I've been playing with a mechanic for creatures that allows you to cast it for an alternative cost, kind of like a built-in Donate effect. All of these creatures take a versatile form in which you have the choice between a powerful creature with a drawback, or giving your opponent said creature in order to cripple them with the drawback.
The mechanic reads:
Infiltrate X (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
Some examples I came up with in Black and Blue:
Arcane InfiltratorB
Creature - Human Rogue {R}
Infiltrate 1BB (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
Arcane Infiltrator is unblockable.
Spells you cast cost an additional 1 life.
2/1
Tithe DemonBB
Creature - Demon {R}
Flying
Infiltrate 2BB (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
Creatures you control can't attack unless you pay 2 life for each creature that attacks.
4/3
Mindwarp DjinnBBB
Creature - Djinn {R}
Flying
Infiltrate 3BB (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
Whenever you draw or discard a card, you lose 2 life.
5/4
Psionic InfiltratorU
Creature - Human Rogue {R}
Infiltrate 1UU (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
Psionic Infiltrator is unblockable.
At the beginning of your upkeep, put the top 7 cards of your library into your graveyard.
2/1
Boon FaerieUU
Creature - Faerie Rogue {R}
Flying
Infiltrate 2UU (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
Each opponent draws an additional card during their draw step.
3/3
Stormfront DjinnUUU
Creature - Djinn {R}
Flying
Infiltrate 3UU (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, tap a permanent you control. That permanent does not untap during your untap step as long as Stormfront Djinn is on the battlefield. If you control no untapped permanents, exile Stormfront Djinn.
4/5
One issue I'm running into when thinking about developing cards with this mechanic, is that one might be hard pressed to come up with anything that is less than a rare. Maybe if I think hard enough I can also produce some uncommons with this?
Another thought is that the trade-off of giving your opponent a flying or unblockable creature may call for being negated through some combos. Of course one could just slap a Pacifism effect on them. But I came up with a few supplemental cards that would help out in that respect:
Coercive Tithe2BW
Enchantment {R}
Creatures can't attack you unless their controller pays 2 life for each creature he or she controls that's attacking you.
You can't be the target of spells unless that spell's controller pays 2 life for each spell that's targeting you.
Cursed Gift2BU
Enchantment - Aura {R}
Enchant permanent
Target player gains control of enchanted permanent you control. During that player's upkeep, they lose 2 life.
This does not stop them from attacking with it, but it does increase the pain and offers a way to give them control of a creature without using the Infiltrate mechanic itself. I had already made this card, but it fit with the theme very well.
Wow. I've never even been to this forum before, but yesterday I was trying to sleep and thought up two cards with a very similar mechanic. I was thinking of the word "infiltrate" too.
Demonic Infiltrator 1BB
Creature - Demon
Flying
When Demon Infiltrator enters the battlefield, target opponent gains control of it.
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a non-Demon creature.
3/3
At the beginning of enchanted opponent's upkeep, he or she puts a 3/3 black Demon creature token with flying on the battlefield, and then sacrifices all non-Demon creatures he or she controls.
Not sure about the costs and the P/T's of the "reward" Demons the opponent gets. The first creature would be great with some kind of on-board removal, like Paralyze or Pacifism, etc.
The latter enchantment would be a fun and challenging card to build around - can you kill your opponent before he kills you with his growing army of 3/3 fliers? It'd have to only enchant opponents, unlike other Curses, because enchanting yourself would be too strong in a Demon tribal deck. Of course it would be terrible against control decks!
Cards of this sort seem to need a decent balancing act between the benefit of giving your opponent the creature and the drawback effect. In the case of my mechanic, they also have to feel potentially doable as a card you play under your control normally as well. Overall, most of the cards I have come up with scream "play me under your opponent's control" with the severity of the drawback, but with the right strategy you might just be able to get away with playing them normally too. Some of this ends up taking the form of a card that, on the surface, might look like a "bad card" when played normally but put in the right strategic context with the right combos and it is powerful.
I like Demonic Infiltrator, it's a little more simple and straightforward than the route I've taken. I guess if I were to re-do it with my mechanic it would look something like this:
Demonic InfiltratorBB
Creature - Demon (R)
Flying
Infiltrate 2BB (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a non-demon creature.
3/3
So on one hand you can get a cheap flyer at the expense of sacking creatures, or on the other you can give it to your opponent to burden them and take out their other creatures. In the former usage, you could combo it with creatures with a notable effect upon leaving the battlefield, and/or with reanimation as well.
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The mechanic reads:
Infiltrate X (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
Some examples I came up with in Black and Blue:
Arcane Infiltrator B
Creature - Human Rogue {R}
Infiltrate 1BB (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
Arcane Infiltrator is unblockable.
Spells you cast cost an additional 1 life.
2/1
Tithe Demon BB
Creature - Demon {R}
Flying
Infiltrate 2BB (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
Creatures you control can't attack unless you pay 2 life for each creature that attacks.
4/3
Mindwarp Djinn BBB
Creature - Djinn {R}
Flying
Infiltrate 3BB (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
Whenever you draw or discard a card, you lose 2 life.
5/4
Psionic Infiltrator U
Creature - Human Rogue {R}
Infiltrate 1UU (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
Psionic Infiltrator is unblockable.
At the beginning of your upkeep, put the top 7 cards of your library into your graveyard.
2/1
Boon Faerie UU
Creature - Faerie Rogue {R}
Flying
Infiltrate 2UU (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
Each opponent draws an additional card during their draw step.
3/3
Stormfront Djinn UUU
Creature - Djinn {R}
Flying
Infiltrate 3UU (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, tap a permanent you control. That permanent does not untap during your untap step as long as Stormfront Djinn is on the battlefield. If you control no untapped permanents, exile Stormfront Djinn.
4/5
One issue I'm running into when thinking about developing cards with this mechanic, is that one might be hard pressed to come up with anything that is less than a rare. Maybe if I think hard enough I can also produce some uncommons with this?
Another thought is that the trade-off of giving your opponent a flying or unblockable creature may call for being negated through some combos. Of course one could just slap a Pacifism effect on them. But I came up with a few supplemental cards that would help out in that respect:
Coercive Tithe 2BW
Enchantment {R}
Creatures can't attack you unless their controller pays 2 life for each creature he or she controls that's attacking you.
You can't be the target of spells unless that spell's controller pays 2 life for each spell that's targeting you.
Cursed Gift 2BU
Enchantment - Aura {R}
Enchant permanent
Target player gains control of enchanted permanent you control. During that player's upkeep, they lose 2 life.
This does not stop them from attacking with it, but it does increase the pain and offers a way to give them control of a creature without using the Infiltrate mechanic itself. I had already made this card, but it fit with the theme very well.
Demonic Infiltrator 1BB
Creature - Demon
Flying
When Demon Infiltrator enters the battlefield, target opponent gains control of it.
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a non-Demon creature.
3/3
Curse of Demonic Possession 2BB
Enchantment - Aura Curse
Enchant opponent
At the beginning of enchanted opponent's upkeep, he or she puts a 3/3 black Demon creature token with flying on the battlefield, and then sacrifices all non-Demon creatures he or she controls.
Not sure about the costs and the P/T's of the "reward" Demons the opponent gets. The first creature would be great with some kind of on-board removal, like Paralyze or Pacifism, etc.
The latter enchantment would be a fun and challenging card to build around - can you kill your opponent before he kills you with his growing army of 3/3 fliers? It'd have to only enchant opponents, unlike other Curses, because enchanting yourself would be too strong in a Demon tribal deck. Of course it would be terrible against control decks!
I like Demonic Infiltrator, it's a little more simple and straightforward than the route I've taken. I guess if I were to re-do it with my mechanic it would look something like this:
Demonic Infiltrator BB
Creature - Demon (R)
Flying
Infiltrate 2BB (You may cast this creature for its Infiltrate cost. If you do, it enters the battlefield under the control of target opponent.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a non-demon creature.
3/3
So on one hand you can get a cheap flyer at the expense of sacking creatures, or on the other you can give it to your opponent to burden them and take out their other creatures. In the former usage, you could combo it with creatures with a notable effect upon leaving the battlefield, and/or with reanimation as well.