These are for an all hybrid/generic "homage to alpha" set.
Basalt Megalith (Uncommon) 5
Artifact
Basalt Megalith doesn’t untap during your untap step. T: Add 5 to your mana pool. 5: Untap Basalt Megalith. Basalt Monolith
Brass Gnomes (Uncommon) 2
Artifact Creature - Gnome
1/1
Whenever Brass Gnomes becomes tapped, it deals 1 damage to each player. T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Copper Tablet, Copper Gnomes, City of Brass
Clay Golem (Uncommon) 6
Artifact Creature - Golem
*/*
As Clay Golem enters the battlefield, it becomes your choice of a 6/4 artifact creature or a 4/6 artifact creature. Obsianus Golem, Clay Statue
Clockwork Wurm (Uncommon) x
Artifact Creature - Wurm
0/0
Clockwork Wurm enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
Whenever Clockwork Wurm attacks or blocks, remove a +1/+1 counter from it. T: Put a +1/+1 counter on Clockwork Wurm.
Dancing Blades (Uncommon) 6
Artifact Creature - Spirit
2/4
Flying
First strike
Dancing Blades has double strike as long as you control another creature named Dancing Blades.
Darksteel Wall (Uncommon) 4
Artifact Creature - Wall
0/6
Defender 1: Darksteel Wall gains indestructible until end of turn. Living Wall
Dreadnought (Uncommon) 3
Artifact Creature - Dreadnought
5/5
As an additional cost to cast Juggernaut, sacrifice a land.
Dreadnought can't block. Juggernaut
Ersatz Balm (Uncommon) 4
Artifact X, T: Prevent the next X damage that would be dealt to target creature or player this turn. Ersatz Balm doesn’t untap during your next untap step. Conservator
Goblin Catapult (Uncommon) 3
Artifact Creature - Construct
0/1
Haste T: Target creature you control gains flying until end of turn. Sacrifice that creature at and of turn. Activate this ability only at any time you could cast a sorcery.
Helix Scroll (Uncommon) 2
Artifact XX, T, Sacrifice Helix Scroll: Draw X cards. Activate this ability only at any time you could cast a sorcery. Jayemdae Tome, Barrin's Codex
Living Armaments (Uncommon) 5
Artifact
Living Armaments enters the battlefield tapped. T, Sacrifice Living Armaments: Put X +1/+1 counters on target creature, where X is that creature’s converted mana cost. Living Armor
Mana Chalice (Mythic) 0
Artifact T: Add 2 to your mana pool. Flip a coin. If you lose the flip, sacrifice Mana Chalice. Mana Crypt
Mind Screw (Uncommon) 1
Artifact
Your maximum hand size is increased by two.
Your opponents’ maximum hand sizes are each reduced by two. Black Vise, Library of Leng
Power Switch (Uncommon) 4
Artifact 2, T: Tap or untap target artifact, creature, or land. Icy Manipulator
Sacrificial Dagger (Uncommon) 2
Artifact T: Target creature you control gets +2/+0 until end of turn. When it dies this turn, you gain life equal to its power. Activate this ability only at any time you could cast a sorcery. Dark Sphere, Delif's Cone, Runesword, Implements of Sacrifice
Signet Ring (Uncommon) 2
Artifact 1, T: Add two different colors of mana to your mana pool. Celestial Prism
Sphinx’s Monocle (Uncommon) 2
Artifact
When Sphinx’s Monocle enters the battlefield, draw a card. T: Look at the top card of target player' library. Glasses of Urza
Wall of Javelines (Uncommon) 3
Artifact Creature - Wall
3/2
Flash
Defender
First strike
Floating Citadel (Uncommon)
Land T: Add 2 to your mana pool. During your next untap step, as you untap your permanents, return Floating Citadel to its owner’s hand. Sol Ring
Paradise Lost (Uncommon)
Land T: Add 1 to your mana pool. T, Sacrifice Paradise Lost: Each opponent sacrifices a land. Strip Mine
Dancing blade -- "control two", or "control two or more"?
mana chalice -- hahaha, no.
mind screw -- also no. Maybe make it 4 cc.
