This post will be upgraded as I get into the groove of the project and exactly what it's about.
(This section is reposted from the original post I made about this idea.)
I've been creating cards for a silly Custom Cube-ish project for a while, but its philosophy is a bit different from other Custom Cubes. Basically I'm designing a cross between a custom core set and a "regular" Custom Cube. It will ideally have the simplicity and elegance of a core set, but its overall "card quality" will be very high (though not as powerful as a "real" Cube).
The cards within will fall into one of the following categories:
- Typical "custom" cards. For now, my plan is to use few, if any, non-Core mechanics. I will try to keep them simple and "grokkable".
- "Reprinted" cards. I know this is probably controversial, but I like the idea of it and it fits the "core" theme. I will use these sparingly (it will be nowhere near 50% like M10 was. Probably 15-17% at the most, with lands included in that percentage) Good candidates for "reprints" are things like Wrath of God and Counterspell that are sort of the "iconic baseline" of their particular effect. I wouldn't choose things simply because they're powerful, such as Ancestral Recall. Most (if not all) of the reprints will be noncreatures.
- Slightly tweaked cards, like Gravedigger for 2B. There will also be a handful of colorshifted cards à la Planar Chaos. Obviously these are hardly "designs" in the sense of depth, but I think it will be interesting to see how cards compete when they are tweaked in such a way.
A few stipulations:
- I will probably leave Planeswalkers out. I love the card type, but I don't think I'm a good enough designer to balance them very well, and I'd be too tempted to want to reprint the existing ones. If I do this project again in the future I'll probably change my mind.
- No card in this Cube will be strictly better than another card in this Cube. Thus, if I put the Alpha duals in, I won't be able to put the Ravnica duals in. On the other hand, if I put the Ravnica duals in, I could add another original cycle of lands with basic land types.
- I may use existing card names/art, usually (but not necessarily always) of cards that are obviously not of Cube caliber, such as Starlit Angel. Ideally I'd like to use as much "real" Magic art as possible, but I'm not sure if this is in poor taste or not.
Cube Size: 360 cards. Breakdown: I think it will work best as 48 per color, 40 artifacts, 40 multicolor, and 40 lands, but it will be tweaked as needed. Theme: For now, there will be no non-Core mechanics, but that may change if we have too much trouble or if enough people think having a few would be nice.
- The emphasis will be on making cards as "elegant" and resonant as possible. This will be very difficult, but will be a fun challenge.
- To fit the "core" theme, some of the cards in the Cube will be "reprints" of real cards. I estimate this number will be in the 15-17% ballpark (about 54-61 cards. That sounds like a lot, but keep in mind if I were to reprint a cycle of lands, that would count as 10 reprints.)
- Each color will have a few "color-shifted" cards. Ideally, each color will have one card from each other color, but this may be too heavy.
- I'll have the final say on everything, but I'm very open to criticism/questions/comments/ideas.
- If you have a card that you think would fit well in here, post it in the thread!
- Before adding cards to the original post, I'll post my ideas in the thread itself. Let me know if you think something is too weak, too strong, or too clunky.
- Any cards currently in the original post are considered "in" the Cube. But these are not necessarily permanent. They may be changed (or removed) if better alternatives are designed, if they become unneeded, etc.
Total reprint count: 6
Reprint count: 2
Energetic Swordmaster W
Creature - Human Soldier
Whenever Energetic Swordmaster attacks, it gains double strike until end of turn.
1/1
Guardian of the Realm W
Creature - Human Knight
Whenever Guardian of the Realm attacks, it gets +2/-2 until end of turn.
0/3
War Squad W
Creature - Human Soldier
Vigilance T: Target attacking creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
1/1
Kor Falconer 1W
Creature - Kor Soldier
When Kor Falconer enters the battlefield, put a 1/1 white Bird creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
2/1
Warder Wall 1W
Creature - Wall
Defender
When Warder Wall enters the battlefield, exile target creature.
When Warder Wall leaves the battlefield, return the exiled creature to the battlefield.
0/4
Pro-Bear WW
Creature - Bear
As Pro-Bear enters the battlefield, choose a color.
Pro-Bear has protection from the chosen color.
2/2
Enlightened Sorceress 2W
Creature - Human Wizard
When Enlightened Sorceress enters the battlefield, search your library for an artifact or enchantment card and reveal that card. Shuffle your library, then put the card on top of it.
2/1
Golden Pegasus 1WW
Creature - Pegasus
Flying, protection from black and from red
2/2
Twin Cadet 1WW
Creature - Human Soldier
When Twin Cadet enters the battlefield, put a 2/2 White Human Soldier creature token onto the battlefield.
2/2
(Depart) W
Instant
Target player sacrifices a creature unless he or she pays 2.
(Exile+Draw) W
Instant
Exile target creature. Its controller draws a card.
(Exile+Heal) W
Instant
Exile target creature. Its controller gains 4 life.
Disenchant 1W
Instant
Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
(White Memory Lapse) 1W
Instant
Counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, put it on top of its owner's library instead of into that player's graveyard.
Essence Meld 2W
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast Essence Meld, sacrifice an enchantment.
Search your library for an enchantment card and put that card onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
Recurring Flicker 2W
Enchantment
When Recurring Flicker enters the battlefield, exile target creature you control.
Return Recurring Flicker to its owner's hand: Return the creature exiled with Recurring Flicker to the battlefield under its owner's control. "Where did it go?" -Ib Halfheart, goblin tactician
Armageddon 3W
Sorcery
Destroy all lands.
Reverse Cataclysm 2WW
Sorcery
Each player sacrifices a permanent of each type.
Thought Field U
Creature - Illusion
Defender
When Thought Field enters the battlefield, you may draw a card.
0/3
Spellstutter Sprite Variant 1U
Creature - Faerie Wizard
Flash, Flying
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, counter target spell with converted mana cost 2 or less.
1/1
Mystical Sorceress 2U
Creature - Human Wizard
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield search your library for an instant or sorcery card and reveal that card. Shuffle your library, then put the card on top of it.
1/3
Ocean Elemental 1UU
Creature - Elemental
Shroud
Whenever Ocean Elemental blocks or becomes blocked, you may switch its power and toughness until end of turn.
4/1
Mystic Drake 1UUU
Creature - Drake
Flash, Flying
When Mystic Drake enters the battlefield, counter target spell.
2/2
Rehearse U
Instant
The next time you cast an instant or sorcery spell this turn, put that card into your hand as it resolves.
Draw a card.
Dissolve 1U
Instant
Counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard, and its owner adds mana to his or her mana pool equal to the mana cost of that spell.
Divination+ 1U
Sorcery
Draw two cards.
Freeze 1U
Instant
Tap target permanent. That permanent doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
Draw a card.
Mana Leak 1U
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 3.
Monopolize 1U
Instant
Reveal a card from your hand. Counter target spell if it shares a card type with the revealed card.
Counterspell UU
Instant
Counter target spell.
Inspiration+ 2U
Instant
Draw two cards.
Intuition Given 2U
Instant
Search target opponent's library for three cards with different names and reveal them. That player chooses one. Exile that card and put the rest into that player's graveyard. Then that player shuffles his or her library. You may cast that card for as long as it remains exiled.
Reconstruct 2U
Sorcery
Return target artifact from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control.
Counterstifle 1UU
Instant
Counter target spell or activated ability.
Mini Cryptic 1UU
Instant
Choose one - Counter target spell; or return target permanent to its owner's hand.
Seal of Cancel 1UU
Enchantment
Sacrifice Seal of Cancel: Counter target spell.
Vedalken Æthershackles 1UU
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
You control enchanted creature as long as its power is less than or equal to the number of Islands you control.
Dimmed Droning 2UU
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant nonland permanent
You control enchanted permanent.
Enchanted permanent's activated abilities can't be activated.
Whispering Wind 2UU
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card.
Treason 1UUU
Instant
Counter target spell. If a creature spell is countered this way, put that card onto the battlefield under your control instead of into its owner's graveyard.
AEther Germination 4UU
Sorcery
Put two tokens onto the battlefield that are copies of target creature.
Reprint count: 1
Cursed Lich B
Creature - Zombie Wizard B, T, Exile two cards from your graveyard: Put two -1/-1 counters on target creature.
1/1
Vassal of Lim-Dûl B
Creature - Human Wizard
Discard a card: Vassal of Lim-Dûl gets -1/-0 until end of turn. Any player may activate this ability.
2/1
Darkling Embalmer 1B
Creature - Shade Spirit
Sacrifice Darkling Embalmer: Search your library for a card and put that card into your graveyard. Then shuffle your library.
2/1
Thrull Remorser 1B
Creature - Thrull
Sacrifice Thrull Remorser: Target player discards a card.
2/1
Death Knight BB
Creature - Human Knight
First strike, Deathtouch
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life.
2/2
Knight of Ill-Gotten Gain BB
Creature - Human Knight
First Strike, lifelink
2/2
Lifegorger BB
Creature - Horror
Sacrifice a creature: ~ gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Discard a creature card: ~ gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Quick, before the gorger gets it.
2/1
Meddle Vack 2B
Creature - Ninja Assassin
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, destroy target creature with power 2 or less.
2/2
Shadow Efreet 2B
Creature - Efreet
Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, Shadow Efreet deals 1 damage to you.
3/4
Underhanded Dealer 1BB
Creature - Human Mercenary
Intimidate
Whenever Underhanded Dealer deals damage to a player, you draw a card and you lose 1 life.
2/2
Level the Knowledge 1B
Sorcery
Each player chooses a number of cards in hand equal to player who has the fewest, then discards the rest.
Mind Rot+ 1B
Sorcery
Target player discards two cards.
(Reanimation 2) 1B
Sorcery
Put target creature card from your graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. If that creature isn't black, you lose 4 life.
(Reanimation Enchantment) 1B
Enchantment
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, put target creature card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control.
When CARDNAME leaves the battlefield, sacrifice the card returned to the battlefield with CARDNAME.
Zombie Gates BB
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token onto the battlefield.
At the end of your turn, you lose 1 life for each Zombie on the battlefield.
(Black Removal 2) 1BB
Sorcery
Destroy target creature or land. You lose 3 life.
Forget or Remember 2BB
Sorcery
Target opponent reveals his or her hand and separates it into two piles. That player discards the pile of your choice. You lose life equal to the number of cards discarded this way.
Mine Memory 3BB
Sorcery
Put target permanent card in a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control.
Target or Sweep 3BB
Sorcery
Choose one- Destroy all creatures; or target player sacrifices a creature and you gain life equal to its toughness.
(Sac Sweeper) XBB
Sorcery
Each player sacrifices X creatures.
Tamed Beast R
Creature - Beast
Tamed Beast attacks each turn if able. 1: Tamed Beast can't attack this turn.
2/1
Bloodthirsty Ogre 1R
Creature - Ogre
At the beginning of your upkeep, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, Bloodthirsty Ogre deals 3 damage to you.
3/3
Goblin of the 6th Pride 1R
Creature - Goblin Rebel
3/1
Goblin Wardancer 1R
Creature - Goblin Warrior
Haste
When Goblin Wardancer enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on it if only red mana was spent to cast it.
2/1
Maniacal Berserker 1R
Creature - Goblin Berserker
At the beginning of your upkeep, Maniacal Berserker deals 1 damage to each player.
Maniacal Berserker attacks each turn if able.
3/2
Rock Snapper 1R
Creature - Lizard
Double strike 2R: Rock Snapper gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
1/1
Viashino Looter 1R
Creature - Viashino Scout T: Draw a card, then discard a card.
1/1
Warren Crusader 1R
Creature - Goblin Knight
First Strike
Whenever Warren Crusader deals combat damage, it deals that much damage to itself.
2/3
Fury Knight RR
Creature - Human Knight
First strike, haste
2/2
Fire Imp+ 2R
Creature - Imp
When Fire Imp+ enters the battlefield, it deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
Magus of the Vortex 1RR
Creature - Human Wizard
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, Magus of the Vortex deals 2 damage to that player.
If a player would gain life, that player gains no life instead.
2/2
Fireflail Knight 2RR
Creature - Human Knight
Double strike
Whenever Fireflail Knight deals combat damage, it deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
2/2
Storm Rider 2RR
Creature - Human Vandal
When Storm Rider enters the battlefield, destroy target nonbasic land or noncreature artifact.
2/2
Ghostlit Volley (2/R)
Instant
Ghostlit Volley is colorless.
Ghostlit Volley deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Pyretic Ritual+ R
Instant
Add RRR to your mana pool.
Bendable Lightning 1R
Instant
Bendable Lightning deals 3 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players.
Bendable Lightning costs 1 more to cast for each target beyond the first.
Goblin Kitnet 1R
Enchantment
Goblins you control have haste.
