One thing that's always disappointed me in MtG is when cards are just plain "worthless." I'd love if every card had some use, at least in some context.
What's even worse is when a card is incredible in terms of art, flavor, and just overall "coolness," but unplayable in any Constructed format...and probably even most Limited/Cube formats. To counter that disappointment, I've thought of cards like this that make old cards relevant with new context:
Call the Primeval 1RG
Sorcery
Search your library, hand, or graveyard for a card named The Lady of the Mountain, and put it onto the battlefield. Shuffle your library.
So basically, you get an above-curve card, for the downside of playing a bad card in your deck. On one hand, this increases variance, since it's much worse to draw the Lady of the Mountain before you draw this...you've basically lost a card. But on the other hand, it has so much potential for awesome flavor.
To quote the relevant flavor text on all those cards:
"Life's balance is as a star: on one point is Law, and Law must be upheld. If the knots of order are loosened, chaos will spill through."
—Song of All, canto 167
"Opposite Law is Grace, and Grace must be preserved. If the strands of Grace are unraveled, its design will be lost, and the people with it."
—Song of All, canto 167
"Next to Law is Duty, and Duty must be obeyed. If the frame of Duty is broken, none shall weave life's fabric."
—Song of All, canto 167
"Next to Grace is Reason, and Reason must be retained. If the web of Reason comes unwoven, madness will escape."
—Song of All, canto 167
"Above them all is Truth, and Truth must be set free. If the wings of Truth are clipped, the voices will fall silent."
—Song of All, canto 167
(Gotta figure some way to reword that to remove the ambiguity of the comma in Predator, Flagship).
So those are just a few ideas, but I think it has lots of potential. You could make all sorts of old and iconic cards playable in Tournaments this way...Hurloon Minotaur, Vizzerdrix. The sky's the limit.
Randomly putting a 5/5/five 2/2 flyers onto the battlefield is strong, sure, but is highly swingy: either the player who is using these effects can repeatedly bring them to bear, winning the game with all those deeply discounted bad creatures and making their opponents feel bad, or they can't ever draw the tutor and is stuck with a bunch of bad creatures. I think the one with The Lady of the Mountain could be retooled in a way that's not basically "Wooly Thoctar +0/+1 if you ran a bad card" and Song of All would be interesting as a Saga. Rathi Patrol is interesting but would realistically just be used to get Volrath's Stronghold.
Even back in the day cards that tutored for a particular card name did something else, and required work to do the tutor - see Urborg Panther.
I've seen ideas like this before. I prefer most those ideas that involve cards that are not dead lacking the named card e. g. based on the first one, how about:
The Lady's Mountain
Land - Mountain Forest (R) (T: Add R or G.) 1RG, T, Sacrifice ~: Search your library, hand, or graveyard for a card named The Lady of the Mountain, and put it onto the battlefield. Shuffle your library.
call the primeival -- it doesn't do anything on it's own, and the thing it calls upon a card that's in another set. This is playable in... legacy? Vintage?
Even assuming the card is reprinted, you still have a card that incredibly parasitic. Cards that named other cards usually did something else, so that it wasn't a dead card if the other card wasn't around.
If you're dead set on having a card that specifically tutors others, give it some other ability so that a basic land isn't better in limited.
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"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
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What's even worse is when a card is incredible in terms of art, flavor, and just overall "coolness," but unplayable in any Constructed format...and probably even most Limited/Cube formats. To counter that disappointment, I've thought of cards like this that make old cards relevant with new context:
Call the Primeval
1RG
Sorcery
Search your library, hand, or graveyard for a card named The Lady of the Mountain, and put it onto the battlefield. Shuffle your library.
So basically, you get an above-curve card, for the downside of playing a bad card in your deck. On one hand, this increases variance, since it's much worse to draw the Lady of the Mountain before you draw this...you've basically lost a card. But on the other hand, it has so much potential for awesome flavor.
Song of All
2WWW
Sorcery
Search your library, hand, or graveyard for up to one card named each of the following: Voice of Truth, Voice of Reason, Voice of Grace, Voice of Law, and Voice of Duty. Put them onto the battlefield. Shuffle your library.
To quote the relevant flavor text on all those cards:
Rathi Patrol
BB
Sorcery
Search your library or graveyard for up to two cards with any of the following names: Commander Greven il-Vec, Predator, Flagship, Vhati Il-Dal, or Volrath's Stronghold. Reveal them to all players, then put them into your hand. Shuffle your library.
(Gotta figure some way to reword that to remove the ambiguity of the comma in Predator, Flagship).
So those are just a few ideas, but I think it has lots of potential. You could make all sorts of old and iconic cards playable in Tournaments this way...Hurloon Minotaur, Vizzerdrix. The sky's the limit.
Corrupt Control B | Burn R | UG Turbofog UG | White Weenie W | GW Tethmos WG | BG Cycling Combo BG
Enchantress GBW | Colorless Tron C | Red Deck Wins R | UG Madness UG | Mono-G Tron G | UR Puzzlehorns UR
Rhystic Tron WU| WU Prowess WU | BR Reanimator BR | Mono-R Control R | Stompy G | Temur Tron URG
Mardu Infinite Priest WBR | 85-Card Dredge BRG | Elves GU | Boros Bully RW | Jeskai Familiars RWU
Randomly putting a 5/5/five 2/2 flyers onto the battlefield is strong, sure, but is highly swingy: either the player who is using these effects can repeatedly bring them to bear, winning the game with all those deeply discounted bad creatures and making their opponents feel bad, or they can't ever draw the tutor and is stuck with a bunch of bad creatures. I think the one with The Lady of the Mountain could be retooled in a way that's not basically "Wooly Thoctar +0/+1 if you ran a bad card" and Song of All would be interesting as a Saga. Rathi Patrol is interesting but would realistically just be used to get Volrath's Stronghold.
Even back in the day cards that tutored for a particular card name did something else, and required work to do the tutor - see Urborg Panther.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
The Lady's Mountain
Land - Mountain Forest (R)
(T: Add R or G.)
1RG, T, Sacrifice ~: Search your library, hand, or graveyard for a card named The Lady of the Mountain, and put it onto the battlefield. Shuffle your library.
etc.
Rathi Patrol BB
Sorcery
Choose up to two -
• Commander Greven il-Vec
• Predator, Flagship
• Vhati Il-Dal
• Volrath's Stronghold
For each name chosen, search your library for a card with that name, reveal it and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
Not exactly the same, but close enough. Otherwise, the semicolon is your friend.
Finally a good white villain quote: "So, do I ever re-evaluate my life choices? Never, because I know what I'm doing is a righteous cause."
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Read up on Red Flags & NWO
Even assuming the card is reprinted, you still have a card that incredibly parasitic. Cards that named other cards usually did something else, so that it wasn't a dead card if the other card wasn't around.
If you're dead set on having a card that specifically tutors others, give it some other ability so that a basic land isn't better in limited.
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn