This week we're going to design the most expensive common instant you think you can get away with.
In the completely nonexistent rubric with which I absolutely do not assign grades to your designs, you lose points for employing cost reduction mechanics and for designing sorceries in disguise.
You want some art you say? Fine Here's some art.
Art W by queenofeagles
Art U by artbycarlos
Art B by XDimov
Art R by cobaltplastma
Art G by Aenami
Note that this is a trap. This challenge has crazy difficult restrictions without the art, so you will absolutely not be penalized for not using an art. They are simply there if you need them to give you something to jump off of.
Good luck, have fun. and I'll see you all Monday.
I need to remember to always do research! I couldn't imagine a common instant at more than 6, but apparently Scour from Existence and Boulderfall already were printed at 7 and 8!
ReplyDeleteFor that matter, what about alternate cost mechanics like cycling (or cards which can be cast for less for a smaller effect)? I think to "count" the assumption has to be that people actively want to cast it for its mana cost, at least sometimes. But an expensive card is a lot more playable if it's not dead if you draw it early. But OTOH, you can make a lot more things playable by slapping cycling on it, it feels like a more "pure" challenge is to design an instant that people will play without an "out".
I also looked up some cards. There are quite a few common 6 mana instant removal spells. I think this design space will be interesting and printable.
DeleteMaybe for another week, the challenge could be expanded to simply "expensive non creature spells". There are only 8 common non creature spells with CMC>=7.
https://scryfall.com/search?q=-%28t%3ACreature%29+cmc>%3D7+r%3Ac&unique=cards&as=grid&order=name
Huh, good point, I hadn't quite looked at them all together. But there don't seem to be so many recently, I wonder if wizards decided that was a little too expensive? Or if they just come out every so often but not all the time.
DeleteInteresting. And for context, there are 60 creatures that have been printed at common with CMC 7+. (55 if you correct for anomalies.)
DeleteCrashing Meteor 8(W/R)(W/R)
ReplyDeleteArt R
Instant (C)
Deal 5 damage to each attacking or each blocking creature. If you spent W to cast Crashing Meteor prevent all damage that would be dealt to creatures you control until end of turn. If you spent Red to cast Crashing Meteor, double all damage your creatures would deal this turn.
This is a super insane blowout if you get there, so it might not be printable.
DeleteIt's insanely hard to make a common that costs this much. Having said that, this is not common.
DeleteI would agree. This needs to be simpler in a few different ways to be common. Maybe just 8RR (effect), "if WW was spent (modified effect)", as a place to start? I'd look at Ogre Savant-alike as simpler than Firespout-alike.
DeleteI like where you're going, but I would have thought even "deal 5 damage to each attacking creature" would be too swingy for common at any cost even without the extras, is it actually plausible?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAnything reasonably likely to be a Plague Wind is outside the scope of common, whatever the cost. Preserving the idea, maybe:
DeleteMeteor Impact 4RR
Instant
CARDNAME deals 5 damage to target blocked creature and each creature blocking it.
If WW was spent to cast CARDNAME, prevent all noncombat damage done to target creature this turn.
Even this is definite on the fence to uncommon, but at least requires some investment to pull off as more than a Neck Snap or expensive Fiery Conclusion.
Mass damage can be done at common. It can be done at instant sorcery speed. It can be one sided. But in every single variation of this idea, it has been limited to 1 damage. Conversely, Pyroclasm has never been printed below Uncommon.
Delete2-for-1s can be common, but they have to be very highly situational. But when you start getting to board-wipe levels of damage, that's going to be a rare, no matter how high the cost.
Not Alone 4GG
ReplyDeleteInstant (C)
Populate, then the created token fights up to one target creature an opponent controls.
This, however it's templated, seems to be a winner for a big common effect. But instant is a push... maybe it's fine?
DeleteThis is a potential midcombat three-for-one that also requires a very specific board state to do its full effect. It might be doable at common as a sorcery, but I think it's more appropriate for uncommon.
DeleteI think this is a perfectly reasonable 6 mana common sorcery, but not an instant, for the reasons Jenesis put out there.
DeletePopulate is an interesting idea to explore. What would populate twice at instant speed cost, without the subsequent fight? I would guess somewhere in the 5-7 range. There's still a possibility for a big combat trick blowout, but it's 2-for-1 and highly situational.
We had Trostani's Judgment at common, which is actually a more powerful version than this affect in most cases, so thought this might be a safe more flavorful version of doing that.
Delete*effect
DeleteGood argument. I would be surprised to see Trostani's Judgment printed at common today, but RtR wasn't that long ago, so maybe.
DeleteWow, it’s not easy to create expensive instants that are the right power level for common. You might even say… “they are hard to design.” I attempted to make a card for each art:
ReplyDeleteSoothing Lullaby (Art 1)
5UG
Instant
Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn. Draw a card for each attacking creature.
