Welcome to the Card Creation League!
Round 4 is for March's top 4:
kjsharp
Gerrard's Mom
Hemlock
IcariiFA
Theme
This month is all about mana! Generate it, spend it, put it in a stew (note: MTG Salvation staff bears no responsibility from injuries due to stewing mana.) We will be trying to pay homage to every type of mana from Hybrid to Phyrexian to Colorless to Snow.
Challenge
Design three cards that showcase a new kind of mana (or mana symbol(s)), one of which must be common.
• When using the new mana symbol in your card choose a letter or letters as a stand in.
• A brief explanation of the new mana as well as what its symbol (or symbols) would look like is acceptable.
PLEASE NOTE: This month will continue the use of the "Mandatory Top 3 Rule." For this month, you must submit a Top 3 during a round's critique period in order to receive any points for the round. Submitting critiques as well will be worth 2 bonus points in the round.
Your submissions are due Monday, March 26th, 23:59 PST.
Your judgments are due Wednesday, March 28th, 23:59 PST.
Schedule
• Round 1 — Open to Everyone (February 27th-March 4th)
• Round 2 — Open to Everyone (March 5th–10th)
• Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due March 12th)
• Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (March 13th–18th)
• Top 8 Critiques (Due March 20th)
• Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers from last round (March 21st–26th)
• Top 4 Critiques (Due March 28th)
• Final (End of month, winner determined by public poll)
Flow mana is designed for a multiplayer-focused supplementary set like Conspiracy or a Commander product. It can be spent as mana of any color, but instead of emptying from your pool, you pass each flow mana on to another player of your choice. It does not empty from mana pools as steps and phases end. Token cards similar to energy would be included so each player can track their current flow mana.
Flow mana does not have a new symbol and is flavored as being part of water or air currents.
Canyon Ascetic1W
Creature - Human Monk (C)
When Canyon Ascetic enters the battlefield, if you have no flow mana in your mana pool, add one flow mana. (Flow mana doesn't empty from your mana pool as steps and phases end, and can be spent as any color. When you spend it, choose another player to add one flow mana.)
1/3
Read the Current3U
Instant (U)
Scry X, where X is the amount of flow mana spent to cast this spell, then draw two cards. "It's delightful to plunge into fresh currents and get a taste of a far-off destination...except when they come from the mer-goblin reefs."
-Kiora
Tarresh, the Eroding Wind5BRG
Legendary Creature - Elemental (M)
Flying, trample
When Tarresh, the Eroding Wind enters the battlefield, destroy all lands. For each land destroyed this way, its controller adds one flow mana.
At the end of each opponent's turn, Tarresh deals 1 damage to that player for each flow mana in their mana pool.
7/5
Fracking mana is mana that you have to sacrifice as part of a casting cost, activation cost, or cost of a triggered ability. A plane-specific mechanic, not something I'd want to be in every block. All Phyrexian mana symbols here are actually fracking mana (the gray one is generic, the big black one is black).
Setting: Muraganda or Zendikar, or any plane where land features prominently.
Colors: BRG. Giving Jund a The Gitrog Monster, Mulch, Regrowth vibe.
Wildfire Rebirth1(B/P)RG
Enchantment (R) (A source that produces mana spent on (B/P) must be sacrificed as an additional cost.)
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player sacrifices a land they control.
At the beginning of each player's end step, that player returns a land card from their graveyard to the battlefield.
Canopy Protector4(G/P)G
Creature - Treefolk (C) (A source that produces mana spent on (B/P) must be sacrificed as an additional cost.)
Reach
When Canopy Protector enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token for each land card in your graveyard.
5/5
Sylvos, the World Churn4(R/P)(G/P)
Legendary Creature - Elemental (M) (A source that produces mana spent on (B/P) must be sacrificed as an additional cost.)
Haste, menace, hexproof from white, hexproof from blue
Whenever Sylvos attacks, you may return up to three permanents with converted mana cost of six or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
6/6
Historic Mana: An alternative to legendary spells, historic mana is created much like snow mana is. Any legendary, artifact, or saga that generates mana also counts as Historic mana. Historic mana represents a potent source to draw on from objects, locations, and creatures of unusual power therefor making spells more powerful and momentous. The letter H represents the historic mana symbol.
The Brothers War2HWU
Enchantment - Saga (M) (As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I, II — Search your library for a planeswalker card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
III — Loyalty abilities of planeswalkers you control cost an additional +5 until end of turn.
Momentous Loss3HW
Sorcery (C)
Destroy target permanent. If it was historic, tap each other permanent its controller controls. (Artifacts, legendaries, and Sagas are historic.) It wasn't long before the news spread. Nissa had fallen.
