I'm trying to reduce text for the following, so I'm considering a new (nonbasic) land type, Territory, which carries the comprehensive rule:
"t: Add C to your mana pool."
Akin to how basic land types don't require their rule to be present in the text box. Is this reasonable? Perhaps a colorless mana watermark would help?
Refreshing Fields (Common)
Land - Territory
Discover 2W(When this land enters the battlefield, you may pay 2W.)
When you discover Refreshing Fields, you gain 5 life.
Synaptic Geyser (Common)
Land - Territory
Discover 3U(When this land enters the battlefield, you may pay 3U.)
When you discover Synaptic Geyser, draw two cards.
etc.
The set also includes the mechanics: Territorial - If/As long as you control # Territories..." Terramorph Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control...
(Unnamed) "Whenever you discover..."
Aside from the Basic land types, there aren't rules effects from permanent types. This is why all walls were errataed to have defender and why Legend stopped being a type and all Legends got the Legendary supertype. As it stands now, a type is used only a mark for other effects to check and for flavor.
That's not to say it can't be done, just that its a design principle that magic doesn't use. There are a couple of options.
1) Make Territory a land type for other effects to reference, and print "Tap: Add C to your mana pool to all the cards." Territory is a flavor marker with no rules baggage.
2) You could make the rules for Territory to be a basic land type with the exact same effect as Wastes, and then print non-basic lands with the Territory type similar to Madblind Mountain or Murmuring Bosk. However, adding a sixth basic land type has all sorts of ripple effects on other magic rules (Coalition VictoryTribal Flames) which is why Wastes were left type-less. In the vacuum of a custom set, that shouldn't matter, but it will impact if you plan to play with some cards already in existence.
"Landkicker" is neat. "Discover" doesn't describe it though; please save it for a better keyword ability.
As for Territory - please no. Basic land types have associated rules text, but wizards worked hard to stop creature subtypes from doing the same to go back now.
I'm all for more land-subtypes... if only as a means to tutor them out. Generally, though, I'd prefer if Wizards gave moore lands fancy land types and then later came back to make them relevant in various ways. Same with spell and artifact subtypes... spellbomb would have been cool to subtype, as would charms and commands... and maybe modal spells in general?
Discover works and sounds great actually. I love how you have fitting names for being discovered. Oh I discovered this so I get that. makes sense to me
I want to be clear here: You discover the card only by paying its "kicker" cost; so you'll have lands that you haven't (and can't?) discover.
There is no way new players will get this.
I want to be on record as saying that "When you discover X, do Y" is great templating. A+. But not for this mechanic.
Maybe call it "SEED"
Seeding Grove
Land
Seed 1G (When this enters the battlefield, you may pay it's seed cost.)
Seeding Grove enters the battlfield tapped.
When you seed Seeding Grove, you may return a basic land card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
T: Add G to your mana pool.
Synaptic Gusher
Land
Seed 1U
This enters the battelfield tapped.
When you seed this, draw a card.
T: Add U to your mana pool.
And yes, you could have them enter tapped and give them the basic land type if you wanted to. But I'd up the seed costs substantially, as it makes fetchlands ridiculous.
Seed still doesn't quite work with the flavor. It makes sense with three out of five environs implied by basic land types, but seeding an Island or Mountain seems sort of silly.
Territory's utility as a basic land type is actually something that has been axctively avoided with Waste not having a basic land type, so not making Territory a basic land type is sensible.
I feel the watermark will not be enough and Territory won't get around reminder text - and attaching rules to a nonbasic land type is a step backwards (as has been mentioned).
I think discover is a servicable term for what this keyword does. Map works as well.
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Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
I recall MaRo writing they tried to use a mechanic with extra costs on lands in the first Zendikar block. It apparently didn't play well because people kept mana screwing themselves while they held those lands in hand waiting for other lands to be able to pay the enter cost. Those cards were eventually remade into the Teetering Peaks cycle.
If you need big spell effects on lands, maybe sacrificing or removing counters or something else might be better.
Unlike the Zen lands, these really aren't (in practice) lands with an ability. Rather they're spells on lands that tap for C. They don't occupy land slots in the set (they fill spell slots) nor are they intended to fill land slots in a (limited) deck.
