Friday, June 18, 2021

Weekend Design Challenge 061821 - Two Cards

Hey Artisans! Click through to see this weekend's design challenge. Your mission is to design a custom Magic card that follows the guidelines. Over the course of the weekend, give feedback to your fellow designers on their designs and incorporate their feedback to iterate on your own. I'll try to offer some feedback of my own starting on Monday.

Let's try something different this week. It's a two-parter. Part 1 is easy: without reading the comments or the blacked-out section, give me a fun rare design. It can be anything-- don't stress over it too much. Once you've posted it in the comments, highlight the text below to reveal part 2.

Part 2: Your card from part 1 was going to be printed in an upcoming Magic set, but it got cut at the last minute. Your new mission is to design a replacement. The art's already done, so the name, color, and card type need to stay the same. And you've been asked to keep the concept similar-- the new card should scratch the same itch or fill the same role as the original. But otherwise it should be a completely different approach to the design. For bonus points, figure out why your original card was most likely cut and make sure your new card addresses that.

Good luck and have fun!

21 comments:

  1. a fun rare? i have some in stock i believe, here's one:
    name/type is based on an artowrk i've seen, can't find the source again :(
    Heads Crab || {2}{U}{B}
    Creature - Crab
    Whenever CARDNAME blocks or becomes blocked by a non-token creature, note that creature’s name.

    CARDNAME has all abilities of cards noted for it.
    2/4

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    1. Nice. This plays in some space explored by Phoebe, Head of S.N.E.A.K.. I'm not sure I fully get the flavor of a crab copying multiple creatures, but a very fun place to start.

      Delete
    2. Trust me. the art the name is based on is very fitting, I just can’t find the source for it...

      Still stumped on part two of the challenge tho.

      Delete
    3. Is this a reference to the Half-Life enemy? Cool if so.

      It probably says something about me that my first thought was "wait, so how does this work with Spy Ring?" (Answer: it probably doesn't. Good job finding an exciting and resonant line of rules text, though!)

      Delete
  2. I hope mythic rare counts too!

    Commodore Guff
    {U}{U}
    Legendary Planeswalker - Guff
    When Commodore Guff enters the battlefield, if you cast him, target opponent gets a counter counter. Put X loyalty counters on Commodore Guff, where X is five times the total number of counter counters your opponents have.
    +1: Scry 3, then draw a card. Put Commodore Guff into its owner’s library second from the top.
    -16: Take an extra turn after this one. Put Commodore Guff into its owner’s library fourth from the top.
    -21: Exile Commodore Guff, then each opponent with any number of counter counters on them loses the game.
    Loyalty: 0


    The "counter counter" thing is a reference to Guff's frequent breaking of the fourth wall in Magic fiction. The library shenanigans and extra turn ability are an attempt to emulate his destiny-shaping powers. I know how much Guff is a challenge that R&D would love to crack, so I might as well give it a go.

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    1. Well, I wasn't expecting that...

      Tamiyo, Gifted Lunevoyant
      {1}{U}{U}
      Legendary Planeswalker - Tamiyo
      +2: Target creature can’t be blocked this turn.
      -X: Scry X, then draw a card.
      -9: Scry 3, then take an extra turn after this one.
      Loyalty: 2

      I guess the main issue with Guff is that it's too complex (and the passive ability text is a bit longer than I'm comfortable with). Tamiyo is a very simplified version that it's still powerful, being a three-mana planeswalker that can eventually give you an extra turn.

      Delete
    2. Just realized the name has to be the same, so here's a fixed version:

      Commodore Guff
      {1}{U}{U}
      Legendary Planeswalker - Guff
      +2: Target creature can’t be blocked this turn.
      -X: Scry X, then draw a card.
      -9: Scry 3, then take an extra turn after this one.
      Loyalty: 2

      Delete
    3. Your v1 is indeed too wordy, but it's fun and exciting-- I like how it interprets planeswalking / destiny powers in ways that Magic hasn't really tried before. I would have said that the "counter counter" thing was overly cutesy, but that was before Adventures in the Forgotten Realms previews started. The only real objection I have is that it can't really be interacted with since it's never around during an opponent's combat step.

      With v2 I think you swung the balance too far the other way. The whole appeal of v1 is how different its play pattern is from other planeswalker designs'. A 3-mana walker that draws a card every turn (X can be 0-- not sure if you intended that) is very powerful but otherwise doesn't fill the hole that v1 leaves. An ability that "suspended" or phased out Guff might have done the trick, since that's also novel and feels blue and destiny-ish.

