Post by jverse on Jul 25, 2020 1:50:00 GMT
I'm slowly working away on a new set that I've had in mind for a while now, but I don't want to move forward with it until I'm pretty sure that the mechanics are solid. Let me give you a bit of background on the set itself before I explain the mechanics.
It takes place on a primitive plane where elemental forces still dominate everyday life and shamanism is the primary form of mysticism and magic. Shamans are the bridge between the spirit world and the natural one, performing rituals, predicting the future, cleansing evil, and so forth. It's also cold on this plane, and winter lasts a long time. Picture northern Canada before white people showed up.
You can probably predict many of the mechanical themes already based on the description above, but here is what I have for now.
The primary idea that distinguishes this set is that sacrifice matters, and therefore graveyards matter more than they would otherwise. The set is largely mono-colored with a minor two-color subset. Each color is getting a new mechanic that is linked to the main mechanical idea (sacrifice/graveyards) and linked to shamanism in terms of flavor. Here they are:
White - Commune - Exile a creature card from a graveyard. If you do, create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying.
Blue - Meditate - Reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's an instant or sorcery. Otherwise, put it into your graveyard.
Black - Ritualize <cost> - You may cast this spell for its ritualize cost if any player sacrificed a permanent this turn.
Red - Envision - Exile the top card of your library. You may play it this turn.
Green - Ancestry - As long as a card in your graveyard shares a card type with this permanent, <effect>.
I like all of these mechanics, but as you can see, one of them doesn't support the mechanical theme (red). Is this a big problem? Can you help me find a card advantage mechanic in red that would support a graveyard theme? Can I just add "If you don't, put it into your graveyard"?
It takes place on a primitive plane where elemental forces still dominate everyday life and shamanism is the primary form of mysticism and magic. Shamans are the bridge between the spirit world and the natural one, performing rituals, predicting the future, cleansing evil, and so forth. It's also cold on this plane, and winter lasts a long time. Picture northern Canada before white people showed up.
You can probably predict many of the mechanical themes already based on the description above, but here is what I have for now.
The primary idea that distinguishes this set is that sacrifice matters, and therefore graveyards matter more than they would otherwise. The set is largely mono-colored with a minor two-color subset. Each color is getting a new mechanic that is linked to the main mechanical idea (sacrifice/graveyards) and linked to shamanism in terms of flavor. Here they are:
White - Commune - Exile a creature card from a graveyard. If you do, create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying.
Blue - Meditate - Reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's an instant or sorcery. Otherwise, put it into your graveyard.
Black - Ritualize <cost> - You may cast this spell for its ritualize cost if any player sacrificed a permanent this turn.
Red - Envision - Exile the top card of your library. You may play it this turn.
Green - Ancestry - As long as a card in your graveyard shares a card type with this permanent, <effect>.
I like all of these mechanics, but as you can see, one of them doesn't support the mechanical theme (red). Is this a big problem? Can you help me find a card advantage mechanic in red that would support a graveyard theme? Can I just add "If you don't, put it into your graveyard"?
