General Custom Cards: The Lab

[Chris Taylor]

However, all ranting about mtg finance aside, there is another card I was interested in, though not for my cube:

This gets my brain going. This is super cool, probably about the right mana cost, and can probably end the game seven ways from Sunday on the spot.
It's practically the opposite of what my cube is about, but oh man. Like sure, this goes well in like GW ramp, but the real treat is some sort of hybrid omniscience/enduring Ideal/show and tell deck where you go wild with this.
Love it

 

[Chris Taylor]

This is probably a better white/blue sword than the one they made, and it even fits in the themes of the set.


All of these make me giggle


This could actually just be really good.

 

[Chris Taylor]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand there's also amazing basic lands:



Unfortunatly, the next set I'm looking at (Aftermath) seems to have taken its cues from homelands.
There is a 7 mana 3/7 that occasionally just dies. AND ITS A MYTHIC. FOR MODERN.
The commons leave about as much to be desired. I'll report back if I find anything.

 

[Velrun]

Okay it seems like there is a major gap between the best and the worst set when it comes to quality

I have been looking at the set Zero and it doesn't really have much to share. Most of the cards seem outdated, too texty or just lazy design. The art doesn't share one, two, three of four similarities like we are use to from 99 % of all Magic sets. Overall it seems like a mess.

Anyways these ones are worth sharing: Redo and Venomous Assault



Neither really creates any interesting new aspects to a game but they could definitely see print.

Dear all
I wanted to take a look at all the sets, one by one, and give you the few good stuff from each set in order to save you all some time. However it seems like Chris is doing the same. And drunk Chris is a lot better writer than sober Velrun is!

Dear Chris
Will you continue the task and look through the sets for the best cards?
Also could you tell us a little more about your background?
Kind regards <3

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Probably works best if more people work at it. It's a lot of cards for one man to work through, but I agree drunk Chris is entertaining I'm right in the middle of designing my own set, inspired by this site as I am. I was looking through Al Tabaq, which has a real cohesive theme and some cool cards. Not sure if I saw something that really tickled my fancy, and I'm looking the cards through before sleep, so I'm not exactly keeping notes as I scroll through the set :') Maybe I should have?

Some notes: general themes are flip cards, mono-color decks (lots of CC and CCC mana costs), and five-color decks (weirdly enough, seems very at odds with all the pushed CC+ mana costs).

Edit: Oh, and the concord ability rewards you for having four or more different card types on the battlefield.

 

[GalacticTraveler12]

Some notes: general themes are flip cards, mono-color decks (lots of CC and CCC mana costs), and five-color decks (weirdly enough, seems very at odds with all the pushed CC+ mana costs).

I'm guessing he designed this set with the motivation of increasing "chromatic diversity" (diversity in the # of colors played in decks) and went from the top down. I don't think Limited is as much of a concern for him as the Constructed format he curates.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

I'm guessing he designed this set with the motivation of increasing "chromatic diversity" (diversity in the # of colors played in decks) and went from the top down. I don't think Limited is as much of a concern for him as the Constructed format he curates.

Yeah, this is likely an attempt to weed out the rampant multicolor decks in the format. A lot of them are three colors from what I've seen, as there is some excellent fixing available.

 

[Chris Taylor]

Dear Chris
Will you continue the task and look through the sets for the best cards?
Also could you tell us a little more about your background?
Kind regards <3

Oh I'll totally keep looking. Even homelands 2.0 has been good for a laugh at least.

What do you mean by my background though? I've never actually done any theatre if that's what you're asking.
I've picked up enough of the in jokes from the rest of my nerd friends to get the jokes though.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

I'm looking over Rail War at the moment, and it's a pleasant little set. It's unfortunately teeming with renown creatures, a mechanic originally from Magic Origins. I didn't much care for how swingy renown was. There's also a lot to like though.



Projects are a fun update of the level up mechanic from Rise of the Eldrazi. My gut feeling says the numbers on a few of these may be too low, but I really like the concept.



The other great new mechanic is coalesce, which lets you replay an instant or sorcery from your graveyard, but as a creature. I hunk this is a sweet riff on flashback.

And then there's the generic fun build around me's that could have been from any set.



It's funny how this one makes targeted discard (which is normally preferable) worse, and untargeted discard better.



This is a really clever pump spell. Very nice!



I don't like hexproof, but this gets Johnny's gears spinning. Lots of sweet interactions to be had. Again, the hexproof makes it an absolute nightmare to deal with your board.



This is one of those cards you just know they are going to print exactly like this one day.



OP OP! I've got creatures in my cube that can add a counter on demand, making this an every turn tutor. That's a little bit too good, isn't it? However, this could easily be tweaked to tutor only once per turn, on your turn, and you could put an upper bound on the cmc equal to the number of +1/+1 counters on your creature. Something like...

Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on a creature you control for the first time on your turn, you may search your library for a creature card with cmc equal to the number of +1/+1 counters on that creature, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.



This is a really cool coalesce card, I think. Great up front, and great down the line.



Great Pernicious Deed (or Gaze of Granite, I guess) variant.



Now this is a tantalizing build around!

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Part 2 of Rail War.



Not convinced by all the bells and whistles, but a reversed Birthing Pod that works from the graveyard is pretty cool.



This is a pretty elegant equipment.



Not that I run 2 cmc mana rocks, but this is an elegant cycle!



It's like suspend, but flexible!

 

[Velrun]

Great finds!

Maybe one of you can take a look at Zero and tell us all what I missed. It seems like you two might be better at the job than I am.

Keep up the good work!

Ps. Can someone link me to the template used on Recall Forgotten Eons?

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Great finds!

Maybe one of you can take a look at Zero and tell us all what I missed. It seems like you two might be better at the job than I am.

Keep up the good work!

Ps. Can someone link me to the template used on Recall Forgotten Eons?

I have no clue at all what template they used for the coalesce cards!

Took a look at Zero...

Spoiler

White was horrendous, but blue contained some gems. I think Kotis is really cool by the way, definitely a sweet anthem effect.
Arden's baseline stats are solid for limited (1/4 for is a good defensive body), and its activated ability can be really impactful.
Concenter might almost be broken, actually. On an empty hand, that's some insane card advantage in the late game.
Focus Thought is a neat little common, that can shuffle something you want in your deck back while making sure it won't resurface for a while. Drawing three cards, then putting one back is also a really good rate for three mana.
Nimbus Fae is a type of card we were actually lacking until recently, the blue, evasive one drop that can actually be impactful after the early game. If you run ninja's, those 1 cmc flyers are a blessing, but a simple Flying Man just doesn't do enough in a typical game. Repel on its own isn't really playable, but the effect is certainly good when attached to a warm body.
Recall to Mind is probably one of the best Divination effects I've ever seen. The fact that you can choose one of the cards you want to return does make up for the fact that it costs more imho.

Ok, not going to take the time to look at the rest right now, but it's obvious that these two colors are not balanced as far as interesting, or even playable designs go.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Inspired by the MSME2 league, I'm having a lot of fun designing a set of my own at the moment. It revolves around colorless mana, which means I finally get to use Peter Mohrbacher's angelarium artworks because of all the clear frames!

Opposing the Idols (who hail from a world where color has no true meaning (sssshhh... this isn't an eldrazi rehash except of course it is )) are people falling back on the purest form of mana; mana produced by basic lands. I wanted both sides to have a "You win the game" card, to show diferent possible outcomes of the conflict, and I might need a bit of help with the primal one.



See, I think the Idol of Conquest is fine. Clearly a mythic, powerful with only its base stats, and that alt win condition can certainly be pulled off in the right deck but amassing 20 colorless permanents isn't trivial, even counting lands. Now, primal is the keyword I use to represent the good guys, and all of the spells have at least CC in the casting cost. A lot of them do in fact have colorless mana in the casting cost, but the mana cost seemed only right for their biggest spell. I started out with the most elegant design I could think of, but then started to wonder if this wasn't too easy a win condition. I don't want to create a second Coalition Victory, which is a bad card honestly, but I also don't want to create a monster that's by far the easiest way to win the game. Is the fact that this can't be cheated out except by green ramp, and the fact that you're probably doing nothing else in the meantime if you're going for an early Die the Soil, enough of a downside to make it a fair card, or is it still broken? Any opinions that could help me out?

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Taking a look at Zero's black cards...

Spoiler

I like Abyssal Stalker's return clause, very unique.
Dark Bargain is a great riff on Sign in Blood! It gets an unusual card type into the yard for delirium purposes, if you're interested in that, and it's an enchantment for those running that theme in, most likely, . This is a pretty great design tbh!
Edge of Madness is one mana untargeted discard done right!
I think the execution on Forbidden Truths is off, but a Birthing Pod/Demonic Tutor mash-up could be pretty sweet.
Monstrous Guise seems a relevant cantripping combat trick in the ninja deck.
Tainted Grounds is close to a design I have in my own set, but as is this is pretty much unplayable. Most of these black enchant lands are, to be honest, but I do think it's funny we had the same idea, and they still have a place in design, I think. There is in fact a land deck in the format as well, so this is a nice counter. Anyway, not bringing this up because it's playable in cube, becauses wow is this baaaaaad in limited :')
Young Tempter is a super playable Elvish Visionary variant! This would be great in any black deck. Ninja's wants the evasion, red shirts wants the disposable body, aggro wants the Bonesplitter target, all of them want the card this draws.

 

[Velrun]

I looked at all those cards and was like ' Yuk'..
..and then I went and saved that Forbidden Truths artwork on my PC

My advice on your Primal win condition:
Make it an enchantment with a static or upkeep-triggered effect. Give it hexproof like Lich's Mastery. And finally let it win you the game if you have two of each Basic lands except colorless. That could be an activated cost that costs WWUUBBRRGG.

 

[Aston]

Also call it "Dye the Soil", which I think is what you were going for in the first place.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

I looked at all those cards and was like ' Yuk'..
..and then I went and saved that Forbidden Truths artwork on my PC

My advice on your Primal win condition:
Make it an enchantment with a static or upkeep-triggered effect. Give it hexproof like Lich's Mastery. And finally let it win you the game if you have two of each Basic lands except colorless. That could be an activated cost that costs WWUUBBRRGG.

That's a bit too much fluff, I think. Also, the Primal ability in concert with the mana cost already ensures two of each basic land (except Wastes). But... there's an idea here that I like! What about "At the beginning of your next upkeep, you win the game"?

Also call it "Dye the Soil", which I think is what you were going for in the first place.

Thanks, the non-native speaker bit got me there See, I was worried people would get confused if I used 'died' to mean 'colored', but seeing as how I was spelling it wrong, and using the Valrun-inspired change...




Yeah... That's a nice name! Plus the opponent gets one more turn in which they know exactly what's up.

 

[Velrun]

Sorry I didn't explain myself well enough.

I think the card should cost WUBRG and have a unique effect.

Then I also think it should have a second activated ability that costs WWUUBBRRGG that says "You win the game"

Upsides here are: Opponent will have a chance to react because it is on the battlefield for some time AND the card will not be a dead card before you have 10-15 lands. Win-win!

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Sorry I didn't explain myself well enough.

I think the card should cost WUBRG and have a unique effect.

Then I also think it should have a second activated ability that costs WWUUBBRRGG that says "You win the game"

Upsides here are: Opponent will have a chance to react because it is on the battlefield for some time AND the card will not be a dead card before you have 10-15 lands. Win-win!

Downsides are: more text and clutter, less elegant, higher total mana cost.

Of course, upsides can be considered downsides and vice versa. It's fine by me if the card is a dead card before you have 10-15 lands, that's a great inherent risk for running this card. On the other hand, maybe 10 mana is not enough. On the other other hand, what 10+ mana cards saw actual tournament play in a modern power level format, where the caster intended to pay the full mana cost? The question then is, is something like this a better design?

 

[Velrun]

You are right it is more texty. However I do not see your original design (or the nerfed version with the delayed victory) see any play what so ever in any cube or set.

This one might.

How many Primal cards do you have?
Sometimes Wizards do this funny thing where they make 16 cards have a certain keyword and then they make a 17'th card have that same effect but not the keyword. Can't think of any examples right now but in this case if you were to do this, you would cut Primal from the text box. Then you would also cut "If you control ten or more Basic lands, you win the game.". And finally you would add "Spend only mana produced by Basic lands to pay for the colored part of this ability.

So like this:

 

[Onderzeeboot]

You are right it is more texty. However I do not see your original design (or the nerfed version with the delayed victory) see any play what so ever in any cube or set.

Wait, that means you think even the original version is too weak then? That's perfect! Because if that's the case, that is exactly the kind of mythic I'm shooting for. Some Johnny will dream of winning with it, but it won't be a tier 1 deck. I was afraid it was too powerful, I wasn't afraid it was too useless

 

[Velrun]

Oh yes, it is too useless.

This new version is also useless but at least it will do something in the games it is played. The feel-bad moment is less feel bad and the win is equally easy. If we could come up with a super unique static ability, then I would say it is a home run IMO. Also this card could be named after your set just like Conflux. What is your set called?

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Oh yes, it is too useless.

Actually, that's great to hear. Useless mythics are the best! As long as they appeal to someone, that is.

Can I ask you another question?. How would you rate this card. Do you like it? Do you hate it?



Quoting one of the reviews of this card: "I saw someone win with it at prerelease. It was the event of the evening. Everyone was crowding to the table hoping for the player of the Door to draw the last swamp he was missing to activate it! It was epic."

This card is basically for that kid. Though, granted, the cool part of this story is also how Door was out on the field for multiple turns, looming over the game like a doomsday clock . One player is frantically searching for the right mana, the other is frantically trying to win the game

This new version is also useless but at least it will do something in the games it is played. The feel-bad moment is less feel bad and the win is equally easy. If we could come up with a super unique static ability, then I would say it is a home run IMO. Also this card could be named after your set just like Conflux. What is your set called?

Currently the working title of my set is "Hummingbird" The real name would probably refer to the Idol invasion, which means it isn't a good fit for this card anyway. Besides, I quite like Dyed Dawn as a card name.

 

[Velrun]

Door to Nothingness is like 'my' variant of your card.

It sits on the board at 5 mana and creates a good story. However our version costs WUBRG and not 5 generic so it has to be better on the board. You gave it a creature buff. I am thinking we can maybe find something super unique, but I am not sure. The activation cost is the same except our version is a bit more tough to pull off. Great fun! But ours is better, a new version of Door

If Door was a sorcery, sitting in the hand secretely.. No fun. Nobody will come to the table and gather around to spectate. The losing player will feel cheated because he could not interact with it.

 

[Velrun]

Rename your set Dyed Dawn