“Those who are starved of culture will stop what they are doing to drink in even the simplest of melodies.”
Beast Escort (Art 2)
6GG
Instant
Create two 3/3 green Beast creature tokens.
“The beasts rushed to Prince Alnager’s side, but they were too late. The blue spear of magic was already on its way to piercing his heart.”
Belittling Transmutation (Art 3)
6UU
Instant
Up to two target creatures lose all abilities and have base power and toughness 0/1 until end of turn.
“You don’t have to actually turn them into frogs; you just have to convince them they are no better than frogs.”
Imbued by the Comet (Art 4)
6R
Instant
Target creature gets +3/+0 and gains double strike until end of turn.
“When the Great Comet appears once every 100 years, even the humblest of mages becomes infused with astonishing power.”
Siphon Completely (Art 5)
7B
Instant
Target creature gets -8/-8 until end of turn. You gain 8 life.
“I draw energy from the ground, from the sky, and from you. When I’m finished, the ground and the sky will still be there, but you won’t.”
Ah, but WHY are they hard to design? Because any instant that expensive (and worth it) is probably... too impactful for common. :)
DeleteI do understand why that is the best answer, but I think the question could have been worded better. I mean, it's not like Ember Shot or Scour from Existence are particularly impactful. And I think it's equally difficult to make an expensive common that is both not too powerful and not too weak. It's hard to find a happy medium between "8W: Target creature can't attack this turn" and "8W: Destroy all attacking creatures," for example.
DeleteAlso they have 7 mana creatures all the time, in some populate set could easily just make seven mana sorceries that create big tokens. Maybe that would be too impactful but probably not especially if you just make like 3 2/2's or something. Truthfully I don't think either answer is right and I liked the person who said they would not see play and are not worth making.
DeleteI like a (maybe cheaper) Soothing Lullaby at common or uncommon in a Masters set as the lynchpin of a turbo fog draft deck.
DeleteThose first three are uncommon, and can probably lose a mana or two in cost at that rarity. The latter two work just fine at common, although could use some tuning. Imbued by the comet is the best of the bunch in terms of this exercise.
DeleteArt 1
ReplyDeleteCalming Song 8
Instant (c)
Counter target spell.
Draw a card.
Eldrazi Dismiss? I like it! It seems particularly good in a battlecruiser aet
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSo on the one hand, hard counterspells have an official rule in R&D that they must include 2 colored mana, one of them blue. Counterspells don't get to be colorless.
DeleteOn the other hand, that's kind of an arbitrary rule when it comes to colorless sources, as artifacts and eldrazi get to undercut the color pie. So I'll buy a hard counter in colorless at eight mana. The cantrip doesn't affect my analysis of this one way or another. The big question is, if we're doing a counterspell in colorless, does it get to be common? Context, as always, matters. In a set where colorlessness (or CMC) is a theme, I could see it happening.
First off, just want to say hi as this is the first time I'm posting on this blog.
ReplyDeleteFor this challenge, I thought that a white mass prevention/lifegain spell could be made very expensive at common, as it looks very powerful to newer players but isn't actually that good. That being said:
Overwhelming Positivity 5WW
Instant
Prevent all damage that creatures would deal this turn. You gain life equal to the damage prevented this way.
Welcome! A non-convoke Chant of Vitu-Ghazi is a good choice, because it's certainly weaker without convoke. Chant was an uncommon due to the significant life gain possible, but I could imagine a set where it's closer to a common.
DeleteAgree with Wobbles. Welcome, and nice design!
DeleteWelcome! Glad to see new faces.
DeleteSolid submission. Fog effects have been moved out of white and back into green (they're tertiary in white as a legacy, but in practice Maro has said a number of times that white didn't need it and it is now firmly in green). Depending on their utility, fogs can be common or uncommon, so I'm comfortable with this so far.
The big question I have is how much life a spell can give you before it pushes the card up in rarity. Blunt the Assault tells us that number can be variable and stay at common. I suspect though, that when that number can easily make it to the low double-digits, that it stops being a common.
If this was Blunt the Assault, but granted 2 life per attacking creature, would it still be a common? 3 life? I think yes for 2, no for 3, but its a fine line and Play Design's call. If it was 2 life, how much more should it cost?
Go big
ReplyDeleteSuperfluous Melody 20W
Art 1
Instant (C)
Superfluous Melody costs 1 less to cast for each life you have.
You gain 1 life for each mana spent to cast Superfluous Melody.
Superfluous Inspiration 10U
Art 2
Instant (C)
Superfluous Inspiration costs 1 less to cast for each card in your hand.
Draw three cards
Superfluous Burial 10B
Art 3
Instant (C)
Superfluous Burial costs 1 less to cast for each card in an opponent's graveyard.
Destroy target creature, then exile all cards from your opponent's graveyards.
Superfluous Fury 20R
Art 4
Instant (C)
Superfluous Fury costs 1 less to cast for each life the opponent with the most life has.
