While designing cards for one of my sets, I brainstormed this action word.
Shrewd Smuggler2B
Creature - Human Pirate
Whenever ~ attacks, bribe target creature an opponent controls. (That creature's controller creates a colorless Treasure artifact token with "T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color." In exchange, that creature can't block creatures you control this turn.) "All this cargo is perfectly, one hundred-percent legal. But all the same, how much would it cost for you to look the other way, eh?"
2/2
Like so many crime-themed mechanics, I picture Bribe belonging in UBR. While I of course love cards that create Treasure tokens for you, this plays with giving opponents Treasure in exchange for letting your creatures slip by their defenses.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Since this is mandatory, I'm really concerned about the risk:reward factor here. Sure, it's evasion, which is at least in Limited a high priority on a creature, but at the same time, you're helping your opponent ramp every time you attack. I also think "bribing the guards" is a narrow form of what bribery could be used for in a fantasy scenario.
Honestly, bribe should be the keyword action just for having the opponent create the Treasures, and then everything that bribes should have its own effect for bribing, sort of like exploit or tribute in reverse.
Information Dealer2U
Creature - Human Rogue
When ~ enters the battlefield, bribe 2. If the opponent accepts the bribe, draw two cards, otherwise draw a card. (To bribe 2, choose target opponent. That player may create two colorless Treasure artifact tokens with "T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.")
2/2
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
That wording wouldn't allow it to be very flexible. I think it should be closer to "When ~ attacks, bribe your opponent. If they accept you do this and they get tresure... otherwise..."
EDIT: I reread this and think it wasn't clear. The issue I had was with the "2." If you bribe 2 but sometimes it's making you unblockable and sometimes it is drawing cards, how do you know what the 2 really means? It would also allow for bribing with things other than a treasure (if you wanted).
It's a different take on bribing. The second version is basically "Bribe N. (Target opponent may create N Treasure tokens etc.)" Then if they accept the bribe, you get some kind of bonus, or less frequently avoid some manner of penalty.
Giving your opponent Treasure just isn't as much fun as getting Treasure yourself, so I'm probably going to retire this idea. But, the concept of bribery could make for a good enchantment or written-out creature ability.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Giving the opponent a choice in bribing will go a long way to making this mechanic worse - even in just perception. The neat thing about the first variant was that your opponent had no say in whether the bribe was accepted because you were bribing the creature, not them. If the nattack trigger was optional though it would be less problematic in situations where your opponent wouldn't want to block anyway.
The big problem is that you want to make the player feel like they want to use your mechanic, so they learn about its play value. Bribe will always come with some reluctance. Overcoming that threshold will not be entirely easy.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Planar Chaos was not a mistake neither was it random. You might want to look at it again.
[thread=239793][Game] Level Up - Creature[/thread]
Shrewd Smuggler 2B
Creature - Human Pirate
Whenever ~ attacks, bribe target creature an opponent controls. (That creature's controller creates a colorless Treasure artifact token with "T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color." In exchange, that creature can't block creatures you control this turn.)
"All this cargo is perfectly, one hundred-percent legal. But all the same, how much would it cost for you to look the other way, eh?"
2/2
Like so many crime-themed mechanics, I picture Bribe belonging in UBR. While I of course love cards that create Treasure tokens for you, this plays with giving opponents Treasure in exchange for letting your creatures slip by their defenses.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
Honestly, bribe should be the keyword action just for having the opponent create the Treasures, and then everything that bribes should have its own effect for bribing, sort of like exploit or tribute in reverse.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Information Dealer 2U
Creature - Human Rogue
When ~ enters the battlefield, bribe 2. If the opponent accepts the bribe, draw two cards, otherwise draw a card. (To bribe 2, choose target opponent. That player may create two colorless Treasure artifact tokens with "T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.")
2/2
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
EDIT: I reread this and think it wasn't clear. The issue I had was with the "2." If you bribe 2 but sometimes it's making you unblockable and sometimes it is drawing cards, how do you know what the 2 really means? It would also allow for bribing with things other than a treasure (if you wanted).
Modern
URGTemur ScapeshiftGRU
EDH
WGKarametra EnchantressGW
UBGSidisi, Brood Tyrant ReanimatorGBU
UBRKess DoomsdayRBU
WBGGhave TokensGBW
WUBZur RebelsBUW
WUBErtai CursesBUW
WRFiresong and Sunspeaker Spell SlingerRW
Giving your opponent Treasure just isn't as much fun as getting Treasure yourself, so I'm probably going to retire this idea. But, the concept of bribery could make for a good enchantment or written-out creature ability.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
The big problem is that you want to make the player feel like they want to use your mechanic, so they learn about its play value. Bribe will always come with some reluctance. Overcoming that threshold will not be entirely easy.
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."
Factions: Sleeping
Remnants: Valheim
Legendary Journey: Heroes & Planeswalkers
Saga: Shards of Rabiah
Legends: The Elder Dragons
Read up on Red Flags & NWO
Having too many cards that benefit the opponent can feel really bad.
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras