General Designing Split Cards

[Ryan]

So I know that there's a split card cube floating around out there, meaning that every card that's in it is a split card made up from already existing MTG cards. I would love to make my own but I really want the split cards to be designed well. I think the rule of a split between permanent/spell is probably best just to keep things clear. I love the idea because it lets things like Counterbalance become a very viable cube card especially when tacked on to another awesome card. I figured I would toss this out in the pond and see what sort of fish we can catch.
Examples:
Squee, Goblin Nabob//Terramorphic Expanse
Mulch//Gigapede
Shivan Wumpus//Thunderous Wrath

First one I've come up with:
Argothian Wurm//Revenge of the Hunted

 

[CML]

Llanowar Elves / Wild Nacatl / Voice of Resurgence / Kitchen Finks / Huntmaster of the Fells / Wolfir Silverheart / Primeval Titan / Avenger of Zendikar / Craterhoof Behemoth

 

[Jason Waddell]

Did you forget Dryad Arbor?

 

[Dom Harvey]

Oh boy. I was working on a split-card Cube a few years ago, so I dug it out and listed some of the cards below (I was fine with permanent/permanent split cards, as it lets you do some truly bizarre things, but I can understand wanting to stay away for clarity's sake). Some of these were taken/adapted from the original split-card Cube, and I'll try to credit them (with a *) if I remember. As you can see, anything that lets you replay it or shift the card between zones (think dredge, suspend, madness, rebound, cycling, etc.) is massively abusable.

fetchlands*:
Flooded Strand//Momentary Blink
Polluted Delta//Mystical Teachings
Bloodstained Mire//Shambling Remains?
Wooded Foothills//Ancient Grudge?
Windswept Heath//Ray of Revelation?
Marsh Flats//Lingering Souls
Verdant Catacombs//Worm Harvest
Misty Rainforest//Tracker's Instincts
Scalding Tarn//Desperate Ravings
Arid Mesa//Firemane Angel?

cycling lands:
Secluded Steppe//Glory
Lonely Sandbar//Wonder
Barren Moor//Extractor Demon
Forgotten Cave//Anger
Tranquil Thicket//Genesis


Reach of Branches//Sakura-Tribe Elder (neverending Rampant Growths for 1G; you can replace STE with Dawntreader Elk or similar to make it fairer)
Survival Cache//Evangelize
Consuming Vapors//Persecute (forces opponent to either play out a guy and have to sac it or discard it anyway; Persecute is very strong in a format where even the lands have coloured spells attached to them)
Shattered Perception//Past in Flames (nice if you're supporting Storm; Perception fills the yard and tears through the deck, giving you material for PiF)
Roar of the Wurm//Krosan Tusker (standard value card)
Reanimate//Undead Gladiator (T2 cycle, T3 discard to recur + Reanimate)
Mystic Retrieval//Gifts Ungiven (lets you 'rig' your Gifts piles)
Lead the Stampede//Vengevine (Lead goes from MODO Cube trash to nuts in this Cube, and again fuels the other half here)
Firecat Blitz//Elsewhere Flask (a nice early-game cycler/late-game finisher that works with itself in a cute way)
Exile into Darkness//Blightning (you could find a mono-black discard spell to replace Blightning, but I like that it's a kill condition by itself this way)
Empty the Warrens//Grinning Ignus (obv)
Mind's Desire//Shrieking Drake; Brain Freeze//Dream Stalker (same; you could swap Desire and Freeze or add Temporal Fissure here)
Deep Analysis//Misthollow Griffin (value!)
Decree of Pain//Resounding Scream (lots of value!)
Conflagrate//Upheaval (Upheaval wasn't broken enough already...)
Battle Screech//Timely Reinforcements (solid midrange card that lets you catch up in a big way if you're behind)
Armageddon//Day of Judgment (symmetry)
Skeletal Scrying//Suffer the Past (more outlandish symmetry)
Dead/Gone//Boom/Bust (I heard you like split cards)
Rift Bolt//Reforge the Soul (suspend lets you get Reforge without playing any mana and before drawing your card for the turn)
Staggershock//Mana Flare (same principle)
Ancestral Vision//Control Magic (either you're ahead and can draw 3, or you can catch up with a free Control Magic)
Faithless Looting//Firebolt (I'm sure you could find different homes for either, but it's nice to have them stapled together)
Think Twice//Silent Departure (ditto)
Songs of the Damned//Spider Spawning
Darkblast//Unearth (can Dredge 3 for 2 mana, stocks GY for Unearth)
Bridge from Below//Evolving Wilds*
Attunement//Living Death (you can also party like it's 2000 and sub Replenish in for Living Death)
Viscera Dragger//Kagemaro, First to Suffer (since there are no defined rulings for p/p split cards you can just do what you want, afaict)
Street Wraith//Grave Scrabbler (a much fairer use of Street Wraith than
Street Wraith//Nightmare Void (probably not ok)
Grave-Shell Scarab//Pernicious Deed
Golgari Thug//Smallpox
Dakmor Salvage//Liliana of the Veil
Greater Mossdog//Lull (build your own Constant Mists, or just dredge your deck for low low prices!)
Stinkweed Imp//Tombstalker (probably the best design of these five)
Riftwing Cloudskate//Time Warp (have to be careful with things like Volrath's Stronghold)
Coffin Puppets//Primeval Titan (just came up with this, seems annoying)
Young Wolf//Safehold Elite; Strangleroot Geist//Kitchen Finks (not broken given what you can do in a Cube like this, but likely not worth the risk)
Worldheart Phoenix//Kaleidostone
Detritivore//Pardic Dragon
Deep-Sea Kraken//Aeon Chronicler
Sky Hussar//Pride of the Clouds (too cute, too slow?)
Gush//Phantasmagorian
Dread Return//[Thatcher Revolt/Timely Reinforcements/Even the Odds/Spectral Procession]
Goblin Bushwhacker//Haze of Rage
Auntie's Snitch//Krenko's Command*
Sensei's Divining Top//Bonfire of the Damned*
Lion's Eye Diamond//Unburial Rites (the best card?)

Greater Gargadon, and Life from the Loam are two cards that you can staple onto a bunch of different cards with hilarious results:

Greater Gargadon//Second Sunrise
Greater Gargadon//Balance
Greater Gargadon//Ignite Memories
Greater Gargadon//Bitter Ordeal

Life from the Loam//Edge of Autumn
Life from the Loam//Devastating Dreams
Life from the Loam//anything (dredge is that good)

 

[Konge]

Worldheart Phoenix//Kaleidostone is hilarious. What's the logic behind Dakmor Salvage//LotV?

 

[Chris Taylor]

Also remember how well split cards interact with cards like erratic explosion and riddle of lightning: You count both costs, so armed//dangerous costs 2 and 4, which means 6 damage.

also Make sure there's something hilariously indestructible about bob in your cube, like Bob // Bloodghast or something as a super trap

 

[anotak]

This is really cool, but I would worry about games becoming too repetitive and whatnot because of too much recursion. Have y'all played with this?

I have some split cards in my partially custom cube that's still being built atm. they all have fuse for ease of new players. I guess the most interesting ones are probably Ideas Unbound // Spiraling Embers, Oona's Grace // Flame Jab, and Life From The Loam // Pyretic Ritual

 

[Ryan]

Those are some really nice ones Dom! I got some more flashes of inspiration from your post.
Sakura-Tribe Elder//Roar of the Wurm (maybe too strong)
Yavimaya Elder//Reach of Branches (fuels itself!)
Shrieking Drake//Brain Freeze (also maybe too good. could probably attach it to a different storm card)
Edit:Missed that you already put this one there Dom!

I'm really loving the idea of this. It seems like you can support so many archetypes so easily.

Also remember how well split cards interact with cards like erratic explosion and riddle of lightning: You count both costs, so armed//dangerous costs 2 and 4, which means 6 damage.

also Make sure there's something hilariously indestructible about bob in your cube, like Bob // Bloodghast or something as a super trap

You forgot Explosive Revelation!! I love these ideas. I'm not certain anybody will ever pick poor ol Bobby though. I fear it might just wind up taking a slot.

I think cards like Deprive get a lot better in this kind of cube as well as well as all of the Retrace and Dredge cards. Also the Zenith cycle gets exponentially better given that they shuffle in with something else attached to them.

This is really cool, but I would worry about games becoming too repetitive and whatnot because of too much recursion. [/c]

Honestly I think that would be the fun of this cube given that the recursion can result in different plays every time and there's so many more decisions to make. It seems like all your games will be interesting.

 

[Chris Taylor]

I still think he should be in there. Maybe against something super important like duress? That'd be some interesting "tension" for those not in the know, and duress is actually super strong in this format that he wouldn't just be a 15th pick all the time.

And yeah, do not add meloku. That decision tree gets out of hand fast.

 

[Jason Waddell]

How do you keep a cube like this from not being obtuse as fuck for non-designers?

 

[Laz]

This sounds crazy, bonkers and insane. All at once. How do you prevent games from taking a mindboggling amount of time, given that the number of things which need keeping track of is 2-3x larger than a normal game? I am simply glad that you haven't listed Death Spark, or another card which cares about graveyard order, as I would be constantly at risk of screwing that one up trying to keep track of all of the recursion possibilities.

All I can add is that I hope you find some type of double sleeve, so that you can simply swap out card pairings, and not make the already tiny text on Detritivore half the size.

 

[Ryan]

How do you keep a cube like this from not being obtuse as fuck for non-designers?

That's the challenge isn't it? Honestly though I don't think you'd have to be a designer to enjoy a cube like this and the potential it brings. I don't feel that the interactions and cards would be so obscure it would have people constantly scratching their heads trying to figure things out. I mean something like Yavimaya Elder//Reach of Branches is pretty obvious.