It seemed to me that Delirium in SOI could have been used the way Metalcraft was in SOM: a subpar card becomes an above-average card if you meet certain conditions. With that in mind, I designed some instants. Suggestions for improvement are welcome.
Some examples (I used actual cards here because I don't know how to indicate what the mana cost is):
Impeding Madness1U
Instant {U}
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 2.
Delirium: Counter that spell instead as long as there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.
Mind Aflame1R
Instant {U}
Mind Aflame deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Delirium: If there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, Lightning Strike deals 4 damage to that creature or player instead.
Unfortunate StumbleB
Instant {C}
Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
Delirium: That creature gets -13/-13 until end of turn instead if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.
Illogical ImmensityG
Instant {C}
Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Delirium: That creature gets +4/+4 until end of turn instead if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.
Escalating Paranoia1U
Instant {U}
Counter target spell unless its controller pays X, where X is the number of card types among cards in your graveyard.
Flaming Epiphany1R
Instant {U}
Flaming Epiphany deals damage to target creature or player equal to the number of card types among cards in your graveyard.
Warped ProportionsG
Instant {U}
Target creature gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of card types among cards in your graveyard.
Demented DegenerationB
Instant {C}
Target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the number of card types among cards in your graveyard.
Neither is lightning strike nor searing spear, given that it they are commons, which makes them fairly powerful in limited. Your version of lightning strike and searing spear would be too good in limited where it's unlikely that graveyard hate would be played.
Your version of scent of nightshade is weaker than the original.
Thanks so much for showing me how to do mana costs. I added those in and reduced the CMC of the second removal spell to make it stronger. Now how do I indicate the rarity of each card?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Your new prescription eyeglasses don’t work. You still can’t see things my way.
Thanks so much for showing me how to do mana costs. I added those in and reduced the CMC of the second removal spell to make it stronger. Now how do I indicate the rarity of each card?
Usually with curly braces around a letter representing rarity. Something like...
Impeding Madness 1U
Instant {U}
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 2.
Delirium - Counter that spell instead if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.
Where {U} means uncommons, {C} means common, {R} means Rare, and {M} means Mythic Rare.
Also, please name your cards. Its makes them much easier to reference and talk about.
EDIT: In terms of the designs themselves, they all seem fine if uninspired. These types of "staple mechanic to existing card" designs are useful for filling out a set though. Costs are in the ball park for these but would need to be tuned depending on the environment.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
- Manite
I actually like the names you chose a lot. The cards themselves aren't bad.
If I remember correctly, WotC tried to keep the reward for most delirium spells relatively low, so that people wouldn't feel the need to hold them in their hands until they could be "maximized". I.e., sometimes it's a better play to go ahead and cast your cards rather than holding off until you can get a bigger effect. So, they were purposefully avoiding big-payoff designs so that less experienced players would be less likely to trick themselves into not casting things.
There have certainly been many Standard environments with better removal, but we do have some good options right now:
On a side note: Given the current complaints about the lack of removal in Standard, why do you think Wizards didn't print anything like this in SOI?
I don't think the problem is the lack of efficient removal. Standard actually has some very efficient removal spells. The problem isn't the removal, its the threats that are generally hard to answer at parity and will simply snow ball if they go unanswered. Gideon is the archetypal example of this. There are good removal spells that can kill gideon, but unless you counter it, the opponent is going to get value off of gideon, and each turn you go without an answer to gideon, the opponent only gets farther ahead. Standard is full of and defined by cards like this. But this is truly a side note and CustomCardCreation isn't really the right forum for it.
As requested, I gave them names, albeit uninspired ones (to match the uninspired cards). Thanks so much for showing me how rarities work.
Glad to help. Honestly, the names are pretty good. I'm a particular fan of Illogical Immensity. The idea of an opponents creature just being incredibly confused by how big your creature is strikes me as very amusing. I have this picture of an obstinate baloth just thinking to itself "I don't get it" as it is eaten by a little girl.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
- Manite
Threshold was too easy to reach, and thus the cards needed to either be significantly underpowered prior to reaching threshold, or the threshold rewards needed to be quite tame. Threshold also is a rather thoughtless inclusion to a deck. One can reasonably expect to get seven cards in the graveyard without jumping through hoops. Delirium requires more care in deck construction, so that the needed card types are available in enough abundance that they can be found reliably. And due to that limitation, the cards can afford to be stronger up-front, making the Delirium effects feel more like satisfying rewards rather than must-haves.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Some examples (I used actual cards here because I don't know how to indicate what the mana cost is):
Impeding Madness 1U
Instant {U}
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 2.
Delirium: Counter that spell instead as long as there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.
Mind Aflame 1R
Instant {U}
Mind Aflame deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Delirium: If there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, Lightning Strike deals 4 damage to that creature or player instead.
Unfortunate Stumble B
Instant {C}
Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
Delirium: That creature gets -13/-13 until end of turn instead if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.
Illogical Immensity G
Instant {C}
Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Delirium: That creature gets +4/+4 until end of turn instead if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.
Escalating Paranoia 1U
Instant {U}
Counter target spell unless its controller pays X, where X is the number of card types among cards in your graveyard.
Flaming Epiphany 1R
Instant {U}
Flaming Epiphany deals damage to target creature or player equal to the number of card types among cards in your graveyard.
Warped Proportions G
Instant {U}
Target creature gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of card types among cards in your graveyard.
Demented Degeneration B
Instant {C}
Target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the number of card types among cards in your graveyard.
[mana]w[/mana][mana]u[/mana][mana]B[/mana][mana]R[/mana][mana]G[/mana]
results in:
WUBRG
Also:
MANA LEAK IS NOT A SUBPAR CARD.
Neither is lightning strike nor searing spear, given that it they are commons, which makes them fairly powerful in limited. Your version of lightning strike and searing spear would be too good in limited where it's unlikely that graveyard hate would be played.
Your version of scent of nightshade is weaker than the original.
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
Usually with curly braces around a letter representing rarity. Something like...
Impeding Madness 1U
Instant {U}
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 2.
Delirium - Counter that spell instead if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.
Where {U} means uncommons, {C} means common, {R} means Rare, and {M} means Mythic Rare.
Also, please name your cards. Its makes them much easier to reference and talk about.
EDIT: In terms of the designs themselves, they all seem fine if uninspired. These types of "staple mechanic to existing card" designs are useful for filling out a set though. Costs are in the ball park for these but would need to be tuned depending on the environment.
- Manite
On a side note: Given the current complaints about the lack of removal in Standard, why do you think Wizards didn't print anything like this in SOI?
If I remember correctly, WotC tried to keep the reward for most delirium spells relatively low, so that people wouldn't feel the need to hold them in their hands until they could be "maximized". I.e., sometimes it's a better play to go ahead and cast your cards rather than holding off until you can get a bigger effect. So, they were purposefully avoiding big-payoff designs so that less experienced players would be less likely to trick themselves into not casting things.
There have certainly been many Standard environments with better removal, but we do have some good options right now:
I don't think the problem is the lack of efficient removal. Standard actually has some very efficient removal spells. The problem isn't the removal, its the threats that are generally hard to answer at parity and will simply snow ball if they go unanswered. Gideon is the archetypal example of this. There are good removal spells that can kill gideon, but unless you counter it, the opponent is going to get value off of gideon, and each turn you go without an answer to gideon, the opponent only gets farther ahead. Standard is full of and defined by cards like this. But this is truly a side note and CustomCardCreation isn't really the right forum for it.
Glad to help. Honestly, the names are pretty good. I'm a particular fan of Illogical Immensity. The idea of an opponents creature just being incredibly confused by how big your creature is strikes me as very amusing. I have this picture of an obstinate baloth just thinking to itself "I don't get it" as it is eaten by a little girl.
- Manite
Threshold was too easy to reach, and thus the cards needed to either be significantly underpowered prior to reaching threshold, or the threshold rewards needed to be quite tame. Threshold also is a rather thoughtless inclusion to a deck. One can reasonably expect to get seven cards in the graveyard without jumping through hoops. Delirium requires more care in deck construction, so that the needed card types are available in enough abundance that they can be found reliably. And due to that limitation, the cards can afford to be stronger up-front, making the Delirium effects feel more like satisfying rewards rather than must-haves.