Scars, in Retrospect

As armchair designers, we usually flip through new set spoilers to analyze and critique new cards. However, with Scars of Mirrodin about to rotate, I thought it might be worth trying something different. I’m going to take a look back and consider how some of the different aspects of the last block worked out, focusing especially upon what Scars block taught us about making Magic.

CCDD 091112—Misty Basics

Cool Card Design of the Day
9/11/2012 - Today I've got no rules text, nor even a vanilla creature for you. Instead, I wanted to share some art that I found while making other cards that seemed nearly perfect for some basic lands. They're all a bit foggy and make me think of world shrouded in mist. What kind of block would these basics belong to? While you see a lot of mist in horror worlds, we just did that in Innistrad. Plus these just don't feel scary, so much as mysterious or primeval. Perhaps these are lands from an undiscovered world. The question is,

Challenge #8: Results

I'd forgotten how difficult it is to grade these things!  There were many strong submissions, all of which could have made good combat mechanics.  I picked the three that seemed to have the most potential for creating fun and interesting gameplay, but I can imagine another judge picking an entirely different set of winners.  Let's cruise into the red zone and see what people came up with.

Magic 2013 Favorites

I had been planning on writing a design review of Magic 2013 (the official Wizards version) but I prioritized it below wrapping up the GA M13 project and then Greg Marques & Jules Robins both did excellent jobs of it, obviating the need. Even so, I can't let my second favorite set to Draft ever pass into history without sharing a few thoughts. In no specific order.

CCDD 090712—Lost Time

Cool Card Design of the Day
9/7/2012 - Gaining or losing a turn is a big deal. One way that Magic handles big effects is to simply require more mana to cast them. Another way is to make their use conditional such that you have to jump through hoops (beyond the hoop of getting X lands into play). For particularly swingy effects like Mind Control and Time Walk, a non-mana hoop is a nice variation, if not a necessary balance. Lost Time is an attempt to add hoops to Time Walk in the form of a mini-game.

CCDD 090612—Karmic Channeler

Cool Card Design of the Day
9/6/2012 - Trying to remember the inspiration for today's card, I think I was either looking for a Spellwild Ouphe with an effect more inspiring than cost reduction or else some kind of reverse hexproof—Sort of a modular Wild Defiance.

Challenge #8: Flawless Victory

Happy Labor Day, designers!  I'm back, and I hope you're ready for some more design challenges.

This week, we're going to focus on the most important and exciting part of Magic: the combat phase.  Your challenge is to design a mechanic that interacts with creatures attacking or blocking.  Good examples of such mechanics include Battle Cry, Exalted, Wither, Bloodthirst, and Bushido.  Your mechanic need not be a keyword.  Demonstrate the use of your mechanic on a single common card.

E-mail your card to tweetforcealpha@gmail.com by midnight (Pacific Time) on Friday, September 7.  The winners will be posted on Monday, September 10.  This challenge is open to everyone.  One entry per person.  Please specify your preferred name or pseudonym.  Entries may be edited slightly for consistent templating.  If you are interested in having your submission publicly critiqued, put the word "critique" in the subject line of your e-mail.