Morose Attendant1W
Creature - Human Cleric (U)
Whenever another creature dies, you gain 1 life. 1B, pay 2 life: Target creature gains indestructible until end of turn. "Why do people leave this world when it's not their time?"
1/1
Too strong for uncommon?
Yeah, probably too strong Magac for uncommon in its current state. I think the problem would be if you "cheated" a creature game winning into play, and then used the Attendant's ability to protect the game-winning bomb from removal, as well as the Attendant itself. At uncommon level it might be better to have:
Morose Attendant1W
Creature - Human Cleric (U)
Whenever another creature dies, you gain 1 life. 1B, pay 2 life: Target other creature gains indestructible until end of turn. "Why do people leave this world when it's not their time?"
1/1
That way, a player would have to find another way to protect the Attendant's fragile body.
Or perhaps:
Morose Attendant1W
Creature - Human Cleric (U)
Whenever another creature dies, you gain 1 life. 1B, pay 2 life: Target creature gains indestructible until end of turn. Sacrifice that creature at end of turn. "Why do people leave this world when it's not their time?"
1/1
In this version, the indestructibility comes at a cost - meaning your minion will have a chance to hit your opponent... at the cost of it's life! (cue maniacal laughter...)
Anyway, that's my two cents. Hope it helps. I think the flavor text is great.
Made this card earlier today - curious to see what you all think.
When this card enters the battlefield, and at the beginning of your upkeep, select a location you control. Effects and abilities from all other locations end. Then choose a creature for each location you control.
Until end of turn, if those creatures block, they gain "Ut: Return creature blocked by this creature to its owner's hand."
The idea was to make a card which represents a place a planeswalkers might use to defend themselves and their followers from enemies.
Concerning the 'Location' subtype, the plan is to make more locations, so at the beginning of your upkeep, your opponent has to play around which one you are going to "turn on". Also, I think it would be good to make other cards that interact with the subtype.
With the "effects and abilities from all other locations end" part, I put that in because I didn't think it was reasonable for a planeswalker to be in more than one place at once - either you are ambushing your opponents in the Frostfoot Labyrinth, or your not. Or you are a chronomancer. Whatever.
With the "Ut: Return creature blocked by this creature to its owner's hand." text, I took inspiration from Sigil of Sleep.
Suit up - Creatures you control with no abilities get all of the abilities of enchant creature auras attached to Iron Man's Coat Rack. Those creatures are still considered to have no abilities.
{x}{t}: Search your library for an aura card with converted mana cost X or less. Put it onto the battlefield enchanting Iron Man's Coat Rack,
then shuffle your library. Play this ability any time you could play a sorcery.
I'm going to try to reply to your questions one by one.
Purpose of the Design
ArixOdragc states:
I still believe the "no rules text" portion of the card can go, as it really doesn't serve any purpose.
I think some of you who have commented on this thread already have picked up on the purpose of the design, but let me re-explain it once more for those who cannot yet see its merits:
The whole point of the card is to give players a purpose to choose vanilla creatures over creatures with abilities to build a deck around. I think if some cards existed (other than Muraganda Petroglyphs) that assisted players to achieve this, cards like Spined Wurm, Kami of Old Stone and Runeclaw Bear would get much more play, and add to the diversity of the game, which would be a good thing. Also, many chase rares required to build any of the popular decks around are expensive to buy, and when Standard rotates, their value falls. If inexpensive vanilla creatures had more cards that interacted with them based on their "vanilla-ness", maybe more people would be able to buy fewer expensive MTG cards to be competitive against their opponents.
Also, many players who are just starting out in MTG likely have cards which came from Wizard's "introduction to the game" products, and therefore, several vanilla creatures, which could slot into a "vanilla creature get buffs" strategy. Perhaps such a strategy could be a bridge between the more straight-forward cards found in intro products and the more complicated cards found in "expert level" products. Although, in saying this, I realize that the card designs I have put forward have been extremely complicated, and not a good fit for 'advanced-beginner' level players...
Templating Issues
Drab Emordnilap writes:
As far as templating is concerned, the first line (equipped creature has haste) would have a line break before the rest of the text.
