Dominion's "Curse" mechanic, where you add junk cards to a deck (usually the opponent's), is a cool and powerful design tool that online CCGs like Hearthstone have also picked up. Unfortunately it's logistically impossible for paper Magic. This is the nearest I could responsibly get to implementing it with existing design tech.
Instead of actually adding junk cards, this just turns some existing cards in the opponent's deck into junk. What makes it even more different from Dominion's Curses is that it has to let you choose which card, turning it into a weird version of Pithing Needle or Nevermore. That's a big enough difference that it doesn't resemble the original idea much anymore. On the other hand it looks like a cool new way to implement a Cabal Therapy effect.
Do people enjoy mechanics like that in Dominion or Hearthstone? Literally the most exciting element of the game is the topdeck at the beginning of the turn, and robbing someone of that seems to be about as fun as competitive land destruction.
ReplyDeleteIt's not as severe in Dominion because dead cards are part of the game and every draw step is draw-5. Curses can still be frustrating, but no more so than other "attack" mechanics. In general they seem like a healthy element of the game.
DeleteNo idea about Hearthstone or other games that implement this.
Also, just for the telepathy effect it would be hated and lead to a very lopsided and uninteresting type of game-play where one player has full information while the other has to guess what is in his opponent's hand.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the bottom block of text doesn't work within the rules. What about "Enchanted player plays with the top card of their library revealed. If they would draw the chosen card, instead exile it and they lose 2 life."
ReplyDelete