Hi, I'm new to this forum, but I liked reading the card contest article, so I thought I wanted to give a go at making a set. Enough babling about my history lets get to the idea.
I've used some of the old idea, and now this is the new background. There are 10-20 Gods, 5 of them are the main gods, each representing one colour of magic. Beneath them, are minor gods, each governs a particular aspect of society on this plane. Civil War has broken out between the different Gods, and is tearing the plane apart. Each god has his/her champions, who are effectively demi gods to fight for her, (they will probably be legends).
A mechanic I've thought up of is Divine Ascent - X (At the beginning of your upkeep put an ascension counter on this card, when it has X counters, it gains *)
Obviously this would be used for the divine side.
Another keyword for this block is Distrustful - * (~ gets -1/-1 for each * permanent you control.)
*=Colour, This keyword is only going to appear on undercosted fatties etc, to promote players to not go into multi colour, to fill up flaws in a colour.
Another keyword, notably for black and a bit of blue, Mortality - X (Whenever this creature deals combat damage to another creature, put X Mortality counters on it, at the beginning of its controller's upkeep remove a time counter from it. If he can't sacrifice it.)
I'm not a great guru at wording, so I'll need help. Also I think theres another ability similar to this, this is simply to make more sense in its enviroment.
Martyrdom - X(Only play this ability if this creature is attacking or blocking. Prevent all damage that would be dealt by it until the end of turn, sacrifice it at the end of turn.)
In addition to this ability, there will probably be a second half on martyrdom, e.g. when ~ martyrdom is activated, * happens.
Few more ideas are welcome, but this is quite alot already.
Distribution of cards:
20 Basic Lands
30 Multi Colour/Artifacts/Lands
36 White
36 Blue
36 Black
36 Red
36 Green
Distribution of Rarity:
86 Commons (20 Lands inc.)
72 Uncommons
72 Rares
Themes:
Mono Colour
Sacrifice (White)
Extra Phases (Black)
A neutral team, that everyone can requisition help from.
If Kresh had more than 3 toughness, I'd say he'd see play too. But 5 mana for a 3/3 makes him so vulnerable to basic removal that its really not a great investment. I know everything dies, but not everything dies equally
Dont like to double post but I've completed 5 cards, note that they are ALL white cards, I decided to start with white and work from there.
--------------------------------------------------------
Apostle of Aphreus [mc]1W[/mc] (common)
Creature-Human Cleric
Vigilance
T: Prevent the next 1 damage that would be dealt to target creature or player
Martyrdom — 1WW (Play this ability only if this creature is attacking or blocking, prevent all damage that would be dealt to this creature, at the end of turn sacrifice it.)
When Apostle of Aphreus’s Martyrdom Ability resolves, prevent the next 2 damage that would be dealt to all creatures you control
Devoted Soldier [mc]1W[/mc] Common
Creature-Human Soldier
Martyrdom — [mc]1W[/mc] (Play this ability only if this creature is attacking or blocking, prevent all damage that would be dealt to this creature, at the end of turn sacrifice it.)
When Devoted Soldier’s Martyrdom ability resolves, it gets +2/+0 until the end of turn.
Fanatical Zealot [mc]W[/mc] Common
Creature-Human Warrior
Martyrdom — [mc]W[/mc] (Play this ability only if this creature is attacking or blocking, prevent all damage that would be dealt to this creature, at the end of turn sacrifice it.)
When Fanatical Zealot’s Martyrdom resolves, untap all creatures you control.
P/T 1/1
Flavour: Throwing themselves into the fray, they inspired others.
Manifestation of Courage [mc[1WW[/mc] Rare
Creature-Avatar
Vigilance, First Strike
Distrustful — Black, Red, Green, Blue (This creature gets -1/-1 for each Black, Red, Green, Blue permanent you control.)
Manifestation of Courage’s power and toughness is equal to 1 plus the number of white creatures you control
P/T 1+*/1+*
Flavour: “The combined courage of our order is a force to be reckoned with”—Apostle of Heroneus
If Kresh had more than 3 toughness, I'd say he'd see play too. But 5 mana for a 3/3 makes him so vulnerable to basic removal that its really not a great investment. I know everything dies, but not everything dies equally
First, the mechanics. You have some solid ideas but (as you said yourself) the wording is a little weak/vague.