Arltesh, The Leviathan2HWU
Legendary Planeswalker - Arltesh (M)
+1: Put target historic card from your graveyard on top of your library.
-2: Creatures without flying can't attack you or planeswalkers you control until your next turn.
-7: Exile all nonisland permanents until the beginning of your next upkeep. You get an emblem with "Permanents you don't control enter the battlefield tapped."
5
Planar mana: Planar mana can be paid with mana or by removing a loyalty counter from a Planeswalker you control. Planar mana costs are always generic and can have different values. Planar mana costs are represented by a purple generic cost symbol.
Name was changed to Planar mana from previous idea to avois ambiguous wording issues as "planeswalker mana costs"
Design space for commons would revolve around normal effects of each color, That said, Planeswalker mana is not meant to be used profusely as cycling or kicker, because Planeswalkers are mythic and won't be showing up regularly in limited decks. That said, a set with Planar mana should venture into printing rare planeswalkers: I know this is a big flavor issue, and as such, it should be fixed from storyline itself: A cycle of characters suspected to have the spark. These planewalker cards will bear no discernible ultis and will have no way to build up loyalty, and act more like toolbox cvards. and wether or not they become "actual" planeswalker will be still to be revealed. I'm posting one just for reference on how this issue would be dealt with.
Amurdia, Flindergor Challenger
Legendary Planeswalker - Amurdia (R)
0: Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature you control.
-1: Destroy target aura or equipment.
-2: Create a 2/2 green Wolf token.
//3
Submissions
Planar Permission2U
Instant (c) (2 can be paid with or by removing a loyalty counter from a planeswalker you control.)
Counter target spell unless its controller pays . "Understand that, wherever I go, I am the master. This house you call yours is mine until I say goodbye, or until I decide it should not exist anymore." - Errion, Planar Interrogator
Peryon, Planar Archangel3WW
Legendary Creature - Angel (R)
Flying, vigilance. 3: Put a +1/+1 counter on Peryon, Planar Archangel. "If I am from Heaven, you ask? I don't know, but If I am, you do not want to go to Heaven"
3/3
Extraplanar Hounds2RR
Creature - Elemental Hound (u) (2 can be paid with or by removing a loyalty counter from a planeswalker you control.)
Haste
Extraplanar Hounds cannot be blocked as long as it is attacking a planeswalker.
3/2
Flow mana is a fun casual concept for multiplayer. The idea that it passes on indefinitely is interesting, but Im curious how the balance of flow mana generators would play out. My biggest concern is how this bleeds the color pie and makes it pretty easy to play 5 color decks. However, I think its a concept worth testing out.
1) I can see why you'd want to give flow mana generators to white, as there is a balance to it. But my concerns about making 5 color super accessible really stand out with a card like this.
2) A very well balanced card in the "flow mana matters" theme.
3) Dramatic. Can be quite hard to handle as after an opponent passes flow mana, you dont have to spend it to"give it back" and the deck playing this elemental would be ready to deal with the aftermath of losing all lands. What's most likely to happen though is this combos with the mana generated to end the game. I see Worldgorger Dragon esque shenanigans. Its expensive enough that this wont matter in most casual/limited games though.
Fracking mana reads as pure downside, and plays that way too. People love playing lands, hate losing them/sac them as a cost. It's a very spike only mechanic. Also, you edited your post after the deadline. Which is unfair especially to me since I worked editing my entry till EXACTLY 11:59pm last night. So either I treat your entry as breaking the deadline or I treat your common as breaking the prompt. Cardsz5000 prompt was not ambiguous, as the difference between "showcasing" a mechanic and synergizing with one is straightforward. Cardsz5000 asked for PST, so your entry was on time.
1) There are certainly some good abuses with ETB and getting back key lands over and over again. A little bit of johnniness.
But it's a pretty narrow card otherwise. The more general use of the card as a mana fixer is pretty weak.
2) I like this design, but it produces a lot of bodies as a common. It might need to be bumped up rarity wise. It's on the border for me.
3) Super spikey. Probably a little too good for standard, since it gets so many permanents out almost right away. If you don't have an instant speed answer ready that it isn't protecting against, one attack from it is effectively a game loss. It's a similar power level to the better Titans.
Planar mana presents a pretty big and obvious issue: For it to be relevant, their needs to be lower rarity planeswalkers. I really don't like the idea of low rarity walkers. Even as rares, they kinda push limited in a weird environment amd begin to degrade the unique/powerful characters to they represent. But to make this work you'd probably need uncommon planeswalkers, which I don't want to see. Otherwise, heart of kirans everywhere seems strong. Any card that can feed on multiple loyalty will be hard to balance. Also, again, I hate when people feel the need to post extra cards. That makes two of you cheating in my opinion, though this is less egregious.
1) This is a good design for your idea, and has a solid anchor to mana leak.
2) Peryon grows really quickly if you want him too, and you can wait to do it on hit. It be really easy to throw out a 5 loyalty plus walker and pay mana to pump this to a 9+ power creature permanently. Simple but powerful.
3) Probably my favorite of yours. Good design space, especially in a set that would require planeswalkers to be more prevalent, despite my concerns about making them too prevalent.
Yeah despite kaburi's recent article and me writing about Prophecy's saving graces in GDS, the land sacrificing stuff like Trenching Steed is not really something anyone is itching to revisit. I'm not sure if it would work as a mana type per se, but if I was forced to do something in this area an ability like convoke that actually reduced the cost by sacrificing mana sources would at least have Spike appeal.
The first rare feels weird in many ways. The Melvin interaction of getting back the land you sacrificed first so you don't end up down lands is fine, but I'm not sure four mana just to have each player's worst land unavailable on their turn is useful. It's also weird that it makes it easier to interact on other people's turns, which is something green and red at least generally work against.
The common is ok I guess but I would much rather see a higher rarity card where I could sac as many lands as I want for more tokens.
This Sylvos is unrelated to Silvos I assume? Also is it total cost of six a la Protean Hulk or each six (which seems like too much)? I get that it's supposed to help you get back lands along with other stuff. Cooler mythic idea - lands in your graveyard generate mana.
TBH this was my first idea and I saw kjsharp working on it too, presumably because the theme is prominent with Dominaria. The issue I had was that legendary is rare enough and legendary mana production even sparser, and it doesn't seem like Sagas are going to be major mana producers. So this might as well be artifact mana.
The Saga using historic mana is weird - it feels like historic mana should be pulling things from the past, so is this a tale of the past that is itself from the past? Also the Brothers' War is like the only conflict in the history of Magic that didn't involve more than one planeswalker and that one only at the end, so the abilities don't match. Would have fit Urza's Nine Titans story a bit better. Finally, I know the wording is correct but "cost +5" instinctively sounds like a negative.
I guess we have Saltblast and the like but seems like a bit of a big effect for common with the tapping.
Is the planeswalker supposed to be the "demonic leviathan" that Nicol Bolas fought? This card seems the best place for your mechanic and I really like how the abilities fit together, just the flavor is slightly off if so.
Heart of Kiran for everything. Am I understanding correctly that although the mana costs vary, purple 1 and purple 3 both only cost one loyalty from a planeswalker? Seems unintuitive, I would probably fix the rate at like 2 mana to 1 counter. You're aware of the issues with trying to run a planeswalker-focused mechanic already; I think I would have gone back for a better idea here. As Icarii says I think you have to bring the walkers down to uncommon for this to work in a normal set. Would be ok for some kind of cube precon full of walkers maybe.
Counterspell is ok I guess, but I don't get why Gideon or Tibalt help me counter spells. I guess that's a problem with all of them.
The angel seems decent I guess as a finisher for a superfriends deck.
I kind of like Extraplanar Hounds given the warped environment you propose. Actually seems cool to have a planeswalking hound.
IcariFa: Históric Mana. this is by far the most viable choice of all four. I'm quiye positive we all thought of this and dismissed it in favor of further exploration of design posibilities. Put short, I'm a bit underwhelmed by the safety of yout submission, and I would have loved to see another idea from yours.
As I said, viability is the key to this: Mana rocks and legendary lands from the whole of Magic History are there to support this and Historic spells are very likely to be able to find their way in multiple formats.
On the cards, I quite like the first one. I like how sagas play a bit like planeswalkers and this has that thing just very right. The "ulti" is crazy, yet a bit odd in some way. On the second card, well, I don't think you nailed it at all: irrestricted permanent destruction should not happen at common, and even less if you add extra effects. I understand the difficulty of balancing a "power" mechanic with common effects, but you had a lot of room to play with and desigbning a common was something specifically asked for the challenge. The planeswalker is quite flavorful: I'm picturing a huge leviathan that stands your ground and recovers things from the bottom of the sea. I like how it supports Historic itself and the throwback to Moat. the nonisland part of the ulti is the thing that worries me the most: Without it, I don't see any reason for it to be blue at all, but at the same time it would be a bit of flavor loss. Upheaval-like maybe?
