Boom, as I noted before, is among the land destruction that takes out your own land as well, like Ghost Quarter and Tectonic Edge. Your thing doesn't take out one of your own lands, so it's mana cost is too low.
Playing death and taxes I have a fair amount of experience with land destruction. Turn 2 land destruction is degenerate. Turn 3 is completely hair and frequently doesn't even mess up their game plan as much as you'd assume. The mana cost doesn't matter as long as the destruction happens turn 3 earliest. MY complaint is that it should be RG since its iffy on the color pie.
Also as a note, putting 3 mana on the cost the way you did makes it completely unplayable. With fixed stats to a 1/1 and some color cost (or maybe a different ability all together?) it's fair. Everyone talks about how we need more ways to punish 3 color decks. Well this would be a perfectly playable option. Also it kinda bothers me that despite all the land destruction in dnt, red is by far the least playable splash. I'd love it to get some actual love.
I honestly don't think it's pushed compared to say: Young Pyromancer or just powerful 2-drops in general. I'm not sure that I'd be more scared of my opponent resolving this T2 or a T2 Bob (who's not even played any more). It's easy to deal with and is affected by Summoning Sickness (unlike Fulminator) so it's still a T3 activation. The ability to ramp up to Ajani Vengeant, Magus of the Tabernacle or other spice is good but it's still just an expensive fragile mana dork. The stats may be more white oriented but could be changed to 1/1. Then it also became slightly weaker.
Stapling an ability onto a creature, even with a sacrifice the creature requirement to trigger it, does not decrease the cost of the ability, even if the same turn it can be activated on as the lower CMC ability. This should be especially true for powerful and devastating abilities like land destruction, even with the nonbasic limitation. It's also still pretty reliable and versatile ramp in a color that isn't supposed to get that sort of ramp. It's by no means an expensive mana dork, merely the standard for non-green ones, look at Gold Myr for example. Putting a color into the cost that isn't the right color for mana ramp isn't enough to give another powerful ability on top of even the colorless only ramp.
If you really want to have it be a 2 drop as a creature, you might be able to allow it to have the land destruction if you put a mana cost of 3 cmc on it, something like this:
Magus of the Wasteland1R Creature - Wizard t: Add 1 to your mana pool. 1RR, t, Sacrifice Magus of the Wasteland: Destroy target non-basic land. 1/1
And I'd consider even that to be pushing it.
It wouldn't be a part of the magus cycle then as the Magus' abilities are exactly the same as their lands and have exactly the same activation costs.
Multi-ElementalURG Creature - Elemental Weird
Multi-Elemental can't be countered.
Haste, Hexproof
If Multi-Elemental would be discarded or exiled from your hand due to a spell or ability you don't control, put it onto the battlefield instead with a -1/-1 counter on it. 3/4
Dread TrollUBG Creature - Troll Zombie Wizard
Dread Troll's power is equal to the number of Zombies on the battlefield.
Dread Troll's toughness is equal to the number of Wizards on the battlefield.
Discard a card: Regenerate Dread Troll */*
Elvish ElitistWBG Creature - Elf Wizard Druid
Indestructible.
Whenever a non-elf creature enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on Elvish Elitist.
Whenever another elf creature with CMC 3 or more, or with the legendary type enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on Elvish Elitist.
At the start of your upkeep, if an opponent controls more elf creatures than you, sacrifice Elvish Elitist. 2/2
Impossible IdolWBR Creature - Angel Demon
Flying, Vigilance
When Impossible Idol is cast from your hand, each player takes 2 damage.
Impossible Idol can be cast from exile or the graveyard for 3WBR. 3/4
Purifying SylphWUR Creature - Faerie Elemental
Flying, Vigilance, Protection from Enchantments
When Pure Sylph enters the battlefield, exile target non-creature non-land permanent or remove all counters from target player or other card.
Persist 1/6
According to some recent arguments I've heard, something like this would be okay:
Simplify Terrain(W/U)G Sorcery
Simplify Terrain can't be cast on your first or second turns.
Exile target non-basic land. It's controller may search their library for a basic land, reveal it, then put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle their library.
You may play an additional land this turn as long as it is a basic land.
Draw a card.
Mace of Sovereignty 2
Legendary Artifact - Equipment
Indestructible
Equipped creature has shroud, intimidate and +X/+0, where X is equal to the number of lands you control less the number of lands controlled by the opponent with the most lands in play to a minimum of zero.
Equip 3
I think pure control decks would be able to use it quite well, while other decks won't want it. Not sure about the costing, might be too aggressive.
Shroud was chosen over hexproof to limit shenanigans.
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Modern Decks
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
According to some recent arguments I've heard, something like this would be okay:
Simplify Terrain(W/U)G Sorcery
Simplify Terrain can't be cast on your first or second turns.
Exile target non-basic land. It's controller may search their library for a basic land, reveal it, then put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle their library.
You may play an additional land this turn as long as it is a basic land.
Draw a card.