Divine Ascent -- This should be two different things. My suggestion: Make the number of counters needed to ascend be a constant number (let's say 7, like threshold) and vary the number of counters added each upkeep. Then make a Divinity ability word that can be different for each creature with ascension.
Ascension N (At the beginning of your upkeep, put N divinity counters on this, to a maximum of [whatever you set as the ascension number... let's say seven].)
Divinity -- [Threshold-like effect].
For example...
Zen Penitent
Creature -- Human Monk
1/1
Ascension 2 (At the beginning of your upkeep, put two divinity counters on this, to a maximum of seven.)
Divinity -- CARDNAME gets +3/+3 and flying as long as it has seven or more divinity counters on it.
Then you can get really wacky in set 3 (or whenever) and have creatures with one ability but not the other. Wooooaaaahhhh.
Distrustful -- Interesting drawback. If you're pushing monocolor it's okay as a keyword, unless you could expand it into qualities... like protection. It's like anti-protection anyway. Finally, this is a completely personal nitpick, but "distrustful" sounds awkward. My suggestion:
Reject [color] [type/subtype] (This creature gets -1/-1 for each [color] [type/subtype] you control.)
For example...
Manifestation of Courage :1mana::symw::symw:
Creature -- Avatar (R)
1+*/1+*
Reject nonwhite (This creature gets -1/-1 for each nonwhite permanent you control.) CARDNAME's power and toughness are each equal to 1 plus the number of white creatures you control.
Mortality -- Does the creature who deals the damage get mortality, or does it go to the creature who is dealt the damage? Either way, it's essentially vanishing.
Self:
Whenever CARDNAME deals combat damage to a creature, put [some number] time counters on CARDNAME and it gains vanishing. (At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter from it. When the last is removed, sacrifice it. This effect doesn't end at end of turn.)
Others:
Whenever CARDNAME deals combat damage to a creature, put [some number] time counters on that creature and it gains vanishing. (At the beginning of its controller's upkeep, that player removes a time counter from that creature. If that player can't, he or she sacrifices it.)
Martyrdom -- Make it like Forecast, but instead of revealing from hand and restricted to the upkeep step, make it sacrifice the creature and restrict it to the combat phase.
Martyrdom -- [cost], Sacrifice CARDNAME: [effect]. (Play this ability only during combat.)
This is different in some ways from your original (notably, the creature doesn't get the chance to make it past the combat phase), but I think it's cleaner and more appropriate for a "martyr." Still, this changes a few things.
Devoted Soldier :1mana::symw:
Creature -- Human Soldier (C)
2/2
:1mana::symw:: CARDNAME gets +2/+0 until end of turn. At end of turn, sacrifice CARDNAME.
Thoughts on the above card: Strictly better than Glory Seeker (although probably fine at a :symw::symw:) and its ability is red.
Fanatical Zealot
Creature -- Human Warrior (C)
1/1
Martyrdom -- :symw:, Sacrifice CARDNAME: Untap all creatures you control. (Play this ability only during combat.)
Thoughts: Seems fair. Seal of white Vitalize, although maybe it should give them vigilance instead.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Do I Contradict Myself? Very Well Then I Contradict Myself.
First, the mechanics. You have some solid ideas but (as you said yourself) the wording is a little weak/vague.
Divine Ascent -- This should be two different things. My suggestion: Make the number of counters needed to ascend be a constant number (let's say 7, like threshold) and vary the number of counters added each upkeep. Then make a Divinity ability word that can be different for each creature with ascension.
Ascension N (At the beginning of your upkeep, put N divinity counters on this, to a maximum of [whatever you set as the ascension number... let's say seven].) Divinity -- [Threshold-like effect].
For example...
Zen Penitent
Creature -- Human Monk
1/1
Ascension 2 (At the beginning of your upkeep, put two divinity counters on this, to a maximum of seven.) Divinity -- CARDNAME gets +3/+3 and flying as long as it has seven or more divinity counters on it.