Paradise -- Doesn't really matter if the opponent gets to choose which land to use when he only has one in play and you play this early enough. That was strip mine problem -- people played 4 of strip mine just so that the y could screw with the opponent's turn 1 and 2 when they were playing their most needed lands first.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
Thanks Mondu. The further I get into the set, the more I realize that it's not just an homage to Alpha (and the first year of Magic in general), but it's also somewhat an homage to Vintage. I would have made that clear earlier, but wasn't yet aware of it myself. I'll try to make this set's design goals better known in future posts. The cards/set "should" be viewed in a (Limited) vacuum, as though they're part of the only set (and "format") in existence - like Alpha (and the first year of Magic). That being said, I'm looking for input because I don't want to accidentally go quite as far as Alpha in terms of degeneracy - i.e., 40 card decks consisting of 22 Timetwister, 17 Black Lotus, and 1 Lightning Bolt. Also, I may allow some "restrictable" cards to make the final set list and make an imaginary "restricted list", but that's not exactly a design goal.
So with that in mind:
Dancing Blades - Yes, thank you. Also, the abilities are set in stone, but I'm not 100% set on the cmc/body.
Mana Chalice - This is the set's Mana Crypt. (btw, Floating Citadel is the set's Sol Ring.) It isn't set in stone and may be changed or outright cut as design continues.
Paradise Lost - This is the set's Strip Mine. I think this is about as soft as land destruction (on a land) can get and still feel old-school.
Mind Screw - This is the set's Black Vice. It's really an amalgamation of Black Vice, The Rack, Library of Leng, and even (somewhat) Disrupting Scepter. My goal for this slot is a 1 cmc noncreature artifact that is debilitating but not quite as dominating as the vice. Mind Screw is a first shot at it. I'm considering this for an alternative:
Mind Spike (Uncommon) 1
Artifact
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, if you have fewer cards in hand than that player, Mind Spike deals 1 damage to that player.
I'm open to any suggestions and Alpha-esque ideas, uncommon artifact or otherwise. Thanks again.
Some of these are really nice. In particular Helix Scroll and Living Armaments feel like they would be very fun in almost any limited environment. Which Alpha cards are they analogs to?
Some of these are really nice. In particular Helix Scroll and Living Armaments feel like they would be very fun in almost any limited environment. Which Alpha cards are they analogs to?
Living Armaments is a riff of Living Armor from The Dark. Not every card is a direct analogue of an Alpha card. There's extra slots in the set because it's larger than ABU with 303 nonbasic cards to be exact - 101 at each rarity.
Some of these are really nice. In particular Helix Scroll and Living Armaments feel like they would be very fun in almost any limited environment. Which Alpha cards are they analogs to?
Living Armaments is a riff of Living Armor from The Dark. Not every card is a direct analogue of an Alpha card. There's extra slots in the set because it's larger than ABU with 303 nonbasic cards to be exact - 101 at each rarity.
Ah, cool!
I have to say though that they're both a lot nicer than their analogs. I think you've done a good job re-interpreting the effects with modern design sensibilities (less wordy, less bookkeeping, more splashy, more elegant).
EDIT: I think I like them both so much that I want to immediately playtest them in a sealed format.
Black Rack (Uncommon) 1
Artifact
At the beginning of each opponent’s upkeep, Black Rack deals 2 damage to that player unless that he or she has two, three, four, or five cards in his or her hand.
I like the idea of combining Black Vise and The Rack, but I'd suggest making it an Iron Maiden, fits the theme of medieval torture implements, and was about forcing the victim to hold still in the middle
Paradise Lost is a rare, that's too strong for an uncommon. You could make it feel even more old school and knock down the power a bit if you took away the mana ability. I would also propose changing it to "Each opponent chooses a target land he or she controls. Destroy the chosen lands."
Signet Ring is strictly better than all of the Ravnica guild signets, not entirely inappropriate, but I would put this at rare as well, as it is a super efficient mana rock. Ifyou tempered it a bit with etb tapped or cmc 3, I could see it at uncommon.
The problem with the cycle Prismatic Orb is aping, was that they were a terrible deal, increasing the cost of your spells by 1 for 1 life each is not worth it, this is why they were replaced by the Angel's Feather cycle. Your design is even narrower in most situations, as there are typically fewer multicolored spells in a given deck than spells of a specific color.
