Post by jverse on Feb 2, 2021 1:43:11 GMT
I figured it was probably time to post all my sets in one place, mostly to keep myself organized and up to date.
Devasarva (Completed 2019) - Google Drive Link
My first custom set. Devasarva takes inspiration from Hindu mythology and features mechanics such as karma, reincarnate, and cycling. My attempt at a mount mechanic was less successful, but overall, I'm happy with the set and how it plays. The set has a strong discard theme and is meant to be mono-colored tribal. The story involves the demon king Triziras, now a planeswalker, unleashing his army of rakshasa demons on unsuspecting planes. The other tribes of Devasarva - garuda (birds), naga (snakes), gaja (elephants), and vanara (monkeys) - must band together with the help of a few planeswalkers (Saheeli and Estrid) to fight the demon horde and protect the multiverse.
Devasarva United (Completed 2019) - Google Drive Link
Set two on Devasarva. The same mechanics appear as in the first set, along with new ones including expel, unite and redeem. Although still tribal, this set is heavily multicolored and blends the tribes across two-color pairs. The discard theme is still there. As for the story, Triziras's plans have been discovered and the warring tribes have been temporarily united by a mysterious champion, but it won't be enough to stop him. In order to defeat the demon king, they'll need the help of a departed warrior and his army of asura knights. Unite turned out to be a very powerful mechanic that was hard to balance, but in general I think this set ended up much better than my first. Obviously they play well together though.
Secrets of Devasarva (Completed 2020) - Google Drive Link
Set three on Devasarva. The mechanics are getting pretty tight at this point as I continued to use karma, reincarnate, and expel from the previous sets, as well as adding guardian, secret, and the batching word ancient (similar to historic). Secret was the hardest to design, and it ended up being almost exactly like foretell used in Kaldheim. The only difference is that my mechanic has the card come in as a face-down enchantment which you can later cast face-up. This set is perhaps the most balanced of the three and falls somewhere in between in terms of mono vs. multicolored. There is less tribal support as well, owing to the breakdown of the alliances made in the previous installment. Our story picks up years after the fall of the rakshasa, wherein the monkey general Ranakamin has taken control of the five kingdoms. Although less evil than his predecessor, the vanara still rule Devasarva with military might and aggression. Five demigods are at the center of this story as they begin to discover Devasarva's secrets and a way forward. I hadn't originally planned on making this set, but I had a lot of leftover art from the first two and thought I could make a decent go of it.
Marvel: The Gathering (Completed 2020) - Google Drive Link
Poking around on the internet I found a few examples of custom Magic sets that take advantage of the Marvel Universe. Some of them are more comic-focused, while others draw inspiration from the MCU. In both cases, however, I disagreed with a lot of design choices made, so I decided to make my own set instead. I designed my Marvel set to be a played in a singleton, multiplayer cube draft environment where you start with 20 life in a two player game, 30 with 3 players, and 40 with 4 or more. I built the set around two-color archetypes and designed all-new characters, artifacts, and lands. With such a huge number of new cards, however, I decided to reduce the information overload by selecting flavorful reprints of all the instants, sorceries, and some of the enchantments. This worked out really well I think and helped me to keep the experience balanced. The set is meant to be on par with modern in terms of power level since it's all singleton draft, and it's surprisingly enjoyable to play even if you don't know the comics at all. Huge thanks to Schwa77 and tywinlannister for inspiration, error-checking, and generating ideas during the creation of this set.
Marvel: The Expansion (Completed 2020) - Google Drive Link
Right after I finished my Marvel set, I decided I had a few characters and ideas that were left out, plus I wanted to get the original set up to a full 540 cards so I could create 36 packs with it for drafting. Hence this mini-expansion that features some more obscure characters and ideas from the Marvel comic world.
Souls of Manitouaki (Completed 2021) - Google Drive Link
This set draws heavy inspiration from native American and other shamanic cultures and features a suite of graveyard mechanics. Snow permanents are a feature here as well. I originally had two sets planned on this plane, but decided that the art and design space was too limited so I combined the two into a slightly larger than normal set (~300 cards). Sacrifice is the driving theme.
Duel Decks: Humans vs Elementals (Completed 2022) - Google Drive Link
I created this set to support two tribes that were in my previous sets but needed a few extra cards to be viable archetypes. Humans appear in white/black and elementals in blue/green/red. The main mechanics for the humans are karma (+1/+1 counters) and discard, while the elementals are focused on ramp, sacrifice (evoke), and some direct damage. There are 88 cards (plus basic lands) curated from my previous set files, including 36 brand-new cards. I haven't playtested this extensively, so I can't speak to the balance of the two tribes, but they're still fun to play.
Galactic Frontiers (Coming 2022)
Another set idea that has been poking around in my head for a while. This time it's a futuristic sci-fi set that takes place on five different planets (one for each color, unsurprisingly). I have the first draft of cards completed, but the main mechanics still need balancing. First and foremost is the addition of a sixth mana color (purple) powered by galaxy lands. Rather than having purple cards that would require a new color identity in order to be distinct and relevant, purple appears only in alternate mana costs and on hybrid cards. There is a strong time theme within the set, which currently includes mechanics such as suspend, populate, and improvise, as well as new ones such as danger and warp. There are a lot of design challenges for this set, but if I can pull it off I think it will be really cool. Currently in design phase.
