General Unstable Spoiler Unthread

Okay I'm gonna say it
Robo rosewater ask urza
Procedurally generated effects sounds like a really interesting idea! Generating them via machine learning is, sadly, too far above my scope.

Genius!
Which app are you planning on using?
Thank you! I was thinking of developing a small app myself. I may do it when I get some free time this Christmas, but I'm not very reliable! Also, don't expect something looking professional ,: D
 
I neeeeeeeeeeeed that!
You are the difference between me buying that foil Urza or not for the cube :)

Wow, that's some responsibility. What platform would you need it for?

EDIT: Okay, this took less time than expected.

Here you should be able to download an Android version of Urza: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d-_NJOyitzv67ewUqipDcKtCgKgsi_HT/view?usp=sharing

I used App Game Kit, which I found... weird, and haven't used it in ages, but it did the trick. It seems I would need a Mac to export as an iOS app.

As of now, Urza has three abilities for each button, all taken from the official Ask Urza. The pressed button's text is shown in red, so you can know you pressed the correct one (sorry, colorblind people, I will probably add something more in the future). Sometimes, when it chooses the same effect consecutively, it seems like nothing happened, but this will probably dissappear as abilities are added.

Also, some of the abilities could be generated with some randomization, for example, for creating a token, make it worth 10 points, with a point of strength being worth 1.5 points, a point of thoughtness 1 and a random ability from a given list 2, so you get a 3/2 flier, a 1/6 first striker, things like that (warning: balance of token power not considered for the example). It would also be cool to hear some ability ideas from you: as of now, I'm thinking about "Sacrifice all your permanents, then gain control of all permanents target player controls" or "Assemble a contraption for each card in your contraption deck", if you are into that.

EDIT 2: Updated link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h88IDSkMnA6X3F7LhEqJPO8CJdffXmCF/view?usp=sharing
 
So what (if any) cards from Unstable are people looking at? I have my eye on a few:

Amateur Auteur - An upgrade to Ronom Unicorn and Ancient Kami in most cubes due to the creature type. Shadows over Innistrad is my preference for the version.
Jackknight - I don't currently support the artifact aggro deck but I could see this set giving it a lot of support. This card seems pretty reasonable even with no Contraptions, although I expect you'd have to make that clear before a draft with new players.
Ordinary Pony - Similarly solid even without Augments but would need a note to that effect. I don't think I want this given I already have Resto Angel and Flickerwisp, but it's a pretty good alternative to Wisp in eg the double bounceland environment.
Blurry Beeble - I kind of like this more than Looter il-Kor. Being an artifact and able to block is relevant, and it's half the cost. How often will it have unblockable? In my meta, pretty frequently...I should get some glasses.
Clocknapper - Seems completely broken if you can reuse the enters the battlefield ability.
Crow Storm - This is the first one that I think I'd like to give a proper try. Empty the Warrens has always been on the cusp of playability and I think this being blue, 1 cheaper and making fliers is all very relevant, even if it only makes half as many.
Kindly Cognician - Another one I really like, although again the Contraptions call out may not be relevant.
Magic Word - I would instantly cut Claustrophobia or Curse of Chains for this if I ran them.
Spy Eye - Thieving Magpie hasn't been good enough for my cube in a long time, and generally this is going to be worse. The logistical problems it presents when everyone has the same sleeves are also worth considering. Also, my opponent played this against me at the release and the first thing he drew was my Spy Eye, so he was drawing more of my deck than I was.
Very Cryptic Command - We've talked about this a bit, but personally I don't really want to play any of the variant rules text cards as they present a bit of a headache for opponents who have to check which version it is every time it's played.
Extremely Slow Zombie - I'm pretty sure this card is terrible.
Hangman and Inhumaniac - These both seem like reasonable black aggro creatures that grow. Hangman a bit more, as you have some control over it.
Spike, Tournament Grinder - Depending on where you let her fetch from, this could let you play cards that are otherwise a bit overpowered.
Subcontract - I kind of like this as a Thoughtseize variant.
The Countdown is at One - The subgame starting at 1 life seems fun but honestly I think the effect is pretty lacklustre for the mana and given it will only work part of the time.
Super-Duper Death Ray - Love it
Target Minotaur - If you want a {1}{R} Prowess but Abbot of Keral Keep is too high power, he's an alternative.
Three-Headed Goblin - A pretty good finisher for {3}{R}{R}. Obviously insane with equipment or other pumps.
Earl of Squirrel - This is great on powerlevel alone, and the token anthem effect is a nice side effect. Best friends with Deranged Hermit.
Squirrel Dealer - Two 1/1s for {G} is a great deal. This is another one I'm very high on for inclusion.
Baron von Count - I can't imagine he ever survives long enough to kill an opponent but he could be a sweet build-around. He doesn't really ask too much assistance from your deck.
The Grand Calcutron - No idea but I'd like to try it
Grusilda, Monster Masher - Costing 5 and having no immediate benefit is a drawback, but her ability is very powerful if you get to untap.
Phoebe, Head of S.N.E.A.K. - I like this one a lot as well. Adding text boxes together is something that feels like it will enable a lot of infinite combos.
Urza, Academy Headmaster - The only card I've already added, Urza might be a bit too much randomness to always include but I have to think he'll at least make guest appearances every so often.
Angelic Rocket - This seems like a good alternative to Sundering Titan, which doesn't completely knock your opponent out of the game. 4/4 flier for 8 is poor stats though.
Modular Monstrosity - I like this quite a bit as well but it's not as good for newer or less invested players.
Split Screen - I didn't really pay much attention to this in the spoiler, but I watched the LRR preprerelease and someone had this in their deck and I was completely sold. At the very least it filters your draws a bit like a Sylvan Library, but in conjunction with any sort of library manipulation it becomes incredibly powerful. Imagine this with Sensei's Divining Top, Brainstorm, Courser of Kruphix/Oracle of Mul-daya, Coiling Oracle, Domri Rade or even Yet Another Aether Vortex for full unshenanigans. I'm definitely going to be trying this out.
Sword of Dungeons & Dragons - The trigger is great, even if you never roll 20. I don't know if I'd do the same with the other swords and cross out the protection on this. It's much less relevant but I might do for consistency.
Watermarket - If this could make a colourless for any use, I'd probably toss it in the ULD, but I don't have enough watermarked cards to make it playable.
 