Mind Screw is too powerful at 1, dropping it turn 1 on the play forces your opponent to ply three cards on their turn or force a discard. The effect alone would be a good card, with the increased hand size for yourself stapled to it, it's all upside. I'd suggest making it symmetrical, reduce all players' hand size by 2. Oldschool cards often worked like that, and it would require more thought to use it without hurting yourself, or you could built with it in mind as an easy way to get free discards.
Mana Chalice seems to be as hideously broken as Mana Crypt. I understand that's what you were gong for, but 0 cmc mana rocks are very dangerous to set design.
On that note Floating Citadel's downside is weak compared to its mana output. It should probably etb tapped to balance.
Brass Gnomes probably needs to be a rare, and in combining Copper Tablet's effect with City of Brass's ability, you cut out a downside. The tablet's upside is 1 damage to your opponent, downside is 1 damage to you. City's upside is any color mana, downside is 1 damage to you. Your design's upsides are any color mana and 1 damage to your opponent, downside is just one damage to you. I suppose making it a creature makes it easier to remove, but still, I'd play that in tons of decks.
Basalt Megalith: I can't help but wonder if a 0, CIP, doesn't untap, tap for 1, 2 untap might be more interesting. Monolith is an infinite engine if you can make it's untap cost 1 less, hence the 2 to untap here (making you run 2 cost reducers before you to infinite).
Brass Gnomes - I'd rather this be Brass Myr2 2/1 T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. ~ deals 1 damage to you. (C)
Clay Golem - You mean Primal Clay, and if you're doing to go that route, might I suggest remembering Shapeshifter: Clay Shapeshifter6
Creature - Shapeshifter Golem
When ~ enters the battlefield and at the end of each turn, choose a number under 12. ~'s toughness becomes the chosen number, and it's power becomes 12 minus the chosen number.
Clockwork Wurm - I think you mean: Clockwork HydraX
X enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
If damage would be dealt to Protean Hydra, prevent that damage and remove that many +1/+1 counters from it. Put twice that many +1/+1 counters on it at the beginning of the next end step.
Whenever attacks or blocks, remove a +1/+1 counter from it.
0/0
Dancing Blades - Clever, but Ensouled Scimitar exists so I have to think this needs slightly different flavor; as Ensouled Scimitar is awesome sauce and there should be more equipment like it!
Darksteel Wall - Darksteel is always indestructible. Also, I really hate putting indestructible on non-rare/mythics.
Goblin Catapult - I don't know what it'd look like, but this needs to be a vehicle form of acorn catapult
Mana Chalice - Please NO!
Paradise Lost - Make it a stripmine that can only target legendary lands.
Clockwork Wurm - I think you mean: Clockwork HydraX
X enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
If damage would be dealt to Protean Hydra, prevent that damage and remove that many +1/+1 counters from it. Put twice that many +1/+1 counters on it at the beginning of the next end step.
Whenever attacks or blocks, remove a +1/+1 counter from it.
0/0
Basalt Megalith (Uncommon)
5
Artifact
Basalt Megalith doesn’t untap during your untap step.
T: Add 5 to your mana pool.
5: Untap Basalt Megalith.
Basalt Monolith
Brass Gnomes (Uncommon)
2
Artifact Creature - Gnome
1/1
Whenever Brass Gnomes becomes tapped, it deals 1 damage to each player.
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
Copper Tablet, Copper Gnomes, City of Brass
Clay Golem (Uncommon)
6
Artifact Creature - Golem
*/*
As Clay Golem enters the battlefield, it becomes your choice of a 6/4 artifact creature or a 4/6 artifact creature.
Obsianus Golem, Clay Statue
Clockwork Wurm (Uncommon)
x
Artifact Creature - Wurm
0/0
Clockwork Wurm enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
Whenever Clockwork Wurm attacks or blocks, remove a +1/+1 counter from it.
T: Put a +1/+1 counter on Clockwork Wurm.
Dancing Blades (Uncommon)
6
Artifact Creature - Spirit
2/4
Flying
First strike
Dancing Blades has double strike as long as you control another creature named Dancing Blades.
Darksteel Wall (Uncommon)
4
Artifact Creature - Wall
0/6
Defender
1: Darksteel Wall gains indestructible until end of turn.
Living Wall
Dreadnought (Uncommon)
3
Artifact Creature - Dreadnought
5/5
As an additional cost to cast Juggernaut, sacrifice a land.
Dreadnought can't block.
Juggernaut
Ersatz Balm (Uncommon)
4
Artifact
X, T: Prevent the next X damage that would be dealt to target creature or player this turn. Ersatz Balm doesn’t untap during your next untap step.
Conservator
Goblin Catapult (Uncommon)
3
Artifact Creature - Construct
0/1
Haste
T: Target creature you control gains flying until end of turn. Sacrifice that creature at and of turn. Activate this ability only at any time you could cast a sorcery.
Helix Scroll (Uncommon)
2
Artifact
XX, T, Sacrifice Helix Scroll: Draw X cards. Activate this ability only at any time you could cast a sorcery.
Jayemdae Tome, Barrin's Codex
Living Armaments (Uncommon)
5
Artifact
Living Armaments enters the battlefield tapped.
T, Sacrifice Living Armaments: Put X +1/+1 counters on target creature, where X is that creature’s converted mana cost.
Living Armor
Mana Chalice (Mythic)
0
Artifact
T: Add 2 to your mana pool. Flip a coin. If you lose the flip, sacrifice Mana Chalice.
Mana Crypt
Mind Screw (Uncommon)
1
Artifact
Your maximum hand size is increased by two.
Your opponents’ maximum hand sizes are each reduced by two.
Black Vise, Library of Leng
Power Switch (Uncommon)
4
Artifact
2, T: Tap or untap target artifact, creature, or land.
Icy Manipulator
Prismatic Orb (Uncommon)
1
Artifact
Whenever a player casts a multicolored spell, you may pay 1. If you do, you gain 1 life.
Crystal Rod, Iron Star, Ivory Cup, Throne of Bone, Wooden Sphere
Sacrificial Dagger (Uncommon)
2
Artifact
T: Target creature you control gets +2/+0 until end of turn. When it dies this turn, you gain life equal to its power. Activate this ability only at any time you could cast a sorcery.
Dark Sphere, Delif's Cone, Runesword, Implements of Sacrifice
Signet Ring (Uncommon)
2
Artifact
1, T: Add two different colors of mana to your mana pool.
Celestial Prism
Sphinx’s Monocle (Uncommon)
2
Artifact
When Sphinx’s Monocle enters the battlefield, draw a card.
T: Look at the top card of target player' library.
Glasses of Urza
Wall of Javelines (Uncommon)
3
Artifact Creature - Wall
3/2
Flash
Defender
First strike
Floating Citadel (Uncommon)
Land
T: Add 2 to your mana pool. During your next untap step, as you untap your permanents, return Floating Citadel to its owner’s hand.
Sol Ring
Paradise Lost (Uncommon)
Land
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
T, Sacrifice Paradise Lost: Each opponent sacrifices a land.
Strip Mine
mana chalice -- hahaha, no.
mind screw -- also no. Maybe make it 4 cc.
Paradise -- Doesn't really matter if the opponent gets to choose which land to use when he only has one in play and you play this early enough. That was strip mine problem -- people played 4 of strip mine just so that the y could screw with the opponent's turn 1 and 2 when they were playing their most needed lands first.
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
So with that in mind:
Dancing Blades - Yes, thank you. Also, the abilities are set in stone, but I'm not 100% set on the cmc/body.
Mana Chalice - This is the set's Mana Crypt. (btw, Floating Citadel is the set's Sol Ring.) It isn't set in stone and may be changed or outright cut as design continues.
Paradise Lost - This is the set's Strip Mine. I think this is about as soft as land destruction (on a land) can get and still feel old-school.
Mind Screw - This is the set's Black Vice. It's really an amalgamation of Black Vice, The Rack, Library of Leng, and even (somewhat) Disrupting Scepter. My goal for this slot is a 1 cmc noncreature artifact that is debilitating but not quite as dominating as the vice. Mind Screw is a first shot at it. I'm considering this for an alternative:
Mind Spike (Uncommon)
1
Artifact
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, if you have fewer cards in hand than that player, Mind Spike deals 1 damage to that player.
