General Custom Cards: The Lab
- Thread starter anotak
- Start date
no you dont need that
They're nearly the only showcase frame in my cube, which is doubly impressive since the lack of reminder text hurts adventure much more than other mechanics.
I desperately hope we get dual land adventures, but if we don't, I'd take land adventures to replace my MDFCs from Zendikar Rising from an aesthetic POV.
i believe the proper order of pairings is:
WU
UB
BR
RG
GW
WB
BG
GU
UR
RW
WU
UB
BR
RG
GW
WB
BG
GU
UR
RW
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Nah, it's WB, BU, UG, GR, RW!
That or WU, UB, BR, RG, GW, WB, UR, BG, RW, GU.
That or WU, UB, BR, RG, GW, WB, UR, BG, RW, GU.
this post was physically painful to read. i love you boot, why must you hurt me in this way
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I've gotta stand up for the superior color wheel
At the very least it's my personal favorite
I'll just write the principle behind the color order for anyone curious.
First of all, the colors are always listed in clockwise order. Atraxa is GWUB, which is starting at G and going clockwise.
Why doesn't it start with white instead of green, the first color in WUBRG order? Because the second principle is shortest-path. These two rules inform almost every combination. Selesnya is GW (no colors between), not WG (every other color between). Boros is RW (skipping green), not WR (skipping blue and black). Similarly, Naya is RGW.
Wedges are the odd one out. To preserve symmetry, like how wedges have the shared allied color in the center, wedges have the shared enemy color there, which actually means they take the longest path. Sultai is BGU, green in the middle as it's the enemy color of blue and black, and it starts with black so that it's read clockwise.
First of all, the colors are always listed in clockwise order. Atraxa is GWUB, which is starting at G and going clockwise.
Why doesn't it start with white instead of green, the first color in WUBRG order? Because the second principle is shortest-path. These two rules inform almost every combination. Selesnya is GW (no colors between), not WG (every other color between). Boros is RW (skipping green), not WR (skipping blue and black). Similarly, Naya is RGW.
Wedges are the odd one out. To preserve symmetry, like how wedges have the shared allied color in the center, wedges have the shared enemy color there, which actually means they take the longest path. Sultai is BGU, green in the middle as it's the enemy color of blue and black, and it starts with black so that it's read clockwise.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
One cute fact is that WotC changed its mind about wedge color order.
It used to be the insular color, followed by the guild pair.
landofMordor
Administrator
This is my favorite post of the year so far. These rules have always baffled me until I read this! Thanks
Right. But how can I know what the pair order is? I doubt WU is the first pair to list no matter which three pairs are listed on the card.
I was unable to find any cards that would suggest to me that there even is an order or set of rules for pairs. No cards with weird sets of mana symbols. No hybrids using a bunch of different hybrid symbols.
I was kind of considering doing:
Only using two black pairs and ordering them based on their nonblack WUBRG color. In this case, G before W. That would at least give me a rule to use.
I don't think there's a precedent for what you are asking for (assuming I understand it correctly), but my personal guess is that wotc would make them transition into each other. So for e.g. bant it would be -> -> and for mardu it would be -> -> . You could put them in any order, but this sort of follows the wedge principle of putting "the odd one out" in the middle.
-> -> and for mardu it would be -> -> . You could put them in any order, but this sort of follows the wedge principle of putting "the odd one out" in the middle.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
The problem with that suggestion is thatI don't think there's a precedent for what you are asking for (assuming I understand it correctly), but my personal guess is that wotc would make them transition into each other. So for e.g. bant it would be
is not how WotC would order those colors. It's always been (despite the UG Madness webcomic, R.I.P.! It even started out with a proper Communism joke for @TrainmasterGT!). In @Brad's example there's , , and . Two of those end on , while no pair starts with that color, and two of them start on , which is never the second color (for this shard's two color pairs). So, if you're sticking to the official order of color symbols, you're never going to have a pleasing transition for the three pairs in a shard. However, if you do allied - enemy - allied, so , , , you can put them in... the equivalent of alphabetical order. That is, if you would label the three colors in a shard A - B - C, with A being the first color in the sequence (so ), B being the second (so ), and C being the third and last (so, you guessed it, ), this orders them in AB - AC - BC order.If you do the same exercise for wedges, e.g.
, you get AB, but CA (because the color pair is , and not ), and BC. If you put these in alphabetical order, you get AB - BC - CA, or , , , which does have a pleasing order. However, one other way to order them is AB - AC - BC, but putting the symbols in the right order, so you get , , . While not as pleasing at first blush, this does mirror the order for shards. Shards are, in my suggestion above, ordered ally - enemy - ally, and this second way of ordering wedges is ordered enemy - ally - enemy. It also mirrors the feel of the shards ordering, in that there is no transition into each other by putting the same mana symbols next to each other. Both of these are pleasing, to me, despite the lack of a visual pleasing tradition. That is why AB - CA - BC would ultimately be my pick. So... > , , > , , > , , > , , > , , > , , > , , > , , > , , > , , I should have used an example without simic since my mind always defaults to UG. I think I've tried the exercise of aligning three hybrid symbols of a wedge several times before and not being able to do so in an aesthetically pleasing way which is always extremely frustrating.
Honestly if I were to do "add two colors in a wedge" I might actually just reverse the enemy color pairing so it would end up as I outlined, even if that would be somewhat heretical. Ultimately it comes down to priorities and I'd rather it be more aesthetically pleasing.
There's also the option of "add two different colors of mana among" if you have an extreme case of ocd, but I probably wouldn't recommend it.
Honestly if I were to do "add two colors in a wedge" I might actually just reverse the enemy color pairing so it would end up as I outlined, even if that would be somewhat heretical. Ultimately it comes down to priorities and I'd rather it be more aesthetically pleasing.
There's also the option of "add two different colors of mana among
" if you have an extreme case of ocd, but I probably wouldn't recommend it.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I just wanted to note another pleasing detail that just caught my eye with my suggested wedge pairings.I should have used an example without simic since my mind always defaults to UG. I think I've tried the exercise of aligning three hybrid symbols of a wedge several times before and not being able to do so in an aesthetically pleasing way which is always extremely frustrating.
Honestly if I were to do "add two colors in a wedge" I might actually just reverse the enemy color pairing so it would end up as I outlined, even if that would be somewhat heretical. Ultimately it comes down to priorities and I'd rather it be more aesthetically pleasing.
There's also the option of "add two different colors of mana among
> , , Notice it?
> | > ||Shivers
Seeing all three colors written together... It's ugly as hell lmao.
I'm going to do "1, T: Add Ba or Bb" so that it's less chaotic.
EDIT:
These look pretty clean imo. The nonblack mana symbols go in the order of the pinline color, which is based on the proper color order for shards/wedges.
BONUS EDIT:
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If anyone has ideas and feels like designing, I'm working on a bunch of hybrid (EDIT) permanents next for The Black Cube.
Each of the four black color combos. 1-5 mana hybrids. Like, , , etc. Hybrids are a little tricky because every effect needs to fit both colors, which narrows options pretty significantly.
Each of the four black color combos. 1-5 mana hybrids. Like
, , , etc. Hybrids are a little tricky because every effect needs to fit both colors, which narrows options pretty significantly.
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Sweep the Belfry w/b
Sorcery
Exile target card from a graveyard.
Draw a card.
You gain 2 life.
Sorcery
Exile target card from a graveyard.
Draw a card.
You gain 2 life.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Do you have themes for specific colors?
Vampiric Knight
Creature — Vampire Knight
Lifelink
2/1
Calling Card
Artifact — Clue
When ~ enters the battlefield, investigate. (Create a colorless Clue artifact token with “
, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.”), Sacrifice ~: Draw a card.Volcanic Feedback
Enchantment
Whenever a land enters the battlefield under a player's control, ~ deals 1 damage to that player.
/ or (if you want it to work with bloodthirst, for example) /
Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, ~ deals 1 damage to each player.
Grave Pest
Creature — Zombie
Deathtouch
When ~ dies, put up to one target creature card from your graveyard on top of your library.
1/1
As of now, borrowing from DMU...
W
Go wide
U
Spells
B
Graveyard
Sacrifice
Self discard
R
Aggro (help lol)
G
Big dudes
I really like Calling Card and Grave Pest!
The Black Cube thread will be receiving updates with my customs. Fuck WotC.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
<name> the Proud
Legendary Creature — Demon
Flying
When ~ enters the battlefield, create two 1/1 white and black Human Cleric creature tokens.
Exalted (Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, that creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
Other creatures you control have exalted.
4/3
<name> the Avaricious
Legendary Creature — Demon
Flying
When ~ enters the battlefield, gain control of target nonland permanent for as long as you control ~.
3/5
<name> the Wrathful
Legendary Creature — Demon
When ~ enters the battlefield or dies, it deals 5 damage to each opponent.
5/5
<name> the Gluttonous
Legendary Creature — Demon
When ~ enters the battlefield, exile all creature cards from your graveyard. For each card exiled this way, put a +1/+1 counter on ~ and create a 1/1 black and green Pest creature token with “When this creature dies, you gain 1 life.”
Sacrifice a Pest: Regenerate ~.
4/4
I don't know, just some ideas.
Oh, I also thought this one was funny
Doomed Chieftain
Creature — Goblin Warrior
When ~ enters the battlefield, create two 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens, then sacrifice ~.
"Hit me!", Blarg shouted to the soldiers below. His men promptly obeyed.
2/2
I like a few of those. I really like the goblin lol. I do think those would be better in some sort of Sins cycle that isn't hybrid, as there's seven (right?) sins. I think sins as an idea is a good one for the environment. I'll look for art tomorrow to see how well I can support it. Seven is a weird number of cards for a cycle...
All 20 hybrids v1 in The Black Cube thread, along with 60 lands.
All 20 hybrids v1 in The Black Cube thread, along with 60 lands.