I'm not that good at making cards (I've been reading articles, but don't have much experience). It seems to me that it might be nice to make strong monocolored cards for the sake of monocolored decks. Is it OK for me to make CCCC cards like the cycle below? (I've seen CCCC cards before like Dawn Elemental, but I don't know if they're not good from a design standpoint because there haven't been recent ones).
Criticism, as long as it's not just blasting, is welcome.
(The names are tongue-in-cheek, of course)
Version 1
Deus ex MachinegunWWWW
Instant
Remove up to two target attacking or blocking creatures from the game. You gain life equal to their total converted mana cost.
Utter DismissalUUUU
Instant
Counter target spell.
Draw two cards.
RipoffBBBB
Instant
Destroy target creature. That creature's controller reveals X cards from his or her hand, where X is 7 minus the creature's converted mana cost. Choose two of those cards. That player discards those cards.
BurninateRRRR
Instant
Burninate deals 7 damage to target creature or player.
Berserking GGGG
Instant
If you control no creatures, put 3 2/2 Wolf creature tokens with deathtouch into play. Otherwise, choose one-Target creature gets +4/+4 and gains trample until end of turn, or creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain trample until end of turn.
Version 2
Deus ex MachinegunWWWW
Instant
Remove up to two target attacking or blocking creatures from the game. If you removed only nonwhite, attacking creatures this way, you may then put an X/X Angel creature token with flying into play, where X is half the total converted mana cost of the removed creatures, rounded down.
Utter DismissalUUUU
Instant
Counter target spell.
Draw three cards, then discard two cards.
RipoffBBBB
Instant
Destroy target creature. That creature's controller reveals X cards from his or her hand, where X is 7 minus the creature's converted mana cost. If any cards are revealed this way, choose one of them and that player discards that card.
BurninateRRRR
Instant
As an additional cost to play Burninate, sacrifice a basic Mountain.
Burninate deals 6 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players.
Berserking GGGG
Instant
If you control no creatures, put 3 2/2 Wolf creature tokens with deathtouch into play. Otherwise, creatures you control get +2/+2 and gain trample until end of turn.
Hey, is there anyone else on the forums going to Rice University in Houston? We could ALWAYS use more people in our Magic games. PM me if you want to play sometime
Deus ex MachinegunWWWW
Instant
Remove up to two target attacking or blocking creatures from the game. You gain life equal to their total converted mana cost.
Hmmmm... I suggest dropping the lifegain part. Dropping two creatures with no chance of return is great. Having yourself gain life is almost an anti Swords to Plowshares. That and eating the opposing creatures is way more black than white.
Utter DismissalUUUU
Instant
Counter target spell.
Draw two cards.
AAAAAHHHH. What? Are you insane? Cryptic Command is scary enough, why tack on another card?
RipoffBBBB
Instant
Destroy target creature. That creature's controller reveals X cards from his or her hand, where X is 7 minus the creature's converted mana cost. Choose two of those cards. That player discards those cards.
Sooo... Four black for basically a double Distress (Arguably as good as Persecute) and destroys a creature... Dunno what to think exactly. MBC would eat this up like a cake. 3-for-1 selected card advantage is mean.
BurninateRRRR
Instant
Burninate deals 7 damage to target creature or player.
Well, the fact that it's all red is offset by the fact that it's best housed in a mono-red burn deck anyway. Seven damage on a spell that costs four should have a downfall other than having to be played in monored...
Berserking GGGG
Instant
If you control no creatures, put 3 2/2 Wolf creature tokens with deathtouch into play. Otherwise, choose one-Target creature gets +4/+4 and gains trample until end of turn, or creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain trample until end of turn.
So... I guess the first part is good. In fact, just leave the first part. The mini-overrun is complete crap for the cost, and the giant growth is also waaaay too expensive.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Death Vish | High on Crackblade | Ooze the Boss | Long Live the King | Fomori Face Fister
Brunal Legend | Hazezon First | Cirrhosis of the Sliver | Animar Planet | The Joy of Pain-ting
@Optimus:
I could lose the lifegain from white, but the card would be underpowered somewhat in that case because *** is at the same CMC and is generally better.
The blue one is strong, but I know that the original Dismiss draws 1 for 2UU, so I didn't think drawing 2 and forcing on-color was so bad. Cryptic Command has other modes; I thought that's why it was good.
I should probably make the discard on the black one just one card. It has interesting tension because the bigger the creature you kill, the less options you get when making them discard-but I could see the discard going to 1, because it is almost always a 3-for-1 on this card.
I know the red one's pushing it. I could drop the damage to 6 or 5, but the card needs something else if it's that low. Maybe split damage? (6 damage divided as you choose....)
The green one's supposed to do something whether you have 0, 1, or many creatures in play. I could drop the Ferocious Charge-like effect and make the Overrun one +2/+2...I don't know.
