So I've been posting individual designs occasionally for a long while, and I recently came to a set of ten designs I was happy with, so I want to know what you guys think.
I also want to talk about my approach to the design real quick. Traditionally, guild leaders have had at least two symbols of each of their colors in their mana cost (Jarad with BBGG, or Obzedat with 1WWBB). With this cycle, I wanted to emphasize how the mana cost could inform the design. I decided the best way to do this would be to think of a powerful/splashy ability in each of the card's colors, something that would usually cost at least two mana of that color to do and something that is solidly in one color and not the other. These two effects should synergize with each other to create an even more powerful combined effect, embodying how the two colors thrive together.
For example, Isperia has mass bounce (UU) and Rule of Law (WW). These effects don't always cost two mana of their color, but they should still very clearly belong to that color and signify the kind of power that color contributes to its guild. Furthermore, the flavor and power suite of each character an their guild should be apparent. This presented some challenges, and in some cases caused me to find new characters.
Isperia, Voice of Law4WWUU
Legendary Creature - Sphinx
7/7
Flying
When ~ enters the battlefield, return each other nonland permanent to its owner's hand.
Each opponent can't cast more than one spell each turn.
Note: This was meant as a sort of control finisher. It's a reset button that keeps the opponent from recovering very quickly, unless they happen to have spot removal on-hand. In constructed, I expect this to happen frequently enough that Isperia is never a real threat, so I'm considering adding a minor protection ability.
Vriskus, the Clever2UUBB
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard
4/4
As ~ enters the battlefield, choose a player.
If the chosen player would draw a card, that player draws two cards instead.
The chosen player's maximum hand size is reduced by four.
Note: This is the only entirely new character I had to make. Lazav being a shapeshifter just came with too much baggage, and any way, I don't think it's too hard to believe that a change in regime could happen within a guild founded on deceit and manipulation since our last visit to Ravnica. The effect plays into a mill strategy in limited and a more controlling strategy in constructed, which feels pretty cool to me. Still, like Isperia, it might need something a bit more to make it relevant in constructed.
Edit: Double discard -> Reduced hand size. I feel this is more impactful.
Rakdos, King of Carnage3BBRR
Legendary Creature - Demon
4/2
Flying
If a source would deal damage to a permanent or player, that source deals twice that much damage to that permanent or player instead.
Whenever a source deals damage to ~, that source's controller sacrifices that many permanents.
Note: Yeah, the p/t is odd for a giant demon, but it's a necessary tweak to make Rakdos at least slightly manageable in combat for limited. Again, I don't think he's gonna be too relevant in constructed, outside of, perhaps, reanimator, which presents a fun deckbuilding challenge. I like him how he is.
Edit: After hearing feedback, I'm workshopping this.
Ruric Thar, Prime Savage1RRGG
Legendary Creature - Ogre Warrior
4/6
Menace, hexproof
Whenever a creature dies, if it was fighting a creature you control, draw a card and you gain 2 life. 3RG, T: ~ gets +2/+2 until end of turn and fights target creature.
Note: Borb was getting old and had already fought Ruric Thar once without killing him, so it's no stretch to think that Ruric Thar was able to finish the job since we last left Ravnica. Ruric Thar is known for two things: having two heads, and magic-repelling skin (it was talked about in the novel and represented on his card by his ability). This is basically a top-down design of that. He can give himself the two most desired abilities for an aggressive beater to have. The only thing he really lacks is evasion, which is where another fun deckbuilding challenge comes in. Plays particularly well with Bloodrush.
Edit: Activated abilities -> Menace and hexproof. Also added a fight-matters trigger to make him a more appealing commander, and a fight ability to fuel it. Fun fact: After adjusting his stats, his fight ability allows him to fight Borborygmos and live to tell the tale, and then fight Borborygmos Enraged victorious. Just some added flavor and functionality.
Mat'Selesnya4GGWW
Legendary Creature - Dryad Elemental
0/0
You may tap X untapped creatures you control as you cast ~. If you do, ~ costs X less to cast.