Then you can get really wacky in set 3 (or whenever) and have creatures with one ability but not the other. Wooooaaaahhhh.
I'll use your idea, it seems better worded, I'll just have to use a nice number that'll fit well, 12 or 24 seem good.
Distrustful -- Interesting drawback. If you're pushing monocolor it's okay as a keyword, unless you could expand it into qualities... like protection. It's like anti-protection anyway. Finally, this is a completely personal nitpick, but "distrustful" sounds awkward. My suggestion:
Reject [color] [type/subtype] (This creature gets -1/-1 for each [color] [type/subtype] you control.)
For example...
Manifestation of Courage :1mana::symw::symw:
Creature -- Avatar (R)
1+*/1+*
Reject nonwhite (This creature gets -1/-1 for each nonwhite permanent you control.)
CARDNAME's power and toughness are each equal to 1 plus the number of white creatures you control.
Well this is just wording, and I still haven't had a eureka on a better synonnym, needs help. I don't think its really rejecting, its more like a huge ball of white courage standing next to this evil looking slimy dirt bag, he'll be like GAH! And lose his spirit to fight, guess it could be reject but that sounds kinda weak to me too.
Mortality -- Does the creature who deals the damage get mortality, or does it go to the creature who is dealt the damage? Either way, it's essentially vanishing.
Self:
Whenever CARDNAME deals combat damage to a creature, put [some number] time counters on CARDNAME and it gains vanishing. (At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter from it. When the last is removed, sacrifice it. This effect doesn't end at end of turn.)
Others:
Whenever CARDNAME deals combat damage to a creature, put [some number] time counters on that creature and it gains vanishing. (At the beginning of its controller's upkeep, that player removes a time counter from that creature. If that player can't, he or she sacrifices it.)
You're correct that its exactly the same as vanishing, but it just sounded kinda weird. The idea I had was that black would be in control of time to a degree, and alot of their creatures/instants/sorceries would have the ability to give vanishing to other creatures, and then they had creatures/instants/sorceries (btw whats the generic term for instants/sorceries/enchantments?), which made players take another step instantly, e.g.
~
:1mana::symb::symb::symtap:: Target player immediately takes another upkeep/draw/end(might be a bit evil this one)/combat/etc step. (Once this step has ended, go immediately back to the step/phase before this ability was played.)
Martyrdom -- Make it like Forecast, but instead of revealing from hand and restricted to the upkeep step, make it sacrifice the creature and restrict it to the combat phase.
Martyrdom -- [cost], Sacrifice CARDNAME: [effect]. (Play this ability only during combat.)
This is different in some ways from your original (notably, the creature doesn't get the chance to make it past the combat phase), but I think it's cleaner and more appropriate for a "martyr." Still, this changes a few things.
Devoted Soldier :1mana::symw:
Creature -- Human Soldier (C)
2/2
:1mana::symw:: CARDNAME gets +2/+0 until end of turn. At end of turn, sacrifice CARDNAME.
Thoughts on the above card: Strictly better than Glory Seeker (although probably fine at a :symw::symw:) and its ability is red.
Fanatical Zealot
Creature -- Human Warrior (C)
1/1
Martyrdom -- :symw:, Sacrifice CARDNAME: Untap all creatures you control. (Play this ability only during combat.)
Thoughts: Seems fair. Seal of white Vitalize, although maybe it should give them vigilance instead.
The idea I had for this ability was from movies like Kingdom of Heaven and the likes, if you haven't seen the movie, there is one scene where a bunch of Mounted men-at arms and the protaginist ('round 30 in total) charge against a saracen cavalry formation of 5 times their number, inorder to protect villagers fleeing to the castle. Basically the idea is that they're all going to go to hell, but they might as well drag some others while they do it. Hence martyrdom was born.
I think I'll keep martyrdom as it is now, but I'll need some help rewording it. Because you can only play it whilst the creature is attacking/blocking, for fanatical zealot its too late to give vigilance to other creatures, therefore I used untap all creatures you control.
Originally I had for Devoted Soldier: Martyrdom - [mc]1W[/mc]
When Devoted Soldier's martyrdom ability resolves, it deals 2 damage to each attacking or blocking creature.
But now I realized its a little bit powerful, its able to take down alot of stuff with it, so I'll probably make a heftier cost on the ability.
New Martyrdom wording:
Martyrdom - X (Play this ability on if CARDNAME is attacking or Blocking, prevent all damage that would be dealt to CARDNAME until the end of turn, sacrifice CARDNAME at the end of turn.)
(There is some evilness if I gave black the ability to instantly make an end turn step, but don't worry some martyrs will do more in death than in life :wink:)
P.S. How do i upload pictures of the cards from MSE onto the forums?
If Kresh had more than 3 toughness, I'd say he'd see play too. But 5 mana for a 3/3 makes him so vulnerable to basic removal that its really not a great investment. I know everything dies, but not everything dies equally
Distrustful would be better off as a positive rather than a negative ability. Most abilities nowadays are worded as beneficial and providing you with more options, whereas this one saps the fun out of playing multicolour. While it does look cleaner reworded as Reject [qualty], it's still a drawback and thus loses some of its appeal.
You could encourage monocolour decks simply by changing mana costs or ability costs. Hosing yourself isn't really a good idea. If the cards with Distrust (or whatever it'll be called) only dsliked enemy colours then it still gives you a bit if leeway. On the flipside, if there was a card which disliked, say, artifacts, it'd be too easy to build a deck without any artifacts.
You're walking a tightrope with a drawback ability. One of the best examples of a drawback ability that thrived was Cumulative Upkeep, especially in Coldsnap. It appeared on a large number of cards but almost all of them gained some kind of bonus from the drawback - it that case, having more age counters. If you can somehow turn your drawback around then you know you're on the right path.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gaymer
Custom Card / Set Reviewer
When reviewing custom cards / sets, I look for (a) flavour, (b) function, and (c) cohesiveness, generally through a risk focus.
These days its too easy to splash double and even triple coloured things to an extent, so I figured it would be better to make it a negative thing, I might actually just make it enemy colours but still deciding on that.
If Kresh had more than 3 toughness, I'd say he'd see play too. But 5 mana for a 3/3 makes him so vulnerable to basic removal that its really not a great investment. I know everything dies, but not everything dies equally
If Kresh had more than 3 toughness, I'd say he'd see play too. But 5 mana for a 3/3 makes him so vulnerable to basic removal that its really not a great investment. I know everything dies, but not everything dies equally
[/quote]
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I've used some of the old idea, and now this is the new background. There are 10-20 Gods, 5 of them are the main gods, each representing one colour of magic. Beneath them, are minor gods, each governs a particular aspect of society on this plane. Civil War has broken out between the different Gods, and is tearing the plane apart. Each god has his/her champions, who are effectively demi gods to fight for her, (they will probably be legends).
A mechanic I've thought up of is Divine Ascent - X (At the beginning of your upkeep put an ascension counter on this card, when it has X counters, it gains *)
Obviously this would be used for the divine side.
Another keyword for this block is Distrustful - * (~ gets -1/-1 for each * permanent you control.)
*=Colour, This keyword is only going to appear on undercosted fatties etc, to promote players to not go into multi colour, to fill up flaws in a colour.
Another keyword, notably for black and a bit of blue, Mortality - X (Whenever this creature deals combat damage to another creature, put X Mortality counters on it, at the beginning of its controller's upkeep remove a time counter from it. If he can't sacrifice it.)
I'm not a great guru at wording, so I'll need help. Also I think theres another ability similar to this, this is simply to make more sense in its enviroment.
Martyrdom - X (Only play this ability if this creature is attacking or blocking. Prevent all damage that would be dealt by it until the end of turn, sacrifice it at the end of turn.)
In addition to this ability, there will probably be a second half on martyrdom, e.g. when ~ martyrdom is activated, * happens.
Few more ideas are welcome, but this is quite alot already.
Distribution of cards:
20 Basic Lands
30 Multi Colour/Artifacts/Lands
36 White
36 Blue
36 Black
36 Red
36 Green
Distribution of Rarity:
86 Commons (20 Lands inc.)
72 Uncommons
72 Rares
Themes:
Mono Colour
Sacrifice (White)
Extra Phases (Black)
A neutral team, that everyone can requisition help from.
[/quote]
--------------------------------------------------------
Apostle of Aphreus [mc]1W[/mc] (common)
Creature-Human Cleric
Vigilance
T: Prevent the next 1 damage that would be dealt to target creature or player
Martyrdom — 1WW (Play this ability only if this creature is attacking or blocking, prevent all damage that would be dealt to this creature, at the end of turn sacrifice it.)
When Apostle of Aphreus’s Martyrdom Ability resolves, prevent the next 2 damage that would be dealt to all creatures you control
P/T 1/2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Chastise, seems acceptable in my set.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Devoted Soldier [mc]1W[/mc] Common
Creature-Human Soldier
Martyrdom — [mc]1W[/mc] (Play this ability only if this creature is attacking or blocking, prevent all damage that would be dealt to this creature, at the end of turn sacrifice it.)
When Devoted Soldier’s Martyrdom ability resolves, it gets +2/+0 until the end of turn.
P/T 2/2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fanatical Zealot [mc]W[/mc] Common
Creature-Human Warrior
Martyrdom — [mc]W[/mc] (Play this ability only if this creature is attacking or blocking, prevent all damage that would be dealt to this creature, at the end of turn sacrifice it.)
When Fanatical Zealot’s Martyrdom resolves, untap all creatures you control.
P/T 1/1
Flavour: Throwing themselves into the fray, they inspired others.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manifestation of Courage [mc[1WW[/mc] Rare
Creature-Avatar
Vigilance, First Strike
Distrustful — Black, Red, Green, Blue (This creature gets -1/-1 for each Black, Red, Green, Blue permanent you control.)
Manifestation of Courage’s power and toughness is equal to 1 plus the number of white creatures you control
P/T 1+*/1+*
Flavour: “The combined courage of our order is a force to be reckoned with”—Apostle of Heroneus
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments?
[/quote]
Divine Ascent -- This should be two different things. My suggestion: Make the number of counters needed to ascend be a constant number (let's say 7, like threshold) and vary the number of counters added each upkeep. Then make a Divinity ability word that can be different for each creature with ascension.
Ascension N (At the beginning of your upkeep, put N divinity counters on this, to a maximum of [whatever you set as the ascension number... let's say seven].)
Divinity -- [Threshold-like effect].
For example...
Zen Penitent
Creature -- Human Monk
1/1
Ascension 2 (At the beginning of your upkeep, put two divinity counters on this, to a maximum of seven.)
Divinity -- CARDNAME gets +3/+3 and flying as long as it has seven or more divinity counters on it.
Then you can get really wacky in set 3 (or whenever) and have creatures with one ability but not the other. Wooooaaaahhhh.
Distrustful -- Interesting drawback. If you're pushing monocolor it's okay as a keyword, unless you could expand it into qualities... like protection. It's like anti-protection anyway. Finally, this is a completely personal nitpick, but "distrustful" sounds awkward. My suggestion:
Reject [color] [type/subtype] (This creature gets -1/-1 for each [color] [type/subtype] you control.)
For example...
Manifestation of Courage :1mana::symw::symw:
Creature -- Avatar (R)
1+*/1+*
Reject nonwhite (This creature gets -1/-1 for each nonwhite permanent you control.)
CARDNAME's power and toughness are each equal to 1 plus the number of white creatures you control.
Mortality -- Does the creature who deals the damage get mortality, or does it go to the creature who is dealt the damage? Either way, it's essentially vanishing.
Self:
Whenever CARDNAME deals combat damage to a creature, put [some number] time counters on CARDNAME and it gains vanishing. (At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter from it. When the last is removed, sacrifice it. This effect doesn't end at end of turn.)
Others:
Whenever CARDNAME deals combat damage to a creature, put [some number] time counters on that creature and it gains vanishing. (At the beginning of its controller's upkeep, that player removes a time counter from that creature. If that player can't, he or she sacrifices it.)
Martyrdom -- Make it like Forecast, but instead of revealing from hand and restricted to the upkeep step, make it sacrifice the creature and restrict it to the combat phase.
