|
|
Post by viriss on Jul 2, 2019 15:53:40 GMT
 I always thought "attack banding" would become a thing. |
|
|
|
Post by sdfkjgh on Jul 3, 2019 15:05:45 GMT
viriss: You evil bastard! No one, not even Wizards of the Coast, want to see banding become a thing again.
|
|
|
|
Post by Tesagk on Jul 3, 2019 17:49:36 GMT
In my head, banding falls in the category of "great idea" from a top-down design perspective, but it quickly becomes apparent that from a bottom-up perspective that there's just no way in hell to make it quick and fun in a card game.
|
|
Sanfonier of the Night
7/7 Elemental
Posts: 399
Favorite Card: The Prismatic Bridge
Favorite Set: War of the Spark
Color Alignment: White, Blue, Black, Red, Green, Colorless
|
Post by Sanfonier of the Night on Jul 4, 2019 10:43:47 GMT
United, a status similar to the City's Blessing from Rivals of Ixalan, is granted by the keyword Unity as soon as you control a permanent of each color. Just like with Spirit of Resistance, you don't need five different permanents, there just have to be all five colors represented among the permanents you control. Here are my example cards:
Just like with the City's Blessing, there are certain cards that activate the mechanic quite easily. If used in a set, one would obviously have to be careful about how easy it is to turn on Unity. Unlike the City's Blessing, my version of Unity pushes a certain type of deck - five color decks - while still remaining open enough to allow for variation.
May I use your ability for future cards and/or sets? I thought it was really nice. |
|
|
|
Post by Daij_Djan on Jul 4, 2019 11:35:48 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by ameisenmeister on Jul 4, 2019 17:27:48 GMT
United, a status similar to the City's Blessing from Rivals of Ixalan, is granted by the keyword Unity as soon as you control a permanent of each color. Just like with Spirit of Resistance, you don't need five different permanents, there just have to be all five colors represented among the permanents you control. Here are my example cards:
Just like with the City's Blessing, there are certain cards that activate the mechanic quite easily. If used in a set, one would obviously have to be careful about how easy it is to turn on Unity. Unlike the City's Blessing, my version of Unity pushes a certain type of deck - five color decks - while still remaining open enough to allow for variation.
May I use your ability for future cards and/or sets? I thought it was really nice. I'm honored. Please let me know if you need some more cards/ideas for the mechanic and please show me any cards you come up with. |
|
|
|
Post by ameisenmeister on Jul 16, 2019 18:22:41 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by Daij_Djan on Jul 18, 2019 20:21:51 GMT
Passing the ping over to gateways7 - if they don't respond till the weekend, I'll take care of things  |
|
|
|
Post by gateways7 on Jul 19, 2019 13:59:04 GMT
I can take care of it  . I'll close the challenge in 12 hours just because I have somewhere to go right now, but after that judging should be up shortly. EDIT: This is closed, judging will be up soon! EDIT PART 2 (ELECTRIC BOOGALOO): Judging! {Judging and Winners} Tesagk : While this is a pretty cool mechanic, it should probably be either types or colors instead of trying to reach out to both just because it creates a more clear mechanical identity. There’s also a problem that you can just play two copies of the card to meet your color restriction - while that doesn’t apply to the last two (instant and legendary), the first two, especially the first, become pretty broken if you just play one after the other in a draft or something - two instances of three mana for 2 6/6 vigilance tramplers? Seems pretty broken. kebelqwa : This seems very narrow, and would probably work better as the reverse (when this creature dies, another creature that shares a creature type with it gains all of it’s activated abilities until the end of turn.) Alternatively, you probably just have it gain all abilities rather than just activated ones. Lady Mapi : This is the weirdest, yet coolest mechanic here. The idea of the “Worldmind” as a mechanic works very well from a mechanical level, as there aren’t any memory issues with figuring out what’s in the Worldmind (things that say unity on them), and works so well on a flavorful level by adding a little bit of the more cultish side to Selesnya that we rarely see. There’s also some more design space of adding other things to the Worldmind, which is another cool facet of the ability. Great job! Sanfonier of the Night : This seems like it could get pretty broken in multiples, especially in draft where you can see a lot of the cards and play more than four, but other than that, it seems like a pretty solid mechanic and you have some pretty good cards! Jartis : This gets pretty broken / bad with removal spells, depending on whether your opponents control any creatures or not - probably just restrict it to spells you own. Other than that, it’s a pretty nice Zada-esque mechanic that works well in white and green (for pump tricks) and blue (for hexproof tricks). ameisenmeister : This is a super flavorful mechanic that’s a much better riff on Ascend, because it works flavorfully and is a deck-building restriction, and the only thing I have against it is that it’s a forever effect, which was one of the biggest problems with Ascend, and the color issues make it a lot easier to track. Overall, this is a really good mechanic, and I might have to add to Ominividrus’s request to use it in a future set. viriss : I can’t tell whether to give you points for trying to make banding palatable or lose points for even referencing banding. It still has most of the problems that banding does in terms of the sheer confusingness of how it works. Daij_Djan : This is a pretty solid 2HG mechanic that could have very easily seen usage in a set like Battlebond, but overall a pretty simple one. Also, Master Necromancer is a really cool design! 3rd place: Daij_Djan 2nd place: Lady Mapi Favorite Card: Master Necromancer 1st place: ameisenmeister Thanks everyone for participating! |
|
|
|
Post by ameisenmeister on Jul 20, 2019 19:26:37 GMT
I can take care of it . I'll close the challenge in 12 hours just because I have somewhere to go right now, but after that judging should be up shortly. EDIT: This is closed, judging will be up soon! EDIT PART 2 (ELECTRIC BOOGALOO): Judging! {Judging and Winners} Tesagk : While this is a pretty cool mechanic, it should probably be either types or colors instead of trying to reach out to both just because it creates a more clear mechanical identity. There’s also a problem that you can just play two copies of the card to meet your color restriction - while that doesn’t apply to the last two (instant and legendary), the first two, especially the first, become pretty broken if you just play one after the other in a draft or something - two instances of three mana for 2 6/6 vigilance tramplers? Seems pretty broken. kebelqwa : This seems very narrow, and would probably work better as the reverse (when this creature dies, another creature that shares a creature type with it gains all of it’s activated abilities until the end of turn.) Alternatively, you probably just have it gain all abilities rather than just activated ones. Lady Mapi : This is the weirdest, yet coolest mechanic here. The idea of the “Worldmind” as a mechanic works very well from a mechanical level, as there aren’t any memory issues with figuring out what’s in the Worldmind (things that say unity on them), and works so well on a flavorful level by adding a little bit of the more cultish side to Selesnya that we rarely see. There’s also some more design space of adding other things to the Worldmind, which is another cool facet of the ability. Great job! Sanfonier of the Night : This seems like it could get pretty broken in multiples, especially in draft where you can see a lot of the cards and play more than four, but other than that, it seems like a pretty solid mechanic and you have some pretty good cards! Jartis : This gets pretty broken / bad with removal spells, depending on whether your opponents control any creatures or not - probably just restrict it to spells you own. Other than that, it’s a pretty nice Zada-esque mechanic that works well in white and green (for pump tricks) and blue (for hexproof tricks). ameisenmeister : This is a super flavorful mechanic that’s a much better riff on Ascend, because it works flavorfully and is a deck-building restriction, and the only thing I have against it is that it’s a forever effect, which was one of the biggest problems with Ascend, and the color issues make it a lot easier to track. Overall, this is a really good mechanic, and I might have to add to Ominividrus’s request to use it in a future set. viriss : I can’t tell whether to give you points for trying to make banding palatable or lose points for even referencing banding. It still has most of the problems that banding does in terms of the sheer confusingness of how it works. Daij_Djan : This is a pretty solid 2HG mechanic that could have very easily seen usage in a set like Battlebond, but overall a pretty simple one. Also, Master Necromancer is a really cool design! 3rd place: Daij_Djan 2nd place: Lady Mapi Favorite Card: Master Necromancer 1st place: ameisenmeister Thanks everyone for participating! Thanks for the win! Your next mechanic will be named condescend, have fun!
gateways7 Feel free to use the mechanic. I'd love to see the designs you come up with, so feel free to send me some cards if you feel like it. |
|
|
|
Post by viriss on Jul 20, 2019 20:03:16 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by fluffydeathbringer on Jul 21, 2019 13:24:07 GMT
Casual Dismissal   Instant  Return target creature to its owner's hand. Condescend to them. (Draw a card unless they pay .)"...oh, you liked that one? I'm so terribly sorry."
|
|
|
|
Post by Tesagk on Jul 21, 2019 17:36:39 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by marshmellow on Jul 22, 2019 2:46:45 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by FLAREdirector on Jul 22, 2019 18:59:59 GMT
Condescend -- When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, EFFECT ... the number of tapped creatures target opponent controls. Flavorfully, condescend is an ability word based on a creature's feelings of superiority, which manifest based on how many tapped creatures one of your opponents controls. Consider this: When an opponent only has tapped creatures, they're wide open for a counterattack -- uh, usually. A condescending creature observes this apparent weakness and benefits from it.     Cruel Corsair's reminder text matches that of Rapacious Dragon. Man, this was hard!! Condescension isn't really an aaaaction, it's more of just a feeling. I decided to theme this multicolored pseudo-vertical cycle off of Ixalan, just for kicks. I hate not having card art for Adrian Adanto, Legion's Fangs, but it turns out there aren't a lot of unofficial images of Ixalan-themed vampires.
|
|
horizons
0/0 Germ
Posts: 20
Favorite Card: Twilight Shepherd
Color Alignment: Blue, Green
|
Post by horizons on Jul 24, 2019 13:17:34 GMT
Condescend X (Spells your opponents control cost X more to play).
There are not very many dedicated stax mechanics but wotc seems open to them recently at least when they are temporary (see red land detaining). This was a hard word to do so I thought I'd take it in an odd direction.
Collector Knight :2::W:
Creature - Human Knight ::common::
First Strike
When ~ attacks, condescend 1 until the beginning of your next turn (Spells your opponents control cost 1 more to play).
"After the guilpact collapsed, the two guilds found that Orzhov greed and Azorius law made a perfect pairing."
2/2
Locution Hex ::U::
Enchantment ::Rare::
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, condescend 1 until end of turn.
"The Azorizhov court system has little time for 'due process.'"
Interference Warden ::1:::W::
Creature - Human Soldier :uncommon:
During your turn, condescend 3.
2/2
|
|
|
|
Post by ameisenmeister on Jul 28, 2019 10:11:20 GMT
Going to judge in the next 12 hours so get your entries in!
|
|
|
|
Post by ameisenmeister on Jul 30, 2019 20:34:34 GMT
It's judging time! Sorry for the delay.
{viriss}
Simple and flavorful, I like it. It's kind of boring though and will probably result in unblockable attacks in the early game and usually do nothing in later turns.
{fluffydeathbringer}
Reminds me of the rhystic cards from prophecy. It's an okay effect but it's also more or less dependent on your opponent and also a very wide gap power wise between drawing a card and not doing so. If you are lucky and your opponent is tapped out, you better cast all the condescend cards you have a each replaces itself. If your opponent knows the drill and just keeps one or two mana open, your cards will be pretty weak. Also, in the late game players usually tend to have mana available and your mechanic will do nothing about 90% of the time (especially in limited, which is where players usually get the first impression of your set's mechanics).
{Tesagk}
Well, there is a lot going on here. First of, the addition of the term augmented[/] seems very superfluous to me. On Piercing Critique, you didn't even use it, while on Arousing Sympathy you did. I would get rid of this additional term to streamline the mechanic (I'll come to the permanents with augment counters in a second.)
Secondly, the mechanic has very high demands on every set it's in. It is not only very parasitic (needs a lot of cards with the mechanic to be good) but also determines your set to having a player counter and, as you suggested, a permanent counter. Usually that means that your set won't have any +1/+1 or -1/-1 counters, no charge counters or level up counters. Having a mechanic determine that much is in principal okay (see infect) but then it really has to pull it's weight and best offer multiple ways to use it (with infect you could go aggressive with pump spells, you could proliferate, your could just care about the -1/-1 counters, you could sneak in repeatedly with unblockable creatures). I could imagine your mechanic offering some design space but I'd rather see it not defining the permanent counter for the whole set. Just stick with +1/+1 counters, maybe similar to renown where +1/+1 counters serve as a marker for an effect. Or just write “As long as there are one or more +1/+1 counters on CARDNAME.”. Or give the permanents with condescend etb effects so you avoid the memory issues: “When CARDNAME etb, if the condescend cost was paid, blablabla...”
