General Custom Cards: The Lab

[Onderzeeboot]

They remind me of the trigons.

 

[James Stevenson]

They remind me of the trigons.

hmm, what do y'all thinking trigons costing 1?

edit: Ok I just actually checked the cards and they're not really what I thought. Still, I think Trigon of Thought would be awesome if it was cheaper.

 

[anotak]

thanks for the nice words!

They remind me of the trigons.

huh i guess those were probably rolling around in my subconscious, there is quite a similarity. i remember thinking those cards were almost mildly interesting but not quite what i wanted when i saw them years ago. they must've influenced/inspired the potions thing some

i intentionally didn't include recharging themselves on the card though, as i wanted to make sure to prevent overly repetitive gamestates. some of the same dangers as planeswalkers

however some other minor differences:
- the potions all require a creature you control to "drink" the potion
- the potions always (maybe?) require color mana

Are you planning on flooding your cube with Potions are do you want them to be a minor theme? Some of these can stand on their own legs without support.

too early to say

typically when i post cards i'm not planning to go all in on them, it's more of the brainstorm phase

also i dont really have a group of people to play cube with anymore so i dont really actually play

however i do think that the potions are in a strange spot, they fit into a sorcery / enchantment slot more than they do artifact, though they kind of overlap with equipment and pump spells too

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Your potions are definitely more flavorful than the trigons!

 

[anotak]

a play on the kindle / accumulated knowledge mechanic for cube
unsure about the color pie feel tho

Mythical Dawn
Sorcery — Mythical
Destroy all creatures and enchantments.
Draw a card for each Mythical card in your graveyard.

Mythical Knowledge
Sorcery — Mythical
Scry 2, then draw a card.
Draw a card for each Mythical card in your graveyard.

Mythical Darkness
Sorcery — Mythical
Put target creature card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. You lose life equal to its converted mana cost.
Draw a card for each Mythical card in your graveyard.

Mythical Flames
Sorcery — Mythical
Mythical Flames deals 3 damage to a target.
Draw a card for each Mythical card in your graveyard.

Mythical Prosperity
Sorcery — Mythical
Put a land from the basic land box onto the battlefield tapped.
Draw a card for each Mythical card in your graveyard.



and here's something a little extra
Brinkmanship
Instant
Target player sacrifices a permanent. Then that player may copy this spell and may choose a new target for that copy.

 

[anotak]

i'm judging by the silence related to the last batch that they're completely uninspiring

how about this one

False Idol
Artifact Creature — Golem
False Idol does not untap during your untap step.
Whenever you cast an alchemical spell, untap False Idol. (An alchemical spell has , , , , or in its mana cost, or is a Potion.)
4/4

Calcite Crawler
Artifact Creature — Construct
2/2

Cobaltite Glider
Artifact Creature — Construct
Flying
2/1

Nightshade Spitter
Artifact Creature — Construct
Deathtouch
3/2

 

[Chris Taylor]

I....why do you want Twobrid matters? I liked the potions, but I think the interesting part of them was as "Trigons but better", with maybe 1-2 potion matters cards existing. Here I think you've focused in on the "X matters" part of design with what feels like a placeholder X. There's got to be better ways to pay homage to Toggledyte.

In terms of your previous post, the idea seems alright. I worry you'll have the same issue with them that individually drafted squadron hawks do, where they only become interesting after 2-3 previously dead picks are in your drafting pile, but I've been down on this mechanic other people have been pretty enamored with.

One suggestion I would make though is that scattering this mechanic across all 5 colors is probably the wrong approach. Time Spiral Limited had a wonderful slice carved out for morph in just blue (and a rare cycle, but I feel like that detracts from the place of the mechanic), and this might work well as a mechanic in a color or color pair to help angle them as a graveyard style deck.

Also, I just wanted to share something I'm excited about:

Sins of the Past is a card I've always loved, but constructed magic merits the assumption that this will never be casting something less than cruel ultimatum or enter the infinite, where here I can control what it's capable of targeting, and have it be closer to snapcaster mage as a result.

