Huh... recently rediscovered this thread and was really interested. In a world with Modern Horizons, we can hope to see entire sets printing cards directly into the modern cardpool. If we ever want to see a theoretical set of "pure gas", however, that would mean coming up with the sort of designs that few people here have bothered with... High CMC cards.
Here are my attempts at making high-CMC and relatively low complexity cards that could theoretically see print at lower rarities in a modern horizons-style set while maintaining some modicum of power and usability.
Stalwart Phalanx 3WW
Creature-Kithkin Soldier
Convoke
When Stalwart Phalanx enters the battlefield, tapped creatures you control gain indestructible until end of turn.
4/6
Angelic Savior 4WW
Creature- Angel
Flying
When Angelic Savior enters the battlefield, you gain 4 life.
Miracle
4/4
Township Steward 4W
Creature- Giant Soldier
Affinity for Tokens
4/4
Arcane Council 4U
Creature- Vedalken Wizard
Flash
You may counter a blue instant or sorcery spell you control instead of paying Arcane Council’s mana cost.
3/2
Shadowstep Raider 4UU
Creature- Thalakos Ninja
Ninjutsu U
When Smokestep Assailant deals combat damage to a player, return target creature you control to its owner’s hand.
4/3
Forceful Willbender 2UU
Creature- Human Wizard
When Forceful Willbender is turned face-up, you may counter target spell
Morph- Exile a blue card from your hand and pay 1 life
3/4
Rotfeaster 4BB
Creature- Zombie
Sacrifice two creatures: target player exiles four cards from their graveyard.
Unearth 2B
5/5
Mindfester Hulk 3BB
Creature- Giant Horror
Mindfester Hulk enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter for each player that has discarded a card this turn.
Madness 1B
3/3
Loftlurker Clique 2BBB
Creature- Faerie Rogue
Flying
When Loftlurker Clique enters the battlefield, create two 1/1 blue faerie creature tokens, then lose 1 life for each faerie you control
Prowl 1B
1/1
Living Tempest 5R
Creature- Elemental
Living Tempest costs 1 less to cast for each spell you have cast this turn.
Haste
5/4
Flowstone Charger 2RR
Creature- Beast
When Flowstone Charger enters the battlefield, target creature gets +2/-2 and gains trample until end of turn.
Dash 1R
3/3
Wasteland Navigator 3RR
Creature- Viashino Scout
If you control a mountain and there are four or more land cards in graveyards, you may cast X without paying its mana cost.
Nonbasic Landwalk
3/2
Vista Keeper 3GG
Creature- Giant Druid
Hexproof
Nonbasic Land Cycling
5/5
Vivorix 4GG
Creature- Elemental Beast
Whenever a nontoken creature dies, its controller may draw a card.
Dredge 4
Evoke 1GG
4/4
Carnage Feaster 7GG
Creature- Dinosaur
Delve
Whenever a card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, Carnage Feaster gains Hexproof until end of turn.
6/6
Here is a specific cycle that is based on cycling... where the "actual" card is the cycling usage (essentially a cycle of instant speed uncounterable cantrips with an overpriced "creature mode")
Mindsifter Thrull 3BB
Creature- Thrull
When you cycle Puppeteer Thrull or it enters the battlefield, each opponent discards a card.
Cycling 1B
4/4
Koan Raveller 5UU
Creature- Sphinx
Flying
When you cycle Koan Raveller or it enters the battlefield under your control, return target nonland permanent with converted mana cost 3 or less to its owner’s hand.
Cycling 1U
4/5
Majestral 3WW
Creature- Elemental
When you cycle Majestral or it enters the battlefield, target player can’t cast spells this turn.
Cycling 1W
4/5
Fireblood Flamekin 2RR
Creature- Elemental
When you cycle Fireblood Flamekin or it enters the battlefield, add .
Cycling 1R
4/3
Fungal Herder 2GG
Creature- Fungus
When you cycle Fungal Herder or it enters the battlefield, create three 1/1 green saproling creature tokens.
Cycling 2G
3/3
Here's a cycle of creatures that benefit cards without abilities... or at least without triggered or activated abilities. I like this as an approach for Muraganda as it allows for cards such as Tarmogoyf or Death's Shadow to benefit...
Wary Ridgeback 1W
Creature- Dinosaur (U)
Creatures you control without activated or triggered abilities gain vigilance.
1/4
Deepdive Scavenger 2U
Creature- Dinosaur (U)
Creatures you control without activated or triggered abilities gain hexproof.
2/1
Fearsome Screecher 2B
Creature- Dinosaur (U)
Creatures you control without activated or triggered abilities gain menace.
3/3
Frilled Runner
Creature- Dinosaur (U)
Creatures you control without activated or triggered abilities gain haste.
1/1
Unquestioned Behemoth 2GG
Creature- Dinosaur (U)
Unquestioned Behemoth can’t be countered.
Creature spells you control without activated or triggered abilities can’t be countered.
Creatures you control without activated or triggered abilities gain trample.
4/4
And here is a cycle of "tribal evoke" cards, evoke cards that can be used once for a cheap effect or produce a tribal engine if you up your curve (or allow Aether Vial to climb to 4 counters) and slam it down onto the battlefield.
Gleaming Guardian 2WW
Creature- Spirit Knight
Flash
Whenever a non-token spirit enters the battlefield under your control, you may return a creature you control to its owner’s hand.
Evoke
2/3
Verdant Protector 2GG
Creature- Elf Druid
Whenever a nontoken elf enters the battlefield under your control, untap up to two target creatures you control. They get +1/+1 until end of turn.
Evoke
3/3
Floodbringer 2UU
Creature- Merfolk Wizard
Whenever a nontoken merfolk enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a flood counter on target nonbasic land. That land is an island as long as it has a flood counter on it.
Evoke
2/4
Magma Channeler 2RR
Creature- Goblin Shaman
Whenever a nontoken goblin enters the battlefield under your control, you may deal 2 damage to any target. If a permanent dealt damage in this way would die this turn, exile it instead.
Evoke
4/2
Dread Recruiter 2BB
Creature- Zombie
Whenever a non-token zombie enters the battlefield under your control, you may pay 2 life. If you do, create a 2/2 black zombie creature token and draw a card.
Evoke
2/2
W7
Emeria, The Kamsa Mechanical Angel Monument (Zendikars Last Defense Angel) Legendary Artifact - Vehicle
Flying, Haste, Protection from creatures
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, that player skips their next combat phase and untap phase.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control seven or more Plains, you may return target ~ from your graveyard or from the exile to your hand.
Crew 4
Legendary Crew 1 6/7
WBU
BlackBlade OG Version Legendary Artifact - Equipment
Whenever an equipped creature deals combat damage to a creature you may search and exile all of it's copies from the graveyard, library and the battlefield.
Pay 3 life: Create a Legendary Specter Creature Token Named Dakkon, The Shadow-less with the power and toughness equal to the number of basic lands in the battlefield and Equip the BlackBlade to it.
Equip5
Dakkon Equip 0
WB Gideon Cultist Creature - Human Cleric Flash
When ~ dies, You may search your library for card with a Gideon type permanent and put it on the top of your library. 1/1
3W Apparition Caller Instant
This spell costs1 less mana for each Cleric you control.
Create three 1/1 white Spirit creature tokens with flying.
4 Myr Scavenger
Whenever a Myr card is in your graveyard you may return a card(instant, enchantment, sorcery and etc) from your graveyard to your hand that mentioned Myr in the card box, title or creature type. 2/2
2WW The Second Coming Instant
Destroy all non-land permanent and you may put any number of non-multicolored white permanent destroyed this way on the top of it's owners library.
Haunting Echo
Creature- Spirit
Flying
Haunting Echo costs less to cast for each exiled card.
4/4
Soalam Grazer
Creature- Beast
Cycling- Exile four cards from your graveyard.
2/4
Flickering Sprite
Creature- Faerie
Flash
Flying
Pay 2 life: Return target nonland permanent you control to its owner's hand.
2/2
Frontline Charger
Creature- Minotaur Soldier
If it is your first turn, Frontline Charget costs less to cast.
3/3
Personal Demons
Creature- Demon Illusion
Whenever a creature card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere other than the battlefield, you may return Personal Demon from your graveyard onto the battlefield tapped.
