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Post by gluestick248 on Jan 8, 2020 1:26:32 GMT
Isn't X irrelevant, since the spell will always be cast with exactly 4 mana? Right now it seems like it could just be 4; interaction with cost-modifying cards/casting without paying mana costs seems like too weird an edge case to design around without an X in the cost. is a thing |
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Post by sdfkjgh on Jan 8, 2020 17:31:04 GMT
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MaiApologies (She/Her)
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 61
Favorite Card: Ambiguity
Favorite Set: Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths
Color Alignment: Blue, Red
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Post by MaiApologies (She/Her) on Jan 8, 2020 22:57:38 GMT
Ah, yeah, forgot that was how that worked. Sorry.
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Post by kilenc on Jan 9, 2020 4:37:05 GMT
So, some of you commented earlier on my Inspiration Aura token idea, thanks for the feedback. I've been in the proverbial workshop for a mechanic that fits the same niche (control / UW / scrying matters) and I found a design vein I liked more, inspired by comments about +1/+1 counters. The idea is similar to Fabricate, in that you get an interesting gameplay choice whenever you cast the card.
I have four variations of the keyword action and was curious on any feedback on which is best.
(1) Inspire N (Put N +1/+1 counters on (another?) target creature and scry N)
(2) Inspire N (Put N +1/+1 counters on (another?) target creature or scry N)
(3) Study N (Put N +1/+1 counters on this creature and scry N)
(4) Study N (Put N +1/+1 counters on this creature or scry N)
The two choices I'm having to make are (a) should the counters be able to go on other creatures and (b) should there be a choice b/w counters and scrying. If counters are able to go on other creatures, the ability feels a lot less blue and more white / green, but putting them on other creatures makes it stronger and opens up more design space. If it's a choice b/w counters and scrying, I'm worried that it's a false choice since growing creatures would usually be more powerful than scrying, even in control decks (thus doing both makes the mechanic stronger).
Any thoughts / input / feedback / critique?
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Post by voltaic-qui on Jan 9, 2020 4:42:40 GMT
I think you might want to pick between entering the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter and scrying 2? Explore (the Ixalan mechanic) is what you're looking for here moreso than Fabricate, because X +1/+1 counters are significantly stronger than scrying X for any value of X. Also, worth noting that you can bleed +1/+1 counter granting into other colors, sort of. Remember Unity of Purpose? (I wish I didn't.) |
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Post by Lady Mapi on Jan 9, 2020 5:53:28 GMT
So, some of you commented earlier on my Inspiration Aura token idea, thanks for the feedback. I've been in the proverbial workshop for a mechanic that fits the same niche (control / UW / scrying matters) and I found a design vein I liked more, inspired by comments about +1/+1 counters. The idea is similar to Fabricate, in that you get an interesting gameplay choice whenever you cast the card. I have four variations of the keyword action and was curious on any feedback on which is best. (1) Inspire N (Put N +1/+1 counters on (another?) target creature and scry N)(2) Inspire N (Put N +1/+1 counters on (another?) target creature or scry N)
(3) Study N (Put N +1/+1 counters on this creature and scry N)(4) Study N (Put N +1/+1 counters on this creature or scry N)The two choices I'm having to make are (a) should the counters be able to go on other creatures and (b) should there be a choice b/w counters and scrying. If counters are able to go on other creatures, the ability feels a lot less blue and more white / green, but putting them on other creatures makes it stronger and opens up more design space. If it's a choice b/w counters and scrying, I'm worried that it's a false choice since growing creatures would usually be more powerful than scrying, even in control decks (thus doing both makes the mechanic stronger). Any thoughts / input / feedback / critique? This might seem a bit off-topic, but have you considered not having a keyword? If you look at Shards of Alara, there were only three new keywords - Exalted for Bant, Unearth for Grixis, and Devour for Jund. Esper and Naya didn't have keywords for their archetype, and didn't need one - it was immediately clear that Esper wanted you to build around artifacts and that Naya wanted you to run huge fatties. The gameplay they wanted didn't need a keyword, so they didn't make one. Which brings us to your mechanic¹ - if your archetype is Scry Matters, does "Scry X and/or put counters on things" really support the gameplay you want? If it's one of your sets focal mechanics, you want it to tweak the way you play in a way that makes you go "yes, I'm playing with Set X". As it stands, "put counters on things" and "scry the top cards of your library though" are painfully generic - they're the building blocks for mechanics or things that you'd stick in as side mechanics². That being said, what kind of keywords could we brew up? - Let's Scry Together: Instruct (Whenever you scry, you may reveal a nonland card among them to an opponent). And a linked ability "Whenever you instruct an opponent, [FOO]"
Instruct encourages a very arrogant, control-focused playstyle - much like Forecast, it doesn't care that your opponent get insight into your plans, because you're getting enough value out of it that you can crush them. On the other hand, you'd have to be OK with someone going all-in on Instruct revealing all of their nonland cards and getting that many Instruct triggers, but that could be exactly what the archetype wants. It also might be too arrogant for  , though that all depends on the flavor of the individual cards.
- Tuck It Away: Insight (Whenever a player puts one or more cards on the bottom of their library, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)³
Insight is a placeholder, because I don't have a good name for this one. This one is a more subtle one, since it also triggers on stuff like Green's "look at the top X cards, pick some, do a thing, then put the rest on the bottom" effects or White's tuck-based removal like Condemn. This also supports a distinctive style - you want to have a bunch of little scrying effects instead of singular big ones, and an end-game turn could involve a bunch of scrying where you just dump the cards on the bottom immediately (because the pump is actually what you're after.)
- A Third Option: Repurpose (When you scry this card, you may pay
 and exile it. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.)
This has another distinct gameplay incentive - you kinda want to keep some of your Repurpose cards on a few cards down from the top of your library, because that keeps them available for use as pump later... but it also reduces the usefulness of later Scry effects. Much like cycling, it wouldn't be too dangerous to have cards do extra things if you repurpose them, or cards that care about you repurposing other cards.
- The Straightforward Approach: Oracle - If you have scryed this turn, [FOO].
The dull, obvious answer - just make it a pseudo and be done with it. This is the mechanic with the most design space, and prizes consistent scry engines, so there's still a bunch to work with here.
...
Off my digression, I don't think I can give you any feedback on which of those options will work best without seeing it on some cards. The first is the most powerful of the options, but if all of your cards are Inspire 1 or Inspire 2 (or the triggers are difficult to hit), that doesn't matter as much.
¹ Inspire is a bad choice for a name, because there's already an ability word called Inspired (When this creature untaps, [foo]).
² Prowess is in a similar situation, where it's actually a very generic mechanic. I think the only reason it was keyworded is because they were putting some variation on "Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn" on a bunch of cards, so isolating Prowess as its own "thing" made sense.³ Yeah, I know, this is basically just a variant on Prowess. I never said Prowess was a bad mechanic, it's just that it's the most generic effect that you could generate from doing [FOO]. Much like Prowess, you could have cards that care about cards being tucked. |
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Post by kilenc on Jan 9, 2020 15:20:37 GMT
I think you might want to pick between entering the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter and scrying 2? Explore (the Ixalan mechanic) is what you're looking for here moreso than Fabricate, because X +1/+1 counters are significantly stronger than scrying X for any value of X. I thought about an Scry variant a la Explore--something like Study (Look at the top card of your library. You may put it on the bottom of your library. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature)--but I didn't like that it didn't easily allow for bigger scrys/counters easily, and that it was certainly less powerful than explore. It does do a better job of avoiding the false choice I talked about (ie. the "counters are worth more than scry" problem). This might seem a bit off-topic, but have you considered not having a keyword? If you look at Shards of Alara, there were only three new keywords - Exalted for Bant, Unearth for Grixis, and Devour for Jund. Esper and Naya didn't have keywords for their archetype, and didn't need one - it was immediately clear that Esper wanted you to build around artifacts and that Naya wanted you to run huge fatties. The gameplay they wanted didn't need a keyword, so they didn't make one. Which brings us to your mechanic - if your archetype is Scry Matters, does "Scry X and/or put counters on things" really support the gameplay you want? If it's one of your sets focal mechanics, you want it to tweak the way you play in a way that makes you go "yes, I'm playing with Set X". As it stands, "put counters on things" and "scry the top cards of your library though" are painfully generic - they're the building blocks for mechanics or things that you'd stick in as side mechanics. Saying the archetype is "scry matters" was a bit of a misnomer, it's mostly that scry just works well with control, but I'm totally ok with not having a named mechanic for UW. On the set-level, my first inclination is to have a mechanic for the three