Disaster has struck from nowhere. The plane Valhar was small and isolated, so interplanar affairs never struck that plane before. They had no idea of a planeswalkers war raging in another part of the multiverse and never would have known of it. It was just a weapon designed to consume a world caught in the war was deflected into the planar void and after centuries hit the unaware plane.
Valhar was not physically destroyed, but the metaphysical barrier to the æther has been scratched and is slowly whittled down. The bonds keeping the material world of Valhar together gradually unravel and nothingness consumes them. The people of Valhar react in different ways: some praying to their deaf deities or trying to research methods to understand and undo the damage; others embrace the destruction and bring anarchy to the land; and even others try and clutch to their own lifes at the cost of everyone else.
Mechanical Hook:
Valhar is an attempt to create as interesting a small set as possible revolving around a rather terrible mechanic: cumulative upkeep.
There are a few main goals:
1. Create a playable Limited environment.
2. Explore ways to interact with the mechanic in a simple form.
3. Explore the color identity of the mechanic. Make it feel different for each color.
There are also a few self-imposed restrictions/milestones to help the goals:
1. There need to be cards featuring the keyword at all rarities in each color.
2. Each rare and most uncommon card has either cumulative upkeep or interacts with one of its aspects (counters, the upkeep step, sacrifice, you name it!)
3. At common and uncommon there will be no nonmana costs for cumulative upkeep.
4. There will be french vanillas with cumulative upkeep in each color.
5. There will be no multicolor.
Beyond cumulative upkeep no other keyword/ability word is planned. I could imagine something interesting springing from someone's mind though, but I specifically want to avoid further existing keywords.
Color Identity:
My first step was to create a philosophy for each color in regards to cumulative upkeep.
White
White's first priority is to perservere. The focus on community has white cope with the situation by cutting its losses. CU will mainly affect its champions while the mass of the people are save. Healers may delay the loss, but ultimately white acknowledges to live on burrowed time.
Walheim Trapper :1mana::symw:
Creature - Human Soldier (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Whenever you put an age counter on ~, you may tap target creature.
2/2
I also considered "Whenever ~'s upkeep cost is paid", but consider this to be the more interesting incarnation. Either way the ability shows how white suffers under the Unraveling, but its champions continue to defend their people to their last breath.
If any color gets "Enchanted permanent loses cumulative upkeep." it is probably going to be white.
Blue
Blue's first priority is to manipulate. Blue will screw with the time flow to accelerate or slow down the negative effects. While others may indirectly use CU as a means to get cheap creatures or benefit from its after effects, blue interacts most directly with it.
Kajaran Oracle :1mana::symu:
Creature - Bird Wizard (U)
Flying
Cumulative upkeep
:symu:: Move an age counter from ~ onto target permanent with cumulative upkeep.
1/3
Pretty straightforward. While I try to showcase commons for each color, I feel this one might be the most likely to turn uncommon (it currently is in my initial design file).
Note that this kind of counter movement would also fit black's philosophy (surviving while someone else suffers for you). I think though that an activated ability is more down blue's path.
Black
Black's first priority is to benefit. Black will have no problems afflicting CU on others and stop at nothing to keep itself from suffering its consequences. A black creature with CU will not give in to fate, but cling to life if possible, feeding on the life time of others.
Sanghul Predator :1mana::symb:
Creature - Vampire Rogue (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Whenever ~ deals damage to a player, you may remove an age counter from it.
3/2
This showcases how a black creature will react to being afflicted by the Unraveling. They will lash out and gain their life force back. This design inspired the use of vampires as black's primary race.
Red
Red's first priority is to experience. Red sees the futility of worrying and embraces the destruction. Red feels it will not be for this world much longer, so it wants to go out in a blaze of glory. Red will concentrate mechanically on stuff leaving for the graveyard.
Bodjur Rager :1mana::symr:
Creature - Boar Berserker (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Whenever ~ attacks, you may put an age counter on it. If you do, ~ gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
2/3
I could see this mechanic expanded. In general red has this kind of mechanics to use when they know they will not be able to pay the next CU - turning their creature into a Ball Lightning variant.
Using it multiple times can also be a valid option.
Green
Green's first priority is to adapt. The world has changed, the laws of nature have changed. Green complies. Green will not suffer and die, but will prosper despite the situation. Green will amass age counters willingly and still be able to get benefits from it, where others just succumb to death.
Thornvald Thallid :1mana::symg:
Creature - Fungus (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Remove three age counters from ~: Put three 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens onto the battlefield.
2/2
"Age counter thallids" are gonna be a green subtheme in my eyes.
green is not only meant to "cheat" the CU in this way though. A creature that gets +1/+1 for each age counter will also belong here.
NOTE: While all the "commons" currently have colored CU costs, I will probably move to generic CU costs on many commons.
The World Draft:
Valhar's inhabitants exist currently as rough drafts.
The white human faction of Walheim defend against the onslaught of suddenly more aggressive black and red creatures.
The blue faction includes the Kajan aven which are the likes of ravens and crows.
Black features vampires since this fits the theme of feeding on others extremely well, they hail from the cursed bastion of Sanghul.
Bodjur are a red boar folk that can grow to enormous size, and are easily instigated into a battle rage.
The green elves of Thornvald witness the rise of the fungal lifeforms that can survive among the ruins of other civilisations.
Further Cards:
Especially at common I try to use some nostalgia influenced designs. The Thallid above may turn into a whole theme. On a single card, I made an effort to have Blastoderm redone:
Pale Warbeast :2mana::symg::symg:
Creature - Beast (C)
Shroud
Cumulative upkeep (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
5/5
I strife to have at least one reprint in each color that fits the theme without having cumulative upkeep. Currently Æther Snap seems like it will be in (also cards like Clockspinning, Fate Transfer and Medicine Runner don't fit the set criteria, but will get functional equivalents down the road).
I'll also cover all the staples in a fashion fitting the theme:
Winds of Valhar :3mana::symw::symw:
Sorcery (R)
Destroy each creature without a counter on it.
I'm looking forward to input and ideas.
ADDITION (started 2012-01-27): Design Skeleton:
The current incarnation will probably be reduced in size (possibly drastically) before the end. I don't really want a full set of this size.
LU01 - Land
LU02 - Land
LU03 - Land
LU04 - Land
LU05 - Land
LU06 - Land
LR01 - Land
LR02 - Land
LR03 - Land
LR04 - Land
LR05 - Land
Card Collection:
Walheim Trapper :1mana::symw:
Creature - Human Soldier (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Whenever you put an age counter on ~, you may tap target creature.
2/2
Release
Instant (C)
Return target permanent you control to its owner's hand.
Martyr's Grace :3mana::symw:
Instant (C)
You may exile/sacrifice a white permanent you control rather than pay ~'s mana cost.
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you and creatures you control this turn.
Persistent Prayer
Enchantment (U)
Cumulative upkeep
Whenever an age counter is placed on ~, you gain X life, where X is the number of age counters on ~.
Winds of Valhar :3mana::symw::symw:
Sorcery (R)
Destroy each creature without a counter on it.
Temporal Inhibitor :1mana::symu:
Creature - Human Wizard (C)
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may remove a counter from target permanent. They are determined to delay the inevitable.
2/1
Kajaran Oracle :1mana::symu:
Creature - Bird Wizard (U)
Flying
Cumulative upkeep
:symu:: Move an age counter from ~ onto target permanent with cumulative upkeep.
1/3
Sanghul Predator :1mana::symb:
Creature - Vampire Rogue (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Whenever ~ deals damage to a player, you may remove an age counter from it.
3/2
Cling to Life :1mana::symb:
Instant (C)
Return up to two creature cards that were put into your graveyard this turn to your hand.
Spitecache
Enchantment (U)
Cumulative upkeep
When ~ is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, each opponent loses 2 life for each age counter on ~.
Doomsday Horror :3mana::symb::symb:
Creature - Horror (R)
Cumulative upkeep :1mana::symb:
~ gets -1/-1 for each age counter on it.
When ~ dies, each opponent discards a card for each age counter on ~ and you draw a card for each age counter on ~.
6/6
Bodjur Rager :1mana::symr:
Creature - Boar Berserker (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Whenever ~ attacks, you may put an age counter on it. If you do, ~ gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
2/3
Tectonic Erruption :1mana::symr::symr:
Sorcery (C)
Search your library for a basic Mountain card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. ~ deals damage to target creature equal to the number of Mountains you control.
Magmacore Elemental :2mana::symr::symr:
Creature - Elemental (U)
Cumulative upkeep
Put an age counter on ~: ~ gains haste until end of turn.
5/4
Thornvald Thallid :1mana::symg:
Creature - Fungus (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Remove three age counters from ~: Put three 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens onto the battlefield.
2/2
Pale Warbeast :2mana::symg::symg:
Creature - Beast (C)
Shroud
Cumulative upkeep (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
5/5
Hope's Seed
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant permanent
When enchanted permanent is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, draw two cards.
Promised Strength
Enchantment (U)
Cumulative upkeep
Remove an age counter from ~: Target creature gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of age counters on ~.
Caller of Ages :1mana::symg::symg:
Creature - Elf Shaman (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose a counter on target permanent. You may put another of those counters on it. "In these the end times we are reminded that everything is born to die and grows to be consumed. The eon of growth will end with a final spurt."
2/2
Blood Diary
Artifact (R)
Cumulative upkeep - Pay 1 life.
:1mana:, :symtap:: Draw a card.
???
---
Expanding Rift
Land (?)
Cumulative upkeep
:symtap:: Add one mana of a color of your choice to your mana pool.
:symtap:: You may put a permanent card with converted mana cost equal to the number of age counters on ~ from your hand onto the battlefield.
Doomed Treasury
Land (?)
Cumulative upkeep
At the beginning of each main phase during your turn, add to your mana pool, where X is the number of age counters on ~.
Haven of Recess
Land (?)
:symtap:: Add to your mana pool.
:symtap:: Remove a counter from target permanent (you control?).
Hazelnut Treefolk :2mana::symg:
Creature - Treefolk Shaman (?)
Cumulative upkeep
:symtap:: Put a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token onto the battlefield for each age counter on ~.
2/5
Cycle
Stall
Instant (U)
Counter target triggered ability
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may sacrifice a permanent. If you do, return ~ from your graveyard to your hand.
Vergrinch :3mana::symg:
Creature - Beast (U)
Cumulative upkeep
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may sacrifice a permanent. If you do, return ~ from your graveyard to your hand.
5/5
Void's Pull :2mana::symb::symb:
Sorcery (U)
Target player sacrifices a creature.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may sacrifice a permanent. If you do, return ~ from your graveyard to your hand.
Touch of Eternity :4mana::symw:
Enchantment - Aura (U)
Enchant permanent
Enchanted permanent is indestructible.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may sacrifice a permanent. If you do, return ~ from your graveyard to your hand.
Unliving Spark :1mana::symr:
Sorcery (U)
~ deals 3 damage to target player.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may sacrifice a permanent. If you do, return ~ from your graveyard to your hand.
I like what you're doing with cumulative upkeep. Good ideas. Can't wait to see what else you have in store for the set. After all, if you're using age counters, you should do more with it than cumulative upkeep. Perhaps a new keyword? Maybe change the rules to cumulative upkeep so that it uses time counters instead, and then toss in vanishing or suspend?
Excellent expansion of the cumulative upkeep mechanic. Each colour certainly feels like it's using the mechanic in a unique way. Black's vampirism I especially like. The blue style of 'sharing' would work I think if you gave the counters to other creatures you control. Otherwise, this would make blue too strong in limited environments and prevent your opponents form being able to use / cast their creatures. You could use one creature as a counter dump, with either death triggers or 'ageing' triggers.
With Bodjur Racer, I think it would be more fun if you split the ability in two. let it get +2/+0 whenever an age counter is put on it, but also give the option of 'ageing' it whenever it attacks. That way each upkeep is beneficial. I realise this may power it up quite a bit, but I think it's manageable. That way white and red use the mechanic similarly, however red still shows more willingness to sacrifice the future for the present. I realise this means a common with three abilities, so perhaps just for the uncommons and upwards you could do this.
Overall, looking forward to seeing more counter goodness.
Private Mod Note
():
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Gaymer
Custom Card / Set Reviewer
When reviewing custom cards / sets, I look for (a) flavour, (b) function, and (c) cohesiveness, generally through a risk focus.
After all, if you're using age counters, you should do more with it than cumulative upkeep. Perhaps a new keyword?
I'm not explicitely planning the use of any keyword that isn't evergreen or cumulative upkeep. Though the idea of finding a new mechanic that uses age counters specifically seems intriguing. If it makes flavor sense I will consider any idea I come across.
Currently I actually moved my focus away from cumulative upkeep cards itself and towards the cards around it that won't and can't use cumulative upkeep - specifically instants and sorceries.
The relevant solutions I found so far:
Some of these are supposed to reinforce the feel of some colors, others are spread among the whole pie
Alternative cost spells
Inspired by pitch spells of old I consider a variant that lets you exile/sacrifice permanents rather than cards in hand: A way to get a last use out of your CU permanent rather than simply sacrificing it.
Martyr's Grace :3mana::symw:
Instant (C)
You may exile/sacrifice a white permanent you control rather than pay ~'s mana cost.
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you and creatures you control this turn.
Gating
A mechanic that in form of evacuation has been used in white during Planar Chaos. Self-inflicted bounce effects in union with flicker will feature in white as reset buttons for cumulative upkeep. Blue gets an option on getting this on a smaller scale, but Unsummon plus the ability to move all age counters onto a single creature should already be enough.
Release
Instant (C)
Return target permanent you control to its owner's hand.
Gravestorm
Actually not quite as specific, but in a generalized form. Both black and red will keep an eye on whether and/or how many permanents have been put into the graveyard. This mechanic has a small chance of expanding into green as well.
Cling to Life :1mana::symb:
Instant (C)
Return up to two creature cards that were put into your graveyard this turn to your hand.
Ramp
Green is the center color of mana production and hence will be the one color most concerned with simply accepting the cost and paying it. As a special aspect of the set all colors get to dibble into this on a card. The cards will be designed with a cantrip mentality and the expressed goal to make the ramp an organic part of the effect.
Tectonic Erruption :1mana::symr::symr:
Sorcery (C)
Search your library for a basic Mountain card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. ~ deals damage to target creature equal to the number of Mountains you control.
Maybe change the rules to cumulative upkeep so that it uses time counters instead, and then toss in vanishing or suspend?
I won't do that - both vanishing and cumulative upkeep as drawback abilities that restrict the life time of your card and hence are too similar to each other IMO.
Suspend works from another zone and will force me to decide whether I want my counter manipulation to affect permanents, suspended cards or both - for each and every instance of it.
Lastly it seems like a good way to cheat myself of chances to explore cumulative upkeep - I don't think I would have made a CU based variant of Blastoderm in a set that has vanishing.
Time counters would certainly help with making finding suitable reprints, but at the same time I don't want to have to rely on that change. The question I want to answer is whether CU can stand on its own - unaltered.
The blue style of 'sharing' would work I think if you gave the counters to other creatures you control. Otherwise, this would make blue too strong in limited environments and prevent your opponents form being able to use / cast their creatures. You could use one creature as a counter dump, with either death triggers or 'ageing' triggers.
You have a good point.
I will have an eye on this. I guess the change will be made just as you described on all limited relevant incarnations. Something has to change though.
With Bodjur Racer, I think it would be more fun if you split the ability in two. let it get +2/+0 whenever an age counter is put on it, but also give the option of 'ageing' it whenever it attacks.
I will consider this for higher rarities.
Since cumulative upkeep will have reminder text on all commons, there is a strict limit to what can be done though.
Further Cards:
As before I am not a creative designer, so I had myself inspired by a card of the past. Eventually all four original Elementals may sneak their way into the set in such a fashion.
Magmacore Elemental :2mana::symr::symr:
Creature - Elemental (U)
Cumulative upkeep
Put an age counter on ~: ~ gains haste until end of turn.
5/4
I mentioned a functional reprint of Medicine Runner already:
Temporal Inhibitor :1mana::symu:
Creature - Human Wizard (C)
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may remove a counter from target permanent. They are determined to delay the inevitable.
2/1
Though once again green is out to oppose blue's good work:
Caller of Ages :1mana::symg::symg:
Creature - Elf Shaman (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose a counter on target permanent. You may put another of those counters on it. "In these the end times we are reminded that everything is born to die and grows to be consumed. The eon of growth will end with a final spurt."
2/2
I considered him uncommon material for a while and moved him to rare with the ability to affect each player during their upkeep (AP-NAP order being the key here - hehe). During your upkeep you can control it nicely to get an age counter for free.
Viewers Participation:
I am always interested in input from the outside to move things along. Right now I am contemplating five monocolored vertical creature cycles (a common, an uncommon, a rare) without cumulative upkeep that help give the colors an identity.
While some ideas are already spooking in my head and hard drive I am interested to hear of what anyone else is able to come up with.
Private Mod Note
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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]
Vertical cycles sound like the way to go with this set. Good thinking.
Temporal Inhibitor - Nice colour shift.
Caller of Ages - I'm curious as to why this can work on your opponents' permanents. That doesn't seem like a green thing to do, to hose cumulative upkeep. I suppose the colour pie could be stretched to include this ability for green, but it still seems a little odd. Perhaps this is green 'removal' for this set? I think it could definitely work, just take note of its potential application, especially in multiples.
Private Mod Note
():
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Gaymer
Custom Card / Set Reviewer
When reviewing custom cards / sets, I look for (a) flavour, (b) function, and (c) cohesiveness, generally through a risk focus.
I love this idea. I always liked designs like Glacial Plating, and a whole set of it could be very interesting.
In order to keep things fresh, I think you need at least one other non-CU mechanic. Here are my ideas:
Champion
Champion seems like a perfect fit for CU. It lets you reset your CU guys, and if the Champion has CU, it naturally kills itself to bring your first guy back.
Haunt
In an environment where things die on their own, Haunt also seems perfect. Your CU guy dies, you haunt their CU guy. It's a win-win.
Modular
This does require a little more space than you might be willing to give it, but if you're running with a counter theme, Modular is a great mechanic that utilizes both counters and death.
Proliferate
Die faster! mwahahahaha...
But seriously, this seems like an awesome mechanic in this kind of environment. A single proliferation can derail an opponent's perfectly laid plan.
Recover
I'm not sure if you want to let players recur their creatures, but if you do, Recover is a great mechanic that hasn't been done in a while.
Private Mod Note
():
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"In the beginning, MTG Salvation switched to a new forum format.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
It was at that moment that I realized: I'm kinda just making these things up. We can just write the rules the way we want them to work. People will have fun, and people will get it.
Disaster has struck from nowhere. The plane Valhar was small and isolated, so interplanar affairs never struck that plane before. They had no idea of a planeswalkers war raging in another part of the multiverse and never would have known of it. It was just a weapon designed to consume a world caught in the war was deflected into the planar void and after centuries hit the unaware plane.
Valhar was not physically destroyed, but the metaphysical barrier to the æther has been scratched and is slowly whittled down. The bonds keeping the material world of Valhar together gradually unravel and nothingness consumes them. The people of Valhar react in different ways: some praying to their deaf deities or trying to research methods to understand and undo the damage; others embrace the destruction and bring anarchy to the land; and even others try and clutch to their own lifes at the cost of everyone else.
Mechanical Hook:
Valhar is an attempt to create as interesting a small set as possible revolving around a rather terrible mechanic: cumulative upkeep.
There are a few main goals:
1. Create a playable Limited environment.
2. Explore ways to interact with the mechanic in a simple form.
3. Explore the color identity of the mechanic. Make it feel different for each color.
There are also a few self-imposed restrictions/milestones to help the goals:
1. There need to be cards featuring the keyword at all rarities in each color.
2. Each rare and most uncommon card has either cumulative upkeep or interacts with one of its aspects (counters, the upkeep step, sacrifice, you name it!)
3. At common and uncommon there will be no nonmana costs for cumulative upkeep.
4. There will be french vanillas with cumulative upkeep in each color.
5. There will be no multicolor.
Beyond cumulative upkeep no other keyword/ability word is planned. I could imagine something interesting springing from someone's mind though, but I specifically want to avoid further existing keywords.
Color Identity:
My first step was to create a philosophy for each color in regards to cumulative upkeep.
White
White's first priority is to perservere. The focus on community has white cope with the situation by cutting its losses. CU will mainly affect its champions while the mass of the people are save. Healers may delay the loss, but ultimately white acknowledges to live on burrowed time.
Creature - Human Soldier (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Whenever you put an age counter on ~, you may tap target creature.
2/2
I also considered "Whenever ~'s upkeep cost is paid", but consider this to be the more interesting incarnation. Either way the ability shows how white suffers under the Unraveling, but its champions continue to defend their people to their last breath.
If any color gets "Enchanted permanent loses cumulative upkeep." it is probably going to be white.
Blue's first priority is to manipulate. Blue will screw with the time flow to accelerate or slow down the negative effects. While others may indirectly use CU as a means to get cheap creatures or benefit from its after effects, blue interacts most directly with it.
Creature - Bird Wizard (U)
Flying
Cumulative upkeep
:symu:: Move an age counter from ~ onto target permanent with cumulative upkeep.
1/3
Pretty straightforward. While I try to showcase commons for each color, I feel this one might be the most likely to turn uncommon (it currently is in my initial design file).
Note that this kind of counter movement would also fit black's philosophy (surviving while someone else suffers for you). I think though that an activated ability is more down blue's path.
Black's first priority is to benefit. Black will have no problems afflicting CU on others and stop at nothing to keep itself from suffering its consequences. A black creature with CU will not give in to fate, but cling to life if possible, feeding on the life time of others.
Creature - Vampire Rogue (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Whenever ~ deals damage to a player, you may remove an age counter from it.
3/2
This showcases how a black creature will react to being afflicted by the Unraveling. They will lash out and gain their life force back. This design inspired the use of vampires as black's primary race.
Red's first priority is to experience. Red sees the futility of worrying and embraces the destruction. Red feels it will not be for this world much longer, so it wants to go out in a blaze of glory. Red will concentrate mechanically on stuff leaving for the graveyard.
Creature - Boar Berserker (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Whenever ~ attacks, you may put an age counter on it. If you do, ~ gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
2/3
I could see this mechanic expanded. In general red has this kind of mechanics to use when they know they will not be able to pay the next CU - turning their creature into a Ball Lightning variant.
Using it multiple times can also be a valid option.
Green's first priority is to adapt. The world has changed, the laws of nature have changed. Green complies. Green will not suffer and die, but will prosper despite the situation. Green will amass age counters willingly and still be able to get benefits from it, where others just succumb to death.
Creature - Fungus (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Remove three age counters from ~: Put three 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens onto the battlefield.
2/2
"Age counter thallids" are gonna be a green subtheme in my eyes.
green is not only meant to "cheat" the CU in this way though. A creature that gets +1/+1 for each age counter will also belong here.
The World Draft:
Valhar's inhabitants exist currently as rough drafts.
The white human faction of Walheim defend against the onslaught of suddenly more aggressive black and red creatures.
The blue faction includes the Kajan aven which are the likes of ravens and crows.
Black features vampires since this fits the theme of feeding on others extremely well, they hail from the cursed bastion of Sanghul.
Bodjur are a red boar folk that can grow to enormous size, and are easily instigated into a battle rage.
The green elves of Thornvald witness the rise of the fungal lifeforms that can survive among the ruins of other civilisations.
Further Cards:
Especially at common I try to use some nostalgia influenced designs. The Thallid above may turn into a whole theme. On a single card, I made an effort to have Blastoderm redone:
Creature - Beast (C)
Shroud
Cumulative upkeep (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
5/5
I'll also cover all the staples in a fashion fitting the theme:
Sorcery (R)
Destroy each creature without a counter on it.
I'm looking forward to input and ideas.
ADDITION (started 2012-01-27):
Design Skeleton:
The current incarnation will probably be reduced in size (possibly drastically) before the end. I don't really want a full set of this size.
WC01 - Creature
WC02 - Creature
WC03 - Creature
WC04 - Creature
