Dryad Matron1GG
Creature - Dryad (Uncommon)
When Dryad Matron enters the battlefield, search your library for a creature card with an activated ability or landwalk and reveal it. Shuffle your library and put that card on top of it.
2/1
I would suggest you let this search for a creature with an activated or triggered ability instead. I would also make this search to hand for power level and fun factor, compare Eladamri's Call and Trophy Mage.
i.e.
Dryad Matron
Creature - Dryad (Uncommon)
When Dryad Matron enters the battlefield, search your library for a creature card with an activated or triggered ability, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
2/1
Thanks Scuiri! Activated ability because one of the inspirations for Dryad Matron is Mwonvuli Beast Tracker. (Another inspiration, of course, is Goblin Matron.) The original intent of Dryad Matron is to be a tutor for creatures with landwalk. The Oracle rulings for Mwonvuli Beast Tracker reads: “The creature card must have one of the listed abilities, not an ability that grants one of the listed abilities to the creature. For example, you couldn’t put Prized Elephant, what has “G: Prized Elephant gains trample until end of turn,” on top of your library this way.” That got me thinking that some of the cards in my set do not have landwalk but rather grant landwalk and I want Dryad Matron to be able to search for them too. It also has the upside of making Dryad Matron less narrow as there are a lot of quality creatures with activated abilities.
Dryad Matron was created top-down from Anna Podedworna’s beautiful art (the art reminded me of this Goblin Matron art). It looks like the mommy dryad is teaching the child dryad a skill (fastening the fletchings to the shaft of an arrow). That made me think of activated abilities on a creature card being the skills that the creature has learned (Dark Impostor, Skill Borrower). And, of course, green is the creature colour (Worldly Tutor). Plus it seemed fitting for Mother’s Day.
I do think adding forestwalk makes a lot of sense. Many of the dryads in magic have forestwalk/landwalk. It allows me to add the reminder text for forestwalk to create a mechanical link to the search ability (helpful for newer players). And it allows one Dryad Matron to search for another Dryad Matron if there are no other targets (kind of like a lesser Growth-Chamber Guardian).
I have attached the new render below.
I am aware the landwalk was removed as a keyword ability as of Magic Origins (2015) as explained by Mark Rosewater. I read most of Mark Rosewater’s design articles (Nuts & Bolts, the Storm Scale, etc.) and while I understand the reasoning I am an old school Magic player (playing on and off since 1995 - probably longer than many posters on this site have been alive) and I enjoy landwalk. Plus, I have been working on my “set” ( a collection of cards I have designed) since before I was a member of this site (over 12 years). I think I have some neat twists on landwalk in my set as well as some ways to interact.
Finally, before I dump some landwalk cards from my set (including some unfinished/unnamed cycles), there is the issue of putting the creature card into your hand versus on top of your library. Again, Mwonvuli Beast Tracker was an inspiration, but so was Goblin Matron. I used on top of your library as a knob to allow me to bump the creature’s power/toughness up to 2/1 rather than 1/1 like Fierce Empath, Goblin Matron, Imperial Recruiter, Recruiter of the Guard et al. And to keep it uncommon.
Cheetah CubW
Creature - Cat (Common)
Plainswalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Plains.)
1/1
Mesa Shepherd3W
Creature - Human Nomad (Uncommon)
When Mesa Shepherd enters the battlefield, create three 1/1 red Goat creature tokens with mountainwalk. (They can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Mountain.)
1/3
Shieldwall Soldier1W
Creature - Human Soldier (Common) T: Target unblocked attacking creature with plainswalk becomes blocked. Activate this ability only during combat after blockers are declared.
Cycling W(W, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
1/2
Blockade Pirate1U
Creature - Human Pirate (Common) T: Target unblocked attacking creature with islandwalk becomes blocked. Activate this ability only during combat after blockers are declared.
Cycling U(U, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
1/2
Card Name1UU
Creature - Merfolk Wizard (Rare)
Flash
Islandwalk
When Card Name enters the battlefield, you may change the text of target spell or permanent by replacing all instances of one basic land type with another. (For example, you may change "swampwalk" to "plainswalk." This effect lasts indefinitely.)
2/1
Crow’s Nest Lookout1U
Creature - Human Pirate (Uncommon)
Whenever a creature you control with landwalk deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card.
