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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Carl
Spoiler: MZ-014-01
Show
https://i.imgur.com/9eXJbF7.jpg
Since i'd done the lower ranks thematically it made sense to make the Commander of the troops. The Dragon bit is a pure set focused thematic thing. Very, very tentative cost, Double Strike and haste where there to play up the red aspect as i wanted it in all the colours of it's thematic faction. Indestructible was to fit with the idea that he/she is supposed to be able to take a dragon on alone. And as a commander in a white theme i felt having it provide one of it's keywords to the troops made sense. of the options DOuble Strike felt like the less insane one over Indestructible, (the 3rd one allready provides vigilance and haste felt super redundant). But well a 4/4 flying body with double strike and indestructible is no easy thing to price up. I pretty much used Avacyn as a reference as she's the closest thing i could think of, knocking a mana off for the tri colour aspect, (i also went green heavy mostly for a combinaition of thematic reasons and limiting degenerate possibilities.
That last ability is confusing. Firstly a minor point, having the similar named mechanics (Empower and Endow) in the same set isn't helping anything, especially as both deal with the same subset of cards. Secondly what are you repeating twice? Everything, including the dragon exile part? Just the Empower Endow part? Just the Endow bit? I think you mean the Endow empower part, but am not sure. I also think you want the Endow to happen after the player actually uses the Empower and not while resolving the ETB. I think the following would work but I'm not entirely happy with it.
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may exile target Dragon. If you do Endow, then Empower. When you next Empower, Endow then Empower again.
Strictly speaking this probably triggers the reflexive part when you set up the delayed triggers and not when you actually use .
On that note I also think Empower has some memory issues, if you have multiple empowers triggering it could get complicated tracking how many you have at any given time. I'd probably change it to creating a token that can be sacrificed to copy the blessing. This would end up making the above card have an ablity something like
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may exile target Dragon. If you do Empower three times(Create three empower enchantment tokens with "Sacrifice this:Copy the activated ability of a Blessing you control). When you sacrifice those tokens, Endow.
Lastly, I know they are only commons but Blessing seem underwhelming and extremely parasitic. I'd look towards energy where most of the cards that required it, gave you enough to use them at least once. I'd definitely have them come in untapped. Oh and Wizards tends not to have rules text explicitly tied to subtypes any more so the tapped text should stay on the card as actual rules.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
My friends and I, back in college, made up card concepts for each other that were to suit our playstyles and personalities. They'd transform under certain circumstances.
One I was particularly fond of was one I made for my wife:
Spoiler: Kel, the Kind/the Mad
Show
Kel, the Kind:
GGB1
Legendary Kithkin Druid
1/5
Hexproof
Other creatures you control have Trample.
When another creature you controls is targeted by an effect that an opponent controls, transform Kel at the end of the turn.
"Alright, everyone play fair now, 'kay?
************Transformed***********
Kel, the Mad
Colors are Red/Blue
Legendary Kithkin Barbarian
5/1
Unblockable
Other creatures you control have Shroud.
"'Kay, NOW I'm mad!"
And one a friend made for me:
Spoiler: Z, Saint of Mercy/the Redeemer
Show
Z, Saint of Mercy
Legendary Human Cleric
WWG2
3/3
When an enemy creature dies from combat damage from one of your creatures, it instead enters the battlefield under your control.
Tap: Target creature must attack or block this turn.
On your upkeep, when there are no creatures on your side of the battlefield, return Z from the graveyard to the battlefield, transformed and with Haste.
"Everyone deserves forgiveness,..."
************Transformed***********
Z, the Redeemer
Legendary Demon Cleric
Colors are White/Black
3/3
At the start of your combat phase, each opponent chooses one creature from their graveyard. Those creatures enter the battlefield under your control, tapped and attacking their respective owners.
Tap: Regenerate
When a creature you control dies, instead exile it.
"...provided enough penance."
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Man_Over_Game
Spoiler: Z, Saint of Mercy/the Redeemer
Show
Z, Saint of Mercy
Legendary Human Cleric
WWG3
3/3
When an enemy creature dies from combat damage from one of your creatures, it instead enters the battlefield under your control.
Tap: Target creature must attack or block this turn.
On your upkeep, when there are no creatures on your side of the battlefield, return Z from the graveyard to the battlefield, transformed and with Haste.
"Everyone deserves forgiveness,..."