WC05 - Creature
WC06 - Creature
WC07 - Creature
WC08 - Creature
WC09 - Creature
WC10 - Creature
WC11 - Creature
WC12 - Creature
WC13 - Creature
WC14 - Enchantment - Aura
WC15 - Enchantment - Aura
WC16 - Instant/Sorcery
WC17 - Instant/Sorcery
WC18 - Instant/Sorcery
WC19 - Instant/Sorcery
WC20 - Instant/Sorcery
WU01 - Creature
WU02 - Creature
WU03 - Creature
WU04 - Creature
WU05 - Creature
WU06 - Enchantment
WU07 - Instant/Sorcery
WU08 - Instant/Sorcery
WU09 - Instant/Sorcery
WU10 - Instant/Sorcery
WR01 - Creature
WR02 - Creature
WR03 - Creature
WR04 - Creature
WR05 - Creature
WR06 - Enchantment
WR07 - Enchantment
WR08 - Instant/Sorcery
WR09 - Instant/Sorcery
WR10 - Instant/Sorcery
WM01 - Creature
WM02 - Noncreature
UC01 - Creature
UC02 - Creature
UC03 - Creature
UC04 - Creature
UC05 - Creature
UC06 - Creature
UC07 - Creature
UC08 - Creature
UC09 - Creature
UC10 - Creature
UC11 - Enchantment - Aura
UC12 - Enchantment - Aura
UC13 - Enchantment - Aura
UC14 - Instant/Sorcery
UC15 - Instant/Sorcery
UC16 - Instant/Sorcery
UC17 - Instant/Sorcery
UC18 - Instant/Sorcery
UC19 - Instant/Sorcery
UC20 - Instant/Sorcery
UU01 - Creature
UU02 - Creature
UU03 - Creature
UU04 - Creature
UU05 - Creature
UU06 - Creature
UU07 - Enchantment
UU08 - Instant/Sorcery
UU09 - Instant/Sorcery
UU10 - Instant/Sorcery
UR01 - Creature
UR02 - Creature
UR03 - Creature
UR04 - Creature
UR05 - Enchantment
UR06 - Enchantment
UR07 - Instant/Sorcery
UR08 - Instant/Sorcery
UR09 - Instant/Sorcery
UR10 - Instant/Sorcery
UM01 - Creature
UM02 - Noncreature
BC01 - Creature
BC02 - Creature
BC03 - Creature
BC04 - Creature
BC05 - Creature
BC06 - Creature
BC07 - Creature
BC08 - Creature
BC09 - Creature
BC10 - Enchantment - Aura
BC11 - Enchantment - Aura
BC12 - Instant/Sorcery
BC13 - Instant/Sorcery
BC14 - Instant/Sorcery
BC15 - Instant/Sorcery
BC16 - Instant/Sorcery
BC17 - Instant/Sorcery
BC18 - Instant/Sorcery
BC19 - Instant/Sorcery
BC20 - Instant/Sorcery
BU01 - Creature
BU02 - Creature
BU03 - Creature
BU04 - Creature
BU05 - Creature
BU06 - Creature
BU07 - Creature
BU08 - Enchantment - Aura
BU09 - Instant/Sorcery
BU10 - Instant/Sorcery
BR01 - Creature
BR02 - Creature
BR03 - Creature
BR04 - Creature
BR05 - Enchantment
BR06 - Enchantment
BR07 - Enchantment
BR08 - Instant/Sorcery
BR09 - Instant/Sorcery
BR10 - Instant/Sorcery
BM01 - Creature
BM02 - Noncreature
RC01 - Creature
RC02 - Creature
RC03 - Creature
RC04 - Creature
RC05 - Creature
RC06 - Creature
RC07 - Creature
RC08 - Creature
RC09 - Creature
RC10 - Creature
RC11 - Creature
RC12 - Creature
RC13 - Enchantment - Aura
RC14 - Enchantment - Aura
RC15 - Instant/Sorcery
RC16 - Instant/Sorcery
RC17 - Instant/Sorcery
RC18 - Instant/Sorcery
RC19 - Instant/Sorcery
RC20 - Instant/Sorcery
RU01 - Creature
RU02 - Creature
RU03 - Creature
RU04 - Creature
RU05 - Creature
RU06 - Creature
RU07 - Creature
RU08 - Instant/Sorcery
RU09 - Instant/Sorcery
RU10 - Instant/Sorcery
RR01 - Creature
RR02 - Creature
RR03 - Creature
RR04 - Creature
RR05 - Creature
RR06 - Enchantment
RR07 - Enchantment
RR08 - Instant/Sorcery
RR09 - Instant/Sorcery
RR10 - Instant/Sorcery
RM01 - Creature
RM02 - Noncreature
GC01 - Creature
GC02 - Creature
GC03 - Creature
GC04 - Creature
GC05 - Creature
GC06 - Creature
GC07 - Creature
GC08 - Creature
GC09 - Creature
GC10 - Creature
GC11 - Creature
GC12 - Creature
GC13 - Creature
GC14 - Enchantment - Aura
GC15 - Enchantment - Aura
GC16 - Instant/Sorcery
GC17 - Instant/Sorcery
GC18 - Instant/Sorcery
GC19 - Instant/Sorcery
GC20 - Instant/Sorcery
GU01 - Creature
GU02 - Creature
GU03 - Creature
GU04 - Creature
GU05 - Creature
GU06 - Creature
GU07 - Creature
GU08 - Creature
GU09 - Instant/Sorcery
GU10 - Instant/Sorcery
GR01 - Creature
GR02 - Creature
GR03 - Creature
GR04 - Creature
GR05 - Creature
GR06 - Creature
GR07 - Enchantment
GR08 - Enchantment
GR09 - Instant/Sorcery
GR10 - Instant/Sorcery
GM01 - Creature
GM02 - Noncreature
AC01 - Artifact Creature
AC02 - Equipment
AC03 - Equipment
AC04 - Noncreature Artifact
AC05 - Noncreature Artifact
AU01 - Artifact Creature
AU02 - Artifact Creature
AU03 - Equipment
AU04 - Equipment
AU05 - Equipment
AU06 - Equipment
AU07 - Equipment
AU08 - Equipment
AU09 - Noncreature Artifact
AU10 - Noncreature Artifact
AR01 - Artifact Creature
AR02 - Artifact Creature
AR03 - Equipment
AR04 - Noncreature Artifact
AR05 - Noncreature Artifact
AM01 - (Legendary?) Artifact
LC01 - Land
LU01 - Land
LU02 - Land
LU03 - Land
LU04 - Land
LU05 - Land
LU06 - Land
LR01 - Land
LR02 - Land
LR03 - Land
LR04 - Land
LR05 - Land
Creature - Human Soldier (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Whenever you put an age counter on ~, you may tap target creature.