My Unstable singles order appears to be in Post Office Hell currently, but I'm bringing in a ton of things, and have some others filed away for consideration later. Assuming I ever get my package, I'll be testing these cards a ton throughout the rest of the month, and my drafters are buzzing with excitement - we're big fans of silly things in cube here (one of which is just mad for goblins), so this set was gold for us. :D

Contraptions: I'll be giving these out either before or after the draft. I'll be testing out a ton of configurations for how we divvy these up, but my first try is going to be giving each player one faction's 9-card Contraption deck post-draft to utilize in conjunction with whatever assemblers they have drafted, if any. Since I'm angling towards lower-mid power, I think Contraptions will fit beautifully as a Planeswalker-esque effect here.

Jackknight - Looks great for artifact aggro, and should really shine with all the Contraption assembly.
Knight of the Kitchen Sink - The Protection from Two-Word Names version seems like it could be some silly good fun in a cube where the protection will kick in around 33% of the time.
Old Guard - Tappers are solid, and a 2/1 for 2 is already a fine rate before giving it the added bonus of artifact synergies. There will be turns this is just immediately fed to Riveting Rigger and recurred later off of Remember the Fallen or similar, which is a fine play to make.
Riveting Rigger - Very nice-looking Contraption assembler. Looking forward to sacrificing a Chromatic Star to get a 4/4 for 3 that gives me a free spell once every 3 turns, but even if I'm bumping off something less directly rewarding, it seems like a solid play.
By Gnome Means - A very fiddly durdle engine, and just the sort of pick I want to build around and use to bolster a control deck. Worth noting: By Gnome Means can create +2/+2 counters and -2/-2 counters, and we've determined to house rule that blaze counters (from Obsidian Fireheart) are functional when created by it, as well.
Aerial Toastmaster - The body is acceptable (if a bit on the weak side) given that there's not a ton of aerial competition in the cube already, but really, you're committing to this for the sake of Contraption assembly. Should be worthwhile; I expect Contraptions to perform very well here.
Midlife Upgrade - Even without targets, this gets us a free spell once every 3 turns for {3}{W}, and that's a very acceptable floor.

