General Custom Cards: The Lab

Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
I think I like your version better for balance purposes to be honest. I tried "{T}: Create a Treasure." as the only ability on a {3} mana custom before, and making a free treasure every turn is really, really good. I wouldn't add three other modes to that in a million years.
 
Brad

Brad

Onderzeeboot said:
I think I like your version better for balance purposes to be honest. I tried "{T}: Create a Treasure." as the only ability on a {3} mana custom before, and making a free treasure every turn is really, really good. I wouldn't add three other modes to that in a million years.
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Do you think that the treasures being good is dependent on having an artifact deck around? Or is it too good just from storing up mana? Seems like an interesting 3MV rock, but maybe not.
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Brad said:
Do you think that the treasures being good is dependent on having an artifact deck around? Or is it too good just from storing up mana? Seems like an interesting 3MV rock, but maybe not.
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I mean, I run a slow format, so that aggravates the issue, but it was definitely storing up the mana. Any format that can handle Worn Powerstone should be fine running {3} mana "{T}: Create a Treasure.", but that's basically how good the card was. So, if that's the baseline, you can imagine what adding extra options does.
 
Velrun

Velrun

3 mana

T: Create a Blood token
1, T: Create a Food and Rock token
2, T: Create a Clue and Treasure token

Maybe the card should just die
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Velrun said:
3 mana

T: Create a Blood token
1, T: Create a Food and Rock token
2, T: Create a Clue and Treasure token

Maybe the card should just die
Click to expand...
I don't think the card needs to die, but maybe you need to abandon the requirement that it incorporates every token type.

Cylix of Creation {2}
{1}, {T}: Create a Treasure.
{2}, {T}: Create a Food.
{3}, {T}: Create a Clue.

This could work in a slow environment, for example.
 
Velrun

Velrun

..and a Blood token and a Rock to boot.
Flavor text: “Yes, this basket has it all. If you look closely, you can even see a baby Harry Potter.”
 
Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor

Contributor
I have made an abomination


0FmUcSl.png

Edit: @Velrun if you wanna go back to the origional wording:
Alpha Cylix.png
 
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whydirt

whydirt

Was brainstorming an allied cycle of hybrid token-making lessons:

WU - 5 mana 3/3 flyer
UB - 4 mana 3/4
BR - 3 mana 3/2 menace; can't block
RG - 4 mana 4/2 trample
GW - 3 mana two 1/1s with vigilance (or a single 2/3 with vigilance)

Do those seem about on-par with the rate of the Strixhaven cycle?
 
Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor

Contributor
Most of my designs are simple or edits of existing cards, so most of the ones I'm actively playing with aren't really "mine" per say.

Honorable Mentions:
Dryad of Masks.png
This one isn't mine, but I'm not sure who's it is. Amazing card, SO many lines, even when it's not copying Gaea's Cradle or Maze of Ith. I have attacked with this as a Raging Ravine, Triggered morbid with a Misty Rainforest, and doubled up on Hall of Oracles counters.
Fixing Land Ticket Green.png
Honorable mention because I haven't done this, but I can see it being an interesting idea. You should probably have some system in place for breaking ties if two people want a specific land, either by having enough copies for everyone (Technically possible) or having a tiebreaker order on the Tickets themselves (Eg this one says "Pick #7" in the flavor text, whoever has the higher pick # gets first pick, something like that)

This idea says "Fixing land" specifically, under the idea that cards like Treetop Village would be in the main cube as draft picks of their own, but I could easily be convinced that drafting any green land might be more interesting.

Hell, if you want a more uniform number of nonbasics for each drafter (nobody gets 12, but nobody gets zero), you can just hand some number of these to each player randomly, scrap the color requirements, and do a short rotisserie draft of just nonbasics.

Tangleweed.png
I get that green should have to rely on its creatures to remove threats, but this exists in conflict with that removal being even remotely playable.
You're also straight soft to something like Visara the Dreadful (Extreme example I know) who can just counter any fight spell on a whim, plus any other shenanigans your opponent might have going on.

Much like drawing cards and smoothing draws, I think removing creatures is something too fundamental to magic to keep away from certain colors, and that each color should be able to do it in their own flavorful way.
Build a Bolt.png
You ever get so tired you make a card about making cards? :p
Of course this card plays well, it's a baseline fine red spell with cryptic command levels of text and options stapled on at no cost, and yet: it feels fine. Plus mugging is an amazing mode to have in your back pocket not possible on any other card.
Ransom.png
I really love extort, and I remain frustrated that so little was done with it, especially on noncreature permanents.
This card is a flavor slam dunk that is basically hero's downfall but different. Hell it might be fine at {2}{B} thesedays.
It also can occasionally do hilarious things, like stealing your opponent's Sublime Archangel
Skyshroud Packleader.pngSummon Golem.png
This remains to this day one of my favorite potential mechanics that I find is SO hard to use.
It is a lot of text, so you do have to be careful what each card does. This is practically call of the herd and it's 6 lines of text.
There's good room to put this on creatures with prowess, or just splitting up the cost on ETB creatures (though they'll need to cost more to offset the flexibility).
Not to mention I'm a picky bastard and want both arts to line up like they do here!

There's so much space there but I just haven't actually filled any of it really.

#3
Metaengineer.png
I think in a cooler cube than mine, this might need adjusting. (I didn't put a minimum on the cost reduction for eg, and most effects like this do specify one).
You get the initial layer of "Oh it's Ophidian (yes I'm old) but you have to pay {1} each time", then it's an artifact creature that generates more artifacts over time, so you can slap a cranial plating on it, oh and now you can move that plating around for free, and (at least for now) your signets just got TURBOCHARGED.
Then you look in the pack and you see Retrofitter Foundry.

A lot goes on.

#2
Dragon Ruby.png
This card does great work. Equipment that sets base P/T is great for creatures with +1/+1 counters, and the combination of Burn Spell + Equipment just feels great.
One knock against this is that while this card does a ton of things, they are all reach in some way.

#1
Overwhelming Guilt.png
Okay here's where simple and edit intersect, since this is just Repentance from tempest but more powerful. Maybe your format is at a place where 3mv conditional removal is fine, but there's also like...oblivion ring.

This effect is just amazing. Most removal is just a percentages game: what kills more targets, lightning strike vs terror vs smother vs roast. The most frustrating of those are when a given removal spell is either wholly on or wholly off against a given archetype in the format. Take Roast above, presuming there was a UW fliers deck in your cube, or just Terror against the black drafter.

Ideally (IMO) you'd have most removal spells be effective against ~85% (Adjust to taste) of all threats in your opponents deck against any opponent, and enough spells that you aren't going to draw exactly one removal spell and just die if your opponents threats line up right.

The reason I like this so much is that it's a percentage of the format like any other spell, but in a way that's hard to intuit. It's not just "Small" or "Nonblack" or "Attacking" or whatever.

It can't kill walls, but it kills deathtouchers of any size (Graveblade Marauder). A lot of finishers have square stats (Sun Titan) so it kills those. It's also got interactions with Lifelink, Infect/Wither.

Plus it's actually a fucking spell! So many white removal noncreature spells are enchantments, which presents a problem if you want cards in your graveyard for....whatever reason (1 2 3 4 5)

Love every inch of this card.
 
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