      Delete
  3. Grass is Greener 2G

    Enchantment (R)

    At the beginning of each players upkeep, that player gains control of all lands they own and all tapped lands on the battlefield. Untap those lands.

    Whenever you tap a forest for mama, add an additional G.

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    1. Oh that's a really cool challenge.

      Grass is Greener

      Enchantment (R)

      2G: put your choice of a +1/+1, Vigilance, Hexproof, Trample, or Deathtouch counter on target creature you control. Then target opponent chooses a creature they control and puts their choice of a +1/+1, Vigilance, Hexproof, Trample, or Deathtouch counter on it.

      Delete
    2. Let's say 3GG for mana cost. I also have to see if something like this has been done before.

      Delete
    3. OK, Tempt With Glory is the closest I found. I think I'll also bring mana cost down to 3G.

      Delete
    4. I like your thought process in going from v1 to v2: they affect completely different parts of the game but they're both political cards that can probably be symmetry-broken as well.

      v1 of course is sheer craziness. I'm still wrapping my head around how it would play, but my gut says "Seedborn Muse for everyone". It was most likely cut for that or for the inconvenience of passing all those lands around (though combos with Zuran Orb and the like are also a possibility). On the other hand it creates a very appealing risk/reward, cooperate/defect dynamic that I'd want to preserve.

      v2 is not so crazy and (I'm guessing) not so useful, though it's growing on me. Evolutionary Escalation would be my preferred comparison; it's a much more aggressive rate for sheer output. On the other hand, hexproof and deathtouch counters are a huge deal, especially at instant speed. (In fact the +1/+1 counters are kind of a distraction when reading and evaluating the card-- I'd like it better without them.) I think this does deliver the same kind of risk/reward dynamic with less disruption to gameplay, though I'd want to playtest it to see if it tends to stall the game.

      Delete
  4. Kodama of the Roots
    {3}{G}{B}
    Legendary Creature — Spirit (Rare)
    */*
    ~'s power and toughness are each equal to the greatest number of creatures you control that have a creature type in common.

    Whenever a creature you control dies, you may return target creature card with lower mana value from your graveyard to your hand.

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    1. Kodama of the Roots
      {1}{G}{B}
      Legendary Creature — Spirit (Rare)
      1/4
      Whenever you cast a Spirit or Arcane spell, target land you control becomes a 1/1 colorless Spirit creature until end of turn.

      Whenever a Spirit you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.

      I forgot to make the design 'scratch the same itch'.

      Delete
    2. meant to have this just create 1/1s as tokens

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    3. v1: what's connecting the abilities? Ah, I see, it's a callback: this is meant to be played in Spirit tribal, maybe as a commander, in which case the second ability is literally granting soulshift. In a less homogenous deck the second ability gets more powerful and the first one less so, which seems like the wrong way to go since the second ability is where most of the utility is. But otherwise it's a solid card-- I could easily imagine something like it showing up in a Modern Horizons set, for example.

      v2: Cool, you've preserved the card's niche and now you're targeting the other Kamigawa Spirits mechanical theme. I totally think that scratches the same itch! And I strongly approve of your follow-up edit; making the 1/1s out of lands would not be nearly as appealing and would often feel terrible. Again it's nothing groundbreaking as a design, but given the slot it occupies it doesn't need to be, and v2 definitely fixes the power-balance problems that v1 had. Nice work.

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    4. Thanks for the comments! I was a little careless with my write-up of the first design. It's supposed to let creatures only soulshift back creatures they share a creature type with, i.e. it's extending soulshift to other tribes.

      Delete
  5. Part 1:
    Polymath the Crazyed 3ubr
    Legendary Creature - Sphinx
    Flying
    Cards in your hand have madness 0.
    At the end of your turn, discard your hand.
    3/4

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    1. Part 2:

      Polymath the Crazed 2ubr
      Legendary Creature - Sphinx
      Flying
      When Polymath the Crazed attacks, you may cast a non-creatures spell from your graveyard without paying its mana cost.
      At the end of your turn, discard a card at random.
      4/3

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    2. v1: wow, so this straight-up Omnisciences your hand? That strikes me as way too strong, even though you're losing the lands and counterspells. It certainly got my attention, though, and I love the story the design tells.

      v2: I like how this fixes the problem with v1 while preserving both the flavor and the play pattern. "At random" is a particularly smart choice, though my instinct is that it should go with the first ability rather than the second. I could totally imagine this showing up as, say, an option in a Commander product.

      Delete