factions (UW control, RG aggro, B combo) and a fourth blend-together / smoothing mechanic, but it may be better to drop one if it's not worth keywording. However I totally see your point that "counters & scry" is so generic that it really wouldn't unique-ify the set, that's something for me to think about. I sort of lost track of that when I took the mechanic from an overcomplicated Aura token to a more basic implementation. (And so I may try to work on other sides of the set and come back to the UW side). Your idea about Scry-prowess is intriguing, but I'm not sure it fits the "control win condition" as I feel like it would encourage aggro play (a sort of "scry slinging" in parallel to how prowess encourages spell slinging). The Scry-cycle mechanic is interesting and cool gameplay, although maybe hard to do in the rules. Thanks for some new mechanics to mull over. |
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Post by sdfkjgh on Jan 9, 2020 19:44:53 GMT
For if we ever go back to Kylem:
Judges' Gallery  Artifact  At the beginning of each end step, each player who cast the spell with the highest converted mana cost this turn or tied for highest draws a card. ----------------------------------- The judges like to think that they’re all so immovably aloof, but they can be wowed just as easily as any other member of the crowd. |
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crouton
0/0 Germ
Posts: 6
Favorite Card: Ad Nauseam
Favorite Set: Journey Into Nyx
Color Alignment: Black, Colorless
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Post by crouton on Jan 11, 2020 23:54:34 GMT
This is my first time both making a card and posting in a forum like this, so if this is in the wrong place, please let me know! My commander friends decided to try out custom commanders, and I knew for a fact I wanted something eldrazi related. I wanted it to be a deck that incentives me to play both smaller drones as well as the big titans. So, this fella was born as a kind of value engine that gets going off of small ingesters swinging in bit by bit, with the activated ability only working if I have a bigger guy. Also, combos with it would be fun to hear! Again, I haven't made a card before in my life, so I have no idea if it's OP or way too weak. I'm not even good at the game generally. If there's a more elegant way to stuff all this text, that'd be great too!  |
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thaneofglamis
8/8 Octopus
Thane's activated abilities can't be activated
Posts: 444
Favorite Card: Slimefoot, the Stowaway; Phyrexian Rager; Swarm Shambler
Favorite Set: Midnight Hunt
Color Alignment: Green
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Post by thaneofglamis on Jan 12, 2020 0:38:33 GMT
Mausoleum Keeper   Creature - Zombie Replace all instances of “your graveyard” on spells and permanents you control with “a graveyard”. (If a permanent you control would be destroyed, it still goes into your graveyard.)
2/2 Does this make any sense? The idea came to me in a dream I think it might lead to some silver-bordery things
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Post by sdfkjgh on Jan 12, 2020 7:17:03 GMT
Prism Elemental   Creature--Elemental 
If damage would be dealt to Prism Elemental, it deals that much damage to each opponent and each creature and planeswalker those opponents control instead. 2/3 |
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Post by burntsquirrelman on Jan 12, 2020 16:10:43 GMT
I like Prism Elemental, but it seems a tad powerful. It also happens to go infinite if someone else has a Prism Elemental. What I might suggest for a change is:
This makes it so that there aren't any infinite loops, it keeps it a very powerful creature and effect while still lowering the Power Level to something more manageable, and it keeps it flavorful.
Cast Lightning Bolt on Prism Elemental? Deal 3 damage to all non-red creatures and planeswalkers you don't control.
Prism Elemental blocks Darksteel Colossus? Everything takes 11.
Prism Elemental gets in a fight with Progenitus? Nothing happens.
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Post by sdfkjgh on Jan 12, 2020 17:52:17 GMT
burntsquirrelman: Those are all mostly good arguments, but there's a few things wrong.
1) If two opponents each control a Prism Elemental, and one of those Elementals would be dealt damage, then the entire world is nuked, save the Elementals. Players, other creatures, planeswalkers, BOOM! all gone. This was exactly my intent.
2) Did you forget that Darksteel Colossus has trample? A blocking Prism Elemental would only refract 3 damage.
