Cool Card Design of the DayI was reading Magic story, and remembering how often Fantasy talks about wizards having to continue to focus attention, magical energy, or both in order to keep up ongoing spell effects, and how that limits what new spells they're able to cast. Old-school upkeep payments captured this flavor perfectly, and even though they're downside effects, I honestly do miss them. Is there a better way to get the same flavor? I think so.
Compare these remakes with the original Peackeeper and Force of Nature. They're not identical in two ways: First, the remakes have to either allow any land to be exiled, or have to name a specific land, the former being looser than the original and the latter being stricter; Second, upkeeping the originals is optional where the player has no automatic agency to end the remakes and reclaim their mana. It's generally awful to not upkeep your Force, so I'm okay with this compromise too, but it is a factor.
While this is a lot faster and cleaner than the original, it's still a downside mechanic and not something modern Magic is going to do often, to put it mildly.
What would a new card with this tech look like?
This reminds me of Extraplanar Lens, which is a personal favorite card. I think caring about the "imprinted" lands is a good impulse.
ReplyDeleteDeep Woods
1GG
Enchantment - Rare
When ~ enters the battlefield, exile a land you control until ~ leaves the battlefield.
At the beginning of your upkeep, search your library for a card with the same name as a card exiled by ~, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Shuffle your library afterwards.
And an attempt at an uncommon (which eventually led to the design above - I don't like this one quite as much):
Wood Whisperer
G
Creature - Elf Shaman - Uncommon
When ~ enters the battlefield, exile a Forest you control until ~ leaves the battlefield.
T: Add GG.
1/1
I was thinking of something in similar vain
DeleteThe Temporary Goblin-1(G/R)
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield exile two lands you control until CARDNAME leaves the battlefield.
Sacrifice CARDNAME: Add two mana of any color.
2/2
Rogue Elephant, Scythe Tiger, I'd like you to meet
DeleteKing Kodiak {G}
Creature—Bear (Unc)
When ~ enters the battlefield, exile a Forest you control until ~ leaves the battlefield.
3/3
(Might need to be 3/2 or 2/3, who knows anymore.)
Delete"Champion a land" is super cute on elementals. I tried to do the same things with Knights and Lords to represent vassalship and medieval hierarchy.
ReplyDeleteWere the Knights championing the Lords, the Lords championing the Knights, or both championing lands?
DeleteThey were both championing lands - you, as the king, were ceding land to your vassals, essentially. The higher the ranking of the dude, the more lands you could exile (Baron: exile up to one land, Count: exile up to two, etc...) for static or scaling effects, usually adding +1/+1 counters at lower rarities and becoming more versatile or powerful at rare and mythic.
DeleteI wish I could give you examples but those cards all died in the Great Data Migration of 2015.
Mirror Pools UU
ReplyDeleteEnchantment U
Champion an island
When you champion a land with Mirror Pools, it becomes a copy of a creature.
Cool.
DeleteI like this approach much better than the original. Good idea to use the banisher priest-esque wording to make it functional! Designing uncommon s around this mechanic is tough for me because it's hard to gauge what's a good payoff that's not rare. I will try at it though:
ReplyDeleteFocused Frostmage
{1}{u}{u}
Whenever CARDNAME enters the battlefield, you may exile a land you control until CARDNAME leaves the battlefield. If you do, tap target creature. It doesn't untap during its controller's untap step.
2/3
Initially I wanted it to be like kicker meets champion a land, but felt wordy.
I think making these "auto-upkeep effects" optional is smart. I see room for a more elegant Focused Frostmage:
DeleteWhenever CARDNAME enters the battlefield, you may exile a land you control and target creature you don't control until CARDNAME leaves the battlefield.
New Force of Nature secretly reads "only play non-basic lands, don't play any Forests"?
ReplyDeleteImperious Nature
DeleteGGGG
Creature - Dinosaur Elemental
When ~ ETB, exile four Forests you control for as long as ~ is on the battlefield. Put a +1/+1 counter on ~ for each Forest exiled this way.
4/4
Imperious Nature
DeleteGGGG
Creature - Dinosaur Elemental
Trample
When ~ ETB, exile four lands you control for as long as ~ is on the battlefield. Put a +1/+1 counter on ~ for each Forest exiled this way.
4/4
It's probably better gameplay like this, but I prefer the tech of the Leeches, à la Sapphire Leech (Though, the rest of the cycle is remarkably behind the curve by now). Taxing you when you play spells is a different kind of "paying concentration costs" than taxing on your upkeep, but I think it can fill the same flavor role.
ReplyDeleteTerritorial Company 2W
DeleteCreature - Human Soldier (u)
Kicker - Exile a land until CARDNAME leaves the battlefield.
At the beginning of combat on your turn, if CARDNAME was kicked, creatures you control have vigilance until end of turn.
3/3
Balance-Keeper 2W
Creature - Human Wizard (u)
When you cast a creature spell, pay an additional 1 or return ~ to its owner's hand.
Creatures you control have vigilance.
3/3
I wasn't familiar with the Leeches. I agree they hit that flavor too, and that they require more player memory than land-exile.
DeleteTerritorial Company is great.