Callen, Agent of Shapeshifter - Name is a little gramatically odd. For the title, maybe something like "Agent of Change", "Agent of [legendname]", "Shapeshifter Agent"
- Three mana with a +2 that tutors a card into hand is really strong. Maybe if it only put the card on to of your library so you didn't gain card advantage? Or maybe to go with the Shapeshifter flavor:
+1: You may discard a card. If you do, search your library for a Shapeshifter card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
Another option could be to just create a Shapeshifter token from Crib Swap, which would be less dependent on having a lot of Shapeshifters in the same set.
- Copying every creature that attacks you might be a bit too extreme for the second ability. Also, given that the ultimate is also creating an army of token copies, one of the two should probably be changed. First thing that comes to mind, maybe something like Cytoshape or Shapesharer here?
-2: Target creature you control becomes a copy of another target creature until your next turn.
- Should the third ability maybe just target a player like Clone Legion? Post Kaladesh wording for that (unsure on cost without testing, but I lowered it since the +2 cost needs to be lowered to +1 also):
-7: For each creature target player controls, create a token that's a copy of that creature.
Season of Madness - Half this card can't work without a lot of comprehensive rules changes.
Train to Kaladesh - Mechanically, this is not a black card. Creating attacking tokens is white, or maybe red.
Its late and I can't be bothered to look for the exact rule that applies. There are cases where a descriptor is used to identify a permanent previously established earlier in an effect, and that effect will still work even if the permanent no longer matches the descriptor. The example that comes to mind, if you use something like Gruesome Encore to temporarily reanimate a creature card, but the creature is somehow changed into a noncreature permanent, the "If that creature would leave the battlefield" replacement effect will still continue to apply to the now noncreature permanent. Any of a variety of different wordings could be valid, so unless there are a lot of previous examples just use whichever sounds best for that particular situation.
Yeah, it should turn them into "artifact creatures" like the crew ability and Start Your Engines. Then they retain their subtypes.
205.1b Some effects change an object’s card type, supertype, or subtype but specify that the object retains a prior card type, supertype, or subtype. In such cases, all the object’s prior card types, supertypes, and subtypes are retained. This rule applies to effects that use the phrase “in addition to its types” or that state that something is “still a [type, supertype, or subtype].” Some effects state that an object becomes an “artifact creature”; these effects also allow the object to retain all of its prior card types and subtypes.
I would still keep it as two sentences though, because one effect is until end of turn and the other happens once.
Two target Vehicles become artifact creatures until end of turn. Those Vehicles fight each other. (Each deals damage equal to its power to the other.)
Reread that. It only says that Vehicle is an artifact type, not a creature type, and a Vehicle that is animated with its crew ability will not innately have any creature types. This means, for example, you can not choose "Vehicle" for something like Adaptive Automaton.
For further reference:
702.121a Crew is an activated ability of Vehicle cards. “Crew N” means “Tap any number of untapped creatures you control with total power N or greater: This permanent becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.”
205.1b Some effects change an object’s card type, supertype, or subtype but specify that the object retains a prior card type, supertype, or subtype. In such cases, all the object’s prior card types, supertypes, and subtypes are retained. This rule applies to effects that use the phrase “in addition to its types” or that state that something is “still a [type, supertype, or subtype].” Some effects state that an object becomes an “artifact creature”; these effects also allow the object to retain all of its prior card types and subtypes.
"Whenever CARDNAME attacks" triggers during the declare attackers step.
"Whenever CARDNAME attacks and isn't blocked" triggers durring the declare blockers step.
Once either ability triggers, there is nothing that will stop the ability from resolving (obviously aside from countering the ability or (if targeted) fizzling the ability).
The only way to stop it would be the version Thought Criminal posted. Or if you wanted to go to the extreme and ensure that something like Hollowhenge Spirit could also stop it:
"Whenever CARDNAME attacks and isn't blocked, if it's attacking and unblocked, [effect]"
If you are only using custom cards, the simplest method would probably be to use Magic Set Editor to make the cards, print them onto heavy cardstock, then cut them out and put them into opaque card sleeves.
If you are mixing real cards and custom cards, then you need to do something else to ensure that the real and custom cards feel close to the same while shuffling.
Aside that, isn't there an issue that every legacy (or any such format really) deck would now have to include an arbitrary forbidden card list, even if they have no real intent to use them, just because there might be a minuscule change where getting cards shuffled into your deck might stop you from decking for a while?
That is the primary reason for wanting to make them function from outside the game, which in organized events is from your sideboard like wish choices. Working from outside the game would be fine for maindeck cards that wish for forbidden cards, but would be too good in casual for forbidden cards that can suddenly and unexpectedly wish themselves into any game without previous planning.
Seems to me just using the command zone with a limited number of forbidden cards per deck is by far the most preferable, with working from outside the game (sideboard in organized events) a distant second. Using the command zone with a limit makes them work the same in casual and organized play and (as opposed to starting in exile) limits it to shuffling into the library once. Using outside-the-game allows wishes to grab them, but has limit problems for casual play.
If the only problem is the name "Command Zone", then get over it. That is hardly a problem. Using the command zone isolates the cards nicely from other interactions. We do not need a new zone that would function exactly like just using the command zone would.
Have them exist "outside of the game" or as it should be called "your sideboard". That limits you to 15, and each inclusion is at the cost of some flexibility. It also then synergizes with anything else that works with cards ootg.
The idea would be they exist outside the game but not in your sideboard. That all cards in a tournament 'outside the game' are in sideboards in a function of the tournament rules, not the game rules.
It seems like you are trying to argue different points, but I think they actually lead to the same end result. If forbiden cards can not start in your deck and are outside the game, then in constucted tournaments that use sideboards, like with choices for wishes, forbiden cards would by default need to be in your sideboard.
You are making it too complicated. The card wants to be a common or uncommon so it would be relevant in draft. The effect should be as simple and direct as possible.
"Destroy target Vehicle" works as a targeting restriction whether or not the Vehicle is a creature, so you don't need a timing restriction. And being able to cast it midcombat seems like the main point of a card that destroys a Vehicle and hurts its crew.
Damaging the crew should be enough. Damaging the controller is unnecessary and breaks the flavor because the player is not part of the crew of the vehicle.
I would keep the damage dealt as a fixed nonvariable number and test it. If 2 damage tests to be not good enough, then bump it up to 3 and test again. 2 damage though feels like a good place to start because it would at the very least hit a lot of the tokens in the set. Outright destroying the creatures that crewed the Vehicle could be a possibility if damage tests too poorly. Merely preventing the crew from untapping next untap step would be a good option to take it down to common.
It is a dead card without the condition, but it might still be too good. Hard to say without testing though. It is an interesting variation on the custom domain variation of Reflecting Pool:
For each basic land type among lands you control, CARDNAME is that type in addition to its other types (even if this card isn’t on the battlefield).
Wording, based on Abzan Kin-Guard, Lush Growth, Mistform Ultimus:
As long as you control another Forest or Plains, CARDNAME is a Forest and Plains (even if this card isn’t on the battlefield).
A possible balancing (and Stone Rain clarifying) option:
As long as you control a basic Forest or Plains, CARDNAME is a Forest and Plains (even if this card isn’t on the battlefield).
After you make that basic distinction, it is easier to make it more like Nimbus Maze, if that is required for balancing:
As long as you control a basic Plains, CARDNAME is a Forest in addition to its other types. As long as you control a basic Forest, CARDNAME is a Plains in addition to its other types. (This effect applies even if this card isn’t on the battlefield.)
That would pretty much inf loop by itself. If you have a forest this is a plains making it neither making it plains making it neither etc.
Abilities like this don't loop. Each land would just be applied in time-stamp order. If you control a basic Forest and two of these lands, the "Mutant Land" with the oldest time stamp would be a Plains, and the other would just have "T: Add C to your mana pool."
That is not saying that this is a good design though. Functionally, Nimbus Maze is a much cleaner implementation.
Being nonbasic and lacking basic land types are two different things.
That was one article written thirteen years ago. It is not a definitive layout of what is and is not "strictly better". For example, it was written before Kamigawa and we now know that the Eiganjo Castle cycle is too good and legendary is not a sufficient drawback to prevent them from being "strictly better" than basic lands. The essence of that guideline is that if a land taps for colored mana and has some other benefit that basic lands do not have, then it needs to also have a drawback to balance it.
However MaRo phrased it in his article doesn't really matter. It is still fairly obvious the intent of the rule.
The part about not considering subtypes and supertypes in general is from another article that I can't find right now more generally about the term "strictly better" referring to different creature types and being legendary. But as that applies to lands is the very first thing MaRo talks about in the linked article:
Rule #1 – No Land Can Be “Strictly Better” Than a Basic Land
I guess I should start by explaining what I mean by “strictly better.” This is a phrase R&D tosses around a lot. “Strictly better” means that one card is in all occurrences (within reason) better than another. An example of a “strictly better” would be Lightning Bolt versus Shock. Barring a really convoluted set-up (you know your opponent has Eye for an Eye and you're at 3 life while he's at 2), you would always want Lightning Bolt over Shock. For an identical cost, it just does exactly the same thing, but better.
The ramification of the “strictly better” rule is that we cannot design lands that tap for a colored mana without having some kind of drawback. The nonbasic land status, incidentally, is not considered by R&D to be enough of a drawback. While there are spells that hose nonbasic lands (like Price of Progress), there are also spells that hose specific basic lands (like Boil) that do not affect nonbasic lands (other than the original Tundra). As such, we consider the ability to be a slight negative but not enough to avoid the “strictly better” problem.
Would T abilities on Equipment be too complicated/fiddly? Just trying to think of ways to improve without having to increase the costs, and crossing with Mana Cylix came to mind.
Pearl Ring 1
Artifact - Equipment 1, T: Add W to your mana pool.
Equipped creature has “T: Add W to your mana pool.”
Equip 1
- Three mana with a +2 that tutors a card into hand is really strong. Maybe if it only put the card on to of your library so you didn't gain card advantage? Or maybe to go with the Shapeshifter flavor:
Another option could be to just create a Shapeshifter token from Crib Swap, which would be less dependent on having a lot of Shapeshifters in the same set.
- Copying every creature that attacks you might be a bit too extreme for the second ability. Also, given that the ultimate is also creating an army of token copies, one of the two should probably be changed. First thing that comes to mind, maybe something like Cytoshape or Shapesharer here?
- Should the third ability maybe just target a player like Clone Legion? Post Kaladesh wording for that (unsure on cost without testing, but I lowered it since the +2 cost needs to be lowered to +1 also):
Season of Madness -
Train to Kaladesh - Mechanically, this is not a black card. Creating attacking tokens is white, or maybe red.
C, Callen's Familiar - Sakashima the Impostor, Mercurial Pretender. This card needs to cost a lot more to have all those extra benefits.
I would still keep it as two sentences though, because one effect is until end of turn and the other happens once.
Two target Vehicles become artifact creatures until end of turn. Those Vehicles fight each other. (Each deals damage equal to its power to the other.)
For further reference:
205.1b Some effects change an object’s card type, supertype, or subtype but specify that the object retains a prior card type, supertype, or subtype. In such cases, all the object’s prior card types, supertypes, and subtypes are retained. This rule applies to effects that use the phrase “in addition to its types” or that state that something is “still a [type, supertype, or subtype].” Some effects state that an object becomes an “artifact creature”; these effects also allow the object to retain all of its prior card types and subtypes.
"Whenever CARDNAME attacks and isn't blocked" triggers durring the declare blockers step.
Once either ability triggers, there is nothing that will stop the ability from resolving (obviously aside from countering the ability or (if targeted) fizzling the ability).
The only way to stop it would be the version Thought Criminal posted. Or if you wanted to go to the extreme and ensure that something like Hollowhenge Spirit could also stop it:
"Whenever CARDNAME attacks and isn't blocked, if it's attacking and unblocked, [effect]"
If you are mixing real cards and custom cards, then you need to do something else to ensure that the real and custom cards feel close to the same while shuffling.
If the only problem is the name "Command Zone", then get over it. That is hardly a problem. Using the command zone isolates the cards nicely from other interactions. We do not need a new zone that would function exactly like just using the command zone would.
It seems like you are trying to argue different points, but I think they actually lead to the same end result. If forbiden cards can not start in your deck and are outside the game, then in constucted tournaments that use sideboards, like with choices for wishes, forbiden cards would by default need to be in your sideboard.
"Destroy target Vehicle" works as a targeting restriction whether or not the Vehicle is a creature, so you don't need a timing restriction. And being able to cast it midcombat seems like the main point of a card that destroys a Vehicle and hurts its crew.
Damaging the crew should be enough. Damaging the controller is unnecessary and breaks the flavor because the player is not part of the crew of the vehicle.
I would keep the damage dealt as a fixed nonvariable number and test it. If 2 damage tests to be not good enough, then bump it up to 3 and test again. 2 damage though feels like a good place to start because it would at the very least hit a lot of the tokens in the set. Outright destroying the creatures that crewed the Vehicle could be a possibility if damage tests too poorly. Merely preventing the crew from untapping next untap step would be a good option to take it down to common.
Fiery Crash 2R
Instant (U?)
Destroy target Vehicle. CARDNAME deals 2(?) damage to each creature that crewed that Vehicle this turn.
For each basic land type among lands you control, CARDNAME is that type in addition to its other types (even if this card isn’t on the battlefield).
Wording, based on Abzan Kin-Guard, Lush Growth, Mistform Ultimus:
As long as you control another Forest or Plains, CARDNAME is a Forest and Plains (even if this card isn’t on the battlefield).
A possible balancing (and Stone Rain clarifying) option:
As long as you control a basic Forest or Plains, CARDNAME is a Forest and Plains (even if this card isn’t on the battlefield).
After you make that basic distinction, it is easier to make it more like Nimbus Maze, if that is required for balancing:
As long as you control a basic Plains, CARDNAME is a Forest in addition to its other types. As long as you control a basic Forest, CARDNAME is a Plains in addition to its other types. (This effect applies even if this card isn’t on the battlefield.)
Abilities like this don't loop. Each land would just be applied in time-stamp order. If you control a basic Forest and two of these lands, the "Mutant Land" with the oldest time stamp would be a Plains, and the other would just have "T: Add C to your mana pool."
That is not saying that this is a good design though. Functionally, Nimbus Maze is a much cleaner implementation.
However MaRo phrased it in his article doesn't really matter. It is still fairly obvious the intent of the rule.
Pearl Ring 1
Artifact - Equipment
1, T: Add W to your mana pool.
Equipped creature has “T: Add W to your mana pool.”
Equip 1