More or Less - This is a fantastic removal spell for blue, but also very noteworthy is that it allows some really wacky blowouts when you put it together with things like Level Up creatures, double-strikers, anthem effects, or scaling equipment.
Crafty Octopus - Sea Gate Oracle is very playable, and this can potentially be even better.
Crow Storm - This really only needs a storm count of 1 to be pretty sweet, and in a slower format like mine, it's possible to foresee sequencing out 3 or more. That it's a spell that produces tokens is sweet for some other decks, and it has some nice overlap with Rise from the Tides to cater to support Oops-All-Spells decks.
Spy Eye - My players were really excited for this one. The potential for shenanigans are sky-high, and Thieving Magpie was already pretty acceptable here.
Spell Suck - Dismiss, but with Contraptions, seems lovely.
Graveyard Busybody - This just seems like hilariously good fun. I was looking forward to interactions with Rise from the Tides and delve, but a quick trip to Simic in my cube provides jaw-dropping plays like Kessig Cagebreakers, Spider Spawning, Wildest Dreams, and more, all plays that were already pretty sweet for Simic already that go up in value big-time with this.
Five-Finger Discount - Supplant Form was already pretty brutal, but making it sorcery speed and requiring a re-cast seems plenty acceptable for the huge upside of what is functionally similar to an exile effect.
Incite Insight - This looks fantastic.

Hangman - This just has so much potential, and looks to be a premium 1-drop in my format.
Extremely Slow Zombie - I don't have big expectations for this, but I'm interested to see how it performs.
Inhumaniac - Similar high-potential card, and the +1/+1 counter synergies seem nice.
Steady-Handed Mook - Exceptionally nice. A deathtouch body that cantrips? Looks swell!

Wrench-Rigger - A 1-mana creature that cantrips and provides incidental artifact synergies! This has me foaming at the mouth to play Wort, Boggart Auntie.
Steamflogger Temp - Activated abilities reign supreme in my format, with cards like Kiku, Night's Flower running the table pretty regularly. 6 mana feels awfully high, and I'd have rather it be around 5, but I think this is going to be pretty serviceable.
Work a Double - Very comparable to Midlife Upgrade, I expect this to be a popular, high-impact card here.
Garbage Elemental - The version that assembles a contraption on ETB with Undying looks like a bucket of value, and is just the sort of impact I want on a 5-mana ETB creature.
Steamfloggery - see: Work a Double. There are gonna be times someone rolls a 1 on this and we all get a big laugh out of it.

Joyride Rigger - Shaman of Spring was already borderline playable, and bumping that body up to a Hill Giant is just dandy!
First Pick - This looks legit in my format now, with a great range of targets and an excellent payoff when it fires.

Cogmentor - 1/1 fliers for {1} tend to overperform, and the synergy potential is fantastic here.

The Grand Calcutron - I don't expect this to stick around forever, but my players were pretty high on it, so we're giving it a spin. Looks like a great way to encourage a proactive {W}{U} deck, and a fun twist on normal gameplay.
Grusilda, Monster Masher - Whether or not it fits your format, who isn't in love with this card? So much flavor, and so much potential.
 

Chris Taylor

Contributor
I've found extremely slow zombie to be pretty good in my games actually, though my format is a touch faster than average.

I kinda disagree on squirrel dealer, since basically as soon as your playgroup discovers that it's any good, it loses all it's abilities unless their opponent has been a dick recently :p
 
Re: squirell dealer, You can ask someone not in your play group, like a spouse etc., or even call someone. Doesn't specify in the room. Card seems cute
 

Chris Taylor

Contributor
https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/unstable-magic-math-green-and-multicolor/

If anyone hasn't been following Frank Karsten's excellent series about math behind unstable cards, give this a read. Learn the answers to excellent questions like:

What happens if you cast ol' buzzbark around with x equaling about 13 billion?
If you get attacked by infinity elemental after gaining life equal to its power, what should happen? What does Maro say will happen?
What happens when broodhatch nantuko takes pi damage?
Just how big will inhumaniac be after infinite upkteeps?
 