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a 1/1 red goblin creature token into play.
At the beginning of the end step, if you have 4 or more goblins on the battlefield, sacrifice Goblin Kitnet.
Evocative Pulse 2R
Instant
Evocative Pulse deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Draw a card.
Burning Fields 1RR
Sorcery
Choose one - Destroy target land; or Burning Fields deals 3 (4?) damage to target player.
Ragnarok 3R
Sorcery
Destroy all lands.
Eternal Fire 2RR
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, Eternal Fire deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Pyroclastic Flow 2RRR
Sorcery
Pyroclastic Flow deals 5 damage to each creature and each player.
Charring Blaze xR
Sorcery
Choose one - Charring Blaze deals X damage to target player; or Charring Blaze deals two times X damage to target creature and X damage to you.
Reprint count: 0
(Bear Maker) G
Sorcery
Put a 2/2 green Bear creature token onto the battlefield.
Elvish Shaman G
Creature - Elf t: Add 1 to your mana pool. t: Untap target basic land.
1/1
Green Elves G
Creature - Elf Druid
Haste t: Add G to your mana pool.
0/1
Magus of the Ring G
Creature - Human Shaman T: Add 2 to your mana pool.
1/1
Mire Ooze G
Creature - Ooze
Discard a card: Regenerate Mire Ooze and it gets +1/+1 until end of turn. Activate this ability only once each turn.
1/1
Runeclaw Bear G
Creature - Bear
2/1
Utopia Vines G
Creature - Plant Wall
Defender T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
0/2
(Green Kami) 1G
Creature - Spirit X, Sacrifice CARDNAME: Destroy target artifact or enchantment with converted mana cost X.
2/1
Pure Elves 1G
Creature - Elf Warrior
Vigilance t: Regenerate target elf. "Sometimes staying alive is all it takes to win the war."
2/1
Mystic Ooze GG
Creature - Ooze
Whenever a player casts a spell, put a +1/+1 counter on Mystic Ooze.
Mystic Ooze has trample and shroud as long as it has four or more +1/+1 counters on it.
1/1
Wall of Growth 2G
Creature - Plant Wall
When Wall of Growth enters the battlefield, search your library for a basic land card and put that card onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
0/4
Worldly Sorceress 2G
Creature - Elf Wizard
When Worldly Sorceress enters the battlefield, search your library for a creature card and reveal that card. Shuffle your library, then put the card on top of it.
2/2
Lure Basilisk 1GG
Creature - Basilisk
Deathtouch
All creatures able to block CARDNAME do so.
2/2
Seasonal Hatching (2/G)(2/G)(2/G)
Sorcery
Put four 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens onto the battlefield.
Greenbark Dryad 3G
Creature - Dryad
When Greenbark Dryad enters the battlefield, put target land on the top of its owner's library.
2/2
(Card-Draw Beast) 2GG
Creature - Beast
When CARDNAME is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, draw 2 cards.
4/3
Bestial Onslaught 4GGG
Sorcery
Put a 1/1 green Insect creature token, a 2/2 green Wolf creature token, a 3/3 green Elephant creature token, a 4/4 green Beast creature token, and a 5/5 green Wurm creature token onto the battlefield.
(Green Akroma) 5GGG
Creature - Elemental
CARDNAME can't be countered.
Flash, reach, trample, vigilance, protection from blue and from black.
7/7
Garden Hydra XG
Creature - Plant Hydra
Garden Hydra enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from Garden Hydra: search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Activate this ability only as a sorcery and only once per turn.
0/0
Suck it Up G
Instant
Regenerate target permanent.
Expand the Land 1G
Sorcery
Search your library for a land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped.
Spark of Insight 2G
Sorcery
Each player may put a permanent card from his or her hand onto the battlefield.
(Green Pillage) 1GG
Sorcery
Destroy target artifact or land. It can't be regenerated.
Expanding Earth 2GG
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, search your library for a land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped.
Reprint count: 0
Micro Trike 2
Artifact Creature - Construct
Micro Trike enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it.
Remove a +1/+1 counter form Micro Trike: Micro Trike deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
1/1
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +2/+0.
Pay 3 life: Attach Masochist's Hammer to target creature you control.
Sol Crescent 1
Artifact
Sol Crescent enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
(Guardian Statue) 2
Artifact t: Add 1 mana to your mana pool. 4: CARDNAME becomes a 4/4 Golem artifact creature until end of turn.
Rune Rod 2
Artifact 1, t: Rune Rod deals 1 damage to target creature.
Zuran Crucible 4
Artifact
You may play land cards from your graveyard.
Sacrifice a land: You gain 1 life.
(New Icy) 5
Artifact
Tap an untapped artifact you control: Tap target creature.
Reprint count: 0
(Memory Lapse + Repel) 1WU
Instant
Put target creature or spell on top of its owner's library.
Jester's Specter 1(U/B)(U/B)
Creature - Specter
Flying
Whenever Jester's Specter deals combat damage to a player, search that player's library for 3 cards and exile them. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
2/2
Render Dreamless UUB
Instant
Counter target spell. Its controller discards a card at random.
(Shazaam) 3UB
Instant
Draw 2 cards, then discard 2 cards. Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Wrecking Specter 1BR
Creature - Specter
Flying
Whenever Wrecking Specter deals combat damage to a player, flip a coin. If the coin comes up heads, destroy target land the defending player controls. If the coin comes up tails, the defending player discards a card.
2/2
Unified Anthem 2(G/W)(G/W)(G/W)
Enchantment
Creatures you control get +X/+X, where X is the number of creatures you control.
Spiteful Edict WB
Instant
Choose artifact, creature, or land. All players sacrifice a permanent of the chosen type.
Dreamscape 1GU
Instant
Reveal the top 5 cards of your library. For each creature card revealed this way, put a 1/1 green and blue Illusion creature token with flying onto the battlefield. Then, put one of the revealed cards in your hand and the rest on the bottom in any order. "The line between dreams and reality is as thick as one chooses to make it."
Flourishing Thoughts GUU
Instant
Counter target spell. At the beginning of your next main phase, add mana equal to that spell's mana cost to your mana pool.
Seasons Passed 2GUU
Sorcery
Take an extra turn after this one.
Search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Then shuffle your library.
Jilting Weird 2UR
Creature - Weird
When Jilting Weird enters the battlefield, return target creature to its owner’s hand and Jilting Weird deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
2/2
Quick Coax 1UUR
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
You control enchanted creature. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn.
Flameheart Specter 1RW
Creature - Specter
Flying
Whenever Flameheart Specter deals combat damage to a player, Flameheart Specter deals 2 damage to target creature or player and you gain 2 life.
2/1
Azorius Mana Stone
:1mana::symwu:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Dimir Mana Stone
:1mana::symub:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Rakdos Mana Stone
:1mana::symbr:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Gruul Mana Stone
:1mana::symrg:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Selesnya Mana Stone
:1mana::symgw:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Orzhov Mana Stone
:1mana::symwb:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Golgari Mana Stone
:1mana::symbg:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Simic Mana Stone
:1mana::symgu:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Izzet Mana Stone
:1mana::symur:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Boros Mana Stone
:1mana::symrw:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Reprint count: 1 Baseland
Land
: Add to your mana pool.
, Sacrifice Baseland: Destroy target basic land.
Chimeric Wastes
Land
Chimeric Wastes enters the battlefield tapped.
: Add to your mana pool
Tap all other lands you control: Chimeric Wastes becomes a 3/3 artifact creature until end of turn.
Stepping Stones
Land
Stepping Stones enters the battlefield tapped.
: Add to your mana pool.
:1mana:, , sacrifice Stepping Stones: Draw a card.
Terra Incognita
Land t, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice Terra Incognita: Search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
Wasteland
Land
: Add to your mana pool.
, Sacrifice Wasteland: Destroy target nonbasic land.
Don't worry; I have more than 0 cards ready for this. I just didn't want to fire them all out at one time as it would be a mess.
I have several color-shifts planned out, and a handful of original cards (some of which I've posted in the "Print this Wizards" thread and some of which I haven't.)
But I will start with a cycle I designed that I really, really like. This is super-powered for sure, probably too powerful.
Azorius Mana Stone
Artifact
CARDNAME enters the battlefield tapped.
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Keep in mind, though, that this is a Cube, so it's singleton. There will be no Signets (these may very well be called Signets), no Moxes, and because of the sheer power (and number) of these there won't be very many other mana stones (if any).
I am on the fence about them. On the one hand, I like how they're usable in aggro and control, and I like how they seem like a compromise between Moxes and Signets. Also, I think the colored cost of them makes them interesting.
But, on the other hand...
Turn 1: Plains, Azorius Mana Stone.
Turn 2: Plains, 1-drop creature, Orzhov Mana Stone, Dimir Mana Stone.
Turn 3: Island, 6-drop creature?
I guess that's not that much different from power. If these make it in, the main concern is that they wouldn't realistically be printed. And I guess that's not that big a deal since this is Magical Christmasland to some extent- but if I let it slide for these I will not necessarily use that philosophy with everything else.
Those mana stones are nicely designed. I think they are not as powerful as you think they are; they come into play tapped and require you to have at least one of the types of mana they provide. They're stronger than signets since they only cost 1 mana, but they're far weaker than moxes. Looks like fair game for a project like this.
Great idea. I've been toying with the idea of doing this for a couple of years.
Some of the cards I designed.
W
Creature - Lion
During your upkeep, you may have target opponent gain 1 life.
3/2
Twin Cadets 1WW
Creature - Human Twin Soldiers
When ~ etb put a white 2/2 Human Twin Soldier token into play.
Whenever a twin leaves play, sacrifice all twins.
2/2
Sepluture Cadet 1W
Creature - Human Soldier
First Strike
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, you may remove a creature card from that player's graveyard.
2/1
R
Sorcery
~ deals 3 damage to target creature or player
1R
Instant
~ deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
(I think everyone has been wanting these cards for quite awhile)
Ardour 1RR
Sorcery
~ deals 4 damage to target creature or player.
Mogg Arsons RR
Creature - Goblin Rogue
When ~ etb you may discard a land. If you do ~ deals 2 damage to target creature or player and gains haste.
2/2
(could be a 2/1 for 1R)
Magus of the Vortex 1RR
Creature - Human Wizard
At the beginning of each layer's upkeep, ~ deals 2 damage to that player.
If a player would gain life, they instead gain no life.
2/2
Masochist's Hammer 1
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +2/+0.
Pay 3 life: Attach ~ to target creature you control.
(could be 2 life also)
Feel free to take anything you want.
A list of reprint I would consider.
Savanah Lions/Elite Vanguard
Day of Judgment (I would reprint this over ***. The lack of a regen clause makes it more interesting)
Disenchant (Richard Garfield did his job perfectly here.)
Counterspell
Mana Leak (the best designed hard and soft counter)
Those mana stones are nicely designed. I think they are not as powerful as you think they are; they come into play tapped and require you to have at least one of the types of mana they provide. They're stronger than signets since they only cost 1 mana, but they're far weaker than moxes. Looks like fair game for a project like this.
Quote from DerBK »
I think the general consensus was that they were quite powerful, but wouldn't be too good for cube. Imo they are a very clean design and should be exactly the right ratio of power/complexity for your project.
I think I'm going to go ahead and put the 10 mana stones in. Since they have a multicolor cost, I'm going to count them as gold cards even though they're artifacts. I think the breakdown of multicolor for each pair is going to be 2 traditional gold cards and 2 hybrid gold cards (with one of the hybrids taken up by a mana stone). I like this as I think 30 is the ideal number of "true" gold cards for a 360 Cube. But multicolor cards are so fun to design that it may be tempting to move the stones to Artifacts or tweak the section sizes.
Quote from Pringlesman »
Feel free to take anything you want.
Thank you! I probably will end up trying some of these out.
A list of reprint I would consider. My comments in bold.
Savanah Lions/Elite Vanguard I probably will use at least one of these, especially since 1-drops are pretty hard to design.
Day of Judgment (I would reprint this over ***. The lack of a regen clause makes it more interesting) This is an interesting point. I'm thinking Damnation will be in, though,and Wrath is its perfect mirror. One thing I thought about is including Day and Wrath both, citing the "but if you have lots of regenerators, you would pick Day over Wrath!"argument as to why it's not strictly worse (and thus eligible. :p). But if you call a spade a spade, Day can pretty much be considered "strictly worse" than Wrath, so the choice between Day and Wrath might be a tough one that can only have one inclusion.
Disenchant (Richard Garfield did his job perfectly here.) This is very likely.Naturalizeis too.
Counterspell
Mana Leak (the best designed hard and soft counter) These two were the first cards I thought of for Blue and both will almost certainly be in.
(The next Blue cards to pop into my head were Time Spiral, Tinker, and Fact or Fiction, but I'm getting too far ahead of myself, hehe.)
Dark Ritual Pretty likely. I have also thought about a colorshifted Red one.
A word on colorshifts, by the way- a couple will likely also be reprints, like the very possible Damnation. For some colorshifts, the original card might also be in the Cube; for others, only the new one might make it.
I like the idea of each color having one card of another color, but some combinations of Color A -> Color B make this pretty difficult.
One card I've thought of that will probably fall in the latter category is Black Serendib Efreet.(This one was actually considered by the Planar Chaos design team, but they decided it would be too powerful for the Standard environment at the time).
LLanowar Elf
Birds of Paradise
Regrowth Regrowth is a likely shoo-in for Green. Elf and Birds are good ones too.
In Pringlesman's post above he suggested a R sorcery Bolt and an 1R instant Bolt, which is interesting. But Bolt itself was one of the first cards I thought of, and even though it's hard to design around without block mechanics AND without making it strictly better than something, it just seems so perfect. I mean, it was in M10, and the sky responded with a fierce energy we never thought we'd see again. So I'm not sure.
Terror is cool and all, but Doom Blade or even the new Go for the Throat might be better. I really like the idea of including multiple 1B spells, each one being more powerful in certain situations, but I don't know if it would be wise for me to use multiple reprint slots on Black two-mana removal.
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A little while later today, I'll post (and repost) some card ideas to see which ones I should add. I've also been thinking about planning the curves of each color's creatures/noncreatures beforehand (though of course those will be tweaked as needed as the slots get filled).
I've been trying to think of the best way to "fill slots" in general. I think the "plan the curve, then fill the slots" strategy will help. Another idea I had is starting by trying to design and fill precons with cards, sort of designing the Cube "backwards" in a sense.
This project sounds great. Especially if you really go all the way an photoshop those cards.
The Mana Stones are really powerful. Not on a Mox level, of course, but format defining nonetheless. Personally, I don't like fast mana and maybe you do, but you have to consider their impact on your cube: You are giving every color multiple Llanowar Elves that cannot die to removal. This takes away one of green's main strengths and will certainly lead to some pretty swingy starts. Being a turn faster than Signets also means that all types of decks would play them, even aggro decks, so there is not much decision making involved if you see them in a pack: Just pick them. Regarding the small size of the cube, those cards will show up pretty often, too.
What about:
Azorius Slow Stone 1(W/U)
Artifact
T: Add W or U to your mana pool.
Here are a few more simple suggestions for the cube:
Guardian of the Realm W
Creature - Human Knight
Whenever Guardian of the Realm attacks, it gets +2/-2 until end of turn.
0 / 3
Energetic Swordmaster W
Creature - Human Soldier
Double strike
1/1
The Mana Stones are really powerful. Not on a Mox level, of course, but format defining nonetheless. Personally, I don't like fast mana and maybe you do, but you have to consider their impact on your cube: You are giving every color multiple Llanowar Elves that cannot die to removal. This takes away one of green's main strengths and will certainly lead to some pretty swingy starts. Being a turn faster than Signets also means that all types of decks would play them, even aggro decks, so there is not much decision making involved if you see them in a pack: Just pick them. Regarding the small size of the cube, those cards will show up pretty often, too.
That's a very good point. Indeed I don't mind fast mana; my real Cube doesn't have it, but that's because of its restrictions (semi-budget, only using modern cards) more than its philosophy.
I actually think 10 of them being in a draft is somewhat interesting. Their aggro friendliness probably means that in a given draft, they'll be pretty spread out among the players. If they're high picks, at least everyone will be likely to get at least one. But I do agree that it certainly seems a bit "boring" in a sense if everyone first-picks one or whatever.
I'm worried more about Green than I am about fast mana. I mean, again, there will be 10 of these floating around... and the dark side of that is that it definitely does cut into Green's uniqueness a bit. I'm not really sure how I can alleviate this.
What about:
Azorius Slow Stone 1(W/U)
Artifact
T: Add W or U to your mana pool.
Well, this is one way to answer the problem of how to alleviate things! I like it.
This is another design I thought about as I was "making" these, and I really like it. (again, I know other people have come up with the idea before I did, so I don't want to take credit for it- but I didn't see the Necklace cycle from the "Print this Wizards" thread.)
The problem with this is that they're possibly worse than the real Signets in terms of power. Sometimes the Signets feel a bit clunky to me (I get a bit annoyed with having to process the ":1mana:, :symtap:: Add :symw::symu:" even though it's not a big deal in most cases), so I definitely want something with the ":symtap:: Add or :symu:" first and foremost.
The overall cost of the cards is something I'll need to think about and test. I'm going to leave them as-is for now, but this is a great alternative to the current ones if they prove to be too obnoxious.
Here are a few more simple suggestions for the cube:
Guardian of the Realm W
Creature - Human Knight
Whenever Guardian of the Realm attacks, it gets +2/-2 until end of turn.
0 / 3
Energetic Swordmaster W
Creature - Human Soldier
Double strike
1/1
Breaking World 3RR
Sorcery
Destroy all lands.
I absolutely love the first two. I can't wait until Wizards finally prints the second one! I bet it's only a matter of time.
I like the third one too, but there's a certain reason why I won't need it.
It's probably crossing the line, but Red Armageddon is something I've been wanting to see in action for a long time and this seems like the best place to try it.
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So I've been thinking about how to break down the colors between creatures and noncreatures, and this is the idea I like the best. The symmetry is a little cutesy, but I like it as a jumping-off point even though the end result certainly won't be this exact:
Black and Red are probably better switched, especially since in this Cube, Red might have a bit more creatures and a bit less burn (because creatures are easier to design than burn).
I think aggro will probably be exciting in this Cube, especially if I plan the overall curves for the aggro colors to enable it well. How does this look as a creature curve "rough draft" for White?
First off, I'm going to go ahead and put Counterspell in right now!
Counterspell Mana LeakPringlesman was right about this being the best designed soft counter.
Brainstorm Force SpikeBlue one-drop spells seem pretty hard to design, and I think one or both of these should make it.
Fact or Fiction Man-o'-WarThe only blue creature I can think of reprinting off the top of my head. TinkerI love the idea of an iconic build-around card being in a mostly-different environment.
If I want the number of reprints per color to be equal, I'll have to cut this down to 6. Plus, there are probably a few other good candidates that slipped through the cracks.
Lightning Bolt is pretty certain- the only argument against it being in is the fear that it scares away other burn with its strictly-betterness. If that becomes a problem I could try R Sorcery Bolt and 1R Instant Bolt or Incinerate.
Masticore is an interesting choice that I didn't think about before, but it certainly fits.
I think you should only use reprints that are extremely basic, yet powerful (like Counterspell). Lightning Bolt is of course both of these things, but considering your 'no cards that are strictly superior to other cards' rule, which I kinda like, this will make life really hard for you designing burn. For that reason, I like your solutions a lot: Chain Lightning and Incinerate without the unnecessary text. Very clean, they're solid and basic, exactly what you need.
As for Strip Mine, it has the same 'problem' as Lightning Bolt. So using Wasteland as a reprint and putting a basic hitting Strip Mine in to accompany it seems like a good idea, I like that.
For Swords to Plowshares, it should be possible to find an elegant solution that is similar but not the same. Pringles' design is perfect so you could just use that; something you might want to think about is fixing the life gained (3, maybe 4 life seems about right?). This makes it a bit stronger against aggro but weaker against slower decks, and I like how clean it makes the card (no more needing to remember whether it was power or toughness).
I think you should only use reprints that are extremely basic, yet powerful (like Counterspell). Lightning Bolt is of course both of these things, but considering your 'no cards that are strictly superior to other cards' rule, which I kinda like, this will make life really hard for you designing burn. For that reason, I like your solutions a lot: Chain Lightning and Incinerate without the unnecessary text. Very clean, they're solid and basic, exactly what you need.
It was actually Pringlesman's idea to have R Sorcery Bolt and 1R Instant Bolt.
But something just feels wrong about Lightning Bolt not being there! I mean, it was in M10 and M11 (somewhat of the inspiration for this project), and it has cool new art and everything. The thing that will make burn hardest to design will not be the fact that Bolt is the best (which is still an obstacle, don't get me wrong), but that we don't have any block mechanics and will have to get pretty clever with alternatives to say... Burst Lightning and Magma Jet.
But even with Bolt in, I can still include "Shock or Sorcery Shock with upside" at R and "Lightning Bolt with upside" (akin to Incinerate) at 1R. And those are really the same variants we would be looking at even without Bolt itself being in.
I can also use some of Red's reprint slots on "hard to top" burn like Arc Lightning to help things out. But all in all, Red might have slightly less burn than in a real Cube and slightly more creatures.
As for Strip Mine, it has the same 'problem' as Lightning Bolt. So using Wasteland as a reprint and putting a basic hitting Strip Mine in to accompany it seems like a good idea, I like that.
I think I'm indeed going to do this.
For Swords to Plowshares, it should be possible to find an elegant solution that is similar but not the same. Pringles' design is perfect so you could just use that; something you might want to think about is fixing the life gained (3, maybe 4 life seems about right?). This makes it a bit stronger against aggro but weaker against slower decks, and I like how clean it makes the card (no more needing to remember whether it was power or toughness).
I love the idea of there being two "exile this, give them that" spells in the set. Maybe I'm just spoiled by real Cubes' STP/PTE, but that number seems "right."
I think the best option is to include Pringles' "Exile target creature, give them a card" and the STP variant you've just described.
Commander to Recruits
Instant
Exile target creature. Its controller puts two 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield.
This is kind of neat too though.
W
Instant
Exile target creature. Its controller gains 3 life.
U
Instant
Draw three cards, then put two cards from your hand on top of your library in any order.
B
Instant
Add BBB to your mana pool.
R
Instant
CARDNAME deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
G
Instant
Until end of turn, target creature gets +3/+3 and can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.
Granted, the STP variant is more reasonable at 4 life, and the Giant Growth+ should probably grant regeneration or indestructibility instead of Troll-shroud.
Also, while Dark Ritual (and Pyretic Ritual for R instead of 1R for that matter) will probably be in anyway, a Vendetta variant is also interesting for this cycle, and makes a cool mirror to the STP variant.
B
Instant
Exile target creature. You lose 3 life.
Not sure if that's really powerful enough though. Depends on the other removal in the environment.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
I think that a key thing to think about is the role of Green in your cube. Especially in higher powered cubes, Green seems to be the weakest colour and tends to not really have that many unique effects.
I feel like the biggest advantage to creating your own environment is the ability to balance each colour, so trying to figure out how to push Green while maintaining the unique characteristics of the colour seems to be important. As has already been said, your mana rocks are very tasty aggro friendly ways of fixing mana and accelerating. However, just a the signets in as normal cube are apt to do, they make the fix/ramp power of green less unique.
What I have been thinking about for a custom cube environment is structuring the colourless mana fixing and ramp options with Green in mind. Keep the colourless cards at a high premium, but allow Green access to powerful ramp and fixing cards as well as cool things to ramp into. While this may not be the way you want to go with your cube, I think that this provides a unique focus to a colour that is liable to turn into simply a vague "fatties" colour.
What I have found to be the perfect Green card for this is Krosan Tusker. He gets you your splash colour and some card advantage early on, then comes down as a big dude to smash for 6 later on.
Another (in my opinion) flavorful and potentially powerful way to give Green some much needed card advantage is through the buyback mechanic. This can sort of tie into a ramp theme as well, if you chose to include it. Something like a buyback-able giant growth can be powerful in the early game for aggressive decks, as well as providing decks that go late a way to use their mana.
Obviously, I don't know what you had in mind for each of your colours, but I do think that you should take advantage of the open slate you have to make each colour have a unique and powerful feel.
My original thought was that it was too weak (comparing it to Vendetta mentally), but the more I think about it the better it seems.
Quote from Fredo »
That guy is just full of great ideas.
Re- the new Giant Growth: just tack on split second and you're set.
Hehe, if only...
I'm wondering what the best way to balance the pump spell is, though.
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I started taking notes on my "rough draft" for Blue's noncreature spells. A lot of these are silly, but I've spruced them up and typed them out to see if anything sticks.
Dissolve 1U
Instant
Counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard, and its owner adds mana to his or her mana pool equal to the mana cost of that spell.
Whispering Wind 2UU
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card.
These two are designs I posted in the "Print this Wizards" thread and I really like them. I'm not sure how powerful they are.
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Divination+ 1U
Sorcery
Draw two cards.
Inspiration+ 2U or UU
Instant
Draw two cards.
I know these aren't very creative, but they made me wonder about something. Is Blue allowed to get anything of the same cost/amount Black gets draw-wise without the life loss? (Night's Whisper in the case of Divination+ above?)
