If anyone wants to throw some ideas out there, I'm currently thinking that I'll want:
A cycle of cards like
Sewn-Eye Drake where there's possibly a colorless cost, a nonblack hybrid symbol, and a black mana symbol.
A cycle of three color, three mana "charm"s.
Maybe some XXBB costed cards like
Basilica Bell-Haunt.
Some BBB, BBBB, BBBBB, etc cards.
I feel that mana costs are a unique way to emphasize the black aspect of the environment.
Still looking to work on these.
Lifeless Silence rewards NOT playing the game and basically makes the next turn moot, which is generally unfun. Maybe an absurd (like 9-10 mana?) Flashback cost instead?
What about Flashback BBBBBB? Both players lose their next turn, kind of. Or maybe you're right and something like 3BBBBB is better.
Hey guys,
I've been on a different assignment at work recently and it gives me a decent amount of free time and computer access. As a result, I've had the opportunity to basically finish two other cube projects. And guess what? There's aspects of both that I hate. I don't especially want to build either. I thought it could be fun to use real cards, but they're lacking in trying to meet all of my goals.
That leads me back to this customs idea. Which I'm sure will be full of shortcomings and disappointment as well. I think that satisfying my entire designer itch within one project may be an unreasonable goal, but we'll see.
That all said, I don't have access to my
REDACTED files at work, so I'll be posting the text for the ideas throughout the day. Potentially, I'll transfer them into
REDACTED when I get home, but it takes some time to get the right art and all of that.
Cycle of (ETB tapped?) Channel duals. Channel effects:
UB:
2BR: Terminate, maybe Putrefy
WB:
BG: Raise Dead or maybe 1BG Regrowth
Beyond the Grave ... BG
Instant
Choose a creature card in your graveyard. That card deals damage equal to it's power to target creature an opponent controls.
~ ... B
Creature {-}
BBB: Return {cardname} from your graveyard to the battlefield. Activate only as a sorcery.
2/1
~ ... WBG or WUB
Legendary Creature {-}
Whenever another nontoken creature enters the battlefield under your control, create a token that's a copy of it. When that token enters the battlefield, sacrifice it.
3/3
~ Specter ... UBB
Flying
{cardname} has deathtouch as long as it's attacking.
Whenever {cardname} deals combat damage to a player, choose one —
• Draw a card.
• That player returns a permanent they control to its owner’s hand.
• That player discards a card.
2/2
~ ... 1BG or 1WB or 1BB or 1{WG}B
Creature {-}
Whenever you gain life, each opponent loses that much life.
Landfall {-} Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you gain 1 life. If that land was a Swamp, you gain 2 life instead.
3/2
Magus of the Anvil or like Bogardan Blacksmith or something ... 1R or 1RR
Creature {-} Some Wizard
Players have no maximum hand size.
At the beginning of each player’s draw step, that player draws an additional card, then discards a card.
2/2 or 3/3
~ ... BR or 1BR
Creature {-}
Haste
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may sacrifice a creature. If you do, destroy up to one target artifact.
2/2 or 3/3
Grave Pact Guy ... BBBB
Creature {-}
Whenever another creature you control dies, each other player sacrifices a creature.
4/4
Mortify 2 ... 1B
Instant
Kicker W
Destroy target creature with mana value 3 or less. If this spell was kicked, exile target creature or enchantment instead.
Putrefy 2 ... 1B
Instant
Kicker G
Destroy target creature with mana value 3 or less. If this spell was kicked, exile target creature or artifact instead.
Villanation ... B
Instant
As an additional cost to cast this spell, pay 1U or sacrifice a creature.
Draw two cards.
Roiling Rotation ... G
Instant
As an additional cost to cast this spell, pay 2 or sacrifice a land.
Search your library for a land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Shuffle your library.
(I'm not sure that there's enough to grab with this right now. Might add Coffers to go with Nykthos.)