Snapcaster is good because of the flashback, not so much because it's a 2/1. In fact, some people would consider a 2/1 to be marginally worth less than a full card in cube. Yeah, it gets to affect the board, but so does a random theoretical card off the top of your deck.
For the sake of designing custom cube cards, it's not really that interesting to try and make something on the same power level of P9 cards. The reason some of those cards are so powerful is because they're drastically undercosted which is something you can do with any card.
Librarian's Specties 2
Artifact - Equipment
Equip 0
Whenever you draw a card, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature.
I think it is a fine card. No sure I would cube it.
1 to cast 1 to equip is another way to go with it. Another idea would be to put the counters on the equipment, and have an alternate instant speed equip cost like discard a card.
Librarian's Specties 2
Artifact - Equipment
Equip 0
Whenever you draw a card, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature.
I think it is a fine card. No sure I would cube it.
1 to cast 1 to equip is another way to go with it. Another idea would be to put the counters on the equipment, and have an alternate instant speed equip cost like discard a card.
Definitely not cubeable. I was just combining the previous two discussions as a joke.
But I guess you could say
"Whenever you draw a card, put a lore counter on ~. Equipped creature gets +X/+X where X is the number of lore counters on ~."
Thank y'all for the responses. I'm also really sorry to hear that someone would just up and leave with 3 duals. That takes a certain brand of asshattery. All of the stories I've heard like that just make me want to avoid even trying it altogether.
One way I'd probably try to prevent stealing is have everyone count their pool after drafting and then have them text me a picture of their pool so that we can clear it up later if there are any issues. What I wouldn't tell them is that texting me means that I have their phone number in case I need to track anyone down or report them. Does that sound crazy and/or flawed?
So, I've heard of people frequently cubing at their LGS or at a GP with people they meet. What's the best way to make sure your cards are safe when you don't necessarily know the people you're cubing with? I get that a lot of people are just not comfortable with the idea, period. But for those who are, what do you do to avoid worrying about people stealing or damaging your cards?
Most cubes have 9-12%. However, one thing to note is that the larger the cube is, the more careful you need to be with a basic ratio way of looking at the fixing. Think about a cube that typically has undrafted cards (i.e. You usually draft 280/450). In that case, there's a non-zero chance that someone drafts a two-color combination whose fixing is not well-represented in the pool of opened cards. To fix the problem, you can add more dual fixers. Another, more slot-efficient way though is to add more 5-color fixers like Vivid lands or Prismatic Lens etc. Doing that lets you keep from diluting your non-land/land ratio while making sure people get the fixing they need.
Act of Nature XG
Sorcery
Reveal the top X cards of your library. You may put all land cards revealed this way onto the battlefield tapped. Put the rest on the bottom of your library.
Baneslayer Dragon 2WW
Creature - Dragon Spirit
Flying, Vigilance, Lifelink, Hexproof.
Whenever a creature you control dies, you may pay 1WWW. If you do, return ~ from your graveyard to your hand.
4/4
And here's where I'm ending up with the card is posted yesterday.
Llanowar Wanderer 4GG
Creature - Elemental
Trample.
When ~ leaves the battlefield, you may search your library for a green creature card, reveal it and put it into your hand. If you do, shuffle your library.
7/5
Llanowar Wanderer 3GG
Creature - Elemental
Trample
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a green creature card and exile it, face-up. If you do, shuffle your library.
When ~ leaves the battlefield, return a card exiled by ~ to your hand.
6/4
With this design in particular, there are weird time stamp issues that don't work. It's that a human brain can think about things in a way the rules can't. If you tell the game "target creature loses all abilities and this other creature gains all of those abilities," the rules then ask you, "well, how do I know which abilities you're referring to?" Since there's no static reference for the rules to look at once the effect has resolved, then the gameplay requires players to keep track of things and the rules can't help them remember what those are.
EDIT: Post came across more lecture-y than intended. Obv, PyreDream has more rules knowledge than me. But in terms of modern card design, we haven't seen time stamp-dependent cards in a long time.
Pesterflayer Pygmy UW
Creature - Human Wizard
Flash
When ~ enters the battlefield, tap target creature.
~ has flying as long as your opponent controls a tapped creature with flying. The same is true for first strike, double strike, deathtouch, haste, indestructible, lifelink, reach, and trample.
2/2
For the sake of designing custom cube cards, it's not really that interesting to try and make something on the same power level of P9 cards. The reason some of those cards are so powerful is because they're drastically undercosted which is something you can do with any card.
Mogg Partygoer R
Creature - Goblin Berserker
Haste
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to an opponent, that player may pay 3. If they do, sacrifice ~.
2/2
Definitely not cubeable. I was just combining the previous two discussions as a joke.
But I guess you could say
"Whenever you draw a card, put a lore counter on ~. Equipped creature gets +X/+X where X is the number of lore counters on ~."
Librarian's Specties 2
Artifact - Equipment
Equip 0
Whenever you draw a card, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature.
Another idea: What about triggering -1/-1 counter(s) when equipped creature deals combat damage?
I like the +3/+3 in terms of being a cleaner design.
One way I'd probably try to prevent stealing is have everyone count their pool after drafting and then have them text me a picture of their pool so that we can clear it up later if there are any issues. What I wouldn't tell them is that texting me means that I have their phone number in case I need to track anyone down or report them. Does that sound crazy and/or flawed?
Sorcery
Reveal the top X cards of your library. You may put all land cards revealed this way onto the battlefield tapped. Put the rest on the bottom of your library.
Baneslayer Dragon 2WW
Creature - Dragon Spirit
Flying, Vigilance, Lifelink, Hexproof.
Whenever a creature you control dies, you may pay 1WWW. If you do, return ~ from your graveyard to your hand.
4/4
And here's where I'm ending up with the card is posted yesterday.
Llanowar Wanderer 4GG
Creature - Elemental
Trample.
When ~ leaves the battlefield, you may search your library for a green creature card, reveal it and put it into your hand. If you do, shuffle your library.
7/5
Llanowar Wanderer 3GG
Creature - Elemental
Trample
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a green creature card and exile it, face-up. If you do, shuffle your library.
When ~ leaves the battlefield, return a card exiled by ~ to your hand.
6/4
EDIT: Post came across more lecture-y than intended. Obv, PyreDream has more rules knowledge than me. But in terms of modern card design, we haven't seen time stamp-dependent cards in a long time.
Here's my OP version
Pesterflayer Pygmy UW
Creature - Human Wizard
Flash
When ~ enters the battlefield, tap target creature.
~ has flying as long as your opponent controls a tapped creature with flying. The same is true for first strike, double strike, deathtouch, haste, indestructible, lifelink, reach, and trample.
2/2
Creature - Human Wizard
Sacrifice ~: Target player sacrifices a creature.
2/1