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Mana Drain- 2UU?
Instant
Counter target spell. At the beginning of your next main phase, add mana to your mana pool equal to the mana cost of that spell.
I like the idea of weakening this to make it available for inclusion, and I could make it match the template of Dissolve. 2UU is a bit high, but 1UU seems far too nice.
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Repulse variant 1UU
Instant
Return target nonland permanent to its owner's hand.
Draw a card.
This is pretty powerful, but it feels pretty fair. I'm pretty sure this is realistically printable. It's sort of like a cross between a kicked Into the Roil and an unkicked Into the Roil.
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Time Warp Variant 1UUU?
Sorcery
Take an extra turn after this one.
Would 2UU be okay in an environment without any other "Take an extra turn" spells? Dropping 1 off of mana costs all the time is really un-creative even though it excites me from an "I want to test this" standpoint.
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Freeze U or 1U
Instant
Tap target permanent. That permanent doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
Draw a card.
Ice variant. It's obviously the weaker of the two effects on its own card. Is it good enough to stand alone? I'm not sure what combination of these works best:
- as U or 1U
- with or without the untap clause
- with or without the draw
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Mini Cryptic 1UU
Instant
Choose one - Counter target spell; or return target permanent to its owner's hand.
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Hypnosis 1UU
Sorcery
Look at target player's hand and choose any number of cards from it. That player exiles those cards, then draws that many cards.
I think it might be cool to give Blue some sort of spell that uses a Vendilion Clique-ish mechanic. That card is one of the only "blue discard" spells we've gotten since Planar Chaos (not that I expect these to come often or anything).
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Confusion 1UU
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Flash
You control enchanted creature.
When enchanted creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice CARDNAME.
I think this makes a good 1UR or 1:symur::symur: card too, but in a pinch it can be monoblue. Control Magic effects are hard to design.
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Sword of Frost
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has protection from blue. This effect doesn't remove CARDNAME.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, tap target permanent. That permanent doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
Equip
There could be other "mini-swords" like this too.
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I also have some more concepts that I didn't make into cards yet:
- Some sort of Water-themed enchantment (to go with the Wind one).
- Some sort of transforming instant or enchantment akin to Ovinize or Snakeform.
Possibly something weird like this:
Mass Ovinize 2UU
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, put a sheep counter on all creatures.
Creatures with sheep counters on them are 0/1 Sheep with no abilities.
Kind of like a Humility that only affects the creatures that were in play at the time.
- Some colorshifts to Blue. These are sort of hard to give to the color that has everything.
From Green, it could get Harrow as a nod to Dreamscape Artist (though that's quite a stretch and it seems a bit much) or Plow Under.
My original thought was that it was too weak (comparing it to Vendetta mentally), but the more I think about it the better it seems.
it blows vendetta out of the water. B and 3 life to exile any creature? including black and artifact creatures? the 3 life isn't so much that i'm upset to kill a savannah lions with it, and it's fixed so i don't feel bad killing a razormane masticore, oona, queen of the fae, or keiga, the tide star with it either.
that card will never be printed, but if it was i would cube with it in a heartbeat.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
It would be printable if you loose 5 life when you exile a creature for B. 4 life if you only destroy it would probably be ok, too.
I really like:
Whispering Wind, Divination+ (at UU, unless you want to exceed current power standards for card drawing spells), Repulse variant, Time Warp Variant (at 1UUU), Freeze (at 1U, unless you add "nonland"), Mini Cryptic (now that is cubable Cancel!), Sword of Frost (the "This effect doesn't remove CARDNAME." looks quite stupid, but it is nessessary)
If you don't mind, here are some card ideas from me. Sorry, but I suck at card names.
Unexpected Confiscation 5UUU
Instant
Unexpected Confiscation costs 1 less to cast for each permanent that entered the battlefield under an opponent's control this turn.
Gain control of target permanent.
Monopolize 1U
Instant
Reveal a card from your hand. Counter target spell if it shares a card type with the revealed card.
Paladin Clique 1UU
Creature - Faery Soldier
Protection from red and from green
Flying
2 / 2
Mean Meddler 2UU
Creature - Faerie Wizard
Flash, flying
When THIS enters the battlefield, choose one: Counter target spell; or draw three cards, then discard three cards.
1 / 1
Rock Snapper 1R
Creature - Lizard
Double strike
2R: THIS gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
1 / 1
I think that a key thing to think about is the role of Green in your cube. Especially in higher powered cubes, Green seems to be the weakest colour and tends to not really have that many unique effects.
First off, thank you for posting. This post fell through the cracks yesterday and I didn't notice it, hehe.
This is a very good point, and I've been worrying about it a bit indeed! Green is the only color that I haven't really designed anything in my head for yet.
Blue's noncreatures have been hard, and I don't know if I'll be able to reach my projected "32" any time soon. I'm better at designing noncreatures than creatures, so Green is a pretty daunting task.
I feel like the biggest advantage to creating your own environment is the ability to balance each colour, so trying to figure out how to push Green while maintaining the unique characteristics of the colour seems to be important. As has already been said, your mana rocks are very tasty aggro friendly ways of fixing mana and accelerating. However, just a the signets in as normal cube are apt to do, they make the fix/ramp power of green less unique.
I'm really excited about testing the mana rocks, but I am a bit fearful for Green.
Here are some miscellaneous ideas I thought of to push Green a little. Some of these are a little corny.
- I could utilize Green's love for effects-on-a-stick in my Cube, giving it "enters the battlefield" effects on a lot of its creatures. Even simple things like tacking the Civic Wayfinder ability or "draw a card" onto a few early Green creatures could help.
- I could give the other colors fewer artifact/enchantment removal options than usual, making Green the best color for fighting mana rocks in the early turns. Enchantments will likely be more common in this Cube since I don't have Planeswalkers.
- I could increase the versatility of Green's ramp, giving it more ramp spells that can fetch nonbasic lands.
- Since I'm designing the creatures around other colors' creatures somewhat, I could push Green's creatures P/T-wise, and try out effects that are uncommon/unusual in Green's slice of the pie like Flash and Haste.
- I could give Green a strong token theme.
- From day 1 I have seriously planned on making one of Black's 1B instant kill spells "Destroy target nongreen creature." In real design this has been seen on Death Rattle and Soul Reap and for some reason I've been enamored with it since. "Nongreen" is not something I would put on multiple kill spells, but it would flip things around a bit if it was on one card. Gaea's Revenge has a flavorful clause that might be interesting on a midrange creature in this Cube.
What I have been thinking about for a custom cube environment is structuring the colourless mana fixing and ramp options with Green in mind. Keep the colourless cards at a high premium, but allow Green access to powerful ramp and fixing cards as well as cool things to ramp into. While this may not be the way you want to go with your cube, I think that this provides a unique focus to a colour that is liable to turn into simply a vague "fatties" colour.
I'm probably going to avoid colorless fixing for the most part since there are 10 mana stones and they're really powerful. I think I might include 2-3 Mind Stoneish cards, but I won't include, say, Sol Ring.
What I have found to be the perfect Green card for this is Krosan Tusker. He gets you your splash colour and some card advantage early on, then comes down as a big dude to smash for 6 later on.
It's funny that you mention the Tusker. It seems like the past few times he's shown up in games, my friends and I have said "You know, that's a good card."
Another (in my opinion) flavorful and potentially powerful way to give Green some much needed card advantage is through the buyback mechanic. This can sort of tie into a ramp theme as well, if you chose to include it. Something like a buyback-able giant growth can be powerful in the early game for aggressive decks, as well as providing decks that go late a way to use their mana.
Buyback? Interesting thought. I never really thought about that before but it's neat.
Since I'm just starting out with this project, I like the idea of trying to avoid using Block mechanics since it's sort of a "core set" concept. I think for now I'm going to continue dodging block mechanics, but I have a few in mind to use if my ideas run dry- specifically Kicker, Wither, Scry (as seen in M11!) and Evoke.
Obviously, I don't know what you had in mind for each of your colours, but I do think that you should take advantage of the open slate you have to make each colour have a unique and powerful feel.
Thanks again for your post! I'm open to any ideas as I develop Green (or any color for that matter).
Quote from quitequieter »
it blows vendetta out of the water. B and 3 life to exile any creature? including black and artifact creatures? the 3 life isn't so much that i'm upset to kill a savannah lions with it, and it's fixed so i don't feel bad killing a razormane masticore, oona, queen of the fae, or keiga, the tide star with it either.
that card will never be printed, but if it was i would cube with it in a heartbeat.
It would be printable if you loose 5 life when you exile a creature for B. 4 life if you only destroy it would probably be ok, too.
Thanks for the catch on that one, guys. Normally I'm a bit too cautious with my designs' costs, but for this project I've been trying to push things a bit and crazy things like that might slip through, hehe.
I think I can afford to push things a little bit since this Cube only exists in its own environment. The point is not to make a set that could realistically be printed- think of it as an "alternate reality" Cube to some extent. Some of the most powerful cards in the game's history will be there (Regrowth and Demonic Tutor are possibilities, for instance) but not all of them (I'm going to avoid Mind Twist, Balance, the Power 9, etc).
Every real set has a card or two that we would've told each other was unrealistic if suggested in Custom Card Creation or the "Print this Wizards" thread. Thus, I think it's okay if some cards in here feel like that a bit. But it helps me a lot if I have angels on my shoulder to stop me from doing this too much.
I want to try to avoid the "this is a real Cube with under-performing cards taken out and replaced with ridiculous cards" feeling, and you people who are more experienced than me can really help me out here.
I really like:
Whispering Wind, Divination+ (at UU, unless you want to exceed current power standards for card drawing spells), Repulse variant, Time Warp Variant (at 1UUU), Freeze (at 1U, unless you add "nonland"), Mini Cryptic (now that is cubable Cancel!), Sword of Frost (the "This effect doesn't remove CARDNAME." looks quite stupid, but it is nessessary)
Thank you.
I guess my argument with Divination+ at 1U was "if Black gets Night's Whisper, why can't Blue have the same thing without the life loss? Blue is supposed to be better at drawing cards than Black!"
This gives me a good chance to explain and clarify what I said above. I'm not designing cards relative to a 100% realistic current power level (as in, what they would print for Standard), but more of an "is Divination able to stand on the shoulders of Demonic Tutor and Regrowth?" type of thing. I'm not saying it should be as powerful as them (those two should still be among the highest picks in their colors, which I like). It's more like saying... "can Divination even survive in the same environment as them?" At 2U it certainly can't (unless it's on a Mulldrifter body :p)- that would be a super-low pick every time in a real Cube. At 1U it can certainly compete, but if that's too good, it should be UU. And so on.
This whole concept is, in part, a big thought exercise for mechanics in general. It's not about what's the most powerful (so I won't use Ancestral Recall as the basis), but it's not about what's the most "printable" either (so I won't use See Beyond as the basis). The benchmark for inclusion is very high, but not so high as to equal the Power 9.
If you don't mind, here are some card ideas from me. Sorry, but I suck at card names.
I don't mind at all! I'd be honored to hear your ideas for anything related to this project.
Unexpected Confiscation 5UUU
Instant
Unexpected Confiscation costs 1 less to cast for each permanent that entered the battlefield under an opponent's control this turn.
Gain control of target permanent.
I love this design but I'm not sure where it falls on the power scale. I think it's pretty fair, though. If they make their land drop, it will kind of play like a Gather Specimens that can steal artifacts and enchantments. Against, say, Cloudgoat Ranger, you can get a good deal but I'm not sure how often that would come up.
Monopolize 1U
Instant
Reveal a card from your hand. Counter target spell if it shares a card type with the revealed card.
I really like this. Counterspells are hard to design and this is pretty neat. I'm not sure how powerful it is though.
Paladin Clique 1UU
Creature - Faery Soldier
Protection from red and from green
Flying
2 / 2
Looks great to me! Blue's creature count is pretty tight, but something like this can easily fit.
Mean Meddler 2UU
Creature - Faerie Wizard
Flash, flying
When THIS enters the battlefield, choose one: Counter target spell; or draw three cards, then discard three cards.
1 / 1
This is cool too. I like the versatility here.
Rock Snapper 1R
Creature - Lizard
Double strike
2R: THIS gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
1 / 1 Kind of like a "fixed" Viashino Slaughtermaster. I like it.
I guess 1U for a "Draw two cards." sorcery is still ok, even if Wizards wouln't print it. It is certainly much fairer than Ancestral Recall.
Would you consider cycling as a "guest mechanic" for your core set / cube? It is pretty simply and you can do nice things with it.
On your comments on my cards:
Unexpected Confiscation 5UUU
Instant
Unexpected Confiscation costs 1 less to cast for each permanent that entered the battlefield under an opponent's control this turn.
Gain control of target permanent.
I love this design but I'm not sure where it falls on the power scale. I think it's pretty fair, though. If they make their land drop, it will kind of play like a Gather Specimens that can steal artifacts and enchantments. Against, say, Cloudgoat Ranger, you can get a good deal but I'm not sure how often that would come up.
The idea was: If they play a land and cast a spell, it is like an instant speed Confiscate that cannot be disenchanted. It is maybe cost too fairly for your cube though.
Monopolize 1U
Instant
Reveal a card from your hand. Counter target spell if it shares a card type with the revealed card.
I really like this. Counterspells are hard to design and this is pretty neat. I'm not sure how powerful it is though.
Neither am I. I guess it's nearly on the same level as Counterspell and Mana Leak. Especially the latter: It's great during the early turns when you have a full grip, but gets worse later, lunless you hold cards back.
Paladin Clique 1UU
Creature - Faery Soldier
Protection from red and from green
Flying
2 / 2
Looks great to me! Blue's creature count is pretty tight, but something like this can easily fit.
Thanks. I once made a Paladin en-Vec for every other color. Great Sable Stag kinda obsolted the green one though.
Mean Meddler 2UU
Creature - Faerie Wizard
Flash, flying
When THIS enters the battlefield, choose one: Counter target spell; or draw three cards, then discard three cards.
1 / 1
This is cool too. I like the versatility here.
Versatility is the word. I tried to make a flexible four drop for blue, but somehow never posted it in the Print This Wizards thread.
Rock Snapper 1R
Creature - Lizard
Double strike
2R: THIS gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
1 / 1
Kind of like a "fixed" Viashino Slaughtermaster. I like it.
Well, this is exactly what this is. I run Slaughtermaster in my cube, because red has so few good two-drops, but it really annoys me that it never gets activated. This version will fix the problem while being more core set friendly at the same time.
I guess 1U for a "Draw two cards." sorcery is still ok, even if Wizards wouln't print it. It is certainly much fairer than Ancestral Recall.
I've been debating with a friend about the 1UDivination and he dislikes it. We both like 2U instant Divination, though. I think having them both could be interesting but I'm still not sure how much draw blue will need.
Would you consider cycling as a "guest mechanic" for your core set / cube? It is pretty simply and you can do nice things with it.
Yes, that's a good one- I meant to list it in my post above but it slipped my mind! I wouldn't be surprised to see Cycling in a real-life Core Set either.
Again, I'm going to start off without mechanics, but it's on the short list if I need one or two to spruce things up or fill slots.
As for the cards you suggested, I'm very likely to use the fixed Slaughtermaster, and Monopolize seems interesting enough to test as well. The Faeries are both cool, and while I'm not sure about the instant Confiscate, I still like the idea.
Do you mind if I add some of those to the first post?
---
I briefly mentioned this before, but I'm wondering what people think of this idea. I thought it might be easier to fill slots if I tried to design precons for the color combinations. Like a "RW aggro" precon, or a "WU control" one. A lot of people (I remember magicmerl in particular) had a lot of fun dividing their Cubes as such, so it might also be a useful exercise for me in building this.
Each one could have, say, 9 cards of one color, 8 cards of another color, 3 artifacts, 3 gold cards, and some nonbasics. That would be a total of 34ish cards of each color, 30 artifacts, and 30 gold cards - a pretty big percentage of the Cube. It would also help balance the archetypes.
Do you mind if I add some of those to the first post?
No, go ahead.
I'm not so sure about the Precon idea. Wouldn't it be better do design a bunch of cards for the different colors / sections and then cut a few away until everything fits? And when too many cards of a certain type are designed (like, six Wraths), you just step in and say: Enough of those, now we have to make more (insert archetype) cards. I feel like making those Precons would just add an unnessessary level of abstraction. Cards aren't made for a cube, but for a preconstructed deck and for a cube.
(This section is reposted from the original post I made about this idea.)
I've been creating cards for a silly Custom Cube-ish project for a while, but its philosophy is a bit different from other Custom Cubes. Basically I'm designing a cross between a custom core set and a "regular" Custom Cube. It will ideally have the simplicity and elegance of a core set, but its overall "card quality" will be very high (though not as powerful as a "real" Cube).
The cards within will fall into one of the following categories:
- Typical "custom" cards. For now, my plan is to use few, if any, non-Core mechanics. I will try to keep them simple and "grokkable".
- "Reprinted" cards. I know this is probably controversial, but I like the idea of it and it fits the "core" theme. I will use these sparingly (it will be nowhere near 50% like M10 was. Probably 15-17% at the most, with lands included in that percentage) Good candidates for "reprints" are things like Wrath of God and Counterspell that are sort of the "iconic baseline" of their particular effect. I wouldn't choose things simply because they're powerful, such as Ancestral Recall. Most (if not all) of the reprints will be noncreatures.
- Slightly tweaked cards, like Gravedigger for 2B. There will also be a handful of colorshifted cards à la Planar Chaos. Obviously these are hardly "designs" in the sense of depth, but I think it will be interesting to see how cards compete when they are tweaked in such a way.
A few stipulations:
- I will probably leave Planeswalkers out. I love the card type, but I don't think I'm a good enough designer to balance them very well, and I'd be too tempted to want to reprint the existing ones. If I do this project again in the future I'll probably change my mind.
- No card in this Cube will be strictly better than another card in this Cube. Thus, if I put the Alpha duals in, I won't be able to put the Ravnica duals in. On the other hand, if I put the Ravnica duals in, I could add another original cycle of lands with basic land types.
- I may use existing card names/art, usually (but not necessarily always) of cards that are obviously not of Cube caliber, such as Starlit Angel. Ideally I'd like to use as much "real" Magic art as possible, but I'm not sure if this is in poor taste or not.
Cube Size: 360 cards.
Breakdown: I think it will work best as 48 per color, 40 artifacts, 40 multicolor, and 40 lands, but it will be tweaked as needed.
Theme: For now, there will be no non-Core mechanics, but that may change if we have too much trouble or if enough people think having a few would be nice.
- The emphasis will be on making cards as "elegant" and resonant as possible. This will be very difficult, but will be a fun challenge.
- To fit the "core" theme, some of the cards in the Cube will be "reprints" of real cards. I estimate this number will be in the 15-17% ballpark (about 54-61 cards. That sounds like a lot, but keep in mind if I were to reprint a cycle of lands, that would count as 10 reprints.)
- Each color will have a few "color-shifted" cards. Ideally, each color will have one card from each other color, but this may be too heavy.
- I'll have the final say on everything, but I'm very open to criticism/questions/comments/ideas.
- If you have a card that you think would fit well in here, post it in the thread!
- Before adding cards to the original post, I'll post my ideas in the thread itself. Let me know if you think something is too weak, too strong, or too clunky.
- Any cards currently in the original post are considered "in" the Cube. But these are not necessarily permanent. They may be changed (or removed) if better alternatives are designed, if they become unneeded, etc.
Total reprint count: 6
Reprint count: 2
Energetic Swordmaster
W
Creature - Human Soldier
Whenever Energetic Swordmaster attacks, it gains double strike until end of turn.
1/1
Guardian of the Realm
W
Creature - Human Knight
Whenever Guardian of the Realm attacks, it gets +2/-2 until end of turn.
0/3
War Squad
W
Creature - Human Soldier
Vigilance
T: Target attacking creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
1/1
Kor Falconer
1W
Creature - Kor Soldier
When Kor Falconer enters the battlefield, put a 1/1 white Bird creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
2/1
Warder Wall
1W
Creature - Wall
Defender
When Warder Wall enters the battlefield, exile target creature.
When Warder Wall leaves the battlefield, return the exiled creature to the battlefield.
0/4
Pro-Bear
WW
Creature - Bear
As Pro-Bear enters the battlefield, choose a color.
Pro-Bear has protection from the chosen color.
2/2
Enlightened Sorceress
2W
Creature - Human Wizard
When Enlightened Sorceress enters the battlefield, search your library for an artifact or enchantment card and reveal that card. Shuffle your library, then put the card on top of it.
2/1
Golden Pegasus
1WW
Creature - Pegasus
Flying, protection from black and from red
2/2
Twin Cadet
1WW
Creature - Human Soldier
When Twin Cadet enters the battlefield, put a 2/2 White Human Soldier creature token onto the battlefield.
2/2
(Depart)
W
Instant
Target player sacrifices a creature unless he or she pays 2.
(Exile+Draw)
W
Instant
Exile target creature. Its controller draws a card.
(Exile+Heal)
W
Instant
Exile target creature. Its controller gains 4 life.
Disenchant
1W
Instant
Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
(White Memory Lapse)
1W
Instant
Counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, put it on top of its owner's library instead of into that player's graveyard.
Essence Meld
2W
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast Essence Meld, sacrifice an enchantment.
Search your library for an enchantment card and put that card onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
Recurring Flicker
2W
Enchantment
When Recurring Flicker enters the battlefield, exile target creature you control.
Return Recurring Flicker to its owner's hand: Return the creature exiled with Recurring Flicker to the battlefield under its owner's control.
"Where did it go?" -Ib Halfheart, goblin tactician
Armageddon
3W
Sorcery
Destroy all lands.
Reverse Cataclysm
2WW
Sorcery
Each player sacrifices a permanent of each type.
Banish
1WWW
Sorcery
Exile target nonland permanent.
Reprint count: 2
Thought Field
U
Creature - Illusion
Defender
When Thought Field enters the battlefield, you may draw a card.
0/3
Spellstutter Sprite Variant
1U
Creature - Faerie Wizard
Flash, Flying
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, counter target spell with converted mana cost 2 or less.
1/1
Mystical Sorceress
2U
Creature - Human Wizard
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield search your library for an instant or sorcery card and reveal that card. Shuffle your library, then put the card on top of it.
1/3
Ocean Elemental
1UU
Creature - Elemental
Shroud
Whenever Ocean Elemental blocks or becomes blocked, you may switch its power and toughness until end of turn.
4/1
Mystic Drake
1UUU
Creature - Drake
Flash, Flying
When Mystic Drake enters the battlefield, counter target spell.
2/2
Rehearse
U
Instant
The next time you cast an instant or sorcery spell this turn, put that card into your hand as it resolves.
Draw a card.
Dissolve
1U
Instant
Counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard, and its owner adds mana to his or her mana pool equal to the mana cost of that spell.
Divination+
1U
Sorcery
Draw two cards.
Freeze
1U
Instant
Tap target permanent. That permanent doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
Draw a card.
Mana Leak
1U
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 3.
Monopolize
1U
Instant
Reveal a card from your hand. Counter target spell if it shares a card type with the revealed card.
Counterspell
UU
Instant
Counter target spell.
Inspiration+
2U
Instant
Draw two cards.
Intuition Given
2U
Instant
Search target opponent's library for three cards with different names and reveal them. That player chooses one. Exile that card and put the rest into that player's graveyard. Then that player shuffles his or her library. You may cast that card for as long as it remains exiled.
Reconstruct
2U
Sorcery
Return target artifact from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control.
Counterstifle
1UU
Instant
Counter target spell or activated ability.
Mini Cryptic
1UU
Instant
Choose one - Counter target spell; or return target permanent to its owner's hand.
Seal of Cancel
1UU
Enchantment
Sacrifice Seal of Cancel: Counter target spell.
Vedalken Æthershackles
1UU
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
You control enchanted creature as long as its power is less than or equal to the number of Islands you control.
Dimmed Droning
2UU
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant nonland permanent
You control enchanted permanent.
Enchanted permanent's activated abilities can't be activated.
Whispering Wind
2UU
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card.
Treason
1UUU
Instant
Counter target spell. If a creature spell is countered this way, put that card onto the battlefield under your control instead of into its owner's graveyard.
AEther Germination
4UU
Sorcery
Put two tokens onto the battlefield that are copies of target creature.
Reprint count: 1
Cursed Lich
B
Creature - Zombie Wizard
B, T, Exile two cards from your graveyard: Put two -1/-1 counters on target creature.
1/1
Vassal of Lim-Dûl
B
Creature - Human Wizard
Discard a card: Vassal of Lim-Dûl gets -1/-0 until end of turn. Any player may activate this ability.
2/1
Darkling Embalmer
1B
Creature - Shade Spirit
Sacrifice Darkling Embalmer: Search your library for a card and put that card into your graveyard. Then shuffle your library.
2/1
(Intimidating Zombie)
1B
Creature - Zombie
Intimidate
2/1
Thrull Remorser
1B
Creature - Thrull
Sacrifice Thrull Remorser: Target player discards a card.
2/1
Death Knight
BB
Creature - Human Knight
First strike, Deathtouch
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life.