~ gets +1/+1 for each creature you control.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, draw a card.
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, create a 1/1 white Bird creature token with flying.
Note: Mat'Selesnya has been talked about before, but never seen. I think it would be cool to finally see her. Making her design work was tricky, and I'm not sure I got it quite right. There's some extra text to make her stats more flexible and push you into a go-wide strategy. The draw ability is the green and the flying token ability is the white. I am a bit concerned that the two combined makes for "whenever you cast a noncreature spell, draw a card," because that's neither green nor white. Suggestions for improvement are welcome.
Edit: Again, workshopping the last ability.
Teysa, Cruel Headmistress3WWBB
Legendary Creature - Human Advisor
5/5
When ~ enters the battlefield, destroy all tapped creatures.
Whenever another nontoken creature dies, draw a card.
Note: Teysa has been after guild leadership since we were last on Ravnica, so I think it would be fun to see her finally get the job. She Sunblasts the Obzedat away, and reaps the benefits. Again, she sort of lacks any kind of durability, but she gets you immediate value, so I think it's fine.
Edit: Trying to find a good way to make this less boring.
Niv-Mizzet, the Really Smart and Arrogant2UURR
Legendary Creature - Dragon Wizard
6/6
Flying
Exile an instant or sorcery spell you control: Draw two cards.
Exile an instant or sorcery spell you control: ~ deals 4 damage to any target.
Note: Coming up with a name for Niv is hard. Also, he has a similar problem to Lazav, coming with a bit of baggage. Both of Niv's previous cards have intertwined card draw and damage in some way, so I felt obligated to incorporate those effects into the card somehow. The trick was trying to do so in a way that played well with the spell theme of the guild. I'm happy with the result, though the numbers might need tweaking. Again, not a lot of protection, and it's hard to get immediate value, but neither of his previous cards had protection anyway, so w/e.
Vraska, Golgari LiberatorBBGG
Legendary Planeswalker - Vraska
Loyatly - 3
+1: Reveal the top three cards of your library. You may put a creature or land card from among them into your hand. Put the rest into your graveyard.
-2: Exile target creature. Its controller creates a 0/1 colorless Statue artifact token with defender.
-7: Put the top ten cards of your library into your graveyard. Then, each player exchanges all other nonland permanents they control with all nonland permanents in their graveyard.
Note: I know this would be controversial, having a planeswalker instead of a creature, but the story dictates that this is how it has to be. I think that, alongside Vraska, we could have another legend, like Mazirek. He wouldn't be guild leader, but would give the guild the new commander it's due. Her +1 is the green ability. Her -3 is the black ability, and her -7, while more black than green, plays off both.
Edit: Starting loyalty 4 -> 3. Just balancing. Will add a legendary creature alongside her later.
Aurelia, Master Warcrafter1RRWW
Legendary Creature - Angel
4/4
Flying, haste, vigilance
All creatures attack each turn if able.
Tap an untapped creature you control: Tap target creature.
Note: The Boros are all about combat superiority. In RTR, it was by sheer numbers, but I think we can do better than that. I think the Boros should be seen using strategy and battlefield manipulation to force the combat advantage. Goading and incapacitating enemies is a great way to do this.
Zegana, Dean of Evolution1GGUU
Legendary Creature - Merfolk Wizard
2/4
Each other creature you control enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it.
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player returns a creature he or she controls to his or her hand. T: Counter target triggered ability you don't control.
Note: Zegana came last for me. By the time I got here, I had already gone through a lot of low-hanging fruit when it came to splashy mechanics for green and blue. Not only that, but the Simic aren't a terribly broad guild when it comes to the card effects they like to use. I decided to use +1/+1 counters and countermagic, as well as a bounce effect to tie them together. The bounce effect is the real meat of the card, both enabling your own "evolution" and controlling the opponent's board state. The tap ability is to keep opponents from getting value out of the bounce ability, and otherwise just stop things you don't like from happening. Her mana cost is the one I'm most concerned about, as it's so difficult to analyze this combination of these particular effects.
