I'll see what I can do about the parasitic mechanic. You want it to work with fortified lands, right?
I'd like to have some mechanic that reinforces the fortification theme, but at the same time it's not nearly a necessity. Any new mechanic that feels right, plays right, and works within the story is more than welcome.
I'd like to have some mechanic that reinforces the fortification theme, but at the same time it's not nearly a necessity. Any new mechanic that feels right, plays right, and works within the story is more than welcome.
Brainstorming:
Stealing from Apoquallyp: Lands that get better if they are fortified?
Metalcraft?
Fortifications turn into creatures - I was thinking more of a "turn into towers"
This is pretty difficult.
Just for poops and laughs, I've posted the Eldrazi cards I've currently got. Not a lot of time has been spent on these, and they should be considered to be in extremely rough form.
You'll notice that, for now, the drones are colorless. This will probably change, as the original intent WotC had for the Eldrazi being colorless didn't inlude the drones... I just made them like this initially bc I love the colorless frame.
This card, along with the skylord, started out as a cycle of cards that gave eldrazi spawn on-color keywords. I haven't completely given up on that idea yet.
Ideas for Fortifications to make them 'combo' with certain lands:
"Fortified land is indestructible. At the beginning of your end step, untap fortified land." (with man-lands)
"Activated abilities of fortified land cost 2 less to activate. This effect can't reduce the amount of mana an ability costs to activate to less than one mana." (with spell-lands)
"When fortified land is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, return it to its owner's hand." (with fetch-lands)
These fortifications could ofc have these only as secondary effects and make something else on their own.
On the other hand, if you have fortifications that turn lands into creatures, you could have such lands:
~ enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add W to your mana pool.
~ is indestructible.
As long as ~ is a creature, it has lifelink.
Eldrazi:
Tyraam: A new Eldrazi titan? If not, why is he a legend?
Spawning One: Very weak.
Skittering Spawnmother: Too close to Kozilek's Predator.
Scion of Emrakul: Too close to Hand of Emrakul
Emrakul's Spawnlord: That nonartifact looks clunky.
Eldrazi Skylord: Should also pump the spawns or it doesn't matter.
Eldrazi Hopebreaker: Very narrow. The opponent ofc then just sacrifices the fortifications to the trigger. I don't like the art.
Eldrazi Flamesire: Shouldn't be colorless but red, as you said. Other than that
Broodlord of Kozilek: Could have Annihilator 2 or 3. It that Betrays makes this card look bad.
Brood Lair: Sure
Ideas for Fortifications to make them 'combo' with certain lands:
"Fortified land is indestructible. At the beginning of your end step, untap fortified land." (with man-lands)
"Activated abilities of fortified land cost 2 less to activate. This effect can't reduce the amount of mana an ability costs to activate to less than one mana." (with spell-lands)
"When fortified land is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, return it to its owner's hand." (with fetch-lands)
These fortifications could ofc have these only as secondary effects and make something else on their own.
On the other hand, if you have fortifications that turn lands into creatures, you could have such lands:
~ enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add W to your mana pool.
~ is indestructible.
As long as ~ is a creature, it has lifelink.
Some good ideas.
One thing I'm noticing with the few fortifications from the last set is that they have tap in their activation cost. I'm going to try and shy away from that with this set and the next, going more for the Darksteel Garrison trigger, which should also combo well with the current form of bolster (if it stays)
Eldrazi:
Tyraam: A new Eldrazi titan? If not, why is he a legend?
Possibly a new titan. This was simply an idea I had and tossed out on a card... it's potentially bonkers, which is why he costs the same as Emrakul, but he also needs an anti-reanimator clause.
Spawning One: Very weak.
Absolutely. For one thing, it's marked as a rare and should be marked as a common. Secondly, I need to change his trigger or something, because at the moment he'd be the worst Spawn-maker ever.
Skittering Spawnmother: Too close to Kozilek's Predator.
Absolutely. This is intentional, however, as it is meant to be functionally identical, save for it being a colorless card (something that, admittedly, might very well change.
Scion of Emrakul: Too close to Hand of Emrakul
Only in name, and that's something I think I'm ok with in this instance.
Emrakul's Spawnlord: That nonartifact looks clunky.
True, though in the context of the block it should make sense, given the colorless subtheme that was introduced in the first set. However, I'm unsure about this guy for a few reasons. He produces lots of spawn, and combos very well with a lot of the cards from the block so far, yet functionally he's a late-game fatty, at which point you shouldn't need the spawn tokens. Look for this effect on a different body at another point.
Eldrazi Skylord: Should also pump the spawns or it doesn't matter.
Hmm. I see your point, though by the time I'm done there should be plenty enough to pump the spawns. Alone, though, all this guy does is allow your spawns to chump fliers, which in and of itself isn't bad.
