For years now, the great and rich plane of Abar was in a state of peace, harmony, and cooperation. Every one of the four great empires has contributed to this "great peace", and it seemed to work very well. The nomads of Kamar had come to rule the desert, through their extensive knowledge of terrain, water sources, and shelters. The Fenis became master traders and merchants, with huge fortune and huge curiosity for the realms beyond the four empires. The Agetar control a great area with their soldier-priests, their powerful magic and their slaves. The Etor rule the craggy peaks, a warlike nation with burning love for battle and conquest. The alliance between the kingdoms was perfect.
Almost.
One by one, the desert outposts of the Kamar are starting to fall. Sandstorms, lasting for days, consume the border fortresses of the Etor. The desert has started to reclaim it's own empire, and Abar is recoiling before it.
Sandstorm - set details
No. of cards: 269 (20 basic lands, 101 commons, 70 uncommons, 63 rares, 15 mythic rares)
Three letter codename: SDT
The set is the first of two, and is a multi player draft set like Conspiracy.
Design goals:
I'm trying to make a limited enviroment in which Monocolor decks will be viable.
Set mechanics:
Hybrid comes back, as it could be very difficult to create a monocolor draft deck otherwise.
other mechanics will be revealed in the next couple of days.
Your 'design goals' should really be goals. Monocolour is not enough of a design goal for a large set. Think thematic/cinematic design and supporting themes. I look forward to seeing more of this set.
I'm trying to make the game full of intrigue, of opponents that work together but plan to stab each other in the back, and of players holding on against the vast dangers of the world. Now when I think about it... it couild work better for a multiplayer draft format. I'll change it.
Kamar Traders2WW
Creature - Human Nomad (c)
When Kamar Traders Enters the battlefield, auction for 2. (when a player auctions for 2, each player may pay 2. Each player who does draws a card.)
2/3
Merchant's Cunning1U
Enchantment (u)
Play with your hand revealed.
Whenever you draw a blue card from an auction, tap target creature.
Guardian of the Marketplace3(W/U)(W/U)
Creature - Avatar (r)
Whenever Guardian of the Marketplace attacks, it dosen't untap during your next untap step.
Whenever Guardian of the Marketplace attacks , auction for (W/U). If a player didn't auction this way, creatures that player controls can't attack you until your next turn.
4/4
If you want monocolour to be a thing, you will need something to encourage players to build around it, something like devotion. It doesn't have to be a named mechanic, this incentive could just be a looser theme.
Huh, I've actually been plotting out the groundwork for a desert-ish set of my own, although I'm taking mine in a decidedly different direction. My thoughts on yours, though...
I'm not a big fan of auction, personally: it just seems underpowered. Drawing a card is good, but is it always going to be worth that heavy extra cost? I don't want to be giving my opponent card advantage if I can avoid it. On that note, the name's kind of a flavor fail - when I think of an auction, I think of only one person getting the prize. Having multiple players draw kinda takes away from that.
As for the cards themselves, Kamar Trader's just fine. He's pretty much a worse Citanul Woodreaders, though I guess white shouldn't be getting good card draw to start. However, Merchant's Cunning is pretty awful. Giving your opponents a Telepathy won't end well, and it's incredibly parasitic - if you draft this and don't have many blue auction cards, this is worse than junk. As for the guardian... I like it, oddly enough. It self-limits its peacekeeping ability as to not be oppressive.
Overall, it's a 1/3 for me. I think auction's a good start for a mechanic, but it definitely needs work.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
EDH/Commander
(W/U)(W/U)Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage: The New da Vinci (historic control)
(W/B)(W/B)Teysa Karlov: Death Be Not Kind (aristocrats)
(R/G)(R/G)Hallar, the Firefletcher: Yavimaya Burning (kicker and counters)
(B/G)(G/U)Sidisi, Brood Tyrant: Queen of the Damned (dredge)
Maybe Build
(W/U)(U/B)Aminatou, the Fateshifter: And a Child Shall Lead Them (superfriends)
Thanks for the feedback. I agree that auction will probably need a big reworking - I just tested the waters. I want to make a multiplayer draft enviroment that also plays well in constructed - maybe even a standard-legal set.
this mechanic is just a neat idea I had for a multiplayer enviroment.