2/2
Knight of Ill-Gotten Gain
BB
Creature - Human Knight
First Strike, lifelink
2/2
Lifegorger
BB
Creature - Horror
Sacrifice a creature: ~ gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Discard a creature card: ~ gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Quick, before the gorger gets it.
2/1
Meddle Vack
2B
Creature - Ninja Assassin
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, destroy target creature with power 2 or less.
2/2
Shadow Efreet
2B
Creature - Efreet
Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, Shadow Efreet deals 1 damage to you.
3/4
Underhanded Dealer
1BB
Creature - Human Mercenary
Intimidate
Whenever Underhanded Dealer deals damage to a player, you draw a card and you lose 1 life.
2/2
Corrode
1B
Instant
Destroy target nongreen creature.
Doom Blade
1B
Instant
Destroy target nonblack creature.
Level the Knowledge
1B
Sorcery
Each player chooses a number of cards in hand equal to player who has the fewest, then discards the rest.
Mind Rot+
1B
Sorcery
Target player discards two cards.
(Reanimation 2)
1B
Sorcery
Put target creature card from your graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. If that creature isn't black, you lose 4 life.
(Reanimation Enchantment)
1B
Enchantment
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, put target creature card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control.
When CARDNAME leaves the battlefield, sacrifice the card returned to the battlefield with CARDNAME.
Zombie Gates
BB
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token onto the battlefield.
At the end of your turn, you lose 1 life for each Zombie on the battlefield.
(Black Removal 2)
1BB
Sorcery
Destroy target creature or land. You lose 3 life.
Forget or Remember
2BB
Sorcery
Target opponent reveals his or her hand and separates it into two piles. That player discards the pile of your choice. You lose life equal to the number of cards discarded this way.
Mine Memory
3BB
Sorcery
Put target permanent card in a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control.
Target or Sweep
3BB
Sorcery
Choose one- Destroy all creatures; or target player sacrifices a creature and you gain life equal to its toughness.
(Sac Sweeper)
XBB
Sorcery
Each player sacrifices X creatures.
Reprint count: 0
Contentious Goblin
R
Creature - Goblin Warrior
Contentious Goblin can't block.
2/2
Tamed Beast
R
Creature - Beast
Tamed Beast attacks each turn if able.
1: Tamed Beast can't attack this turn.
2/1
Bloodthirsty Ogre
1R
Creature - Ogre
At the beginning of your upkeep, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, Bloodthirsty Ogre deals 3 damage to you.
3/3
Goblin of the 6th Pride
1R
Creature - Goblin Rebel
3/1
Goblin Wardancer
1R
Creature - Goblin Warrior
Haste
When Goblin Wardancer enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on it if only red mana was spent to cast it.
2/1
Maniacal Berserker
1R
Creature - Goblin Berserker
At the beginning of your upkeep, Maniacal Berserker deals 1 damage to each player.
Maniacal Berserker attacks each turn if able.
3/2
Rock Snapper
1R
Creature - Lizard
Double strike
2R: Rock Snapper gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
1/1
Viashino Looter
1R
Creature - Viashino Scout
T: Draw a card, then discard a card.
1/1
Warren Crusader
1R
Creature - Goblin Knight
First Strike
Whenever Warren Crusader deals combat damage, it deals that much damage to itself.
2/3
Fury Knight
RR
Creature - Human Knight
First strike, haste
2/2
Fire Imp+
2R
Creature - Imp
When Fire Imp+ enters the battlefield, it deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
Magus of the Vortex
1RR
Creature - Human Wizard
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, Magus of the Vortex deals 2 damage to that player.
If a player would gain life, that player gains no life instead.
2/2
Fireflail Knight
2RR
Creature - Human Knight
Double strike
Whenever Fireflail Knight deals combat damage, it deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
2/2
Storm Rider
2RR
Creature - Human Vandal
When Storm Rider enters the battlefield, destroy target nonbasic land or noncreature artifact.
2/2
Ghostlit Volley
(2/R)
Instant
Ghostlit Volley is colorless.
Ghostlit Volley deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Pyretic Ritual+
R
Instant
Add RRR to your mana pool.
Bendable Lightning
1R
Instant
Bendable Lightning deals 3 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players.
Bendable Lightning costs 1 more to cast for each target beyond the first.
Goblin Kitnet
1R
Enchantment
Goblins you control have haste.
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a 1/1 red goblin creature token into play.
At the beginning of the end step, if you have 4 or more goblins on the battlefield, sacrifice Goblin Kitnet.
Evocative Pulse
2R
Instant
Evocative Pulse deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Draw a card.
Burning Fields
1RR
Sorcery
Choose one - Destroy target land; or Burning Fields deals 3 (4?) damage to target player.
Ragnarok
3R
Sorcery
Destroy all lands.
Eternal Fire
2RR
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, Eternal Fire deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Pyroclastic Flow
2RRR
Sorcery
Pyroclastic Flow deals 5 damage to each creature and each player.
Charring Blaze
xR
Sorcery
Choose one - Charring Blaze deals X damage to target player; or Charring Blaze deals two times X damage to target creature and X damage to you.
Reprint count: 0
(Bear Maker)
G
Sorcery
Put a 2/2 green Bear creature token onto the battlefield.
Elvish Shaman
G
Creature - Elf
t: Add 1 to your mana pool.
t: Untap target basic land.
1/1
Green Elves
G
Creature - Elf Druid
Haste
t: Add G to your mana pool.
0/1
Magus of the Ring
G
Creature - Human Shaman
T: Add 2 to your mana pool.
1/1
Mire Ooze
G
Creature - Ooze
Discard a card: Regenerate Mire Ooze and it gets +1/+1 until end of turn. Activate this ability only once each turn.
1/1
Runeclaw Bear
G
Creature - Bear
2/1
Utopia Vines
G
Creature - Plant Wall
Defender
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
0/2
(Green Kami)
1G
Creature - Spirit
X, Sacrifice CARDNAME: Destroy target artifact or enchantment with converted mana cost X.
2/1
Pure Elves
1G
Creature - Elf Warrior
Vigilance
t: Regenerate target elf.
"Sometimes staying alive is all it takes to win the war."
2/1
Mystic Ooze
GG
Creature - Ooze
Whenever a player casts a spell, put a +1/+1 counter on Mystic Ooze.
Mystic Ooze has trample and shroud as long as it has four or more +1/+1 counters on it.
1/1
Wall of Growth
2G
Creature - Plant Wall
When Wall of Growth enters the battlefield, search your library for a basic land card and put that card onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
0/4
Worldly Sorceress
2G
Creature - Elf Wizard
When Worldly Sorceress enters the battlefield, search your library for a creature card and reveal that card. Shuffle your library, then put the card on top of it.
2/2
Lure Basilisk
1GG
Creature - Basilisk
Deathtouch
All creatures able to block CARDNAME do so.
2/2
Seasonal Hatching
(2/G)(2/G)(2/G)
Sorcery
Put four 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens onto the battlefield.
Greenbark Dryad
3G
Creature - Dryad
When Greenbark Dryad enters the battlefield, put target land on the top of its owner's library.
2/2
(Card-Draw Beast)
2GG
Creature - Beast
When CARDNAME is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, draw 2 cards.
4/3
Thundering Thoctar
4GG
Creature - Beast
Trample, Shroud
6/6
Bestial Onslaught
4GGG
Sorcery
Put a 1/1 green Insect creature token, a 2/2 green Wolf creature token, a 3/3 green Elephant creature token, a 4/4 green Beast creature token, and a 5/5 green Wurm creature token onto the battlefield.
(Green Akroma)
5GGG
Creature - Elemental
CARDNAME can't be countered.
Flash, reach, trample, vigilance, protection from blue and from black.
7/7
Garden Hydra
XG
Creature - Plant Hydra
Garden Hydra enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from Garden Hydra: search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Activate this ability only as a sorcery and only once per turn.
0/0
Suck it Up
G
Instant
Regenerate target permanent.
Expand the Land
1G
Sorcery
Search your library for a land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped.
Spark of Insight
2G
Sorcery
Each player may put a permanent card from his or her hand onto the battlefield.
(Green Pillage)
1GG
Sorcery
Destroy target artifact or land. It can't be regenerated.
Expanding Earth
2GG
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, search your library for a land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped.
Reprint count: 0
Micro Trike
2
Artifact Creature - Construct
Micro Trike enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it.
Remove a +1/+1 counter form Micro Trike: Micro Trike deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
1/1
(Card-Drawing Artifact Creature)
3
Artifact Creature
Sacrifice CARDNAME: Draw a card.
2/2
Masochist's Hammer
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +2/+0.
Pay 3 life: Attach Masochist's Hammer to target creature you control.
Sol Crescent
1
Artifact
Sol Crescent enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
(Guardian Statue)
2
Artifact
t: Add 1 mana to your mana pool.
4: CARDNAME becomes a 4/4 Golem artifact creature until end of turn.
Rune Rod
2
Artifact
1, t: Rune Rod deals 1 damage to target creature.
Zuran Crucible
4
Artifact
You may play land cards from your graveyard.
Sacrifice a land: You gain 1 life.
(New Icy)
5
Artifact
Tap an untapped artifact you control: Tap target creature.
Reprint count: 0
(Memory Lapse + Repel)
1WU
Instant
Put target creature or spell on top of its owner's library.
Jester's Specter
1(U/B)(U/B)
Creature - Specter
Flying
Whenever Jester's Specter deals combat damage to a player, search that player's library for 3 cards and exile them. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
2/2
Render Dreamless
UUB
Instant
Counter target spell. Its controller discards a card at random.
(Shazaam)
3UB
Instant
Draw 2 cards, then discard 2 cards. Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Wrecking Specter
1BR
Creature - Specter
Flying
Whenever Wrecking Specter deals combat damage to a player, flip a coin. If the coin comes up heads, destroy target land the defending player controls. If the coin comes up tails, the defending player discards a card.
2/2
Unified Anthem
2(G/W)(G/W)(G/W)
Enchantment
Creatures you control get +X/+X, where X is the number of creatures you control.
Spiteful Edict
WB
Instant
Choose artifact, creature, or land. All players sacrifice a permanent of the chosen type.
Dreamscape
1GU
Instant
Reveal the top 5 cards of your library. For each creature card revealed this way, put a 1/1 green and blue Illusion creature token with flying onto the battlefield. Then, put one of the revealed cards in your hand and the rest on the bottom in any order.
"The line between dreams and reality is as thick as one chooses to make it."
Flourishing Thoughts
GUU
Instant
Counter target spell. At the beginning of your next main phase, add mana equal to that spell's mana cost to your mana pool.
Seasons Passed
2GUU
Sorcery
Take an extra turn after this one.
Search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Then shuffle your library.
Jilting Weird
2UR
Creature - Weird
When Jilting Weird enters the battlefield, return target creature to its owner’s hand and Jilting Weird deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
2/2
Quick Coax
1UUR
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
You control enchanted creature. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn.
Flameheart Specter
1RW
Creature - Specter
Flying
Whenever Flameheart Specter deals combat damage to a player, Flameheart Specter deals 2 damage to target creature or player and you gain 2 life.
2/1
(Lifelink Rhino)
2RW
Creature - Rhino Solider
Haste, lifelink
4/3
Azorius Mana Stone
:1mana::symwu:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Dimir Mana Stone
:1mana::symub:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Rakdos Mana Stone
:1mana::symbr:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Gruul Mana Stone
:1mana::symrg:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Selesnya Mana Stone
:1mana::symgw:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Orzhov Mana Stone
:1mana::symwb:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Golgari Mana Stone
:1mana::symbg:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Simic Mana Stone
:1mana::symgu:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Izzet Mana Stone
:1mana::symur:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Boros Mana Stone
:1mana::symrw:
Artifact
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Reprint count: 1
Baseland
Land
: Add to your mana pool.
, Sacrifice Baseland: Destroy target basic land.
Chimeric Wastes
Land
Chimeric Wastes enters the battlefield tapped.
: Add to your mana pool
Tap all other lands you control: Chimeric Wastes becomes a 3/3 artifact creature until end of turn.
Stepping Stones
Land
Stepping Stones enters the battlefield tapped.
: Add to your mana pool.
:1mana:, , sacrifice Stepping Stones: Draw a card.
Terra Incognita
Land
t, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice Terra Incognita: Search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
Wasteland
Land
: Add to your mana pool.
, Sacrifice Wasteland: Destroy target nonbasic land.
My Custom Cube - a super-powered Core Set
I have several color-shifts planned out, and a handful of original cards (some of which I've posted in the "Print this Wizards" thread and some of which I haven't.)
But I will start with a cycle I designed that I really, really like. This is super-powered for sure, probably too powerful.