The wording is adapted from Spelltwine, so if something feels off about it that'll be why, as only has one target.

 

[Velrun]

That art <3 Cool card too! I fear it might be too heavy on the cost but I guess it depends on the instants and sorceries available in the cube.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Yeah, that art is beautiful!

 

[anotak]

I....why do you want Twobrid matters? I liked the potions, but I think the interesting part of them was as "Trigons but better", with maybe 1-2 potion matters cards existing. Here I think you've focused in on the "X matters" part of design with what feels like a placeholder X. There's got to be better ways to pay homage to Toggledyte.

it uh, felt like it made sense somehow? i was just trying to feel out things that are mechanically related to me and the potions were already colored artifacts and there's a sense of converting 2 <-> color that felt sort of, idk, alchemical to me. apparently this fell flat though, which is fine.

In terms of your previous post, the idea seems alright. I worry you'll have the same issue with them that individually drafted squadron hawks do, where they only become interesting after 2-3 previously dead picks are in your drafting pile, but I've been down on this mechanic other people have been pretty enamored with.

One suggestion I would make though is that scattering this mechanic across all 5 colors is probably the wrong approach. Time Spiral Limited had a wonderful slice carved out for morph in just blue (and a rare cycle, but I feel like that detracts from the place of the mechanic), and this might work well as a mechanic in a color or color pair to help angle them as a graveyard style deck.

i thought about like, maybe focusing it on a shard? also i actually agree about squadron hawks but i feel like the base value here is quite a bit better than squadron hawks (though it's all environmentally dependent ofc)

Also, I just wanted to share something I'm excited about:
View attachment 1952
Sins of the Past is a card I've always loved, but constructed magic merits the assumption that this will never be casting something less than cruel ultimatum or enter the infinite, where here I can control what it's capable of targeting, and have it be closer to snapcaster mage as a result.

The wording is adapted from Spelltwine, so if something feels off about it that'll be why, as only has one target.

i like this the idea of this a lot.

some minor considerations:
i worry about repetitive game states. you'll have be very careful with this card (which i'm sure you know already but hey it doesn't hurt for me to say it too).

maybe an issue i have is like, copying the enemy's graveyard spells doesn't feel very blue to me though spelltwine and chancellor of the spires are both relatively recent. i guess maybe i'm wrong. still, this could be a pretty sweet red card.

i have a question: is threshold really needed on the flashback, it feels kind of strange.
what if you used exiling cards as part of the flashback cost instead, maybe? i guess that feels strange too.


edit:

What did the others do? Can you post them in the custom thread?

velrun posted this in the fight club thread

i made these in collaboration with another local player at the time. these are like, 4-5 years old at this point? i posted them on riptidelab before. obviously these are riffing on other existing cards
some of these use art from other existing cards. i do not recommend this.
overall, in retrospect i don't love using custom utility land cards because of 1 major reason: people already have a hard time remembering what custom cards can do, so if there's one just hanging out in your land pile that suddenly does something, it can be a feel-bad. however the gameplay itself was pretty sweet when there weren't feelbad moments like that happening

Spoiler

 

[Chris Taylor]

A shard would work! So long as it's not all 5 really. Then it'd either be really thinly spread or there'd be a ton and everything would trigger.

I checked before posting, and specifically the biggest stuff you could "reanimate" with this is

Everything else is smaller or an X spell, so it's intended to just be a static cost rather than a mana saving thing.

I could restrict it to yours or your opponents yard, but I feel like this works a lot better in signaling this as a flexibility thing

Threshold on flashback might not be needed, or I could keep it and drop the flashback cost since it's harder to get

It is weird though. I had to manually override and combine the reminder texts for each

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Can we discuss this card? I have been having waaay too much fun with it in testing, but is it too strong? The combination of these two abilities is sooooo satisfying, and the card is a really good reward for going into ramp, but it does kinda turn into Demonic Tutor in the late game...