I like the concept, but I find it funny that despite its name and purpose, it's a pretty complicated effect. It also doesn't make sense to me that it simplifies the terrain but requires a bizarre Bant hybrid mana to cast. Maybe something more like...
Simplify Terrain1GG Sorcery
Destroy target nonbasic land.
Each player may put a basic land from their hand onto the battlefield tapped.
I considered a GGG casting cost for flavor and balance reasons, but I think that's too restrictive and I don't think it's wholly necessary. This is basically a Stone Rain with an upside, but I can definitely see some decks running away with the tempo shift after this resolves.
According to some recent arguments I've heard, something like this would be okay:
Simplify Terrain(W/U)G Sorcery
Simplify Terrain can't be cast on your first or second turns.
Exile target non-basic land. It's controller may search their library for a basic land, reveal it, then put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle their library.
You may play an additional land this turn as long as it is a basic land.
Draw a card.
I like the concept, but I find it funny that despite its name and purpose, it's a pretty complicated effect. It also doesn't make sense to me that it simplifies the terrain but requires a bizarre Bant hybrid mana to cast. Maybe something more like...
Simplify Terrain1GG Sorcery
Destroy target nonbasic land.
Each player may put a basic land from their hand onto the battlefield tapped.
I considered a GGG casting cost for flavor and balance reasons, but I think that's too restrictive and I don't think it's wholly necessary. This is basically a Stone Rain with an upside, but I can definitely see some decks running away with the tempo shift after this resolves.
I like the fixed one better. Land destruction alone typically costs three, and I really feel the cantrip is too much. The original one could be abused with leonin arbiter in GW DnT for a Cantripping ramp strip mine.
To be honest I don't like the idea of ramp on this effect. That's just TOO huge a gain. Yes we need more non-basic hate. But that doesn't mean just anything goes. So yea I think the fixed version is pushed but within acceptable bounds, just barely.
The idea was partly that it's a 2 CMC that exiles a non-basic land and lets them get a basic tapped in return, just not on the first or second turns. I stapled on the basic version of explore because it felt like the base card beyond that basically did nothing most of the time, and it felt flavorful. The colors I went with because the manipulation and ordering and rules restriction aspects of the card are very blue and/or white in nature, and I wanted the cost to be more difficult, to contrast with the basic favoring, but not super more difficult in a bant color deck, by using the hybrid. I suppose GG would also work, but it needs to still have the following to fit the concept:
2 cmc
~ can't be cast on your first and second turns.
Exile target non-basic land. It's controller may search their library for a basic land, reveal it, then put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle their library.
Other stuff is optional to justify playing it and the card in general.
Why do you need to exile the land? Isn't destroying it sufficient?
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Things WotC cares about:
-making certain Standard cards can be played in Modern, therefore increasing their value and increasing WotC's profit margin
Things WotC does not care about:
-keeping the ban list as short as possible
-taking chances with an entire format for the benefit of a single card
-catering to play styles that newer players generally don't like and will lose them more players than it will gain
-keeping the meta balanced between archetypes/colors/whatever
-keeping cards on the secondary market cheap (available yes, but not cheap)
-keeping the meta diverse (as long as a single deck doesn't threaten the popularity of the format)
No, because destroying it does things like potentially feeding goyfs and delve. Additionally, as an anti-weird-land thing, you may want to be dealing with the likes of strats revolving around Flagstones of Trokair or keeping stuff from coming back with Crucible of Worlds. Plus you are giving them a land back, and flavor-wise, you are changing one thing to another, not just destroying the original and giving them a separate thing.
No, because destroying it does things like potentially feeding goyfs and delve. Additionally, as an anti-weird-land thing, you may want to be dealing with the likes of strats revolving around Flagstones of Trokair or keeping stuff from coming back with Crucible of Worlds. Plus you are giving them a land back, and flavor-wise, you are changing one thing to another, not just destroying the original and giving them a separate thing.
Goyfs already gets fed by fetches. Maybe delve gets some help, but I doubt it make much difference. Meanwhile, decks that play weird lands and Crucible - in other words, tier two decks - get screwed. That's like designing a card the massively hates on Storm Crow while mildly inconveniencing Delver. Frankly, we should be finding ways to make such decks more playable, not less playable.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Things WotC cares about:
-making certain Standard cards can be played in Modern, therefore increasing their value and increasing WotC's profit margin
Things WotC does not care about:
-keeping the ban list as short as possible
-taking chances with an entire format for the benefit of a single card
-catering to play styles that newer players generally don't like and will lose them more players than it will gain
-keeping the meta balanced between archetypes/colors/whatever
-keeping cards on the secondary market cheap (available yes, but not cheap)
-keeping the meta diverse (as long as a single deck doesn't threaten the popularity of the format)
Genius EnchanterWU Creature - Vedalken Wizard
Enchantment spells cost 1 less to cast. 1/2
Genius ArtificerUU Creature - Human Artificer Wizard
Artifact spells cost 1 less to cast. 1/3
Genius RitualistUB Creature - Human Wizard
Sorcery spells cost 1 less to cast. 1/2
Genius BattlemageUR Creature - Human Wizard
Instant spells cost 1 less to cast. 2/1
Genius SummonerUG Creature - Elf Wizard
Creature spells cost 1 less to cast. 1/2
Master Wizard1UU Creature - Human Wizard
Hexproof
Wizard spells cost U less to cast. This effect reduces only the amount of colored mana you pay. 1/4
Spell Inventor1U Creature - Human Wizard
When Spell Inventor enters the battlefield, draw a card. 1/1
Battlemagic ProfessorUURR Creature - Human Wizard
Hexproof, Haste
Wizard creatures you control have: "t: This creature deals 1 damage to target creature or player." 2/4
Wardmaster1UU Creature - Human Artificer Wizard
Hexproof
Fortifications and Lands you control have hexproof.
Walls and other wizards you control get +0/+2 and hexproof. 1/1
Arcane Dormitory Supervisor1UUG Creature - Elf Wizard
Hexproof, Flash
You may cast wizard creature spells as though they had Flash. 1/2
Flightspell InstructorU Creature - Human Wizard
Wizard creatures you control have flying. 1/1
Countermagic AdeptUU Creature - Human Wizard
Flash
When Countermagic Adept enters the battlefield, counter target spell unless it's controller pays 1 and exiles a card from their hand face down. A card exiled this way returns to their hand at the end of their next turn. 1/3
Counterspell MasterUUU Creature - Human Wizard
Flash
When Counterspell Master enters the battlefield, counter target spell. 1/4
Warmage InstructorWUR Creature - Human Wizard
Other wizard creatures you control get +1/+1. 2/4
Wildfire Sorcerer1UR Creature - Human Wizard
When Wildfire Sorcerer enters the battlefield, deal 2 damage to each other creature. 2/2
White Magus ProdigyWWU Creature - Human Wizard
White Magus Prodigy can't be the target of White spells you don't control or abilities from White sources you don't control.
Whenever a Plains enters the battlefield under your control or a White spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
Blue Magus Prodigy1UU Creature - Vedalken Wizard
Blue Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Blue spells you don't control or abilities from Blue sources you don't control.
Whenever an Island enters the battlefield under your control or a Blue spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
Black Magus ProdigyUBB Creature - Human Wizard
Black Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Black spells you don't control or abilities from Black sources you don't control
Whenever a Swamp enters the battlefield under your control or a Black spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
Red Magus ProdigyURR Creature - Human Wizard
Red Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Red spells you don't control or abilities from Red sources you don't control.
Whenever a Mountain enters the battlefield under your control or a Red spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
Green Magus ProdigyUGG Creature - Elf Wizard
Green Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Green spells you don't control or abilities from Green sources you don't control.
Whenever a Forest enters the battlefield under your control or a Green spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
All Schools MasterUUU Creature - Human Wizard
You may treat mana as if it were any color when casting wizard spells. 2/4
Baleful Polymorph Master1UU Creature - Human Wizard
Flash, Protection from Sheep
Whenever Balefull Polymorph Master or another wizard enters the battlefield under your control, target creature you don't control becomes a colorless sheep creature with base power and toughness 0/1 and no abilities until end of turn. 1/2
The idea was partly that it's a 2 CMC that exiles a non-basic land and lets them get a basic tapped in return, just not on the first or second turns. I stapled on the basic version of explore because it felt like the base card beyond that basically did nothing most of the time, and it felt flavorful. The colors I went with because the manipulation and ordering and rules restriction aspects of the card are very blue and/or white in nature, and I wanted the cost to be more difficult, to contrast with the basic favoring, but not super more difficult in a bant color deck, by using the hybrid. I suppose GG would also work, but it needs to still have the following to fit the concept:
2 cmc
~ can't be cast on your first and second turns.
Exile target non-basic land. It's controller may search their library for a basic land, reveal it, then put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle their library.
Other stuff is optional to justify playing it and the card in general.
I actually think that the original version is fine. Speaking from experience: "fizzling" with Explore in a 26 land deck is a real concern and is probably why Scapeshift doesn't run the card (I know they "only" run 24 or 25 lands). Putting in a basic land requirement makes it an extremely unreliable ramp spell for a 2-color card and also means that the Summer Bloom decks can't use it.
Genius ArtificerUU Creature - Human Artificer Wizard
Artifact spells cost 1 less to cast. 1/3
Genius RitualistUB Creature - Human Wizard
Sorcery spells cost 1 less to cast. 1/2
Genius BattlemageUR Creature - Human Wizard
Instant spells cost 1 less to cast. 2/1
Spell Inventor1U Creature - Human Wizard
When Spell Inventor enters the battlefield, draw a card. 1/1
Red Magus ProdigyURR Creature - Human Wizard
Red Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Red spells you don't control or abilities from Red sources you don't control.
Whenever a Mountain enters the battlefield under your control or a Red spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
All Schools MasterUUU Creature - Human Wizard
You may treat mana as if it were any color when casting wizard spells. 2/4
Also I really like the original version because you could run it in a Loam shell with 4x Ghost Quarters. If you play enough of these and sac enough GCs, GC has a real chance of turning into Strip Mine relatively fast while the ramp side of the card negates the tempo disadvantage of GC (+ you can ramp reliably with an active Loam). And who doesn't want Loam on the map?
Genius EnchanterWU Creature - Vedalken Wizard
Enchantment spells cost 1 less to cast. 1/2
Genius ArtificerUU Creature - Human Artificer Wizard
Artifact spells cost 1 less to cast. 1/3
Genius RitualistUB Creature - Human Wizard
Sorcery spells cost 1 less to cast. 1/2
Genius BattlemageUR Creature - Human Wizard
Instant spells cost 1 less to cast. 2/1
Genius SummonerUG Creature - Elf Wizard
Creature spells cost 1 less to cast. 1/2
All of these are fine I suppose. I get that they're all supposed to be blue but I would try to mix the colors up a bit more to balance them out. Do any enemy or allied color cycle.
Spell Inventor1U Creature - Human Wizard
When Spell Inventor enters the battlefield, draw a card. 1/1
Battlemagic ProfessorUURR Creature - Human Wizard
Hexproof, Haste
Wizard creatures you control have: "t: This creature deals 1 damage to target creature or player." 2/4
Not sure I like these guys but they look balanced at least. The second guy doesn't need hexproof.
Wardmaster1UU Creature - Human Artificer Wizard
Hexproof
Fortifications and Lands you control have hexproof.
Walls and other wizards you control get +0/+2 and hexproof. 1/1
I think this would be a great card if it didn't affect wizards. The flavor is spot on, the power level is just about right but then giving this effect to wizards puts it way over the top I think. Remove the wizard thing and you could afford to bump his toughness up as well. Maybe make it a 0/5 or 0/6.
Countermagic AdeptUU Creature - Human Wizard
Flash
When Countermagic Adept enters the battlefield, counter target spell unless it's controller pays 1 and exiles a card from their hand face down. A card exiled this way returns to their hand at the end of their next turn. 1/3
Too good. Make it a 1/2 and get rid of the exile thing, it's too complicated anyways.
Wildfire Sorcerer1UR Creature - Human Wizard
When Wildfire Sorcerer enters the battlefield, deal 2 damage to each other creature. 2/2
Too strong. Make it something where when it enters the battlefield you pay X and then it does X damage to all other creatures. As is this guy is way too strong.
White Magus ProdigyWWU Creature - Human Wizard
White Magus Prodigy can't be the target of White spells you don't control or abilities from White sources you don't control.
Whenever a Plains enters the battlefield under your control or a White spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
Blue Magus Prodigy1UU Creature - Vedalken Wizard
Blue Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Blue spells you don't control or abilities from Blue sources you don't control.
Whenever an Island enters the battlefield under your control or a Blue spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
Black Magus ProdigyUBB Creature - Human Wizard
Black Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Black spells you don't control or abilities from Black sources you don't control
Whenever a Swamp enters the battlefield under your control or a Black spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
Red Magus ProdigyURR Creature - Human Wizard
Red Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Red spells you don't control or abilities from Red sources you don't control.
Whenever a Mountain enters the battlefield under your control or a Red spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
Green Magus ProdigyUGG Creature - Elf Wizard
Green Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Green spells you don't control or abilities from Green sources you don't control.
Whenever a Forest enters the battlefield under your control or a Green spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
Nope. Narrow yes but neither of the listed effects on these guys is a blue effect. These are just an absolute no go. Huge color pie violations and seriously overpowered too.
Baleful Polymorph Master1UU Creature - Human Wizard
Flash, Protection from Sheep
Whenever Balefull Polymorph Master or another wizard enters the battlefield under your control, target creature you don't control becomes a colorless sheep creature with base power and toughness 0/1 and no abilities until end of turn. 1/2
This is the kind of guy who would get the Melek treatment. Nifty effect but so easily abused he'd be costed up to like 6 or 7 and given a "decent" sized body to make up for it.
All in all I think you use hexproof too much and give your creatures just a bit too much toughness. Hexproof is an uninteractive mechanic, when you also give those creatures substantial toughness you make them even less interactive since you're opponent can't combat them as effectively. You also need to work on costing things more accuarately. Too many things were undercosted, cheaper cards are always more powerful and adjusting the CMC is the easiest way to balance a card without changing it's flavor. I know it would be great if everything could just be aggressively costed but the reality is that most of these effects were undercosted by 1-3 mana. Some of the cards were a little unoriginal but there are some real gems there. Wardmaster looks amazingly done, Polymorph man looks fun as hell and Battlemage Professor appeals to my inner Johnny.
Unfortunately every try hard from Sacramento to Shanghai preaches from the top of their 27 lands + Mana Reflection that Tooth and Nail and Time Stretch are fine to play in the same turn but Armageddon is unfair.
Genius EnchanterWU Creature - Vedalken Wizard
Enchantment spells cost 1 less to cast. 1/2
Genius ArtificerUU Creature - Human Artificer Wizard
Artifact spells cost 1 less to cast. 1/3
Genius RitualistUB Creature - Human Wizard
Sorcery spells cost 1 less to cast. 1/2
Genius BattlemageUR Creature - Human Wizard
Instant spells cost 1 less to cast. 2/1
Genius SummonerUG Creature - Elf Wizard
Creature spells cost 1 less to cast. 1/2
All of these are fine I suppose. I get that they're all supposed to be blue but I would try to mix the colors up a bit more to balance them out. Do any enemy or allied color cycle.
Spell Inventor1U Creature - Human Wizard
When Spell Inventor enters the battlefield, draw a card. 1/1
Battlemagic ProfessorUURR Creature - Human Wizard
Hexproof, Haste
Wizard creatures you control have: "t: This creature deals 1 damage to target creature or player." 2/4
Not sure I like these guys but they look balanced at least. The second guy doesn't need hexproof.
Wardmaster1UU Creature - Human Artificer Wizard
Hexproof
Fortifications and Lands you control have hexproof.
Walls and other wizards you control get +0/+2 and hexproof. 1/1
I think this would be a great card if it didn't affect wizards. The flavor is spot on, the power level is just about right but then giving this effect to wizards puts it way over the top I think. Remove the wizard thing and you could afford to bump his toughness up as well. Maybe make it a 0/5 or 0/6.
Countermagic AdeptUU Creature - Human Wizard
Flash
When Countermagic Adept enters the battlefield, counter target spell unless it's controller pays 1 and exiles a card from their hand face down. A card exiled this way returns to their hand at the end of their next turn. 1/3
Too good. Make it a 1/2 and get rid of the exile thing, it's too complicated anyways.
Wildfire Sorcerer1UR Creature - Human Wizard
When Wildfire Sorcerer enters the battlefield, deal 2 damage to each other creature. 2/2
Too strong. Make it something where when it enters the battlefield you pay X and then it does X damage to all other creatures. As is this guy is way too strong.
White Magus ProdigyWWU Creature - Human Wizard
White Magus Prodigy can't be the target of White spells you don't control or abilities from White sources you don't control.
Whenever a Plains enters the battlefield under your control or a White spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
Blue Magus Prodigy1UU Creature - Vedalken Wizard
Blue Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Blue spells you don't control or abilities from Blue sources you don't control.
Whenever an Island enters the battlefield under your control or a Blue spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
Black Magus ProdigyUBB Creature - Human Wizard
Black Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Black spells you don't control or abilities from Black sources you don't control
Whenever a Swamp enters the battlefield under your control or a Black spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
Red Magus ProdigyURR Creature - Human Wizard
Red Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Red spells you don't control or abilities from Red sources you don't control.
Whenever a Mountain enters the battlefield under your control or a Red spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
Green Magus ProdigyUGG Creature - Elf Wizard
Green Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Green spells you don't control or abilities from Green sources you don't control.
Whenever a Forest enters the battlefield under your control or a Green spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life. 2/2
Nope. Narrow yes but neither of the listed effects on these guys is a blue effect. These are just an absolute no go. Huge color pie violations and seriously overpowered too.
Baleful Polymorph Master1UU Creature - Human Wizard
Flash, Protection from Sheep
Whenever Balefull Polymorph Master or another wizard enters the battlefield under your control, target creature you don't control becomes a colorless sheep creature with base power and toughness 0/1 and no abilities until end of turn. 1/2
This is the kind of guy who would get the Melek treatment. Nifty effect but so easily abused he'd be costed up to like 6 or 7 and given a "decent" sized body to make up for it.
All in all I think you use hexproof too much and give your creatures just a bit too much toughness. Hexproof is an uninteractive mechanic, when you also give those creatures substantial toughness you make them even less interactive since you're opponent can't combat them as effectively. You also need to work on costing things more accuarately. Too many things were undercosted, cheaper cards are always more powerful and adjusting the CMC is the easiest way to balance a card without changing it's flavor. I know it would be great if everything could just be aggressively costed but the reality is that most of these effects were undercosted by 1-3 mana. Some of the cards were a little unoriginal but there are some real gems there. Wardmaster looks amazingly done, Polymorph man looks fun as hell and Battlemage Professor appeals to my inner Johnny.
Clearly you don't understand how this topic works. Everything has to be uncounterable, hexproof, or cantrip.
On point though, I like the idea of wizard tribal but yea a lot of that is really really OP. This is like tribal but with no fragile periods like merfolk or slivers have. No weak links either due to hexproof. You pretty much HAVE to combo out against them, but being blue and having counterspells taped to wizards, I don't think that's realistic... Holy hell this with riptide laboratory would be broken as hell too.
ElectroshockUR
Instant
Electroshock deals 2 damage to target creature or player. Draw a card.
The effect is strictly worse than Electrolyze due to not having the split damage ability, so the 1 mana less is justified.
I would say this card is superior to Electrolyze. How many relevant X/1's are in the format? Bob? Tiago? Odds are you're not going to have two such targets on turn 2 anyways. Unless tokens or soul sisters become an actual thing.
Private Mod Note
():
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Things WotC cares about:
-making certain Standard cards can be played in Modern, therefore increasing their value and increasing WotC's profit margin
Things WotC does not care about:
-keeping the ban list as short as possible
-taking chances with an entire format for the benefit of a single card
-catering to play styles that newer players generally don't like and will lose them more players than it will gain
-keeping the meta balanced between archetypes/colors/whatever
-keeping cards on the secondary market cheap (available yes, but not cheap)
-keeping the meta diverse (as long as a single deck doesn't threaten the popularity of the format)
ElectroshockUR
Instant
Electroshock deals 2 damage to target creature or player. Draw a card.
The effect is strictly worse than Electrolyze due to not having the split damage ability, so the 1 mana less is justified.
I would say this card is superior to Electrolyze. How many relevant X/1's are in the format? Bob? Tiago? Odds are you're not going to have two such targets on turn 2 anyways. Unless tokens or soul sisters become an actual thing.
Even if there's only one x/1, then that's one damage to the creature and one damage to the player, which is 2 targets, which makes Electrolyze superior.
Playing death and taxes I have a fair amount of experience with land destruction. Turn 2 land destruction is degenerate. Turn 3 is completely hair and frequently doesn't even mess up their game plan as much as you'd assume. The mana cost doesn't matter as long as the destruction happens turn 3 earliest. MY complaint is that it should be RG since its iffy on the color pie.
Also as a note, putting 3 mana on the cost the way you did makes it completely unplayable. With fixed stats to a 1/1 and some color cost (or maybe a different ability all together?) it's fair. Everyone talks about how we need more ways to punish 3 color decks. Well this would be a perfectly playable option. Also it kinda bothers me that despite all the land destruction in dnt, red is by far the least playable splash. I'd love it to get some actual love.
It wouldn't be a part of the magus cycle then as the Magus' abilities are exactly the same as their lands and have exactly the same activation costs.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Creature - Elemental Weird
Multi-Elemental can't be countered.
Haste, Hexproof
If Multi-Elemental would be discarded or exiled from your hand due to a spell or ability you don't control, put it onto the battlefield instead with a -1/-1 counter on it.
3/4
Dread Troll UBG
Creature - Troll Zombie Wizard
Dread Troll's power is equal to the number of Zombies on the battlefield.
Dread Troll's toughness is equal to the number of Wizards on the battlefield.
Discard a card: Regenerate Dread Troll
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Elvish Elitist WBG
Creature - Elf Wizard Druid
Indestructible.
Whenever a non-elf creature enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on Elvish Elitist.
Whenever another elf creature with CMC 3 or more, or with the legendary type enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on Elvish Elitist.
At the start of your upkeep, if an opponent controls more elf creatures than you, sacrifice Elvish Elitist.
2/2
Impossible Idol WBR
Creature - Angel Demon
Flying, Vigilance
When Impossible Idol is cast from your hand, each player takes 2 damage.
Impossible Idol can be cast from exile or the graveyard for 3WBR.
3/4
Purifying Sylph WUR
Creature - Faerie Elemental
Flying, Vigilance, Protection from Enchantments
When Pure Sylph enters the battlefield, exile target non-creature non-land permanent or remove all counters from target player or other card.
Persist
1/6
Creature - Human Elemental
Flash
Creature spells with flash cost 1 less to cast.
2/1
Instant
Gain 6 life. Draw a card.
Can I have this please?
I probably would change the stats a little, but the overall concept is good.
Unfortunately not
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Creature - Cleric
Whenever Knight of Order deals combat damage to a player, exile up to two target cards from his or her graveyard.
2/1.
Compare to Dryad Militant
Simplify Terrain (W/U)G
Sorcery
Simplify Terrain can't be cast on your first or second turns.
Exile target non-basic land. It's controller may search their library for a basic land, reveal it, then put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle their library.
You may play an additional land this turn as long as it is a basic land.
Draw a card.
2
Legendary Artifact - Equipment
Indestructible
Equipped creature has shroud, intimidate and +X/+0, where X is equal to the number of lands you control less the number of lands controlled by the opponent with the most lands in play to a minimum of zero.
Equip 3
I think pure control decks would be able to use it quite well, while other decks won't want it. Not sure about the costing, might be too aggressive.
Shroud was chosen over hexproof to limit shenanigans.
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
I like the concept, but I find it funny that despite its name and purpose, it's a pretty complicated effect. It also doesn't make sense to me that it simplifies the terrain but requires a bizarre Bant hybrid mana to cast. Maybe something more like...
Simplify Terrain 1GG
Sorcery
Destroy target nonbasic land.
Each player may put a basic land from their hand onto the battlefield tapped.
I considered a GGG casting cost for flavor and balance reasons, but I think that's too restrictive and I don't think it's wholly necessary. This is basically a Stone Rain with an upside, but I can definitely see some decks running away with the tempo shift after this resolves.
I like the fixed one better. Land destruction alone typically costs three, and I really feel the cantrip is too much. The original one could be abused with leonin arbiter in GW DnT for a Cantripping ramp strip mine.
To be honest I don't like the idea of ramp on this effect. That's just TOO huge a gain. Yes we need more non-basic hate. But that doesn't mean just anything goes. So yea I think the fixed version is pushed but within acceptable bounds, just barely.
2 cmc
~ can't be cast on your first and second turns.
Exile target non-basic land. It's controller may search their library for a basic land, reveal it, then put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle their library.
Other stuff is optional to justify playing it and the card in general.
-making certain Standard cards can be played in Modern, therefore increasing their value and increasing WotC's profit margin
Things WotC does not care about:
-keeping the ban list as short as possible
-taking chances with an entire format for the benefit of a single card
-catering to play styles that newer players generally don't like and will lose them more players than it will gain
-keeping the meta balanced between archetypes/colors/whatever
-keeping cards on the secondary market cheap (available yes, but not cheap)
-keeping the meta diverse (as long as a single deck doesn't threaten the popularity of the format)
Goyfs already gets fed by fetches. Maybe delve gets some help, but I doubt it make much difference. Meanwhile, decks that play weird lands and Crucible - in other words, tier two decks - get screwed. That's like designing a card the massively hates on Storm Crow while mildly inconveniencing Delver. Frankly, we should be finding ways to make such decks more playable, not less playable.
-making certain Standard cards can be played in Modern, therefore increasing their value and increasing WotC's profit margin
Things WotC does not care about:
-keeping the ban list as short as possible
-taking chances with an entire format for the benefit of a single card
-catering to play styles that newer players generally don't like and will lose them more players than it will gain
-keeping the meta balanced between archetypes/colors/whatever
-keeping cards on the secondary market cheap (available yes, but not cheap)
-keeping the meta diverse (as long as a single deck doesn't threaten the popularity of the format)
Legendary Creature - Bird
T: Scry 3
UW, Return ~ to your hand: Draw a card.
1/2
Good enough for modern? Maybe enable miracles?
Creature - Vedalken Wizard
Enchantment spells cost 1 less to cast.
1/2
Genius Artificer UU
Creature - Human Artificer Wizard
Artifact spells cost 1 less to cast.
1/3
Genius Ritualist UB
Creature - Human Wizard
Sorcery spells cost 1 less to cast.
1/2
Genius Battlemage UR
Creature - Human Wizard
Instant spells cost 1 less to cast.
2/1
Genius Summoner UG
Creature - Elf Wizard
Creature spells cost 1 less to cast.
1/2
Master Wizard 1UU
Creature - Human Wizard
Hexproof
Wizard spells cost U less to cast. This effect reduces only the amount of colored mana you pay.
1/4
Spell Inventor 1U
Creature - Human Wizard
When Spell Inventor enters the battlefield, draw a card.
1/1
Battlemagic Professor UURR
Creature - Human Wizard
Hexproof, Haste
Wizard creatures you control have: "t: This creature deals 1 damage to target creature or player."
2/4
Wardmaster 1UU
Creature - Human Artificer Wizard
Hexproof
Fortifications and Lands you control have hexproof.
Walls and other wizards you control get +0/+2 and hexproof.
1/1
Arcane Dormitory Supervisor 1UUG
Creature - Elf Wizard
Hexproof, Flash
You may cast wizard creature spells as though they had Flash.
1/2
Flightspell Instructor U
Creature - Human Wizard
Wizard creatures you control have flying.
1/1
Countermagic Adept UU
Creature - Human Wizard
Flash
When Countermagic Adept enters the battlefield, counter target spell unless it's controller pays 1 and exiles a card from their hand face down. A card exiled this way returns to their hand at the end of their next turn.
1/3
Counterspell Master UUU
Creature - Human Wizard
Flash
When Counterspell Master enters the battlefield, counter target spell.
1/4
Warmage Instructor WUR
Creature - Human Wizard
Other wizard creatures you control get +1/+1.
2/4
Wildfire Sorcerer 1UR
Creature - Human Wizard
When Wildfire Sorcerer enters the battlefield, deal 2 damage to each other creature.
2/2
White Magus Prodigy WWU
Creature - Human Wizard
White Magus Prodigy can't be the target of White spells you don't control or abilities from White sources you don't control.
Whenever a Plains enters the battlefield under your control or a White spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life.
2/2
Blue Magus Prodigy 1UU
Creature - Vedalken Wizard
Blue Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Blue spells you don't control or abilities from Blue sources you don't control.
Whenever an Island enters the battlefield under your control or a Blue spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life.
2/2
Black Magus Prodigy UBB
Creature - Human Wizard
Black Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Black spells you don't control or abilities from Black sources you don't control
Whenever a Swamp enters the battlefield under your control or a Black spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life.
2/2
Red Magus Prodigy URR
Creature - Human Wizard
Red Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Red spells you don't control or abilities from Red sources you don't control.
Whenever a Mountain enters the battlefield under your control or a Red spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life.
2/2
Green Magus Prodigy UGG
Creature - Elf Wizard
Green Magus Prodigy can't be the target of Green spells you don't control or abilities from Green sources you don't control.
Whenever a Forest enters the battlefield under your control or a Green spell is cast by any player, gain 1 life.
2/2
All Schools Master UUU
Creature - Human Wizard
You may treat mana as if it were any color when casting wizard spells.
2/4
Baleful Polymorph Master 1UU
Creature - Human Wizard
Flash, Protection from Sheep
Whenever Balefull Polymorph Master or another wizard enters the battlefield under your control, target creature you don't control becomes a colorless sheep creature with base power and toughness 0/1 and no abilities until end of turn.
1/2
Spreading Seas already exists and all though it can't be abused with Leonin Arbiter and Aven Mindcensor it doesn't see any play outside of Merfolk (for different reasons).
I actually think that the original version is fine. Speaking from experience: "fizzling" with Explore in a 26 land deck is a real concern and is probably why Scapeshift doesn't run the card (I know they "only" run 24 or 25 lands). Putting in a basic land requirement makes it an extremely unreliable ramp spell for a 2-color card and also means that the Summer Bloom decks can't use it.
Etherium Sculptor, Half of Goblin Electromancer, Other half of Goblin Electromancer, Colorshifted Elvish Visionary, and Kor Firewalker with color-pie-breaking.
All of these are fine I suppose. I get that they're all supposed to be blue but I would try to mix the colors up a bit more to balance them out. Do any enemy or allied color cycle.
I think it's a little too good at 1/4 with hexproof. Maybe make it a 1/3 or drop it down to UU and make it a 1/2.
Not sure I like these guys but they look balanced at least. The second guy doesn't need hexproof.
I think this would be a great card if it didn't affect wizards. The flavor is spot on, the power level is just about right but then giving this effect to wizards puts it way over the top I think. Remove the wizard thing and you could afford to bump his toughness up as well. Maybe make it a 0/5 or 0/6.
Scrap the hexproof and take the cmc down a bit. The name is weird too but that's whatevs.
I think this is just a little too good at 1. Nifty card though, I like it.
Too good. Make it a 1/2 and get rid of the exile thing, it's too complicated anyways.
Not at 3, not even in triple blue. Should cost 2UU, even then it's still very strong imo.
Probably the only card here that doesn't need anything changed.
Too strong. Make it something where when it enters the battlefield you pay X and then it does X damage to all other creatures. As is this guy is way too strong.
Nope. Narrow yes but neither of the listed effects on these guys is a blue effect. These are just an absolute no go. Huge color pie violations and seriously overpowered too.
Should be a 2/3 I think.
This is the kind of guy who would get the Melek treatment. Nifty effect but so easily abused he'd be costed up to like 6 or 7 and given a "decent" sized body to make up for it.
All in all I think you use hexproof too much and give your creatures just a bit too much toughness. Hexproof is an uninteractive mechanic, when you also give those creatures substantial toughness you make them even less interactive since you're opponent can't combat them as effectively. You also need to work on costing things more accuarately. Too many things were undercosted, cheaper cards are always more powerful and adjusting the CMC is the easiest way to balance a card without changing it's flavor. I know it would be great if everything could just be aggressively costed but the reality is that most of these effects were undercosted by 1-3 mana. Some of the cards were a little unoriginal but there are some real gems there. Wardmaster looks amazingly done, Polymorph man looks fun as hell and Battlemage Professor appeals to my inner Johnny.
Clearly you don't understand how this topic works. Everything has to be uncounterable, hexproof, or cantrip.
On point though, I like the idea of wizard tribal but yea a lot of that is really really OP. This is like tribal but with no fragile periods like merfolk or slivers have. No weak links either due to hexproof. You pretty much HAVE to combo out against them, but being blue and having counterspells taped to wizards, I don't think that's realistic... Holy hell this with riptide laboratory would be broken as hell too.
Instant
Electroshock deals 2 damage to target creature or player. Draw a card.
The effect is strictly worse than Electrolyze due to not having the split damage ability, so the 1 mana less is justified.
I would say this card is superior to Electrolyze. How many relevant X/1's are in the format? Bob? Tiago? Odds are you're not going to have two such targets on turn 2 anyways. Unless tokens or soul sisters become an actual thing.
-making certain Standard cards can be played in Modern, therefore increasing their value and increasing WotC's profit margin
Things WotC does not care about:
-keeping the ban list as short as possible
-taking chances with an entire format for the benefit of a single card
-catering to play styles that newer players generally don't like and will lose them more players than it will gain
-keeping the meta balanced between archetypes/colors/whatever
-keeping cards on the secondary market cheap (available yes, but not cheap)
-keeping the meta diverse (as long as a single deck doesn't threaten the popularity of the format)