Anyway, that's it. What did yall like? not like? what should I do differently?
I don't think collapsing Living Death into "exchange" is the clearest idea, especially without reminder text. Upon first read, it feels like Vraska's ability might be a 1:1 exchange in which each individual permanent has to be swapped for a single card from the graveyard. Then you have the implication of a simultaneous movement of two different zone transitions, which has the potential to play absolute havoc with certain replacement effects. Actually, at this point I'm just confused, since I put forward two distinct things that Vraska's ultimate could be doing. Mind breaking that choice down?
Terminology aside, your approach makes the guildleaders kinda boring imo. I see pairs of abilities that synergize, for the most part, but nothing really unique, in the same vein as Lazav's ability to copy milled/discarded creature cards or Rakdos's cost reduction. I'm not sure if this is the right approach if you only pick from abilities that have been done before.
I absolutely love your Aurelia! Very fun Boros design.
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I don't think collapsing Living Death into "exchange" is the clearest idea, especially without reminder text. Upon first read, it feels like Vraska's ability might be a 1:1 exchange in which each individual permanent has to be swapped for a single card from the graveyard. Then you have the implication of a simultaneous movement of two different zone transitions, which has the potential to play absolute havoc with certain replacement effects. Actually, at this point I'm just confused, since I put forward two distinct things that Vraska's ultimate could be doing. Mind breaking that choice down?
Terminology aside, your approach makes the guildleaders kinda boring imo. I see pairs of abilities that synergize, for the most part, but nothing really unique, in the same vein as Lazav's ability to copy milled/discarded creature cards or Rakdos's cost reduction. I'm not sure if this is the right approach if you only pick from abilities that have been done before.
The wording I used for the ult is there to save text. Living Death's text box is just too big for a planeswalker's ability. I'm confident my wording is perfectly functional. Even if it does confuse some people, I don't think it'll be a problem, as it's at mythic rare and probably won't occur very often.
Basically, it works just as it reads: The nonland permanents on the battlefield under a player's control are one group; the nonland permanent cards in that player's graveyard are another group. The two groups are simultaneously put into each other's place.
It's not technically sacrifice or destroy, but I believe "dies" triggers still happen, as well as "enters the battlefield" and other similar triggers. Replacement effects happen as you would expect. With Rest in Peace in play, the battlefield group is put into exile instead. Triggers are put onto the stack in whichever order the active player chooses, since they all trigger simultaneously.
Isperia - Should have flying. Also think she should be 5/7.
Rakdos - The p/t doesn't seem to fit. I get that it's adjusted to accommodate the abilities, but it's hard to get past.
Ruric Thar - Solid design, but doesn't feel legendary, especially not like the character. How about 2R: Fight, 2G: Indestructible?
Niv-Mizzet - Feels like the first ability should have single U and second single R.
Added flying to Isperia. I feel like 7/7 is perfectly fine for an 8-drop, though. That could change with playtesting.
Rakdos would need to be completely redesigned to get p/t that fits better.
I'm not sure how your suggested abilities for RT are any better for a legend and any more like RT's character. I chose double strike and hexproof specifically to represent RT's double-headedness and his magic-repelling hide, things that are pulled straight from his character profile. Fight and indestructible seem like two random alternatives just for the sake of being random alternatives. Any specific reasons you would pick those abilities instead?
For Niv, I think mana costing could definitely be adjusted if playtesting reveals a need to.
Insperia: Looks good imo. She eats spot removal, but not before bouncing the whole board. However I think she should either just bounce creatures or have some choice mechanic that lets you avoid bouncing enchantments and artifacts. I think it's crucial for her playability that you won't be bouncing your own Detention Spheres and the like.
Vriskus: I think a symmetrical effect is very not fitting for a Dimir guild leader. I think you should simply get the card draw and apply the discard effect for all opponents. A big source of criticism is that discard synergy at 6 CMC card will inevitably suck.
