My intent is for these cards to be good enough for Limited and Standard, but to never feel overpowered.
Do you think these cards are appropriately powered?
Which one do you think is the best of the bunch?
Necromancers' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1B, T, Discard a land card: Put up to one target creature from your graveyard on top of your library. Draw a card.
Evokers' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1R, T, Discard a land card: Evokers' Academy deals 1 damage to up to one target. Draw a card.
Transmuters' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1G, T, Discard a land card: Up to one target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. Draw a card.
Illusionists' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1U, T, Discard a land card: Up to one target creature can't attack or block this turn. Draw a card.
Abjurers' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1W, T, Discard a land card: Prevent the next 2 damage that would be dealt to up to one target this turn. Draw a card.
These costs and effects need to be tweaked because they vary wildly in power. Necromancers' Academy is definitely broken because it apes Volrath's Stronghold. Illusionists' Academy also has an effect that is white and not blue.
I'll second that Necromancers' Academy is wildly more powerful than the others. Trade a land in hand for any creature in your graveyard + draw trigger interactions for 1B is... a lot.
"Necromancers' Academy is definitely broken because it apes Volrath's Stronghold."
Yes, Necromancer's Acedemy is a stronger card than Volrath's Stronghold. But then again, Volrath's Stronghold only ever saw constructed use in 1998 Rec-Sur (as far as I know). Thus, since Volrath's Stronghold didn't see nearly as much use as other powerful-but-fair utility lands like Treetop Village, Stalking Stones, Mutavault, I could argume that Volrath's Stronghold is actually a somewhat weak card in need of an upgrade.
But then again, the cards in this cycle all interact with creatures and combat, so to maintain consistency, I suppose Necromancers' Academy should follow suit.
So how about this:
Necromancers' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1B, T, Discard a land card: Up to one target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn, and if it does, gain 1 life. Draw a card.
But then I would probably have to also upgrade Transmuters' Academy, because an effect that gives a creature -1/-1 is generally more useful than an effect that gives a creature +1/+1. So...
Transmuters' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1G, T, Discard a land card: Up to one target creature gets +2/+0 or +0/+2 until end of turn.
As for Illusionists' Academy, you are correct that this is a white ability, like Pacifism or Off Balance or many other white commons. So I suppose the change to be made is:
Illusionists' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1U, T, Discard a land card: Tap target creature. Draw a card.
With these changes in place, the question returns: Which one is the strongest, and which is weakest? My goal is to make them all as equal as possible.
Do you think these cards are appropriately powered?
Which one do you think is the best of the bunch?
Necromancers' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1B, T, Discard a land card: Put up to one target creature from your graveyard on top of your library. Draw a card.
Evokers' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1R, T, Discard a land card: Evokers' Academy deals 1 damage to up to one target. Draw a card.
Transmuters' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1G, T, Discard a land card: Up to one target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. Draw a card.
Illusionists' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1U, T, Discard a land card: Up to one target creature can't attack or block this turn. Draw a card.
Abjurers' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1W, T, Discard a land card: Prevent the next 2 damage that would be dealt to up to one target this turn. Draw a card.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Most Used (of many dozens) EDH Decks:
Brago, King Eternal - Stax
Grenzo, Dungeon Warden - Aggro Combo
Wort, the Raidmother - Spellslinger Swarm Control
Animar, Soul of Elements - Tempo Combo
Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder - Spellslinger
Exodia the Forbidden One:
Oona, Queen of the Fae - Combowins.dec
Yes, Necromancer's Acedemy is a stronger card than Volrath's Stronghold. But then again, Volrath's Stronghold only ever saw constructed use in 1998 Rec-Sur (as far as I know). Thus, since Volrath's Stronghold didn't see nearly as much use as other powerful-but-fair utility lands like Treetop Village, Stalking Stones, Mutavault, I could argume that Volrath's Stronghold is actually a somewhat weak card in need of an upgrade.
But then again, the cards in this cycle all interact with creatures and combat, so to maintain consistency, I suppose Necromancers' Academy should follow suit.
So how about this:
Necromancers' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1B, T, Discard a land card: Up to one target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn, and if it does, gain 1 life. Draw a card.
But then I would probably have to also upgrade Transmuters' Academy, because an effect that gives a creature -1/-1 is generally more useful than an effect that gives a creature +1/+1. So...
Transmuters' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1G, T, Discard a land card: Up to one target creature gets +2/+0 or +0/+2 until end of turn.
As for Illusionists' Academy, you are correct that this is a white ability, like Pacifism or Off Balance or many other white commons. So I suppose the change to be made is:
Illusionists' Academy
Land
T: Add 1.
1U, T, Discard a land card: Tap target creature. Draw a card.
With these changes in place, the question returns: Which one is the strongest, and which is weakest? My goal is to make them all as equal as possible.
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
World's Edge
Land (C)
[T]: Add 1.
[2],[T], Discard a land card: Draw a card.
With an activation cost of [2],[T], this card might not be good enough, though. Any thoughts on decreasing the activation cost to [1],[T]?
UR Murktide
Pauper
RW Monarch
UW Caw-Gate
UBR Affinity