and prevent that damage.
    ~ taps for any color as long as it has a safe counter on it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With the add a color of any mana it may push the card to rare.

      I think if it were to not tap for any color it would still be a fine card.

      Delete
    2. Wow! This is a neat idea and doing something that no other land has really done. And I like it. Overall I'd say rare, and I wonder about simplifying/weakening it a bit.

      It's almost certainly too strong as written. For starters you could remove the "prevent that damage" text and still have a land that most Legacy decks would want four of (I'm guessing).

      Delete
    3. I wish this has a way to add safe counters to itself. 4 and Tapping it maybe?

      Delete
    4. There's a definitely a neat idea here, but this card is doing two things, and that's one too many.

      First, it's an uncommon City of Brass that costs no life. (And that's too strong.)
      Second, it prevents a little damage to you (and could prevent more if you proliferate).
      Both of those are useful, but tying them together steals focus from each without adding anything. It adds tension, but arbitrary tension isn't fun. Consider this:

      Tepid Haven
      Land
      ~ ETB with a safe counter on it.
      {T}: Add {C} to your mana pool.
      {T}, Remove a safe counter from ~: Prevent all damage target attacking creature would deal to you this turn. Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.

      That card isn't any more thematic, but it layers on a chance for the player to defeat the tension by getting to use both bonuses rather than just one. That's still not as strong a design as if we just removed the "add any color" bit, because then our card is focused both thematically and mechanically.

      Delete
    5. I should clarify, that it's a City of Brass your opponent can turn off with an unblocked attack. That's not strictly better, but it is still very strong:

      Tepid Haven
      Land
      {T}: Add {C} to your mana pool.
      {T}: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Activate this ability only if you haven't suffered combat damage since ~ ETB'd.

      Delete
  5. Smithy of Hope (Unc)
    Land
    CARDNAME enters the battlefield tapped.
    {T}: Add {W} to your mana pool.
    {T}: Add {2} to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast equipment or pay equip costs targetting humans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cool! I ended up with something very similar. Personally I think the "equip costs" clause is not needed, let alone "targeting humans"-- the flavor is strong enough already and adding a tribal element just distracts.

      Delete
    2. Yeah, the right answer is probably somewhere between.

      Delete
    3. I like this design space. Making {2} is always dangerous, and might be a deal-breaker, but if it can work, making equipment should be one of the safer uses (since most equipment doesn't do anything by itself, and making a lot of equipment is a weak plan).

      Being able to make {W} might be a touch too useful for a land that can also make {C}{C}. Probably just produce {C} normally.

      Definitely remove "targeting humans" because this is an equipment-matters land and that's plenty specific.

      Delete
  6. Inn of Ill-Repute
    Land
    Tap: Add <> to your mana pool.
    4B, tap, pay 3 life: Create a 2/2 black Mercenary creature token.
    Tap, sacrifice a treasure: Create a 2/2 black Mercenary creature token.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like the idea that a treasure can buy you something you'd have to pay through the nose for otherwise, but this card is just vastly cleaner without the middle ability. This is a lovely treasure-reward:

      Inn of Ill-Repute
      Land (rare)
      {T}: Add {C} to your mana pool.
      {T}, Sacrifice a Treasure: Create a 2/2 black Pirate creature token with menace. Activate this ability only as a sorcery.

      Delete
  7. Fortress Smithy
    Land (Uncommon)
    T: Add C to your mana pool.
    T: Add CC to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast Equipment spells.

    I designed this before seeing Jack's, I swear.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think making a Sol land for equipment that doesn't pay equip costs is counter intuitive.

      Delete
    2. I think it's entirely intuitive, considering the flavor.

      Delete
    3. Real solid. Should probably exert or else ETBT because even on equipment, getting two mana on turn one (and every turn thereafter) is problematic.

      Delete
  8. Midnight Safehouse
    Land (r)
    Hideaway (This land enters the battlefield tapped. When it does, look at the top four cards of your library, exile one face down, then put the rest on the bottom of your library.)
    T: Add <> to your mana pool.
    T, Reveal the exiled card: If you do, permanents that share a name with the revealed card have hexproof until end of turn.

    Possibly should be a timing restriction on the last ability?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can I activate the second ability more than once?

      Delete
    2. I don't *know*, but I think so. The alternative idea was to have explicitly let you do this more than once, but you can tap-reveal only during any upkeep, but the card is already quite wordy.

      Delete
    3. Hideaway was slightly awkward in practice but a lovely bit of value for jumping through a reasonable hoop, so I'd be happy to see 1-5 more hideaway lands sometime.
      This is a fun and clever use of the tech. If Safehouse can grant hexproof more than once, it needs to cost mana. I'm inclined to have it only do its thing once.

      Delete
    4. It's worth noting that because this pulls from the top of your library, choosing a creature card you don't already have in hand (seemingly) postpones drawing a copy of it to play, and that will often feel bad.

      Delete
  9. Hanwier Inn

    T add <> to your mana pool

    T add one mana of any colour to your mana pool, activate this ability only if you cast a spells this turn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a surge land!
      Other than the obviously-placeholder name, I've got no concerns.
      Very cool.

      Delete
    2. It's not a placeholder name, this land helps you cast s second spell for your hanweir werewolves!

      Delete
  10. Afterthought:

    Treasure House
    Land (Uncommon)
    T: Add C to your mana pool.
    N, T: Create a Treasure token.

    N is most likely 2, and at 3 it might still be playable. (1 would make it strictly better than Unknown Shores *and* all the storage lands, at least if you ignore Stony Silence etc.)

    ReplyDelete