Eldrazi Hopebreaker: Very narrow. The opponent ofc then just sacrifices the fortifications to the trigger. I don't like the art.
I like the art originally but it had to be zoomed in so much to work for the card. As I'm not much of a fan of the card myself, expect it to be cut or drastically redesigned later.
Eldrazi Flamesire: Shouldn't be colorless but red, as you said. Other than that
Cool!
Broodlord of Kozilek: Could have Annihilator 2 or 3. It that Betrays makes this card look bad.
Yeah, for a rare this guy doesn't have enough bang for the buck.
Oh my gosh yes, the Rift contest was by far the most helpful thing for me in my quest for art. Before my HDD was wiped, I had a folder that had hundreds of pieces of art, including almost everything from the rift contest. I'll definitely be using the pieces you linked in some form or another before this is all said and done.
Some more early thoughts on Eldrazi, specifically on the Eldrazi Spawn Tribe. This cycle varies wildly in terms of power, it's just a rough idea that may/may not make it in (as is true with every card I've posted in the thread so far. At this point, nothing is set in stone)
Good progress so far! For the Eldrazi, I think the big think you want is power boosts or death triggers. I mean, who cares if all your spawn get flying if they all have zero power? In Nullifier Drone, I'm going to be sad if I have to pay 3 and not get my normal 1 mana sacrifice.
Good progress so far! For the Eldrazi, I think the big think you want is power boosts or death triggers. I mean, who cares if all your spawn get flying if they all have zero power? In Nullifier Drone, I'm going to be sad if I have to pay 3 and not get my normal 1 mana sacrifice.
That's going to be the fine line to walk. On the one hand, keeping the Eldrazi drones for their ramp ability is nice, but if you're enhancing them in a tribal fashion, at a certain point you'll want to keep them around rather than saccing them.
I had considered giving all 5 in the cycle a trigger much like the red one, that will fire when they are sacced, but ultimately that could get really wonky as you could have an Eldrazi spawn that could easily read "Sac this creature: Gain mana, deal 1 damage to target creature, gain a white effect, gain a black effect, gain a green effect, gain a blue effect."
The idea behind this cycle is to add another option to Eldrazi Spawn (something that was kind of touched upon in ROE) - you could have decks that use Eldrazi Spawn as swarming tribal fighters, or decks that simply use them as a means of ramping.
Again though - this is all just prelimnary, it might turn out that this strategy is un-fun, hard to design around, etc.
That's going to be the fine line to walk. On the one hand, keeping the Eldrazi drones for their ramp ability is nice, but if you're enhancing them in a tribal fashion, at a certain point you'll want to keep them around rather than saccing them.
I had considered giving all 5 in the cycle a trigger much like the red one, that will fire when they are sacced, but ultimately that could get really wonky as you could have an Eldrazi spawn that could easily read "Sac this creature: Gain mana, deal 1 damage to target creature, gain a white effect, gain a black effect, gain a green effect, gain a blue effect."
The idea behind this cycle is to add another option to Eldrazi Spawn (something that was kind of touched upon in ROE) - you could have decks that use Eldrazi Spawn as swarming tribal fighters, or decks that simply use them as a means of ramping.
Again though - this is all just prelimnary, it might turn out that this strategy is un-fun, hard to design around, etc.
Thoughts?
It's good to have them out and about early. How about something like this:
Same thing as Nullifier, but I get mana too and it's not as broken. I just feel that we need to tackle overarching themes first then design cards later.
Same thing as Nullifier, but I get mana too and it's not as broken. I just feel that we need to tackle overarching themes first then design cards later.
I like that card.
As far as defining overarching themes first, I get that. I'm just the type of person that I can only plan it out so far ahead before I need to just started putting it in card form, seeing it, then refining it from there. It's like I have what I want out of the set in my mind, but my way of brainstorming is just hopping on to MSE, playing around with some cards, then changing them and changing them until it feels right.
Let's start with the Eldrazi. Here is my thinking of it.
Top Level: Colorless fatties. You have all the big stuff with annihilator and things like that. There were about 9 of those in that set. Given that we're working with smaller space, try 4 or 5 here.
High-Mid Level: Mid-sized Colorless guys and support spells for Eldrazi. I'm not sure what is your stance of including mid-sized colorless guys. Support spells are like things that relate to and support big colorless Eldrazi.
Mid Level: Drones + Support for Spawn. Here are all of the mid-sized colored drones. What main color will the drones be focused on this time? In RoE, it was in Jund colors. These guys will make spawn and support them.
Low Level: Eldrazi Spawn. Not much we can do here.
Top Level: Colorless fatties. You have all the big stuff with annihilator and things like that. There were about 9 of those in that set. Given that we're working with smaller space, try 4 or 5 here.