Deal damage target player for each mana spent to cast Superfluous Fury.
Superfluous Serenity 10G
Art 5
Instant (C)
Superfluous Serenity costs 1 less to cast for each card in your graveyard.
Return any number of cards from your graveyard to the top of your library.
Though these are clever, the math on Fury and Melody seems like a headache and +15 cmc is intentionally limited for Explosion effects, right? Don't want to rain on your parade.
DeleteExplosion effects are a Modern concern and as far as combos go 15 damage and 21 damage are usually about as lethal. It's ready to avoid those interactions in standard because they occur very rarely.
DeleteMelody is easy: your life total always becomes 21. I suppose I could write that out, but I liked the RW text to mirror. Fury is a bit weirder, basically if they've taken 5, it deals and costs 6. I don't know how else to parse that.
I feel like this demonstrates that numbers this big aren't common simply in terms of splashiness. Regardless of the effect, a spell that with 10 or 20 in the cost is splashy.
DeleteFair point:
DeleteSuperfluous Melody 9W
Art 1
Instant (C)
Superfluous Melody costs 1 less to cast for each life you have.
You gain 1 life for each mana spent to cast Superfluous Melody.
Superfluous Inspiration 9U
Art 2
Instant (C)
Superfluous Inspiration costs 1 less to cast for each card in your hand.
Draw three cards
Superfluous Burial 9B
Art 3
Instant (C)
Superfluous Burial costs 1 less to cast for each card in an opponent's graveyard.
Destroy target creature, then exile all cards from your opponent's graveyards.
Superfluous Fury 9R
Art 4
Instant (C)
Superfluous Fury costs 1 less to cast for each life the opponent with the most life has.
Deal 1 damage target player for each mana spent to cast Superfluous Fury.
Superfluous Serenity 9G
Art 5
Instant (C)
Superfluous Serenity costs 1 less to cast for each card in your graveyard.
Return any number of cards from your graveyard to the top of your library.
Inspiration and Burial definitely seem playable here.
DeleteI like where this cycle ended up. Fury and Melody are probably sorceries, serenity is definitely uncommon at least, but the others are reasonable. Burial is the cleanest, but Inspiration makes me wonder a few things.
DeleteFirst, all restrictions aside, what is the most number of cards you can draw at common off of a blue spell? Do we cap it at three? Treasure Cruise is common, Overflowing Insight is mythic (but probably should be rare). Can four cards ever be common?
The next big question is whether three can be done at instant speed at common. Enhanced Awareness is the most recent example of this, otherwise typically 3 cards = sorcery.
Either way, the cycle is a cool exploration, and you got some nice tight elegance there, so kudos, even if we ended up in cost reduction land.
Why is serenity an uncommon? Gravepurge/Bone Harvest variants are all fine at common.
DeleteBlue common can draw more than three conditionally. Distant Melody and Take Inventory both can provided the right deck.
Green doesn't put more than one card on top at all, as far as I can tell. It restocks (shuffle into library) more than that, but not at common.
DeleteI'm not sure it's a problem unique to green. I just wouldn't put "make your next 10 turns deterministic" on any common.
DeleteInspire Reverence 4WW
ReplyDeleteInstant
Untap all creatures you control. Creatures you control gain +1/+2 until end of turn.
Draw a card.
I just don't see a world where anything higher than a 6-cost is realistic, even pushing it.
DeleteHence the difficulty of the challenge. There are only a couple that exist, and either of them could have cost less than they do.
DeleteThis is a fine 6cmc common. Could it have been pushed further? Sure, but it it probably wouldn't still be a common.
I want to second that this is a solid submission. Plenty common, definitely an instant, and expensive yet credible.
DeleteJust want to ask everyone, did they feel their cards were too impactful or difficult to design?
ReplyDeleteToo impactful? No. But relatively hard to design. Mine particularly don't feel like they have a lot of design space, and I'm not convinced they really need to be Instants beyond the stipulations of the challenge.
DeleteSo, we are saying MARO's answer that seven mana instant and sorceries are too impactful is false? All I can think is seven mana instant and sorceries at common would not see play, the opposite of impactful or just be cyclers.
DeleteNo, I think the vast majority of these designs are too impactful for common and would be uncommon at least. The best way to design to the challenge is to come up with a way to cheat: cost reduction mechanics, split cards. That way you can put less impactful abilities that are more suited on commons on conditionally expensive cards.
DeleteIt's difficult to design cards with these constraints *because* they tend to be too impactful.
DeleteI find them hard because it's hard to create cost reduction mechanics that aren't broken. The effects aren't bad, but when you lose the cost as a balance it gets rough.
DeleteSick-2BB
ReplyDeleteInstant
Put two -1/-1 counters on target creature.
///
Tired- 2UU
Instant
Tap target creature it does not untap during its controller's next untap step.
