Inspired by the fact that U/B still don't have a combat ability in common.
Paranoid Wizard - 2U
Creature -- Human Wizard (C)
Paranoia (Whenever Paranoid Wizard becomes the target of a spell or ability, return it to its owner's hand.)
2/2
Paranoid Researcher - 2UU
Creature -- Human Wizard (U)
Paranoia
Whenever Paranoid Researcher enters the battlefield, draw a card, then discard a card.
2/2
Shy Bones - B
Creature -- Skeleton (C)
Paranoia
1/1
Necrosis Lich - 2BB
Creature -- Zombie Wizard (U)
Paranoia
Whenever ? enters the battlefield, target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
3/1
It's been a while since you've been seen around here. You are always missed, Eliminator, so do stay if you can.
Okay, this is a pretty great riff on shroud/hexproof - there should probably still be a "may" in there, though. Come to think of it, I'd make it "Whenever this creature becomes blocked or becomes the target of a spell or ability..."
Inspired by the fact that U/B still don't have a combat ability in common.
Paranoid Wizard - 2U
Creature -- Human Wizard (C)
Paranoia (Whenever Paranoid Wizard becomes the target of a spell or ability, return it to its owner's hand.)
2/2
Paranoid Researcher - 2UU
Creature -- Human Wizard (U)
Paranoia
Whenever Paranoid Researcher enters the battlefield, draw a card, then discard a card.
2/2
Shy Bones - B
Creature -- Skeleton (C)
Paranoia
1/1
Necrosis Lich - 2BB
Creature -- Zombie Wizard (U)
Paranoia
Whenever ? enters the battlefield, target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
3/1
We've missed you these two years. I was beginning to wonder. Glad to have you back. Will you be staying?
Oh, the cards. Solid. Paranoid researcher would be a nice UB example.
Nice mechanic. Has a tracking complexity issue and can lead to some feel-bad moments with casual players targeting their own guys, but it's got a lot of cool options with ETB or LTB effects. Very flavorful too. Necrosis Lich is particularly clever. Great layering there.
I originally had Paranoia only work for opponents' spells and abilities but when I designed the second cards for each color, I realized they would rarely trigger, so like Skullclamp, I made it better by "making it worse". I think extra reminder text would help solve the Shroud issue, at least on common cards where newer players are more likely to see them and there's more space for reminder text, typically.
void_nothing; Legend: I was wondering if anyone would notice! Anyway...Magic and MTG Salvation are so different now than when I last left them. I was afraid I'd have lost all my old history thanks to the migration to Curse, but thankfully I figured out how to keep my old account. I feel like I could still play Magic if I really wanted to, but I also feel like the game has passed me by on a design level. I don't feel like I have the capability of coming up with ideas as much as I was able to in the past, and since I generally only come here to post cards, I'm not likely to post often, but I'll always keep Salvation in mind. I actually was inspired by Mark Rosewater's Monday article (I don't usually read MTG.com anymore, but this was a pretty big article as far as Magic goes and I heard about it on Twitter.)
Eliminator: I think triggering off of your own spells and abilities is just too feel-bad though. If you're worried about it not triggering enough, then I think void_nothing's suggestion to trigger off of becoming blocked is a fantastic idea.
Yesterday, when I was thinking of UB keywords, I definitely pursued the same design space. For some reason, 'evading' by returning to your hand felt very UB - specifically, I was looking at "When ~ becomes blocked, you may return it to your hand", and "When ~ dies, you may return it to your hand". (That latter one is way too strong - I did say I was looking at it, not considering it. :P)
The former - including Paranoia - just doesn't feel black enough, in my opinion. How often has black gotten the ability to avoid your opponent's spells and such? Is this really an ability that feels suitable for black? I'm not convinced that it is.
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Paranoid Wizard - 2U
Creature -- Human Wizard (C)
Paranoia (Whenever Paranoid Wizard becomes the target of a spell or ability, return it to its owner's hand.)
2/2
Paranoid Researcher - 2UU
Creature -- Human Wizard (U)
Paranoia
Whenever Paranoid Researcher enters the battlefield, draw a card, then discard a card.
2/2
Shy Bones - B
Creature -- Skeleton (C)
Paranoia
1/1
Necrosis Lich - 2BB
Creature -- Zombie Wizard (U)
Paranoia
Whenever ? enters the battlefield, target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
3/1
Okay, this is a pretty great riff on shroud/hexproof - there should probably still be a "may" in there, though. Come to think of it, I'd make it "Whenever this creature becomes blocked or becomes the target of a spell or ability..."
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
We've missed you these two years. I was beginning to wonder. Glad to have you back. Will you be staying?
Oh, the cards. Solid. Paranoid researcher would be a nice UB example.
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void_nothing; Legend: I was wondering if anyone would notice! Anyway...Magic and MTG Salvation are so different now than when I last left them. I was afraid I'd have lost all my old history thanks to the migration to Curse, but thankfully I figured out how to keep my old account. I feel like I could still play Magic if I really wanted to, but I also feel like the game has passed me by on a design level. I don't feel like I have the capability of coming up with ideas as much as I was able to in the past, and since I generally only come here to post cards, I'm not likely to post often, but I'll always keep Salvation in mind. I actually was inspired by Mark Rosewater's Monday article (I don't usually read MTG.com anymore, but this was a pretty big article as far as Magic goes and I heard about it on Twitter.)
Yesterday, when I was thinking of UB keywords, I definitely pursued the same design space. For some reason, 'evading' by returning to your hand felt very UB - specifically, I was looking at "When ~ becomes blocked, you may return it to your hand", and "When ~ dies, you may return it to your hand". (That latter one is way too strong - I did say I was looking at it, not considering it. :P)
The former - including Paranoia - just doesn't feel black enough, in my opinion. How often has black gotten the ability to avoid your opponent's spells and such? Is this really an ability that feels suitable for black? I'm not convinced that it is.
Lead Tesla, a community set designed by everyone and led by me, over at Goblin Artisans. Index of articles here!