If a spell version of Ghost Quarter was to be created, what would you cost it?
Collapse the Fort
Sorcery
Destroy target land. Its controller may search his or her library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
Is one mana the appropriate cost for this effect or should it be 2? Could it be an instant? Is the effect appropriate in both red and green?
It would be a very weak card in limited/standard but very strong in more eternal formats
I would not be surprised to see something more like this:
Explosive GrowthRG
Sorcery
Destroy target land.
You and the destroyed land's controller search their library for a basic land card and put it into play tapped. Each player shuffles his/her library.
I've seen this suggested many times. I even have a variant in my set:
Nature's ReclamationGG
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Destroy target land. Its controller may search his or her library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle his or her library.
I think (R/G) is reasonable for a version that puts the land into play untapped. If not, 1(R/G) is safe.
Green does get land destruction though, typically in the form of "destroy noncreature permanent." this should be fine at 2 mana and could probably be pushed to 1 mana.
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
My version of Ghost Quarter as a spell was an instant for 1(G/U). It wouldn't be very good fit as a monoblue card, but it is the kind of bleed that works with hybrid, based on Polymorph-effects. (And that was before Pongify and Rapid Hybridization.)
I stand corrected. However, I, still, wouldn't touch green land destruction with the proverbial pole of any length unless it makes sense for the setting, Mirrodin (artifact lands banned but extant) or Zendikar (land-based). In those cases, it would have taken a lot of convincing to get it past me.
As for the spell, itself, I'd cost it, at least, 2(R/G)(R/G) because cheap leand destruction is a horrid idea, especially with a bonus of some sort.
I like it for (R/G). For cuteness you could call it Cauterize, and have it as a magma-filled fissure being "cauterized" by green mana and forest growth. Plus it sounds a bit like Quarter-ize.
Collapse the Fort
Sorcery
Destroy target land. Its controller may search his or her library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
Is one mana the appropriate cost for this effect or should it be 2? Could it be an instant? Is the effect appropriate in both red and green?
It would be a very weak card in limited/standard but very strong in more eternal formats
Explosive Growth RG
Sorcery
Destroy target land.
You and the destroyed land's controller search their library for a basic land card and put it into play tapped. Each player shuffles his/her library.
If you tried those combos with Ghost Quarter, you'd have to hose your mana development as well. Not so here.
Nature's Reclamation GG
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Destroy target land. Its controller may search his or her library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle his or her library.
I think (R/G) is reasonable for a version that puts the land into play untapped. If not, 1(R/G) is safe.
From the Ashes is the mass version.
- Manite
Since when?
Somebody had better tell Wizards that.
My version of Ghost Quarter as a spell was an instant for 1(G/U). It wouldn't be very good fit as a monoblue card, but it is the kind of bleed that works with hybrid, based on Polymorph-effects. (And that was before Pongify and Rapid Hybridization.)
As for the spell, itself, I'd cost it, at least, 2(R/G)(R/G) because cheap leand destruction is a horrid idea, especially with a bonus of some sort.
"A Plague on All Your Houses!" - Thespian's Stage Pox
What bonus? Are you confusing the effect with Frenzied Tilling? It is the destroyed land's controller that gets to search for a basic land.