Perform is a keyword I came up with while designing Shazar, a Middle East-themed set with Dancers (yes, as in belly dancers). I liked the idea of Dancers being able to perform somehow, and experimented with various executions before hitting on the idea of Dance spells. You could tap a creature to perform a Dance, and Dancers could care about performing Dances.
Dance of Veils1U
Instant - Dance
Perform (You may tap an untapped creature you control as you cast this spell. If you do, return this spell card to its owner's hand as it resolves.)
Target creature gains hexproof until end of turn.
Dance of Flame2R
Sorcery - Dance
Perform (You may tap an untapped creature you control as you cast this spell. If you do, return this spell card to its owner's hand as it resolves.)
~ deals 2 damage divided as you choose among any number of targets.
Visionary DancerU
Creature - Human Dancer
Whenever ~ performs a Dance, scry 1.
1/1
Opulent Dancer1R
Creature - Human Dancer
Whenever ~ performs a Dance, create a Treasure token. (It's a colorless artifact with "T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.)
1/1
In Shazar, Dances and Dancers appear in all five colors, but are focused the most in UR.
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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.
So the mechanic is just "Buyback-Tap an untapped creature you control"? I can't imagine you could actually create any worthwhile cards due to power level. Veils looks awful, people aren't happy playing just hexproof spells except in very specific decks while Flame is crazily broken.
The concept of creatures helping to cast spells is nothing new and fits well with the concept of a Dancer's performance. However, you are probably better of with a Kicker or Multikicker. Buyback is simply a broken mechanic. I also doubt the use of a spell type. It would just change the Dancers to whenever they perform rather than whenever they perform a dance. It's fewer words, equally clear, and doesn't leave you open to annoyances of discussing bringing back one without the other.
Another option for Perform I had in mind was that you could tap multiple creatures and copy the spell for each one that performed the dance. Like a troupe of dancers, you know?
Would adding a mana cost help? Maybe make it a Replicate variant? After all, Jump-start got to be a Flashback variant.
Originally, I had the Dancers' abilities trigger whenever they became tapped, but I thought "performs a Dance" carried a lot of neat flavor to it. Having their abilities trigger off just performing in general will feel a little weird as I was thinking Perform could also appear on Songs and Techniques.
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.
Perform 3 (You may tap three untapped creatures you control as you cast this spell. If you do, return this spell card to its owner's hand as it resolves.)
Yes, I have considered the numerical variable. That of course comes with a need to make the effect match the Performance requirement.
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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.
I think adding more tappers will not change how repetitive this can get. I like the idea of the replicate variant better. Even then the mechanic will likely need a variable value. Replicating removal, draw and discard spells seems a lot more powerful then other stuff like combat tricks and damage to the face.
Except we already have Conspire, which is tap two color-sharing creatures per copy. Upgrading it to one creature of any kind very swiftly becomes abusive in any situation with decent token pumping, so the mechanic could never be printed alongside.
Adding a condition to the creatures that may tap to it, such as requiring the tapped creature to be a Dancer or have CMC, Power or Toughness match the cost of the Sorcery/Instant, would allow this to be more open. Having it be a variable for number of creatures to tap instead of, or even in addition to, the conditions. Maybe have it be allowing you to tap up to that many creatures, then it comes back if you meet that number, so you can set off Dancers with high-number Perform cards if you don't have enough to buy it back.
Something like this:
Perform X (You may tap up to X creatures you control with converted mana cost equal to or greater than this spell as an additional cost to cast this spell. If you tap X creatures this way, Exile it, then return it to your hand at the start of your next turn)
Having them only come back at the start of your next turn makes it able to be printed on a lot more effects, because you can't keep casting it as long as your mana and board holds out.
Tying into the converted mana cost requirement, Dancers could have a number of CMC-increasing mechanics on them, such as (2/W)(2/U)(2/B)(2/R)(2/G) mana symbols and refund mechanics like untapping lands, reducing costs and getting Treasure tokens. This would then be permissive of cards like Chord of Calling (though obviously more on the tutor side of things) that would otherwise be too heavy on combo options by having the major combo pieces have much higher CMCs than their casting costs. Can also have Split cards, to further promote this, as their CMC is that of the two sides combined. Could even bring back the Kamigawa Flip card frame for access to split permanents with the same CMC inflation property.
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I love Slivers, Myr, Saprolings and generally any creature type best served by spamming loads of tokens
Perform X (You may tap up to X creatures you control with converted mana cost equal to or greater than this spell as an additional cost to cast this spell. If you tap X creatures this way, Exile it, then return it to your hand at the start of your next turn)
The CMC part here goes to far in making tokens an invalid strategy to employ IMO. If I have a mechanic like convoke or conspire then boosting numbers with tokens is something that I'd want to be possible, right?
And buyback/replicate/conspire doesn't remove all other restrictions i. e. paying the mana cost of the spell in the first place. If perform worked like conspire it would be fine. And if it was like conspire, but bought back rather than copy, that seems at least worth testing. Dance of Flame still seems ridiculously powerful, but that's what you get if you put buyback on Fire at any attractive cost, so maybe we better just ignore that particular card.
I personally am against any kind of buyback effects.
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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]
Way I look at it, you cost these spells the way you would an activated ability. That's how I approach Techniques (spells flavored as martial arts moves for settings like Tarkir), only in the case of Techniques you have the keyword Learn (or Teach, I'm still experimenting with that), which basically entails exiling a spell as it resolves and teaching it to a creature you control, letting you cast it as though you were activating an ability of that creature.
Techniques are meant to be re-cast without tapping, as many are intended for use during combat. Dances are meant to feel like tap abilities which Dancers can trigger off of, leaning them more towards utility.
Perform could act as a Replicate variant instead. You don't necessarily get to cast the Dance spell over and over, but multiple creatures can perform it.
Dance of Flame2R
Sorcery - Dance
~ deals 1 damage to any target.
Perform (When you cast this spell, copy it for each creature you tapped while casting it. You may choose new targets for the copies.)
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.
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Dance of Veils 1U
Instant - Dance
Perform (You may tap an untapped creature you control as you cast this spell. If you do, return this spell card to its owner's hand as it resolves.)
Target creature gains hexproof until end of turn.
Dance of Flame 2R
Sorcery - Dance
Perform (You may tap an untapped creature you control as you cast this spell. If you do, return this spell card to its owner's hand as it resolves.)
~ deals 2 damage divided as you choose among any number of targets.
Visionary Dancer U
Creature - Human Dancer
Whenever ~ performs a Dance, scry 1.
1/1
Opulent Dancer 1R
Creature - Human Dancer
Whenever ~ performs a Dance, create a Treasure token. (It's a colorless artifact with "T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.)
1/1
In Shazar, Dances and Dancers appear in all five colors, but are focused the most in UR.
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 concept of creatures helping to cast spells is nothing new and fits well with the concept of a Dancer's performance. However, you are probably better of with a Kicker or Multikicker. Buyback is simply a broken mechanic. I also doubt the use of a spell type. It would just change the Dancers to whenever they perform rather than whenever they perform a dance. It's fewer words, equally clear, and doesn't leave you open to annoyances of discussing bringing back one without the other.
Would adding a mana cost help? Maybe make it a Replicate variant? After all, Jump-start got to be a Flashback variant.
Originally, I had the Dancers' abilities trigger whenever they became tapped, but I thought "performs a Dance" carried a lot of neat flavor to it. Having their abilities trigger off just performing in general will feel a little weird as I was thinking Perform could also appear on Songs and Techniques.
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.
BAfter the lights go out on you, after your worthless life is through. I will remember how you scream...B
Perform 3 (You may tap three untapped creatures you control as you cast this spell. If you do, return this spell card to its owner's hand as it resolves.)
It even has a "group performance" vibe.
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.
BGU Control
R Aggro
Standard - For Fun
BG Auras
Adding a condition to the creatures that may tap to it, such as requiring the tapped creature to be a Dancer or have CMC, Power or Toughness match the cost of the Sorcery/Instant, would allow this to be more open. Having it be a variable for number of creatures to tap instead of, or even in addition to, the conditions. Maybe have it be allowing you to tap up to that many creatures, then it comes back if you meet that number, so you can set off Dancers with high-number Perform cards if you don't have enough to buy it back.
Something like this:
Perform X (You may tap up to X creatures you control with converted mana cost equal to or greater than this spell as an additional cost to cast this spell. If you tap X creatures this way, Exile it, then return it to your hand at the start of your next turn)
Having them only come back at the start of your next turn makes it able to be printed on a lot more effects, because you can't keep casting it as long as your mana and board holds out.
Tying into the converted mana cost requirement, Dancers could have a number of CMC-increasing mechanics on them, such as (2/W)(2/U)(2/B)(2/R)(2/G) mana symbols and refund mechanics like untapping lands, reducing costs and getting Treasure tokens. This would then be permissive of cards like Chord of Calling (though obviously more on the tutor side of things) that would otherwise be too heavy on combo options by having the major combo pieces have much higher CMCs than their casting costs. Can also have Split cards, to further promote this, as their CMC is that of the two sides combined. Could even bring back the Kamigawa Flip card frame for access to split permanents with the same CMC inflation property.
The CMC part here goes to far in making tokens an invalid strategy to employ IMO. If I have a mechanic like convoke or conspire then boosting numbers with tokens is something that I'd want to be possible, right?
And buyback/replicate/conspire doesn't remove all other restrictions i. e. paying the mana cost of the spell in the first place. If perform worked like conspire it would be fine. And if it was like conspire, but bought back rather than copy, that seems at least worth testing. Dance of Flame still seems ridiculously powerful, but that's what you get if you put buyback on Fire at any attractive cost, so maybe we better just ignore that particular card.
I personally am against any kind of buyback effects.
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
Techniques are meant to be re-cast without tapping, as many are intended for use during combat. Dances are meant to feel like tap abilities which Dancers can trigger off of, leaning them more towards utility.
Perform could act as a Replicate variant instead. You don't necessarily get to cast the Dance spell over and over, but multiple creatures can perform it.
Dance of Flame 2R
Sorcery - Dance
~ deals 1 damage to any target.
Perform (When you cast this spell, copy it for each creature you tapped while casting it. You may choose new targets for the copies.)
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.