Today the Random Card button served up Arctic Flats as inspiration: not the most encouraging idea ever, but we'll run with it. I do like that the upside of this tapped dual land is something thematic rather than the incremental enters-the-battlefield effect we see on Temple of Plenty, Blossoming Sands, and so forth. So, here's your challenge: design a dual land that provides synergy with a specific mechanical theme. For bonus points, avoid using an activated ability or enters-the-battlefield effect.
Good luck and have fun!
Sunlit Caves
ReplyDeleteLand
T, Pay 1 life: Add W or B.
Whenever you cast a multicolor spell, you gain 1 life.
Would that be part of a cycle? I would be worried that it would generate too much life passively. In a vacuum it is a good submission. Perhaps if it was only commander?
DeleteGreat design! It's elegant and communicates a theme of the set. I'm not too worried about the life gain. It's tough to do better than break on this unless you're leaving it unused (and thus effectively paying mana into it).
Delete*break even on this
DeleteIt's really hard to find good abilities that are useful but sufficiently minor they can go on a land without being too much. I didn't find anything I thought was perfect, the best I thought of was to leverage wizard's increasing adoption of ability counters.
ReplyDeleteMighty Jungle
Land
CARDNAME enters the battlefield with a trample counter on. When a creature enters the battlefield you may move a trample counter from CARDNAME onto it.
{T}: Add {1} to your mana pool.
{T}: Put a forest or mountain counter on CARDNAME.
The first ability is particular to this card, maybe a cycle (maybe not all ability counters).
The last ability is an alternate form of dual lands. There's quite a few different variations that could exist but are probably all too close to be used at once. I don't know if wizards would go there, but the idea is, if you have specific counters available anyway, it's a way of permanently marking a land, without creating a "land token" which might get shuffled in accidentally.
This version of the counter adds forest subtype and hence tap-for-green to the existing land. You'd have to decide if they're limited to one-per-land in the comp rules, or if that's written on the land (and some lands could add two different counters).
Alternatively you could do the same thing with traditional design and "{T}, sac, search forest or mountain OTB" or "{2}, {T}, sac, search..." to tweak whether the emphasis is on the land's other ability and the dual mana is a fallback, or vice versa.
I think this land does too much with both the trample and the forest/mountain triggers.
DeleteI like the second, the first one being a bit scary. I would see it as a separate land card, and constrained to green creatures?
Both are interesting.
Llanowar Reborn meets Jund Panorama, but with lots of new counter tech? Exciting!
DeleteThe two tap abilities on their own would make for a powerful land-- they're miles better than Jund Panorama, Mountain Valley, and (assuming you don't need other colors) Evolving Wilds. After adding the trample counter there's more going on here than I'd like. A tapped dual with the trample counter would be plenty interesting and exciting.
Thawing Marsh
ReplyDeleteLand
Thawing Marsh enters the battlefield tapped and does not untap during your untap step.
At the begining of your main phase add {u} or {b} to your mana pool.
{t}: add {w} or {b} to your mana pool
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Helps an untap deck? Also I was considering letting it be simpler:
Thawing Marsh
Land
At the begining of your main phase add {u} or {b} to your mana pool.
Oh, interesting! Making the ability at a particular time, but not tied to tapping. If you assume it's tweaked so you get the mana at some point the turn you play it, but never in an opponent's turn, that's probably about right for a dual land.
DeleteAlthough I suspect it may sadly be too fiddly to remember when this happens, when the land is buried in a pile of other lands.
Good point. Perhaps:
DeleteThawing Marsh
Land
{t}: add {u} or {b} to your mana pool. Activate this ability only on your [turn/ main phase / other]
All cool variants! Let me add one more:
DeleteT: Add U or B to your mana pool.
At the end of your (turn/main phase), tap CARDNAME.
The concept doesn't scream "set theme" but we do have addendum and its un-keyworded Time Spiral forerunner as examples. Great choice of a simple but innovative dual land design.
I like it! Since I play chromatic lantern in a lot of commander decks, this would be more punitive, showing that even slight differences can have an impact.
Delete