MTG Salvation

So the cemetery has become so oversold that they're not even bothering to mark graves? Well, hang on a sec, this one rewards you for underselling your cemetery plots. Also cool is that enemy yard-hate doesn't hamper this card's effects as easily.

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Bullet Time 3RRR
Enchantment (R)
Creatures you control have double strike.
Whenever a creature an opponent controls attacks or blocks, it loses first strike and double strike until end of turn unless its controller controls a permanent named Bullet Time.

Seems pretty good, fairly more playable than True Conviction. I was thinking it was a tad powerful, but then again, 6cc enchantments usually aren't overall.

Æther Ooze :symg::symg::symu::symu:
Creature - Mutant Ooze
Reach, vigilance.
Whenever Æther Oooze attacks, it deals 3 damage to each creature with flying you don't control.
4/6

This is a mono-green card in Simic clothing. Additionally, "Æther" usually connotes some transition between battlefield and a player's hand--what gives?
Up for a lil' GGGG here? It's more justifiable for green (and red, to a lesser extent) to get such color-intensiveness than black.

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Hyperbaric Chamber 2
Artifact (U)
1, T: Remove all counters from target creature you control.

"...you gain 1 life for each counter removed this way"?

No, I don't think that additional cost is not quite necessary depending on the block. Imagine givng Dark Depths a Zendikon, then activate this. (yes, Vampire Hexmage is easier, but still.) Then also, if you have a not-so-dead Chronozoa that is targeted by a kill spell, you may just target that with this and you get 2 zoas for free. And what about Shadowmoor and Mirrodin? They will LOVE having this card around. That said, maybe the casting cost could go down.


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Bloodless Showdown W
Sorcery (U)
Target creature you control fights target creature you don't control. If a creature dealt damage this way would die, put it at the bottom at its owner's library instead.
Merely having the tip of a sword on your neck should be enough to make you flee.

So, Prey Upon with a twist. Necessary?

Reasonable cost/effect pairing, but between Trinket Mage and Artificer's Intuition, how many more of this kind of card is really needed?

I'd make it black and allow it to tutor for any card with CMC = 1. You could throw in a life loss of 1 for the color-pie-fidelity purposes.

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There should be no confusing this for a red card:

Orbital Drop 3U
Instant (U)
You may put a creature card with flying from your hand onto the battlefield. Return that card to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step.

It seems really powerful, there are so many excellent flyers with ETB effects that this could get out of hand. Also the creature is returned to your hand afterword, so you can recast it.

This card either needs to exile the creature at the eot or cost more. Instant speed Griselbrand, Angel of Serenity or third thing is just nuts.


Shoreline Scavenge U
Sorcery (U)
Look at the top X cards of your library, where X is the number of Islands you control. Add one of those cards to your hand and then shuffle your library.

"If you spot one, grab it quickly or it'll be the tide's soon enough."

Well, I used Through the Breach as a comparison point. That costs five, but lets you get an attack in and non-fliers are eligible.

Shoreline Scavenge is a reasonable Impulse variant, save for the Island restriction. Mono-color should not be pushed so overtly. Maybe you could up the cost to 2U and have it count basic lands instead?

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Doff 1G
Instant (C)
Destroy target Aura or Equipment.
Draw a card.

Should be ok.


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Evergrowing Ethers 3WW
Enchantment (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may search your library for an enchantment card with converted mana cost equal to or less than the number of enchantments you control and reveal it. If it is an Aura card that has nothing to enchant, put it into your hand, otherwise put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.

Comments?

I don't know, enchantment tutoring is usually pretty strong, it's not on the level of academy rector, but it's no push over.

The enchantment is put straight into play, which seems over the top in my opinion. I think it'd be more balanced if the enchantment were tutored into your hand. That would also remove that aura clause.

I mean with a couple Abundant Growths, you could cast this. Next turn tutor another copy of it and then just explode.

Sacrosanct Vanguard4WW
Creature - Human Soldier (R)
Vigilance
If a source would deal damage to you, it instead deals that much damage to ~.
WWt: ~ gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn.
4/5

Quote from Winterspring

Counter-Cat 1U
[U]Instant[/U] [U]
As an additional cost to play ~, tap a green, red, white or black creature.
Counter target spell.

