To be fair, you should probably have said something about your cards being balanced against power and not current cards when you first posted them so that people reviewing them have an objective baseline for comparison.
To be fair, you should probably have said something about your cards being balanced against power and not current cards when you first posted them so that people reviewing them have an objective baseline for comparison.
You have a point, I just was thinking that cube is a powered environment. But yeah, everyone should mention the power level they are aiming at in their initial post to avoid confusion.
It's fun to aim a little higher than current level, modern day, Magic.
Thanks Windreave, whydirt, Fogg and DerBK, I'll look at how I can tweek some of the stuff you all mentioned A lot of the stuff from the green critiques aren't incorporated yet, but I thought it'd be nice to post the updated sections from the comments you've given. With all the colored sections into the rough draft area, archetypes should be more noticeable and maybe you can point out some broken interactions that I missed lol. Again, thanks to everyone that's helped so far, its been invaluable
Great job, lot's of awesome cards. I'm gonna be stealing alot of these for my custom cube. I'll give you credit of course.
Not sure if anyone's still working on these, but I've (finally) got a rough draft of multicolor. I tried to a good mix of utility spells and archetype support, but I'm positive there is plenty of room for tweaking based on feedback and eventual game play.
As always, feedback is very appreciated!
Hey, I've noticed this thread has been pretty inactive. I've been working on my cube for maybe the last year (or so) and have 390 cards made, with many more that I came up with or took from the Print this Wizards thread (and here). Any ideas how I can post the card images from my cube without clogging the thread too much?
Also, NathanZimmerer, that Phyrexian Well might be excessively strong, but only playing it will see. The Custom Cube by Ali Aintrazi and Justin Parnell had a similar card in green, but that took 2 mana and one mana to use each time it sacrificed a creature. Maybe the well should have to pay B or 1 every time you use it. Rhox Purifier is a awesome card (I put it in my cube too). The Goblin Charge-Caller feels weird without haste considering it gives it, but would be too powerful as a 2 power haste guy. The others seem fine.
Interested to see what u come up with! Ya, I go through phases of inspiration, so often itll be months before I get back into it hardcore. Anyways, I used paint and exported each individual card into a massive collage, then loaded it onto photobucket and linked to there from here. A little bit of a pain, but yeah..
I wish they would let you upload pdfs here...I'd be able to upload my whole cube easily. Sadly they don't. I'm just going to post most of my red section and let you critique it, then go section by section that way, or photobucket once I get a bit more time.
@ Windreave: Thanks for the critiques man Took to heart most of your suggestions, some I'm waiting till I actually play with the cards to make the change though to see if they are actually bad/op.
Closing in on the finish line, finally.
As always, comments appreciated
Hey Whydirt, I'll critique these when I get a chance over the next couple days, getting ready to fly to the states for vacation
Only a partial review Typhon, but hopefully it helps a bit
Firefury: Ability shouldn't be keyworded for two reasons. The first is that it just doesn't read right, and the second is that its unnecessary. You have 2-3 cards that utilize a variation of it, so it would be easier to grok if it was just a trigger without the keyword. Gnoll Bloodkarn- This card is just bad. I don't want to swing in with my first turn haster and have it or my land die bc of luck. These are the kind of cards that get excluded from cubes all the time. If people wanted an effect like this, every cube would be playing Rogue Elephant. Flame Lash: The wording is off. It should be "Flame Lash deals 2 damage to target creature. If that creature dies this turn, Flame Lash deals 1 damage to its controller." I know it changes the functionality a bit, but it reads better and does what the player expects, which is important when your bombarding them with an entire set of new cards. Gnoll Bloodmage: This card may be too good, I'd keep an eye on it when you're playtesting. Helix of Plasma: Could probably be an Instant. Hellmaw: Too powerful for the cost and the effect is hard to use. If the opponent has a ton of permanents, it turns into a nightmare trying to figure out which one is the picked card. Intuitive Tinkerer: I'm not sure why this searches artifact and sorcery instead of instant and sorcery. Again, you need to design to player's expectations. You have a ton of other cards that reference instant and sorceries, so it's very possible people misread this or think its a misprint. Apostle of Magma: The first ability seems unnecessary. I think more interesting decisions are made when it doesn't kill itself, forcing players to figure out whether blocking or taking damage is the right call. Those decisions are what make games fun and allow the better players to win Tartur Thief: Card's waaaay to complicated for seemingly no gain. I had to read it like 3 times, which is normally a bad sign. I'd just totally redesign this card. Torched Earth: Should deal damage instead of cause players to lose life. The former is red's pie, the latter is black's. Reckless Tactics: So this is the build around card for the sacrifice permanent deck. I think it needs to be much more impactful, since you don't have a ton of a permanents to sacrifice. This should cost 1R and deal 2 damage just to players. Static Shock: An upgraded Arc Lightning? Hmm, I don't think this would fly. Try 2RR on the powerhouse end, and 4R on the average end, based off playtesting. Lightning Arc: Sweet god is this too good. Not only is one MODE better than a card that's already widely cubed, but it has an alternate mode that gives it added versatility. I'd change the overload to RRR or 2RR. EDIT: I see now that this would actually just be a Pyroclasm if you overloaded. Sorry, used to the original versions all not targeting your stuff. Still, I think the overload needs to be RR to avoid it just strictly outclassing an already very good card.
Overall thoughts: There's some cool cards in here for sure, but I think the design is a bit too heavy handed in some areas. I think the payoff for the sacrifice theme isn't enough, on the cards themselves and on the 1 card you have that rewards it. Sacrificing permanents is a rough requirement, let alone having it on a large amount of cards. I think this can be toned down to 5ish powerful repeatable effects and be an archetype without having to make it a requirement all over your cards. The other thing I saw was that you have a ton of mass damage based removal. The problem with this is that it negatively impacts aggro deck's ability to "get there" when there is too much of this effect, it makes for a bad environment. I'd look at standard cubes and see what their numbers look like, then adjust accordingly.
Thanks for the feedback! That was really helpful. As for the cards themselves:
Firefury: I just looked through my cube and have a lot less of that mechanic than I originally did, so I'm going to cut it. I had around 25 to 30 cards of 405 with ____shift, but now have around 10 total, so I am just going to scrap it.
Gnoll Bloodkarn: Yep, that makes sense. Didn't think about Rogue Elephant. Would making the trigger deal 2 or 3 damage to its controller on a bad flip be overpowered considering red doesn't care as much about its life total? I would probably change it to " Whenever Gnoll Bloodkarn attacks, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, it deals 2 damage to you."
Flame Lash: Thanks, proofreading 405 cards, plus the other 100 or so that I have as possible inclusions is tough.
Gnoll Bloodmage: For sure. It is supposed to be red's dark confidant, but it might be too good for sure with the abundance of burn in my cube right now.
Intuitive Tinkerer: I actually took this card straight from quitequiter's cube because it looked interesting. The change makes more sense with my cube though so I will do that.
Apostle of Magma: That makes sense, plus makes this guy nice for the sacrifice red black deck I was setting up as an archetype. Would making him a 3/1 make it overall more interesting, or do you think a 3/2 haste with upside is too good for 3 mana? I think that might be a bit too much.
Tartur Thief: I'm actually changing the manipulate mechanic probably to be something that triggers every turn, with smaller mana costs, and weaker abilities, or keep it kind of the way it is. This guy should probably just be the looting ability then on it entering the battlefield with no manipulate then.
Reckless Tactics: Done.
Static Shocks: Going to try at 5 just to see how it works, then buff it if it seems like red needs it to be.
Lightning Arc: I actually typed that one out wrong. It should be overload 2R, not 1R. That makes it a decent shock at sorcery speed, or a pyroclasm. Good flexibility for control decks, and decent burn for aggro to clear the way for creatures.
I've got a few good effects for sacrificing in other colors too (mainly black), and I'll upload the rest of my cube to imgur tonight so you guys can critique it. It really needs the fine tuning. The power level should be around modern level to legacy on the cards, with most at the modern level though.
If I want to post some of my ideas one day can I use this board?
Cube talk, design community and much much more!
You have a point, I just was thinking that cube is a powered environment. But yeah, everyone should mention the power level they are aiming at in their initial post to avoid confusion.
It's fun to aim a little higher than current level, modern day, Magic.
Great job, lot's of awesome cards. I'm gonna be stealing alot of these for my custom cube. I'll give you credit of course.
As always, feedback is very appreciated!
(CubeTutor & MTGS)
360 Peasant Cube!
Custom Cube
RWU Miracles RWU
What would a skeleton list for a 500 cube look like? Here is a start, could use some support to keep the curve solid.
Creatures
W x10
WW x3
1W x
Noncreatures
U (64)
B (64)
R (64)
G (64)
Colorless (80)
Multicolor (100)
For each of the 10 guilds:
3x Gold
2x Hybrid
5x Lands (Shock, Fetch, Manland, and two more)
Also included some of my own creations and fixes on other creations. I'm trying to perfect my designs for this 500 I'm making.
Also, NathanZimmerer, that Phyrexian Well might be excessively strong, but only playing it will see. The Custom Cube by Ali Aintrazi and Justin Parnell had a similar card in green, but that took 2 mana and one mana to use each time it sacrificed a creature. Maybe the well should have to pay B or 1 every time you use it. Rhox Purifier is a awesome card (I put it in my cube too). The Goblin Charge-Caller feels weird without haste considering it gives it, but would be too powerful as a 2 power haste guy. The others seem fine.
(CubeTutor & MTGS)
360 Peasant Cube!
Custom Cube
RWU Miracles RWU
Draft my counters themed cube!
http://imgur.com/a/kVoFb
Take Root looks familiar
I like how many custom cards here see print.
Firefury: Ability shouldn't be keyworded for two reasons. The first is that it just doesn't read right, and the second is that its unnecessary. You have 2-3 cards that utilize a variation of it, so it would be easier to grok if it was just a trigger without the keyword.
Gnoll Bloodkarn- This card is just bad. I don't want to swing in with my first turn haster and have it or my land die bc of luck. These are the kind of cards that get excluded from cubes all the time. If people wanted an effect like this, every cube would be playing Rogue Elephant.
Flame Lash: The wording is off. It should be "Flame Lash deals 2 damage to target creature. If that creature dies this turn, Flame Lash deals 1 damage to its controller." I know it changes the functionality a bit, but it reads better and does what the player expects, which is important when your bombarding them with an entire set of new cards.
Gnoll Bloodmage: This card may be too good, I'd keep an eye on it when you're playtesting.
Helix of Plasma: Could probably be an Instant.
Hellmaw: Too powerful for the cost and the effect is hard to use. If the opponent has a ton of permanents, it turns into a nightmare trying to figure out which one is the picked card.
Intuitive Tinkerer: I'm not sure why this searches artifact and sorcery instead of instant and sorcery. Again, you need to design to player's expectations. You have a ton of other cards that reference instant and sorceries, so it's very possible people misread this or think its a misprint.
Apostle of Magma: The first ability seems unnecessary. I think more interesting decisions are made when it doesn't kill itself, forcing players to figure out whether blocking or taking damage is the right call. Those decisions are what make games fun and allow the better players to win
Tartur Thief: Card's waaaay to complicated for seemingly no gain. I had to read it like 3 times, which is normally a bad sign. I'd just totally redesign this card.
Torched Earth: Should deal damage instead of cause players to lose life. The former is red's pie, the latter is black's.
Reckless Tactics: So this is the build around card for the sacrifice permanent deck. I think it needs to be much more impactful, since you don't have a ton of a permanents to sacrifice. This should cost 1R and deal 2 damage just to players.
Static Shock: An upgraded Arc Lightning? Hmm, I don't think this would fly. Try 2RR on the powerhouse end, and 4R on the average end, based off playtesting.
Lightning Arc: Sweet god is this too good. Not only is one MODE better than a card that's already widely cubed, but it has an alternate mode that gives it added versatility. I'd change the overload to RRR or 2RR. EDIT: I see now that this would actually just be a Pyroclasm if you overloaded. Sorry, used to the original versions all not targeting your stuff. Still, I think the overload needs to be RR to avoid it just strictly outclassing an already very good card.
Overall thoughts: There's some cool cards in here for sure, but I think the design is a bit too heavy handed in some areas. I think the payoff for the sacrifice theme isn't enough, on the cards themselves and on the 1 card you have that rewards it. Sacrificing permanents is a rough requirement, let alone having it on a large amount of cards. I think this can be toned down to 5ish powerful repeatable effects and be an archetype without having to make it a requirement all over your cards. The other thing I saw was that you have a ton of mass damage based removal. The problem with this is that it negatively impacts aggro deck's ability to "get there" when there is too much of this effect, it makes for a bad environment. I'd look at standard cubes and see what their numbers look like, then adjust accordingly.
I hope this was helpful, cheers!
(CubeTutor & MTGS)
360 Peasant Cube!
Custom Cube
RWU Miracles RWU
Firefury: I just looked through my cube and have a lot less of that mechanic than I originally did, so I'm going to cut it. I had around 25 to 30 cards of 405 with ____shift, but now have around 10 total, so I am just going to scrap it.
Gnoll Bloodkarn: Yep, that makes sense. Didn't think about Rogue Elephant. Would making the trigger deal 2 or 3 damage to its controller on a bad flip be overpowered considering red doesn't care as much about its life total? I would probably change it to " Whenever Gnoll Bloodkarn attacks, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, it deals 2 damage to you."
Flame Lash: Thanks, proofreading 405 cards, plus the other 100 or so that I have as possible inclusions is tough.
Gnoll Bloodmage: For sure. It is supposed to be red's dark confidant, but it might be too good for sure with the abundance of burn in my cube right now.
Intuitive Tinkerer: I actually took this card straight from quitequiter's cube because it looked interesting. The change makes more sense with my cube though so I will do that.
Apostle of Magma: That makes sense, plus makes this guy nice for the sacrifice red black deck I was setting up as an archetype. Would making him a 3/1 make it overall more interesting, or do you think a 3/2 haste with upside is too good for 3 mana? I think that might be a bit too much.
Tartur Thief: I'm actually changing the manipulate mechanic probably to be something that triggers every turn, with smaller mana costs, and weaker abilities, or keep it kind of the way it is. This guy should probably just be the looting ability then on it entering the battlefield with no manipulate then.
Reckless Tactics: Done.
Static Shocks: Going to try at 5 just to see how it works, then buff it if it seems like red needs it to be.
Lightning Arc: I actually typed that one out wrong. It should be overload 2R, not 1R. That makes it a decent shock at sorcery speed, or a pyroclasm. Good flexibility for control decks, and decent burn for aggro to clear the way for creatures.
I've got a few good effects for sacrificing in other colors too (mainly black), and I'll upload the rest of my cube to imgur tonight so you guys can critique it. It really needs the fine tuning. The power level should be around modern level to legacy on the cards, with most at the modern level though.
Edit:
Ok, I uploaded the images here:
http://****thiscarp.imgur.com/
And I will keep updating this tonight until I put up all of my cube (maybe done in about 6 hours b/c I am leaving to watch a movie).)