2/2
Instant (C)
Return target permanent you control to its owner's hand.
Instant (C)
You may exile/sacrifice a white permanent you control rather than pay ~'s mana cost.
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you and creatures you control this turn.
Enchantment (U)
Cumulative upkeep
Whenever an age counter is placed on ~, you gain X life, where X is the number of age counters on ~.
Sorcery (R)
Destroy each creature without a counter on it.
Creature - Human Wizard (C)
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may remove a counter from target permanent.
They are determined to delay the inevitable.
2/1
Creature - Bird Wizard (U)
Flying
Cumulative upkeep
:symu:: Move an age counter from ~ onto target permanent with cumulative upkeep.
1/3
Creature - Vampire Rogue (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Whenever ~ deals damage to a player, you may remove an age counter from it.
3/2
Instant (C)
Return up to two creature cards that were put into your graveyard this turn to your hand.
Enchantment (U)
Cumulative upkeep
When ~ is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, each opponent loses 2 life for each age counter on ~.
Creature - Horror (R)
Cumulative upkeep :1mana::symb:
~ gets -1/-1 for each age counter on it.
When ~ dies, each opponent discards a card for each age counter on ~ and you draw a card for each age counter on ~.
6/6
Creature - Boar Berserker (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Whenever ~ attacks, you may put an age counter on it. If you do, ~ gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
2/3
Sorcery (C)
Search your library for a basic Mountain card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. ~ deals damage to target creature equal to the number of Mountains you control.
Creature - Elemental (U)
Cumulative upkeep
Put an age counter on ~: ~ gains haste until end of turn.
5/4
Creature - Fungus (C)
Cumulative upkeep
Remove three age counters from ~: Put three 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens onto the battlefield.
2/2
Creature - Beast (C)
Shroud
Cumulative upkeep (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
5/5
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant permanent
When enchanted permanent is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, draw two cards.
Enchantment (U)
Cumulative upkeep
Remove an age counter from ~: Target creature gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of age counters on ~.
Creature - Elf Shaman (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose a counter on target permanent. You may put another of those counters on it.
"In these the end times we are reminded that everything is born to die and grows to be consumed. The eon of growth will end with a final spurt."
2/2
Artifact (R)
Cumulative upkeep - Pay 1 life.
:1mana:, :symtap:: Draw a card.
???
Land (?)
Cumulative upkeep
:symtap:: Add one mana of a color of your choice to your mana pool.
:symtap:: You may put a permanent card with converted mana cost equal to the number of age counters on ~ from your hand onto the battlefield.
Land (?)
Cumulative upkeep
At the beginning of each main phase during your turn, add to your mana pool, where X is the number of age counters on ~.
Land (?)
:symtap:: Add to your mana pool.
:symtap:: Remove a counter from target permanent (you control?).
Creature - Treefolk Shaman (?)
Cumulative upkeep
:symtap:: Put a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token onto the battlefield for each age counter on ~.
2/5
Instant (U)
Counter target triggered ability
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may sacrifice a permanent. If you do, return ~ from your graveyard to your hand.
Creature - Beast (U)
Cumulative upkeep
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may sacrifice a permanent. If you do, return ~ from your graveyard to your hand.
5/5
Sorcery (U)
Target player sacrifices a creature.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may sacrifice a permanent. If you do, return ~ from your graveyard to your hand.
Enchantment - Aura (U)
Enchant permanent
Enchanted permanent is indestructible.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may sacrifice a permanent. If you do, return ~ from your graveyard to your hand.
Sorcery (U)
~ deals 3 damage to target player.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may sacrifice a permanent. If you do, return ~ from your graveyard to your hand.
Five Cards Revealed
Five More Cards
A Cycle
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
My art blog
Claims:
The kicker variant in WWK will be "Kicker without a kicked effect." - proven wrong Jan 2010 : 2 wrongs
Decks:
:symu::symb: Bloodchief Ascension - Modern
:symb::symr: Rakdos, the Defiler - EDH
:symu::symb::symw: Sharuum the Hegemon - EDH
:symw::symu::symb: Zur the Enchanter - EDH
With Bodjur Racer, I think it would be more fun if you split the ability in two. let it get +2/+0 whenever an age counter is put on it, but also give the option of 'ageing' it whenever it attacks. That way each upkeep is beneficial. I realise this may power it up quite a bit, but I think it's manageable. That way white and red use the mechanic similarly, however red still shows more willingness to sacrifice the future for the present. I realise this means a common with three abilities, so perhaps just for the uncommons and upwards you could do this.
Overall, looking forward to seeing more counter goodness.
Custom Card / Set Reviewer
When reviewing custom cards / sets, I look for (a) flavour, (b) function, and (c) cohesiveness, generally through a risk focus.
I especially like the thallid.
WUBRGCommander Decklists - PaperWUBRG
CCCCCommander Decklists - TheorycraftCCCC
Sig Credit: Pegasus Bishop
I'm not explicitely planning the use of any keyword that isn't evergreen or cumulative upkeep. Though the idea of finding a new mechanic that uses age counters specifically seems intriguing. If it makes flavor sense I will consider any idea I come across.
Currently I actually moved my focus away from cumulative upkeep cards itself and towards the cards around it that won't and can't use cumulative upkeep - specifically instants and sorceries.
The relevant solutions I found so far:
Some of these are supposed to reinforce the feel of some colors, others are spread among the whole pie
Alternative cost spells
Inspired by pitch spells of old I consider a variant that lets you exile/sacrifice permanents rather than cards in hand: A way to get a last use out of your CU permanent rather than simply sacrificing it.
Instant (C)
You may exile/sacrifice a white permanent you control rather than pay ~'s mana cost.
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you and creatures you control this turn.
A mechanic that in form of evacuation has been used in white during Planar Chaos. Self-inflicted bounce effects in union with flicker will feature in white as reset buttons for cumulative upkeep. Blue gets an option on getting this on a smaller scale, but Unsummon plus the ability to move all age counters onto a single creature should already be enough.
Instant (C)
Return target permanent you control to its owner's hand.
Actually not quite as specific, but in a generalized form. Both black and red will keep an eye on whether and/or how many permanents have been put into the graveyard. This mechanic has a small chance of expanding into green as well.
Instant (C)
Return up to two creature cards that were put into your graveyard this turn to your hand.
Green is the center color of mana production and hence will be the one color most concerned with simply accepting the cost and paying it. As a special aspect of the set all colors get to dibble into this on a card.
The cards will be designed with a cantrip mentality and the expressed goal to make the ramp an organic part of the effect.
Sorcery (C)
Search your library for a basic Mountain card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. ~ deals damage to target creature equal to the number of Mountains you control.
I won't do that - both vanishing and cumulative upkeep as drawback abilities that restrict the life time of your card and hence are too similar to each other IMO.
Suspend works from another zone and will force me to decide whether I want my counter manipulation to affect permanents, suspended cards or both - for each and every instance of it.
Lastly it seems like a good way to cheat myself of chances to explore cumulative upkeep - I don't think I would have made a CU based variant of Blastoderm in a set that has vanishing.
Time counters would certainly help with making finding suitable reprints, but at the same time I don't want to have to rely on that change. The question I want to answer is whether CU can stand on its own - unaltered.
You have a good point.
I will have an eye on this. I guess the change will be made just as you described on all limited relevant incarnations. Something has to change though.
I will consider this for higher rarities.
Since cumulative upkeep will have reminder text on all commons, there is a strict limit to what can be done though.
Further Cards:
As before I am not a creative designer, so I had myself inspired by a card of the past. Eventually all four original Elementals may sneak their way into the set in such a fashion.
Creature - Elemental (U)
Cumulative upkeep
Put an age counter on ~: ~ gains haste until end of turn.
5/4
Creature - Human Wizard (C)
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may remove a counter from target permanent.
They are determined to delay the inevitable.
2/1
Creature - Elf Shaman (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose a counter on target permanent. You may put another of those counters on it.
"In these the end times we are reminded that everything is born to die and grows to be consumed. The eon of growth will end with a final spurt."
2/2
I considered him uncommon material for a while and moved him to rare with the ability to affect each player during their upkeep (AP-NAP order being the key here - hehe). During your upkeep you can control it nicely to get an age counter for free.
Viewers Participation:
I am always interested in input from the outside to move things along. Right now I am contemplating five monocolored vertical creature cycles (a common, an uncommon, a rare) without cumulative upkeep that help give the colors an identity.
While some ideas are already spooking in my head and hard drive I am interested to hear of what anyone else is able to come up with.
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
My art blog
Claims:
The kicker variant in WWK will be "Kicker without a kicked effect." - proven wrong Jan 2010 : 2 wrongs
Decks:
:symu::symb: Bloodchief Ascension - Modern
:symb::symr: Rakdos, the Defiler - EDH
:symu::symb::symw: Sharuum the Hegemon - EDH
:symw::symu::symb: Zur the Enchanter - EDH
Temporal Inhibitor - Nice colour shift.
Caller of Ages - I'm curious as to why this can work on your opponents' permanents. That doesn't seem like a green thing to do, to hose cumulative upkeep. I suppose the colour pie could be stretched to include this ability for green, but it still seems a little odd. Perhaps this is green 'removal' for this set? I think it could definitely work, just take note of its potential application, especially in multiples.
Custom Card / Set Reviewer
When reviewing custom cards / sets, I look for (a) flavour, (b) function, and (c) cohesiveness, generally through a risk focus.
In order to keep things fresh, I think you need at least one other non-CU mechanic. Here are my ideas:
Champion
Champion seems like a perfect fit for CU. It lets you reset your CU guys, and if the Champion has CU, it naturally kills itself to bring your first guy back.
Haunt
In an environment where things die on their own, Haunt also seems perfect. Your CU guy dies, you haunt their CU guy. It's a win-win.
Modular
This does require a little more space than you might be willing to give it, but if you're running with a counter theme, Modular is a great mechanic that utilizes both counters and death.
Proliferate
Die faster! mwahahahaha...
But seriously, this seems like an awesome mechanic in this kind of environment. A single proliferation can derail an opponent's perfectly laid plan.
Recover
I'm not sure if you want to let players recur their creatures, but if you do, Recover is a great mechanic that hasn't been done in a while.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
Comic Book Set
Archester: Frontier of Steam (A steampunk set!)
A Good Place to Start Designing