So it's helpful to realize that they're not "lands" so much as they're spells on lands, and to think of them that way. Kind of how creatures with Exploit are better viewed as spells with a body rather than a body with a spell effect. So yes, there is a counterintuitive element to Discover, but one that is easier to figure out than Exploit (and Crew and Awaken for that matter).
Having them sacrifice for the effect would both negate the flavor and the greater underlying purpose of the mechanic, which is foundational to the set's overarching theme - battlecruiser Magic. Players also have the option to Terramorph as well as the encouragement of Landfall and Territorial to play lands, which should help less skilled players from accidentally mana screwing themselves. The fact that they only tap for C should further inform players that they're not intended to fill a land slot. In theory. 🙂
...you can only explore when it enters the battlefield? That still feels bad.
It only seems to feel bad in theory because you're interpreting Explore in the wrong way.
Like I said before, these really aren't (in practice) lands with abilities. Rather, they're spells on lands that tap for C. They don't occupy land slots in the set. In fact, they fill spell slots - for example, Synaptic Geyser in the op is Divination. Nor are they intended to fill land slots in a (limited) deck. All of the Exlore costs include colored mana, so if you water down your mana base with these too much, you may wind up in trouble.
So it's helpful to realize that they're not lands with abilities so much as they're spells on lands, and to think of them that way. Kind of how creatures with Exploit are better viewed as spells with a body rather than a body with a spell effect. So yes, there is a counterintuitive element to Explore, but one that is easier to figure out than some existing mechanics such as Exploit, Crew, and Awaken.
It only seems to feel bad in theory because you're interpreting Explore in the wrong way.
Let's be clear here - I like the mechanic. I think it needs to be keyworded.
But you should never be in the position to tell people that they're interpreting the keyword wrong.
If you want to keyword explore for a similar ability, here it is:
Exploreable Forest
Land - Forest (U)
(T: Add G to your mana pool.)
Explorable Forest enters the battlefield tapped.
Tap an untapped creature you control,T: Explore this land (To explore, put an exploration counter on this card.)
When you explore this land for the first time, create a 1/1 green insect creature token.
Then you can have spells that trigger off of explore (meaning exploring beyond the first yields results.
Explorer's Fancy1G
Enchantment (R)
Whenever you explore a land for the first time each turn, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.
Explore NOW!G
Instant
Explore target land. (To explore, put an exploration counter on this card.)
You'll note that Explore NOW! is actually quite interesting design space. Indeed, "explore target land" could be a Cycling/Scry/Populate-esque trigger.
In fact, maybe you don't even print self-exploring lands:
Explore v2 Forest
Land - Forest (C)
This land enters the battlefield tapped.
When you explore this, untap it.
Explore V2 Dual
Land - Forest Swamp
This land enters the battlefield tapped.
When you explore this, choose 1 -
* Exile a creature card from your graveyard. If you do, create a 2/2 black zombie.
* Create a 1/1 green insect creature token.
Again: I like Land-Kicker. But Kicker has to be played when you play the spell and land-kicker when the land enters the battlefield. But surely if "playing a land" in and of itself doesn't already count as exploring, you can explore the land later. So all I'm asking for you to do is rethink the keyword.
We already had kicker in the set at this point, so we played around with [lands] that allowed you to [pay] mana when they entered the battlefield to play spell effects. Here's an example of an early card:
Deadly Bog
Land - Swamp
CARDNAME enters the battlefield tapped.
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, you may pay 3B. If you do, destroy target non-black creature.
T: Add B to your mana pool
Deadly Bog was a black kill spell that doubled as a Swamp. (During early design, all the nonbasic lands that produced a color were lands of the appropriate type; this was changed during development due to power concerns) Pretty cool, huh? One small problem with it. While a more experienced player might see it for what it was—a black kill spell with the side effect of getting you out of mana screw—the less experienced players just saw it as a land. As such, when they put land in their deck they counted it as a land. We would then watch playtest after playtest where they would be mana-screwed and not play Deadly Bog. Why? Because they didn't want to waste it. Playing it as only a Swamp that enters tapped seemed like a waste.