Seems printable, but pretty powerful in the right deck/format. I don't think I would change anything right off the bat, but I would playtest the heck out of it if I were R&D

Flamberge Berserker R
Creature - Elemental Berserker (R)
Haste.
When ~ attacks, it does 1 damage to each other attacking creature and 1 damage to its controller.
2/1

Pretty awesome, my problem with it being that a deck tha would like him would probably want stuff like Ball Lightning, which this ruins. Also, Flame-kin isn't a tribe, it should be an elemental.

Mountaincleaver 5
Legendary Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +3/+3 and has trample and deathtouch.
Equip 4

The beginning of a three-card cycle, probably the weakest one. The cycle should be Aggro/Protection/Combo, with this one being aggro.

EDIT
Mountaincleaver 5
Legendary Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +5/+3 and has trample and deathtouch.
Equip 4

Ah, right... elemental. Fixed. Also, I realize that he doesn't play well with stuff like Ball Lightning, Hellspark Elemental or other copies of himself. That's part of the drawback!

Quote from Todris052

Pretty awesome, my problem with it being that a deck tha would like him would probably want stuff like Ball Lightning, which this ruins. Also, Flame-kin isn't a tribe, it should be an elemental.

Mountaincleaver 5
Legendary Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +3/+3 and has trample and deathtouch.
Equip 4

The beginning of a three-card cycle, probably the weakest one. The cycle should be Aggro/Protection/Combo, with thi one being aggro.

I think for 5 to cast and 4 to equip, and being legendary, you could bump up the buffs. +4/+4 or even +5/+3 seems reasonable.

Foresight Lapse 1U
Instant
Target player puts the top four cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard, then put a card from their graveyard onto the top of their deck.
Thoughts of the future often reflect the past

I would love to play with something like this in standard.
You can use it on the end of your opponents turn to set up your next draw.
Miracles in your graveyard are reset up.
You can mill your opponent, and potentially screw up their next draw.
It is card disadvantage, but messes with card quality and is versatile.

Foresight Lapse would probably make a good centrepiece for a milling deck.

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SHODAN 10
Legendary Artifact Creature — Construct Psion {M}
Soulbond
As long as SHODAN is paired with another creature, both creatures have lifelink.
Play with the top card of your library revealed.
XUU,T: Each player discards X cards and draws X cards.
“Look at you, hacker: a pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you run through My corridors. How can you challenge a perfect, immortal machine?”
Illus. Daniel Thron*
10/10

* I think; I'm not entirely sure who designed SS2's SHODAN, but Mr Thron is the most likely suspect.

Um..... Well, since this cost a LOT to cast, probably okay enough, although I think 8/8 may be a better P/T.


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Dialectric Chemister 2R
Creature - Human Wizard (U)
T: Dialectric Chemister deals damage to target spell's controller equal to the number of targets that spell has.
"Get your hands of my lab materials! I haven't finished my experiment yet!"
2/1

Slightly better combat stat than Tom, and can deal more than one damage, but very dependent on your opponent playing instant/sorceries, auras etc. Not to mention this guy is useless against Storm, Replicate and Overload. Of course, this guy IS deadly against Seeds of Strength, Cone of Flame, or God forbid, Hex. Comments?

I dig it. It's not strictly better than a shock, but can be better in the right situation. At R, it's powerful, but it could probably be 1R and still be balanced. Overall, I like this card, could see print.


Supreme Aethermancer2UU
Creature - Human Wizard (R)
Flash
XXUt: Exile target creature. Put X time counters on it.If it doesn't have suspend, it gains suspend.(At the beginning of its owner's upkeep, remove a counter from that card. When the last is removed, the player plays it without paying its mana cost. If it's a creature, it has haste.)
2/3

@RickstonSlade: It's good, if not gamebreaking. I'd definatly play it if I had it, especially against Selesnya (Grove of the Guardian).

