This was one of the most entertaining and informative URs since Kruphix's. The characterization of Ob is beautifully wrought in its shying away from tropes and maintaining the pragmatism that is an often under-represented aspect of black. This is quickly making Ob one of my favorite Magic villains.
Procella was grown, or perhaps built, untold ages ago as a focusing lens over a gargantuan wellspring of mana. The entities that would use that mana are long gone, leaving titanic beasts and planar castaways to battle the most high-energy fight for survival of all the planes.
- Multicolor
- Overview — As long as there are three or more colors among permanents you control,
Ancient WillpowerRG
Sorcery (C)
Target creature gets +2/+2 and gains trample and haste until end of turn. Procella 'unweeded' environment will always be a challenge to any being trying to harvest its core for mana.
Wandering Glarekin1W
Creature - Elemental (C) 2W: Tap target creature. Activate this ability only once per turn.
2/1 Eons of abandonment has weakened Procella's structure. Excess mana has leaked out giving birth to the glarekin; elementals composed of raw light.
Healing Presence1G
Sorcery
The next time a creature enters the battlefield under your control this turn, you gain life equal to its toughness.
Draw a card. In a world where nature is tied to mana, every summoning is a burst of life.
Prismatic Shard2
Artifact (C)
Prismatic Shard enters the battlefield tapped.
When Prismatic Shard enters the battlefield, add one mana of any color to your mana pool. T, Exile Prismatic Shard: Add 1 to your mana pool. Draw a card. A stone left in the Mandala's light over two days' time will turn into a temporary vessel of its power.
Visions of NightmareUB
Instant (C)
Counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, put it into its owner’s hand instead of into that player’s graveyard. The spell controller puts the top two cards of his or her library to the graveyard. The Hardean tribe were sent to Procella as a punishment for their hideous crime. To feed on other people thought leaving their mind empty so that they could live in immortality.
Dreamscale Serpent5U
Creature - Serpent (C)
Defender Overview — As long as there are three or more colors among permanents you control, Dreamscale Serpent gets +2/+2 and can attack as though it didn't have defender. Despite its enormity, the Oculun still casts a narrow shadow over the Avozal Sea, and its denizens emerge hungry for its illumination.
5/5
Mana ErruptionBR
Sorcery (C)
Destroy target nonbasic land. Catastrophe caused by energy flow disruption in a plane like Procella are just as frequent as rain in other planes.
Common 8/10
Sun-Kissed Shore
Land (C)
Sun-Kissed Shore enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add W or U to your mana pool.
Cycling WU (WU, Discard this card: Draw a card)
Bloodfell Caves
Land (C)
Bloodfell Caves enters the battlefield tapped.
When Bloodfell Caves enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life. T: Add B or R to your mana pool.
Ridgeline Glen
Land- Forest (C)
(T: Add G to your mana pool.)
Ridgeline Glen enters the battlefield tapped with two charge counters on it. T, Remove a charge counter from Ridgeline Glen: Add W or R to your mana pool.
Thalia, Fallen GuardianBB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Soldier (R)
Deathtouch
Spells cast from graveyards cost 1 less to cast. "Blessed sleep is a myth. All those who fall will serve us." - Olivia Voldaren
2/2
I'm not sure that monoblack should be benefitting from casting all types of spells from the graveyard. Black has mastery of death but not of spent magic so it feels wrong that this is reducing flashback costs. The changing from spells to creatures would have made this feel more fully monoblack. That being said, the flavor text is excellent and I'm glad that this card tells some sort of story.
Edric, Master of Whispers1UB
Legendary Creature - Elf Rogue (M)
Whenever a creature deals combat damage to one of your opponents, that player discards a card. “Information is power. No longer shall I distribute it so foolishly.”
2/2
This card is beautiful in it's simplicity. It's a Bizarro-Edric! However, by replacing draw with discard all of the fun of playing Edric, Spymaster gets sucked right out of the game. Edric, Spymaster's benefits and multiplayer interactions are nuanced and balanced while these feel much more hamfisted. The card leads to really unsatisfying board states or just an immediate targeting of the person who played it. Flavor text is really good.
Arcanis, Power Unbound3BBB
Legendary Creature - Wizard T: Search your library for a card and put that card into your hand, you lose 3 life. 2BB: Return Arcanis, Power Unbound from your graveyard to your hand. "Even death is nothing but a hinderance now, all knowledge in the multiverse is open to me."