Fuse
Interesting. There's only been 1 common split card, and I think fuse adds a layer of complexity and power beyond that. Double colored Mana in the costs is also pretty radical. That said, I really like split cards as a work around for the challenge!
DeleteThe effects themselves don't necessarily synergize. I really want the black card as a combat tricks, while the tap ability is best before combat.
Yeah, I kept trying to have them work together but the annoying thing, was sick having to be first. Maybe should have gone with bread and butter, not for this effect but made it instead.
Deletehttp://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=sick+and+tired
DeleteFyi
I think it is still printable because the and is implied and not actually in the name.
DeleteSplit cards are ubiquitous enough at this point that I don't think they have to be de facto Uncommon, so that's one hurdle overcome. I'm not sure that fuse is really adding anything to this card other than helping it hit the high cost requirement, but that was the challenge, so there you go.
DeleteInterestingly, the nature of this challenge forces you to consider sets like Scourge, where higher CMCs mattered, but split cards would never fly at common in those kinds of sets simply because they require knowledge of rules that would almost never be printed on the card.
To get around the reversed U/B order, would you use this cardname (I'm ignoring Sick and Tired's existence for now) as a mono-B split card. It slightly reduces complexity, and lets you do a possibly more synergistic effect on the second half.
Sick-2BB
DeleteInstant
Put two -1/-1 counters on target creature.
///
Tired-2BB
Instant
Target player discards a card for each counter on the battlefield.
Fuse
Split cards have been done, what, 3 or 4 times now? They're no longer radical, but I wouldn't call them ubiquitous.
DeleteInto the Maw of Madness
ReplyDelete4UU
Instant (Common)
Counter target spell. That spell's controller puts the top twelve cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
I would 💯 draft a deck with nothing but removal, card draw and these as a win condition.
DeleteThat actually sounds like it would make for a kind of interesting draft format.
DeleteYou mean top thirteen, right? Right?
DeleteThis is a very nice choice of design for a high-CMC common instant.
12 is too much mill for Limited, but otherwise I think this is a great submission.
DeleteGlimpse the Unthinkable mills 10 for 2 mana at sorcery, so large scale mill effects may be a dead end. On the other hand, Mind Sculpt. Let's assume 10 or 12 or another arbitrarily large number that PD settles on is fair game for common, for the sake of argument. Without any other effects, what does that cost? 2UU maybe?
DeleteAll that said, this card works, and might even be able to cost seven and still be playable in the right format.
Eh, it may be blue-tinted and icy but U looks R/G to me (at least in an Ice Age set or Innistrad in winter or something).
ReplyDeletePrimal Howl - 3RG
Instant
Choose two. Target creature gains both until the end of the turn:
- +3/+3
- Trample
- First Strike
- Haste
I suppose arguably this could be 4RG
DeleteInteresting formatting, I like that it's only one target.
DeleteHow often will anyone choose haste?
Delete5cmc Instant isn't exactly pushing any boundaries, but that's fine. The big question is, can a command (or charm for that matter) be common under NWO/current design standards.
DeleteOne, and sometimes both, of two choices is fairly prevalent at common. When you start talking about three choices, the last time that showed up at common was the charm cycle in Planar Chaos. Four choices are universally rare.
All that said, this is unexplored territory. Choose Your Own Single-Target Combat Trick is very cool. You have to do templating gymnastics to parse it, but that shouldn't sink this. It works.
@Jay - Probably a reference to the hilarious Primal Visitation.
DeleteI like a lot about this design. Doubling-down on a mistake R&D once made is not worth the cleverness or nostalgia.
DeleteIt surely eats up some common complexity, but I think choose-2-of-4 isn't too confusing to be common.
Yeah, haste would probably be the least-chosen option, but I visualized that it's a way of getting value out of drawing a cheap creature later in the game. And I felt other potential choices would push it out of common.
DeleteDeath Interrupted
ReplyDelete6BB
Instant
Return up to three target creature cards from your graveyard to your hand.
This feels like a sorcery, and at the same time it doesn't. It also feels like an uncommon. And it doesn't.
I can buy common over uncommon for this. Instant over sorcery, not so much. Most the instants I found that do this have some kind of mechanical justification for being instants rather than sorceries (and there are many more sorceries than instants).
Deletehttps://scryfall.com/search?q=o%3A%22graveyard+to+your+hand%22+o%3A%22creature+card%22+c%3Ab+t%3Ainstant&unique=cards&as=grid&order=name
It's hard for me to quantify why I feel this is better as an instant. I think it has to do with: "If you're able to cast this, you shouldn't be penalized for doing that only on your turn." I guess I'm getting at the instant type being the reward for you having three creatures and eight mana available, so that you can cast the creatures you get back on your turn. Most Raise Dead variants are cheap so that exactly this can happen. Even Soul Stair Expedition allowed you to get it for "free", for two creatures.
DeleteI think there is a good argument for Raise Dead being nearly as eligible for instant-ness as Divination.
DeleteDrawing three cards that are guaranteed to be creatures this way is largely better than drawing three random cards, and that's already debatable for a common effect. The fact that you'll also have an awesome choice of cards to draw because you're casting this late game makes it even better.
I'd be looking for ways to make it feel more common, not less, and making it instant definitely pushes upward.
As Wobbles pointed out above, Gravepurge is a common instant.
DeleteAs a hypothetical, let's mash that with Succumb to Temptation. So three creatures to hand, unlimited to the top of the library, at instant speed, for 3BBB. Maybe bump it up a mana for having it all on the same card. That all seems reasonable at uncommon. It's complex, but not especially so, and it's powerful, but not especially so.
Yours is less complex. I could see it at common, especially with the life loss rider. Nice work.
Sandwurm Ambush
ReplyDelete8GG
Instant
Create two 5/5 green Wurm creature tokens.
Cycling 2
I like the simplicity of this a lot! I will say that when you cast this it will often be more impactful than Greater Sandwurm. But it costs so much mana! Hard to see it happening.
DeleteYeah, it's possible that 7GG is a more reasonable cost. Mostly I like that when you flood out, opponents have to bite their nails about whether you might have this. The cycling helps keep it more relevant (maybe should cycle for G rather than 2).
DeleteOne of the questions we'll be discussing a lot this WAC is how much card advantage extra mana can buy at common.
DeleteThis reads pretty common, and 10 mana is wicked hard to get to, but should any common be a 4:1?
Havenwood Wurm (7cmc) is the biggest creature that exists at common with flash, and it's eleven years old. I'm not sure it would be common today, but it's possible.
DeleteOn the other hand, Horncaller's Chant is the common card closest to this, and at sorcery, it's eight mana. Ten-ish mana is the right ballpark for this card, but as Jay pointed out, as an instant, it's a frequent 4-for-one.
This is a cool card, but you'd be hard pressed to convince me it's common.
Cost this:
??RW
Instant
Create a 4/1 red and green Elemental creature token. At the beginning of the next end step, populate.
I assume that one would be uncommon for as-played complexity, and also that I should cost it based on the double-Regathan-Firecat mode rather than the Immolating Glare mode. It adds 8 power to the board on an opponent's turn, so 3RW is about the lowest I'd go (cf. Regisaur Alpha).
DeleteRemnant Archaeology 9W
ReplyDeleteInstant (c)
Delve
Return target artifact card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
But that's better at uncommon (a la Refurbish) and sorcery speed. Instead, something that kind of wants to be an instant:
Anarchic Readings 8R
Instant (c)
Delve
Return target sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand.
Anarchic Readings doesn't need to be an instant unless it can return Instants. Also, 9 Mana seems like a lot for a call to mind, even if it can be delved.
DeleteThe pitch there is that it's not a sorcery because it can return sorceries - the difference in card type (not that you're necessarily likely to loop these) meaning more than the speed of instancy.
DeleteI don't buy the instant argument, but I like Readings a lot otherwise.
DeleteSomehow, the only Call to Mind that exists at instant speed is a Very Cryptic Command option. Odd.
DeleteThe game really doesn't like returning cards from GY to hand at common, so I'm not sold at all that this effect is common-worthy, regardless of cost.
Costing Delve cards is really a PD question, even more so than usual. Using the 5-mana bump from Gravedigger to Sibsig Muckdraggers, I'd hazard that 9 is just a touch high for the effect, but really it's entirely dependent on the environment and PD's whims.
Bigger Soul's grace 5w
ReplyDeleteInstant (c)
Gain life equal to the power of all attacking creatures.
Art W.
Elegant!
DeleteThanks Jay. I like how many hidden modes this has, and how it changes the values of drafting walls/chumps or aggressive creatures. It can be a (very) overpriced fog or a pseudo congregate.
DeleteI'm not sure how many people would actually like this card though.
That'll do the trick. I might call that a GW hybrid or gold card, but otherwise just fine.
DeleteContrast with Overwhelming Positivity, above.
DeleteResupply More 8G
ReplyDeleteInstant (C)
You gain 10 life.
Draw a card.
Lifegain is an interesting choice. WotC does seem to like putting it on instants these days because of the way it messes up alpha strike math.
DeleteThis is still unplayable, though. :-)
Kiss of the Amesha saw some (brief) constructed play, at least. But this admittedly is not Kiss of the Amesha. I wonder if fog + gain 10 could be common?
DeletePulse of Mursmasa saw play, this is really close to that.
DeleteEmber Shot was the inspiration for this, in terms of both elegance and power level. Does it ruin anything if it gains 15 life instead? Splashier looking. Probably still unplayable, though.
Delete10 life is already a huge swing and probably better suited for an uncommon. Kiss of Amesha was already a very good card.