2/1
Island Simians3U
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Create two 2/2 green Ape creature tokens with forestwalk. (They can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Forest.)
Reef Shaman (Reprint) U
Creature - Merfolk Shaman (Common) T: Target land becomes the basic land type of your choice until end of turn.
0/2
Rising Tide1U
Enchantment (Rare)
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player creates a colorless land token named Island. (It has "T: Add U.")
Blue creatures have islandwalk. (They can't be blocked as long as defending player controls an Island.)
Nonblue creatures get -1/-0.
Bilge RatsB
Creature - Rat (Common)
Swampwalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Swamp.)
1/1
Goblin Mountaineer (Reprint) R
Creature - Goblin Scout (Common)
Mountainwalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Mountain.)
1/1
River Smuggler4R
Creature - Human Pirate (Uncommon)
Haste
Islandwalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls an Island.)
Whenever River Smuggler attacks, target creature you control gains islandwalk until end of turn.
4/2
Card Name3G
Creature - (Uncommon)
Swampwalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Swamp.)
Card Name enters the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters on it equal to the number of Swamps your opponents control.
0/0
Dryad FledglingG
Creature - Dryad (Common)
Forestwalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Forest.)
1/1
Dryad Matron1GG
Creature - Dryad (Uncommon)
Forestwalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Forest.)
When Dryad Matron enters the battlefield, search your library for a creature card with an activated ability or landwalk and reveal it. Shuffle your library and put that card on top of it.
2/1
Seasoned Archer1G
Creature - Human Archer (Common) T: Target unblocked attacking creature with forestwalk becomes blocked. Activate this ability only during combat after blockers are declared.
Cycling G(G, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
1/2
Anarchic SatyrBR
Creature - Satyr (Common)
T: Target creature gains plainswalk until end of turn. (It can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Plains.)
2/2
Feral ColosWU
Creature - Goat Beast (Common) T: Target creature gains mountainwalk until end of turn. (It can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Mountain.)
2/2
Trained GumaRG
Creature - Cat (Common) T: Target creature gains islandwalk until end of turn. (It can't be blocked as long as defending player controls an Island.)
2/2
Wisplight LynxGW
Creature - Cat Spirit (Common) T: Target creature gains swampwalk until end of turn. (It can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Swamp.)
2/2
Surveyor’s Compass1
Artifact (Uncommon) 3, T, Sacrifice Surveyor's Compass: Search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped under target player's control. Then shuffle your library. Target creature gains landwalk of the basic land type of your choice until end of turn.
Dystopian Mire
Land - Swamp Mountain (Rare) (T: Add B or R.)
When Dystopian Mire enters the battlefield, target opponent may search their library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into their hand, then shuffle their library.
Forgotten Delta
Land - Island Swamp (Rare) (T: Add U or B.)
When Forgotten Delta enters the battlefield, target opponent may search their library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into their hand, then shuffle their library.
Jagged Foothills
Land - Mountain Forest (Rare) (T: Add R or G.)
When Jagged Foothills enters the battlefield, target opponent may search their library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into their hand, then shuffle their library.
Sheltered Strand
Land - Plains Island (Rare) (T: Add W or U.)
When Sheltered Strand enters the battlefield, target opponent may search their library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into their hand, then shuffle their library.
Sun-Drenched Heath
Land - Forest Plains (Rare) (T: Add G or W.)
When Sun-Drenched Heath enters the battlefield, target opponent may search their library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into their hand, then shuffle their library.
Good job, picking the artwork. And I agree, the piece you chose for Dryad Matron is really amazing and the card is gorgeous. I totally share with your the attachment for landwalk. From a flavor perspective, there's no substitute for that ability. I long time ago I toyed with the idea of making a new landwalk (landcross) mechanic with the alterations that it worked like flying. So a dryad with forest cross can block other dryads with forest cross, making the mechanic less swinging.
Feedback for specific cards:
Shieldwall Soldier: Interesting but feels a bit too narrow.
Rising Tide: It's strange that blue will continuously ramp, even if the effect is symmetrical. I prefer turning lands into islands to represent floods (this route would also entail some limitation like Cumulative Upkeep or "Sacrifice ~~ when there's X or more Islands on the battlefield"). The second ability I think is not necessary, I would rather have people work for the synergy of this + islandwalk. The third ability is interesting and flavorful.