Edit
Shadowdrifter 5
Legendary Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature is unblockable.
Whenever equipped creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, you may exile it and ~. If you do, return that creature to the battlefield under your control, and then return ~ to the battlefield attached to the creature.
Equip 4

I'm not sure how good it is, but this is supposed to be about protection, and outright hexproof seemed... Un-legendary.

also, don't think I mentioned it before, Mountaincleaver, Shadowdrifter and the next card are swords.

It doesn't work how you want it to. A spell or ability can't resolve if it's targets aren't on the field. It would have to be targeted by something with multiple targets to return.

Bad to the Bone B
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature becomes black, gains Deathtouch and "3B: Regenerate enchanted creature".

I wanted an enchantment that changed a creature into a black creature, with common keywords. I want to keep the cost at one black, but I'm not sure what the regenerate cost should be. Might work changing the cost to sacrificing the enchantment to regenerate, or just Totem Armor.

Quote from Todris052

Shadowdrifter 5
Legendary Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature is unblockable.
Whenever equipped creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, you may exile it and ~. If you do, return that creature to the battlefield under your control, and then return ~ to the battlefield attached to it, after that spell finishes resolving.
Equip 4

This would work just fine if it exiled then immediately returned the creature and the artifact (same reason why you can dodge removal with Cloudshift).

Quote from Yamikiri

Bad to the Bone B
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature becomes black, gains Deathtouch and "3B: Regenerate enchanted creature".

The creature gaining a line "Regenerate enchanted creature" doesn't make sense, maybe consider templating like Skeletal Grimace. Also by comparison, I think the regen could cost 3 and still be fair. Saccing the enchantment is interesting; not sure about totem armor since it's a keyword that's currently restricted to GWU (mostly GW).

Oh. I didn't know Cloudshift could avoid removal, I thought it was strictpy for ETB effects. Edited. However, I didn't get an answer for the more important question: is it powerful enough?

Not a fan of this in the slightest for one reason: blue is the least creature-oriented of the colors, so its spells and abilities should generally not revolve around them. The good news is that this card could easily be transposed to white with a few tweaks.

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Any way to condense this?

Armorer Artisan 1RW
Creature - Dwarf (U)
RW, T: Choose one -- Put an artifact Equipment token with "Equipped creature gets +2/+0" and "Equip 2" onto the battlefield; or put an artifact Equipment token with "Equipped creature gets +0/+2" and "Equip 2" onto the battlefield.
2/2

I like it, but I feel it needs a discard to activate the ability. My reasoning is that this effect is really similar to the spellshapers/creatureshapers from Future Sight.
Overall, I like the card, probably wouldn't see standard play, but could be backbreaking in limited/a tech card in EDH.

Necromantic Ravings B
Sorcery - (R)
Return target creature from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. Each opponent draws cards equal to that creature's power.

Um.... I still don't think this is safe at 1 mana. Sure, they get cards, but imagine dropping a super big bomb with hexproof to grave on turn one, reanimate this on turn 2, thn start whacking......


On the flipside, that inspires me.

Quakeborn Behemoth 3RG
Creature - Beast (R)
Trample, haste
When Quakeborn Behemoth enters the battlefield, each opponent may search his or her library for up to three land cards and put them onto the battlefield under his or her control, then shuffles his or her library.
When Quakeborn Behemoth leaves the battlefield, each opponent sacrifices three lands.
8/8

I originally wanted to put this at 3 mana, but considering the potential abuse of this using Fling and Sundial of the Infinite, I make it more expensive, though 5cc 8/8 is still not a laughing matter considering that its drawback (the lands can enter the field untapped, btw) is nullified by both its last ability AND its huge body. Comments?

I don't know what tier this card would be in std, I mean you could likely cast it turn 4, and unless they're holding their own bomb, or removal, it'll get real ugly real fast. But yeah it seems fair in my opinion, even decks that don't need the mana will benefit from not having to draw those 3 lands.

In EDH it's a lot more fair, you get this massive beater, but they get to assemble their coffers/urborg combo or grab a maze of ith and render it's attacks moot.

Rising Tide UU
Enchantment - (U)
At the beginning of each upkeep put a tide counter on ~.
Creatures with power X or less, where X is the number of tide counters on ~ don't untap during their controller's untap step.