Azorius Mana Stone
Artifact
CARDNAME enters the battlefield tapped.
:symtap:: Add or to your mana pool.
Keep in mind, though, that this is a Cube, so it's singleton. There will be no Signets (these may very well be called Signets), no Moxes, and because of the sheer power (and number) of these there won't be very many other mana stones (if any).
I am on the fence about them. On the one hand, I like how they're usable in aggro and control, and I like how they seem like a compromise between Moxes and Signets. Also, I think the colored cost of them makes them interesting.
But, on the other hand...
Turn 1: Plains, Azorius Mana Stone.
Turn 2: Plains, 1-drop creature, Orzhov Mana Stone, Dimir Mana Stone.
Turn 3: Island, 6-drop creature?
I guess that's not that much different from power. If these make it in, the main concern is that they wouldn't realistically be printed. And I guess that's not that big a deal since this is Magical Christmasland to some extent- but if I let it slide for these I will not necessarily use that philosophy with everything else.
My Custom Cube - a super-powered Core Set
Some of the cards I designed.
W
Creature - Lion
During your upkeep, you may have target opponent gain 1 life.
3/2
Twin Cadets 1WW
Creature - Human Twin Soldiers
When ~ etb put a white 2/2 Human Twin Soldier token into play.
Whenever a twin leaves play, sacrifice all twins.
2/2
Sepluture Cadet 1W
Creature - Human Soldier
First Strike
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, you may remove a creature card from that player's graveyard.
2/1
Contentious Goblin R
Creature - Goblin Warrior
Contentious Goblin can't block
2/2
R
Sorcery
~ deals 3 damage to target creature or player
1R
Instant
~ deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
(I think everyone has been wanting these cards for quite awhile)
Ardour 1RR
Sorcery
~ deals 4 damage to target creature or player.
Mogg Arsons RR
Creature - Goblin Rogue
When ~ etb you may discard a land. If you do ~ deals 2 damage to target creature or player and gains haste.
2/2
(could be a 2/1 for 1R)
Magus of the Vortex 1RR
Creature - Human Wizard
At the beginning of each layer's upkeep, ~ deals 2 damage to that player.
If a player would gain life, they instead gain no life.
2/2
Masochist's Hammer 1
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +2/+0.
Pay 3 life: Attach ~ to target creature you control.
(could be 2 life also)
Feel free to take anything you want.
A list of reprint I would consider.
Savanah Lions/Elite Vanguard
Day of Judgment (I would reprint this over ***. The lack of a regen clause makes it more interesting)
Disenchant (Richard Garfield did his job perfectly here.)
Counterspell
Mana Leak (the best designed hard and soft counter)
Dark Ritual
LLanowar Elf
Birds of Paradise
Regrowth
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
I think I'm going to go ahead and put the 10 mana stones in. Since they have a multicolor cost, I'm going to count them as gold cards even though they're artifacts. I think the breakdown of multicolor for each pair is going to be 2 traditional gold cards and 2 hybrid gold cards (with one of the hybrids taken up by a mana stone). I like this as I think 30 is the ideal number of "true" gold cards for a 360 Cube. But multicolor cards are so fun to design that it may be tempting to move the stones to Artifacts or tweak the section sizes.
Thank you! I probably will end up trying some of these out.
My Custom Cube - a super-powered Core Set
I don't think the project is dead (just sleeping!), and I wouldn't feel comfortable taking any cards without asking them first, hehe.
As for Terror and Lightning Bolt, those are two good ones.
In Pringlesman's post above he suggested a R sorcery Bolt and an 1R instant Bolt, which is interesting. But Bolt itself was one of the first cards I thought of, and even though it's hard to design around without block mechanics AND without making it strictly better than something, it just seems so perfect. I mean, it was in M10, and the sky responded with a fierce energy we never thought we'd see again. So I'm not sure.
Terror is cool and all, but Doom Blade or even the new Go for the Throat might be better. I really like the idea of including multiple 1B spells, each one being more powerful in certain situations, but I don't know if it would be wise for me to use multiple reprint slots on Black two-mana removal.
---
A little while later today, I'll post (and repost) some card ideas to see which ones I should add. I've also been thinking about planning the curves of each color's creatures/noncreatures beforehand (though of course those will be tweaked as needed as the slots get filled).
I've been trying to think of the best way to "fill slots" in general. I think the "plan the curve, then fill the slots" strategy will help. Another idea I had is starting by trying to design and fill precons with cards, sort of designing the Cube "backwards" in a sense.
My Custom Cube - a super-powered Core Set
The Mana Stones are really powerful. Not on a Mox level, of course, but format defining nonetheless. Personally, I don't like fast mana and maybe you do, but you have to consider their impact on your cube: You are giving every color multiple Llanowar Elves that cannot die to removal. This takes away one of green's main strengths and will certainly lead to some pretty swingy starts. Being a turn faster than Signets also means that all types of decks would play them, even aggro decks, so there is not much decision making involved if you see them in a pack: Just pick them. Regarding the small size of the cube, those cards will show up pretty often, too.
What about:
Azorius Slow Stone 1(W/U)
Artifact
T: Add W or U to your mana pool.
Here are a few more simple suggestions for the cube:
Guardian of the Realm W
Creature - Human Knight
Whenever Guardian of the Realm attacks, it gets +2/-2 until end of turn.
0 / 3
Energetic Swordmaster W
Creature - Human Soldier
Double strike
1/1
Breaking World 3RR
Sorcery
Destroy all lands.
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
That's a very good point. Indeed I don't mind fast mana; my real Cube doesn't have it, but that's because of its restrictions (semi-budget, only using modern cards) more than its philosophy.
I actually think 10 of them being in a draft is somewhat interesting. Their aggro friendliness probably means that in a given draft, they'll be pretty spread out among the players. If they're high picks, at least everyone will be likely to get at least one. But I do agree that it certainly seems a bit "boring" in a sense if everyone first-picks one or whatever.
I'm worried more about Green than I am about fast mana. I mean, again, there will be 10 of these floating around... and the dark side of that is that it definitely does cut into Green's uniqueness a bit. I'm not really sure how I can alleviate this.
Well, this is one way to answer the problem of how to alleviate things! I like it.
This is another design I thought about as I was "making" these, and I really like it. (again, I know other people have come up with the idea before I did, so I don't want to take credit for it- but I didn't see the Necklace cycle from the "Print this Wizards" thread.)
The problem with this is that they're possibly worse than the real Signets in terms of power. Sometimes the Signets feel a bit clunky to me (I get a bit annoyed with having to process the ":1mana:, :symtap:: Add :symw::symu:" even though it's not a big deal in most cases), so I definitely want something with the ":symtap:: Add or :symu:" first and foremost.
The overall cost of the cards is something I'll need to think about and test. I'm going to leave them as-is for now, but this is a great alternative to the current ones if they prove to be too obnoxious.
---
So I've been thinking about how to break down the colors between creatures and noncreatures, and this is the idea I like the best. The symmetry is a little cutesy, but I like it as a jumping-off point even though the end result certainly won't be this exact:
Green: 32 creatures, 16 noncreatures
White: 28 creatures, 20 noncreatures
Black: 24 creatures, 24 noncreatures
Red: 20 creatures, 28 noncreatures
Blue: 16 creatures, 32 noncreatures
Black and Red are probably better switched, especially since in this Cube, Red might have a bit more creatures and a bit less burn (because creatures are easier to design than burn).
I think aggro will probably be exciting in this Cube, especially if I plan the overall curves for the aggro colors to enable it well. How does this look as a creature curve "rough draft" for White?
1: ||||||
2: |||||||||
3: ||||
4: |||
5: |||
6: ||
7: |
And for Blue, maybe something like...
1: |
2: |||
3: |||
4: |||
5: |||
6: ||
7: |
My Custom Cube - a super-powered Core Set
Llanowar Elves,
Lightning Bolt,
Swords To Plowshares
Counterspell
Dark Ritual
Masticore
Strip Mine
W
Instant
Exile target creature, it's controller draws a card.
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
That probably means we're looking at something like this for reprints:
All of these are very likely.
First off, I'm going to go ahead and put Counterspell in right now!
Counterspell
Mana Leak Pringlesman was right about this being the best designed soft counter.
Brainstorm
Force Spike Blue one-drop spells seem pretty hard to design, and I think one or both of these should make it.
Fact or Fiction
Man-o'-War The only blue creature I can think of reprinting off the top of my head.
Tinker I love the idea of an iconic build-around card being in a mostly-different environment.
If I want the number of reprints per color to be equal, I'll have to cut this down to 6. Plus, there are probably a few other good candidates that slipped through the cracks.
Lightning Bolt is pretty certain- the only argument against it being in is the fear that it scares away other burn with its strictly-betterness. If that becomes a problem I could try R Sorcery Bolt and 1R Instant Bolt or Incinerate.
Masticore is an interesting choice that I didn't think about before, but it certainly fits.
Would Strip Mine be more interesting on its own, or would Wasteland plus, say, a basic-hitting Strip Mine be?
All of the others are in the "likely, but not 100% sure" category as well. You picked some good ones.
Love that design. Very cool!
But to be honest, I can't really think of too many variants other than that and STP/PTE.
My Custom Cube - a super-powered Core Set
A white Pongify?
Commander to Recruits W
Instant
Exile target creature. Its controller puts two 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield.
I really like Pringlesman's "draw a card" version though.
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
As for Strip Mine, it has the same 'problem' as Lightning Bolt. So using Wasteland as a reprint and putting a basic hitting Strip Mine in to accompany it seems like a good idea, I like that.
For Swords to Plowshares, it should be possible to find an elegant solution that is similar but not the same. Pringles' design is perfect so you could just use that; something you might want to think about is fixing the life gained (3, maybe 4 life seems about right?). This makes it a bit stronger against aggro but weaker against slower decks, and I like how clean it makes the card (no more needing to remember whether it was power or toughness).
It was actually Pringlesman's idea to have R Sorcery Bolt and 1R Instant Bolt.
But something just feels wrong about Lightning Bolt not being there! I mean, it was in M10 and M11 (somewhat of the inspiration for this project), and it has cool new art and everything. The thing that will make burn hardest to design will not be the fact that Bolt is the best (which is still an obstacle, don't get me wrong), but that we don't have any block mechanics and will have to get pretty clever with alternatives to say... Burst Lightning and Magma Jet.
But even with Bolt in, I can still include "Shock or Sorcery Shock with upside" at R and "Lightning Bolt with upside" (akin to Incinerate) at 1R. And those are really the same variants we would be looking at even without Bolt itself being in.
I can also use some of Red's reprint slots on "hard to top" burn like Arc Lightning to help things out. But all in all, Red might have slightly less burn than in a real Cube and slightly more creatures.
I think I'm indeed going to do this.
I love the idea of there being two "exile this, give them that" spells in the set. Maybe I'm just spoiled by real Cubes' STP/PTE, but that number seems "right."
I think the best option is to include Pringles' "Exile target creature, give them a card" and the STP variant you've just described.
This is kind of neat too though.
W
Instant
Exile target creature. Its controller gains 3 life.
U
Instant
Draw three cards, then put two cards from your hand on top of your library in any order.
B
Instant
Add BBB to your mana pool.
R
Instant
CARDNAME deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
G
Instant
Until end of turn, target creature gets +3/+3 and can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.
Granted, the STP variant is more reasonable at 4 life, and the Giant Growth+ should probably grant regeneration or indestructibility instead of Troll-shroud.
Also, while Dark Ritual (and Pyretic Ritual for R instead of 1R for that matter) will probably be in anyway, a Vendetta variant is also interesting for this cycle, and makes a cool mirror to the STP variant.
B
Instant
Exile target creature. You lose 3 life.
Not sure if that's really powerful enough though. Depends on the other removal in the environment.
My Custom Cube - a super-powered Core Set
That guy is just full of great ideas.
Re- the new Giant Growth: just tack on split second and you're set.
I feel like the biggest advantage to creating your own environment is the ability to balance each colour, so trying to figure out how to push Green while maintaining the unique characteristics of the colour seems to be important. As has already been said, your mana rocks are very tasty aggro friendly ways of fixing mana and accelerating. However, just a the signets in as normal cube are apt to do, they make the fix/ramp power of green less unique.
What I have been thinking about for a custom cube environment is structuring the colourless mana fixing and ramp options with Green in mind. Keep the colourless cards at a high premium, but allow Green access to powerful ramp and fixing cards as well as cool things to ramp into. While this may not be the way you want to go with your cube, I think that this provides a unique focus to a colour that is liable to turn into simply a vague "fatties" colour.
What I have found to be the perfect Green card for this is Krosan Tusker. He gets you your splash colour and some card advantage early on, then comes down as a big dude to smash for 6 later on.