3/3
Ingenious Student
Creature- Human Wizard
When Ingenious Student enters the battlefield, you may return any number of instant and/or sorcery cards from your graveyard with a summed converted mana cost of 4 or less to your hand.
1/2
Vortigoth
Creature- Jellyfish Insect
When Vortigoth enters the battlefield, untap up to four target permanents.
4/4
Seething Rage
Creature- Incarnation
As an additional cost to casting Seething Rage, sacrifice a creature or pay
Menace
5/1
Doomskitter
Creature- Scorpion
Death Touch
When doomskitter enters the battlefield, exile any number of cards from your graveyard, then put that many cards from the top of your library into your graveyard.
1/3
Willful Mammoth
Creature- Elephant
Willful Mammoth costs less to cast, where X is the summed power of all creatures you control.
5/5
Barbed Retort
Instant
Deal 1 damage to any target.
Splice onto instant or sorcery "What's your point?"
-Evarra Everspell, Last Words
Biomass Cultivator
Creature- Elf Merfolk
Whenever a nontoken creature enters the battlefield under an opponent's control, if no mana was spent on it, you may put a creature card with converted mana cost 4 or less from your hand onto the battlefield.
2/2
Verdant Haven
Enchantment
Players may cast creature spells with converted mana cost X or less without paying their mana costs, where X is the number of lands that player controls.
Turning Burn deals 2 damage to Target creature or player.
Draw a card.
It's strong but not busted, could give delver and other tempo decks some much needed power.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern: G Stompy G UR Izzet Prowess/Delver UR UWB Spirits UWB UWB Brain Control UWB WUB Esper Reveillark WUB EDH: WUBRG Horde of Notions WUBRG W Nine-and-a-Half TailsW WGUR Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis WGUR
UU4
Tamiyo's providence Emblem Incantation — exile this emblem from the game if one of your non-land permanent mana cost is greater than 3.
(If this card is your chosen incantation, you may cast it once from outside the game. You may only choose one incantation per game)
You gain "Spells your opponents cast that target you cost 2 more to cast"
Remember that these cards need to be t2 unbroken inorder for them to see the light of day, a sol land in t2 would be the busted and a new 50$ card before its released. tomzpotmdro.fun/mobdro/
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Here are my attempts at making high-CMC and relatively low complexity cards that could theoretically see print at lower rarities in a modern horizons-style set while maintaining some modicum of power and usability.
Stalwart Phalanx 3WW
Creature-Kithkin Soldier
Convoke
When Stalwart Phalanx enters the battlefield, tapped creatures you control gain indestructible until end of turn.
4/6
Angelic Savior 4WW
Creature- Angel
Flying
When Angelic Savior enters the battlefield, you gain 4 life.
Miracle
4/4
Township Steward 4W
Creature- Giant Soldier
Affinity for Tokens
4/4
Arcane Council 4U
Creature- Vedalken Wizard
Flash
You may counter a blue instant or sorcery spell you control instead of paying Arcane Council’s mana cost.
3/2
Shadowstep Raider 4UU
Creature- Thalakos Ninja
Ninjutsu U
When Smokestep Assailant deals combat damage to a player, return target creature you control to its owner’s hand.
4/3
Forceful Willbender 2UU
Creature- Human Wizard
When Forceful Willbender is turned face-up, you may counter target spell
Morph- Exile a blue card from your hand and pay 1 life
3/4
Rotfeaster 4BB
Creature- Zombie
Sacrifice two creatures: target player exiles four cards from their graveyard.
Unearth 2B
5/5
Mindfester Hulk 3BB
Creature- Giant Horror
Mindfester Hulk enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter for each player that has discarded a card this turn.
Madness 1B
3/3
Loftlurker Clique 2BBB
Creature- Faerie Rogue
Flying
When Loftlurker Clique enters the battlefield, create two 1/1 blue faerie creature tokens, then lose 1 life for each faerie you control
Prowl 1B
1/1
Living Tempest 5R
Creature- Elemental
Living Tempest costs 1 less to cast for each spell you have cast this turn.
Haste
5/4
Flowstone Charger 2RR
Creature- Beast
When Flowstone Charger enters the battlefield, target creature gets +2/-2 and gains trample until end of turn.
Dash 1R
3/3
Wasteland Navigator 3RR
Creature- Viashino Scout
If you control a mountain and there are four or more land cards in graveyards, you may cast X without paying its mana cost.
Nonbasic Landwalk
3/2
Vista Keeper 3GG
Creature- Giant Druid
Hexproof
Nonbasic Land Cycling
5/5
Vivorix 4GG
Creature- Elemental Beast
Whenever a nontoken creature dies, its controller may draw a card.
Dredge 4
Evoke 1GG
4/4
Carnage Feaster 7GG
Creature- Dinosaur
Delve
Whenever a card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, Carnage Feaster gains Hexproof until end of turn.
6/6
Here is a specific cycle that is based on cycling... where the "actual" card is the cycling usage (essentially a cycle of instant speed uncounterable cantrips with an overpriced "creature mode")
Mindsifter Thrull 3BB
Creature- Thrull
When you cycle Puppeteer Thrull or it enters the battlefield, each opponent discards a card.
Cycling 1B
4/4
Koan Raveller 5UU
Creature- Sphinx
Flying
When you cycle Koan Raveller or it enters the battlefield under your control, return target nonland permanent with converted mana cost 3 or less to its owner’s hand.
Cycling 1U
4/5
Majestral 3WW
Creature- Elemental
When you cycle Majestral or it enters the battlefield, target player can’t cast spells this turn.
Cycling 1W
4/5
Fireblood Flamekin 2RR
Creature- Elemental
When you cycle Fireblood Flamekin or it enters the battlefield, add .
Cycling 1R
4/3
Fungal Herder 2GG
Creature- Fungus
When you cycle Fungal Herder or it enters the battlefield, create three 1/1 green saproling creature tokens.
Cycling 2G
3/3
Here's a cycle of creatures that benefit cards without abilities... or at least without triggered or activated abilities. I like this as an approach for Muraganda as it allows for cards such as Tarmogoyf or Death's Shadow to benefit...
Wary Ridgeback 1W
Creature- Dinosaur (U)
Creatures you control without activated or triggered abilities gain vigilance.
1/4
Deepdive Scavenger 2U
Creature- Dinosaur (U)
Creatures you control without activated or triggered abilities gain hexproof.
2/1
Fearsome Screecher 2B
Creature- Dinosaur (U)
Creatures you control without activated or triggered abilities gain menace.
3/3
Frilled Runner
Creature- Dinosaur (U)
Creatures you control without activated or triggered abilities gain haste.
1/1
Unquestioned Behemoth 2GG
Creature- Dinosaur (U)
Unquestioned Behemoth can’t be countered.
Creature spells you control without activated or triggered abilities can’t be countered.
Creatures you control without activated or triggered abilities gain trample.
4/4
And here is a cycle of "tribal evoke" cards, evoke cards that can be used once for a cheap effect or produce a tribal engine if you up your curve (or allow Aether Vial to climb to 4 counters) and slam it down onto the battlefield.
Gleaming Guardian 2WW
Creature- Spirit Knight
Flash
Whenever a non-token spirit enters the battlefield under your control, you may return a creature you control to its owner’s hand.
Evoke
2/3
Verdant Protector 2GG
Creature- Elf Druid
Whenever a nontoken elf enters the battlefield under your control, untap up to two target creatures you control. They get +1/+1 until end of turn.
Evoke
3/3
Floodbringer 2UU
Creature- Merfolk Wizard
Whenever a nontoken merfolk enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a flood counter on target nonbasic land. That land is an island as long as it has a flood counter on it.
Evoke
2/4
Magma Channeler 2RR
Creature- Goblin Shaman
Whenever a nontoken goblin enters the battlefield under your control, you may deal 2 damage to any target. If a permanent dealt damage in this way would die this turn, exile it instead.
Evoke
4/2
Dread Recruiter 2BB
Creature- Zombie
Whenever a non-token zombie enters the battlefield under your control, you may pay 2 life. If you do, create a 2/2 black zombie creature token and draw a card.
Evoke
2/2
Emeria, The Kamsa Mechanical Angel Monument (Zendikars Last Defense Angel)
Legendary Artifact - Vehicle
Flying, Haste, Protection from creatures
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, that player skips their next combat phase and untap phase.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control seven or more Plains, you may return target ~ from your graveyard or from the exile to your hand.
Crew 4
Legendary Crew 1
6/7
WBU
BlackBlade OG Version
Legendary Artifact - Equipment
Whenever an equipped creature deals combat damage to a creature you may search and exile all of it's copies from the graveyard, library and the battlefield.
Pay 3 life: Create a Legendary Specter Creature Token Named Dakkon, The Shadow-less with the power and toughness equal to the number of basic lands in the battlefield and Equip the BlackBlade to it.
Equip5
Dakkon Equip 0
WB
Gideon Cultist
Creature - Human Cleric
Flash
When ~ dies, You may search your library for card with a Gideon type permanent and put it on the top of your library.
1/1
3W
Apparition Caller
Instant
This spell costs1 less mana for each Cleric you control.
Create three 1/1 white Spirit creature tokens with flying.
4
Myr Scavenger
Whenever a Myr card is in your graveyard you may return a card(instant, enchantment, sorcery and etc) from your graveyard to your hand that mentioned Myr in the card box, title or creature type.
2/2
The Second Coming
Instant
Destroy all non-land permanent and you may put any number of non-multicolored white permanent destroyed this way on the top of it's owners library.
Haunting Echo
Creature- Spirit
Flying
Haunting Echo costs less to cast for each exiled card.
4/4
Soalam Grazer
Creature- Beast
Cycling- Exile four cards from your graveyard.
2/4
Flickering Sprite
Creature- Faerie
Flash
Flying
Pay 2 life: Return target nonland permanent you control to its owner's hand.
2/2
Frontline Charger
Creature- Minotaur Soldier
If it is your first turn, Frontline Charget costs less to cast.
3/3
Personal Demons
Creature- Demon Illusion
Whenever a creature card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere other than the battlefield, you may return Personal Demon from your graveyard onto the battlefield tapped.
3/3
Ingenious Student
Creature- Human Wizard
When Ingenious Student enters the battlefield, you may return any number of instant and/or sorcery cards from your graveyard with a summed converted mana cost of 4 or less to your hand.
1/2
Vortigoth
Creature- Jellyfish Insect
When Vortigoth enters the battlefield, untap up to four target permanents.
4/4
Seething Rage
Creature- Incarnation
As an additional cost to casting Seething Rage, sacrifice a creature or pay
Menace
5/1
Doomskitter
Creature- Scorpion
Death Touch
When doomskitter enters the battlefield, exile any number of cards from your graveyard, then put that many cards from the top of your library into your graveyard.
1/3
Willful Mammoth
Creature- Elephant
Willful Mammoth costs less to cast, where X is the summed power of all creatures you control.
5/5
Barbed Retort
Instant
Deal 1 damage to any target.
Splice onto instant or sorcery
"What's your point?"
-Evarra Everspell, Last Words
Biomass Cultivator
Creature- Elf Merfolk
Whenever a nontoken creature enters the battlefield under an opponent's control, if no mana was spent on it, you may put a creature card with converted mana cost 4 or less from your hand onto the battlefield.
2/2
Verdant Haven
Enchantment
Players may cast creature spells with converted mana cost X or less without paying their mana costs, where X is the number of lands that player controls.
Instant
Turning Burn deals 2 damage to Target creature or player.
Draw a card.
It's strong but not busted, could give delver and other tempo decks some much needed power.
G Stompy G
UR Izzet Prowess/Delver UR
UWB Spirits UWB
UWB Brain Control UWBWUB Esper Reveillark WUB
EDH:
WUBRG Horde of Notions WUBRG
W Nine-and-a-Half TailsW
WGUR Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis WGUR
Timeless Patron
Legendary Golem Artifact
"Until end of turn" and "this turn" effects don't end.
6/7
Tamiyo's providence
Emblem
Incantation — exile this emblem from the game if one of your non-land permanent mana cost is greater than 3.
(If this card is your chosen incantation, you may cast it once from outside the game. You may only choose one incantation per game)
You gain "Spells your opponents cast that target you cost 2 more to cast"