Dryad Matron: I also miss the old school tutors. They were more aggressively costed because they weren't CA on top of tutoring itself. And they get disrupted by mill which is also a clever interaction. Really like this one.
Lynx: I think the modern take of Pegasus Courser would elevate this. Also, hope this is a cycle.
Surveyor's Compass: You can safely shove 1 out of the activation cost. 3 ramping and fixing is on the safe side and the upside here is very circumstantial. The card itself is very interesting.
Reef Shaman & Rats: I think it's better if you make it clear when you post reprints or functional reprints.
Seasoned Archer: I didn't expect at all for this to be a cycle. I think the design is novel and interesting enough for one card, but not a cycle. Or maybe you should make the cycle less rigid by giving each member different sizes and abilities.
Jagged Foothills: I suck at evaluating lands and this one is really hard to evaluate. In any case I like how this is a cycle of dual lands that punish players from not playing basics.
Let landwalk be dead. Yes, you've increased interactivity with it extremely minimally, but there's a reason WotC killed the ability without doing this.
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Creature - Dryad (Uncommon)
When Dryad Matron enters the battlefield, search your library for a creature card with an activated ability or landwalk and reveal it. Shuffle your library and put that card on top of it.
2/1
Happy Mother's Day!
EDIT: Ooh, maybe could have forestwalk itself?
• Recent Card Ideas • My Drawings at DeviantArt
I would suggest you let this search for a creature with an activated or triggered ability instead. I would also make this search to hand for power level and fun factor, compare Eladamri's Call and Trophy Mage.
i.e.
Dryad Matron
Creature - Dryad (Uncommon)
When Dryad Matron enters the battlefield, search your library for a creature card with an activated or triggered ability, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
2/1
RUNIN: Norse mythology set (awaiting further playtesting)
FATE of ALARA: Multicolour factions (currently on hiatus)
Contibutor to the Pyrulea community set
I'm here to tell you that all your set mechanics are bad
#Defundthepolice
Dryad Matron was created top-down from Anna Podedworna’s beautiful art (the art reminded me of this Goblin Matron art). It looks like the mommy dryad is teaching the child dryad a skill (fastening the fletchings to the shaft of an arrow). That made me think of activated abilities on a creature card being the skills that the creature has learned (Dark Impostor, Skill Borrower). And, of course, green is the creature colour (Worldly Tutor). Plus it seemed fitting for Mother’s Day.
I do think adding forestwalk makes a lot of sense. Many of the dryads in magic have forestwalk/landwalk. It allows me to add the reminder text for forestwalk to create a mechanical link to the search ability (helpful for newer players). And it allows one Dryad Matron to search for another Dryad Matron if there are no other targets (kind of like a lesser Growth-Chamber Guardian).
I have attached the new render below.
I am aware the landwalk was removed as a keyword ability as of Magic Origins (2015) as explained by Mark Rosewater. I read most of Mark Rosewater’s design articles (Nuts & Bolts, the Storm Scale, etc.) and while I understand the reasoning I am an old school Magic player (playing on and off since 1995 - probably longer than many posters on this site have been alive) and I enjoy landwalk. Plus, I have been working on my “set” ( a collection of cards I have designed) since before I was a member of this site (over 12 years). I think I have some neat twists on landwalk in my set as well as some ways to interact.
Finally, before I dump some landwalk cards from my set (including some unfinished/unnamed cycles), there is the issue of putting the creature card into your hand versus on top of your library. Again, Mwonvuli Beast Tracker was an inspiration, but so was Goblin Matron. I used on top of your library as a knob to allow me to bump the creature’s power/toughness up to 2/1 rather than 1/1 like Fierce Empath, Goblin Matron, Imperial Recruiter, Recruiter of the Guard et al. And to keep it uncommon.
Cheetah Cub W
Creature - Cat (Common)
Plainswalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Plains.)
1/1
Mesa Shepherd 3W
Creature - Human Nomad (Uncommon)
When Mesa Shepherd enters the battlefield, create three 1/1 red Goat creature tokens with mountainwalk. (They can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Mountain.)
1/3
Shieldwall Soldier 1W
Creature - Human Soldier (Common)
T: Target unblocked attacking creature with plainswalk becomes blocked. Activate this ability only during combat after blockers are declared.