Here is a valuable design tip. It doesn't matter how you meant for something to be used. It is how it is used that matters. The card as presented was causing unfun games as players were unconsciously mana-screwing themselves. And to be fair, the issue went beyond skill level. Even when I had Deadly Bog in my hand, played in my deck counting it as mostly a spell so that I was not mana screwed by it, I still felt bad when I had to play it as just a tapped Swamp. Yes, the intellectual side of me found it silly as the land ability was merely a bonus added to the kill spell, but the emotional side of me felt bad doing it. The card created a bad feeling.
Valuable design tip #2: Things that force your players to do something in the game that makes them feel bad are mistakes. This isn't to say you can't have tension or occasionally force your players to make tough decisions, but if the spell routinely causes ill will when they have to play it in a certain way, it is a mistake to print. Our job is to entertain the players and help them have fun. Purposely creating ill will does not advance either agenda.
We liked the lands though, so we decided what we would do was reduce them to just two cycles, one with effects costing one mana (at common) and the other with effects costing two mana (at uncommon). During the tail end of design, Bill Rose suggested that we try a cycle with zero-mana costs, lands that simply had an effect when they entered the battlefield. We changed the common cycle to the free version and the uncommon cycle was then reduced to one mana effects.
During development, it was decided that even the one mana effects at uncommon were causing moments of frustration, so we just left the free common cycle.
He also dismisses using face-down cards to represent lands in that article, but that is not really a problem for a custom set as long as it is not being played along side Onslaught and Tarkir blocks.
I want to point out that I highly suspect that saving text by giving Territory an inherent ability will not work out. You'll need the reminder text. I have been following this thread for a whole day and every time but the first time I checked it out - that was when I read the entire first post - I forgot that the type line was supposed to be relevant.
This will backfire on you - unless you print the reminder text for the mana ability on the card.
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Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
In light of the last three or four replies, which I greatly appreciate, how about one of the following versions?
1. A version that can be activated as a sorcery, but only once, marked with a basic land type instead of the presence or absence of a counter. Ancient Temple (Uncommon)
Land T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
Explore 4W(You may explore this land only once and only as a sorcery.)
When you explore Ancient Temple, it becomes a Plains and you gain 8 life.
2. A version that doesn't produce mana until after it has been explored. Synaptic Geyser (Common)
Land
Explore 3U(You may explore this land only once and only as a sorcery.)
When you explore Synaptic Geyser, it becomes an Island and you draw two cards.
3. A version that effectively replaces the land altogether. Haunted Cemetery (Uncommon)
Land T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
Explore 2B(Exile this land and put a basic Swamp from outside the game onto the battlefield tapped. Explore only as a sorcery.)
When you explore Haunted Cemetery, create a black Zombie creature token.
4. Utilize dfc/transform technology. Volatile Volcano (Common)
Land T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
Explore 3R(Transform this land. Explore only as a sorcery.)
When you explore Volatile Volcano, it deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
Two honestly seems like the worst one. Because of the problems inherent to the original problem of people seeing them as lands when they aren't supposed to be, now they have to waste a land drop on something that doesn't give them mana, so the earliest you want to play this is turn 5 and its a rather underwhelming 5 drop. Version 4 is the cleanest execution assuming you don't have ways of transforming lands, that said due to the limitation of needing double faced cards I see version 1 as best execution, the memory issues saved with version 3 are note worthy but token lands and real lands not part of your deck cause problems all their own so having them be real lands from your deck helps.
I like the first version a lot, though I'd prefer templating similar to what's used by renown and monstrosity.
Explore 4W(This land becomes a Plains. Explore only as a sorcery.)
When you explore Ancient Temple, you gain 8 life.
That is quite lovely. Does it work though? I mean, could the colored mana portion of the mana cost serve as an indicator as to which basic land type it will become upon activation? (The land itself will have the color hue of that mana.)
Having your explore lands not produce mana until after they're explored is a horrible idea because they'll cripple the tempo of any deck that uses them.
Tying the explore ability's color cost to its land type trades design space for text space. It means that lands that turn into duals have to have multicolor/hybrid costs, which of course makes them impossible to use for fixing. The old version allowed you to actually make fixing exploration lands that cost, say, green to explore and turned into a forest island. Not to mention, all of your exploration abilities have to cost colored mana, which shuts down a few interesting designs.
Ancient Temple (Uncommon)
Land T: Add 1 to your mana pool. 4W, Explore Ancient Temple: You gain 8 life. Ancient Temple becomes a Plains. (Explore only as a sorcery.)
"t: Add C to your mana pool."
Akin to how basic land types don't require their rule to be present in the text box. Is this reasonable? Perhaps a colorless mana watermark would help?
Refreshing Fields (Common)
Land - Territory
Discover 2W (When this land enters the battlefield, you may pay 2W.)
When you discover Refreshing Fields, you gain 5 life.
Synaptic Geyser (Common)
Land - Territory
Discover 3U (When this land enters the battlefield, you may pay 3U.)
When you discover Synaptic Geyser, draw two cards.
etc.
The set also includes the mechanics:
Territorial - If/As long as you control # Territories..."
Terramorph
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control...
(Unnamed) "Whenever you discover..."
That's not to say it can't be done, just that its a design principle that magic doesn't use. There are a couple of options.
1) Make Territory a land type for other effects to reference, and print "Tap: Add C to your mana pool to all the cards." Territory is a flavor marker with no rules baggage.
2) You could make the rules for Territory to be a basic land type with the exact same effect as Wastes, and then print non-basic lands with the Territory type similar to Madblind Mountain or Murmuring Bosk. However, adding a sixth basic land type has all sorts of ripple effects on other magic rules (Coalition Victory Tribal Flames) which is why Wastes were left type-less. In the vacuum of a custom set, that shouldn't matter, but it will impact if you plan to play with some cards already in existence.
I would advise against trying to fold the mana ability into the type for all the reasons rowanalpha mentioned. It does not take up that much space.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
As for Territory - please no. Basic land types have associated rules text, but wizards worked hard to stop creature subtypes from doing the same to go back now.
I'm all for more land-subtypes... if only as a means to tutor them out. Generally, though, I'd prefer if Wizards gave moore lands fancy land types and then later came back to make them relevant in various ways. Same with spell and artifact subtypes... spellbomb would have been cool to subtype, as would charms and commands... and maybe modal spells in general?
There is no way new players will get this.
I want to be on record as saying that "When you discover X, do Y" is great templating. A+. But not for this mechanic.
Maybe call it "SEED"
Seeding Grove
Land
Seed 1G (When this enters the battlefield, you may pay it's seed cost.)
Seeding Grove enters the battlfield tapped.
When you seed Seeding Grove, you may return a basic land card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
T: Add G to your mana pool.
Synaptic Gusher
Land
Seed 1U
This enters the battelfield tapped.
When you seed this, draw a card.
T: Add U to your mana pool.
And yes, you could have them enter tapped and give them the basic land type if you wanted to. But I'd up the seed costs substantially, as it makes fetchlands ridiculous.
Maybe the right word is "map."
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
I feel the watermark will not be enough and Territory won't get around reminder text - and attaching rules to a nonbasic land type is a step backwards (as has been mentioned).
I think discover is a servicable term for what this keyword does. Map works as well.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
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If you need big spell effects on lands, maybe sacrificing or removing counters or something else might be better.
So it's helpful to realize that they're not "lands" so much as they're spells on lands, and to think of them that way. Kind of how creatures with Exploit are better viewed as spells with a body rather than a body with a spell effect. So yes, there is a counterintuitive element to Discover, but one that is easier to figure out than Exploit (and Crew and Awaken for that matter).
Having them sacrifice for the effect would both negate the flavor and the greater underlying purpose of the mechanic, which is foundational to the set's overarching theme - battlecruiser Magic. Players also have the option to Terramorph as well as the encouragement of Landfall and Territorial to play lands, which should help less skilled players from accidentally mana screwing themselves. The fact that they only tap for C should further inform players that they're not intended to fill a land slot. In theory. 🙂
I'm going to go with "Explore".
It only seems to feel bad in theory because you're interpreting Explore in the wrong way.
Like I said before, these really aren't (in practice) lands with abilities. Rather, they're spells on lands that tap for C. They don't occupy land slots in the set. In fact, they fill spell slots - for example, Synaptic Geyser in the op is Divination. Nor are they intended to fill land slots in a (limited) deck. All of the Exlore costs include colored mana, so if you water down your mana base with these too much, you may wind up in trouble.
So it's helpful to realize that they're not lands with abilities so much as they're spells on lands, and to think of them that way. Kind of how creatures with Exploit are better viewed as spells with a body rather than a body with a spell effect. So yes, there is a counterintuitive element to Explore, but one that is easier to figure out than some existing mechanics such as Exploit, Crew, and Awaken.
Let's be clear here - I like the mechanic. I think it needs to be keyworded.
But you should never be in the position to tell people that they're interpreting the keyword wrong.
If you want to keyword explore for a similar ability, here it is:
Exploreable Forest
Land - Forest (U)
(T: Add G to your mana pool.)
Explorable Forest enters the battlefield tapped.
Tap an untapped creature you control,T: Explore this land (To explore, put an exploration counter on this card.)
When you explore this land for the first time, create a 1/1 green insect creature token.
Then you can have spells that trigger off of explore (meaning exploring beyond the first yields results.
Explorer's Fancy1G
Enchantment (R)
Whenever you explore a land for the first time each turn, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.
Explore NOW!G
Instant
Explore target land. (To explore, put an exploration counter on this card.)
You'll note that Explore NOW! is actually quite interesting design space. Indeed, "explore target land" could be a Cycling/Scry/Populate-esque trigger.
In fact, maybe you don't even print self-exploring lands:
Explore v2 Forest
Land - Forest (C)
This land enters the battlefield tapped.
When you explore this, untap it.
Explore V2 Dual
Land - Forest Swamp
This land enters the battlefield tapped.
When you explore this, choose 1 -
* Exile a creature card from your graveyard. If you do, create a 2/2 black zombie.
* Create a 1/1 green insect creature token.
Again: I like Land-Kicker. But Kicker has to be played when you play the spell and land-kicker when the land enters the battlefield. But surely if "playing a land" in and of itself doesn't already count as exploring, you can explore the land later. So all I'm asking for you to do is rethink the keyword.
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/making-magic/achieving-zendikar-part-iii-2009-09-18
He also dismisses using face-down cards to represent lands in that article, but that is not really a problem for a custom set as long as it is not being played along side Onslaught and Tarkir blocks.
This will backfire on you - unless you print the reminder text for the mana ability on the card.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO
1. A version that can be activated as a sorcery, but only once, marked with a basic land type instead of the presence or absence of a counter.
Ancient Temple (Uncommon)
Land
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
Explore 4W (You may explore this land only once and only as a sorcery.)
When you explore Ancient Temple, it becomes a Plains and you gain 8 life.
2. A version that doesn't produce mana until after it has been explored.
Synaptic Geyser (Common)
Land
Explore 3U (You may explore this land only once and only as a sorcery.)
When you explore Synaptic Geyser, it becomes an Island and you draw two cards.
3. A version that effectively replaces the land altogether.
Haunted Cemetery (Uncommon)
Land
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
Explore 2B (Exile this land and put a basic Swamp from outside the game onto the battlefield tapped. Explore only as a sorcery.)
When you explore Haunted Cemetery, create a black Zombie creature token.
4. Utilize dfc/transform technology.
Volatile Volcano (Common)
Land
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
Explore 3R (Transform this land. Explore only as a sorcery.)
When you explore Volatile Volcano, it deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
My personal favorite is version #2.
Explore 4W (This land becomes a Plains. Explore only as a sorcery.)
When you explore Ancient Temple, you gain 8 life.
That is quite lovely. Does it work though? I mean, could the colored mana portion of the mana cost serve as an indicator as to which basic land type it will become upon activation? (The land itself will have the color hue of that mana.)
Tying the explore ability's color cost to its land type trades design space for text space. It means that lands that turn into duals have to have multicolor/hybrid costs, which of course makes them impossible to use for fixing. The old version allowed you to actually make fixing exploration lands that cost, say, green to explore and turned into a forest island. Not to mention, all of your exploration abilities have to cost colored mana, which shuts down a few interesting designs.
Ancient Temple (Uncommon)
Land
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
4W, Explore Ancient Temple: You gain 8 life. Ancient Temple becomes a Plains. (Explore only as a sorcery.)
It looks nice in MSE.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO