Wow... these black cards are insanely well designed. I love Anxiety State, because at first it looks like a strictly better Carnophage, but then you realize that it drains you all game, even after it dies. It also is much worse in multiples because of the legendary status and because the effects will stack, and 2 life a turn for the rest of the game is a hefty deal.
I do like this Undeath thing. It is a cool ability, sort of like regeneration but more effective and mroe in flavor with black. Mort is well designed. I like Contamination and Hand of Victory in a control deck, where both would be awesome. I do like the wording how it is because it makes multiples not quite as good, but still good. Loss of Sanity is just a generally cool card
Its only balanced if there's absolutely no sac outlet. That black enchantment that makes a 2/2 Zombie (forget what it's called) was very good by itself in sui black, and became even better with Phyrexian Negator.
Sarcomany is the card you are thinking of, but it also has a way to avoid the life loss. It only starts when the token dies, unless you have another zombie in play in which case it doesn't take any life. In fact, with the comparison to this and carnophage, I'm thinking that the enchanement could do with a small ability like trample or regeneration for 1B.
Undeath is reasonably interesting, but I feel like the current way it's templated could be neater. I would suggest that rather than writing out a mana cost and just a number for the life cost, actually writing out ":1mana::symb:, pay 3 life" after Undeath. I know that it's longer, but it's a little more like the way costs are usually worded.
I like that Mort's ability has synergy with the Undeath ability. Good work.
Anxiety State is fair compared to Sarcomancy. Nice work.
Contamination is really very strong. (Comparable to mutilate.) I don't think it's too over the top though. (Especially since there is an absurd amount of power in Blue and especially white.)
Hand of Victory - The current wording prevents a hand of victory from sacrificing another hand of victory, but that's minor enough that it should be changed to the more standard "sacrifice a creature other than Hand of Victory".
Loss of Sanity - Seems fair enough, I suppose. Maybe make it cost more black and less generic mana.
The black cards are much fairer and better designed on the whole than the blue or white ones. Nice work.
Undeath doesn't look so good. I would word it like this:
Undeath X (When ~this~ goes into a graveyard from play, you may pay its mana cost and X life. If you do, return ~this~ to play. Mana cost includes color)
Frightening Screamer - I'd be frightened if the other guy played this. Powerful, but probably fair. Fen Stalker and Marsh Lurker aren't sacred.
Insanity - Mind Twist is banned. Making the discard non-random doesn't go far enough to fix the card. You could maybe try this at XBBB.
Nocturnal Ceremony - Another "powerful, but probably fair". I'd throw non-black on there, but that's not an absolute neccessity.
Soul Bidding - Well, it looks better than Infernal Tribute, but the sorcery part means that it can't be used on a dying creature, which is pretty big. Is there a reason it can't sacrifice itself? Potentially a scary engine.
The modern way to do Cursed animal is to have it start with five +1/+1 counters and remove one when it attacks or blocks. This thing is a savage beating.
Shadow Bringer - This is comparable to, I dunno, Dance of Shadows. It's better than the dance, though. Haste and Evasion is a brutal combination.
Mark of Pain - My first inclination is that this is too good, but it might not be. I can't think a better way to do the black element of the cycle, though.
EDIT: COMMONS
Bidder of Blood - Seems reasonable. Nice Undeath common.
Pursuer Dead - The ability is almost useless. Most things that it deals damage to will die anyway, and most things that damage it will destroy it. Makes much more sense as a 2/2 or something.
Ease the Pain - This is really very strong, but it can't cost more. There's no good comparison to this. (Lose Hope, Darkblast.)
Empty Mind - Fast discard spells are tailored especially not to hit land for a reason. This is also strictly better than Encroach, especially in an environment that doesn't encourage nonbasics.
Hunting Armies - This is fair as long as you leave the tap on there. Unfortunately, I do not see a way to do this without -1/-1 coutners.
Immortal Being - Seems fair. Another nice Undeath Common.