Thirdly, I also have an issue with the cards you designed. A whooping 4/8 of the cards only do something or at least get better if you happen to play against an opponent who uses the condescend mechanic. That will – more often than not – not be the case and your cards will be either underpowered or completely worthless. Or the other way around: imagine a player attends the prerelease of your set, builds a deck centered around the condescend mechanic, only to find out that they are actually helping their opponent by making their Rebuke of the Elites or Vraikens stronger. The latter, Vraiken, Protector of the Meek, is also one of the most irritating cards I've yet come to see here on a challenge. You really designed a card – in the keyword challenge, mind you – that basically says “your mechanic doesn't work anymore”. Wtf, why should I or anyone else be excited about the mechanic if there are as many hosers as supporters for it. Especially because all you need to deal with your mechanic are good old regular blocking creatures.
{marshmallow}
The rules text of your mechanic reads interesting but will most likely lead to a very, very small design space. You tried hard to find interesting effects that work with damage dealing and without but I'm pretty sure that you would have problems designing ten or fifteen cards with it, especially considering that it can only go on instants and sorceries. Let me tell you though, that you came up with some quite cool flavor texts.
{FLAREdirector}
I like the way you designed cards with a specific setting in mind. It's strange to see all the four Ixalan factions using the same mechanic but that's criticism on a rather high level.
Ironically, your condescend version reminds me of a mechanic from exactly that plane: enrage. When I first saw what enrage did, I was puzzled because it seemed to go against wotc's policy to not make mechanics that discourage attacking. After all, you could just hide behind your dinosaurs and scare attacks away by threatening your opponent with enrage-activations. After I played with the cards, though, I realized that it was often more worth it to attack with your dinosaurs, maybe have some pump spells ready and use enrage as a kind of evasion ability because they where discouraged from blocking (which actually made me more willing to attack). Your mechanic is tricky because creatures tend to get tapped because they attack and so players will be extra careful not to risk too much which can then lead to very cautious and long games. Daring to attack is, especially for inexperienced players, a tough challenge and they will usually shy away from attacking because they fear to do something wrong. I like that you used the mechanic only as etb triggers so it's not a visible threat but I'm afraid that your mechanic will not, unlike enrage, contribute to a fluid and exciting game play experience but will rather lead to long dragging games where one player doesn't dare to attack and the other holding all their Condescend cards in their hand waiting in vain for some action.
{horizons}
Let's talk about what you said before talking about your cards because I believe it will explain the issue I have with your mechanic. You said that wotc does a few stax mechanics and gave red land detaining as an example. Now I ask you how many land detaining cards are in the average set? Aether Revolt had one, Amonkhet (set and block) had one, and Eldritch Moon had also just one. Ho many cards are there going to be in your set in which the keyword you suggested appears? Eight? Ten? The problem here is that a good mechanic doesn't automatically make a good keyword. Keywords (or set mechanics) define and show what the set is about and therefore must be frequent enough to be visible to the player. This means that you set would have quite a lot of cards that make it harder for your opponent to cast spells (aka playing the game they sat down to play). The reason why land detaining or land destruction appear so rarely is that these effects are potentially very harmful to the game. It's one thing when your creatures get destroyed or when you're just overwhelmed by a better player with a better deck, but it's something else when you are made unable to even play the game in the first place. So creating a keyworded mechanic that does exactly that is inherently a bad idea.
On the bright side, I believe the cards you submitted are actually fine. The first one has to attack, thereby contributing to interactive game play, the second is a rare that could find a place in sideboards against elf, goblin or egg decks, and the third just protects you rather than locking your opponent out of the game. The cards are alright, just don't turn this kind of effect into a set's keyword.
{Ans the winner is...}
viriss! Your idea was flavorful and simple, also, as I said, not the most innovative but not every mechanic has to be.
If anyone disagrees with what I said about their mechanics or just has some questions regarding my judging, feel free to tell me.
Thank you all for participating!
|
|
|
|
Post by Tesagk on Jul 31, 2019 0:46:28 GMT
I disagree. Not sure there's much to debate about though.
|
|
|
|
Post by viriss on Jul 31, 2019 2:42:21 GMT
Next keyword is... Landmark.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jartis on Jul 31, 2019 3:51:41 GMT
When xyz, Landmark (Place a landmark token on target land). Cards will have effects that occur when lands with tokens are tapped. Entries coming later
|
|
|
|
Post by Tesagk on Jul 31, 2019 10:26:51 GMT
Hmm. There are some interesting choices for this. Considering something like City's Blessing, but not sure yet.
|
|
|
|
Post by Fleur on Jul 31, 2019 13:14:53 GMT
Landmark (Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may make it your landmark. If you do, other lands you control are no longer landmarks.)    primary, other colors secondary. Wandering Nomad  Creature - Human Nomad Landmark (Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may make it your landmark. If you do, other lands you control are no longer landmarks.)CARDNAME has first strike as long as your landmark is a Plains or a Mountain. 3/2 More cards later, probably. |
|
|
|
Post by Flo00 on Aug 1, 2019 0:18:45 GMT
Roach Mob Creature - insect  Landmark — At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control seven or more lands, put five +1/+1 counters on Roach Mob. 2/2 Read the Map Sorcery Draw two cards. Landmark — If you control seven or more lands, instead scry 2, then draw two cards. Haunt of the Highlands   Creature - Demon Flying, menace Landmark — Whenever Haunt of the Highlands attacks or blocks, sacrifice a creature unless you control seven or more lands. 5/5 Vivid Growth Sorcery Search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Landmark — If you control seven or more lands, you gain 7 life. Dwarfen Quatermaster Creature - Dwarf Soldier  Vigilance Landmark — Whenever Dwarfen Quatermaster deals combat damage to a player, if you control seven or more lands, create two 1/1 white Soldier creatute tokens. 3/3 |
|
|
|
Post by Daij_Djan on Aug 1, 2019 1:15:55 GMT
Just throwing out my first concept, not sure whether I'll ponder about some entries or replace it with something else.. ..if/as long as you control a landmark, .. (A legendary or enchanted land is a landmark.)EDIT: Alright, here are some cards - enablers as well as cards featuring the mechanic itself. I mostly focussed on Landmarks as a GW archetype, but cards featuring them might appear less frequently in other colors so I included a black rare just for fun. (For the record, I know Taurus Observer is a strictly weaker Vastwood Zendikon.) |
|
|
|
Post by Tesagk on Aug 1, 2019 11:48:41 GMT
Landmark (When ~ comes into play, you may give it a Landmark counter. If you do, remove all Landmark counters from other permanents you control.)Some possible cards: |
|
Sanfonier of the Night
7/7 Elemental
Posts: 399
Favorite Card: The Prismatic Bridge
Favorite Set: War of the Spark
Color Alignment: White, Blue, Black, Red, Green, Colorless
|
Post by Sanfonier of the Night on Aug 2, 2019 21:27:36 GMT
A retcon that wizards would never do.
|
|
|
|
Post by viriss on Aug 6, 2019 17:00:13 GMT
Fleur Probably needs a counter on the land to help track. Nice balance with friendly land types giving a bonus. I kinda wish the creature didn't have to wait for a land to enter after it, but I can see the rules text/reminder text getting too long if it did all that. Flo00 That's a nice range of cards that are better in the mid/late game. I think seven lands is a great choice. Daij_Djan I like the historic-like batching, makes me wish Fortifications where a real thing. =) Tesagk I can't see anything in the spoiler section, even on my phone nothing shows up. ?? Sanfonier of the Night I can see landmark as a subtype for lands. I think you're right about the recton, making them part of historic would break the historic cards.
|
|
|
|
Post by Tesagk on Aug 6, 2019 17:49:27 GMT
Tesagk I can't see anything in the spoiler section, even on my phone nothing shows up. ?? Website was down, it's back up. |
|
|
|
Post by Daij_Djan on Aug 6, 2019 19:43:25 GMT
Nice, big thanks for the win! Using a random word generator (as I had nothing particular in mind myself) I came up with your new challenge: vivacious!
|
|
. I'll close the challenge in 12 hours just because I have somewhere to go right now, but after that judging should be up shortly.
