First of all, it was a bottom up design meaning I created the ability before the flavor. It was important to me that my card be tournament playable, so I focused on what it would do first.
The initial inspiration came from the card Lich. Lich helps you by making your life total irrelevant, but it can definitely harm you in the long run. I liked the idea of messing with a player's life total in such a way that it would heal him for a while but that it would eventually hurt if he relied on it too much.
The second card that inspired Mummification is Sulfuric Vortex. Symmetrical abilities that affect all players are neat because they rarely affect all players equally. Balance, Day of Judgment, and Armageddon are very powerful examples. Vortex appealed to me because it was a strong Standard playable card back in its day.
I realized that if I made Mummification apply to everyone instead of just the controller, I'd have a very powerful card for black in particular. As I mentioned before, a more subtle aspect of the design is that it can cause players to gain life. This means it works extremely well with black's other life loss mechanics.
A black mage is used to losing life from effects like Dark Confidant, Sign in Blood, and of course Necropotence. With Mass Mummification, the black mage can recover almost all of the life they lose from their dark magic every single turn. The fact that it slowly kills opponents is a nice bonus.
Mummification might fit in an aggro deck, but I think the better place is in a tempo or aggro-control deck. I envision it helping to keep the controller alive long enough to build up a solid game-ending move, while limiting the opponent's ability to do the same. It works against aggro by healing you every turn, and it works against dedicated control decks by presenting them with a threat that is very difficult to remove.
Of course, I am very excited to see how YOU think the card can be used. I've been reading reactions online and have seen some neat combo ideas. Various people have mentioned using the card with Vampire Hexmage, perhaps including something like Angel's Grace as a win condition.
Or instead of removing counters, proliferate can help you keep your life total stable until you build up enough resources to unleash your master plan.
Some have noted that Mummification is similar to Illusions of Grandeur. Many years ago, Illusions provided enough life for the controller to draw a bunch of cards with Necropotence. Donate would then be used to pass Illusions to the opponent, who would lose 20 life when the enchantment died. This made a VERY powerful tournament deck called Trix, and Mummification has elements of Illusions and Donate wrapped up into one. But far less broken of course.
I know some people think my design is strictly for the casual player, but I tried really hard to make an ability powerful and versatile enough to appeal to tournament players as well. The applications for multi-player and combo are the most apparent aspects, but I hope I've shown how the potential for competitive play is built into the card in a more subtle method.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this and to consider my design! I'd be happy to answer any questions or to read any comments or criticism you may have.
Oh, and remember to vote!
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/247b
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted May 15, 2013Lornick, I considered the possibilities of draws. I figured it was safe enough to put in black since the color has so much direct damage and cards that cause life loss. Maybe I should have put in a clause that forces a sacrifice when there are no counters? Unfortunately, that makes it a lot wordier.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted May 14, 2013-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted May 13, 2013On the other hand, I've received quite a few compliments on the general design and flavor, which is definitely a nice feeling.
I, too, wish they would have included a mana cost estimate. Obviously, the CMC is going to determine how playable ALL of these are. I've seen some estimates for mine that are far higher than what I'd expect.
To answer your question Lyracian, I figured the cost could be adjustable along with the number of counters. The more counters there are, the lower cost.
For example, if they put the counters at 5, the cost might be 5BB. If they put the counters at 20, the cost might be 1B. At 13, I was hoping it would be toward the lower end. What do you think?
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted May 13, 2013Now, about the article.
Really really interesting background of the card, I love how you mixed up some of black mechanichs and charateristics in the card. I like the idea behind the card. But it has something that doesn't convince me 100%... I don't know what, and I'm not saying the card is bad, just my guts don't love it as my brain
Anyway, I think that with the right mana cost the card can be "abused" (as you said, as a "heal" for drawing with Sign in Blood or against a nonlethal attack from an aggro deck). And I really hope it can go on.
Still, I think the card misses something to be tournament viable, I don't know what, but it's just that I have never seen Lich or similar enchantments played on a competitive level, but as you mentioned a combo with Hexmage could easly kill the opponent in one turn, so, I am probably too blind to see the potential of the card
Good Luck with the voting! And keep creating good and balanced cards like this one, I think you're good at it