I'm open to any suggestions and Alpha-esque ideas, uncommon artifact or otherwise. Thanks again.
Thanks chochky!
Helix Scroll is inspired by Barrin's Codex and Jayemdae Tome and fills the slot of the tome.
Living Armaments is a riff of Living Armor from The Dark. Not every card is a direct analogue of an Alpha card. There's extra slots in the set because it's larger than ABU with 303 nonbasic cards to be exact - 101 at each rarity.
Ah, cool!
I have to say though that they're both a lot nicer than their analogs. I think you've done a good job re-interpreting the effects with modern design sensibilities (less wordy, less bookkeeping, more splashy, more elegant).
EDIT: I think I like them both so much that I want to immediately playtest them in a sealed format.
Black Rack (Uncommon)
1
Artifact
At the beginning of each opponent’s upkeep, Black Rack deals 2 damage to that player unless that he or she has two, three, four, or five cards in his or her hand.
Paradise Lost is a rare, that's too strong for an uncommon. You could make it feel even more old school and knock down the power a bit if you took away the mana ability. I would also propose changing it to "Each opponent chooses a target land he or she controls. Destroy the chosen lands."
Signet Ring is strictly better than all of the Ravnica guild signets, not entirely inappropriate, but I would put this at rare as well, as it is a super efficient mana rock. Ifyou tempered it a bit with etb tapped or cmc 3, I could see it at uncommon.
The problem with the cycle Prismatic Orb is aping, was that they were a terrible deal, increasing the cost of your spells by 1 for 1 life each is not worth it, this is why they were replaced by the Angel's Feather cycle. Your design is even narrower in most situations, as there are typically fewer multicolored spells in a given deck than spells of a specific color.
Mind Screw is too powerful at 1, dropping it turn 1 on the play forces your opponent to ply three cards on their turn or force a discard. The effect alone would be a good card, with the increased hand size for yourself stapled to it, it's all upside. I'd suggest making it symmetrical, reduce all players' hand size by 2. Oldschool cards often worked like that, and it would require more thought to use it without hurting yourself, or you could built with it in mind as an easy way to get free discards.
Mana Chalice seems to be as hideously broken as Mana Crypt. I understand that's what you were gong for, but 0 cmc mana rocks are very dangerous to set design.
On that note Floating Citadel's downside is weak compared to its mana output. It should probably etb tapped to balance.
Brass Gnomes probably needs to be a rare, and in combining Copper Tablet's effect with City of Brass's ability, you cut out a downside. The tablet's upside is 1 damage to your opponent, downside is 1 damage to you. City's upside is any color mana, downside is 1 damage to you. Your design's upsides are any color mana and 1 damage to your opponent, downside is just one damage to you. I suppose making it a creature makes it easier to remove, but still, I'd play that in tons of decks.
All designs not commented on seem reasonable.
Brass Gnomes - I'd rather this be Brass Myr 2 2/1 T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. ~ deals 1 damage to you. (C)
Clay Golem - You mean Primal Clay, and if you're doing to go that route, might I suggest remembering Shapeshifter:
Clay Shapeshifter 6
Creature - Shapeshifter Golem
When ~ enters the battlefield and at the end of each turn, choose a number under 12. ~'s toughness becomes the chosen number, and it's power becomes 12 minus the chosen number.
Clockwork Wurm - I think you mean:
Clockwork Hydra X
X enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
If damage would be dealt to Protean Hydra, prevent that damage and remove that many +1/+1 counters from it. Put twice that many +1/+1 counters on it at the beginning of the next end step.
Whenever attacks or blocks, remove a +1/+1 counter from it.
0/0
Dancing Blades - Clever, but Ensouled Scimitar exists so I have to think this needs slightly different flavor; as Ensouled Scimitar is awesome sauce and there should be more equipment like it!
Darksteel Wall - Darksteel is always indestructible. Also, I really hate putting indestructible on non-rare/mythics.
Goblin Catapult - I don't know what it'd look like, but this needs to be a vehicle form of acorn catapult
Mana Chalice - Please NO!
Paradise Lost - Make it a stripmine that can only target legendary lands.
Do you mean Clockwork Hydra?
I can assure you, no one means Clockwork Hydra. Call it Clockwork Hydra (Not the Time Spiral One) if you like.