************Transformed***********
Z, the Redeemer
Legendary Demon Cleric
Colors are White/Black
3/3
At the start of your combat phase, each opponent chooses one creature from their graveyard. Those creatures enter the battlefield under your control, tapped and attacking their respective owners.
Tap: Regenerate
When Z dies, instead Exile it.
"...provided enough penance."
Damage doesn't kill things. That's why Sengir Vampire's ability is worded the way it is
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Androgeus
Damage doesn't kill things. That's why
Sengir Vampire's ability is worded the way it is
So it instead should be something like:
"When a creature dies after being dealt combat damage from a creature you control"
?
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Carl
Ok said i'd throw out a few blessings:
I'd shorten the boilerplate.
If it has "Untap only with Endow", you don't need to also say that it doesn't untap during untap steps.
Also, why does it enter tapped?
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Spoiler: Duel
Show
W
Instant
Target creature gains Provoke and Protection from None-Legendary until end of turn.
"Only the greatest hero could slay such a man."
Spoiler: Emperor Yato
Show
3WW
Legendary Human Samurai
Protection from None-Legendary
5/1
"The emperor was too radiant to look upon, but too fragile to pick a rose."
Spoiler: Warring States
Show
3R
Legendary Enchantment Saga
I-Destroy all other Legendary permanents.
II- All creatures gain "This creature must attack if able" until your next upkeep.
III- Create a 5/5 indestructible Legendary Shogun creature token under control of the player with the most life.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tvtyrant
Legendary Enchantment Saga
I-Destroy all Legendary permanents.
Destroy all other Legendary permanents?
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bucky
Destroy all other Legendary permanents?
Haha oops. Fixed.
The card is supposed to replicate the "assassinate the political rivals, there is a civil war, a leader emerges" pattern. I also considered just making everyone attack twice, and then make a shogun.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Androgeus
That last ability is confusing. Firstly a minor point, having the similar named mechanics (Empower and Endow) in the same set isn't helping anything, especially as both deal with the same subset of cards. Secondly what are you repeating twice? Everything, including the dragon exile part? Just the Empower Endow part? Just the Endow bit? I think you mean the Endow empower part, but am not sure. I also think you want the Endow to happen after the player actually uses the Empower and not while resolving the ETB. I think the following would work but I'm not entirely happy with it.
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may exile target Dragon. If you do Endow, then Empower. When you next Empower, Endow then Empower again.
Strictly speaking this probably triggers the reflexive part when you set up the delayed triggers and not when you actually use .
On that note I also think Empower has some memory issues, if you have multiple empowers triggering it could get complicated tracking how many you have at any given time. I'd probably change it to creating a token that can be sacrificed to copy the blessing. This would end up making the above card have an ablity something like
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may exile target Dragon. If you do Empower three times(Create three empower enchantment tokens with "Sacrifice this:Copy the activated ability of a Blessing you control). When you sacrifice those tokens, Endow.
Lastly, I know they are only commons but Blessing seem underwhelming and extremely parasitic. I'd look towards energy where most of the cards that required it, gave you enough to use them at least once. I'd definitely have them come in untapped. Oh and Wizards tends not to have rules text explicitly tied to subtypes any more so the tapped text should stay on the card as actual rules.
Ouch good catches on the way i worded that. I got caught out there.
And yeah memory is a concern i admit.
Power level with the blessings is somthing i've kept deliberately low. There's nothing requiring you to use them when you endow and they're instant speed, thats a lot of potential effect spam and i recognised the potential for issues there. Whilst it's not set in stone i've currently got around 25% of the card slots set aside for blessing in the various colour combinations. The entering untapped and having no alternate way to untap, ( did consider letting you pay say their casting cost again at your untap step to let them untap), came from a similar line of thinking. It opens up the ability to have access to some extremly spammy instant speed effects that you can defer the mana payment onto a previous turn. Also if you could untap them by paying mana it could create some excessively complex board states with so many effects that can be triggered off that it would get confusing to track fast.
Certainly though letting them enter untapped isn't a complete deal breaker in that respect, but it's probably going to push up the mana cost a little.
Keyword similarity was a concern but i can alter that at a later date when i dig out a thesaurus. Thats the nice thing about the set editor, when i change a keyword i don't have to edit quite so much text.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bucky
I'd shorten the boilerplate.
If it has "Untap only with Endow", you don't need to also say that it doesn't untap during untap steps.
Also, why does it enter tapped?