My Unstable inclusions because why not

Windmill Slams:

Any sword probably --> Sword of Dungeons & Dragons: Really liking a Sword without protection from entire colors, which is a mechanic I want to get out of my cube. The same raw power but with more interaction and more lawls.
Reflector Mage --> The Grand Calcutron: I like having another Standstill like effect (sort of) to push aggressive Ux decks.
Temporal Mastery or something --> Clocknapper: This is going to difficult to abuse in my cube without a blink theme, but there's a few things like Mimic Vat that could get there. I like a time walk that you can cast off of Alesha.
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver --> Phoebe, Head of S.N.E.A.K.: Ashiok has been way too powerful and too difficult to answer. I really like Ashiok and wanted to make them work but three mana walkers can only have so much loyalty and still be beatable. Pheobe might be a little underpowered though. I'll have to see how good stealing text boxes really is.

Worth Experimenting On:

Ineffible Blessing (Flavor version): Still not quite sold on this. It might be a nice combo with token makers, curving it into Hordeling Outburst could be fun.
Very Cryptic Command (Boomerang, Draw+Loot, Redirect, Turn to Morph): I want to replace my real Cryptic with this. Partly to finish building a Modern deck. Mostly because it feels like a really fun sidegrade.
Split Screen: Maybe I'll replace some random mana rock for this. Seems like a pretty fun effect, maybe a little slow. Turning a few draws into impulses is probably worth 4 mana.

Maybe dot dot dot question mark:

Baron Von Count: This probaby won't be killing anyone but it would be amazing if it did.
Earl of Squirrel: The power level just isn't there for a six drop but I would love to have Squirrellink in my cube.
Summon the Pack: Not sure how I would implement this but it looks sweet.
(Tag yourself I'm) Garbage Elemental (Cascade version): BBE with sort-of unblockable haste on ETB at 5cmc seems reasonable. Not sure I want the randomness of 1d6 damage or have anything to cut for it.
Crow Storm: I'm not really supporting storm right now but this is sweet.
 
I used App Game Kit, which I found... weird, and haven't used it in ages, but it did the trick. It seems I would need a Mac to export as an iOS app.

A bit confused :) How do I use the program? Do I need an Android phone or tablet in order to even install the program? Will it be possible for me to change the abilities?
 
A bit confused :) How do I use the program? Do I need an Android phone or tablet in order to even install the program? Will it be possible for me to change the abilities?

Sorry! I will explain better.
App Game Kit is a program for "easily" creating applications and then exporting them to Android, iOS or HTML5 (I don't know much about this last one) just clicking a button. This is the program I used, so I can get Urza in Android or iOS easily.
The link I posted is to an .apk file, which is just an Android application installer; if you download it in an Android device, you just need to execute the file and it will install the application. However, if you don't use Android... probably bad news, as I don't own a Mac. I could try to find someone with a Mac if you use iOS, just let me know.
About changing the abilities: they are in a .txt which comes with the application, but as I understand it, it ends up in an unaccesible location inside the phone. However, if you would like a custom Urza, you could just send me a file with the abilities and I would make the Urza for you. I know this is not the best, but it is what I have.
 
First off: Mega thanks!

Like super thanks right at your face :)

Second. I own an iPhone and a PC and I would love to get it to work on my devices but I would find it even more awesome if we could make it work for everyone and not just you and me.

I am almost positive I can find a Android-hack program that will make my PC believe it is an Android phone.

Thirdly I’m gonna return with a list of customized Urza abilities as soon as possible. Might not happen in 2017 though. Thank you again <3
 

Chris Taylor

Contributor
A customized list in the next 2 weeks is a tight deadline :p
I'm gonna check this out soon, I'm trying a 3 color urza in my cube soon (5c is just unmanageable in mine)
 
I hope it is all well explained in the included guide, but otherwise, ask anything.

Genius!

The User Guide is really excellently written. It's time to test it out now and I can't wait :)

Is it possible to completely remove the Spanish?
 
Genius!

The User Guide is really excellently written. It's time to test it out now and I can't wait :)

Is it possible to completely remove the Spanish?

It needs the spanish file to be there and at least have the numbers (1, 2, 3) in order to work. But you can use it ignoring completely the spanish file.
 
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