Dominic Appleguard wrote:Seraphic Paragon (2WW)
Creature - Angel
Flying, Shroud
If a spell would target a creature you control, you may copy that spell, targeting Seraphic Paragon as though it did not have Shroud.
Remember: it is through unity that we are strong.
2/3
It seems a bit... odd to me. Mostly because Shroud doesn't seem to be around much anymore, so I haven't played much with it. It's ability seems pretty powerful though, to the point I would say it'd be a good 5 or even a 6 drop. Maybe make it a 2/4 to even out the higher mana cost. I just see it having potentially powerful interactions with cards like Common Bond or similar cards which target multiple creatures.
Also, the wording almost makes it sound like you can infinitely look the spell due to multiple castings of it. But I'm not sure how to better word it.
ZePancakes wrote:Unholy Crusade (2B)
Enchantment
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to an opponent, put a quest counter on Unholy Crusade.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Unholy Crusade has 4 or more quest counters, sacrifice Unholy Crusade and search your or your opponents graveyard for a creature and put it on the battlefield.
"What do these abominations fight for?"
"The bones beneath your feet."
My main issue with this card is the fact that it's black, but you want to have creatures out and attacking. A lot of them too. It might work better as a WB card. Like I could see it being a good card at 1WB, or maybe even just WB.
As for working, it seems fine for the most part. The only major change would be at the end. Shift it to "sacrifice ~ and put target creature from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control." For flavor reasons, I'd also recommend putting in the usual "This creature becomes a black zombie as well as it's other creature types" on there as well.
Utilitarian wrote:The issue is that if the spell doesn't do anything beyond prevent them from bouncing the creature, it's basically inferior to Ranger's Guile. The idea behind the spell is to PUNISH them for using a tempo play spell.
And being able to play any other creature card with a CMC equal to the bounced one could be a potentially big punishment. It also stays true to Green's desire to have creatures on the board. In the case I mentioned, I got rid of the entire bit about the specific creature coming back out since there doesn't seem (to me) to be a way to make that really flow well with the normal game.
Also calling a spell that "undoes" the effect of a spell as the same thing as a counter seems off to me. If that were true any spell that gave Protection to a creature is a counterspell. Boros Charm is a counter spell. Safe Passage is a counter spell. The aforementioned Ranger's Guile is a counterspell.
Except those don't undo the spell like the one you mentioned did. Those add a static effect, such as a damage shield, indestructability, or hexproof to a creature. Spells failing after that are a side-effect of those spells being cast, not a result. The spell you mentioned does just straight up undoes the effect by having it happen, and then just un-happen. In some cases this can be significantly stronger due to the number of ETB creatures out there.
Essentially I'm trying to mod the spell to work similar to a Trap spell, where the spell has a significantly powerful effect for its cost, but is only useful under fairly specific circumstances.
I agree that the wording is awkward on it but unfortunately there isn't a catch all term for "Removed from the battlefield but not put into your graveyard or exiled"
I added the clause for Ability because, again, Ranger's Guile provides that effect as well. It's gotta have something more than just stopping the unsummon/azorius charm or I'd just play Ranger's Guile or Sheltering Word.
Honestly, I just don't see a trap card being better than those cards unless it does something pretty absurd, and even then I'd rather play one of those two nine times out of ten. Again, giving something Hexproof at instant speed isn't directly intended to counter something, that's a side effect of it getting hexproof.
In fact, I'd rather just play one of those two to the version you presented most the time since it's effect is virtually the same as Sheltering Word with an ETB trigger thrown in. The only situation where it's strictly better is the same where it becomes too much depending on effect. Namely, an overloaded Cyclonic Rift. Since it's mass bounce, the original version (since it'd bring back all of your creatures) would just either A. Kill your opponent, or B. Give you a ton of life.