Gerrard's Mom: Well, as I said regarding Icari's submission, viability is very important in this challenge and I don't see it in flow mana. there are some problems I can think of: The accumulation of mana can become very gamewarping by itself, but the ability to control when someone gets the mana is the most dangerous of all: This is too much of a boost for instant-based decks that can control when the mana is given to another player and can result in a very serious tempo imbalance. Casting a spell with flow mana can result in giving a player the mana needed to counter it, for example. While this can become an intresting tactical choice, the mechanic itself rewards reactive playstyle way too far beyond what I consider healthy. Another thing that worries me a bit is how flow mana can get passed back and forth between two players and "ganging" situations in multiplayer can become terribly unfun. Or maybe a player could hoard all the flow mana if he's ahead and keep it for the big finishing play. There are just too many scenarios I don't find nice regarding flow mana the way it is. This could be kind of fixed if the pool passed with the trun to the player, but I'm not sure that is what you had in mind.
On the cards, mana generation in white is very rare but as a one time supporter I think this works fine. The uncommon is very nice and gives you an interesting way to use that flow mana if needed and any flow-mana-hungry combo oriented deck would like to use it. The last one is kind of odd for what it does in that color identity, but I don't like that you don't get hit by it given the communal nature of flow mana.
Kjsharp: In the middle of viability, this is an interesting ability but it's very hard to sell. I personally liked Prophecy, and I still play cards like aura fracture and spitting spider in some decks, but sacrificing lands is not something players will find appealing (the name doesn't help either!). That said, while this is very far from being aa PR hit, is still viable withing the context of the game and doesn't break anything: One thing that should be discussed about fracking mana is how it interacts with nonpermanent mana generators (such as Pyretic Ritual or sources that sacrifice themselves ala blood pet. I'm taking that those sources cannot be used to pay for fracking (This just sounds so much like the f word!) costs. But I think those are issues that shouldn't go unclarified. On the cards, I like the rebirth very much: fracking a land adds up to the balance of not having a land like every other player and puts your opponent on a situation of having to decide what will they use in their turn before drawing: This is potentially very annoying for some mana bases and the tension between choice and chance is always fun to have. The common here is just too much. A common creature shouldn't be creating so many potential tokens. I like the last creature except for the keyword salad, and it reminds me a bit too much to Sun titan to be not white at all (white is way more versatile for recursion that red).
Like with Madness, my mechanic has to be included in a set that can support it. On average the cards should have a higher CMC, and the set needs to include cards that let you retrieve lands from the graveyard a good deal more. For Limited, outside of more synergistic decks, fracking mana could be used as the "mana sink" mechanic. Formats without ways to use excess lands (Aether Revolt and Ixalan come to mind) tend to be liked less. But I defend the idea that my mana could be fun if done well. The mechanic offers something for everyone (of all psychological profiles) who isn't a new player, and now that we're reintroducing core sets again, we don't need to be subjected to base level formats like Ixalan with regular frequency. I think this mechanic offers a fun new angle and way to play Magic. It would be refreshing for sure. Maybe the symbol could represent having the option to sacrifice a land that produces a mana of that color instead of tapping it for mana. That would probably be better and less "punishing" and be seen more as an upside.
Imagine the commons Satyr Wayfinder, Mulch, and: Retill the Soil1G
Sorcery (C)
Return up to two target lands from your graveyard to your hand. You may play an additional land this turn.
Anywho, onto the feedback:
I really don't like Legendary Sorceries (I imagine they will play out horribly and be a disappointing open in Limited, and be awfully inconsistent for Constructed). Your mechanic is better because it allows artifacts to be used to tap for mana, so Prophetic Prism could be used in addition to Rishkar and what not. It still feels extremely restrictive, though. I would have liked the Historic mana to give a bonus to the spell, not be required as a necessary cost. With that said, it's fine and printable, but it's just a hoop you have to go through to get more power, and not in a fun or exciting way. A+B mechanics are fine, but generally those mechanics have something to do with gameplay function (Madness from SOI, Ingest/Process from BFZ). Yours has nothing to do with gameplay and everything to do with deckbuilding. No one really enjoys those sorts of hoops. What raison d'etre do you think historic mana has?
I like the first two cards in general. Regarding the first, I don't know why it should be or needs to be blue. Make it white. I like the 2nd card a lot (boy, is it powerful!). It plays with the heroic theme in a nice way. We need to edit the third card (which is interesting by the way and a neat planeswalker). The first ability feels green/black, not blue/white. And I think the ultimate should be -8, not -7. If you bumped up the CMC to 6 then -7 would be perfect. It's a game winning ultimate on 50-70% of board states.
Trying to disqualify people for petty reasons does nothing to foster a positive atmosphere on this forum and does nothing to make people want to participate. It's not a big deal if someone submits something at 1 AM ET or whatever. I always workout from 11-12 during which time I think of designs, so usually I get home, eat something, and jot down what I was thinking about at the gym. People have different schedules.