I know. But I really wanted to see if I could squeeze flavor text in there. And I did! See - it's there! Look! Look!
In all seriousness, I have to agree that the flavor text needs to be removed on such a verbose card (sigh).
The Equipped Card Never Achieves "No Rules Text" Status Long Enough to Matter (a.k.a "MrCardShark should only design custom MTC cards when he is not sleepy)
buemmschaf writes:
Note: if this equipment gives the creature haste, it will by definition never fulfill the 'has no abilities' or 'has no rules text' clause: After all, it has haste
And WizardMN eloborates:
If you really want the "no rules text" clause, I would honestly use the Muraganda Petroglyphs template instead of the current "no rules text" phrase. The other problem is that since the equipment grants the creature haste and a triggered ability, the equipment prevents itself from working. Even without granting haste, the game constantly checks to see if it has rules text. If it doesn't, it gains the triggered ability. Then, it has text so it loses it. Then gains it, and loses it, and so on.
In my sleepy state when I was creating this card, I took "rules text" to mean "the text that is printed in the permanent's text box", and inadvertently undermined the whole design. Whoops.
I think buemmschaf's point is interesting though, because it seems to indicate a way to give a permanent rules text without actually giving it the quality of possessing rules text which may work in future designs.
For this to work, it'd have to be worded something like 'equipped creature can attack as though it had haste' (does not give the creature an actual ability)
Problems with "triggering abilities on damage being dealt"
WizardMN writes:
I agree with others that triggering on being dealt damage is overkill and potentially confusing. While it plays into design that hasn't really been done before, it seems to be for very little gain.
I wanted the "triggering abilities on damage being dealt" there because I thought it may be a little bit safer than allowing the "search your library for an aura card and put it onto the battlefield enchanting equipped creature in response to this creature being blocked" ability. My suspicion is that some auras, when given flash (because, lets face it, that's what this ability does) would make for degenerate, broken play when used in the combat phase, even when used only on vanilla creatures.
Imagine this situation, where Etched Blade's "aura search" ability can be used in response to it being blocked:
1) The player controlling Etched Blade has it equipped to a CMC, 1/1 creature.
2) The defending player wants that creature gone, so he/she blocks with, say, a 5/5.
3) The player controlling Etched Blade activates the "aura search" ability, for , bringing Pattern of Rebirth onto the battlefield.
4) Lethal damage occurs to the 1/1 creature. It goes to the graveyard, and Pattern of Rebirth triggers.
5) The player controlling Etched Blade brings Desolation Twin onto the battlefield. Desolation Twin brings a 10/10 token friend with it.
6) The player controlling Etched Blade equips the 10/10 token with Etched Blade.
Admittedly, Pattern of Rebirth is a very powerful aura just by itself. But still, all the more reason not to give similar auras like it any more help.
So, to my way of thinking, having Etched Blade's "aura search" ability activate on the creature being dealt damage was safer, because while I don't think it would help prevent Pattern of Rebirth shenanigans, it might help prevent others by limiting how auras with "pseudo-flash" can interact with the combat phase, despite the rules text being potentially confusing.
Even now, I'm not sure that creating a card which allows just about any aura to be played at instant speed is a good idea. What do you think? Can you think of any examples where WOTC have printed such a card already? Or maybe you can think of other examples of auras where it would be a very bad idea to have them enter the battlefield at instant speed during the combat phase either due to their power level or the complexity they would cause in game state.
Another issue would be is that if Etched Blade was actually printed, how would this limit the design of aura cards in the future?
Why this Combination of Effects on a "Buff Vanilla Creature" Card?
SecretInfiltrator asks:
Okay, I got that this card is supposed to buff vanilla creatures, but why exactly this combination of effects (which are for different reasons problematic options)?
Thanks for the card design suggestions SecretInfiltrator.
In response to your question, I guess I was trying to work out the answer to this puzzle: how much of a boost to a vanilla creature do you have to give to make a “vanilla creature buffs” strategy both playable against creatures with abilities, and also, desirable for a player to want to build a deck around?
With Glyphed Edge and Sacred Fetish
I see your point that the 'give haste to vanilla creature' equipment idea could be developed separately from the 'give auras' idea, but I'm not sure that's an effect great enough to make people want to use vanilla creatures as an alternative to creatures with abilities, because if a player equips a vanilla creature with "if equipped creature has no abilities" clause, and then wants to boost the creature's abilities later with another effect later which grants abilities, the "if equipped creature has no abilities" clause would likely 'turn off'. That might make the card look like a poor choice to include in a deck.
However, I think if a person did want to design a card like Glyphed Edge, using an ability like haste, which is a temporary attacking boost, and giving the equipment that provides it a low equip cost would be exactly the right way to go about it.
With Aura Pendant
With the "Aura Pendant" design, I think the problems I wrote about in the Problems with "triggering abilities on damage being dealt" section may arise here, but I am happy to be proven wrong on this point.
In short, I like your designs, but I think that it would be better if abilities that give vanilla creatures abilities based on their "vanilla-ness" could 'stack' with other abilities that have the potential to buff any creature.
I hadn't thought about the limits of auras - that's a very valid point.
I don't believe there's a need for a limit. You already need at least three cards for it to do anything at all (the Equipment itself, a creature to equip it to, and an Aura to drop), and you still need to pay the cost of the Aura, so it's not like it lets you "cheat" anything. This, combined with the inherent drawback of Auras, means it could actually use a boost in power.
I agree that this is one of the weaknesses of the card previously designed. Another drawback of the card was you had to have the right aura in your hand for the situation you are in.
So what about this revision?
---
Etched Blade
Equipped creature has haste. If equipped creature has no rules text, it gains "whenever this creature attacks, or is dealt combat damage, you may pay . If you do, search your library for an aura card with converted mana cost X and put it onto the battlefield enchanting this creature. Shuffle your library."
Equip
From good to great in only two swings of the blade.
---
So, obviously a lot of changes from the original post.
Name and art change with aim of linking function to flavor more concretely.
No more counters.
Rules text corrected and hopefully, easier to understand.
Now grants a "vanilla creature" the possibility of multiple bonuses a turn.
Now a much more powerful card.
Flavor text.
I hope this design prevents the potential for disappointment for those players who want an aura to effect combat the turn the equipment comes into play. Leaving the "whenever this creature ... is dealt combat damage" part seems sensible because it gives this card synergy with Lure type effects, possibly allowing for the aura search ability to be used multiple times a turn.
Do you think I have to make any changes to this card now?
Thanks to everyone who has commented on my design, and to Cyrogen, who moved my post to the appropriate place.
I think that you have misunderstood what I was trying to do with this card - probably my own fault, as I didn't make the point clear in the first place. In fact, I wasn't sure that anyone would reply, as I hadn't realized that MGTsalvation had a custom card forum. So let me tell you what my intent was, and then perhaps you can offer some new suggestions.
Basically, I was trying to make an equipment card, using MTG Cardsmith, that could be equipped to any creature, but would be better when equipped to a "vanilla creature"; a creature that "has no other abilities". I wanted to design a card that would give people a reason to put things like Runeclaw Bears and Kami of Old Stone into their decks, but I encountered several problems doing this.
For example, physical space for text on the card was an issue. Wizards of the Coast has no keyword for "vanilla creature", so this meant that I would have to write out in detail exactly what I meant, or create a keyword, and then write out what "vanilla creature" meant as reminder text. As you can see, I chose the former option, as it saved on the number of words for what I was trying to design.
Some of the issues you have picked up on concerning wording of the card ("tokens" which are actually "counters", "if the equipped creature is dealt damage..." instead of "equipped creature receives combat damage...", "move all destiny tokens from this artifact onto the creature") were attempts by me to describe a complex idea within the confines of a MTG card text box. I was trying to work out how to describe the card I want succinctly so its rules text fits the text box.
The "X cannot be zero" clause was one idea I tried in an earlier version of the card, as a way to hold the card's power in check should the rules of MTG change in the future. {0} cost abilities have the potential to be misused following the introduction of new abilities or rule changes, so I was trying to prevent this situation
arising. In the end, I just changed the kicker cost to {1}{X}, and did away with the clause. As far as I know, the only card that allows a kicker of {0} to be payed is Verdeloth the Ancient, out of 113 cards with a kicker ability.
As for the uncommon rarity, I was planning to design a number of similar cards, once I had the "vanilla creature power-up" ability 'right'. Because of this, I wasn't worried about like things like not being able to control the timing of when the aura comes into play - I was planning to have people build decks around the mechanic itself. As am example, when attacking with Spined Wurm equipped with the Falcata, it doesn't matter so much if your opponent blocks or not. If they do, you can drop an aura on it that will allow Spined Wurm to punch through the next turn. Alternately, if they don't block, Spined Wurm eats their face. At least, that was the idea.
Also, I was ok with losing the counters on the creature if my opponent killed the creature with a spell or ability, because I imagined that I could use this to my advantage by bluffing my opponent. Imagine a situation where you have Runeclaw Bear and Spined Wurm in play. What creature you equip the Falcata to is going to depend on what aura you have in your hand - something your opponent (generally) doesn't know. Maybe you suspect your opponent has a Doom Blade in their hand, and you want them to waste it on the bears - by equipping the Falcata, maybe you would force your opponent's hand. It could be that you want to equip the Falcata to the Spined Wurm, because you want your opponent to chump block the wurm, so the creature you're about to play in your second main phase can attack for lethal damage next turn.
@ ArixOdragc -
I made the Falcata's aura granting ability trigger on the creature receiving combat damage, because in such a situation the player could potentially put any aura into play at instant speed, without playing any costs (because the cost has already been played), and I wasn't sure if such a mechanic would be confusing or broken when paired with some auras printed previously.
Concerning "Magically-Charged Widget" - I agree that making the "put an aura into play" effect would make the card more fun, but it could also make the card a lot more powerful. Initially I tried to template the Falcata to allow for repeated use as well. But do you think that their needs to be a limit on how many times such an effect can be used due to how powerful it could potentially be?
As for the flavor of the card, initially I started trying to do something that mixed form and function, so to speak, however, at the end, I was trying to get the card to 'work'. I still think there is some flavor there - while holding the blade, the creature can run "as fast as a horse", hence the haste. If the vanilla creature survives combat, the 'destiny counters' are removed, and the creature receives an 'aura', suggesting the creature is on the path to fulfilling his/her/its destiny. The flavor is subtle - probably as a effect of me trying to get the card to 'work', but it is there.
Hi everyone. I made a custom MTG card at MTG Cardsmith, and I thought this would be a good place to get some feedback about it.
Just in case some of you cannot open the attachment for whatever reason:
Horse-Head Falcata
Mana cost: {2}
Uncommon
Artifact - Equipment
Kicker {x}. If the kicker cost was paid, put X destiny tokens on this artifact when it enters the battlefield. X cannot be 0.
Equip {2}. Equipped creature gets haste, and if it has no other abilities, move all destiny tokens
from this artifact onto the creature. If equipped creature receives combat damage, remove these tokens from it and put an aura from your hand onto the battlefield enchanting it, with mana cost equal or less than the number of tokens removed.
I'm interested to know what you think about it, stuff like:
What types of decks would it be useful in?
Do you think it is over/undercosted?
If you can see any rule problems with it
Do you think there are any degenerate combos it would enable?
Yeah, probably too strong Magac for uncommon in its current state. I think the problem would be if you "cheated" a creature game winning into play, and then used the Attendant's ability to protect the game-winning bomb from removal, as well as the Attendant itself. At uncommon level it might be better to have:
Morose Attendant 1W
Creature - Human Cleric (U)
Whenever another creature dies, you gain 1 life.
1B, pay 2 life: Target other creature gains indestructible until end of turn.
"Why do people leave this world when it's not their time?"
1/1
That way, a player would have to find another way to protect the Attendant's fragile body.
Or perhaps:
Morose Attendant 1W
Creature - Human Cleric (U)
Whenever another creature dies, you gain 1 life.
1B, pay 2 life: Target creature gains indestructible until end of turn. Sacrifice that creature at end of turn.
"Why do people leave this world when it's not their time?"
1/1
In this version, the indestructibility comes at a cost - meaning your minion will have a chance to hit your opponent... at the cost of it's life! (cue maniacal laughter...)
Anyway, that's my two cents. Hope it helps. I think the flavor text is great.
Made this card earlier today - curious to see what you all think.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frostfoot Labyrinth 2U
Enchant Island - Location Aura (R)
Enchant Island.
When this card enters the battlefield, and at the beginning of your upkeep, select a location you control. Effects and abilities from all other locations end. Then choose a creature for each location you control.
Until end of turn, if those creatures block, they gain "Ut: Return creature blocked by this creature to its owner's hand."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The idea was to make a card which represents a place a planeswalkers might use to defend themselves and their followers from enemies.
Concerning the 'Location' subtype, the plan is to make more locations, so at the beginning of your upkeep, your opponent has to play around which one you are going to "turn on". Also, I think it would be good to make other cards that interact with the subtype.
With the "effects and abilities from all other locations end" part, I put that in because I didn't think it was reasonable for a planeswalker to be in more than one place at once - either you are ambushing your opponents in the Frostfoot Labyrinth, or your not. Or you are a chronomancer. Whatever.
With the "Ut: Return creature blocked by this creature to its owner's hand." text, I took inspiration from Sigil of Sleep.
I'm going to try to reply to your questions one by one.
Purpose of the Design
ArixOdragc states:
I think some of you who have commented on this thread already have picked up on the purpose of the design, but let me re-explain it once more for those who cannot yet see its merits:
The whole point of the card is to give players a purpose to choose vanilla creatures over creatures with abilities to build a deck around. I think if some cards existed (other than Muraganda Petroglyphs) that assisted players to achieve this, cards like Spined Wurm, Kami of Old Stone and Runeclaw Bear would get much more play, and add to the diversity of the game, which would be a good thing. Also, many chase rares required to build any of the popular decks around are expensive to buy, and when Standard rotates, their value falls. If inexpensive vanilla creatures had more cards that interacted with them based on their "vanilla-ness", maybe more people would be able to buy fewer expensive MTG cards to be competitive against their opponents.
Also, many players who are just starting out in MTG likely have cards which came from Wizard's "introduction to the game" products, and therefore, several vanilla creatures, which could slot into a "vanilla creature get buffs" strategy. Perhaps such a strategy could be a bridge between the more straight-forward cards found in intro products and the more complicated cards found in "expert level" products. Although, in saying this, I realize that the card designs I have put forward have been extremely complicated, and not a good fit for 'advanced-beginner' level players...
Templating Issues
Drab Emordnilap writes:
I know. But I really wanted to see if I could squeeze flavor text in there. And I did! See - it's there! Look! Look!
In all seriousness, I have to agree that the flavor text needs to be removed on such a verbose card (sigh).
The Equipped Card Never Achieves "No Rules Text" Status Long Enough to Matter (a.k.a "MrCardShark should only design custom MTC cards when he is not sleepy)
buemmschaf writes:
And WizardMN eloborates:
In my sleepy state when I was creating this card, I took "rules text" to mean "the text that is printed in the permanent's text box", and inadvertently undermined the whole design. Whoops.
I think buemmschaf's point is interesting though, because it seems to indicate a way to give a permanent rules text without actually giving it the quality of possessing rules text which may work in future designs.
Problems with "triggering abilities on damage being dealt"
WizardMN writes:
I wanted the "triggering abilities on damage being dealt" there because I thought it may be a little bit safer than allowing the "search your library for an aura card and put it onto the battlefield enchanting equipped creature in response to this creature being blocked" ability. My suspicion is that some auras, when given flash (because, lets face it, that's what this ability does) would make for degenerate, broken play when used in the combat phase, even when used only on vanilla creatures.
Imagine this situation, where Etched Blade's "aura search" ability can be used in response to it being blocked:
1) The player controlling Etched Blade has it equipped to a
2) The defending player wants that creature gone, so he/she blocks with, say, a 5/5.
3) The player controlling Etched Blade activates the "aura search" ability, for
4) Lethal damage occurs to the 1/1 creature. It goes to the graveyard, and Pattern of Rebirth triggers.
5) The player controlling Etched Blade brings Desolation Twin onto the battlefield. Desolation Twin brings a 10/10 token friend with it.
6) The player controlling Etched Blade equips the 10/10 token with Etched Blade.
Admittedly, Pattern of Rebirth is a very powerful aura just by itself. But still, all the more reason not to give similar auras like it any more help.
So, to my way of thinking, having Etched Blade's "aura search" ability activate on the creature being dealt damage was safer, because while I don't think it would help prevent Pattern of Rebirth shenanigans, it might help prevent others by limiting how auras with "pseudo-flash" can interact with the combat phase, despite the rules text being potentially confusing.
Even now, I'm not sure that creating a card which allows just about any aura to be played at instant speed is a good idea. What do you think? Can you think of any examples where WOTC have printed such a card already? Or maybe you can think of other examples of auras where it would be a very bad idea to have them enter the battlefield at instant speed during the combat phase either due to their power level or the complexity they would cause in game state.
Another issue would be is that if Etched Blade was actually printed, how would this limit the design of aura cards in the future?
Why this Combination of Effects on a "Buff Vanilla Creature" Card?
SecretInfiltrator asks:
Thanks for the card design suggestions SecretInfiltrator.
In response to your question, I guess I was trying to work out the answer to this puzzle: how much of a boost to a vanilla creature do you have to give to make a “vanilla creature buffs” strategy both playable against creatures with abilities, and also, desirable for a player to want to build a deck around?
With Glyphed Edge and Sacred Fetish
I see your point that the 'give haste to vanilla creature' equipment idea could be developed separately from the 'give auras' idea, but I'm not sure that's an effect great enough to make people want to use vanilla creatures as an alternative to creatures with abilities, because if a player equips a vanilla creature with "if equipped creature has no abilities" clause, and then wants to boost the creature's abilities later with another effect later which grants abilities, the "if equipped creature has no abilities" clause would likely 'turn off'. That might make the card look like a poor choice to include in a deck.
However, I think if a person did want to design a card like Glyphed Edge, using an ability like haste, which is a temporary attacking boost, and giving the equipment that provides it a low equip cost would be exactly the right way to go about it.
With Aura Pendant
With the "Aura Pendant" design, I think the problems I wrote about in the Problems with "triggering abilities on damage being dealt" section may arise here, but I am happy to be proven wrong on this point.
In short, I like your designs, but I think that it would be better if abilities that give vanilla creatures abilities based on their "vanilla-ness" could 'stack' with other abilities that have the potential to buff any creature.
I agree that this is one of the weaknesses of the card previously designed. Another drawback of the card was you had to have the right aura in your hand for the situation you are in.
So what about this revision?
---
Etched Blade
Equipped creature has haste. If equipped creature has no rules text, it gains "whenever this creature attacks, or is dealt combat damage, you may pay
Equip
From good to great in only two swings of the blade.
---
So, obviously a lot of changes from the original post.
I hope this design prevents the potential for disappointment for those players who want an aura to effect combat the turn the equipment comes into play. Leaving the "whenever this creature ... is dealt combat damage" part seems sensible because it gives this card synergy with Lure type effects, possibly allowing for the
Do you think I have to make any changes to this card now?
I think that you have misunderstood what I was trying to do with this card - probably my own fault, as I didn't make the point clear in the first place. In fact, I wasn't sure that anyone would reply, as I hadn't realized that MGTsalvation had a custom card forum. So let me tell you what my intent was, and then perhaps you can offer some new suggestions.
Basically, I was trying to make an equipment card, using MTG Cardsmith, that could be equipped to any creature, but would be better when equipped to a "vanilla creature"; a creature that "has no other abilities". I wanted to design a card that would give people a reason to put things like Runeclaw Bears and Kami of Old Stone into their decks, but I encountered several problems doing this.