DeleteI like how this is usually unplayable, but will be the linchpin of a rogue green control deck in Limited.
DeleteMaybe 8 life's better, but if that card is fine, the 10 life version is close enough.
Given that Life Goes On, you'll be hard pressed to convince me that even 10 life on a Resupply should cost more than seven or eight, and I think you could even get away with six. Still, a solid submission.
DeleteCheats I'm using:
ReplyDeleteDraw a card - +2 mana
Instant speed on a sorcery effect - +1 mana
Megablink (Common)
{5}{W}{W}
Instant
Exile all creatures you control, then return them to the battlefield under their owner’s control.
Draw a card.
Megafrost (Common)
{5}{U}{U}
Instant
Tap all creatures. Those creatures don’t untap during their controller’s next untap step.
Draw a card.
Megadeath (Common)
{5}{B}{B}
Instant
Create two 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens.
Draw a card.
Megabolt (Common)
{5}{R}{R}
Instant
Megabolt deals 6 damage to target creature or player.
Draw a card.
Megasize (Common)
{5}{G}{G}
Instant
Target creature gets +6/+6 and gains trample until end of turn.
Draw a card.
I would still red-flag all of these (except maybe megablink), but I could see them going through in a set where converted mana cost on spells matters (e.g. Impact - Whenever you cast a spell with converted mana cost 6 or greater, do a thing)
I think this activity reinforced my confidence in the answer to the GDS question. It wasn't that it was hard to think of simple effects and scale them up to justify seven mana, but it was hard to justify both the cost and the rarity AND the instant speed WHILE avoiding or minimizing red flags.
The great designer search also had sorceries, do you think the cards become less impactful at common. I still am not sure I would play any of these cards. Maybe Megasize, only given green is the ramp color and 6/6 trample for 7 is not that bad. Megabolt also is so so, Megadeath is really weak. I also designed a megafrost.
DeleteSleep is uncommon.
DeleteOtherwise, cantriping seems fair to add to the cost, and the rest seem fine (though mass blink would probably be uncommon to prevent showing up in limited all the time)
@Doug I think in general the defining factors that make expensive instants/sorceries tricky at common is the fact that commons have a sort of maximum expected impact for limited, and expensive cards have a minimum expected impact, and the overlap between the two is really narrow. Instant exacerbates the problem.
DeleteI admit that megabolt and megadeth look underwhelming, but I think that's the cost they'd need. Megabolt is nearly annihilate that can go to the face, while 4 mana is the going rate for two 2/2s at sorcery speed (usually at uncommon to boot). Add a cantrip and instant speed and 7 mana is as low as you can go, especially at common.
Iamnick Sleep doesn't tap your own creatures, but that's a good point about impact. I tried to mitigate that by tapping your own as well. It adds some interesting lenticular complexity as well.
Oops. Completely glossed over that it was all creatures. Sorry Noah.
DeleteI *think* that my statement is still relevant, but that difference is significant.
I also misread Megafrost. Not a great sign for it's common-ness.
DeleteI like Megasize best of these.
Megasize was the first one I came up with. It was wildsize + titanic growth + {2} for combining.
DeleteI don't love Megafrost either, to be honest. Let's drop the untap clause:
Megafrost (Common)
{5}{U}{U}
Instant
Tap all creatures.
Draw a card.
Instant
ReplyDeleteDestroy target attacking creature. Create a number of 1/1 vampire creature tokens with lifeline equal to that creatures cmc.
Draft
Not a fan of "cmc" showing up on a common. I like this better if it says "power"
DeleteYeah, it's super hard to find an effect that needs to be an instant and cost 6+ and isn't so impactful it belongs at uncommon.
DeleteFeed the Faithful {5}{WB}{WB}
(art b)
Instant
Destroy target attacking creature. Create a number of 1/1 white vampire creature tokens with lifelink equal to that creature's power.
This feels much more logical as monowhite than either white-black multicolor or hybrid. Why not black tokens instead of white, which were a weird Ixalan-only thing?
DeleteAs an aside, there are a LOT of different vampire tokens with minute differences:
1/1 black Vampire
1/1 white Vampire, lifelink
1/1 black Vampire, lifelink
1/1 black Vampire Knight, lifelink
2/2 black Vampire, flying
Oh I agree. When I use hybrid randomly like this, I'm just saying the design could be W or B or WB or W/B.
DeleteWent with white tokens because the card is a little more white than black and Ixalan is most recent.
DeleteBlack lifelinkers are good too. The card definitely wants lifelinkers though.
Probably still uncommon, considering it's a better Death Mutation that only costs seven. Violet Pall is close, but it only makes one token.
DeleteIt only works on defense and power is usually less than CMC, but it can hit any attacker and the tokens have lifelink, so Death Mutation is a fair comparison. I think both cards are borderline.
DeleteThat's still a pretty potent spell. If I attack with a 3/3 and a 2/2 into it, I've lost both, you've gained a lifelinking vampire and 2 life.
DeleteSimply too swingy for common. You can mitigate it a bit by only allowing the tokens to ETBT or at end of turn, but even then you're probably netting 3+ creatures. XLN/RIX limited is a good indicator of how overwhelming lifelinking vampires in multiples can be.
As a Golgari/Selesnya card, I'd be a lot less concerned about this at common if it Murdered an attacking creature and created 0/1 plant tokens.
Too swingy for common, agreed.
DeletePlayer Ball (common)
ReplyDeleteXR
Instant
CARDNAME deals X damage to target player.
^Does this count as expensive?
Why is this an instant?
Delete^It's debatable.
X spells are rarely common anymore, but fine.
DeleteThe point of the exercise is more to illustrate GDS question 68. The band of Costs 7+ and isn't too impactful for common is absurdly narrow. Scalable X spells like this are fine (other than wanting to keep X out of common in general), but kind of miss the point.
Tidal Surge
ReplyDelete6UU
Instant - Common
Counter target spell. Return up to two target creatures to their owners’ hands.
The lack of "up to one" on the counterspell part is a huge feelbad, since the double bounce is probably more impactful late game (and much more useful proactively).
DeleteI'd want to playtest it, but in theory this looks solid.
DeleteTidal Surge
DeleteOther than misappropriating a title, good job. Whiplash Trap plus Cancel. The math checks out. Jenesis' point of not forcing the counter is well made, although being able to cast this without targets is weird.
This is a tough challenge, so I don't think I'll make a card for it, but one thing I'm interested in knowing. At what level can you quantify something that's "too impactful" for common? Is there a number for each kind of effect we can apply to say "this is when it's usually too impactful"? Once mana costs get high enough to allow really huge numbers, for example, it's unlikely they'll impact anything. Is it just a sense you have to develop, and not possible to give a concrete definition?
ReplyDeleteI guess the long and short of it is, how do we define and quantify "too impactful for common"?
Exactly
DeleteYes
DeleteThe thing about common is the effect it can have on a drafting environment. A common card and a common effect is one you want any player who wants it to reasonably be able to include that card in their deck. A powerful common card can shape a Limited format pretty heavily. A weak one/specialized one like many of these might be a last pick and could be a good sideboard card.
DeleteBut this is theoretical. The two questions I got wrong on the designer test were both about rarity, so I don't think I'm very good at it. I'm starting to admire the people on here who do playtesting as that gives real observations.
Yeah. it really does, from playtesting I learned firebreathing and first strike together is pretty insane.
DeleteSpells that are guaranteed Two for Ones are too powerful for common unless they don't effect the board (like discard or draw). Creatures that are larger (4+ power) and have evasion are too powerful for common. Small creatures are too powerful for common if they have abilities that significantly as to board complexity or combat math or that allow them to usually be 2:1s by themselves.
DeleteHorncaller's Chant is okay for common.
DeleteDesolation Twin belongs at rare.
The only functional difference between these two cards is one of scale. Even if the Twins cost 20 instead of 10, they would still be a rare.
I'll do my lawyer thing for a minute. "Too impactful for common" is #mtgdesign's "I know it when I see it." I, along with many of the Artisans, have been doing this a long time. We can intuit with semi-reasonable accuracy the rarity of a card. For me, I usually figure out a few things. First, assuming I play this card optimally, how much different does the board look after I've cast this? If this single card is making a massive impact, it probably doesn't belong at common. Likewise, if I was facing down this card, how unfair would I find it that my opponent had easy access to two or maybe even three of it in the draft? If I would seethe at my opponent for simply being able to draft two copies and play one each game, it's probably too impactful for common.
But again, there's no set definition. It's highly subjective and much more a matter of feel than hard numbers. We know it when we see it. And the 96 that made it through the multiple choice test for the most part knew it when they saw it.
Listen to Drive to Work:
DeleteDesigning Uncommons
Designing Commons
I'm working through the possibilities in my mind.
ReplyDeleteFirst, note *existing* cards. Havenwood Wurm was in timespiral, 6G 5/6 flash trample. I would have thought that was too big for common, probably unplayable, but probably a 2-for-1 if it hits. But I'm guessing time spiral was full of things that pushed the boundaries? I doubt that's an appropriate precedent.
We did get a 7-mana colorless instant vindicate in one of the eldrazi sets. So that's already the baseline we're trying to beat.
What are our constraints here? In a normal set, the common curve usually tops out at six with a big green creature, and there's a fair amount of five, including some instants (costy counterspells and removal). That's our baseline. In a sloooow format like eldrazi or (I think?) Ixalan, the big creature is 8 (and sometimes colorless). So the expensive removal can plausibly be 7 and maybe possibly get played.
In truth, that's a narrow target. If you deny cost-reduction, I don't think a common instant is ever going to be more expensive than the "big common creature" because it's just not going to be played. I will consider possible loopholes to this below. And "expensive removal" already shows up sometimes at "one less than that". So the best answer is "can we design a common instant costing six in a normal set, or eight in a slow set".
What's not plausible? The biggest common is usually proactive: a big creature that lets you get ahead if your opponent only has smaller stuff. It's not reactive, because if your opponent has a bomb, you're likely to not be able to hold out for 6+ mana. It's not a two-for-one, because no commons, even the splashy ones, are.
I think the trouble with splashy 8+cost spells is that they usually go straight from "unplayable" to "format warping" and don't have a sweet spot in the middle where they're playable but not too powerful.
My best "straight-forward" answer is probably an instant that makes a token, but with low toughness so it can be used as a finisher if you have some way to get it through, or to eat an opposing attacker, but not usually both. Although even then, you need some way to get it to count as the big green creature (because who else could cast it?) but also be more fragile than usual, and be an instant not a creature (to fulfil the terms of the challenge without being a 2-for-1)
Or you might be able to achieve a similar effect by making a creature it's normal play on the opponent's turn, but doesn't work well as a flash blocker.
Follow up looking at ways round these constraints to follow.
I also looked for effects which had to be instant but weren't especially powerful, like fog. You could have a fog with a bonus effect that was quite expensive, but not as swingy as you'd expect an instant that affected the board to be.
DeleteBut even then, it seems quite unusual it would cost more than "big green creature".
Only Thing Worse Than An Eldrazi 7G
ReplyDeleteInstant
Create two 2/2 Eldrazi Horror creature tokens.
Extradimensional - They enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on for each card called CARDNAME in your sideboard.
OK. This is a bit of a stretch, but that was always going to be inevitable. The idea is, there are always going to be some so-so commons that are mostly useless outside niche situations, or can be good but only if you can draft around a lot of them. Here we embrace that directly, a bit like "ripple".
I costed it so that it was unplayable with only one copy, mediocre with two, ok with three, and worth ramping into with four. You can tweak that if you want it to be viable in most pods or only occasionally (or make extradimensional a keyword and make it key off any card with extradimensional not only ones with this specific name).
So it's basically taking the place of an uncommon "draft around me", except that a lot of the drafting is multiple copies of this card. Most of the uses of "extradimensional" would be on more efficient creatures.
This is in an eldrazi set so the common curve can top out at 8. But we have this instead of a bigger-than-big creature. Eldrazi also somewhat justifies the weird caring-about-what-you-usually-don't-care-about.
And also the fact that you're in the draft and these are only sometimes viable and when they are you'll see them disappearing means that you don't have the "I need to assume someone first picked this every game" problem that makes swingy commons so annoying.
Neat angle.
DeleteWould be slightly cleaner if it gave you one N/N for casting it, plus one for each copy in your sideboard. 4/4? I'm inclined for it to be barely-playable with one in your sb, and quite solid with two.
Thanks. Yeah, that's plausible.
DeleteI kind of love this take on Eldrazi - sideboard matters. Very cool. So we reward drafting multiple copies, but discourage you from running all of them, turning the common into a de facto uncommon. Excellent solution. As always, PD would have to balance all the assorted knobs on this, but that's what they're there for.
Deleteit is funny how eldrazi tend to make this make sense in some odd way
ReplyDeleteVoid Charm 8
Instant
Choose 1:
Exile target creature
Target creature gets +5/+5 until end of turn
Counter target spell or ability
Charms are another good way to up costs on spells.
DeleteI admit I want this to steal an ability from each color.
As discussed above, the last time we had a common charm, or anything that had more than two choices, was Planar Chaos. Make of that what you will.
DeleteAlso discussed above, counterspells not requiring CU in their mana cost.
That said, I think the cost is about right for this, and reasonable for common in an Eldrazi set. Well done.
Art R
ReplyDeleteBall of Incineration
4RR
Instant (Common)
Ball of Incineration can't be countered by spells or abilities.
Ball of Incineration deals 3 damage to target creature or player. If you've cast another red spell this turn, Ball of Incineration deals 5 damage to target creature or player instead.
I like the card, but the first line feels superfluous given the surge condition, and this could cost just 1RR.
DeleteI agree with Jay that the first line isn't doing the card any favors, especially if the goal is Common. 6 for 3 is exceptionally high. Current 6CMC damage spells at common: Fiery Fall, Blastfire Bolt, Morgue Burst, Explosive Impact. If it just did 5 damage and nothing else, it would be justified at that cost.
DeleteWhat would 5 damage to a creature and 5 damage to its controller cost? 5RR? 6RR? Would it still be rare? Lava axe is common, and 5 damage to a single creature can be done at common. I'd think it's still fair game.
This is just a weak Sarkhan's rage but that caed was good.
Delete