I'm thinking 1 (high costed and ineffecient) at common, 1 (perhaps 2) slightly better at uncommon, 2-3 at rare, and 1 (Kozilek) at mythic. Currently, some of the Edlrazi I've toyed around with are both fatties and interact with spawn, which is fairly counter-intuitive. What I'd like to see happen is to find some unique designs for the fatties that don't necessarily interact with the spawn tokens.
High-Mid Level: Mid-sized Colorless guys and support spells for Eldrazi. I'm not sure what is your stance of including mid-sized colorless guys. Support spells are like things that relate to and support big colorless Eldrazi.
This is where I'm most iffy. Right now, there are a few 'midsize' guys in my MSE file, but most of lack any sort of cohesion. One thing I've not touched on at all yet, but plan to, is colorless spells that specifically support Eldrazi (ala Not of This World)
This range could very well bleed either up into the big colorless fatties category, or down into the drone support category. I'd like to see colorless spells designed here around the eldrazi theme that may flavorfully represent the Eldrazi, but fit better in the 5 color (colorless) control deck rather than a regular Eldrazi ramp deck.
Mid Level: Drones + Support for Spawn. Here are all of the mid-sized colored drones. What main color will the drones be focused on this time? In RoE, it was in Jund colors. These guys will make spawn and support them.
Although the drones in ROE were in Jund colors, my current plan is to try and make these work in all 5 colors. My favorite block deck to play from the first set was 5-color (colorless) control. With the ghostfire styled cards and the like, in combination with the mana fixing, I think drone support in all 5 colors is within the realm of possibilities (note - this is why I was toying with the idea of making the drones colorless)
One other note on the drones - my current versions of most of these drones do things to affect the spawns, but not create them. Going forward, I'd like to see all of them create spawn (ala Phyrexian Splicers and their golem tokens)
I see the breakdown of Eldrazi/Colorless cards being something like this:
5-7 Drones
4-6 Fatties
5-6 Support (Mid Level creatures or non-creature spells)
Meaning that we've got 15-20 card slots for this (though I'm not including potential colored spells that could create spawn tokens, like the very possible reprint of Spawning Breath)
1. Is there any color that you want the drones to be "primary" in? Recall Elementals from Lorwyn - dominant in red, but secondary all-colors.
2. Can you summarize your set in a sentence? i.e. Zendikar "adventure world", Innistrad "horror world", etc.
1. Is there any color that you want the drones to be "primary" in? Recall Elementals from Lorwyn - dominant in red, but secondary all-colors.
Although I can imagine, depending on how design goes and what fits, one color having more drones than another, I don't intentiionally have any plans at this point to make them 'primary' in any color.
2. Can you summarize your set in a sentence? i.e. Zendikar "adventure world", Innistrad "horror world", etc.
"Racist World" or "World that's about to get eaten by the Eldrazi" would be most accurate. I'm sure there's a much better way to put it, though.
I would still make something slightly different than in Rise of the Eldrazi. Mirrodin had Affinity, but Scars of Mirrodin had Metalcraft. Aren't there ramping mechanics you could explore other than Eldrazi Spawns?
Of course, it's very difficult because Rise of the Eldrazi was just so awesome.
How do you fit the other sets of the block into this one, btw? What will be the story of the third one? I looked again through the Caeia card list and the curve was rather aggressive.
Another thing: Do you want to sign a "test and provide feedback on each other's set"-agreement with me?
I would still make something slightly different than in Rise of the Eldrazi. Mirrodin had Affinity, but Scars of Mirrodin had Metalcraft. Aren't there ramping mechanics you could explore other than Eldrazi Spawns?
Of course, it's very difficult because Rise of the Eldrazi was just so awesome.
Well, like you said it's very difficult because of how awesome ROE was. While there will be other ways to ramp outside of the Spawn, I don't see any reason to change the spawn or try to do something terribly different. I will say this set will have a few more possibilities on using the spawn as a tribal unit in their own right and not just a means to an end (Big Eldrazi)
That's not to say there won't be variations. I'm seriously considering all Eldrazi - including drones - to be colorless for the interactions they could have with the colorless theme in the first set.
How do you fit the other sets of the block into this one, btw? What will be the story of the third one? I looked again through the Caeia card list and the curve was rather aggressive.
Well, I won't pretend that Caeia is as polished as a WotC set, or even that it's very polished as compared to other finished custom sets, but I will say that from the playtesting that I personally did, and the playtesting feedback I received, the Caeia Limited format was fairly slow. In fact, one of the biggest issues that Caeia limited had (judging from feedback) was that there weren't enough big or evasive threats to break the early-game stalemate.
As far as the story... I've considered simply writing it all out, but I simply haven't yet. For most of Caeia's development most people didn't know this was going to be an Eldrazi block. However, it's not like this is a big WotC set where spoilers matter... so if you don't care about suprise, here it is:
The plane will die. At the end of the 3rd set of the block, the Eldrazi will have consumed the entire plane. Simply put, the Caeians aren't united enough to offer up a very good defense against the Eldrazi, and their pride and prejudices will mean their inevitable downfall.
The 3rd set will focus on the survivors and their attempt to flee the plane before its inevitable destruction. They will receive aid from another planeswalker - Ugin, the Silver Flame - who has firsthand experience with the Eldrazi. It's also possible that Nicol Bolas might make an appearance, but that's as far a I'll go on that subject at present
Another thing: Do you want to sign a "test and provide feedback on each other's set"-agreement with me?
I'm terrible at tying down to anything, including my own set, but I would personally love to print out some proxies and test block constructed for your set with myself and a few other friends who get into that kind of thing. I'd offer to help test limited, but I usually have a hard time finding enough people to draft on MWS at the same time (my availability is wonky)
1. They are very fractured. Caeia wants to force mono-color all day long.
2. Prismatic are an attempt to "balance out" the parasitic mono-color theme.
3. Lots of fortifications.
Can you expand on the forces on Caeia? I also believe that you need a parasitic mechanic - I'm not sure if mono color versus colorless, plus fortifications, is enough to fill out a set.
Can you expand on the forces on Caeia? I also believe that you need a parasitic mechanic - I'm not sure if mono color versus colorless, plus fortifications, is enough to fill out a set.
I'm open for another mechanic. Inspiration simply hasn't struck me yet. I don't think one is necessarily needed, once bolster is worked out (I'm still not 100% sold on its current implementation), but another mechanic couldn't hurt if it fit correctly. I'm just at a loss as to what that mechanic might be and where it would fit. Any ideas are more than welcome.
I'm open for another mechanic. Inspiration simply hasn't struck me yet. I don't think one is necessarily needed, once bolster is worked out (I'm still not 100% sold on its current implementation), but another mechanic couldn't hurt if it fit correctly. I'm just at a loss as to what that mechanic might be and where it would fit. Any ideas are more than welcome.
Why was "as long as you control a fortified land" too similar to purity? It might work, as well as give your set a semi-parasitic mechanic/a reason for fortified lands to exist.
Why was "as long as you control a fortified land" too similar to purity? It might work, as well as give your set a semi-parasitic mechanic/a reason for fortified lands to exist.
I felt it was too similar to purity as it was [Required Board State] -- [Static Effect]
Well, like you said it's very difficult because of how awesome ROE was. While there will be other ways to ramp outside of the Spawn, I don't see any reason to change the spawn or try to do something terribly different. I will say this set will have a few more possibilities on using the spawn as a tribal unit in their own right and not just a means to an end (Big Eldrazi)
That's not to say there won't be variations. I'm seriously considering all Eldrazi - including drones - to be colorless for the interactions they could have with the colorless theme in the first set.
If there are many ways to use the spawn tokens outside of ramp, then these decks will be dominant. You will play spawn tokens if you open the dudes that generate the tribal synergy as well as if you open any fatties - so don't overdo it.
Well, I won't pretend that Caeia is as polished as a WotC set, or even that it's very polished as compared to other finished custom sets, but I will say that from the playtesting that I personally did, and the playtesting feedback I received, the Caeia Limited format was fairly slow. In fact, one of the biggest issues that Caeia limited had (judging from feedback) was that there weren't enough big or evasive threats to break the early-game stalemate.
WotC people aren't gods - they made some terrible sets too. They only have much more resources for testing. That Caeia was slow, if you say that was the case, I think is because the overall card power is lower than in WotC sets. You just have to find a good transition from Caeia to Amaretto (btw: give it a name already :)). I am slightly increasing the curve in my block with each set, in the first going only to 6 on commons, in the second to 7 and in the last there is a cycle of 8 mana commons (actually, I'm moving more and more to a "multicolor Rise of the Eldrazi").
As far as the story... I've considered simply writing it all out, but I simply haven't yet. For most of Caeia's development most people didn't know this was going to be an Eldrazi block. However, it's not like this is a big WotC set where spoilers matter... so if you don't care about suprise, here it is:
The plane will die. At the end of the 3rd set of the block, the Eldrazi will have consumed the entire plane. Simply put, the Caeians aren't united enough to offer up a very good defense against the Eldrazi, and their pride and prejudices will mean their inevitable downfall.
The 3rd set will focus on the survivors and their attempt to flee the plane before its inevitable destruction. They will receive aid from another planeswalker - Ugin, the Silver Flame - who has firsthand experience with the Eldrazi. It's also possible that Nicol Bolas might make an appearance, but that's as far a I'll go on that subject at present
This sounds very interesting. The Zendikar people were also not the best allies of Sorin (btw you should bring him into the plane, not Bolas), as Nissa Revane thought it would be a pretty cool idea to free the Eldrazi because she thought they would then flee from the plane. I don't exactly know the finish of the Zendikar storyline. What I don't get is why Emrakul is lying dead in the artwork for Near-Death Experience. As far as I know Gideon is trying to find allies to battle the Eldrazi.
