Hypnotic Flashes3U
Sorcery (R) Tempest - Gain control of target creature if three or more spells were cast this turn.
Raki the Trickster1U
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard (R)
Flash
When Raki the Trickster enters the battlefield, exchange control of Raki and target creature an opponent until Raki leaves the battlefield. (That permanent returns under its owner’s control.)
1/1
Hypnotic Flashes is giving me a Swirling Sandstorm vibe, and that's not so good. Having a card that's effectively a blank text box if the ability word's condition can't be met is kind of a bummer. I'd like it a lot more if it did something else if the tempest condition can't be met.
Raki the Trickster feels like it should have some red in it somewhere, since that's where Donate effects live these days. And while there's a lot of risk, I think it's also quite undercosted despite that.
Last point: having two cheaper-than-Control Magic Control Magics in a single set is asking for opponents to do some table-flipping.
I agree with Guesswork, Hypnotic Flashes needs some consolation prize if you don't get the good prize. Based on card theme and hypnosis, I would say something like "Tap target creature, it doesn't untap during it's controller's next untap step. Tempest - Instead gain control of that creature if three or more spells were cast this turn."
I like the concept of a fixed Gilded Drake, but I think the Flash puts it back over to being too good. Instant control-changing is much more powerful than sorcery speed control changing. With Raki as-is you could grab one of your opponent's attacking creatures mid combat and use it to block, and keep it if it survives, for just 2 mana. Even rares in Commander-only products are worded to avoid interactions like that.
Yea I am certainly considering having some other effect on flashes. Tap target creature was the first idea but I wanted to see if a card pushed enough (permanent Control Magic) would be good enough when enabled to not feel bad when an actual blank.
As for Raki, you wouldn't be able to ambush attackers right? As they would have to be tapped to be attacking (obvious Vigilance aside). Also, Switcheroo is blue, is that not considered in blues color pie anymore?
I agree, two of these is too much for the same set. I'll probably push 1 design into the next set.
Yea I am certainly considering having some other effect on flashes. Tap target creature was the first idea but I wanted to see if a card pushed enough (permanent Control Magic) would be good enough when enabled to not feel bad when an actual blank.
As for Raki, you wouldn't be able to ambush attackers right? As they would have to be tapped to be attacking (obvious Vigilance aside). Also, Switcheroo is blue, is that not considered in blues color pie anymore?
I agree, two of these is too much for the same set. I'll probably push 1 design into the next set.
Ok, you're right, grabbing an attacker wouldn't always work, but still grabbing a noncombatant during combat or knocking a threat out of combat for just 2 mana is too much. Definitely you should restrict Raki to not being able to do his thing during combat.
It is possible to push a card hard enough that it's Ok (still not great, but Ok) to have it do nothing above it's condition line. Hunting Grounds is the example there. The big difference between Hunting Grounds and Swirling Sandstorm is the card type. At least with a permanent, you can play the do-nothing card when you have an opportunity and it can turn on later in the game. With an instant or sorcery, if you don't have your condition, your card is blank and taking up space in your hand, you simply can't use it at all.
Unfortunately, the nature of your condition makes cards like Hunting Grounds much more difficult, as the condition is transient rather than persistent. So for Tempest, I would strictly avoid having cards that do nothing outside of the Tempest.
Other than that, I like the idea of locking a significantly above-curve ability behind a non-trivial condition. Wizards keeps making cards with conditional upgrades, but the conditions are usually things that will happen naturally over the course of a game, so they can't push the upgrade effects very hard. Morbid, Threshold, Spell Mastery, these happened passively if you just let the game happen.
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Sorcery (R)
Tempest - Gain control of target creature if three or more spells were cast this turn.
Raki the Trickster 1U
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard (R)
Flash
When Raki the Trickster enters the battlefield, exchange control of Raki and target creature an opponent until Raki leaves the battlefield. (That permanent returns under its owner’s control.)
1/1
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
Wizards Certified Rules Advisor
Raki the Trickster feels like it should have some red in it somewhere, since that's where Donate effects live these days. And while there's a lot of risk, I think it's also quite undercosted despite that.
Last point: having two cheaper-than-Control Magic Control Magics in a single set is asking for opponents to do some table-flipping.
I like the concept of a fixed Gilded Drake, but I think the Flash puts it back over to being too good. Instant control-changing is much more powerful than sorcery speed control changing. With Raki as-is you could grab one of your opponent's attacking creatures mid combat and use it to block, and keep it if it survives, for just 2 mana. Even rares in Commander-only products are worded to avoid interactions like that.
As for Raki, you wouldn't be able to ambush attackers right? As they would have to be tapped to be attacking (obvious Vigilance aside). Also, Switcheroo is blue, is that not considered in blues color pie anymore?
I agree, two of these is too much for the same set. I'll probably push 1 design into the next set.
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
Wizards Certified Rules Advisor
Ok, you're right, grabbing an attacker wouldn't always work, but still grabbing a noncombatant during combat or knocking a threat out of combat for just 2 mana is too much. Definitely you should restrict Raki to not being able to do his thing during combat.
It is possible to push a card hard enough that it's Ok (still not great, but Ok) to have it do nothing above it's condition line. Hunting Grounds is the example there. The big difference between Hunting Grounds and Swirling Sandstorm is the card type. At least with a permanent, you can play the do-nothing card when you have an opportunity and it can turn on later in the game. With an instant or sorcery, if you don't have your condition, your card is blank and taking up space in your hand, you simply can't use it at all.
Unfortunately, the nature of your condition makes cards like Hunting Grounds much more difficult, as the condition is transient rather than persistent. So for Tempest, I would strictly avoid having cards that do nothing outside of the Tempest.
Other than that, I like the idea of locking a significantly above-curve ability behind a non-trivial condition. Wizards keeps making cards with conditional upgrades, but the conditions are usually things that will happen naturally over the course of a game, so they can't push the upgrade effects very hard. Morbid, Threshold, Spell Mastery, these happened passively if you just let the game happen.