Cycling W (W, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
1/2
Blockade Pirate 1U
Creature - Human Pirate (Common)
T: Target unblocked attacking creature with islandwalk becomes blocked. Activate this ability only during combat after blockers are declared.
Cycling U (U, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
1/2
Card Name 1UU
Creature - Merfolk Wizard (Rare)
Flash
Islandwalk
When Card Name enters the battlefield, you may change the text of target spell or permanent by replacing all instances of one basic land type with another. (For example, you may change "swampwalk" to "plainswalk." This effect lasts indefinitely.)
2/1
Crow’s Nest Lookout 1U
Creature - Human Pirate (Uncommon)
Whenever a creature you control with landwalk deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card.
2/1
Island Simians 3U
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Create two 2/2 green Ape creature tokens with forestwalk. (They can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Forest.)
Reef Shaman (Reprint) U
Creature - Merfolk Shaman (Common)
T: Target land becomes the basic land type of your choice until end of turn.
0/2
Rising Tide 1U
Enchantment (Rare)
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player creates a colorless land token named Island. (It has "T: Add U.")
Blue creatures have islandwalk. (They can't be blocked as long as defending player controls an Island.)
Nonblue creatures get -1/-0.
Bilge Rats B
Creature - Rat (Common)
Swampwalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Swamp.)
1/1
Goblin Mountaineer (Reprint) R
Creature - Goblin Scout (Common)
Mountainwalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Mountain.)
1/1
River Smuggler 4R
Creature - Human Pirate (Uncommon)
Haste
Islandwalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls an Island.)
Whenever River Smuggler attacks, target creature you control gains islandwalk until end of turn.
4/2
Card Name 3G
Creature - (Uncommon)
Swampwalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Swamp.)
Card Name enters the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters on it equal to the number of Swamps your opponents control.
0/0
Dryad Fledgling G
Creature - Dryad (Common)
Forestwalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Forest.)
1/1
Dryad Matron 1GG
Creature - Dryad (Uncommon)
Forestwalk (This creature can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Forest.)
When Dryad Matron enters the battlefield, search your library for a creature card with an activated ability or landwalk and reveal it. Shuffle your library and put that card on top of it.
2/1
Seasoned Archer 1G
Creature - Human Archer (Common)
T: Target unblocked attacking creature with forestwalk becomes blocked. Activate this ability only during combat after blockers are declared.
Cycling G (G, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
1/2
Anarchic Satyr BR
Creature - Satyr (Common)
T: Target creature gains plainswalk until end of turn. (It can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Plains.)
2/2
Feral Colos WU
Creature - Goat Beast (Common)
T: Target creature gains mountainwalk until end of turn. (It can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Mountain.)
2/2
Trained Guma RG
Creature - Cat (Common)
T: Target creature gains islandwalk until end of turn. (It can't be blocked as long as defending player controls an Island.)
2/2
Wisplight Lynx GW
Creature - Cat Spirit (Common)
T: Target creature gains swampwalk until end of turn. (It can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Swamp.)
2/2
Surveyor’s Compass 1
Artifact (Uncommon)
3, T, Sacrifice Surveyor's Compass: Search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped under target player's control. Then shuffle your library. Target creature gains landwalk of the basic land type of your choice until end of turn.
Dystopian Mire
Land - Swamp Mountain (Rare)
(T: Add B or R.)
When Dystopian Mire enters the battlefield, target opponent may search their library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into their hand, then shuffle their library.
Forgotten Delta
Land - Island Swamp (Rare)
(T: Add U or B.)
When Forgotten Delta enters the battlefield, target opponent may search their library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into their hand, then shuffle their library.
Jagged Foothills
Land - Mountain Forest (Rare)
(T: Add R or G.)
When Jagged Foothills enters the battlefield, target opponent may search their library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into their hand, then shuffle their library.
Sheltered Strand
Land - Plains Island (Rare)
(T: Add W or U.)
When Sheltered Strand enters the battlefield, target opponent may search their library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into their hand, then shuffle their library.
Sun-Drenched Heath
Land - Forest Plains (Rare)
(T: Add G or W.)
When Sun-Drenched Heath enters the battlefield, target opponent may search their library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into their hand, then shuffle their library.
Feedback for specific cards:
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras