Design a Card

A place to talk about standard, casual, limited and everything in between.
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Re'ozul
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Re: Design a Card

Postby Re'ozul » 05 Jan 2016, 06:43

My biggest problem with wheel simply is its use on creatures. In 1v1 you give the opponent a free smash with your guy. In multiplayer it likely becomes just way too disadvantageous for you. Casting cost would have to be really cheap on these to justify utilizing them.
On Artifacts and enchantments though, this seems fine. Even Lands could work, perhaps allowing it to tap for 2 of that color if it is round. Everyone gets 1 extra mana for a turn, bt you then get to keep the ramp on your turn.

I could also see family as a theme on insect/wildlife tokens. There are simply too many established fog effects (even on sticks) to make the 1 to 1 exchange really viable. You'd really need a good counter-distribution based deck to run that effectively (undying being the foremost)

Idnar the Bookist: Feels more green than red to me, but works.
Though I'm wondering how that ability works with tutors that have "shuffle, then put on top of library". Since Idnar activates on shuffling I guess Idnar would then be put on first and the tutored card would still be on top?

Idnar's Husbandry:
I never know if specialized Wraths should cost more or less than general ones. Still, as sideboard card it works.
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Re: Design a Card

Postby SixFootTurkey » 05 Jan 2016, 22:38

Most of the cards since I last checked have a sillier bent. This is not a bad thing, it's just why I won't try to go into as much depth with any particular one. Two quick points I did have though:

1) If the reminder text of an ability word takes up 80% of the maximum allowable text box - with small text - it's probably a bit too complex.

2) "Round" would be an issue with how similar it sounds to "Renowned"; the previous instances of this have also both the keyword and the attribute sound very close together. (This helps with clarity as well as saving design space.)
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Re: Design a Card

Postby Asthanius » 06 Jan 2016, 08:12

I think it's important to keep the use of these cards in mind: They're going to be a gift to a family member to have fun with as pre-built decks. They're not going to be mixed together with cards that already exist.
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Re: Design a Card

Postby SixFootTurkey » 06 Jan 2016, 10:22

*Nod* Hence my attempt to limit feedback to a few general points regarding the discussion around the cards, rather than going in depth into the cards themselves.
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Aarhg
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Re: Design a Card

Postby Aarhg » 06 Jan 2016, 18:19

Classic ol' dragon. Thoughts?

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WP&P
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Re: Design a Card

Postby WP&P » 06 Jan 2016, 20:11

That dragon feels both over and under powered to me. The +5 boost feels like it goes past what a normal fire-breather would do, and the symmetry with stats also seems to impart more of a "doubler" effect than "boost" effect.

On the other hand, being a "Tyrant" yet only having conditional trample seems underwhelming. If it just straight up had Flying, Trample, then that would feel more tyrannical to me.

What if it just gained +X/+0, where X is equal to the number of creatures defending player controls minus the number you control? or X is equal to the number of creatures assigned to block it (trigger has to be when blocked)?

I think it could even be fine if you just let it be +3/+0, personally.
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TaiyouShinobi
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Re: Design a Card

Postby TaiyouShinobi » 21 Jan 2016, 22:47

Ok, here's a mechanic idea:

MECHNAME <Cost> (As you cast this spell or a spell that shares a card type with this spell, you may pay <Cost>. If you do, you may cast that spell as if it were/had [Faster Card Speed - e.g. an instant, had flash, had splitsecond, etc.]. If you use this effect on another spell, discard this card when that spell resolves.)

A) I don't know how to word this in a concise manner. Hopefully it's clear what this is supposed to do.

B) What color (if any) would this even be?

C) Is this too confusing/broken?

I was also considering another flavor of this that works similar to a counterspell, in that you use it to slow down a spell your opponent controls and returns it to their hand if the they would no longer be able to cast it at that step/phase (downgrade an instant to sorcery, loses flash, can only be played on its controller's turn. Whatever.)

Thoughts?

(Also, I like the dragon, but I am scared of a 10/5 flyer... Maybe do something like Desecration Demon where I can appease it by sacrificing something to it to avoid it's wrath. I think it would make it more tyrannical then.)
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Re: Design a Card

Postby SixFootTurkey » 23 Jan 2016, 20:52

A) I understand where you're coming from, but it may be doing a bit too much. (See kicker.)

B) Likely primary blue (instants/flash/quicken) and secondary green (flash; only found on creatures).

C) I'm not a huge fan of split second in general, and since WotC dislikes referencing the stack in general anymore, cutting it is an option. (Giving any instant you want split second seems problematic to say the least.)

'Slowing down' opponents spells on the other hand, seems _too_ limited. I can think of specific card designs (exile target spell, return it to its owner's hand at eot - need to make sure that can be done properly but I think it can), but there's not a lot of room to make soft counters - having 10+ soft counters in a set sounds horrifying.

Possibly just sorcery/permanent spells with 'You may cast this card as if it had flash if you pay [cost] (and discard a card that shares a type with it?).'

If you wanted something more in line with your original concept, I would probably go with '[Cost], Discard this card: The next spell you cast this turn may be cast as though it had Flash if it shares a type with ~name.' If you ignore split second and only put this on instants or spells that already have flash, then you don't even need to worry about varying 'speeds'. (I'll have to figure out how you would word this when I'm more awake, but my 2c for now.)

(Note that there aren't different 'cast speeds', so trying to say 'at a faster speed' becomes rather problematic; you just end up hard-coding it with some 'if-elseif's.)
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Re'ozul
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Re: Design a Card

Postby Re'ozul » 27 Jan 2016, 14:43

Spawning Bed (5)
Artifact
Whenever a creature you control would be put into your graveyard, you may exile it instead. If you do, put a number of mass counters on Spawning bed equal to that creature's toughness.
Remove any number of mass counters from spawning bed: Put an X/X colorless eldrazi drone token onto the battlefield where X is equal to half the number of counters removed, rounded down.

I am fully aware how ridiculous this is and yes tokens are supposed to be acceptable fuel.
Last edited by Re'ozul on 31 Jan 2016, 05:18, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Design a Card

Postby AdmiralMemo » 27 Jan 2016, 15:59

That is totally not what Spawning Bed does, though. :-P
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Re'ozul
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Re: Design a Card

Postby Re'ozul » 28 Jan 2016, 15:41

AdmiralMemo wrote:That is totally not what Spawning Bed does, though. :-P


Well, that is embarassing, especially since it just came out.
SixFootTurkey
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Re: Design a Card

Postby SixFootTurkey » 30 Jan 2016, 00:33

While I would have more to say regarding totally-not-spawning-bed, your last sentence will preclude any balance suggestions I might have or comments on having a single card recur creatures this well.

So, all I will say is this: make it 'a creature you control'.
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Re'ozul
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Re: Design a Card

Postby Re'ozul » 31 Jan 2016, 06:12

Done.

I've also been thinking about making D&D spells into MtG spells.

Mirror Image (1U)
Enchantment Aura
Multikicker 1U
Put a number of Image counters equal to 1 plus the number of times
Mirror Image was kicked onto enchanted creature.
Whenever enchanted creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls you may emove an image counter from enchanted creature, if you do, counter that spell or ability.

Grease (G)
Instant
Choose one:
- Unattach target equipment
- Target creature can not attack this turn

Sleep (U)
Enchantment Aura
Tap enchanted creature with converted mana cost 2 or less.
It does not untap during its controller's untap step.

Erase (U/B)
Instant
Counter target spell if that spell would allow a player to search their library.

Invisibility (1U)
Enchantment Aura
Enchanted creature gains hexproof and can not be blocked.
At the end of combat on any turn in which enchanted creature attacked, sacrifice invisibility.

Greater Invisibility (2UU)
Enchantment Aura
Fading 7
Enchanted creature gains hexproof and can not be blocked

Command Undead (1B)
Enchantment
When Command Undead enters the battlefield, gain control
of target creature until Command Undead
leaves the battlefield.
You may only target creatures with creature type spirit,
zombie, skeleton, vampire or wraith with this ability.

Explosive Runes (1UR)
Enchantment
Sacrifice explosive runes: Counter target spell or ability
that would allow its controller to search their library.
If a creature ability is countered that way, Explosive runes
deals 3 damage to that creature. Otherwise the damage is dealt
to that spell or ability's controller instead.

Wind Wall (2R)
Enchantment
Fading 5
Creatures with Flying can not attack.

Halt Undead (2B)
Enchantment
As halt undead enters the battlefield,
up to three target creatures gain defender until Halt Undead
leaves the battlefield.
You may only target creatures with creature type spirit,
zombie, skeleton, vampire or wraith with this ability.
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WP&P
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Re: Design a Card

Postby WP&P » 31 Jan 2016, 08:33

Some of these cards, especially "Sleep" and "Erase", have names that are already in use as MTG cards. The existing version of Sleep, in fact, is very similar in its effect yet a lot better, as it affects the entire team. So you might need to staple on adjectives or descriptors to your card names to make them unique, and then maybe also consider stapling on some additional effect(s) to make these cards more playable.

The wording on your Sleep could be cleaned up a bit:
"Tap enchanted creature with converted mana cost 2 or less.
It does not untap during its controller's untap step."
That kind of makes it seem like the enchantment imparts an activated (tap) ability. I'd phrase it as:

"Enchant a creature with converted mana cost of 2 or less.
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, tap the enchanted creature. That creature does not untap during its controller's untap step."

In terms of adding on effects to make a spell more playable, consider Wind Wall. I don't know the D&D spell, so maybe the way you have it is more "accurate", but wouldn't it be better if it was "Creature with flying can not attack YOU"? Or, you might also tack on "Attacking creatures get -1/-0." so that it isn't so conditional - that's probably venturing a bit far from the original spell idea.

A small thing, but I think you could reduce the base cost of Mirror Image to just U, and get rid of the "1 plus number kicked" wording, simplify it to number of counters = times kicked. So the real base cost of the spell is 1UU, which would kick it one time; for U you would get essentially no effect (you've still cast a spell and have an enchantment on a creature, both of which can matter).
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Re: Design a Card

Postby Aaron9797 » 01 Feb 2016, 10:18

Surrak Monastery Guardian 3UG 5/5 Human Monk

Flash, reach, vigilance

Creatures you control can't be blocked by more then one creature and can block creatures with menace alone.

whenever a creature you control blocks or becomes blocked and/or fights it gets +2/+2 until the end of turn.
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Re: Design a Card

Postby AdmiralMemo » 01 Feb 2016, 12:58

Way too powerful. Need to kick it down a notch, or kick the cost AND rarity WAY up.

Also, for this effect, I wouldn't say "can block creatures with menace alone"
I'd make it "Attacking creatures your opponents control lose menace."
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Aaron9797
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Re: Design a Card

Postby Aaron9797 » 02 Feb 2016, 10:31

admiramemo right i was trying to tell to many stories in a parallel reality monks are blue green. surrak has reach and flash to block and ambush dragons. he also forces your opponent to block one on one it would be odd if it was only one way so i added the block creatures with menace.
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Re: Design a Card

Postby SixFootTurkey » 06 Feb 2016, 00:22

I would probably just use the archetype wording of 'creatures your opponents control lose and can't have or gain menace'. There's already precedent for that type of wording, and it does the same thing (barring multi-player - which I believe 'that are attacking you' would fix).

A 5 mana 5/5 with flash, vigilance, and reach alone would be quite strong. Tacking two extra abilities (at least one of which is very relevant) on top of it... Pick whether you want the big body or the ability to be the focus, or ramp the cost up significantly. (Removing flash makes the second ability less bonkers insane.)
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Re'ozul
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Re: Design a Card

Postby Re'ozul » 19 Feb 2016, 04:48

Cartographer's Remembrance (1+UG hybrid)
Enchantment
Whenever you would discard a land, you may pay 1.
If you do, put that land onto the battlefield instead.

2+UG hybrid, sacrifice Cartographer's Remembrance: Return up to 2 target lands from your graveyard to the battlefield.
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Re: Design a Card

Postby Phi » 19 Feb 2016, 11:54

So I have an idea for a cool card, but the wording seems sub-optimal to me:

Demon of Thought
2UB, 2/4, Mythic
Legendary Creature - Demon
Flying
When Demon of Thought enters the battlefield, tap all creatures you don't control. Those creatures don't untap for as long as Demon of Thought is on the battlefield. Opponents may discard a card to untap target creature they control.
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Re'ozul
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Re: Design a Card

Postby Re'ozul » 19 Feb 2016, 15:28

Maybe:

When Demon of Thought enters the battlefield, tap all creatures opponents control. Creatures opponents control do not untap during their controller's untap step and gain "Discard a card: Untap this creature" as long as Demon of Thought remains on the battlefield.

Although unlike your original wording this one would allow interaction with shroud creatures.
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Re: Design a Card

Postby SixFootTurkey » 19 Feb 2016, 16:05

@Phi @Re'ozul - The wording feels a lot like a static ability tied into a trigger; either clean it so it is fully a trigger, or split it into a trigger and a static ability.

Cleaned up a bit:
"When ~ ETB, tap all creatures your opponents control. Those creatures don't untap during their controllers untap steps and gain "Discard a card: Untap this creature" for as long you control ~."

- Added 'Those [creatures]'; this gives proper functionality and specifies which creatures.
- Changed duration to as long as you control ~; minor tweak, but adds an additional means of interacting while cutting a few words.
- Added 'your [opponents]'.

Alternatively:
"When ~ ETB, tap all creatures your opponents control.

Creatures your opponents control don't untap during their controller's untap step.

Discard a card: Untap target creature. Only your opponents may activate this ability."

- I'm not sure if this is how you imagined it, but this is how I read the first iteration.
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Re: Design a Card

Postby WP&P » 19 Feb 2016, 20:08

Cartographer's Remembrance seems like it can be broken readily - each land that you bring into play with its first ability can fuel another activation, so all you need is a discard engine and a hand full of lands. You would then be able to flood out all your lands in one go, and bypass some limitations of certain lands to boot.

I would suggest that both of the card's abilities should bring lands into play tapped. Also, the two abilities kinda feel a bit like they should be two different cards... though I do wonder how often one will trigger the "whenever you discard a land" part. That might be a format mechanic, though, that this card supports.
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Re: Design a Card

Postby Phi » 02 Mar 2016, 15:04

New, fun card based on myself:

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Re: Design a Card

Postby WP&P » 02 Mar 2016, 17:00

Re: Vetur-

Oh, great, so now we need errata on all existing cards to tell us which of them are idiots? Is Tasigur an idiot?

And if one exiles something from outside the game, does that mean that it enters the battlefield?
What do model railroading and Magic: The Gathering have in common?
I don't have enough time or money for either!

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