TSAIP - It's a nice card, but it Simoons for only one black mana. The speed restriction and the power loss might not compensate for that. I'd up the cost by at least one mana. (It's also a slightly grandiose name for such a tiny effect. Perhaps "Wages of Sin"?)
Crawling Dirt/Filth - Nice simple card with a nice simple effect, appropriately costed. Good work.
joyd- about insanity, I use the phrase "pay only black mana on X", so basically you should pay: BB- one card, BBB- 2 cards, BBBB- 3 cards. you got the picture.
Torch of Salvation isn't strictly better than Fervor because it's harder to splach, but you may want to just reprint Fervor.
Conflagration - "Destroy all Creatures" isn't something that often appears on modern red cards. That aside, this card is fine as is. (Though the set isn't very large and contains four Wrath varients, including the best Wrath ever.)
For cards with Char to make sense, they have to be fair in both thier forms. Two-power creatures with haste and no drawback ususally cost more than two mana, but there's no creature that's strictly worse than Feo's RR form, and I beleive that 4 damage is reasonable for the R form.
Flamehand is also not rediculous in either form.
As it is, Char is on the ugly side. Perhaps the Char cost could always be equal to the creature's mana cost? (That does rule out a few kinds of cards you could do with it, but it'd work with the two posted so far.)
Flaming Breeze - This is quite powerful, but as long as there's no land D at common, it should be alright.
Alerting Troops - I'd up the Char cost by one.
Fire-Breathing Dragon - It's smaller than full-grown dragons normally are, and dragons are virtually always rare. Unfortunately, there are no rares that look good to move to uncommon.
Relinquish - This ability is more black or white. Red isn't very good at the graveyard. In addition, Char feels a little lame on this card. (Either option is sort of inconsequential.) I'm assuming this card is an attempt to give red a way to deal with the returning enchantments or maybe Undeath, but I honestly don't feel that it's really necessary. I suppose this card has reasonable precedence in the Yamabushi cards from Kamigawa, so if you're terribly attached to this card, I guess it's justified, but if you need space at red uncommon, I'd cut this one.
Singeing Flesh - This would still be fair if you cut the haste (Hypervolt Grasp), but it's not broken as is.
Flames of Destruction - This is tricky, and I'm not positive it works. I'd go with, "Whenever a permanent comes into play under another player's control, that player may pay :2mana:. If they don't, Flames of Destruction deals 2 damage to that player." It's not exactly the same in every case, and FoD deals the damage rather than their permanents, but I know that that wording works. (I'm not positive that the permanents get Char in time for it to trigger.)
Anguish of Assets - This is likely to do an awful lot of damage. I'd up the cost at least a bit, though it might be okay depending on the environment.
Living Scars might be a little too much. Perhaps it might be interesting with a higher Char cost?
Scorching Fighters - Double Strike has never been at common, but I don't know of any reason why it catagorically should not be. The char cost seems just righ on this one.
Suprise Attack - I'd cost this at 1RR, but that's not the real problem here. Granting an extra phase tends to be exclusively a rare effect. (Every extant card that does it is rare.) I'd move this up to uncommon, dropping Relinquish, and add another common red creature, since red only has 6 creatures and Disposible Forces. (In most sets, red is over half creatures. In standard, 122/220 red cards are creatures.)
Crucial Act - I'd up the damage part of the Char. The mana cost looks really unattractive compared to only 2 damage.
Disposible Forces - Most cards of this type (Firecat Blitz, Feral Lightning) remove the tokens from the game at the end of the turn. (It's not exactly the same thing, though most of the time it doesn't matter.)
Living Scars might be a little too much. Perhaps it might be interesting with a higher Char cost?
Scorching Fighters - Double Strike has never been at common, but I don't know of any reason why it catagorically should not be. The char cost seems just righ on this one.
Suprise Attack - I'd cost this at 1RR, but that's not the real problem here. Granting an extra phase tends to be exclusively a rare effect. (Every extant card that does it is rare.) I'd move this up to uncommon, dropping Relinquish, and add another common red creature, since red only has 6 creatures and Disposible Forces. (In most sets, red is over half creatures. In standard, 122/220 red cards are creatures.)
Crucial Act - I'd up the damage part of the Char. The mana cost looks really unattractive compared to only 2 damage.
Disposible Forces - Most cards of this type (Firecat Blitz, Feral Lightning) remove the tokens from the game at the end of the turn. (It's not exactly the same thing, though most of the time it doesn't matter.)
I have edited hardship and cruical act.
surprise attack- all the rare cards you've ment made sure you can use the extra attack pahase; this is not- you must deal combat damage to the opponent. (or have creatures with vigilance...)
Yes, all of the rare cards I mention do ensure that you can use the extra combat phase (Or at least mostly ensure it), but that's more an argument that the card should cost less than relentless assault, not that it should be common. (In some cases the card is actually better than relentless assault, since it leaves your creatures untapped at the end of the turn.)
If you intend for your set to be played in limited, Hardship Warrior shouldn't be a common. (X burn spells that hit players are major bombs in limited formats.) If the set's not designed for limited at all, then the card is merely powerful, but not too much of a concern.
Shav - I feel like it's weird for a legend to have quest. I mean, there's only one of him, so how is he getting another one? (How's the flavor of quest justify this?) He's also really good. Green normally gets only a 2/3 for GG, and this is s 2/3 for GG with a bunch of relevent abilities.
Hand of Power - A 3/3 trampler with an okay ability costs 4. Brawn. This is probably well-costed. (Certainly don't make it cheaper.)
Fact of Flaws - I'm not really sure what's going on with this card. I don't think it's too strong or too weak, but I don't get the flavor.
Survival - Well, Earthcraft is rightly banned, but it's probably safe at 4.
Forest Lions - I don't think so. Isamaru loses a point of toughness for a kinda-relevent ability, but green is worse at weenies than white. Even a 2/1 with no drawback for G would be better than what green gets. Perhaps a 2/2 trampler for 1G? (Also, "Forest Lions" doesn't sound particularly legendary.)
Fatal Growth - Seems fair enough. (I don't get the flavor of the name, though.)
Eternal Warrior is already the name of a card. Also, it should wait until the end of the turn to return to play, to prevent it from being infinately sacrificed for an effect.
Neverending Supplies seems reasonable.
Even without Quest, Increasing Elements is rediculously efficient. It could maybe get -1/-1 and cost 1GG, or get -1/-0 and remain at the same cost.
Order of the Wild - Powerful, but not unduly so, especially since the set is rather creature-light.
Eternal Warrior is already the name of a card. Also, it should wait until the end of the turn to return to play, to prevent it from being infinately sacrificed for an effect.
Neverending Supplies seems reasonable.
Even without Quest, Increasing Elements is rediculously efficient. It could maybe get -1/-1 and cost 1GG, or get -1/-0 and remain at the same cost.
Order of the Wild - Powerful, but not unduly so, especially since the set is rather creature-light.
I've edited some cards.
Boost of energy- it'ss alot weaker than glorious anthem. amyway, it's now costs GG.
Increasing elemnts is not that powerful; threre is that gruul creature 3/4 that costs even less coloerd mana than mine (1RG) and have a good ability.
Contamination is almost as good as Mutilate, you might want to make it BBBX.
I do like this Undeath thing. It is a cool ability, sort of like regeneration but more effective and mroe in flavor with black. Mort is well designed. I like Contamination and Hand of Victory in a control deck, where both would be awesome. I do like the wording how it is because it makes multiples not quite as good, but still good. Loss of Sanity is just a generally cool card
This is looking pretty awesome, keep it up man.
I like that Mort's ability has synergy with the Undeath ability. Good work.
Anxiety State is fair compared to Sarcomancy. Nice work.
Contamination is really very strong. (Comparable to mutilate.) I don't think it's too over the top though. (Especially since there is an absurd amount of power in Blue and especially white.)
Hand of Victory - The current wording prevents a hand of victory from sacrificing another hand of victory, but that's minor enough that it should be changed to the more standard "sacrifice a creature other than Hand of Victory".
Loss of Sanity - Seems fair enough, I suppose. Maybe make it cost more black and less generic mana.
The black cards are much fairer and better designed on the whole than the blue or white ones. Nice work.
Commons soon.
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Undeath X (When ~this~ goes into a graveyard from play, you may pay its mana cost and X life. If you do, return ~this~ to play. Mana cost includes color)
Red is coming soon!
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Insanity - Mind Twist is banned. Making the discard non-random doesn't go far enough to fix the card. You could maybe try this at XBBB.
Nocturnal Ceremony - Another "powerful, but probably fair". I'd throw non-black on there, but that's not an absolute neccessity.
Soul Bidding - Well, it looks better than Infernal Tribute, but the sorcery part means that it can't be used on a dying creature, which is pretty big. Is there a reason it can't sacrifice itself? Potentially a scary engine.
The modern way to do Cursed animal is to have it start with five +1/+1 counters and remove one when it attacks or blocks. This thing is a savage beating.
Shadow Bringer - This is comparable to, I dunno, Dance of Shadows. It's better than the dance, though. Haste and Evasion is a brutal combination.
Mark of Pain - My first inclination is that this is too good, but it might not be. I can't think a better way to do the black element of the cycle, though.
EDIT: COMMONS
Bidder of Blood - Seems reasonable. Nice Undeath common.
Pursuer Dead - The ability is almost useless. Most things that it deals damage to will die anyway, and most things that damage it will destroy it. Makes much more sense as a 2/2 or something.
Ease the Pain - This is really very strong, but it can't cost more. There's no good comparison to this. (Lose Hope, Darkblast.)
Empty Mind - Fast discard spells are tailored especially not to hit land for a reason. This is also strictly better than Encroach, especially in an environment that doesn't encourage nonbasics.
Hunting Armies - This is fair as long as you leave the tap on there. Unfortunately, I do not see a way to do this without -1/-1 coutners.
Immortal Being - Seems fair. Another nice Undeath Common.
TSAIP - It's a nice card, but it Simoons for only one black mana. The speed restriction and the power loss might not compensate for that. I'd up the cost by at least one mana. (It's also a slightly grandiose name for such a tiny effect. Perhaps "Wages of Sin"?)
Crawling Dirt/Filth - Nice simple card with a nice simple effect, appropriately costed. Good work.
p.s. I've taken some of your advices.
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Torch of Salvation isn't strictly better than Fervor because it's harder to splach, but you may want to just reprint Fervor.
Conflagration - "Destroy all Creatures" isn't something that often appears on modern red cards. That aside, this card is fine as is. (Though the set isn't very large and contains four Wrath varients, including the best Wrath ever.)
For cards with Char to make sense, they have to be fair in both thier forms. Two-power creatures with haste and no drawback ususally cost more than two mana, but there's no creature that's strictly worse than Feo's RR form, and I beleive that 4 damage is reasonable for the R form.
Flamehand is also not rediculous in either form.
As it is, Char is on the ugly side. Perhaps the Char cost could always be equal to the creature's mana cost? (That does rule out a few kinds of cards you could do with it, but it'd work with the two posted so far.)
Commons soon.
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Alerting Troops - I'd up the Char cost by one.
Fire-Breathing Dragon - It's smaller than full-grown dragons normally are, and dragons are virtually always rare. Unfortunately, there are no rares that look good to move to uncommon.
Relinquish - This ability is more black or white. Red isn't very good at the graveyard. In addition, Char feels a little lame on this card. (Either option is sort of inconsequential.) I'm assuming this card is an attempt to give red a way to deal with the returning enchantments or maybe Undeath, but I honestly don't feel that it's really necessary. I suppose this card has reasonable precedence in the Yamabushi cards from Kamigawa, so if you're terribly attached to this card, I guess it's justified, but if you need space at red uncommon, I'd cut this one.
Singeing Flesh - This would still be fair if you cut the haste (Hypervolt Grasp), but it's not broken as is.
Flames of Destruction - This is tricky, and I'm not positive it works. I'd go with, "Whenever a permanent comes into play under another player's control, that player may pay :2mana:. If they don't, Flames of Destruction deals 2 damage to that player." It's not exactly the same in every case, and FoD deals the damage rather than their permanents, but I know that that wording works. (I'm not positive that the permanents get Char in time for it to trigger.)
Anguish of Assets - This is likely to do an awful lot of damage. I'd up the cost at least a bit, though it might be okay depending on the environment.
Green's coming soon.
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Oppressor Goblin - Seems fair enough. Good work.
Hardship - Heat Ray.
Living Scars might be a little too much. Perhaps it might be interesting with a higher Char cost?
Scorching Fighters - Double Strike has never been at common, but I don't know of any reason why it catagorically should not be. The char cost seems just righ on this one.
Suprise Attack - I'd cost this at 1RR, but that's not the real problem here. Granting an extra phase tends to be exclusively a rare effect. (Every extant card that does it is rare.) I'd move this up to uncommon, dropping Relinquish, and add another common red creature, since red only has 6 creatures and Disposible Forces. (In most sets, red is over half creatures. In standard, 122/220 red cards are creatures.)
Crucial Act - I'd up the damage part of the Char. The mana cost looks really unattractive compared to only 2 damage.
Disposible Forces - Most cards of this type (Firecat Blitz, Feral Lightning) remove the tokens from the game at the end of the turn. (It's not exactly the same thing, though most of the time it doesn't matter.)
I have edited hardship and cruical act.
surprise attack- all the rare cards you've ment made sure you can use the extra attack pahase; this is not- you must deal combat damage to the opponent. (or have creatures with vigilance...)
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If you intend for your set to be played in limited, Hardship Warrior shouldn't be a common. (X burn spells that hit players are major bombs in limited formats.) If the set's not designed for limited at all, then the card is merely powerful, but not too much of a concern.
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Hand of Power - A 3/3 trampler with an okay ability costs 4. Brawn. This is probably well-costed. (Certainly don't make it cheaper.)
Fact of Flaws - I'm not really sure what's going on with this card. I don't think it's too strong or too weak, but I don't get the flavor.
Survival - Well, Earthcraft is rightly banned, but it's probably safe at 4.
Forest Lions - I don't think so. Isamaru loses a point of toughness for a kinda-relevent ability, but green is worse at weenies than white. Even a 2/1 with no drawback for G would be better than what green gets. Perhaps a 2/2 trampler for 1G? (Also, "Forest Lions" doesn't sound particularly legendary.)
Fatal Growth - Seems fair enough. (I don't get the flavor of the name, though.)
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Neverending Supplies seems reasonable.
Even without Quest, Increasing Elements is rediculously efficient. It could maybe get -1/-1 and cost 1GG, or get -1/-0 and remain at the same cost.
Order of the Wild - Powerful, but not unduly so, especially since the set is rather creature-light.
Strengthening - Seems fair enough. Good work.
Boost of Energy - Titania's Boon.
Rubble - Seems fair.
I've edited some cards.
Boost of energy- it'ss alot weaker than glorious anthem. amyway, it's now costs GG.
Increasing elemnts is not that powerful; threre is that gruul creature 3/4 that costs even less coloerd mana than mine (1RG) and have a good ability.
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I'm not sure how that's a response at all to someone pointing out that it's a reprint of Titania's Boon, but somehow costs 2 less mana.
Also, for GGG you should get a vanilla (ie, no keyword) 3/4 creature. To compare a monocolor uncommon to a gold rare is a bit, uh, bizarre.