I'm terrible at tying down to anything, including my own set, but I would personally love to print out some proxies and test block constructed for your set with myself and a few other friends who get into that kind of thing. I'd offer to help test limited, but I usually have a hard time finding enough people to draft on MWS at the same time (my availability is wonky)
That would be cool but currently I still see a lot of issues with my first set. Getting feedback from other people is a important thing but you also have to be part of the testing yourself to get the emotional part of it. You have to draw your big splashy creature and go like "This just... sucks!" to know what to change about it. For example, I learned just by playing solitaire that I can't remember on which cards I put landcycling on and that some of my sanctuary designs are just terrible.
If there are many ways to use the spawn tokens outside of ramp, then these decks will be dominant. You will play spawn tokens if you open the dudes that generate the tribal synergy as well as if you open any fatties - so don't overdo it.
True enough. This is one archetype that will need careful testing in limited once we get to that point.
WotC people aren't gods - they made some terrible sets too. They only have much more resources for testing. That Caeia was slow, if you say that was the case, I think is because the overall card power is lower than in WotC sets. You just have to find a good transition from Caeia to Amaretto (btw: give it a name already :)). I am slightly increasing the curve in my block with each set, in the first going only to 6 on commons, in the second to 7 and in the last there is a cycle of 8 mana commons (actually, I'm moving more and more to a "multicolor Rise of the Eldrazi").
Ah. See I thought you were saying that Caeia was too aggressive, as in a fast format. No, the high mana costs, low aggresivess, and high defensiveness were all very intentional for Caeia limited.
As far as a name goes, it will probably be announced once there are more rough-draft cards posted that the name is 'Eldrazi Unleashed', unless myself or someone here thinks up something better.
That would be cool but currently I still see a lot of issues with my first set. Getting feedback from other people is a important thing but you also have to be part of the testing yourself to get the emotional part of it. You have to draw your big splashy creature and go like "This just... sucks!" to know what to change about it. For example, I learned just by playing solitaire that I can't remember on which cards I put landcycling on and that some of my sanctuary designs are just terrible.
Gotcha. Well, whenever it's ready to playtest, count me in. In the meantime, I still want to give feedback just have found myself easily distracted (DKA release on MTGO lol) as of late.
Gotcha. Well, whenever it's ready to playtest, count me in. In the meantime, I still want to give feedback just have found myself easily distracted (DKA release on MTGO lol) as of late.
No, I didn't splash red for Black Cat and Farbog Boneslinger, but for Forbidden Alchemy and Flames of Undeath.
I firstpicked Flames of Undeath because the rare was crap (I think rares are in DKA somehow weaker than commons on average :confused2:), then picked up Secrets of the Dead and decided to force that archetype. Got lucky and opened two Burning Vengeance in the last INN pack. Milled the opponent I think 3 times and won 2 times with damage from Burning Vengeance.
Anyway, that's kinda off-topic, so what I'm trying to say: That deck was SOOO fun, because I always had so many options - I never got flooded or mana screwed and I lost or almost lost some games because I didn't do the optimal choices. This is how magic should be played and not "oh you drew three more lands than me, guess I have three more creatures and win".
I tried to level that by having cards that allow you to sac lands, cycling lands and all that, but that all felt kinda lame, so I need a different approach.
So: If you want a slow format, freakin do levelers, Kicker, flashback, everything!
And I think something like Undying is great mechanic to have powerful creatures that not just randomly end the game in two turns if the opponent doesn't have a response.
To clarify what I meant with the aggressive format: The cards in Caeia all have a low to medium curve. Their are maybe some green fatties. If the format is still slow, than because the cards are more defensive or less powerful overall than in other formats.
I'd like to have some mechanic that reinforces the fortification theme, but at the same time it's not nearly a necessity. Any new mechanic that feels right, plays right, and works within the story is more than welcome.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
Brainstorming:
Stealing from Apoquallyp: Lands that get better if they are fortified?
Metalcraft?
Fortifications turn into creatures - I was thinking more of a "turn into towers"
This is pretty difficult.
You'll notice that, for now, the drones are colorless. This will probably change, as the original intent WotC had for the Eldrazi being colorless didn't inlude the drones... I just made them like this initially bc I love the colorless frame.
This card, along with the skylord, started out as a cycle of cards that gave eldrazi spawn on-color keywords. I haven't completely given up on that idea yet.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
"Fortified land is indestructible. At the beginning of your end step, untap fortified land." (with man-lands)
"Activated abilities of fortified land cost 2 less to activate. This effect can't reduce the amount of mana an ability costs to activate to less than one mana." (with spell-lands)
"When fortified land is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, return it to its owner's hand." (with fetch-lands)
These fortifications could ofc have these only as secondary effects and make something else on their own.
On the other hand, if you have fortifications that turn lands into creatures, you could have such lands:
~ enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add W to your mana pool.
~ is indestructible.
As long as ~ is a creature, it has lifelink.
Eldrazi:
Tyraam: A new Eldrazi titan? If not, why is he a legend?
Spawning One: Very weak.
Skittering Spawnmother: Too close to Kozilek's Predator.
Scion of Emrakul: Too close to Hand of Emrakul
Emrakul's Spawnlord: That nonartifact looks clunky.
Eldrazi Skylord: Should also pump the spawns or it doesn't matter.
Eldrazi Hopebreaker: Very narrow. The opponent ofc then just sacrifices the fortifications to the trigger. I don't like the art.
Eldrazi Flamesire: Shouldn't be colorless but red, as you said. Other than that
Broodlord of Kozilek: Could have Annihilator 2 or 3. It that Betrays makes this card look bad.
Brood Lair: Sure
Some more potential art for Eldrazi:
http://unidcolor.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=24#/d210alw
http://highdarktemplar.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=24#/d2lkrj6 (red drone)
http://isoriai.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d3jd1m2 (green drone)
http://cyl1981.deviantart.com/art/Water-Colossus-213260164?q=gallery%3Acyl1981%2F12715340&qo=11 (blue or black drone, or colorless fatty)
Bless the Rift contest!
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Some good ideas.
One thing I'm noticing with the few fortifications from the last set is that they have tap in their activation cost. I'm going to try and shy away from that with this set and the next, going more for the Darksteel Garrison trigger, which should also combo well with the current form of bolster (if it stays)
Possibly a new titan. This was simply an idea I had and tossed out on a card... it's potentially bonkers, which is why he costs the same as Emrakul, but he also needs an anti-reanimator clause.
Absolutely. For one thing, it's marked as a rare and should be marked as a common. Secondly, I need to change his trigger or something, because at the moment he'd be the worst Spawn-maker ever.
Absolutely. This is intentional, however, as it is meant to be functionally identical, save for it being a colorless card (something that, admittedly, might very well change.
Only in name, and that's something I think I'm ok with in this instance.
True, though in the context of the block it should make sense, given the colorless subtheme that was introduced in the first set. However, I'm unsure about this guy for a few reasons. He produces lots of spawn, and combos very well with a lot of the cards from the block so far, yet functionally he's a late-game fatty, at which point you shouldn't need the spawn tokens. Look for this effect on a different body at another point.
Hmm. I see your point, though by the time I'm done there should be plenty enough to pump the spawns. Alone, though, all this guy does is allow your spawns to chump fliers, which in and of itself isn't bad.
I like the art originally but it had to be zoomed in so much to work for the card. As I'm not much of a fan of the card myself, expect it to be cut or drastically redesigned later.
Cool!
Yeah, for a rare this guy doesn't have enough bang for the buck.
Oh my gosh yes, the Rift contest was by far the most helpful thing for me in my quest for art. Before my HDD was wiped, I had a folder that had hundreds of pieces of art, including almost everything from the rift contest. I'll definitely be using the pieces you linked in some form or another before this is all said and done.
LOVING the feedback, keep it coming!
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
That's going to be the fine line to walk. On the one hand, keeping the Eldrazi drones for their ramp ability is nice, but if you're enhancing them in a tribal fashion, at a certain point you'll want to keep them around rather than saccing them.
I had considered giving all 5 in the cycle a trigger much like the red one, that will fire when they are sacced, but ultimately that could get really wonky as you could have an Eldrazi spawn that could easily read "Sac this creature: Gain mana, deal 1 damage to target creature, gain a white effect, gain a black effect, gain a green effect, gain a blue effect."
The idea behind this cycle is to add another option to Eldrazi Spawn (something that was kind of touched upon in ROE) - you could have decks that use Eldrazi Spawn as swarming tribal fighters, or decks that simply use them as a means of ramping.
Again though - this is all just prelimnary, it might turn out that this strategy is un-fun, hard to design around, etc.
Thoughts?
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
It's good to have them out and about early. How about something like this:
Kozilek's Censor 4U
Creature - Eldrazi Drone (U)
Whenever an Eldrazi Spawn creature dies, counter target spell unless it's controller pays 1.
3/4
Same thing as Nullifier, but I get mana too and it's not as broken. I just feel that we need to tackle overarching themes first then design cards later.
I like that card.
As far as defining overarching themes first, I get that. I'm just the type of person that I can only plan it out so far ahead before I need to just started putting it in card form, seeing it, then refining it from there. It's like I have what I want out of the set in my mind, but my way of brainstorming is just hopping on to MSE, playing around with some cards, then changing them and changing them until it feels right.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
Let's start with the Eldrazi. Here is my thinking of it.
Top Level: Colorless fatties. You have all the big stuff with annihilator and things like that. There were about 9 of those in that set. Given that we're working with smaller space, try 4 or 5 here.
High-Mid Level: Mid-sized Colorless guys and support spells for Eldrazi. I'm not sure what is your stance of including mid-sized colorless guys. Support spells are like things that relate to and support big colorless Eldrazi.
Mid Level: Drones + Support for Spawn. Here are all of the mid-sized colored drones. What main color will the drones be focused on this time? In RoE, it was in Jund colors. These guys will make spawn and support them.
Low Level: Eldrazi Spawn. Not much we can do here.
I'm thinking 1 (high costed and ineffecient) at common, 1 (perhaps 2) slightly better at uncommon, 2-3 at rare, and 1 (Kozilek) at mythic. Currently, some of the Edlrazi I've toyed around with are both fatties and interact with spawn, which is fairly counter-intuitive. What I'd like to see happen is to find some unique designs for the fatties that don't necessarily interact with the spawn tokens.
This is where I'm most iffy. Right now, there are a few 'midsize' guys in my MSE file, but most of lack any sort of cohesion. One thing I've not touched on at all yet, but plan to, is colorless spells that specifically support Eldrazi (ala Not of This World)
This range could very well bleed either up into the big colorless fatties category, or down into the drone support category. I'd like to see colorless spells designed here around the eldrazi theme that may flavorfully represent the Eldrazi, but fit better in the 5 color (colorless) control deck rather than a regular Eldrazi ramp deck.
Although the drones in ROE were in Jund colors, my current plan is to try and make these work in all 5 colors. My favorite block deck to play from the first set was 5-color (colorless) control. With the ghostfire styled cards and the like, in combination with the mana fixing, I think drone support in all 5 colors is within the realm of possibilities (note - this is why I was toying with the idea of making the drones colorless)
One other note on the drones - my current versions of most of these drones do things to affect the spawns, but not create them. Going forward, I'd like to see all of them create spawn (ala Phyrexian Splicers and their golem tokens)
I see the breakdown of Eldrazi/Colorless cards being something like this:
Meaning that we've got 15-20 card slots for this (though I'm not including potential colored spells that could create spawn tokens, like the very possible reprint of Spawning Breath)
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
1. Is there any color that you want the drones to be "primary" in? Recall Elementals from Lorwyn - dominant in red, but secondary all-colors.
2. Can you summarize your set in a sentence? i.e. Zendikar "adventure world", Innistrad "horror world", etc.
Although I can imagine, depending on how design goes and what fits, one color having more drones than another, I don't intentiionally have any plans at this point to make them 'primary' in any color.
"Racist World" or "World that's about to get eaten by the Eldrazi" would be most accurate. I'm sure there's a much better way to put it, though.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
true
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
Of course, it's very difficult because Rise of the Eldrazi was just so awesome.
How do you fit the other sets of the block into this one, btw? What will be the story of the third one? I looked again through the Caeia card list and the curve was rather aggressive.
Another thing: Do you want to sign a "test and provide feedback on each other's set"-agreement with me?
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
Well, like you said it's very difficult because of how awesome ROE was. While there will be other ways to ramp outside of the Spawn, I don't see any reason to change the spawn or try to do something terribly different. I will say this set will have a few more possibilities on using the spawn as a tribal unit in their own right and not just a means to an end (Big Eldrazi)
That's not to say there won't be variations. I'm seriously considering all Eldrazi - including drones - to be colorless for the interactions they could have with the colorless theme in the first set.
Well, I won't pretend that Caeia is as polished as a WotC set, or even that it's very polished as compared to other finished custom sets, but I will say that from the playtesting that I personally did, and the playtesting feedback I received, the Caeia Limited format was fairly slow. In fact, one of the biggest issues that Caeia limited had (judging from feedback) was that there weren't enough big or evasive threats to break the early-game stalemate.
As far as the story... I've considered simply writing it all out, but I simply haven't yet. For most of Caeia's development most people didn't know this was going to be an Eldrazi block. However, it's not like this is a big WotC set where spoilers matter... so if you don't care about suprise, here it is:
The 3rd set will focus on the survivors and their attempt to flee the plane before its inevitable destruction. They will receive aid from another planeswalker - Ugin, the Silver Flame - who has firsthand experience with the Eldrazi. It's also possible that Nicol Bolas might make an appearance, but that's as far a I'll go on that subject at present
I'm terrible at tying down to anything, including my own set, but I would personally love to print out some proxies and test block constructed for your set with myself and a few other friends who get into that kind of thing. I'd offer to help test limited, but I usually have a hard time finding enough people to draft on MWS at the same time (my availability is wonky)
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
1. They are very fractured. Caeia wants to force mono-color all day long.
2. Prismatic are an attempt to "balance out" the parasitic mono-color theme.
3. Lots of fortifications.
Can you expand on the forces on Caeia? I also believe that you need a parasitic mechanic - I'm not sure if mono color versus colorless, plus fortifications, is enough to fill out a set.
I'm open for another mechanic. Inspiration simply hasn't struck me yet. I don't think one is necessarily needed, once bolster is worked out (I'm still not 100% sold on its current implementation), but another mechanic couldn't hurt if it fit correctly. I'm just at a loss as to what that mechanic might be and where it would fit. Any ideas are more than welcome.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
Why was "as long as you control a fortified land" too similar to purity? It might work, as well as give your set a semi-parasitic mechanic/a reason for fortified lands to exist.
I felt it was too similar to purity as it was [Required Board State] -- [Static Effect]
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
If there are many ways to use the spawn tokens outside of ramp, then these decks will be dominant. You will play spawn tokens if you open the dudes that generate the tribal synergy as well as if you open any fatties - so don't overdo it.
WotC people aren't gods - they made some terrible sets too. They only have much more resources for testing. That Caeia was slow, if you say that was the case, I think is because the overall card power is lower than in WotC sets. You just have to find a good transition from Caeia to Amaretto (btw: give it a name already :)). I am slightly increasing the curve in my block with each set, in the first going only to 6 on commons, in the second to 7 and in the last there is a cycle of 8 mana commons (actually, I'm moving more and more to a "multicolor Rise of the Eldrazi").
This sounds very interesting. The Zendikar people were also not the best allies of Sorin (btw you should bring him into the plane, not Bolas), as Nissa Revane thought it would be a pretty cool idea to free the Eldrazi because she thought they would then flee from the plane. I don't exactly know the finish of the Zendikar storyline. What I don't get is why Emrakul is lying dead in the artwork for Near-Death Experience. As far as I know Gideon is trying to find allies to battle the Eldrazi.
That would be cool but currently I still see a lot of issues with my first set. Getting feedback from other people is a important thing but you also have to be part of the testing yourself to get the emotional part of it. You have to draw your big splashy creature and go like "This just... sucks!" to know what to change about it. For example, I learned just by playing solitaire that I can't remember on which cards I put landcycling on and that some of my sanctuary designs are just terrible.
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!
True enough. This is one archetype that will need careful testing in limited once we get to that point.
Ah. See I thought you were saying that Caeia was too aggressive, as in a fast format. No, the high mana costs, low aggresivess, and high defensiveness were all very intentional for Caeia limited.
As far as a name goes, it will probably be announced once there are more rough-draft cards posted that the name is 'Eldrazi Unleashed', unless myself or someone here thinks up something better.
Gotcha. Well, whenever it's ready to playtest, count me in. In the meantime, I still want to give feedback just have found myself easily distracted (DKA release on MTGO lol) as of late.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
Dude, look at the deck I drafted:
http://s14.directupload.net/images/120223/llq6rl67.jpg
No, I didn't splash red for Black Cat and Farbog Boneslinger, but for Forbidden Alchemy and Flames of Undeath.
I firstpicked Flames of Undeath because the rare was crap (I think rares are in DKA somehow weaker than commons on average :confused2:), then picked up Secrets of the Dead and decided to force that archetype. Got lucky and opened two Burning Vengeance in the last INN pack. Milled the opponent I think 3 times and won 2 times with damage from Burning Vengeance.
Anyway, that's kinda off-topic, so what I'm trying to say: That deck was SOOO fun, because I always had so many options - I never got flooded or mana screwed and I lost or almost lost some games because I didn't do the optimal choices. This is how magic should be played and not "oh you drew three more lands than me, guess I have three more creatures and win".
I tried to level that by having cards that allow you to sac lands, cycling lands and all that, but that all felt kinda lame, so I need a different approach.
So: If you want a slow format, freakin do levelers, Kicker, flashback, everything!
And I think something like Undying is great mechanic to have powerful creatures that not just randomly end the game in two turns if the opponent doesn't have a response.
To clarify what I meant with the aggressive format: The cards in Caeia all have a low to medium curve. Their are maybe some green fatties. If the format is still slow, than because the cards are more defensive or less powerful overall than in other formats.
Completed sets:
Iamur — The Underwater Set
Overworld — Pirates vs. Octopuses
Esparand — The Sands of Time
Unfinished Sets:
Siege of Ravnica — Eldrazi in Ravnica
Shandalar — The Mana Set
Iamur Reimagined — Iamur v2
You can find more creative projects on my page Antaresdesigns!