4/3
The mirroring isn't perfect here which makes it all the more satisfying when one notices the little things like "3 life" mimicking "draw three". The card is solidly black-Arcanis and feels sufficiently evil, although it is missing any sort of nuance to the flavor beyond Evil-Arcanis.
So, I thought up a version of Tibalt were he goes mad with an addiction to inflict pain. Turns out that's actually what he's all about lore-wise.
Then I guess this isn't just an evil Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded, it's actually true-form Tibalt:
Tibalt, PainbringerBR
Planeswalker - Tibalt (M)
/+1\: Each player discards a card, then draws a card and loses 1 life.
\-1/: Put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.
\-6/: Target opponent loses half their life rounded up.
<2>
This is the card that the original Tibalt should have been. The abilities communicate his sado-masochistic feel and are well balanced for a 2-mana walker. That being said, it doesn't feel like you exactly met the challenge, this does not feel like an evil or monstrous version of another planeswalker so much as the planeswalker himself. Basically, this is an awesome card that just doesn't meet the spirit of the challenge fully enough in my eyes.
Top Three:
1. NVRBLND
2. Moss Elemental
3. doomfish
Been following silently for a while and figured I'd throw some thoughts into the ring. (Pun very much intended)
Copay is excellent, however, I feel it should only be able to pay for colorless mana as allowing paying for colored mana does weird things to mono-colored copay cards that can go in either decks and could limit design space.
Teamwork probably doesn't need to be ability-worded and seems to work most intuitively as a cycle of "{ability} only other players (or "teammates" if you choose to go with that wording) may activate this ability".
If you're looking for an archetype focused on casting instants and sorceries that still plays into the battle cruiser style you've created might I recommend the following: "This creature gets +X/+0 for each instant or sorcery spell cast this turn.". Kiln Fiend almost single-handedly spawned its own draft archetype in ROE drafts and by using that mechanic and allowing a teammate to cast spells to buff your critter seems like a logical and fitting progression.
Anax, Bitter King1BR
Legendary Creature- Human Soldier (R)
Haste, First Strike, Deathtouch
Whenever Anax attacks, each player sacrifices an enchanted creature or enchantment creature. Raze the temples, the gods must pay for taking my Cymede!
2/1
Sorry folks, but spoiler tags are not working for me today.
Doombringer
I like this guy. It has a nice payout for the sacrifice and cannot be played on an empty board as a control finisher.
Egak
A more deadly Jinxed Idol. I don't think the life loss should be optional as the you lose the game clause is a little ugly.
Ninja Caterpie
The backfiring wish just doesn't feel like it should be an artifact. Also, the sacrifice clause is quite ugly and can be removed with almost no impact on the card as you can just name artifact to destroy it.
Moss Elemental
Compare to Lich's Tomb and you begin to see how absurdly powerful this card is, heck, with Bitterblossom it's a two-card damage lock on turn three. I like the card but its just plain too good.
Koopa
This card has too much going on and doesn't feel particularly cursed. Cursed implies a little more intentionality than "25% of the time it'll kill you.
NVRBLND
Oooh, this is exciting. It is probably worse than Bitterblossom but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Two tokens a turn for three mana is a lot and the tradeoff seems well balanced.
doomfish Unstable Mutation on a sword. This removes the intricacies of using Unstable Mutation as long term removal on an opponent's creature and the card doesn't feel particularly inventive.
I've already mentioned the benefits of a commons and mechanics focus to Niko via PM. I don't think there's any harm in doing four high profile mythics to kick things off - it's fun and it gets us thinking about the core characters. However, the next thing we do (or perhaps even simultaneously) should be designing mechanics for each faction. Then someone can set up a design skeleton and people can start making commons that fill the slots.
I can vibe with this.
Some initial ideas:
Nikolai the Jolly3RGW
Planeswalker- Nikolai (M)
<+1> Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature. Creatures you control gain First Strike until your next turn.
<+1> Each player adds R to their mana pool for each red creature they control, G for each green creature they control, and W for each white creature they control.
<-10> Search your library for any number of permanent cards and put them onto the battlefield.
[5]
Queen Tatiana3UBR
Planeswalker- Tatiana (M)
<+2> Target player draws two cards and loses 2 life.
<-3> Target player reveals their hand. You may choose a creature card from it. That player exiles that card. Put a token that is a copy of a card exiled by Tatiana onto the battlefield. It has haste. Sacrifice it at end of turn.