I don't understand what's going on here. The reminder text indicates that when someone spends flow mana, he passes it on to another person...which means that flow mana only goes up and up and up. How can you exhaust flow mana if spending it generates flow mana? Is the idea that we're creating a new product and multiplayer experience in which there's a sort of Braid of Fire effect that is psuedo-shared by the players? Maybe that's fun (I'd have to try it out), but I wouldn't want that touching Commander.
When I read the first few words (I didn't want to peak at the rest while designing), I assumed that flow mana is mana that would be useable by your partner in Two-Headed Giant or Battlebond, formats in which you have allies. That seems less radical than what you are proposing here. Just something to think about as a suggestion for how you could take the mechanic a different direction.
Regarding the cards, I like the common if used in an alliance setting (white giving mana in limited quantities to an ally feels in keeping with its color). I don't like white giving you yourself access to one mana of any color though. The blue uncommon is fine, a good way to highlight the mechanic. That last card though....boy is that a weird one. Because flow mana never really disappears it's not like you're crippling anyone except whoever is ahead. I think it's a really novel design and would lead to a novel game experience. It feels Boros more than anything, and could be Naya. The rule-setting nature really wants me to get white in there. Really good submission and design though.
Big picture: I'd strongly consider adopting flow mana to a setting in which you give that flow mana to allies. My impression of the mechanic as written is negative, but my impression of what I assumed your mechanic was when I glanced quickly at it was positive. Also, no matter what, I think flow mana should be colorless. You're obliterating the color pie here.
I like the mixture of creativity and viability here. I wouldn't want to see this mechanic printed in a normal expansion because planeswalkers just aren't common enough in limited to warrant more than a few of these. Of course, we had Meld in Eldritch Moon that was on literally 3 pairs of cards, and I could see this mechanic done in a regular expansion with that level of frequency. I don't have any suggestions for improvement of the mechanic - it does what it does. Basing a mechanic off of Heart of Kiran is clever, and it is powerful and flavorful (at least if you like planeswalkers. The overzealous marketing of the Gatewatch has destroyed my like of planeswalkers).
Your three cards are solid. Similar to Wizard's Lightning and Wizard's Retort, they are overcosted without the needed thing and undercosted with it. The Angel is more extreme, going from good to phenomenal, but that is fine for a rare. Overall I think that the choices you are presented with increasing/decreasing planeswalker loyalty could be interesting and promote fun and interesting gameplay. Good submissions!
Welcome to the Card Creation League!
Round 4 is for March's top 4:
kjsharp
Gerrard's Mom
Hemlock
IcariiFA
Theme
This month is all about mana! Generate it, spend it, put it in a stew (note: MTG Salvation staff bears no responsibility from injuries due to stewing mana.) We will be trying to pay homage to every type of mana from Hybrid to Phyrexian to Colorless to Snow.
Challenge
• A brief explanation of the new mana as well as what its symbol (or symbols) would look like is acceptable.
PLEASE NOTE: This month will continue the use of the "Mandatory Top 3 Rule." For this month, you must submit a Top 3 during a round's critique period in order to receive any points for the round. Submitting critiques as well will be worth 2 bonus points in the round.
Your judgments are due Wednesday, March 28th, 23:59 PST.
Schedule
• Round 1 — Open to Everyone (February 27th-March 4th)
• Round 2 — Open to Everyone (March 5th–10th)
• Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due March 12th)
• Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (March 13th–18th)
• Top 8 Critiques (Due March 20th)
• Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers from last round (March 21st–26th)
• Top 4 Critiques (Due March 28th)
• Final (End of month, winner determined by public poll)
Flow mana is designed for a multiplayer-focused supplementary set like Conspiracy or a Commander product. It can be spent as mana of any color, but instead of emptying from your pool, you pass each flow mana on to another player of your choice. It does not empty from mana pools as steps and phases end. Token cards similar to energy would be included so each player can track their current flow mana.
Flow mana does not have a new symbol and is flavored as being part of water or air currents.
Canyon Ascetic 1W
Creature - Human Monk (C)
When Canyon Ascetic enters the battlefield, if you have no flow mana in your mana pool, add one flow mana. (Flow mana doesn't empty from your mana pool as steps and phases end, and can be spent as any color. When you spend it, choose another player to add one flow mana.)
1/3
Read the Current 3U
Instant (U)
Scry X, where X is the amount of flow mana spent to cast this spell, then draw two cards.
"It's delightful to plunge into fresh currents and get a taste of a far-off destination...except when they come from the mer-goblin reefs."
-Kiora
Tarresh, the Eroding Wind 5BRG
Legendary Creature - Elemental (M)
Flying, trample
When Tarresh, the Eroding Wind enters the battlefield, destroy all lands. For each land destroyed this way, its controller adds one flow mana.
At the end of each opponent's turn, Tarresh deals 1 damage to that player for each flow mana in their mana pool.
7/5
Fracking mana is mana that you have to sacrifice as part of a casting cost, activation cost, or cost of a triggered ability. A plane-specific mechanic, not something I'd want to be in every block. All Phyrexian mana symbols here are actually fracking mana (the gray one is generic, the big black one is black).
Setting: Muraganda or Zendikar, or any plane where land features prominently.
Colors: BRG. Giving Jund a The Gitrog Monster, Mulch, Regrowth vibe.
Wildfire Rebirth 1(B/P)RG
Enchantment (R)
(A source that produces mana spent on (B/P) must be sacrificed as an additional cost.)
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player sacrifices a land they control.
At the beginning of each player's end step, that player returns a land card from their graveyard to the battlefield.
Canopy Protector 4(G/P)G
Creature - Treefolk (C)
(A source that produces mana spent on (B/P) must be sacrificed as an additional cost.)
Reach
When Canopy Protector enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token for each land card in your graveyard.
5/5
Sylvos, the World Churn 4 (R/P)(G/P)
Legendary Creature - Elemental (M)
(A source that produces mana spent on (B/P) must be sacrificed as an additional cost.)
Haste, menace, hexproof from white, hexproof from blue
Whenever Sylvos attacks, you may return up to three permanents with converted mana cost of six or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
6/6
Historic Mana: An alternative to legendary spells, historic mana is created much like snow mana is. Any legendary, artifact, or saga that generates mana also counts as Historic mana. Historic mana represents a potent source to draw on from objects, locations, and creatures of unusual power therefor making spells more powerful and momentous. The letter H represents the historic mana symbol.
The Brothers War 2HWU
Enchantment - Saga (M)
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I, II — Search your library for a planeswalker card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
III — Loyalty abilities of planeswalkers you control cost an additional +5 until end of turn.
Momentous Loss 3HW
Sorcery (C)
Destroy target permanent. If it was historic, tap each other permanent its controller controls. (Artifacts, legendaries, and Sagas are historic.)
It wasn't long before the news spread. Nissa had fallen.
Arltesh, The Leviathan 2HWU
Legendary Planeswalker - Arltesh (M)
+1: Put target historic card from your graveyard on top of your library.
-2: Creatures without flying can't attack you or planeswalkers you control until your next turn.
-7: Exile all nonisland permanents until the beginning of your next upkeep. You get an emblem with "Permanents you don't control enter the battlefield tapped."
5
Name was changed to Planar mana from previous idea to avois ambiguous wording issues as "planeswalker mana costs"
Design space for commons would revolve around normal effects of each color, That said, Planeswalker mana is not meant to be used profusely as cycling or kicker, because Planeswalkers are mythic and won't be showing up regularly in limited decks. That said, a set with Planar mana should venture into printing rare planeswalkers: I know this is a big flavor issue, and as such, it should be fixed from storyline itself: A cycle of characters suspected to have the spark. These planewalker cards will bear no discernible ultis and will have no way to build up loyalty, and act more like toolbox cvards. and wether or not they become "actual" planeswalker will be still to be revealed. I'm posting one just for reference on how this issue would be dealt with.
Amurdia, Flindergor Challenger
Legendary Planeswalker - Amurdia (R)
0: Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature you control.
-1: Destroy target aura or equipment.
-2: Create a 2/2 green Wolf token.
//3
Submissions
Planar Permission 2U
Instant (c)
(2 can be paid with or by removing a loyalty counter from a planeswalker you control.)
Counter target spell unless its controller pays .
"Understand that, wherever I go, I am the master. This house you call yours is mine until I say goodbye, or until I decide it should not exist anymore." - Errion, Planar Interrogator
Peryon, Planar Archangel 3WW
Legendary Creature - Angel (R)
Flying, vigilance.
3: Put a +1/+1 counter on Peryon, Planar Archangel.
"If I am from Heaven, you ask? I don't know, but If I am, you do not want to go to Heaven"
3/3
Extraplanar Hounds 2RR
Creature - Elemental Hound (u)
(2 can be paid with or by removing a loyalty counter from a planeswalker you control.)
Haste
Extraplanar Hounds cannot be blocked as long as it is attacking a planeswalker.
3/2
Your judgments are due Wednesday, March 28th, 23:59 PST.
1) I can see why you'd want to give flow mana generators to white, as there is a balance to it. But my concerns about making 5 color super accessible really stand out with a card like this.
2) A very well balanced card in the "flow mana matters" theme.
3) Dramatic. Can be quite hard to handle as after an opponent passes flow mana, you dont have to spend it to"give it back" and the deck playing this elemental would be ready to deal with the aftermath of losing all lands. What's most likely to happen though is this combos with the mana generated to end the game. I see Worldgorger Dragon esque shenanigans. Its expensive enough that this wont matter in most casual/limited games though.
Also, you edited your post after the deadline. Which is unfair especially to me since I worked editing my entry till EXACTLY 11:59pm last night. So either I treat your entry as breaking the deadline or I treat your common as breaking the prompt. Cardsz5000 prompt was not ambiguous, as the difference between "showcasing" a mechanic and synergizing with one is straightforward.Cardsz5000 asked for PST, so your entry was on time.1) There are certainly some good abuses with ETB and getting back key lands over and over again. A little bit of johnniness.
But it's a pretty narrow card otherwise. The more general use of the card as a mana fixer is pretty weak.
2) I like this design, but it produces a lot of bodies as a common. It might need to be bumped up rarity wise. It's on the border for me.
3) Super spikey. Probably a little too good for standard, since it gets so many permanents out almost right away. If you don't have an instant speed answer ready that it isn't protecting against, one attack from it is effectively a game loss. It's a similar power level to the better Titans.
1) This is a good design for your idea, and has a solid anchor to mana leak.
2) Peryon grows really quickly if you want him too, and you can wait to do it on hit. It be really easy to throw out a 5 loyalty plus walker and pay mana to pump this to a 9+ power creature permanently. Simple but powerful.
3) Probably my favorite of yours. Good design space, especially in a set that would require planeswalkers to be more prevalent, despite my concerns about making them too prevalent.
2nd: Hemlock
3rd: kjsharp
The first rare feels weird in many ways. The Melvin interaction of getting back the land you sacrificed first so you don't end up down lands is fine, but I'm not sure four mana just to have each player's worst land unavailable on their turn is useful. It's also weird that it makes it easier to interact on other people's turns, which is something green and red at least generally work against.
The common is ok I guess but I would much rather see a higher rarity card where I could sac as many lands as I want for more tokens.
This Sylvos is unrelated to Silvos I assume? Also is it total cost of six a la Protean Hulk or each six (which seems like too much)? I get that it's supposed to help you get back lands along with other stuff. Cooler mythic idea - lands in your graveyard generate mana.
The Saga using historic mana is weird - it feels like historic mana should be pulling things from the past, so is this a tale of the past that is itself from the past? Also the Brothers' War is like the only conflict in the history of Magic that didn't involve more than one planeswalker and that one only at the end, so the abilities don't match. Would have fit Urza's Nine Titans story a bit better. Finally, I know the wording is correct but "cost +5" instinctively sounds like a negative.
I guess we have Saltblast and the like but seems like a bit of a big effect for common with the tapping.
Is the planeswalker supposed to be the "demonic leviathan" that Nicol Bolas fought? This card seems the best place for your mechanic and I really like how the abilities fit together, just the flavor is slightly off if so.
Counterspell is ok I guess, but I don't get why Gideon or Tibalt help me counter spells. I guess that's a problem with all of them.
The angel seems decent I guess as a finisher for a superfriends deck.
I kind of like Extraplanar Hounds given the warped environment you propose. Actually seems cool to have a planeswalking hound.
2. Hemlock
3. kjsharp
As I said, viability is the key to this: Mana rocks and legendary lands from the whole of Magic History are there to support this and Historic spells are very likely to be able to find their way in multiple formats.
On the cards, I quite like the first one. I like how sagas play a bit like planeswalkers and this has that thing just very right. The "ulti" is crazy, yet a bit odd in some way. On the second card, well, I don't think you nailed it at all: irrestricted permanent destruction should not happen at common, and even less if you add extra effects. I understand the difficulty of balancing a "power" mechanic with common effects, but you had a lot of room to play with and desigbning a common was something specifically asked for the challenge. The planeswalker is quite flavorful: I'm picturing a huge leviathan that stands your ground and recovers things from the bottom of the sea. I like how it supports Historic itself and the throwback to Moat. the nonisland part of the ulti is the thing that worries me the most: Without it, I don't see any reason for it to be blue at all, but at the same time it would be a bit of flavor loss. Upheaval-like maybe?