Another (in my opinion) flavorful and potentially powerful way to give Green some much needed card advantage is through the buyback mechanic. This can sort of tie into a ramp theme as well, if you chose to include it. Something like a buyback-able giant growth can be powerful in the early game for aggressive decks, as well as providing decks that go late a way to use their mana.
Obviously, I don't know what you had in mind for each of your colours, but I do think that you should take advantage of the open slate you have to make each colour have a unique and powerful feel.
In a good way or bad way? Is it too powerful?
My original thought was that it was too weak (comparing it to Vendetta mentally), but the more I think about it the better it seems.
Hehe, if only...
I'm wondering what the best way to balance the pump spell is, though.
---
I started taking notes on my "rough draft" for Blue's noncreature spells. A lot of these are silly, but I've spruced them up and typed them out to see if anything sticks.
Dissolve
1U
Instant
Counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard, and its owner adds mana to his or her mana pool equal to the mana cost of that spell.
Whispering Wind
2UU
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card.
These two are designs I posted in the "Print this Wizards" thread and I really like them. I'm not sure how powerful they are.
---
Divination+
1U
Sorcery
Draw two cards.
Inspiration+
2U or UU
Instant
Draw two cards.
I know these aren't very creative, but they made me wonder about something. Is Blue allowed to get anything of the same cost/amount Black gets draw-wise without the life loss? (Night's Whisper in the case of Divination+ above?)
---
Mana Drain-
2UU?
Instant
Counter target spell. At the beginning of your next main phase, add mana to your mana pool equal to the mana cost of that spell.
I like the idea of weakening this to make it available for inclusion, and I could make it match the template of Dissolve. 2UU is a bit high, but 1UU seems far too nice.
---
Repulse variant
1UU
Instant
Return target nonland permanent to its owner's hand.
Draw a card.
This is pretty powerful, but it feels pretty fair. I'm pretty sure this is realistically printable. It's sort of like a cross between a kicked Into the Roil and an unkicked Into the Roil.
---
Time Warp Variant
1UUU?
Sorcery
Take an extra turn after this one.
Would 2UU be okay in an environment without any other "Take an extra turn" spells? Dropping 1 off of mana costs all the time is really un-creative even though it excites me from an "I want to test this" standpoint.
---
Freeze
U or 1U
Instant
Tap target permanent. That permanent doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
Draw a card.
Ice variant. It's obviously the weaker of the two effects on its own card. Is it good enough to stand alone? I'm not sure what combination of these works best:
- as U or 1U
- with or without the untap clause
- with or without the draw
---
Mini Cryptic
1UU
Instant
Choose one - Counter target spell; or return target permanent to its owner's hand.
---
Hypnosis
1UU
Sorcery
Look at target player's hand and choose any number of cards from it. That player exiles those cards, then draws that many cards.
I think it might be cool to give Blue some sort of spell that uses a Vendilion Clique-ish mechanic. That card is one of the only "blue discard" spells we've gotten since Planar Chaos (not that I expect these to come often or anything).
---
Confusion
1UU
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Flash
You control enchanted creature.
When enchanted creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice CARDNAME.
I think this makes a good 1UR or 1:symur::symur: card too, but in a pinch it can be monoblue. Control Magic effects are hard to design.
---
Sword of Frost
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has protection from blue. This effect doesn't remove CARDNAME.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, tap target permanent. That permanent doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
Equip
There could be other "mini-swords" like this too.
---
I also have some more concepts that I didn't make into cards yet:
- Some sort of Water-themed enchantment (to go with the Wind one).
- Some sort of transforming instant or enchantment akin to Ovinize or Snakeform.
Possibly something weird like this:
Mass Ovinize
2UU
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, put a sheep counter on all creatures.
Creatures with sheep counters on them are 0/1 Sheep with no abilities.
Kind of like a Humility that only affects the creatures that were in play at the time.
- Some colorshifts to Blue. These are sort of hard to give to the color that has everything.
From Green, it could get Harrow as a nod to Dreamscape Artist (though that's quite a stretch and it seems a bit much) or Plow Under.
From White, maybe Scepter of Dominance or Humility (instead of the idea above).
No idea what to give it from Black or Red. I thought about Duress, (since it got discard in PLC) but that's a bit gratuitous.
My Custom Cube - a super-powered Core Set
it blows vendetta out of the water. B and 3 life to exile any creature? including black and artifact creatures? the 3 life isn't so much that i'm upset to kill a savannah lions with it, and it's fixed so i don't feel bad killing a razormane masticore, oona, queen of the fae, or keiga, the tide star with it either.
that card will never be printed, but if it was i would cube with it in a heartbeat.
I really like:
Whispering Wind, Divination+ (at UU, unless you want to exceed current power standards for card drawing spells), Repulse variant, Time Warp Variant (at 1UUU), Freeze (at 1U, unless you add "nonland"), Mini Cryptic (now that is cubable Cancel!), Sword of Frost (the "This effect doesn't remove CARDNAME." looks quite stupid, but it is nessessary)
If you don't mind, here are some card ideas from me. Sorry, but I suck at card names.
Instant
Unexpected Confiscation costs 1 less to cast for each permanent that entered the battlefield under an opponent's control this turn.
Gain control of target permanent.
Monopolize 1U
Instant
Reveal a card from your hand. Counter target spell if it shares a card type with the revealed card.
Paladin Clique 1UU
Creature - Faery Soldier
Protection from red and from green
Flying
2 / 2
Mean Meddler 2UU
Creature - Faerie Wizard
Flash, flying
When THIS enters the battlefield, choose one: Counter target spell; or draw three cards, then discard three cards.
1 / 1
Rock Snapper 1R
Creature - Lizard
Double strike
2R: THIS gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
1 / 1
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
First off, thank you for posting. This post fell through the cracks yesterday and I didn't notice it, hehe.
This is a very good point, and I've been worrying about it a bit indeed! Green is the only color that I haven't really designed anything in my head for yet.
Blue's noncreatures have been hard, and I don't know if I'll be able to reach my projected "32" any time soon. I'm better at designing noncreatures than creatures, so Green is a pretty daunting task.
I'm really excited about testing the mana rocks, but I am a bit fearful for Green.
Here are some miscellaneous ideas I thought of to push Green a little. Some of these are a little corny.
- I could utilize Green's love for effects-on-a-stick in my Cube, giving it "enters the battlefield" effects on a lot of its creatures. Even simple things like tacking the Civic Wayfinder ability or "draw a card" onto a few early Green creatures could help.
- I could give the other colors fewer artifact/enchantment removal options than usual, making Green the best color for fighting mana rocks in the early turns. Enchantments will likely be more common in this Cube since I don't have Planeswalkers.
- I could increase the versatility of Green's ramp, giving it more ramp spells that can fetch nonbasic lands.
- Since I'm designing the creatures around other colors' creatures somewhat, I could push Green's creatures P/T-wise, and try out effects that are uncommon/unusual in Green's slice of the pie like Flash and Haste.
- I could give Green a strong token theme.
- From day 1 I have seriously planned on making one of Black's 1B instant kill spells "Destroy target nongreen creature." In real design this has been seen on Death Rattle and Soul Reap and for some reason I've been enamored with it since. "Nongreen" is not something I would put on multiple kill spells, but it would flip things around a bit if it was on one card. Gaea's Revenge has a flavorful clause that might be interesting on a midrange creature in this Cube.
I'm probably going to avoid colorless fixing for the most part since there are 10 mana stones and they're really powerful. I think I might include 2-3 Mind Stoneish cards, but I won't include, say, Sol Ring.
It's funny that you mention the Tusker. It seems like the past few times he's shown up in games, my friends and I have said "You know, that's a good card."
Buyback? Interesting thought. I never really thought about that before but it's neat.
Since I'm just starting out with this project, I like the idea of trying to avoid using Block mechanics since it's sort of a "core set" concept. I think for now I'm going to continue dodging block mechanics, but I have a few in mind to use if my ideas run dry- specifically Kicker, Wither, Scry (as seen in M11!) and Evoke.
Thanks again for your post! I'm open to any ideas as I develop Green (or any color for that matter).
Thanks for the catch on that one, guys. Normally I'm a bit too cautious with my designs' costs, but for this project I've been trying to push things a bit and crazy things like that might slip through, hehe.
I think I can afford to push things a little bit since this Cube only exists in its own environment. The point is not to make a set that could realistically be printed- think of it as an "alternate reality" Cube to some extent. Some of the most powerful cards in the game's history will be there (Regrowth and Demonic Tutor are possibilities, for instance) but not all of them (I'm going to avoid Mind Twist, Balance, the Power 9, etc).
Every real set has a card or two that we would've told each other was unrealistic if suggested in Custom Card Creation or the "Print this Wizards" thread. Thus, I think it's okay if some cards in here feel like that a bit. But it helps me a lot if I have angels on my shoulder to stop me from doing this too much.
I want to try to avoid the "this is a real Cube with under-performing cards taken out and replaced with ridiculous cards" feeling, and you people who are more experienced than me can really help me out here.
Thank you.
I guess my argument with Divination+ at 1U was "if Black gets Night's Whisper, why can't Blue have the same thing without the life loss? Blue is supposed to be better at drawing cards than Black!"
This gives me a good chance to explain and clarify what I said above. I'm not designing cards relative to a 100% realistic current power level (as in, what they would print for Standard), but more of an "is Divination able to stand on the shoulders of Demonic Tutor and Regrowth?" type of thing. I'm not saying it should be as powerful as them (those two should still be among the highest picks in their colors, which I like). It's more like saying... "can Divination even survive in the same environment as them?" At 2U it certainly can't (unless it's on a Mulldrifter body :p)- that would be a super-low pick every time in a real Cube. At 1U it can certainly compete, but if that's too good, it should be UU. And so on.
This whole concept is, in part, a big thought exercise for mechanics in general. It's not about what's the most powerful (so I won't use Ancestral Recall as the basis), but it's not about what's the most "printable" either (so I won't use See Beyond as the basis). The benchmark for inclusion is very high, but not so high as to equal the Power 9.
Thanks again everyone!
My Custom Cube - a super-powered Core Set
Would you consider cycling as a "guest mechanic" for your core set / cube? It is pretty simply and you can do nice things with it.
On your comments on my cards:
The idea was: If they play a land and cast a spell, it is like an instant speed Confiscate that cannot be disenchanted. It is maybe cost too fairly for your cube though.
Neither am I. I guess it's nearly on the same level as Counterspell and Mana Leak. Especially the latter: It's great during the early turns when you have a full grip, but gets worse later, lunless you hold cards back.
Thanks. I once made a Paladin en-Vec for every other color. Great Sable Stag kinda obsolted the green one though.
Versatility is the word. I tried to make a flexible four drop for blue, but somehow never posted it in the Print This Wizards thread.
Well, this is exactly what this is. I run Slaughtermaster in my cube, because red has so few good two-drops, but it really annoys me that it never gets activated. This version will fix the problem while being more core set friendly at the same time.
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
I've been debating with a friend about the 1U Divination and he dislikes it. We both like 2U instant Divination, though. I think having them both could be interesting but I'm still not sure how much draw blue will need.
Yes, that's a good one- I meant to list it in my post above but it slipped my mind! I wouldn't be surprised to see Cycling in a real-life Core Set either.
Again, I'm going to start off without mechanics, but it's on the short list if I need one or two to spruce things up or fill slots.
As for the cards you suggested, I'm very likely to use the fixed Slaughtermaster, and Monopolize seems interesting enough to test as well. The Faeries are both cool, and while I'm not sure about the instant Confiscate, I still like the idea.
Do you mind if I add some of those to the first post?
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I briefly mentioned this before, but I'm wondering what people think of this idea. I thought it might be easier to fill slots if I tried to design precons for the color combinations. Like a "RW aggro" precon, or a "WU control" one. A lot of people (I remember magicmerl in particular) had a lot of fun dividing their Cubes as such, so it might also be a useful exercise for me in building this.
Each one could have, say, 9 cards of one color, 8 cards of another color, 3 artifacts, 3 gold cards, and some nonbasics. That would be a total of 34ish cards of each color, 30 artifacts, and 30 gold cards - a pretty big percentage of the Cube. It would also help balance the archetypes.
My Custom Cube - a super-powered Core Set
No, go ahead.
I'm not so sure about the Precon idea. Wouldn't it be better do design a bunch of cards for the different colors / sections and then cut a few away until everything fits? And when too many cards of a certain type are designed (like, six Wraths), you just step in and say: Enough of those, now we have to make more (insert archetype) cards. I feel like making those Precons would just add an unnessessary level of abstraction. Cards aren't made for a cube, but for a preconstructed deck and for a cube.
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
My secondary "cube".
Really out of date cube thread with pictures.