My team is developing a digital collectible card game and are looking for some help with card illustrations. I'd love to find a few guys who have wished that they could paint for MTG or even design icons, borders, etc.
The goal is to get a working, beautiful prototype so we can approach investors in order to properly fund the project.
If you would be interested in working with us, please contact me.
I don't recall how the polls work in the forums so I could not being to offer how to best do it, but if possible, having the community vote in terms of 1 star to 5 stars is most likely the simplest and straight forward.
But it would be best to get a large sample demographic, so if we cold get more than 25 people to vote on three different products. I don't know if its possible to run this like an article or if that is considered advertising. I get the sense that management is trying to avoid advertising.
Just to piggy-back on the above statement, let me quote the gospel of dictionary.com:
Miracle - N
an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.
Meaning, that because they chose to call this mechanic Miracle, it damn well better be a house of an effect. Miracle shouldn't be like:
This is spot on the money. Miracle is high risk/high reward. That's the way a card should be if it's going to have the potential to be this powerful. But make no mistake about it, you can draw one of these when you really don't want to.
It's hard to say that about very many cards in this game on this level.
I disagree! Once you get to around turn three, and assuming that your deck is designed for Miracles (rather than a deck with Miracles jammed in it), then every single draw has the potential to be a backbreaker. I have been very active in my thoughts on Miracles (which you can find here) and what I believe is that you don't want to waste time drawing tons of cards a turn. You want to maximize your decks potential by drawing a single card on your turn and a single card on your opponent's turn. If you do more, you just end up jacking yourself up. It really would suck to draw an Entreat on your opponent's turn with your third card draw when you need a bounce now. Yup! But that was not the deck malfunctioning, that is player error.
When used in conjunction with land fetch, you can get crummy stuff out of the way early and get the borderline broken miracle prices often.
When is it high risk when you can miracle every 5th or better draw? 5 draws is 2.5 turns. Between Temporal Devastation and Termonous, you have a ton of creature removal and if they are miracled on your opponent's turn, they basically have the same effect as Mastery. I would wager that if you could play 12 copies of Time Walk legally, you'd do it Just speculating on that.
Ok, finally had a moment to sit and try to put something together.
First thing that I tried was swapping out Scour for Ravings. AWFUL! Too many times I ended up randomly discarding an important card. Hurt so much that I was scared to flash it back
Next, I ended up maindecking Gisela because its just too good. Nearly everytime I set the card down I won.
Have three angels in play, set Gisela down and attack for game.
Play Gisela, next turn attack for 10, Temporal Mastery for the win.
Have Gisela in play, Miracle Bonfire for the win.
Next, I had to find a card that would replace Scour/Ravings. Upon inspection, I came across Crippling Chill. The card basically locks down a creature for two turns plus forces a draw. What I noted was that Mana Leak and Feeling of Dread cruise me into T4, and the opponent's forth, as we know is usually the backbreaker. Once we get into their turn, Chill a nasty man, and hope to draw a Terminous. I then noted that there were MANY times in which I couldn't play anything to make draw early because I couldn't afford the Miracle costs. So I needed another inexpensive Miracle to add. Because of those two points AND a point which I made above (every card that is not a win condition needs to be a Time Walk), I found that Vanishment satisfied all of the above criteria and is actually exceedingly good if you give it a try.
It is, simply put, a bounce Remand. Off of an early draw it stumbles opposing tempo. Off of a Chill it renders the attack phase stiffled for two turns (three if you happen to Miracle a Mastery in there). Even late game, when spot removal is critical, it not only bounces the problem, but it pushes their solution down an additional turn.
Before I reveal my decklist, please note that I only playtested it twice against a Boros Token deck before I ran out of time. So take that with a grain of salt. Once you get things rolling, its just a countdown until Bonfire is revealed. Its an awesome feeling
Manx, the main thing that you need to do is be sure that when you draw a pump spell, that you will have a target on the board. With so few creatures, every piece of removal that your opponent has will be very hurtful to you because you now have to wait to draw into another, rather than have a handful of threats.
I would almost recommend flipping the pump and creature counts. Additionally, you need to ensure that your guys are going to get through, so evaluate your evasion levels. If your guys are getting blocked, then your pump spell is basically wasted.
At no point during the games which Hayne was not completely mana hosed did he need to rush his land drops. As a matter of fact, in each game that he lost, when they revealed his hand, the man had 3+ lands chilling, saying, "Boy, I bet you wish I was a Disspipate."
Because we set up our decks to draw a land every 3ish cards, I don't believe that the above statements have validity. If the player is drawing a single card every player turn, then I will get more than enough land in a hypothetical situation. Obviously, we live in a world where mana screw runs rampant. However, once more, Miracle cards are typically sub-optimal when being hard cast. Terminous is a Day for 6. Temporal Mastery is a Time Walk for 7. Devastating Tide is a watered down Upheaval for 5 (ignore that one :P). Entreat the Angels is ok hard cast, but backbreaking from the top.
All of that is evidence you don't want/need/shouldn't be drawing a ton of cards a turn. You need a single draw to optimize your odds of Miracling a back breaker.
To follow-up on a second thought from above. I do agree about the problem with drawing a land at critical moment. I would think, then, that Evolving Wilds and any other card while strips the deck of lands should be evaluated. I had not considered it, but perhaps a splash of Green for that may be in order. What do you think about that?
I have been thinking about this deck ever since I watched the T8 Pro Tour matches the other day. My observation of the matches, and most particular is that the deck WANTED to function strikingly similar to old school Wake, prior to the Wish changes (ie, when you would Wish for a Wish in your side :P)
I capitalize WANTED because it seemed to me that on several occasions, Hayne rushed the deck. I believe that this is a really good deck, his results could have been better believe it or not. Feeling of Dread functions exactly as Moment's Peace and Think Twice/Thought Scour tandom to mimic Compulsion.
What I mean by rushing the deck is that there were many many occasions where Hayne was playing Thought Scour and Think Twice on his turn and several times on his opponent's turn, as if he were desperately looking for a solution, when in reality, the solutions were already in hand and in the yard. Literally, that match should have been 3-0 Hayne because the mana flood got him in G2 and him not allowing the deck to progress at its own pace gave away G4. No disrespect to Hayne intended here. I admire his bravery to try the deck and his skill in playing the deck. I just think that he should not have tried to play the deck like a normal control deck, ie "AEOT, I will draw as many cards as I can."
Truth of the matter is that the deck functions optimally when you draw exactly one card a turn, no matter whose turn it is. Additionally, the deck performed even better when he sided in Snapcaster Mage, which also optimized Thought Scour.
I do believe that the deck wants to include Red in the form of Bonfire of the Damned. I also think that there is a place for Thunderous Wrath in the deck as well (but maybe a 2 of).
Here is the thing. If I am right, and this deck is simply Wake 2.0, then every card that is not your win condition or contributes to your win is a Time Walk effect. For example, Moment's Peace, Renewed Faith, Wrath of God, etc. Each of these cards make your opponent's TURN irrelevant, making the card you played essentially Time Walk. If that is true, then the same is true here. Feeling of Dread, Terminous, Devastating Tide and Bonfire of the Damn all make your opponent's current turn irrelevant if Miracled.
The four ofs should be:
Terminous
Devastating Tide
Bonfire of the Damned
Temporal Mastery
Feeling of Dread
Think Twice
Thought Scour
I also wonder if maybe Thought Scour is not the proper card, but instead Faithless Looting or Desperate Ravings. Without testing, my gut says Ravings, as it allows us to use Red a little more and flashback is using Blue, which we have (I know that's not a good reason, but the synergy is cool :P).
The main thing that I kept thinking was that Hayne only had 1 win condition in the deck. He was fine under a situation where no one was prepared for his deck and in a more limited format. However, because Miracle just won a major championship and we are in the Standard format thread, we do not have the luxury of being a big surprise. Therefore it is my opinion that we MUST include Bonfire as an auxiliary win condition. Under a Miracle situation, its not out of the realm of possibility to Wrath your opponent and bash him for 10 with one card + a draw engine.
I also think that we should consider the same sideboard tech that Wake utilized. It ran 3-4 Exalted Angels in its side and dared you to remove your removal for game 2. My recommendation is Gisela, Blade of Goldnight. Imagine the delight of playing it, then the following turn you Miracle a Bonfire for 10. How sweet would that be?
My advice is to increase the number of creatures. The ones you are using (minus Delver) are bad when attacking and considering that the deck has as many creatures as most decks has removal, most of the time the pilot will sit there with growth spells and nothing to target. You currently have 12 creatures and 21 pumps... *worried...*
I sorta think that the deck wants to be a little lighter on Miracles and focus more on control. I agree that most of the time drawing a Miracle is going to be a little out of place. I guess what I am saying is that the deck still needs traditional UWR removal choices to be competitive, then be cute and roguish with the Miracles.
Also, I think that Merfolk Looter is really good here. The flashback on Think Twice and Desperate Ravings lend to a good deal of opponent turn card draw.
My team is developing a digital collectible card game and are looking for some help with card illustrations. I'd love to find a few guys who have wished that they could paint for MTG or even design icons, borders, etc.
The goal is to get a working, beautiful prototype so we can approach investors in order to properly fund the project.
If you would be interested in working with us, please contact me.
Thanks for your time.
But it would be best to get a large sample demographic, so if we cold get more than 25 people to vote on three different products. I don't know if its possible to run this like an article or if that is considered advertising. I get the sense that management is trying to avoid advertising.
Miracle - N
an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.
Meaning, that because they chose to call this mechanic Miracle, it damn well better be a house of an effect. Miracle shouldn't be like:
R4: Destroy Target Land.
Oh wait, that's our normal card power
I disagree! Once you get to around turn three, and assuming that your deck is designed for Miracles (rather than a deck with Miracles jammed in it), then every single draw has the potential to be a backbreaker. I have been very active in my thoughts on Miracles (which you can find here) and what I believe is that you don't want to waste time drawing tons of cards a turn. You want to maximize your decks potential by drawing a single card on your turn and a single card on your opponent's turn. If you do more, you just end up jacking yourself up. It really would suck to draw an Entreat on your opponent's turn with your third card draw when you need a bounce now. Yup! But that was not the deck malfunctioning, that is player error.
When used in conjunction with land fetch, you can get crummy stuff out of the way early and get the borderline broken miracle prices often.
When is it high risk when you can miracle every 5th or better draw? 5 draws is 2.5 turns. Between Temporal Devastation and Termonous, you have a ton of creature removal and if they are miracled on your opponent's turn, they basically have the same effect as Mastery. I would wager that if you could play 12 copies of Time Walk legally, you'd do it
First thing that I tried was swapping out Scour for Ravings. AWFUL! Too many times I ended up randomly discarding an important card. Hurt so much that I was scared to flash it back
Next, I ended up maindecking Gisela because its just too good. Nearly everytime I set the card down I won.
Have three angels in play, set Gisela down and attack for game.
Play Gisela, next turn attack for 10, Temporal Mastery for the win.
Have Gisela in play, Miracle Bonfire for the win.
Next, I had to find a card that would replace Scour/Ravings. Upon inspection, I came across Crippling Chill. The card basically locks down a creature for two turns plus forces a draw. What I noted was that Mana Leak and Feeling of Dread cruise me into T4, and the opponent's forth, as we know is usually the backbreaker. Once we get into their turn, Chill a nasty man, and hope to draw a Terminous. I then noted that there were MANY times in which I couldn't play anything to make draw early because I couldn't afford the Miracle costs. So I needed another inexpensive Miracle to add. Because of those two points AND a point which I made above (every card that is not a win condition needs to be a Time Walk), I found that Vanishment satisfied all of the above criteria and is actually exceedingly good if you give it a try.
It is, simply put, a bounce Remand. Off of an early draw it stumbles opposing tempo. Off of a Chill it renders the attack phase stiffled for two turns (three if you happen to Miracle a Mastery in there). Even late game, when spot removal is critical, it not only bounces the problem, but it pushes their solution down an additional turn.
Before I reveal my decklist, please note that I only playtested it twice against a Boros Token deck before I ran out of time. So take that with a grain of salt. Once you get things rolling, its just a countdown until Bonfire is revealed. Its an awesome feeling
2x Mountain
4x Plains
4x Glacial Fortress
3x Sulfur Falls
3x Clifftop Retreat
4x Think Twice
4x Mana Leak
3x Feeling of Dread
4x Temporal Mastery
3x Bonfire of the Damned
3x Entreat the Angels
3x Terminus
3x Crippling Chill
3x Devastation Tide
3x Vanishment
3x Flashfreeze
4x Dissipate
3x Snapcaster Mage
3x Thunderous Wrath
PS, I have been thinking really hard about Karn Liberated in this deck. I am not ready to say yay/nay yet, but its in my mind
I would almost recommend flipping the pump and creature counts. Additionally, you need to ensure that your guys are going to get through, so evaluate your evasion levels. If your guys are getting blocked, then your pump spell is basically wasted.
Because we set up our decks to draw a land every 3ish cards, I don't believe that the above statements have validity. If the player is drawing a single card every player turn, then I will get more than enough land in a hypothetical situation. Obviously, we live in a world where mana screw runs rampant. However, once more, Miracle cards are typically sub-optimal when being hard cast. Terminous is a Day for 6. Temporal Mastery is a Time Walk for 7. Devastating Tide is a watered down Upheaval for 5 (ignore that one :P). Entreat the Angels is ok hard cast, but backbreaking from the top.
All of that is evidence you don't want/need/shouldn't be drawing a ton of cards a turn. You need a single draw to optimize your odds of Miracling a back breaker.
To follow-up on a second thought from above. I do agree about the problem with drawing a land at critical moment. I would think, then, that Evolving Wilds and any other card while strips the deck of lands should be evaluated. I had not considered it, but perhaps a splash of Green for that may be in order. What do you think about that?
I capitalize WANTED because it seemed to me that on several occasions, Hayne rushed the deck. I believe that this is a really good deck, his results could have been better believe it or not. Feeling of Dread functions exactly as Moment's Peace and Think Twice/Thought Scour tandom to mimic Compulsion.
What I mean by rushing the deck is that there were many many occasions where Hayne was playing Thought Scour and Think Twice on his turn and several times on his opponent's turn, as if he were desperately looking for a solution, when in reality, the solutions were already in hand and in the yard. Literally, that match should have been 3-0 Hayne because the mana flood got him in G2 and him not allowing the deck to progress at its own pace gave away G4. No disrespect to Hayne intended here. I admire his bravery to try the deck and his skill in playing the deck. I just think that he should not have tried to play the deck like a normal control deck, ie "AEOT, I will draw as many cards as I can."
Truth of the matter is that the deck functions optimally when you draw exactly one card a turn, no matter whose turn it is. Additionally, the deck performed even better when he sided in Snapcaster Mage, which also optimized Thought Scour.
I do believe that the deck wants to include Red in the form of Bonfire of the Damned. I also think that there is a place for Thunderous Wrath in the deck as well (but maybe a 2 of).
Here is the thing. If I am right, and this deck is simply Wake 2.0, then every card that is not your win condition or contributes to your win is a Time Walk effect. For example, Moment's Peace, Renewed Faith, Wrath of God, etc. Each of these cards make your opponent's TURN irrelevant, making the card you played essentially Time Walk. If that is true, then the same is true here. Feeling of Dread, Terminous, Devastating Tide and Bonfire of the Damn all make your opponent's current turn irrelevant if Miracled.
The four ofs should be:
Terminous
Devastating Tide
Bonfire of the Damned
Temporal Mastery
Feeling of Dread
Think Twice
Thought Scour
I also wonder if maybe Thought Scour is not the proper card, but instead Faithless Looting or Desperate Ravings. Without testing, my gut says Ravings, as it allows us to use Red a little more and flashback is using Blue, which we have (I know that's not a good reason, but the synergy is cool :P).
The main thing that I kept thinking was that Hayne only had 1 win condition in the deck. He was fine under a situation where no one was prepared for his deck and in a more limited format. However, because Miracle just won a major championship and we are in the Standard format thread, we do not have the luxury of being a big surprise. Therefore it is my opinion that we MUST include Bonfire as an auxiliary win condition. Under a Miracle situation, its not out of the realm of possibility to Wrath your opponent and bash him for 10 with one card + a draw engine.
I also think that we should consider the same sideboard tech that Wake utilized. It ran 3-4 Exalted Angels in its side and dared you to remove your removal for game 2. My recommendation is Gisela, Blade of Goldnight. Imagine the delight of playing it, then the following turn you Miracle a Bonfire for 10. How sweet would that be?
Also, I think that Merfolk Looter is really good here. The flashback on Think Twice and Desperate Ravings lend to a good deal of opponent turn card draw.