Rakdos: The 4/2 body is impossible to swallow. I think getting the p/t appropriate for the creature size is absolute priority when making creatures and more so when making legends.
Ruric Thar: I think the card is overall balanced and fun, but not as a guild leader.
Mat'Selesnya: Her p/t is way to underwhelming for her cost. I think +2/+2 for each creature you control would be novel and fitting. You may lose the third ability and add a white ability to complement the green card draw.
Teysa: I think it's boring that both Teysa and Insperia are essentially control ETB sweeper finishers. She needs to draw from another space.
Niv-Mizzet: I like him. I would expect something more chaotic but it works imo.
Vraska: Right now it's very awkward that WotC can't close legendary creature cycle with PWs because the format is too big to ignore but not big enough so that "~~ can be your commander" may appear outside of supplemental products. In the end I think she won't be neither a guild leader or a champion but occupy the slot of a guild mythic. About her card, she needs to cost 5 with those abilities, for sure.
Aurelia: It's by far your best card. Very, very nice !
Zegana: I don't like her. Feels too gimmicky and situational.
Insperia: Looks good imo. She eats spot removal, but not before bouncing the whole board. However I think she should either just bounce creatures or have some choice mechanic that lets you avoid bouncing enchantments and artifacts. I think it's crucial for her playability that you won't be bouncing your own Detention Spheres and the like.
Vriskus: I think a symmetrical effect is very not fitting for a Dimir guild leader. I think you should simply get the card draw and apply the discard effect for all opponents. A big source of criticism is that discard synergy at 6 CMC card will inevitably suck.
Rakdos: The 4/2 body is impossible to swallow. I think getting the p/t appropriate for the creature size is absolute priority when making creatures and more so when making legends.
Ruric Thar: I think the card is overall balanced and fun, but not as a guild leader.
Mat'Selesnya: Her p/t is way to underwhelming for her cost. I think +2/+2 for each creature you control would be novel and fitting. You may lose the third ability and add a white ability to complement the green card draw.
Teysa: I think it's boring that both Teysa and Insperia are essentially control ETB sweeper finishers. She needs to draw from another space.
Niv-Mizzet: I like him. I would expect something more chaotic but it works imo.
Vraska: Right now it's very awkward that WotC can't close legendary creature cycle with PWs because the format is too big to ignore but not big enough so that "~~ can be your commander" may appear outside of supplemental products. In the end I think she won't be neither a guild leader or a champion but occupy the slot of a guild mythic. About her card, she needs to cost 5 with those abilities, for sure.
Aurelia: It's by far your best card. Very, very nice !
Zegana: I don't like her. Feels too gimmicky and situational.
Made a couple of edits based on some of your feedback. Still working on the rest. What do you think?
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I also want to talk about my approach to the design real quick. Traditionally, guild leaders have had at least two symbols of each of their colors in their mana cost (Jarad with BBGG, or Obzedat with 1WWBB). With this cycle, I wanted to emphasize how the mana cost could inform the design. I decided the best way to do this would be to think of a powerful/splashy ability in each of the card's colors, something that would usually cost at least two mana of that color to do and something that is solidly in one color and not the other. These two effects should synergize with each other to create an even more powerful combined effect, embodying how the two colors thrive together.
For example, Isperia has mass bounce (UU) and Rule of Law (WW). These effects don't always cost two mana of their color, but they should still very clearly belong to that color and signify the kind of power that color contributes to its guild. Furthermore, the flavor and power suite of each character an their guild should be apparent. This presented some challenges, and in some cases caused me to find new characters.
Legendary Creature - Sphinx
7/7
Flying
When ~ enters the battlefield, return each other nonland permanent to its owner's hand.
Each opponent can't cast more than one spell each turn.
Note: This was meant as a sort of control finisher. It's a reset button that keeps the opponent from recovering very quickly, unless they happen to have spot removal on-hand. In constructed, I expect this to happen frequently enough that Isperia is never a real threat, so I'm considering adding a minor protection ability.
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard
4/4
As ~ enters the battlefield, choose a player.
If the chosen player would draw a card, that player draws two cards instead.
The chosen player's maximum hand size is reduced by four.
Note: This is the only entirely new character I had to make. Lazav being a shapeshifter just came with too much baggage, and any way, I don't think it's too hard to believe that a change in regime could happen within a guild founded on deceit and manipulation since our last visit to Ravnica. The effect plays into a mill strategy in limited and a more controlling strategy in constructed, which feels pretty cool to me. Still, like Isperia, it might need something a bit more to make it relevant in constructed.
Edit: Double discard -> Reduced hand size. I feel this is more impactful.
Legendary Creature - Demon
4/2
Flying
If a source would deal damage to a permanent or player, that source deals twice that much damage to that permanent or player instead.
Whenever a source deals damage to ~, that source's controller sacrifices that many permanents.
Note: Yeah, the p/t is odd for a giant demon, but it's a necessary tweak to make Rakdos at least slightly manageable in combat for limited. Again, I don't think he's gonna be too relevant in constructed, outside of, perhaps, reanimator, which presents a fun deckbuilding challenge. I like him how he is.
Edit: After hearing feedback, I'm workshopping this.
Legendary Creature - Ogre Warrior
4/6
Menace, hexproof
Whenever a creature dies, if it was fighting a creature you control, draw a card and you gain 2 life.
3RG, T: ~ gets +2/+2 until end of turn and fights target creature.
Note: Borb was getting old and had already fought Ruric Thar once without killing him, so it's no stretch to think that Ruric Thar was able to finish the job since we last left Ravnica. Ruric Thar is known for two things: having two heads, and magic-repelling skin (it was talked about in the novel and represented on his card by his ability). This is basically a top-down design of that. He can give himself the two most desired abilities for an aggressive beater to have. The only thing he really lacks is evasion, which is where another fun deckbuilding challenge comes in. Plays particularly well with Bloodrush.
Edit: Activated abilities -> Menace and hexproof. Also added a fight-matters trigger to make him a more appealing commander, and a fight ability to fuel it. Fun fact: After adjusting his stats, his fight ability allows him to fight Borborygmos and live to tell the tale, and then fight Borborygmos Enraged victorious. Just some added flavor and functionality.
Legendary Creature - Dryad Elemental
0/0
You may tap X untapped creatures you control as you cast ~. If you do, ~ costs X less to cast.
~ gets +1/+1 for each creature you control.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, draw a card.
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, create a 1/1 white Bird creature token with flying.
Note: Mat'Selesnya has been talked about before, but never seen. I think it would be cool to finally see her. Making her design work was tricky, and I'm not sure I got it quite right. There's some extra text to make her stats more flexible and push you into a go-wide strategy. The draw ability is the green and the flying token ability is the white. I am a bit concerned that the two combined makes for "whenever you cast a noncreature spell, draw a card," because that's neither green nor white. Suggestions for improvement are welcome.
Edit: Again, workshopping the last ability.
Legendary Creature - Human Advisor
5/5
When ~ enters the battlefield, destroy all tapped creatures.
Whenever another nontoken creature dies, draw a card.
Note: Teysa has been after guild leadership since we were last on Ravnica, so I think it would be fun to see her finally get the job. She Sunblasts the Obzedat away, and reaps the benefits. Again, she sort of lacks any kind of durability, but she gets you immediate value, so I think it's fine.
Edit: Trying to find a good way to make this less boring.
Legendary Creature - Dragon Wizard
6/6
Flying
Exile an instant or sorcery spell you control: Draw two cards.
Exile an instant or sorcery spell you control: ~ deals 4 damage to any target.
Note: Coming up with a name for Niv is hard. Also, he has a similar problem to Lazav, coming with a bit of baggage. Both of Niv's previous cards have intertwined card draw and damage in some way, so I felt obligated to incorporate those effects into the card somehow. The trick was trying to do so in a way that played well with the spell theme of the guild. I'm happy with the result, though the numbers might need tweaking. Again, not a lot of protection, and it's hard to get immediate value, but neither of his previous cards had protection anyway, so w/e.
Legendary Planeswalker - Vraska
Loyatly - 3
+1: Reveal the top three cards of your library. You may put a creature or land card from among them into your hand. Put the rest into your graveyard.
-2: Exile target creature. Its controller creates a 0/1 colorless Statue artifact token with defender.
-7: Put the top ten cards of your library into your graveyard. Then, each player exchanges all other nonland permanents they control with all nonland permanents in their graveyard.
Note: I know this would be controversial, having a planeswalker instead of a creature, but the story dictates that this is how it has to be. I think that, alongside Vraska, we could have another legend, like Mazirek. He wouldn't be guild leader, but would give the guild the new commander it's due. Her +1 is the green ability. Her -3 is the black ability, and her -7, while more black than green, plays off both.
Edit: Starting loyalty 4 -> 3. Just balancing. Will add a legendary creature alongside her later.
Legendary Creature - Angel
4/4
Flying, haste, vigilance
All creatures attack each turn if able.
Tap an untapped creature you control: Tap target creature.
Note: The Boros are all about combat superiority. In RTR, it was by sheer numbers, but I think we can do better than that. I think the Boros should be seen using strategy and battlefield manipulation to force the combat advantage. Goading and incapacitating enemies is a great way to do this.
Legendary Creature - Merfolk Wizard
2/4
Each other creature you control enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it.
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player returns a creature he or she controls to his or her hand.
T: Counter target triggered ability you don't control.
Note: Zegana came last for me. By the time I got here, I had already gone through a lot of low-hanging fruit when it came to splashy mechanics for green and blue. Not only that, but the Simic aren't a terribly broad guild when it comes to the card effects they like to use. I decided to use +1/+1 counters and countermagic, as well as a bounce effect to tie them together. The bounce effect is the real meat of the card, both enabling your own "evolution" and controlling the opponent's board state. The tap ability is to keep opponents from getting value out of the bounce ability, and otherwise just stop things you don't like from happening. Her mana cost is the one I'm most concerned about, as it's so difficult to analyze this combination of these particular effects.
Anyway, that's it. What did yall like? not like? what should I do differently?
Terminology aside, your approach makes the guildleaders kinda boring imo. I see pairs of abilities that synergize, for the most part, but nothing really unique, in the same vein as Lazav's ability to copy milled/discarded creature cards or Rakdos's cost reduction. I'm not sure if this is the right approach if you only pick from abilities that have been done before.
Lead Tesla, a community set designed by everyone and led by me, over at Goblin Artisans. Index of articles here!
Basically, it works just as it reads: The nonland permanents on the battlefield under a player's control are one group; the nonland permanent cards in that player's graveyard are another group. The two groups are simultaneously put into each other's place.
It's not technically sacrifice or destroy, but I believe "dies" triggers still happen, as well as "enters the battlefield" and other similar triggers. Replacement effects happen as you would expect. With Rest in Peace in play, the battlefield group is put into exile instead. Triggers are put onto the stack in whichever order the active player chooses, since they all trigger simultaneously.
Rakdos - The p/t doesn't seem to fit. I get that it's adjusted to accommodate the abilities, but it's hard to get past.
Ruric Thar - Solid design, but doesn't feel legendary, especially not like the character. How about 2R: Fight, 2G: Indestructible?
Niv-Mizzet - Feels like the first ability should have single U and second single R.
Rakdos would need to be completely redesigned to get p/t that fits better.
I'm not sure how your suggested abilities for RT are any better for a legend and any more like RT's character. I chose double strike and hexproof specifically to represent RT's double-headedness and his magic-repelling hide, things that are pulled straight from his character profile. Fight and indestructible seem like two random alternatives just for the sake of being random alternatives. Any specific reasons you would pick those abilities instead?
For Niv, I think mana costing could definitely be adjusted if playtesting reveals a need to.
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras