I've been messing around with Emrakul, trying to capture some of the temporal distortion nature that this creature evokes
For reference I've been using a mechanic called Eradicate as a potential eldrazi mechanic. Eradicate X(Whenever this creature becomes blocked, defending player sacrifices X non blocking permanent(s)
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v115
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v1 can’t be countered.
Flying, Eradicate 6
When Emrakul is put into a graveyard from anywhere, its owner shuffles his or her graveyard into his or her library.
: End the turn. Activate this ability only during your turn.
15/15
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v215
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v2 can’t be countered.
When you cast Emrakul, Each player shuffles his or her hand and graveyard into his or her library, then draws seven cards.
Flying, Eradicate 6
When Emrakul is put into a graveyard from anywhere, its owner shuffles his or her graveyard into his or her library.
15/15
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v315
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v3 can’t be countered.
Flying, Eradicate 6
Untap all creatures and lands you control during each other player’s untap step.
You may cast nonland cards as though they had flash.
When Emrakul is put into a graveyard from anywhere, its owner shuffles his or her graveyard into his or her library.
15/15
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v415
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v4 can’t be countered.
Flying, Eradicate 6
When Emrakul is put into a graveyard from anywhere, its owner shuffles his or her graveyard into his or her library.
: End the phase or step. Activate this ability only once per turn.
15/15
I... I don't like eradicate. It's just too much like and generally way worse than annihilator. I'd find a new way to represent the approach of the Eldrazi, one that doesn't rely on a sacrifice theme.
These Emrakul's all share the same problem. They try to do cool stuff to differentiate themselves from the original, but that's not what they should do. The original Emrakul doesn't do cool stuff. It kills people. Period. You cast it and you win the game. If you can't figure out a way to say "You win the game" in a way that's sufficiently different from the original Emrakul, and I don't think there is a way, the mana cost should be lower so that it can fill a new role.
But I don't like it as an Eldrazi mechanic, because it's so similar to annihlator... yet less powerful... that it can do nothing but make these Eldrazi compare poorly to the previous batch.
The key that turned the Eldrazi engine was "Battlecruiser Magic." Eldrazi need to be huge, expensive, scary, and immediately impactful. I don't think it's necessary that they force your opponent to sacrifice permanents. I would much rather see an Eldrazi mechanic that played in a totally different ballpark.
I think it's decent enough as a non-Eldrazi mechanic, although I might remove the numbers from it and have it just be "sacrifices a non-blocking permanent."
These Emrakul's all share the same problem. They try to do cool stuff to differentiate themselves from the original, but that's not what they should do. The original Emrakul doesn't do cool stuff. It kills people. Period. You cast it and you win the game. If you can't figure out a way to say "You win the game" in a way that's sufficiently different from the original Emrakul, and I don't think there is a way, the mana cost should be lower so that it can fill a new role.
Hmmm thats not a bad point. Maybe I'll try making Emrakul one of the smaller legendary titans so I can focus on the special abilities.
@Void Nothing & Guesswork: Yes this is weaker than annihilator most of the time doesn't mean it doesn't create better gameplay. Annihilator wasn't that great of a mechanic other than the amazing flavor fit it had. It was super swingy and hard to design and develop around. My hope with Eradicate (maybe a new name....) is that I can keep some of the flavor that annihilate had while removing the lack of choices on the opponents part.
I mean we have seen that mechanics can be strictly worse than previous ones with the introduction of strive. Though I guess that these are going to be compared a lot more is a difficulty.
Any suggestions on how I could improve these design or the eradicate mechanic?
@Void Nothing & Guesswork: Yes this is weaker than annihilator most of the time doesn't mean it doesn't create better gameplay. Annihilator wasn't that great of a mechanic other than the amazing flavor fit it had. It was super swingy and hard to design and develop around. My hope with Eradicate (maybe a new name....) is that I can keep some of the flavor that annihilate had while removing the lack of choices on the opponents part.
I agree that eradicate could have good gameplay.
Let me put my previous comments a different way: Eldrazi are supposed to be game-enders. Everything about an Eldrazi, from its CMC, to its huge abilities, to the Eldrazi Spawn that telegraph your intentions in the early game, set the Eldrazi up to be your big finisher. And in that role, annihilator is just about perfect.
Yes, it's less interactive than your eradicate mechanic, but in this case that's actually good. You've invested your entire deck in getting your Eldrazi on the board, and if you can succeed at that, your reward should be huge. The interactivity comes in your opponent trying to stop you from casting your Eldrazi in the first place. If there has to be many turns of back-and-forth combat exchange after you cast your Eldrazi, it's probably not worth dedicating your whole deck to casting the thing. No bones about it, annihilator gets the job done.
So again, I think eradicate could work, but I'd much rather see it for values of n=1, and divorced from the "battlecruiser" concept. I'd love to see it on some black or red stuff in the 4-6 CMC range.
As for new Eldrazi, if you look at them from the perspective of "game-enders," I think it frees you to do crazy and different things with them. Things that might be bad form for any other class of card. I'd love to see a mechanic that was like a mass Bribery effect, for example. Something that just snows your opponent under unless they have a really great answer on hand.
I've been messing around with Emrakul, trying to capture some of the temporal distortion nature that this creature evokes
For reference I've been using a mechanic called Eradicate as a potential eldrazi mechanic.
Eradicate X (Whenever this creature becomes blocked, defending player sacrifices X non blocking permanent(s)
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v1 15
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v1 can’t be countered.
Flying, Eradicate 6
When Emrakul is put into a graveyard from anywhere, its owner shuffles his or her graveyard into his or her library.
: End the turn. Activate this ability only during your turn.
15/15
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v2 15
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v2 can’t be countered.
When you cast Emrakul, Each player shuffles his or her hand and graveyard into his or her library, then draws seven cards.
Flying, Eradicate 6
When Emrakul is put into a graveyard from anywhere, its owner shuffles his or her graveyard into his or her library.
15/15
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v3 15
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v3 can’t be countered.
Flying, Eradicate 6
Untap all creatures and lands you control during each other player’s untap step.
You may cast nonland cards as though they had flash.
When Emrakul is put into a graveyard from anywhere, its owner shuffles his or her graveyard into his or her library.
15/15
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v4 15
Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Emrakul, Eternity Unbound v4 can’t be countered.
Flying, Eradicate 6
When Emrakul is put into a graveyard from anywhere, its owner shuffles his or her graveyard into his or her library.
: End the phase or step. Activate this ability only once per turn.
15/15
Are you designing commons? Check out my primer on NWO.
Interested in making a custom set? Check out my Set skeleton and archetype primer.
I also write articles about getting started with custom card creation.
Go and PLAYTEST your designs, you will learn more in a single playtests than a dozen discussions.
My custom sets:
Dreamscape
Coins of Mercalis [COMPLETE]
Exodus of Zendikar - ON HOLD
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
But I don't like it as an Eldrazi mechanic, because it's so similar to annihlator... yet less powerful... that it can do nothing but make these Eldrazi compare poorly to the previous batch.
The key that turned the Eldrazi engine was "Battlecruiser Magic." Eldrazi need to be huge, expensive, scary, and immediately impactful. I don't think it's necessary that they force your opponent to sacrifice permanents. I would much rather see an Eldrazi mechanic that played in a totally different ballpark.
I think it's decent enough as a non-Eldrazi mechanic, although I might remove the numbers from it and have it just be "sacrifices a non-blocking permanent."
Hmmm thats not a bad point. Maybe I'll try making Emrakul one of the smaller legendary titans so I can focus on the special abilities.
@Void Nothing & Guesswork: Yes this is weaker than annihilator most of the time doesn't mean it doesn't create better gameplay. Annihilator wasn't that great of a mechanic other than the amazing flavor fit it had. It was super swingy and hard to design and develop around. My hope with Eradicate (maybe a new name....) is that I can keep some of the flavor that annihilate had while removing the lack of choices on the opponents part.
I mean we have seen that mechanics can be strictly worse than previous ones with the introduction of strive. Though I guess that these are going to be compared a lot more is a difficulty.
Any suggestions on how I could improve these design or the eradicate mechanic?
Are you designing commons? Check out my primer on NWO.
Interested in making a custom set? Check out my Set skeleton and archetype primer.
I also write articles about getting started with custom card creation.
Go and PLAYTEST your designs, you will learn more in a single playtests than a dozen discussions.
My custom sets:
Dreamscape
Coins of Mercalis [COMPLETE]
Exodus of Zendikar - ON HOLD
Let me put my previous comments a different way: Eldrazi are supposed to be game-enders. Everything about an Eldrazi, from its CMC, to its huge abilities, to the Eldrazi Spawn that telegraph your intentions in the early game, set the Eldrazi up to be your big finisher. And in that role, annihilator is just about perfect.
Yes, it's less interactive than your eradicate mechanic, but in this case that's actually good. You've invested your entire deck in getting your Eldrazi on the board, and if you can succeed at that, your reward should be huge. The interactivity comes in your opponent trying to stop you from casting your Eldrazi in the first place. If there has to be many turns of back-and-forth combat exchange after you cast your Eldrazi, it's probably not worth dedicating your whole deck to casting the thing. No bones about it, annihilator gets the job done.
So again, I think eradicate could work, but I'd much rather see it for values of n=1, and divorced from the "battlecruiser" concept. I'd love to see it on some black or red stuff in the 4-6 CMC range.
As for new Eldrazi, if you look at them from the perspective of "game-enders," I think it frees you to do crazy and different things with them. Things that might be bad form for any other class of card. I'd love to see a mechanic that was like a mass Bribery effect, for example. Something that just snows your opponent under unless they have a really great answer on hand.