The Case of the Scarab1 Legendary Artifact (MR) 1, T: Target player exiles a creature card in his or her graveyard. Put a sand counter on The Case of the Scarab. X, T, remove X sand counters from The Case of the Scarab, then shuffle it in your library: Return target creature card with a converted mana cost of X that was exiled by this card under your control and it also gains indestructible. It is a black zombie in addition to its other colors and types.
The Case of the Scarab was a creation of the khadi, an ancient sect of heartless sahir from Rabiah the Infinite. Its intended purpose was to create and control undead. Any piece of a dead body placed in the case was instantly transformed into sand. A pinch of this sand, sprinkled upon the rest of the corpse, animated it into a zombie. As long as a portion of the sand created by the ritual remained within the Case of the Scarab, the zombie was under the complete control of whoever possessed the case, and could not be destroyed unless burned to ashes and the ashes scattered; any other damage would be regenerated.
How it ended up within the Tomb of Seven Thunders on the plane of Kamigawa however is unknown.
Sounds fair, although personally I'd rather see this have a sac clause.
I agree. The fact that it makes the returned creature indestructible is quite powerful, making the Case sacrifice itself would be a good way to balance that. I'd also probably make the mana activation X instead of 5, so you aren't discouraged from burning it on a small creature and are limited from the ability to use it on huge creatures.
Modified its second activation cost. Also gave it an extra bit of text to have it leave the battlefield, however instead of sacrificing itself, it shuffles itself away into the library. Which I feel is much more appropriate to the flavor. The only way it could be more appropriate is if it interacted with the planechase cards.
I keep imagining in my head this cardname is a detective novel title.
The Case of the Scarab3
Artifact (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, investigate.
Sacrifice three Clues, sacrifice The Case of the Scarab: Create a legendary colorless artifact token named The Scarab. It has, "Sacrifice The Scarab: Add three mana of any one color to your mana pool."
Name2
Artifact (R) T: Exile target card in a graveyard. If it's a creature card, put a charge counter on ~. 1W, Remove X charge counters from ~, T: You may play a creature card from exile with a mana cost of X or less without paying it's mana cost this turn.
OR:
Name2
Artifact (R) T: Exile target card in a graveyard. If it's a creature card, put a charge counter on ~. 1B, Remove X charge counters from ~, T: Return a creature card with a CMC of X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
The first is white, the 2nd is black.
* I don't see why you need to pay X for this effect - it's slow, making it cost mana AND time is silly.
* I've upped the cost to 2 and removed the mana cost for the first ability because the only way this thing will see play is as a counter to graveyard strategies (or an exile-enabler).
You'd think a legendary artifact so easy ( ) to build would either be tiny, or simple, or low quality. But this is a large, ornate, golden item. One mana, wow... I'll take ten!
But I really love the effect, and your writeup of the history. Creative
The Case of the Scarab 1
Legendary Artifact (MR)
1, T: Target player exiles a creature card in his or her graveyard. Put a sand counter on The Case of the Scarab.
X, T, remove X sand counters from The Case of the Scarab, then shuffle it in your library: Return target creature card with a converted mana cost of X that was exiled by this card under your control and it also gains indestructible. It is a black zombie in addition to its other colors and types.
How it ended up within the Tomb of Seven Thunders on the plane of Kamigawa however is unknown.
Should be "counter", not "token".
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
I agree. The fact that it makes the returned creature indestructible is quite powerful, making the Case sacrifice itself would be a good way to balance that. I'd also probably make the mana activation X instead of 5, so you aren't discouraged from burning it on a small creature and are limited from the ability to use it on huge creatures.
Other than that, I like the concept. Reminds me of Grimoire of the Dead.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
The Case of the Scarab 3
Artifact (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, investigate.
Sacrifice three Clues, sacrifice The Case of the Scarab: Create a legendary colorless artifact token named The Scarab. It has, "Sacrifice The Scarab: Add three mana of any one color to your mana pool."
Name 2
Artifact (R)
T: Exile target card in a graveyard. If it's a creature card, put a charge counter on ~.
1W, Remove X charge counters from ~, T: You may play a creature card from exile with a mana cost of X or less without paying it's mana cost this turn.
OR:
Name 2
Artifact (R)
T: Exile target card in a graveyard. If it's a creature card, put a charge counter on ~.
1B, Remove X charge counters from ~, T: Return a creature card with a CMC of X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
The first is white, the 2nd is black.
* I don't see why you need to pay X for this effect - it's slow, making it cost mana AND time is silly.
* I've upped the cost to 2 and removed the mana cost for the first ability because the only way this thing will see play is as a counter to graveyard strategies (or an exile-enabler).
But I really love the effect, and your writeup of the history. Creative
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