I covered the enter tapped part above, but your suggestion works, i just decided to explicitly state everything in case there was some edge case i needed to account for. I've been caught out by little details before.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tvtyrant
Spoiler: Duel
Show
W
Instant
Target creature gains Provoke and Protection from None-Legendary until end of turn.
"Only the greatest hero could slay such a man."
Spoiler: Emperor Yato
Show
3WW
Legendary Human Samurai
Protection from None-Legendary
5/1
"The emperor was too radiant to look upon, but too fragile to pick a rose."
Spoiler: Warring States
Show
3R
Legendary Enchantment Saga
I-Destroy all other Legendary permanents.
II- All creatures gain "This creature must attack if able" until your next upkeep.
III- Create a 5/5 indestructible Legendary Shogun creature token under control of the player with the most life.
Duel doesn't do what it looks like it's meant to - Provoke only makes a creature block it 'if able' so you can't provoke a non-legendary creature with this for a Rabid Bite effect because it would be an illegal block. Functionally this card is pretty much a Gods' Willing.
Emperor seems solid but doesn't look like a very White card. 5/1 makes him look more RW.
Warring States is a cool card, but playing it doesn't really help the caster much unless you can reliably expect your opponent to have a lot of legendary permanents.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gauntlet
Duel doesn't do what it looks like it's meant to - Provoke only makes a creature block it 'if able' so you can't provoke a non-legendary creature with this for a Rabid Bite effect because it would be an illegal block. Functionally this card is pretty much a Gods' Willing.
Emperor seems solid but doesn't look like a very White card. 5/1 makes him look more RW.
Warring States is a cool card, but playing it doesn't really help the caster much unless you can reliably expect your opponent to have a lot of legendary permanents.
Okay, I'll change it to "can only be blocked by one creature" instead of unblockable.
3WR seems fair.
It feels a little clunky for sure. I will rewrite it later.
Thank you for the help!
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Spoiler: Epidemic
Show
BB3
Sorcery
Each creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn for each creature in play that shares a creature type with it.
I've always hated tribal decks.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Man_Over_Game
I've always hated tribal decks.
I, on the other hand, love tribal decks.
Spoiler: Except Squirrels.
Show
Forgotten Factory of Horrific Wonders
Legendary Land- MR
As ~ enters the battlefield, choose a creature type.
Q, sacrifice a creature not of the chosen type: Create a colorless 2/2 token artifact creature of the chosen type.
I actually like squirrel tribal.
Does this make me a bad person?
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Laughing Dog
Forgotten Factory of Horrific Wonders
Legendary Land- MR
As ~ enters the battlefield, choose a creature type.
Q, sacrifice a creature not of the chosen type: Create a colorless 2/2 token artifact creature of the chosen type.
Well, that makes you Dr. Robotnik. So...yeah?
To me, it generally feels like they lack creativity or adaptability.
There's a few tribals that do interesting things I've seen (like there's a Wizard commander that makes temporary copies of Wizards that you summon, to fuel sacrifice or ETB effects, but obviously lacks synergy with Legendaries), but most are about as simple as "Play cards on curve" and that's about as complex as it gets. And power without effort rubs me the wrong way. Like the deciding factor of who wins is roughly "You built a deck!", and then just hoping you happened to build the deck that is relevant in this game.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Man_Over_Game
Well, that makes you Dr. Robotnik. So...yeah?
May I sig this please?
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Laughing Dog
May I sig this please?
Hell yeah.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Years ago I had an idea for a mechanic, Spellmorph.
You may play the card face-down as a 2/2 creature for 3 mana. You may then pay the Spellmorph cost as an Instant to flip it over and have the spell resolve normally.
Not at my computer, so none of my carefully balanced examples are close by. But here is a one off the top of my head.
Spoiler: Example
Show
Spark-bite (2)(R)
Instant
Spellmorph (2)(R)(R)
Deal 3 damage to target creature or player. Draw a card.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Not sure if I like that card as a Spellmorph. It's relevant without the special trait for 3 CMC. There's just not much reason you'd spend 3 mana to play it facedown just to spend 4 mana to flip it when you could normally just spend 3 to zap something.
Flip the costs, and I could see it work. So it costs a lot normally, has a high cost when you morph and spellmorph it in the same turn, but doing the latter means you can split the costs between two turns.
Or something like a cost of RRRR, spellmorph cost of R2.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
lightningcat
Years ago I had an idea for a mechanic, Spellmorph.