If I wanted to power down Prism Elemental, you wording is the way I'd go, though. |
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Post by voltaic-qui on Jan 12, 2020 18:24:17 GMT
This is my first time both making a card and posting in a forum like this, so if this is in the wrong place, please let me know! My commander friends decided to try out custom commanders, and I knew for a fact I wanted something eldrazi related. I wanted it to be a deck that incentives me to play both smaller drones as well as the big titans. So, this fella was born as a kind of value engine that gets going off of small ingesters swinging in bit by bit, with the activated ability only working if I have a bigger guy. Also, combos with it would be fun to hear! Again, I haven't made a card before in my life, so I have no idea if it's OP or way too weak. I'm not even good at the game generally. If there's a more elegant way to stuff all this text, that'd be great too! I think this design is unappealing but basically fine from a power perspective; the main point of concern is that it lets you cast your own stuff from exile. My personal version of this design would use a line of text like "You may cast cards ingested by Eldrazi you control this turn" in lieu of that second ability; I'd also nix the "nontoken." Also, really confused by the color identity here, since there's only one white Eldrazi and it's not great with this card. Mausoleum Keeper Creature - Zombie Replace all instances of “your graveyard” on spells and permanents you control with “a graveyard”. (If a permanent you control would be destroyed, it still goes into your graveyard.)
2/2 Does this make any sense? The idea came to me in a dream I think it might lead to some silver-bordery things Yes, it does. Quick scryfall search gets you Academy Ruins immediately as a way to steal your opponents' stuff. |
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thaneofglamis
8/8 Octopus
Thane's activated abilities can't be activated
Posts: 444
Favorite Card: Slimefoot, the Stowaway; Phyrexian Rager; Swarm Shambler
Favorite Set: Midnight Hunt
Color Alignment: Green
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Post by thaneofglamis on Jan 12, 2020 18:37:01 GMT
I feel like using Armored Skaab and other self-mill cards to put your stuff into other graveyards would be weird |
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crouton
0/0 Germ
Posts: 6
Favorite Card: Ad Nauseam
Favorite Set: Journey Into Nyx
Color Alignment: Black, Colorless
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Post by crouton on Jan 12, 2020 18:40:54 GMT
I think this design is unappealing but basically fine from a power perspective; the main point of concern is that it lets you cast your own stuff from exile. My personal version of this design would use a line of text like "You may cast cards ingested by Eldrazi you control this turn" in lieu of that second ability; I'd also nix the "nontoken." Also, really confused by the color identity here, since there's only one white Eldrazi and it's not great with this card. Made some changes but tried to keep the basic concept. The original card was waaay too wordy and, like you said, unappealing, so I tried splitting the abilities into parner commanders. Still unsure if wording is totally proper, and I think CMC and P/T could use some work too. Like, the instant/sorcery one should probably be more expensive, but idk what to put it at. Still don't know how to make legendary frames either, but I'll cross that bride when the cards actually work lmao  |
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Post by voltaic-qui on Jan 13, 2020 2:14:11 GMT
OH crap, I really like these. I guess my only thing is that if they're meant to be partners, I don't think the latter needs to be blue/black.
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crouton
0/0 Germ
Posts: 6
Favorite Card: Ad Nauseam
Favorite Set: Journey Into Nyx
Color Alignment: Black, Colorless
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Post by crouton on Jan 14, 2020 6:12:37 GMT
Right, thanks! I won't add another huge image, but I decided to change V'ulregs CMC to 1CCU. I'm glad you like the concept, hopefully it plays fairly in a full deck and game
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Post by sdfkjgh on Jan 15, 2020 19:09:33 GMT
So, we have gravestorm, but what other storm variants can be done?
Tower Over the Scenery   Instant Target creature gets +2/+2 and gains trample until end of turn.
Landfallstorm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each land that entered the battlefield this turn. You may choose new targets for the copies.) |
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thaneofglamis
8/8 Octopus
Thane's activated abilities can't be activated
Posts: 444
Favorite Card: Slimefoot, the Stowaway; Phyrexian Rager; Swarm Shambler
Favorite Set: Midnight Hunt
Color Alignment: Green
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Post by thaneofglamis on Jan 15, 2020 19:22:58 GMT
Muster the Goblins  Instant  Create a 1/1 red Goblin creature token with haste. Goblinstorm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each Goblin that entered the battlefield this turn.)