I should probably at least have it exile itself, right?

The reason it has basic landcycling is to fill out a cycle across all supported color pairs.

 

[anotak]

Can we discuss this card? I have been having waaay too much fun with it in testing, but is it too strong? The combination of these two abilities is sooooo satisfying, and the card is a really good reward for going into ramp, but it does kinda turn into Demonic Tutor in the late game...

I should probably at least have it exile itself, right?

first off: wow i like this a lot just looking at it

it's a multicolor card in cube, which i think means you can have some leniency on it being strong.
so some comparable cards to think about are

Spoiler

however,
i think all of your questions depend heavily on the context.
this is kind of strange card to evaluate. while some cards become weaker as cards around them become stronger, and vice versa, this card does not. when cards around it become stronger, this card becomes stronger because you can cast stronger cards with it. a bigger concern is, the speed of your format, because if you can only cast this for like X = 3 or 4 that's probably completely fine.
how late do your games go? i mean, you say it turns into demonic tutor, except demonic tutor is fine in some contexts.
if you are casting it regularly for 7 or more, that's quite a bit stronger.

you say maybe it should exile, but that depends on a lot about how easy it is to rebuy. i kind of am uncertain about how often self-exile is used, i don't think it's very elegant. for me it emotionally feels bad to read, it feels very prescriptive on the part of the designer on how to play, like in a video game when you try to go somewhere and find an invisible wall blocking your path.

comparing with those cards i listed, it seems quite absurdly strong, however, several of those cards are often worthless in cube environments.

one possible change could be to untap X target lands instead of adding mana, though if you have bouncelands or other things in your cube this may be a buff. but this addresses being able to cast anything off of it (including colors you dont have), and makes you choose the targets before you see the cards. it's a minor nerf but this might only need a minor nerf. this is also contextually affected by how people are ramping into it, farseek vs llanowar elves

 

[Onderzeeboot]

first off: wow i like this a lot just looking at it

it's a multicolor card in cube, which i think means you can have some leniency on it being strong.
so some comparable cards to think about are

Spoiler

however,
i think all of your questions depend heavily on the context.
this is kind of strange card to evaluate. while some cards become weaker as cards around them become stronger, and vice versa, this card does not. when cards around it become stronger, this card becomes stronger because you can cast stronger cards with it. a bigger concern is, the speed of your format, because if you can only cast this for like X = 3 or 4 that's probably completely fine.
how late do your games go? i mean, you say it turns into demonic tutor, except demonic tutor is fine in some contexts.
if you are casting it regularly for 7 or more, that's quite a bit stronger.

you say maybe it should exile, but that depends on a lot about how easy it is to rebuy. i kind of am uncertain about how often self-exile is used, i don't think it's very elegant. for me it emotionally feels bad to read, it feels very prescriptive on the part of the designer on how to play, like in a video game when you try to go somewhere and find an invisible wall blocking your path.

comparing with those cards i listed, it seems quite absurdly strong, however, several of those cards are often worthless in cube environments.

one possible change could be to untap X target lands instead of adding mana, though if you have bouncelands or other things in your cube this may be a buff. but this addresses being able to cast anything off of it (including colors you dont have), and makes you choose the targets before you see the cards. it's a minor nerf but this might only need a minor nerf. this is also contextually affected by how people are ramping into it, farseek vs llanowar elves

Thanks for the in depth answer! Multicolored is less of a restriction in my cube than in standard cubes, so while it can still be a bit more powerful, there is a ceiling. I was casting the spell at X = 10 a lot of the time in playtesting, but that was against the AI, and in a deck playing a bunch of artifact mana, including Gilded Lotus. Your solution of untapping X target lands sounds really good and would indeed make it subtly weaker. Looking at Genesis Wave and Villainous Wealth though, I wonder if it needs a nerf. Both of those routinely generate more value at high values of X than my card, so maybe it's fine and you just get rewarded if you pick artifact mana highly? I do know Commune with Lava is at too low a power level.

Edit: Another thing untapping lands do is lessen the amount of tracking you need to do. That's a positive aspect of that tweak as well.

 

[anotak]

i think something else to consider about it i guess that i didnt think about earlier but is sort of obvious in retrospect (which i'm sure came up immediately in playtesting, but i didn't playtest it):
if you reveal an untapped land u can cast x+1 mana spells off it

 

[Onderzeeboot]

i think something else to consider about it i guess that i didnt think about earlier but is sort of obvious in retrospect (which i'm sure came up immediately in playtesting, but i didn't playtest it):
if you reveal an untapped land u can cast x+1 mana spells off it

Yeah, that came up, but that wasn't really something I minded. That part actually is in line with most of these effects, plus green ramps, so it fits both ways. I'm pretty happy with your untap X lands solution, that's probably the version I'm going to go with.

 

[Velrun]

I challenge you all to design the best Scroll-card!

Here are the terms.

- You have until June 1'st.
- Yoy may only submit one card.
- You may only submit non-revealed cards. That means you cannot submit a card that has already been revealed on Riptidelab.
- Your may only submit scroll-cards that are of the same format as the following:

Card name - Mana cost
Card type - Subtype - Rarity
Card text that includes "create a sorcery/instant scroll named 'CARDNAME' and put it into 'ZONE'. It costs 'MANA COST' and has 'CARD TEXT'.

For an example, see the picture here.



I understand we have all had our differences when we made our scrolls but for this competition, please use the above template.

The competition is to reveal the 'best' scroll-making card and not the best scroll card. Your scrolls may only be instants or sorceries. A scroll is a token. A scroll can stay in any zone including hand, graveyard, exile and Command zone until the end of game when it ceases to exist. You may submit scroll-making cards of any color. You do not have to upload your card with a picture. Your scroll instants/sorceries may be real Magic cards like you see on the Returned Hero or completely 100 % custom instant/sorceries.

GO!

 

[Onderzeeboot]

So... If this is a competition, what is the reward (other than bragging rights)?

 

[Velrun]

So... If this is a competition, what is the reward (other than bragging rights)?

Good question!

Can I let it depend on my happiness with the result and the number of participants? Also I am not sure I am the judge although if I am the one who will pay the price for the winner, then I will also be the judge.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Both the "assignment" and the reward are extremely open-ended. I don't know what I'm designing for either way. Like, I've got a bunch of questions I'ld like to ask so I don't have to design in a complete vacuum. Are you looking for a card for your cube? Does it need to fill a specific hole? Is there any way in which you can restrict the assignment? What is the environment like, does it reward certain aspects of the scroll mechanic? Do certain colors play better with it than others? I also assumed you were going to judge the card, since you were asking for a card. If you're not going to judge, then who is? What are their criteria? What are they looking for? Is flavor important? Wording? Strictly adhering to the color pie?

And, like, you can certainly let the "prize" (which does not have to be a physical reward, mind you) depend on your happiness with the result, but you'll draw more people into a competition if they know what's on the line. I always enjoy seeing a design of mine in someone else's cube, for example, so if I know I'm designing a card for someone's cube, that's an extra motivation.

 

[Velrun]

Okay let us re-name it.

It is no longer a competition. Mode like “Please show me your scroll cards. It will be fun to see what you all havd in your cube and/or on your maybe-lists”

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Hahaha, fair enough I don't think I designed any new ones since I "came up" with the mechanic (if memory serves, I didn't actually come up with the idea, but did come up with a workable Magic wording+ the MSE template).

Edit: My memory served! EliteArcanist came up with the idea here. I came up with the template here. A link to the MSE template can be found here (also by me).

 

[Velrun]

I know. Now back on topic:

Show me your scroll-cards! Preferably new ones.

 

[Velrun]

If no one bites then I will make a new topic with it for the month of June with more detailed requirements and an actual reward for winning. You better not post your best ideas now!

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Well... I'm going to need some time for this. Can't do this from work, don't have the time (right now) at home.