Gerrard's Mom: Well, as I said regarding Icari's submission, viability is very important in this challenge and I don't see it in flow mana. there are some problems I can think of: The accumulation of mana can become very gamewarping by itself, but the ability to control when someone gets the mana is the most dangerous of all: This is too much of a boost for instant-based decks that can control when the mana is given to another player and can result in a very serious tempo imbalance. Casting a spell with flow mana can result in giving a player the mana needed to counter it, for example. While this can become an intresting tactical choice, the mechanic itself rewards reactive playstyle way too far beyond what I consider healthy. Another thing that worries me a bit is how flow mana can get passed back and forth between two players and "ganging" situations in multiplayer can become terribly unfun. Or maybe a player could hoard all the flow mana if he's ahead and keep it for the big finishing play. There are just too many scenarios I don't find nice regarding flow mana the way it is. This could be kind of fixed if the pool passed with the trun to the player, but I'm not sure that is what you had in mind.
On the cards, mana generation in white is very rare but as a one time supporter I think this works fine. The uncommon is very nice and gives you an interesting way to use that flow mana if needed and any flow-mana-hungry combo oriented deck would like to use it. The last one is kind of odd for what it does in that color identity, but I don't like that you don't get hit by it given the communal nature of flow mana.
Kjsharp: In the middle of viability, this is an interesting ability but it's very hard to sell. I personally liked Prophecy, and I still play cards like aura fracture and spitting spider in some decks, but sacrificing lands is not something players will find appealing (the name doesn't help either!). That said, while this is very far from being aa PR hit, is still viable withing the context of the game and doesn't break anything: One thing that should be discussed about fracking mana is how it interacts with nonpermanent mana generators (such as Pyretic Ritual or sources that sacrifice themselves ala blood pet. I'm taking that those sources cannot be used to pay for fracking (This just sounds so much like the f word!) costs. But I think those are issues that shouldn't go unclarified. On the cards, I like the rebirth very much: fracking a land adds up to the balance of not having a land like every other player and puts your opponent on a situation of having to decide what will they use in their turn before drawing: This is potentially very annoying for some mana bases and the tension between choice and chance is always fun to have. The common here is just too much. A common creature shouldn't be creating so many potential tokens. I like the last creature except for the keyword salad, and it reminds me a bit too much to Sun titan to be not white at all (white is way more versatile for recursion that red).
1. IcariFaa
2. Kjsharp
3. Gerrard's Mom
Imagine the commons Satyr Wayfinder, Mulch, and:
Retill the Soil 1G
Sorcery (C)
Return up to two target lands from your graveyard to your hand. You may play an additional land this turn.
Anywho, onto the feedback:
I like the first two cards in general. Regarding the first, I don't know why it should be or needs to be blue. Make it white. I like the 2nd card a lot (boy, is it powerful!). It plays with the heroic theme in a nice way. We need to edit the third card (which is interesting by the way and a neat planeswalker). The first ability feels green/black, not blue/white. And I think the ultimate should be -8, not -7. If you bumped up the CMC to 6 then -7 would be perfect. It's a game winning ultimate on 50-70% of board states.
Trying to disqualify people for petty reasons does nothing to foster a positive atmosphere on this forum and does nothing to make people want to participate. It's not a big deal if someone submits something at 1 AM ET or whatever. I always workout from 11-12 during which time I think of designs, so usually I get home, eat something, and jot down what I was thinking about at the gym. People have different schedules.
When I read the first few words (I didn't want to peak at the rest while designing), I assumed that flow mana is mana that would be useable by your partner in Two-Headed Giant or Battlebond, formats in which you have allies. That seems less radical than what you are proposing here. Just something to think about as a suggestion for how you could take the mechanic a different direction.
Regarding the cards, I like the common if used in an alliance setting (white giving mana in limited quantities to an ally feels in keeping with its color). I don't like white giving you yourself access to one mana of any color though. The blue uncommon is fine, a good way to highlight the mechanic. That last card though....boy is that a weird one. Because flow mana never really disappears it's not like you're crippling anyone except whoever is ahead. I think it's a really novel design and would lead to a novel game experience. It feels Boros more than anything, and could be Naya. The rule-setting nature really wants me to get white in there. Really good submission and design though.
Big picture: I'd strongly consider adopting flow mana to a setting in which you give that flow mana to allies. My impression of the mechanic as written is negative, but my impression of what I assumed your mechanic was when I glanced quickly at it was positive. Also, no matter what, I think flow mana should be colorless. You're obliterating the color pie here.
Your three cards are solid. Similar to Wizard's Lightning and Wizard's Retort, they are overcosted without the needed thing and undercosted with it. The Angel is more extreme, going from good to phenomenal, but that is fine for a rare. Overall I think that the choices you are presented with increasing/decreasing planeswalker loyalty could be interesting and promote fun and interesting gameplay. Good submissions!
Top 3:
1) Hemlock
2) Gerrard's Mom
3) IcariiFA
Edit: I'm going to assume you finished them as you have edited your post AFTER your request for more time:
Congrats to Hemlock & IcariiFA