You may play the card face-down as a 2/2 creature for 3 mana. You may then pay the Spellmorph cost as an Instant to flip it over and have the spell resolve normally.
Not at my computer, so none of my carefully balanced examples are close by. But here is a one off the top of my head.
Spoiler: Example
Show
Spark-bite (2)(R)
Instant
Spellmorph (2)(R)(R)
Deal 3 damage to target creature or player. Draw a card.
Deal 3 draw a card seems strong for 3 on an instant as is. If you want to make the morph make sense you might make it a sorcery, so the morph allows you to instant speed cast what is normally a sorcery.
Example:
Spoiler: Pump
Show
Pump G
Sorcery
Target creature gets +2/+4 until end of turn
Spellmorph (you may play this card as a creature card for 3. You may exile it and then cast it from exile at any time by paying G)
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
So, I was mucking around with a way to do Madness again in a more interesting way than just "Discard this and it's cheaper". I came up with semi-madness split cards:
Spoiler
Show
Back 2U
Sorcery C
Return target creature to its owner's hand. Draw a card.
//
Beyond
U Sorcery C
Madness 2UU
Counter target spell. If that spell is countered in this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard.
Center 1R
Sorcery U
Center deals 4 damage to target creature without flying.
//
Gravity
R Sorcery U
Madness 2RR
Gravity deals 4 damage to each creature with flying.
Delusions 2RR
Sorcery U
Each creature deals damage equal to its power to itself.
//
Grandeur
U Sorcery U
Madness 3UU
Until end of turn, creatures you control get +1/+1 and have flying and “Whenever this creature deals combat damager to a player, draw a card.”
Hour 4UU
Sorcery R
Take an extra turn after this one. Exile Hour.
//
Need
R Sorcery R
Madness XRR
Create X 1/1 red human creature tokens.
Loss 1R
Sorcery C
Destroy target artifact.
//
Consciousness
U Sorcery C
Madness 1UU
Draw two cards.
Love 1R
Sorcery C
Target creature gets +2/+2 and gains haste until end of turn.
//
Money
R Sorcery C
Madness 2R
Create 3 artifact tokens called Treasure with “T, Sacrifice Treasure: Add one mana of any color.”
Nick 2RR
Sorcery R
Gain control of target nonland permanent until end of turn. Untap it. It gains haste until end of turn.
//
Madness 3UUU
Return all nonland permanents your opponents control to their owner’s hands.
Plan UU
Sorcery U
Return target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand.
//
Action
R Sorcery U
Madness RR
Copy target instant or sorcery spell with converted mana cost 4 or less.
Seal 3UU
Sorcery C
Put target nonland permanent into its owner’s library third from the top.
//
Approval
U Sorcery C
Madness U
Target creature gains hexproof until end of turn.
Token 1UU
Sorcery U
Create a token that's a copy of target creature.
//
Affection
U Sorcery U
Madness 3UU
Gain control of target creature.
Voice 1R
Sorcery C
Voice deals 1 damage to each creature your opponents control.
//
Reason
U Sorcery C
Madness 1U
Scry 1, then draw a card.
Winds U
Sorcery C
Target creature gains flying until end of turn.
//
Change
U Sorcery C
Madness 2U
Exchange control of two target creatures.
Is this viable? Do these cards feel cool and playable? Are they priced reasonably?
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Unavenger
So, I was mucking around with a way to do Madness again in a more interesting way than just "Discard this and it's cheaper". I came up with semi-madness split cards:
Spoiler
Show
Back 2U
Sorcery C
Return target creature to its owner's hand. Draw a card.
//
Beyond
U Sorcery C
Madness 2UU
Counter target spell. If that spell is countered in this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard.
Center 1R
Sorcery U
Center deals 4 damage to target creature without flying.
//
Gravity
R Sorcery U
Madness 2RR
Gravity deals 4 damage to each creature with flying.
Delusions 2RR
Sorcery U
Each creature deals damage equal to its power to itself.
//
Grandeur
U Sorcery U
Madness 3UU
Until end of turn, creatures you control get +1/+1 and have flying and “Whenever this creature deals combat damager to a player, draw a card.”
Hour 4UU
Sorcery R
Take an extra turn after this one. Exile Hour.
//
Need
R Sorcery R
Madness XRR
Create X 1/1 red human creature tokens.
Loss 1R
Sorcery C
Destroy target artifact.
//
Consciousness
U Sorcery C
Madness 1UU
Draw two cards.
Love 1R
Sorcery C
Target creature gets +2/+2 and gains haste until end of turn.
//
Money
R Sorcery C
Madness 2R
Create 3 artifact tokens called Treasure with “T, Sacrifice Treasure: Add one mana of any color.”
Nick 2RR
Sorcery R
Gain control of target nonland permanent until end of turn. Untap it. It gains haste until end of turn.
//
Madness 3UUU
Return all nonland permanents your opponents control to their owner’s hands.
Plan UU
Sorcery U
Return target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand.
//
Action
R Sorcery U
Madness RR
Copy target instant or sorcery spell with converted mana cost 4 or less.
Seal 3UU
Sorcery C
Put target nonland permanent into its owner’s library third from the top.
//
Approval
U Sorcery C
Madness U
Target creature gains hexproof until end of turn.
Token 1UU
Sorcery U
Create a token that's a copy of target creature.
//
Affection
U Sorcery U
Madness 3UU
Gain control of target creature.
Voice 1R
Sorcery C
Voice deals 1 damage to each creature your opponents control.
//
Reason
U Sorcery C
Madness 1U
Scry 1, then draw a card.
Winds U
Sorcery C
Target creature gains flying until end of turn.
//
Change
U Sorcery C
Madness 2U
Exchange control of two target creatures.
Is this viable? Do these cards feel cool and playable? Are they priced reasonably?
I like the ideas, I don't like how the Madness effects are the ones that you'd be wanting to play on an enemy's turn. That's a major problem, as it means that:
- You need to have mana untapped at the end of your turn (risky, if enemies don't play into your gambit. Basically the same reason Blue Decks have a hard time with non-mill win conditions)
- You need to spend resources on an enemy's turn to cause you to discard (many self-discard effects are Sorceries)
For example, you need to consider, realistically, how someone would be able to spend 4 mana on an enemy's turn to counter a spell, while ALSO forcing themselves to discard a card at the same time that someone is casting an important spell.
It's easier to force yourself to discard on your own turn, and it's easier to spend more mana on your own turn. That's why a lot of Madness effects are cheaper, because you're already spending mana/resources to force yourself to discard in the first place.
For a good rule of thumb, imagine the requirement to discard a card costs an additional 2-3 mana. That is, a R2 Madness effect really costs about R4 or R5, and the effect should represent as such.
Still, you have a few options:
- Make the Madness effects cheaper. This allows you to make a discard effect in the same turn.
- Make the effect MUCH more powerful. If it's an effect that needs to take place on an enemy's turn, and you want it to be expensive, then it needs to be GOOD. Like, "Counter a spell and exile it. Search your opponent's hand and library for copies of that card and exile them too" levels of good.
- Provide its own means for discard (like maybe through Cycling). This reduces the effective cost of the Discard effect needed for Madness by 1-2 CMC. Or, in other words, the aforemented R2 example now costs roughly R3 or R4. This is because the value of a card is roughly 2 CMC, and you don't need to spend a card to force you to get the Madness effect if the Discard effect doesn't have to come from a separate card.
Or, to put another way, look at all of the Madness costs of all of those cards. Now add (2) to all of them, and determine whether they need to become cheaper, or if they need to be buffed. If they can Discard themselves (like with Cycle), reduce that (2) to (0) and recalculate from there.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Man_Over_Game
Basically the same reason Blue Decks have a hard time with non-mill win conditions
I don't understand this sentence.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ninjaman
I don't understand this sentence.
Blue's big, cliché thing is keeping someone from being able to play important cards. In order to do so, they have to keep resources open and available. However, while you left your mana open, there's a chance that the enemy won't put himself in a position where the blue player can effectively disrupt things, either by playing cheaper cards (so the blue player ends up being at a loss), or finding means of spending resources that don't allow the blue player to interact (like avoiding casting spells, but still spending mana). In the best-case scenario, the Blue player spends 3 mana and a card to force the enemy to spend 4+ mana and a card. But that's often not always the case. The blue player often ends up having excess mana that he can't use, while other players do not. So while the Blue player spends maybe 50% of their mana contributing towards their board state, the enemy player is spending 100% towards theirs and occasionally gets a big thing in when the blue player can't respond (like if the blue player can't counter a specific card for some reason).
So while the Blue player waits, the other player is playing (and occasionally failing due to the Blue Player). I personally think that Mill was added as a mechanic to provide Blue a win condition that is unique to them that often works without needing constant investment (as blue players often have to focus on saving mana for reactive effects). After all, a blue player can always hope to stall the game long enough for their opponent to run out of cards, just like how a green player can hope to eventually tick off enough damage to win with enough creatures.
Of course, there are other ways of playing blue that doesn't involve milling or counter effects, but those are the two most common playstyles.
In regards to the Madness effect that the post is about, there's a big difference between "Playing big stuff" and "Waiting to react with big stuff". There's always the chance that you're saving your mana to play...nothing. And that's worse than playing something to have it be countered (as at least then, you had a chance of success in the best case scenario, and you made your opponent lose a card in the worse case scenario). Most of the Madness effects listed are ones that you'd want to play on your enemy's turn, and having the mana needed to play a Madness effect on your enemy's turn, on top of a discard effect to make the Madness happen, is extremely expensive and a massive risk. You're looking at 2 cards, with highly circumstantial requirements (the discard effect HAS to be instant, cheap and relevant), meaning you're ending your turn with about 6 mana untapped and potentially wasted, when you could just be playing things for guaranteed value (or roughly equal loss for you and your enemy, in the case of counters).
It boils down to "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush", and both counter-blue and off-turn Madness effects are the "two in the bush".
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
I don't really see how the fact they're split cards and the fact they're madness cards meaningfully interact in a way that counterbalances the real estate you lose.
Aftermath is simply "split cards and Flashback combined", but the point of that combination is that you can play both halves of the card that way, in a particular order, and they can be designed such that the effects work together. They're named "X to Y" because that describes the order in which they're played. The naming theme here appears to be "X of Y", but why is one half of the card "of" the other? They don't interact.
These are essentially vanilla split cards, except more annoying to use. Moving the mana cost from the top right into the text box (via Madness keyword) when real estate is already sparse due to the card being half the size doesn't help matters.
Regular split cards (as opposed to Fuse and Aftermath), while lacking synergy, have the advantage of true flexibility since they don't require your deck to have tons of Madness enablers to play either half. There's a delightful simplicity and symmetry in cards like Wear/Tear that isn't present in your concept.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Man_Over_Game
-snip-
I think you misunderstood me. I know how control decks work. Referring to control decks as "blue decks" is a bit weird though, as most control decks play other colors along with blue. Actual mono blue decks are actually often tempo decks or combo decks.
My point, that I should probably have made more clear, was that you are wrong. Blue does not have an issue with non-mill win conditions, especially not since most decks play at least two colors, so you can play win conditions of your other color. Also, mill often isn't very competitive, so often it will have a harder time with mill win-conditions than with other win conditions.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Man_Over_Game
[*]You need to have mana untapped at the end of your turn (risky, if enemies don't play into your gambit. Basically the same reason Blue Decks have a hard time with non-mill win conditions)[*]You need to spend resources on an enemy's turn to cause you to discard (many self-discard effects are Sorceries)[/LIST]
It's easier to force yourself to discard on your own turn, and it's easier to spend more mana on your own turn. That's why a lot of Madness effects are cheaper, because you're already spending mana/resources to force yourself to discard in the first place.
For a good rule of thumb, imagine the requirement to discard a card costs an additional 2-3 mana. That is, a R2 Madness effect really costs about R4 or R5, and the effect should represent as such.
So, I disagree with basically all of this.
One of the most obnoxious decks in the standard format right now is monoblue tempo. Blue does not have a problem with non-mill win conditions. Second off, blue decks in the current standard format are so powerful because they have the ability to, say, end-step Chemister's Insight if the enemy doesn't mill them.
Second of all, you don't usually need to spend resources to discard cards. Discarding cards is spending resources. It tends to cost around 1, 0, 0 if you can get creatures to ETB at instant speed, 0, 0, B or 0. Note that these are all from SOI, the last set to have madness.
Next off, madness costs on things that need to be done at instant speed to be effective are not always cheaper. The cheaper ones actually tend to be ones where it makes no tangible difference. Running Call the Bloodline or whatever is an opportunity cost, don'tchaknow? That's why you're allowed to get better effects (you'll notice that "jump through hoops to get a bolt in standard" is starting to be a common theme.)
Finally, there's the argument that if you're causing your card to, essentially, cantrip (because your baby Jace or any of the SOI T: draw 1 pitch 1 cards is allowing you to cast that spell and then draw a card) then you're actually winning out. One of the most amazingly fun decks I played in Magic Duels used this fun-loving creature to lob a bunch of spells at the enemy and their stuff while still having a full hand afterwards. Not possible with the counterspells, mind, but that's workable-with.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Unavenger
So, I disagree with basically all of this.
One of the most obnoxious decks in the standard format right now is monoblue tempo. Blue does not have a problem with non-mill win conditions. Second off, blue decks in the current standard format are so powerful because they have the ability to, say, end-step Chemister's Insight if the enemy doesn't mill them.
Second of all, you don't usually need to spend resources to discard cards. Discarding cards
is spending resources. It tends to cost around
1,
0,
0 if you can get creatures to ETB at instant speed,
0,
0,
B or
0. Note that these are all from SOI, the last set to have madness.
Next off, madness costs on things that need to be done at instant speed to be effective are
not always cheaper. The cheaper ones actually tend to be ones where it makes
no tangible difference. Running Call the Bloodline or whatever is an opportunity cost, don'tchaknow? That's why you're allowed to get better effects (you'll notice that "jump through hoops to get a
bolt in standard" is starting to be a
common theme.)
Finally, there's the argument that if you're causing your card to, essentially, cantrip (because your baby Jace or any of the SOI T: draw 1 pitch 1 cards is allowing you to cast that spell and then draw a card) then you're actually winning out. One of the most amazingly fun decks I played in Magic Duels used
this fun-loving creature to lob a bunch of spells at the enemy and their stuff while still having a full hand afterwards. Not possible with the counterspells, mind, but that's workable-with.
Odd you'd say that when the MTG design team themselves have stated that they specifically added certain cards to war of the spark and M20 to give blue more non-mill win conditions because it's an issue blue has historically.
Cards like Chemists Insight are onyl useful if they actually let you win the game. Drawing cards is not a win condition. Playing cards that enforce an alt win condition or deal damage to your opponent is and it's very hard for blue to maintain any kind of hard control and do damage because so much of their effort shave to be focused on counters and card draw to pull those counters. leaving them precious little mana or card free to do anything else. In fact of all the colour combo's mono-blue both personally and watching high level players play is the colour that seems to struggle the hardest. Now blue with black and white mixed in. I.e. Esper, thats one of the strongest decks at the pro level. But thats explicitly because of the multi-colour cards.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Weather has been killing me lately so not done much brewing but got a couple.
Spoiler: Doom Slayer
Show
https://i.imgur.com/Jr7HHgO.jpg
Yes doom 2016 inspired, but also cribbing a little off the god eternals as they really fit the feel. The rest was a good blend of speed and front loaded offence, (Doom 2016 is very much a kill or be killed type title), and a bit of a flavorful triggered ability.
Spoiler: Sky Otter
Show
https://i.imgur.com/cxCtQMA.jpg
Skybilz is a pro MTG player, (team Genji if you've never heard of her), and been watching a fair few of her streams lately and the addition of the cat to arena has led to a lot of joking about an otter being added to the age as it's her favorite animal as well as otter tribal. It's much too big to be pro viable but it's in 2 of ehr favirote colours doing things a number of her favorite cards do.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Carl
Weather has been killing me lately so not done much brewing but got a couple.
Spoiler: Doom Slayer
Show
https://i.imgur.com/Jr7HHgO.jpg
Yes doom 2016 inspired, but also cribbing a little off the god eternals as they really fit the feel. The rest was a good blend of speed and front loaded offence, (Doom 2016 is very much a kill or be killed type title), and a bit of a flavorful triggered ability.
Spoiler: Sky Otter
Show
https://i.imgur.com/cxCtQMA.jpg
Skybilz is a pro MTG player, (team Genji if you've never heard of her), and been watching a fair few of her streams lately and the addition of the cat to arena has led to a lot of joking about an otter being added to the age as it's her favorite animal as well as otter tribal. It's much too big to be pro viable but it's in 2 of ehr favirote colours doing things a number of her favorite cards do.
Both of those cards have way too much text.
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Re: MTG Share your Card Designs II
I don't think that's the biggest issue those cards have. Unless you were implying that removing basically all of the text, without replacement, is what you'd have to do to get Doom Slayer balanced. Maybe it gets to keep first strike.