Picture into Card

I really liked the art this time around, and wanted to incorporate it into the set I'm working on (if it isn't already from something). So, thematically what's going on here is that, on Ceanndar, the Great Age of Magic has passed and the old empire is in ruins. With mana sources and natural resources alike depleted, people fight over what's left, and most of the great cities of old have fallen into ruin. Sometimes, groups of survivors lay claim to what's left of old buildings, salvaging whatever they can. I chose depletion counters to represent gathering supplies for salvage because it's a mechanic I have earmarked as fitting well into the concept of struggling with limited resources, and if I'm going to use it, then I want to expand on it and make managing both pros and cons of depletion a core element (through both cards that use depletion counters as a resource, and ones that impose penalties for having them). I guess that in concept this card would represent less of just moving the fortification from land to land, and more that you have the knowledge to restore to working order a portion of the ruins that dot the countryside.

Oh, by the way, I looked up the picture for this last run, and it's not already MTG. Source on ArtStation says, "Steampunk city illustration for fun " (well, not exactly that emoji, but closest one we have). This makes me happy, as I can use it relatively guilt-free.

I both love and hate how well this represents a land that is drawing power from another plane, when I have been trying to represent exactly that for a set I'm working on (my interpretation - Rifts - has thus far has been lands that work like Slivers).

Time to judge!

kefke Oh, a very unusual take from the picture, I like that. Accompanied with a fittingly dreamy flavour. The card effect however is pretty unimpressing because it's way overcosted and/or really not impactful as a single effect.

Tesagk That's a very cool card, I like this Portal subtheme (although I would have thought about restricting the ability to sorcery speed). However, it is way too powerful in my opinion: The first two abilities already make this better than Rupture Spire which, while not a really powerful card itself, shouldn't be improved that much (maybe a ilittle life gain or something similar, but not that you don't have to pay 1 which is a huge factor). The other abilities, while certainly nice and requiring a little bit build-around, push this card even more.

Flo00 I thought about whether I should take using no render into negative consideration, but ultimately decided not to, because 1) I can and will just imagine the whole picture on this card and 2) I don't know and am am not fond of having to cotton on to the possible reason(s) as to why one doesn't use renders. Maybe it's just that the person has to post per handy or whatever, and a negative consideration would then be a little bit unfair.
To the card: I like it very much, it conveys many flavours of the picture into one coherent solution. At first I wanted to give the tiny critique that the plant in the art doesn't convey a plant that is able to attack, but I looked it up and found Snapping Creeper which implies that it's roots and vines can be used to actively attack enemies. So, with a tiny stretch of imagination, this is nothing.

amuzet Also a pretty unique take on the picture and backed up by flavour seeping into synergistic effects. However, the use of hybrid mana is wrong here. Everything this card does can be pure green or, if you take the black land-in-graveyard flavour, black-green, but never pure black. A normal 1BG would fit way better.

viriss A lovely card, a straight-forward effect, I like it. Nothing extravagant, but very solid. I like imaging that the person in the art marvels at the bloom, not realizing that his/her body could add to the marvelous beauty he appreciates.

ameisenmeister A Locus lord, kind of, nice. It excites imaginations about the possibilities of various Locus effects while also being grounded in normal playability with the choice to fetch basic lands. One critique would be that the descripton of Locusts as being "Created by Memnarch to observe his imported creatures, [and] were later taken over by the Praetors of New Phyrexia" really not matches with your card's flavour. Locusts are tied very much to Mirrodin (up to now) and more importantly, are artifical objects.

Xenozfan2 I appreciate the reflection to Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth not only in the effect but also in that the original marks the end of a big bad with his influence still corrupting the land, twisting it with pollution, and this version marks the new beginning of a land which was badly influenced by another big bad and now pushing the corruption back. However, I will refer to my remark on Flo00 that without render, I will just take the whole picture into consideration. And then this effect of pure green, pure forest doesn't really match with the dreamy/ethereal/creepy atomsphere the art conveys. Also, Zendikar doesn't have these celestial objects depicted in the artwork. This kind of effects is pretty dependant on flavour to fill the lack of playability, but it really matches here at first glance.





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Tesagk Well, I have to say that even if you had removed everything Portal-related from this card, I still would have found it a little bit too powerful... as I said, comparing it to Rupture Spire which is a good (albeit not a great) card where I could only justify adding a ETB lifegain or similar small benefit, the removed "pay clause" would already a bit steep for me. I am probably a little bit conservative regarding power level Also, as the Portal subtheme would have to be big enough to justify it's existence in a set, I already can see at least a little bit how it would play out, so don't worry too much about that. But as you said, outside of power level I really like this card both for it's flavour and effects.

The human’s desire for the wonders of the world gets teared open by the grey grip of everyday prison. Some clutch to it and follow the call of a distant city, a city that is a patchwork of people and creatures, relicts and machinery, enchanted corners and angles of any kind.
Merchants and inhabitants alike use it as a hub from where they swarm out in search for novelty, and keepsakes brought back are added to the marvelous city storm. Everchanging, the quarter itself stays a endless meal for the hunger of curiosity.
The lands of the wide world are courts filled with wonders, and this is it’s palace- it has become the patchwork for the torn desire.







So, game-play wise I considered the possibility of being able to get lands to the hand for   too strong, but didn’t want to have 40% of the exiled cards being completely dead weight, so I substituted with the third ability.
Also, I wanted to generate a mechanical distinction between the land and everything non-land-y it can get to back up the flavour of a home seperated to the sought out outside world, and the mechanical connection of exiled lands still giving benefits to back up the flavour of the outside world’s essence incorporated by bringing keepsakes home.


EDIT: Flo00 With your honesty you brought a dilemma upon me: should you now be the only person where I have to factor not using a render in or should I still don't do it because it would only punish honesty? The knowledge you gave is a curse! 

Judging tomorrow!

Boogymanjunior: You were not the only one complaining about this, I'll just get over my lazyness

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