So I'm trying to imagine what this card might look like if WOTC finally made it.
Arixmethes, the Lost City 9UUU
15/15
Legendary Creature - Kraken
Hexproof
When Arixmethes enters the battlefield, untap all Islands you control, then return any number of target permanents to their owner's hands equal to the number of lands untapped this way.
Whenever Arixmethes attacks, untap all Islands you control.
When Arixmethes is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner's library.
----
Hexproof because it's a massive Blue legend, to make it similar to fellow Theros Krakens Stormsurge Kraken and Tomokratis, and because in the UR Kiora was unable to use her magic to bond with him.
The second abilities are because he's sort of a land-creature, so he indirectly produces mana.
Last ability is for some Eldrazi flavor. Hey, it has tentacles.
This is an interesting design but it is way too powerful. This seems better than Emrakul the Aeons Torn. You cast this and you basically get a Sunder that only affects opponents along with a Rude Awakening plus a 15 power and hexproof body. Not to mention because this is an enter the battlefield ability, it is incredibly easy to abuse by blinking (this can be fixed by having the ability happen when you cast Arixmethes, this also would prevent breaking this creature with cards like Show and Tell and Omniscience).
I think this card is fine. Figuring out if its too strong with Show and Tell is irrelevant because cards aren't designed with anything older than modern in mind. It might be too good with Goryo's Vengeance, but honestly that just means we ban Goryo's Vengenance. As long as this is cast fairly its fine since it requires you have a largely island based deck. I would just remove the etb untap. You don't need Hexproof and to untap your lands and to bounce all the stuff your opponents control. You could also turn it into a "When you cast" trigger to avoid cheaty shenanigans.
This is an interesting design but it is way too powerful. This seems better than Emrakul the Aeons Torn. You cast this and you basically get a Sunder that only affects opponents along with a Rude Awakening plus a 15 power and hexproof body. Not to mention because this is an enter the battlefield ability, it is incredibly easy to abuse by blinking (this can be fixed by having the ability happen when you cast Arixmethes, this also would prevent breaking this creature with cards like Show and Tell and Omniscience).
I think this card is fine. Figuring out if its too strong with Show and Tell is irrelevant because cards are designed with anything older than modern in mind. It might be too good with Goryo's Vengeance, but honestly that just means we ban Goryo's Vengenance. As long as this is cast fairly its fine since it requires you have a largely island based deck. I would just remove the etb untap. You don't need Hexproof and to untap your lands and to bounce all the stuff your opponents control. You could also turn it into a "When you cast" trigger to avoid cheaty shenanigans.
The reason I chose ETB over when cast was to preserve Arixmethes' interaction with Quest For Ula's Temple. In the original draft of this card, I had it ETB, untap and bounce that many other creatures (rather than permanents) which might be better? I wanted to give it an Islands matter theme that made it worth casting over Scourge of Fleets or Breaching Leviathan, for example. Why spend 9 or 5 more mana (respectively) more to cast Arixmethes if it isn't more rewarding?
I was originally going to make him 12/12 or 13/13 since in the UR he's described as "at least as large as Kozilek" but I figured if Worldspine Wurm can be a 15/15, a Legendary kraken with a city built upon it should be too? But perhaps 12/12 is suitable since Blue creatures tend to be smaller than Green creatures generally, even if they are Legends?
The ETB itself is very weak on cheat decks because you are not bouncing a lot of stuff anyway (if you are cheating it into play you dont have many islands for sure).
On the other hand hard casting it and bouncing 12 lands/creatures on a 15/15 body is basicaly "win the game". We want our 12 drops to be crazy powerful but not THAT powerful. 9UUU " return 12 permanents to its owners hand" would be timmy enough, adding a 15/15 hexproof for free is overkill.
So, maybe, it should not bounce the permanents but freeze then ? (TAP, cant untap on the next untap step).
The ETB itself is very weak on cheat decks because you are not bouncing a lot of stuff anyway (if you are cheating it into play you dont have many islands for sure).
On the other hand hard casting it and bouncing 12 lands/creatures on a 15/15 body is basicaly "win the game". We want our 12 drops to be crazy powerful but not THAT powerful. 9UUU " return 12 permanents to its owners hand" would be timmy enough, adding a 15/15 hexproof for free is overkill.
So, maybe, it should not bounce the permanents but freeze then ? (TAP, cant untap on the next untap step).
If you think about it though, overloading a Cyclonic Rift for 6U which clears ALL non-land permanents is significantly stronger. For 5 more mana, you get a 15/15 Hexproof and slightly less bounce.
Since in the lore Arixmethes battled other creatures, I figure it could destroy all creatures that player doesn't control or something. That way it's limited to just creature interaction, and it isn't that much worse than Scourge of Fleets who for a 7 CMC 6/6 basically bounces all other creatures. Arixmethes would destroy them for 9UUU and give a larger body for little less than twice the cost.
It definitely shouldn't destroy anything as that's way out of pie for Blue. You should keep it bounce. Honestly this seems fine. It could be a means for High Tide to deal with decks that can get around it's other win cons. I'd probably play this in a Blue heavy EDH deck.
I think at the very least you could knock it down from a 15/15 and make it like a 12/12 or something. It's ability feels pretty... Huge. Can all of that fit onto a card?
This is an interesting design but it is way too powerful. This seems better than Emrakul the Aeons Torn. You cast this and you basically get a Sunder that only affects opponents along with a Rude Awakening plus a 15 power and hexproof body. Not to mention because this is an enter the battlefield ability, it is incredibly easy to abuse by blinking (this can be fixed by having the ability happen when you cast Arixmethes, this also would prevent breaking this creature with cards like Show and Tell and Omniscience).
If there is concern about blinking or otherwise cheating into play, the Hypnox clause "if you cast it from your hand" is the way to answer that.
Even setting aside the power level issue of a one-sided Upheaval, the bigger problem is entirely mechanical. The enter trigger untaps all of your islands on resolution, but needs to choose targets equal to the number of lands that will be untapped as the ability is first put on the stack. The closest way to solve this is like Jaws of Stone, but that would require using the dreaded word "stack"!
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, untap all Islands you control, then return up to X target permanents to their owners' hands, where X is the number of tapped Islands you control as this ability is put on the stack.
It might be better both mechanically and power-wise to use something like Kederekt Leviathan's enter trigger. Maybe:
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, return all nonland permanents target opponent controls to their owner's hand.
Arixmethes in the lore is "at least as large as Kozilek" so 12/12 is reasonable. But is the large enough for a kraken with an entire city built on it in flavor terms?
I was shooting for a Scourge of Fleets type effect with his bounce ability, but making it Islands-matter and giving another upside for its high CMC.
Arixmethes, the Lost City 9UUU
14/14
Legendary Creature - Kraken
Hexproof
When Arixmethes enters the battlefield, return all other non-land permanents to their owners hands, except for Octopus, Leviathan, Serpent or Kraken type creatures you control.
Whenever Arixmethes attacks, untap all Islands you control.
When Arixmethes is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner's library.
I'm not sure hexproof is the appropriate keyword here? It's already hard enough to deal with without. Trample is allowable on blue creatures of a certain size.
ETB Whelming Wave-plus is fitting. I like the attack trigger. Anti-reanimate clauses are apparently no longer supported in R&D but I still feel they can be necessary.
All in all I like it. Feels very fitting of the flavor of Arixmethes even if it does have a lot going on.
I'm not sure hexproof is the appropriate keyword here? It's already hard enough to deal with without. Trample is allowable on blue creatures of a certain size.
ETB Whelming Wave-plus is fitting. I like the attack trigger. Anti-reanimate clauses are apparently no longer supported in R&D but I still feel they can be necessary.
All in all I like it. Feels very fitting of the flavor of Arixmethes even if it does have a lot going on.
Hey! Thank you for your feedback. I decided on Hexproof based on the lore, because Kiora couldn't mana bond with Arixmethes with her instinct magic. Trample could work. Also if you're going to invest 12 mana into a creature I figured it should stick around instead of getting Doom Blade'ed. I think the card could still be fine with the anti-reanimate, though I prefer it on this card for sure.
All I know is the P/T must be at least 12/12 based on the story. IDK if 15/15 is too large, or what. This is a city-state sized creature after all.
Thank you. I've designed it as a 12/12 a few times, and as noted above, it needed to be at least that to match the lore of being "at least as large as Kozilek" which Kiora observed.
I've been petitioning so hard for this card, so very pleased it finally made it to print. You're all welcome
Time to move one from the wanted as cards section of the ol' sig to the Commander decks section?
One of the best MTG feelings you can imagine. The best, actually. I am working on the decklist now, but it's at 130 cards right now. Need to trim down to 100 before posting. Man I can't believe I'm actually seeing this day. When I typed the name on TappedOut and it added the card, omg. What a moment.
Arixmethes, the Lost City
9UUU
15/15
Legendary Creature - Kraken
Hexproof
When Arixmethes enters the battlefield, untap all Islands you control, then return any number of target permanents to their owner's hands equal to the number of lands untapped this way.
Whenever Arixmethes attacks, untap all Islands you control.
When Arixmethes is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner's library.
----
Hexproof because it's a massive Blue legend, to make it similar to fellow Theros Krakens Stormsurge Kraken and Tomokratis, and because in the UR Kiora was unable to use her magic to bond with him.
The second abilities are because he's sort of a land-creature, so he indirectly produces mana.
Last ability is for some Eldrazi flavor. Hey, it has tentacles.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
http://lefowens.blogspot.com/
The reason I chose ETB over when cast was to preserve Arixmethes' interaction with Quest For Ula's Temple. In the original draft of this card, I had it ETB, untap and bounce that many other creatures (rather than permanents) which might be better? I wanted to give it an Islands matter theme that made it worth casting over Scourge of Fleets or Breaching Leviathan, for example. Why spend 9 or 5 more mana (respectively) more to cast Arixmethes if it isn't more rewarding?
I was originally going to make him 12/12 or 13/13 since in the UR he's described as "at least as large as Kozilek" but I figured if Worldspine Wurm can be a 15/15, a Legendary kraken with a city built upon it should be too? But perhaps 12/12 is suitable since Blue creatures tend to be smaller than Green creatures generally, even if they are Legends?
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
The ETB itself is very weak on cheat decks because you are not bouncing a lot of stuff anyway (if you are cheating it into play you dont have many islands for sure).
On the other hand hard casting it and bouncing 12 lands/creatures on a 15/15 body is basicaly "win the game". We want our 12 drops to be crazy powerful but not THAT powerful. 9UUU " return 12 permanents to its owners hand" would be timmy enough, adding a 15/15 hexproof for free is overkill.
So, maybe, it should not bounce the permanents but freeze then ? (TAP, cant untap on the next untap step).
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
If you think about it though, overloading a Cyclonic Rift for 6U which clears ALL non-land permanents is significantly stronger. For 5 more mana, you get a 15/15 Hexproof and slightly less bounce.
Since in the lore Arixmethes battled other creatures, I figure it could destroy all creatures that player doesn't control or something. That way it's limited to just creature interaction, and it isn't that much worse than Scourge of Fleets who for a 7 CMC 6/6 basically bounces all other creatures. Arixmethes would destroy them for 9UUU and give a larger body for little less than twice the cost.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
Yeah but your cards bounces lands wrll. If cyclonic rift bounced lands it would provaboy cost 9UUU.
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
If there is concern about blinking or otherwise cheating into play, the Hypnox clause "if you cast it from your hand" is the way to answer that.
Even setting aside the power level issue of a one-sided Upheaval, the bigger problem is entirely mechanical. The enter trigger untaps all of your islands on resolution, but needs to choose targets equal to the number of lands that will be untapped as the ability is first put on the stack. The closest way to solve this is like Jaws of Stone, but that would require using the dreaded word "stack"!
It might be better both mechanically and power-wise to use something like Kederekt Leviathan's enter trigger. Maybe:
I was shooting for a Scourge of Fleets type effect with his bounce ability, but making it Islands-matter and giving another upside for its high CMC.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
9UUU
14/14
Legendary Creature - Kraken
Hexproof
When Arixmethes enters the battlefield, return all other non-land permanents to their owners hands, except for Octopus, Leviathan, Serpent or Kraken type creatures you control.
Whenever Arixmethes attacks, untap all Islands you control.
When Arixmethes is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner's library.
--------
Decided to update my design on this. Thoughts?
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
I'm not sure hexproof is the appropriate keyword here? It's already hard enough to deal with without. Trample is allowable on blue creatures of a certain size.
ETB Whelming Wave-plus is fitting. I like the attack trigger. Anti-reanimate clauses are apparently no longer supported in R&D but I still feel they can be necessary.
All in all I like it. Feels very fitting of the flavor of Arixmethes even if it does have a lot going on.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Hey! Thank you for your feedback. I decided on Hexproof based on the lore, because Kiora couldn't mana bond with Arixmethes with her instinct magic. Trample could work. Also if you're going to invest 12 mana into a creature I figured it should stick around instead of getting Doom Blade'ed. I think the card could still be fine with the anti-reanimate, though I prefer it on this card for sure.
All I know is the P/T must be at least 12/12 based on the story. IDK if 15/15 is too large, or what. This is a city-state sized creature after all.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle
Tiro Good Prediction on Creature size.
I've been petitioning so hard for this card, so very pleased it finally made it to print. You're all welcome
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||