In addition, I have a question: Should I reintroduce devotion? It plays really well with the monocolor theme I'm trying to create - but I fear that in conjunction with hybrid it might just be too good (After all, this combination dominated the last standard.) What do you think?
Devotion + Hybrid could be done, but it would have to be done carefully. You could use devotion and not use hybrid as well. It's really a question of what else is going on in the set. Depending on the environment, different options are more viable than others, it's a big part of set design and development.
For years now, the great and rich plane of Abar was in a state of peace, harmony, and cooperation. Every one of the four great empires has contributed to this "great peace", and it seemed to work very well. The nomads of Kamar had come to rule the desert, through their extensive knowledge of terrain, water sources, and shelters. The Fenis became master traders and merchants, with huge fortune and huge curiosity for the realms beyond the four empires. The Agetar control a great area with their soldier-priests, their powerful magic and their slaves. The Etor rule the craggy peaks, a warlike nation with burning love for battle and conquest. The alliance between the kingdoms was perfect.
Almost.
One by one, the desert outposts of the Kamar are starting to fall. Sandstorms, lasting for days, consume the border fortresses of the Etor. The desert has started to reclaim it's own empire, and Abar is recoiling before it.
Sandstorm - set details
No. of cards: 269 (20 basic lands, 101 commons, 70 uncommons, 63 rares, 15 mythic rares)
Three letter codename: SDT
The set is the first of two, and is a multi player draft set like Conspiracy.
Design goals:
I'm trying to make a limited enviroment in which Monocolor decks will be viable.
Set mechanics:
Hybrid comes back, as it could be very difficult to create a monocolor draft deck otherwise.
other mechanics will be revealed in the next couple of days.
RUNIN: Norse mythology set (awaiting further playtesting)
FATE of ALARA: Multicolour factions (currently on hiatus)
Contibutor to the Pyrulea community set
I'm here to tell you that all your set mechanics are bad
#Defundthepolice
Kamar Traders 2WW
Creature - Human Nomad (c)
When Kamar Traders Enters the battlefield, auction for 2. (when a player auctions for 2, each player may pay 2. Each player who does draws a card.)
2/3
Merchant's Cunning 1U
Enchantment (u)
Play with your hand revealed.
Whenever you draw a blue card from an auction, tap target creature.
Guardian of the Marketplace 3(W/U)(W/U)
Creature - Avatar (r)
Whenever Guardian of the Marketplace attacks, it dosen't untap during your next untap step.
Whenever Guardian of the Marketplace attacks , auction for (W/U). If a player didn't auction this way, creatures that player controls can't attack you until your next turn.
4/4
RUNIN: Norse mythology set (awaiting further playtesting)
FATE of ALARA: Multicolour factions (currently on hiatus)
Contibutor to the Pyrulea community set
I'm here to tell you that all your set mechanics are bad
#Defundthepolice
I'm not a big fan of auction, personally: it just seems underpowered. Drawing a card is good, but is it always going to be worth that heavy extra cost? I don't want to be giving my opponent card advantage if I can avoid it. On that note, the name's kind of a flavor fail - when I think of an auction, I think of only one person getting the prize. Having multiple players draw kinda takes away from that.
As for the cards themselves, Kamar Trader's just fine. He's pretty much a worse Citanul Woodreaders, though I guess white shouldn't be getting good card draw to start. However, Merchant's Cunning is pretty awful. Giving your opponents a Telepathy won't end well, and it's incredibly parasitic - if you draft this and don't have many blue auction cards, this is worse than junk. As for the guardian... I like it, oddly enough. It self-limits its peacekeeping ability as to not be oppressive.
Overall, it's a 1/3 for me. I think auction's a good start for a mechanic, but it definitely needs work.
this mechanic is just a neat idea I had for a multiplayer enviroment.
In addition, I have a question: Should I reintroduce devotion? It plays really well with the monocolor theme I'm trying to create - but I fear that in conjunction with hybrid it might just be too good (After all, this combination dominated the last standard.) What do you think?
RUNIN: Norse mythology set (awaiting further playtesting)
FATE of ALARA: Multicolour factions (currently on hiatus)
Contibutor to the Pyrulea community set
I'm here to tell you that all your set mechanics are bad
#Defundthepolice