Martyrdom -- [cost], Sacrifice CARDNAME: [effect]. (Play this ability only during combat.)
This is different in some ways from your original (notably, the creature doesn't get the chance to make it past the combat phase), but I think it's cleaner and more appropriate for a "martyr." Still, this changes a few things.
Devoted Soldier :1mana::symw:
Creature -- Human Soldier (C)
2/2
:1mana::symw:: CARDNAME gets +2/+0 until end of turn. At end of turn, sacrifice CARDNAME.
Thoughts on the above card: Strictly better than Glory Seeker (although probably fine at a :symw::symw:) and its ability is red.
Fanatical Zealot
Creature -- Human Warrior (C)
1/1
Martyrdom -- :symw:, Sacrifice CARDNAME: Untap all creatures you control. (Play this ability only during combat.)
Thoughts: Seems fair. Seal of white Vitalize, although maybe it should give them vigilance instead.
Very Well Then I Contradict Myself.
I'll use your idea, it seems better worded, I'll just have to use a nice number that'll fit well, 12 or 24 seem good.
Well this is just wording, and I still haven't had a eureka on a better synonnym, needs help. I don't think its really rejecting, its more like a huge ball of white courage standing next to this evil looking slimy dirt bag, he'll be like GAH! And lose his spirit to fight, guess it could be reject but that sounds kinda weak to me too.
You're correct that its exactly the same as vanishing, but it just sounded kinda weird. The idea I had was that black would be in control of time to a degree, and alot of their creatures/instants/sorceries would have the ability to give vanishing to other creatures, and then they had creatures/instants/sorceries (btw whats the generic term for instants/sorceries/enchantments?), which made players take another step instantly, e.g.
~
:1mana::symb::symb::symtap:: Target player immediately takes another upkeep/draw/end(might be a bit evil this one)/combat/etc step. (Once this step has ended, go immediately back to the step/phase before this ability was played.)
The idea I had for this ability was from movies like Kingdom of Heaven and the likes, if you haven't seen the movie, there is one scene where a bunch of Mounted men-at arms and the protaginist ('round 30 in total) charge against a saracen cavalry formation of 5 times their number, inorder to protect villagers fleeing to the castle. Basically the idea is that they're all going to go to hell, but they might as well drag some others while they do it. Hence martyrdom was born.
I think I'll keep martyrdom as it is now, but I'll need some help rewording it. Because you can only play it whilst the creature is attacking/blocking, for fanatical zealot its too late to give vigilance to other creatures, therefore I used untap all creatures you control.
Originally I had for Devoted Soldier: Martyrdom - [mc]1W[/mc]
When Devoted Soldier's martyrdom ability resolves, it deals 2 damage to each attacking or blocking creature.
But now I realized its a little bit powerful, its able to take down alot of stuff with it, so I'll probably make a heftier cost on the ability.
New Martyrdom wording:
Martyrdom - X (Play this ability on if CARDNAME is attacking or Blocking, prevent all damage that would be dealt to CARDNAME until the end of turn, sacrifice CARDNAME at the end of turn.)
(There is some evilness if I gave black the ability to instantly make an end turn step, but don't worry some martyrs will do more in death than in life :wink:)
P.S. How do i upload pictures of the cards from MSE onto the forums?
[/quote]
You could encourage monocolour decks simply by changing mana costs or ability costs. Hosing yourself isn't really a good idea. If the cards with Distrust (or whatever it'll be called) only dsliked enemy colours then it still gives you a bit if leeway. On the flipside, if there was a card which disliked, say, artifacts, it'd be too easy to build a deck without any artifacts.
You're walking a tightrope with a drawback ability. One of the best examples of a drawback ability that thrived was Cumulative Upkeep, especially in Coldsnap. It appeared on a large number of cards but almost all of them gained some kind of bonus from the drawback - it that case, having more age counters. If you can somehow turn your drawback around then you know you're on the right path.
Custom Card / Set Reviewer
When reviewing custom cards / sets, I look for (a) flavour, (b) function, and (c) cohesiveness, generally through a risk focus.
[/quote]
[/quote]