Devasarva (Completed 2019) - Google Drive Link
My first custom set. Devasarva takes inspiration from Hindu mythology and features mechanics such as karma, reincarnate, and cycling. My attempt at a mount mechanic was less successful, but overall, I'm happy with the set and how it plays. The set has a strong discard theme and is meant to be mono-colored tribal. The story involves the demon king Triziras, now a planeswalker, unleashing his army of rakshasa demons on unsuspecting planes. The other tribes of Devasarva - garuda (birds), naga (snakes), gaja (elephants), and vanara (monkeys) - must band together with the help of a few planeswalkers (Saheeli and Estrid) to fight the demon horde and protect the multiverse.
Devasarva United (Completed 2019) - Google Drive Link
Set two on Devasarva. The same mechanics appear as in the first set, along with new ones including expel, unite and redeem. Although still tribal, this set is heavily multicolored and blends the tribes across two-color pairs. The discard theme is still there. As for the story, Triziras's plans have been discovered and the warring tribes have been temporarily united by a mysterious champion, but it won't be enough to stop him. In order to defeat the demon king, they'll need the help of a departed warrior and his army of asura knights. Unite turned out to be a very powerful mechanic that was hard to balance, but in general I think this set ended up much better than my first. Obviously they play well together though.
Secrets of Devasarva (Completed 2020) - Google Drive Link
Set three on Devasarva. The mechanics are getting pretty tight at this point as I continued to use karma, reincarnate, and expel from the previous sets, as well as adding guardian, secret, and the batching word ancient (similar to historic). Secret was the hardest to design, and it ended up being almost exactly like foretell used in Kaldheim. The only difference is that my mechanic has the card come in as a face-down enchantment which you can later cast face-up. This set is perhaps the most balanced of the three and falls somewhere in between in terms of mono vs. multicolored. There is less tribal support as well, owing to the breakdown of the alliances made in the previous installment. Our story picks up years after the fall of the rakshasa, wherein the monkey general Ranakamin has taken control of the five kingdoms. Although less evil than his predecessor, the vanara still rule Devasarva with military might and aggression. Five demigods are at the center of this story as they begin to discover Devasarva's secrets and a way forward. I hadn't originally planned on making this set, but I had a lot of leftover art from the first two and thought I could make a decent go of it.
Marvel: The Gathering (Completed 2020) - Google Drive Link
Poking around on the internet I found a few examples of custom Magic sets that take advantage of the Marvel Universe. Some of them are more comic-focused, while others draw inspiration from the MCU. In both cases, however, I disagreed with a lot of design choices made, so I decided to make my own set instead. I designed my Marvel set to be a played in a singleton, multiplayer cube draft environment where you start with 20 life in a two player game, 30 with 3 players, and 40 with 4 or more. I built the set around two-color archetypes and designed all-new characters, artifacts, and lands. With such a huge number of new cards, however, I decided to reduce the information overload by selecting flavorful reprints of all the instants, sorceries, and some of the enchantments. This worked out really well I think and helped me to keep the experience balanced. The set is meant to be on par with modern in terms of power level since it's all singleton draft, and it's surprisingly enjoyable to play even if you don't know the comics at all. Huge thanks to Schwa77 and tywinlannister for inspiration, error-checking, and generating ideas during the creation of this set.
Marvel: The Expansion (Completed 2020) - Google Drive Link
Right after I finished my Marvel set, I decided I had a few characters and ideas that were left out, plus I wanted to get the original set up to a full 540 cards so I could create 36 packs with it for drafting. Hence this mini-expansion that features some more obscure characters and ideas from the Marvel comic world.
Souls of Manitouaki (Completed 2021) - Google Drive Link
This set draws heavy inspiration from native American and other shamanic cultures and features a suite of graveyard mechanics. Snow permanents are a feature here as well. I originally had two sets planned on this plane, but decided that the art and design space was too limited so I combined the two into a slightly larger than normal set (~300 cards). Sacrifice is the driving theme.
Duel Decks: Humans vs Elementals (Completed 2022) - Google Drive Link
I created this set to support two tribes that were in my previous sets but needed a few extra cards to be viable archetypes. Humans appear in white/black and elementals in blue/green/red. The main mechanics for the humans are karma (+1/+1 counters) and discard, while the elementals are focused on ramp, sacrifice (evoke), and some direct damage. There are 88 cards (plus basic lands) curated from my previous set files, including 36 brand-new cards. I haven't playtested this extensively, so I can't speak to the balance of the two tribes, but they're still fun to play.
Galactic Frontiers (Coming 2022)
Another set idea that has been poking around in my head for a while. This time it's a futuristic sci-fi set that takes place on five different planets (one for each color, unsurprisingly). I have the first draft of cards completed, but the main mechanics still need balancing. First and foremost is the addition of a sixth mana color (purple) powered by galaxy lands. Rather than having purple cards that would require a new color identity in order to be distinct and relevant, purple appears only in alternate mana costs and on hybrid cards. There is a strong time theme within the set, which currently includes mechanics such as suspend, populate, and improvise, as well as new ones such as danger and warp. There are a lot of design challenges for this set, but if I can pull it off I think it will be really cool. Currently in design phase.