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Post by Lady Mapi on Jan 15, 2020 21:43:50 GMT
Rally The Embers - Sorcery Rally the Embers deals 1 damage to any target. Stormstorm (When you cast Rally The Embers, copy it for each spell copy you've made this turn. You may choose new targets for these copies (but not those copies)).I am reminded of the following terrible ideas: Synergy Engine -  Artifact Creature - Golem  Affinity for Affinity (This spell costs less to cast for each permanent with Affinity you control.)3/3 Miser's Bolt - Instant - Miser's Bolt deals 2 damage to any target. Cheapskate - Miser's Bolt deals 4 damage to any target instead if it costs less than $1 on the secondary market.
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thaneofglamis
8/8 Octopus
Thane's activated abilities can't be activated
Posts: 444
Favorite Card: Slimefoot, the Stowaway; Phyrexian Rager; Swarm Shambler
Favorite Set: Midnight Hunt
Color Alignment: Green
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Post by thaneofglamis on Jan 15, 2020 22:37:05 GMT
I love all of these Delving Devil  Creature - Devil Delvedelve (You may exile any number of cards with Delve from your graveyard as you cast this spell. Each card exiled this way pays for .)6/6 Hector the Infector Legendary Creature - Human Horror Infect, affinity for poison counters (This spell costs less to cast for each poison counter a player has.)3/3 |
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Post by sdfkjgh on Jan 16, 2020 16:55:47 GMT
Muster the Goblins Instant Create a 1/1 red Goblin creature token with haste. Goblinstorm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each Goblin that entered the battlefield this turn.) sounds like an excellent name for a High-Fantasy Metal band. |
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Post by melono on Jan 17, 2020 15:52:51 GMT
Harmful Growth Instant As an additional cost to casting ~, put a -1/-1 counter on a creature you control. Search your library for up to two basic land cards that share a land type, reveal those cards and put one onto the battlefield and the other into your hand. Then shuffle your library. When you want to push Cultivate.
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Post by burntsquirrelman on Jan 17, 2020 16:08:06 GMT
 Pray is an Action Keyword. To have a creature pray to something, you would tap it, and as long as it is tapped that creature is praying. You can choose not to untap praying creatures during your untap step. |
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thaneofglamis
8/8 Octopus
Thane's activated abilities can't be activated
Posts: 444
Favorite Card: Slimefoot, the Stowaway; Phyrexian Rager; Swarm Shambler
Favorite Set: Midnight Hunt
Color Alignment: Green
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Post by thaneofglamis on Jan 19, 2020 18:52:22 GMT
Prismatic DunesLand Your maximum hand size is reduced by 2.  : Add one mana of any color.
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Post by spookygabe on Jan 23, 2020 18:28:53 GMT
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Post by sdfkjgh on Jan 25, 2020 17:12:04 GMT
Another card designed in my sleep, this one's partly inspired by Syr Carah, the Bold:
Old Syr Brassbark  Legendary Creature--Elder Treefolk Knight Vigilance, haste, trample, aggressor
Prevent all damage from sources you don’t control except for combat damage.
Whenever damage is prevented, put that many +1/+1 counters on Old Syr Brassbark.
: Old Syr Brassbark deals damage equal to the number of +1/+1 counters on it to any target.
, Remove two +1/+1 counters from Old Syr Brassbark: It gains hexproof and indestructible until end of turn. 0/3
Aggressor (This creature must attack each combat if able.) |
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Post by Lady Mapi on Jan 31, 2020 14:01:54 GMT
Inspired by crouton 's group hug commander idea. Hyla of the Graces - Legendary Creature - Satyr Wizard Whenever an Aura you don't control becomes attached to a permanent you control, draw a card.  : Target opponent gains control of target noncreature spell you control. You may choose new targets for that spell. 2/3 He doesn't give very good hugs, honestly. Embarrassment of Riches - Enchantment Whenever you cast a spell that targets only you, copy it for each other player it could target. Each copy targets a different one of those players. |
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Post by burntsquirrelman on Jan 31, 2020 18:01:36 GMT
Sooo...I was looking in the Commander Game thread, and saw the current challenge and got to work on something fun. Now that it is finished, I just realized a key flaw in my design.  It's not a Creature or Planeswalker on any side. |
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