<-7> Search your library for any number of instant or sorcery cards and exile them. You may cast cards exiled by Tatiana until end of turn.
[4]
Chandra, Hearth-Warmer1RR
Planeswalker- Chandra (M)
<+1> Discard your hand. Draw that many cards.
<-3> Deal 1 damage to target creature or player, 1 damage to another target creature or player, and 1 damage to a third target creature or player.
<-7> You get an emblem with "If a source you control would deal damage to a permanent or player, it deals double that damage to that permanent or player instead."
[2]
Ramses Overdark2UUBB
Legendary Creature- Human Assassin (R) BB,T: Each player sacrifices an enchanted creature. 1UU,T: Gain control of target creature with power 1 or less. Your closest allies will obey my every command. My first will be to ensure the end of your decadent reign.
2/5
Mirror of the Unreal2UU
Legendary Creature- Illusion (R)
When Mirror of the Unreal enters the battlefield all creatures gain "When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it." until end of turn.
When Mirror of the Unreal becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it. Reality contorts around it, bending to unfathomable dimensions.
6/6
I highly suggest that we start working on commons and mechanics. They are the backbone of any set and will help define what we're looking for.
I want to second this point. Commons and mechanics are much more important to a top-down set such as this one to create an evocative environment rather than a smattering of Mythics.
Corrupted Mirror3
Artifact (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a creature. Then, put a token that's a copy of the sacrificed creature into play. The token has haste. Sacrifice it at end of turn. It reflects a present steeped in suffering.
- Multicolor
- Overview — As long as there are three or more colors among permanents you control,
Ancient Willpower RG
Sorcery (C)
Target creature gets +2/+2 and gains trample and haste until end of turn.
Procella 'unweeded' environment will always be a challenge to any being trying to harvest its core for mana.
Wandering Glarekin 1W
Creature - Elemental (C)
2W: Tap target creature. Activate this ability only once per turn.
2/1
Eons of abandonment has weakened Procella's structure. Excess mana has leaked out giving birth to the glarekin; elementals composed of raw light.
Healing Presence 1G
Sorcery
The next time a creature enters the battlefield under your control this turn, you gain life equal to its toughness.
Draw a card.
In a world where nature is tied to mana, every summoning is a burst of life.
Prismatic Shard 2
Artifact (C)
Prismatic Shard enters the battlefield tapped.
When Prismatic Shard enters the battlefield, add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
T, Exile Prismatic Shard: Add 1 to your mana pool. Draw a card.
A stone left in the Mandala's light over two days' time will turn into a temporary vessel of its power.
Visions of Nightmare UB
Instant (C)
Counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, put it into its owner’s hand instead of into that player’s graveyard. The spell controller puts the top two cards of his or her library to the graveyard.
The Hardean tribe were sent to Procella as a punishment for their hideous crime. To feed on other people thought leaving their mind empty so that they could live in immortality.
Dreamscale Serpent 5U
Creature - Serpent (C)
Defender
Overview — As long as there are three or more colors among permanents you control, Dreamscale Serpent gets +2/+2 and can attack as though it didn't have defender.
Despite its enormity, the Oculun still casts a narrow shadow over the Avozal Sea, and its denizens emerge hungry for its illumination.
5/5
Mana ErruptionBR
Sorcery (C)
Destroy target nonbasic land.
Catastrophe caused by energy flow disruption in a plane like Procella are just as frequent as rain in other planes.
Common 8/10
Sun-Kissed Shore
Land (C)
Sun-Kissed Shore enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add W or U to your mana pool.
Cycling WU (WU, Discard this card: Draw a card)
Bloodfell Caves
Land (C)
Bloodfell Caves enters the battlefield tapped.
When Bloodfell Caves enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life.
T: Add B or R to your mana pool.
Ridgeline Glen
Land- Forest (C)
(T: Add G to your mana pool.)
Ridgeline Glen enters the battlefield tapped with two charge counters on it.
T, Remove a charge counter from Ridgeline Glen: Add W or R to your mana pool.
I'm not sure that monoblack should be benefitting from casting all types of spells from the graveyard. Black has mastery of death but not of spent magic so it feels wrong that this is reducing flashback costs. The changing from spells to creatures would have made this feel more fully monoblack. That being said, the flavor text is excellent and I'm glad that this card tells some sort of story.