Hey, is there anyone else on the forums going to Rice University in Houston? We could ALWAYS use more people in our Magic games. PM me if you want to play sometime
Yeah, I dunno what to say about the white one really. RFGing two creatures probably costs around 1WWW or so. I'm sure there's something to tack onto it other than gaining ten life.
As for the blue one, even though it forces on-color...that's not really a problem at all. Since this card is absolutely best-suited in a draw-go type deck, that extra card is just gravy on the already delicious potatoes. Perhaps make it draw three and discard two? It doesn't give you the ridiculous card advantage, but it does give you much more in the way of options.
I really like the idea of the red one being 5 damage, divided as you choose. Kinda fixes that horrible, horrible Fiery Justice. Plus worst case scenario it's five to the face. Best case scenario it's a one-sided Wrath.
Yeah, the black one could probably be fine with having them reveal their hand and discarding one card. Distress and an unrestricted kill card is pretty good at that cost. I see no real reason to make people do the math to find out how many cards they need to show.
As for the green one, put the Overrun effect at +2/+2 and leave the wolves if there are no creatures. That should be pretty good. Or perhaps do the wolves if you have two or less creatures. I mean...if all you have left on the board is two Llanowar Elves, do you really want an Overrun?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Death Vish | High on Crackblade | Ooze the Boss | Long Live the King | Fomori Face Fister
Brunal Legend | Hazezon First | Cirrhosis of the Sliver | Animar Planet | The Joy of Pain-ting
Hey, is there anyone else on the forums going to Rice University in Houston? We could ALWAYS use more people in our Magic games. PM me if you want to play sometime
About the nitpicks:
The "nonwhite" was in there sort of for flavor. "The non-us people are attacking! Angel, save us!" sort of thing. I guess it could change (then the card's always a 3-for-1 though, which is pretty strong).
The clause on the black one was to create some tension--if you kill some gigantic creature, you don't get to make them discard, but if you waste this on something smaller, then you get a pretty strong discad effect.
I could drop the "sac a land" on the red one, but would 6 damage still be OK? I wasn't sure.....
I wanted the green one to either get you creatures or help you if you already have creatures, because that's green's thing. Could I really just make it a choice? 6 power worth of creatures with deathtouch at instant speed is really good, so I was trying to restrict that (and other types of creatures created by this card would seem a bit underwhelming on an empty board).
I wonder why nobody else is posting here besides you and me....
Hey, is there anyone else on the forums going to Rice University in Houston? We could ALWAYS use more people in our Magic games. PM me if you want to play sometime
Thank you for feecback, Xargon. I like the idea of just a massive growth effect on the green one. If I get much more feedback I'll do a third revision of all the cards.
Hey, is there anyone else on the forums going to Rice University in Houston? We could ALWAYS use more people in our Magic games. PM me if you want to play sometime
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Criticism, as long as it's not just blasting, is welcome.
(The names are tongue-in-cheek, of course)
Version 1
Instant
Remove up to two target attacking or blocking creatures from the game. You gain life equal to their total converted mana cost.
Utter Dismissal UUUU
Instant
Counter target spell.
Draw two cards.
Ripoff BBBB
Instant
Destroy target creature. That creature's controller reveals X cards from his or her hand, where X is 7 minus the creature's converted mana cost. Choose two of those cards. That player discards those cards.
Burninate RRRR
Instant
Burninate deals 7 damage to target creature or player.
Berserking GGGG
Instant
If you control no creatures, put 3 2/2 Wolf creature tokens with deathtouch into play. Otherwise, choose one-Target creature gets +4/+4 and gains trample until end of turn, or creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain trample until end of turn.
Version 2
Instant
Remove up to two target attacking or blocking creatures from the game. If you removed only nonwhite, attacking creatures this way, you may then put an X/X Angel creature token with flying into play, where X is half the total converted mana cost of the removed creatures, rounded down.
Utter Dismissal UUUU
Instant
Counter target spell.
Draw three cards, then discard two cards.
Ripoff BBBB
Instant
Destroy target creature. That creature's controller reveals X cards from his or her hand, where X is 7 minus the creature's converted mana cost. If any cards are revealed this way, choose one of them and that player discards that card.
Burninate RRRR
Instant
As an additional cost to play Burninate, sacrifice a basic Mountain.
Burninate deals 6 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players.
Berserking GGGG
Instant
If you control no creatures, put 3 2/2 Wolf creature tokens with deathtouch into play. Otherwise, creatures you control get +2/+2 and gain trample until end of turn.
Hey, is there anyone else on the forums going to Rice University in Houston? We could ALWAYS use more people in our Magic games. PM me if you want to play sometime
Instant
Remove up to two target attacking or blocking creatures from the game. You gain life equal to their total converted mana cost.
Hmmmm... I suggest dropping the lifegain part. Dropping two creatures with no chance of return is great. Having yourself gain life is almost an anti Swords to Plowshares. That and eating the opposing creatures is way more black than white.
Utter Dismissal UUUU
Instant
Counter target spell.
Draw two cards.
AAAAAHHHH. What? Are you insane? Cryptic Command is scary enough, why tack on another card?
Ripoff BBBB
Instant
Destroy target creature. That creature's controller reveals X cards from his or her hand, where X is 7 minus the creature's converted mana cost. Choose two of those cards. That player discards those cards.
Sooo... Four black for basically a double Distress (Arguably as good as Persecute) and destroys a creature... Dunno what to think exactly. MBC would eat this up like a cake. 3-for-1 selected card advantage is mean.
Burninate RRRR
Instant
Burninate deals 7 damage to target creature or player.
Well, the fact that it's all red is offset by the fact that it's best housed in a mono-red burn deck anyway. Seven damage on a spell that costs four should have a downfall other than having to be played in monored...
Berserking GGGG
Instant
If you control no creatures, put 3 2/2 Wolf creature tokens with deathtouch into play. Otherwise, choose one-Target creature gets +4/+4 and gains trample until end of turn, or creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain trample until end of turn.
So... I guess the first part is good. In fact, just leave the first part. The mini-overrun is complete crap for the cost, and the giant growth is also waaaay too expensive.
I could lose the lifegain from white, but the card would be underpowered somewhat in that case because *** is at the same CMC and is generally better.
The blue one is strong, but I know that the original Dismiss draws 1 for 2UU, so I didn't think drawing 2 and forcing on-color was so bad. Cryptic Command has other modes; I thought that's why it was good.
I should probably make the discard on the black one just one card. It has interesting tension because the bigger the creature you kill, the less options you get when making them discard-but I could see the discard going to 1, because it is almost always a 3-for-1 on this card.
I know the red one's pushing it. I could drop the damage to 6 or 5, but the card needs something else if it's that low. Maybe split damage? (6 damage divided as you choose....)
The green one's supposed to do something whether you have 0, 1, or many creatures in play. I could drop the Ferocious Charge-like effect and make the Overrun one +2/+2...I don't know.
Hey, is there anyone else on the forums going to Rice University in Houston? We could ALWAYS use more people in our Magic games. PM me if you want to play sometime
As for the blue one, even though it forces on-color...that's not really a problem at all. Since this card is absolutely best-suited in a draw-go type deck, that extra card is just gravy on the already delicious potatoes. Perhaps make it draw three and discard two? It doesn't give you the ridiculous card advantage, but it does give you much more in the way of options.
I really like the idea of the red one being 5 damage, divided as you choose. Kinda fixes that horrible, horrible Fiery Justice. Plus worst case scenario it's five to the face. Best case scenario it's a one-sided Wrath.
Yeah, the black one could probably be fine with having them reveal their hand and discarding one card. Distress and an unrestricted kill card is pretty good at that cost. I see no real reason to make people do the math to find out how many cards they need to show.
As for the green one, put the Overrun effect at +2/+2 and leave the wolves if there are no creatures. That should be pretty good. Or perhaps do the wolves if you have two or less creatures. I mean...if all you have left on the board is two Llanowar Elves, do you really want an Overrun?
Hey, is there anyone else on the forums going to Rice University in Houston? We could ALWAYS use more people in our Magic games. PM me if you want to play sometime
Small nitpicks. I'd say go ahead and either remove the nonwhite clause or the one-half part of the white one. Makes it overly wordy.
Blue one is great.
I still think the black one should lose the 7-X just because it does little in-game and is complicated.
The red one should probably not sac a land, that makes it cost more than the rest of the cycle.
Maybe the green one should just choose one of the two? It's a dead card if you just have 1-2 creatures down.
The "nonwhite" was in there sort of for flavor. "The non-us people are attacking! Angel, save us!" sort of thing. I guess it could change (then the card's always a 3-for-1 though, which is pretty strong).
The clause on the black one was to create some tension--if you kill some gigantic creature, you don't get to make them discard, but if you waste this on something smaller, then you get a pretty strong discad effect.
I could drop the "sac a land" on the red one, but would 6 damage still be OK? I wasn't sure.....
I wanted the green one to either get you creatures or help you if you already have creatures, because that's green's thing. Could I really just make it a choice? 6 power worth of creatures with deathtouch at instant speed is really good, so I was trying to restrict that (and other types of creatures created by this card would seem a bit underwhelming on an empty board).
I wonder why nobody else is posting here besides you and me....
Hey, is there anyone else on the forums going to Rice University in Houston? We could ALWAYS use more people in our Magic games. PM me if you want to play sometime
Hey, is there anyone else on the forums going to Rice University in Houston? We could ALWAYS use more people in our Magic games. PM me if you want to play sometime