For example, physical space for text on the card was an issue. Wizards of the Coast has no keyword for "vanilla creature", so this meant that I would have to write out in detail exactly what I meant, or create a keyword, and then write out what "vanilla creature" meant as reminder text. As you can see, I chose the former option, as it saved on the number of words for what I was trying to design.
Some of the issues you have picked up on concerning wording of the card ("tokens" which are actually "counters", "if the equipped creature is dealt damage..." instead of "equipped creature receives combat damage...", "move all destiny tokens from this artifact onto the creature") were attempts by me to describe a complex idea within the confines of a MTG card text box. I was trying to work out how to describe the card I want succinctly so its rules text fits the text box.
The "X cannot be zero" clause was one idea I tried in an earlier version of the card, as a way to hold the card's power in check should the rules of MTG change in the future. {0} cost abilities have the potential to be misused following the introduction of new abilities or rule changes, so I was trying to prevent this situation
arising. In the end, I just changed the kicker cost to {1}{X}, and did away with the clause. As far as I know, the only card that allows a kicker of {0} to be payed is Verdeloth the Ancient, out of 113 cards with a kicker ability.
As for the uncommon rarity, I was planning to design a number of similar cards, once I had the "vanilla creature power-up" ability 'right'. Because of this, I wasn't worried about like things like not being able to control the timing of when the aura comes into play - I was planning to have people build decks around the mechanic itself. As am example, when attacking with Spined Wurm equipped with the Falcata, it doesn't matter so much if your opponent blocks or not. If they do, you can drop an aura on it that will allow Spined Wurm to punch through the next turn. Alternately, if they don't block, Spined Wurm eats their face. At least, that was the idea.
Also, I was ok with losing the counters on the creature if my opponent killed the creature with a spell or ability, because I imagined that I could use this to my advantage by bluffing my opponent. Imagine a situation where you have Runeclaw Bear and Spined Wurm in play. What creature you equip the Falcata to is going to depend on what aura you have in your hand - something your opponent (generally) doesn't know. Maybe you suspect your opponent has a Doom Blade in their hand, and you want them to waste it on the bears - by equipping the Falcata, maybe you would force your opponent's hand. It could be that you want to equip the Falcata to the Spined Wurm, because you want your opponent to chump block the wurm, so the creature you're about to play in your second main phase can attack for lethal damage next turn.
@ ArixOdragc -
I made the Falcata's aura granting ability trigger on the creature receiving combat damage, because in such a situation the player could potentially put any aura into play at instant speed, without playing any costs (because the cost has already been played), and I wasn't sure if such a mechanic would be confusing or broken when paired with some auras printed previously.
Concerning "Magically-Charged Widget" - I agree that making the "put an aura into play" effect would make the card more fun, but it could also make the card a lot more powerful. Initially I tried to template the Falcata to allow for repeated use as well. But do you think that their needs to be a limit on how many times such an effect can be used due to how powerful it could potentially be?
As for the flavor of the card, initially I started trying to do something that mixed form and function, so to speak, however, at the end, I was trying to get the card to 'work'. I still think there is some flavor there - while holding the blade, the creature can run "as fast as a horse", hence the haste. If the vanilla creature survives combat, the 'destiny counters' are removed, and the creature receives an 'aura', suggesting the creature is on the path to fulfilling his/her/its destiny. The flavor is subtle - probably as a effect of me trying to get the card to 'work', but it is there.
Just in case some of you cannot open the attachment for whatever reason:
Horse-Head Falcata
Mana cost: {2}
Uncommon
Artifact - Equipment
Kicker {x}. If the kicker cost was paid, put X destiny tokens on this artifact when it enters the battlefield. X cannot be 0.
Equip {2}. Equipped creature gets haste, and if it has no other abilities, move all destiny tokens
from this artifact onto the creature. If equipped creature receives combat damage, remove these tokens from it and put an aura from your hand onto the battlefield enchanting it, with mana cost equal or less than the number of tokens removed.
I'm interested to know what you think about it, stuff like:
What types of decks would it be useful in?
Do you think it is over/undercosted?
If you can see any rule problems with it
Do you think there are any degenerate combos it would enable?
Thanks