This card is beautiful in it's simplicity. It's a Bizarro-Edric! However, by replacing draw with discard all of the fun of playing Edric, Spymaster gets sucked right out of the game. Edric, Spymaster's benefits and multiplayer interactions are nuanced and balanced while these feel much more hamfisted. The card leads to really unsatisfying board states or just an immediate targeting of the person who played it. Flavor text is really good.
The mirroring isn't perfect here which makes it all the more satisfying when one notices the little things like "3 life" mimicking "draw three". The card is solidly black-Arcanis and feels sufficiently evil, although it is missing any sort of nuance to the flavor beyond Evil-Arcanis.
This is the card that the original Tibalt should have been. The abilities communicate his sado-masochistic feel and are well balanced for a 2-mana walker. That being said, it doesn't feel like you exactly met the challenge, this does not feel like an evil or monstrous version of another planeswalker so much as the planeswalker himself. Basically, this is an awesome card that just doesn't meet the spirit of the challenge fully enough in my eyes.
Top Three:
1. NVRBLND
2. Moss Elemental
3. doomfish
Anax, Bitter King 1BR
Legendary Creature- Human Soldier (R)
Haste, First Strike, Deathtouch
Whenever Anax attacks, each player sacrifices an enchanted creature or enchantment creature.
Raze the temples, the gods must pay for taking my Cymede!
2/1
Doombringer
I like this guy. It has a nice payout for the sacrifice and cannot be played on an empty board as a control finisher.
Egak
A more deadly Jinxed Idol. I don't think the life loss should be optional as the you lose the game clause is a little ugly.
Ninja Caterpie
The backfiring wish just doesn't feel like it should be an artifact. Also, the sacrifice clause is quite ugly and can be removed with almost no impact on the card as you can just name artifact to destroy it.
Moss Elemental
Compare to Lich's Tomb and you begin to see how absurdly powerful this card is, heck, with Bitterblossom it's a two-card damage lock on turn three. I like the card but its just plain too good.
Koopa
This card has too much going on and doesn't feel particularly cursed. Cursed implies a little more intentionality than "25% of the time it'll kill you.
NVRBLND
Oooh, this is exciting. It is probably worse than Bitterblossom but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Two tokens a turn for three mana is a lot and the tradeoff seems well balanced.
doomfish
Unstable Mutation on a sword. This removes the intricacies of using Unstable Mutation as long term removal on an opponent's creature and the card doesn't feel particularly inventive.
Top Three:
1) NVRBLND
2) Doombringer
3) Egak
I can vibe with this.
Some initial ideas:
Nikolai the Jolly 3RGW
Planeswalker- Nikolai (M)
<+1> Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature. Creatures you control gain First Strike until your next turn.
<+1> Each player adds R to their mana pool for each red creature they control, G for each green creature they control, and W for each white creature they control.
<-10> Search your library for any number of permanent cards and put them onto the battlefield.
[5]
Queen Tatiana 3UBR
Planeswalker- Tatiana (M)
<+2> Target player draws two cards and loses 2 life.
<-3> Target player reveals their hand. You may choose a creature card from it. That player exiles that card. Put a token that is a copy of a card exiled by Tatiana onto the battlefield. It has haste. Sacrifice it at end of turn.
<-7> Search your library for any number of instant or sorcery cards and exile them. You may cast cards exiled by Tatiana until end of turn.
[4]
Chandra, Hearth-Warmer 1RR
Planeswalker- Chandra (M)
<+1> Discard your hand. Draw that many cards.
<-3> Deal 1 damage to target creature or player, 1 damage to another target creature or player, and 1 damage to a third target creature or player.
<-7> You get an emblem with "If a source you control would deal damage to a permanent or player, it deals double that damage to that permanent or player instead."
[2]
What does everyone think?
Legendary Creature- Human Assassin (R)
BB,T: Each player sacrifices an enchanted creature.
1UU,T: Gain control of target creature with power 1 or less.
Your closest allies will obey my every command. My first will be to ensure the end of your decadent reign.
2/5
IIW: Homelands + Eldrazi = ???????
Legendary Creature- Illusion (R)
When Mirror of the Unreal enters the battlefield all creatures gain "When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it." until end of turn.
When Mirror of the Unreal becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it.
Reality contorts around it, bending to unfathomable dimensions.
6/6
I want to second this point. Commons and mechanics are much more important to a top-down set such as this one to create an evocative environment rather than a smattering of Mythics.
Artifact (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a creature. Then, put a token that's a copy of the sacrificed creature into play. The token has haste. Sacrifice it at end of turn.
It reflects a present steeped in suffering.